Our last hope...

[The Birdman]

Wigan game is largely irrelivent because the chances of them getting a result are very slim.
However the chances of Arsenal beating Man U at OT 10 days after being beaten in the CL to stop them collecting the PL trophy are decent, at least 50/50 I'd say. Then we have to hope that Hull need 3 points on the last day and fire **** into the Utd team thinking of Barca and Rome.

I think Utd losing the league to us and CL to Barca in the space of 3 days would be better than seeing my kids born!

[Gray]

Wigan game is largely irrelivent because the chances of them getting a result are very slim.
However the chances of Arsenal beating Man U at OT 10 days after being beaten in the CL to stop them collecting the PL trophy are decent, at least 50/50 I'd say. Then we have to hope that Hull need 3 points on the last day and fire **** into the Utd team thinking of Barca and Rome.

I think Utd losing the league to us and CL to Barca in the space of 3 days would be better than seeing my kids born!

[kingfunk]

It was on football-rumours that the scum will draw tonight. Sweet!!

[Assassin]

Wigan will win tonight with a controversial late penalty.......you heard it here first!

[MrsB]

I wish.

[Montana]

If Wigan get a draw tonight then I can see Arsenal getting a draw too on Saturday. That would need them to beat Hull which on the last day could be tricky.

First things first though, Wigan must not get beat.

[Assassin]

I wish.

Trust me

[BrooklynRed]

United will win at a canter tonight. Bruce always bends over dutifully for Fergie. Did anyone read the gushy piece Henry Winter has in the papers today? It'd make you puke.

Yeah no ****. How is this even remotely legal in sport? I mean, the fix is in. Jesus.


"An exquisite green playing surface and a red-carpet welcome await Sir Alex Ferguson at the JJB Stadium. It will be handshakes, back-slaps and glasses of good claret all round. It will also be another Premier League hurdle, another test that Manchester United should pass with flying colours, so taking them to the brink of the title. Wigan Athletic's main men will be delighted.

Their charismatic chairman, Dave Whelan, is such an ardent admirer of Ferguson, whose picture adorns his walls, that he actually cannot make up his mind who he wants to win.

"It is a shame if we lose and a shame if we beat United,'' Whelan said. "Sir Alex is the maestro, probably the finest manager the world has ever seen. Sir Alex and Sir Bobby Charlton, who I served in the Army with, are the heart and soul of football.''

United's indebtedness apart, Whelan so respects the champions that he would be delighted if his manager, Steve Bruce, succeeded Ferguson at Old Trafford one day. Bruce would relish following his old mentor, the manager he hails as "the No 1 of all time''. This evening threatens to become a love-in.

With all at Anfield tuning in nervously, hoping against hope for an upset, an honest, hard-working Wigan side will try to disrupt United's famed rhythm but it is difficult not to see the champions moving within a point of equalling Liverpool's record of 18 league titles.

Since guaranteeing Premier League safety, Wigan have taken the foot off the accelerator, coasting towards the summer recess. "We have been on easy street for a few weeks now,'' admitted Bruce. "It will be difficult because United are the best team in the world.''

If victory should come the way of United, some advice for Cristiano Ronaldo also awaits, some good counsel from Bruce, who argued cogently that life after United will always be a step down.

"Absolutely,'' Bruce said. "Once you leave Old Trafford you find it very, very, very difficult whether you are a kid, a reserve-team player or even somebody who has been there for 10 years. There have not been many who have gone on [to better things].''

Although Ronaldo's tantrum on being replaced against Manchester City on Sunday has intensified speculation about his future, Bruce believes Ferguson will take his star's fit of pique in his stride.

"He won't bother a jot about it,'' Bruce said. "If he feels he has to have a word, he will handle it in private. It was nothing. The kid was desperate to stay on and that's refreshing. I've had a few who don't want to be on the pitch in the first place!''

Early in his managerial career, Bruce would phone Ferguson for advice but now he just sits back and marvels at his old manager's longevity. "I don't think he has any intention of quitting at all. He will be looking at that team and thinking, 'Why should I?' and rightly so. He seems to thrive on the pressure rather than fear it.

"He has still got the hunger and that look – you know, the one that makes you go, 'Oh oh' [nervously]. He enjoys victory for half a day and then he's back at work and goes again. With this team, he will want to finish above Liverpool in terms of championships and more European Cups [United have three to Liverpool's five].

"What United have now, from when I first went there 20 years ago, is vast experience of winning the title. They are just used to handling the pressure. When the big games have come along in the last six weeks, the nitty gritty games, they have produced.''

Bruce and his coaching staff are noted for setting Wigan up well to combat opposing threats, detailing who should mark whom, but they ran into a problem yesterday.

"We were trying a few things in training and we just had to stop because he [Ferguson] could make six or seven changes,'' Bruce said. "Their squad is that good it doesn't affect them. I was at their game at Middlesbrough and all of my staff were laughing. He made seven changes, bringing in Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov and the list goes on.

"You notice he doesn't rotate the back players too much – he never gave me and Pally [Gary Pallister] a rest! In terms of depth, this squad is just mind-blowing. What he [Ferguson] has been a master at is putting a new team together. He's probably sitting there with all his young stars thinking, 'how far can this lot go?'"

Bruce's circumstances are markedly different, the manager admitting that he will have to "break up'' this Wigan side to pay the bills, despite a new shirt sponsorship deal with the online gaming company 188BET.

It is "inevitable'', he sighed, that Antonio Valencia will leave. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, even United have been mooted as potential destinations for the exciting midfielder.

Whelan could certainly see Bruce back at Old Trafford. "When Sir Alex does decide to hang up his boots, and hopefully it won't be for another three or four years because we will have lost a great manager and a great ambassador, Steve has got to be in the running to take over,'' Wigan's chairman said.

"I hate to even talk about losing Steve because he has been a wonderful manager for us, but if the opportunity came along to manage United then the whole world would jump at that. United want certain qualities and Steve has every single quality.''

Bruce smiled. "That's flattering but there are people with larger and better CVs than me who want the job,'' he said, suddenly turning his attention to how he can stop Ferguson's smooth-passing team on Wigan's pristine pitch. "We need to get tractors on it quick,'' he concluded. But nothing looks like halting the Ferguson juggernaut."

[JohnDoe]

They're not even trying to hide it. This game has no competitive value.

[red g]

Makes my blood boil!!!

I am sure Rafa will have a few things to say after this whitewash

[TheElephantMan]

Hopefully it'll backfire on United. They'll go to Wigan expecting to win, and maybe at least some of the Wigan players will want to make a game of it. I wonder what fathead's reaction would be if a Wigan player scored? I could imagine him burying his head in his hands in despair.

[kingfunk]

Lads lads lads, Remember the Fulham game??? see anything similar in the build up?

[ELNINO 9]

why do people keep refering to united as the best side in the world? i honeslty dont think they are that good, and definetaly not better than us.

[Joe King]

Lads lads lads, Remember the Fulham game??? see anything similar in the build up?

Roy Hodgson didn't play for United and Dave Whelan didn't want to buy United. Both have huge affection for the club.

[magicalbarnes]

why do people keep refering to united as the best side in the world? i honeslty dont think they are that good, and definetaly not better than us.

To be fair they are Champions of one of the worlds best leagues, not to mention European Champions.

If we held both trophies, im sure loads of our fans would refer to us as the 'worlds best team'.