The days of hooliganism are not gone yet. With the fury over the warmth of the pies at Oakwell on Tuesday night, Oliver Kay has taken a strong line in the Times and believes it is down to cup competitions.

''There is still the odd occasion when you can roll up at a football ground and are left to wonder if you have been transported back to the dark days of the 1970s or early 1980s, when hooliganism was rife.

''The Carling Cup fourth-round tie between Barnsley and Manchester United at Oakwell on Tuesday evening, was, with the benefit of hindsight, just the sort of occasion when fear and antagonism fill the air. It had many of the ingredients: a heavy police presence, a 6,000-strong away following in a crowd of just under 23,000 and, according to one United supporter, the presence of “50 or so idiots”, who view such matches as a rare opportunity to get tickets and to recreate at least a semblance of the hooliganism that they missed out on in previous decades.''

It wasn't like that in Fergie's day... oh wait, it was. But Jeff Powell in the Daily Mail has decided to write a tribute to the Scot for his piece on Thursday. And he's still the greatest...

''This 2009-10 campaign has turned into open season on the laird of Old Trafford. The rest of our national game is waiting for the mightiest of them all to fall. Not only that, but gagging to put the boot in should he do so. And Fergie is the mightiest manager, no matter how bitterly the world outside Manchester United begrudges the dominance exerted by this craggy old Scot over the game England invented.

''Sir Alex is the man no matter how curmudgeonly some of his outbursts - most recently at referees - nor how bullying some of his postures. The ruffling of authority's feathers and the intimidating of opponents are part and parcel of what it takes to be The Greatest. Ask Muhammad Ali.''

Meanwhile, the Guardian's David Hytner was watching Arsenal's kids, but had his eyes fixed on the goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski.

''Arsène Wenger has heard the accusation on more than one occasion. His good fortune in inheriting David Seaman when he took over at Arsenal in September 1996 camouflaged the blind-spot for only so long. The manager cannot pick a goalkeeper.

''Jens Lehmann might argue to the contrary – it is one of the maverick German's specialities – but since Seaman departed in 2003, the goalkeeper position has been Wenger's biggest headache. It vexes him more than everat present.''

With competition for places, Hyter believes the Pole can make the position his own:

''It was a big moment for Fabianski as the feeling persists that not only is he Wenger's favourite senior goalkeeper just now – the 19-year-old Wojciech Szczesny could yet be the best of the lot but he remains raw – but that he has the chance to make the position his own and convince Wenger that he has no need to sign a replacement in the January transfer window.''