City must have been delighted to draw United in the Carling Cup semi-final as it means the council house will have a capacity crowd twice this season. This may be a strange set of circumstances for them to deal with, but getting into an almighty tizz over Gary Neville’s middle finger is a bit silly.

I suspect people are focusing on G.Nev’s protrusion so much because they don’t want to zoom in on the reality of the game. United were the better side and City’s goals were both scored by the referee. All of Fergie’s crying wolf may be working against us but there were 5 minutes of injury time in this game and that seems pretty standard for us since he started whingeing. Job done? Evil plan coming to fruition Mr. Ferguson? Perhaps, I wouldn’t like to speculate.

Gary Neville
To be honest, I expected us to get a kicking in this fixture, but we are still very much in the tie and I take great heart from the way the team played. We need to have a sharper cut up front (Rooney can’t do it all on his own) but if we put a few past Hull at the weekend confidence could bloom in the ranks. We’ll also go top if this happens.

I have always had time for Tevez, he worked damn hard for us and reading about his career is fascinating. He won player of the year when he was in Brazil, which for an Argentinean is a bit of a miracle.

But there is no way he is anywhere near as good as he thinks he is. He could do far worse than to take lessons in dignity from Denis Law. And Beckham’s timing for this interview could not have been better.

"City will never be bigger than United. Being successful and one of the most recognised clubs in the world doesn't come from the money. It's about history." Thanks Dave, couldn’t have put it myself and you will get a warm reception from me at Old Trafford in March.

Off the pitch, the financial cobblers still grates me. I can understand the desperate calls for Fergie to resign this week but it’s not the way. In reality, we have pretty much no power over this situation and there are those who think Fergie is the last person with chips to play. Maybe so, but the wizard quitting wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to ‘them’.

The Glazers are treating United as a toy. Fair enough, if I owned a café or a pub I’d shout myself the odd coffee and have a share of the profits. But football clubs are community institutions built up by local support and their exploitation is a morally bankrupt practice. I feel like a disgruntled punter, leaning against the counter complaining about the rising cost of drinks.

We definitely need to get rid of them but waiting for somebody richer to come in does not seem like the best hope either. What I would like to do to the Glazers is unprintable, I can only hope they get lost before United start to resemble the Tampa Bay Buccaneers current diabolical state.

Club Man

One of the more surprising statistics you can read about United is that John O’Shea is now one of the top twenty performers for the club in terms of games played. He has always been a solid club man and played wherever he has been asked to. This week it emerged he has a blood clot and nearly had his leg amputated. That is scary stuff. He has my best wishes and I hope he gets well soon.

Footnote: One of my mates, The Russian Red Lipstick Crusader, is married to a City fan. Pray for her.

Follow markjpayne@twitter and at www.thedevilinme.co.uk