Darren Fletcher sells £1.5million mansion to Darren Gibson

Soccer star Darren Fletcher has completed a £1.5million transfer by selling his house to a young team-mate.
Manchester United midfielder Fletcher, 26, has sold the six-bed mansion to 23-year-old Irish/Man Utd midfielder Darron Gibson.

Fletcher put the property in Bowdon, South Manchester, on the market last summer after his wife Hayley suffered a terrifying knife raid there last year.

The Scottish international moved to a £2.5million house in nearby Hale because of the bad memories associated with the burglary.
A source said: "Hayley was left really shaken by the ordeal when she had a knife held to her throat.
"They installed a high-tech CCTV system and security system but decided to move to a more private location and start afresh. Darron Gibson is pleased with the deal."

The first leg of Carling Cup ends in an embarrassing defeat for United

Traitor!

Hero of the game: Carlos Tevez scored 2 vital goals to put City in front. He was later declared Man of the Match as well.

Man City 2-1 Man Utd

The game ended 2-1 in a very exciting fashion. This was Robert Mancini's (the new Man City manager) first ever Manchester Derby and after securing a famous victory it has turned out to be quite a proud one.

Ryan Giggs opened the scoring with a rather easy goal. It was actually Rooney's strike which was deflected off the goalie Shay Given and Ryan Giggs then did no mistake to give United a 1-0 lead.

Carlos Tevez then equalised from the penalty spot. Fabio held Bellamy from his shirt and continued to 'badly' mark him inside the penatly box; as a result of which he was booked and United conceded a penalty.

The Argentine scored again in the second half from the header. I must say the United defence looked shaky then and they deserved to concede that goal, not sure about the penalty totally. Tevez's celebration was quite remarkable after both the goals.. After his second goal, he ran till the half line and then put his hands over his ears... something like this:

The famous Cup celebration

But of course! in a blue t-shirt... He didn't over do it though as he didn't want to hurt the 'sentiments' of United fans.

Overall, I felt United were not very versatile in the beginning of the 2nd half. They weren't that alert due to which they conceded the second goal.

Now in order to reach the finals of the Carling Cup, United need to either of the following:

a) Win 1-0..

a) Win 2-1 to take the game to extra time..

b) By winning the game by a goal difference of 2 would do the job if they concede..

THEY NEED TO WIN THE 2ND LEG IN ANY CASE BY A MARGIN OF AT LEAST 1 GOAL AND NOT CONCEDE ANY. IF THEY CONCEDE A GOAL, THEN THEN NEED TO WIN BY A MARGIN OF 2 GOALS.

Glory Glory Man United... Hope we are fantastic on the weekend against Hull City.

PREVIEW: United vs Besiktas at Old Trafford Tonight, 7.45 PM GMT Kick off

Kids wanna rock today against Besiktas!

Sir Alex Ferguson is targeting the top spot in Group B of Champions League by challenging his young players to prove they are worthy of wearing the Manchester United shirt.

"In the situation we're in, we could have a non-event of a game against Besiktas if we wanted. But that's not the way we want it to be. We want an exciting game and we'll do our best to challenge the youngsters who play."

"I'll be making changes. Not a lot, but enough to freshen things up. It's a problem keeping players happy, but everyone has that when you have a big squad. We used the League Cup for that and, if we can qualify early enough from the Champions League group stage, in Europe."

"Darron Gibson will definitely play and young Rafa as well. We can use the likes of Welbeck. He will will definitely play and Macheda probably. They are the ones who need to challenge."

"We're also thinking of starting Gabriel Obertan to see how he does. And we're looking at Park Ji-Sung's fitness because he's back and has trained very well. We've put him on a programme that has brought him to his best level. He played for South Korea last week so he's ready for a game."

"Darron has not had the amount of football that he'd wish for. I wish I'd been able to give him more games, but he has a lot of competition from Carrick, Anderson, Scholes, Fletcher, and Giggs if I choose to play him there."

"But, credit to Darron, he's never let it unsettle him. His training performances have been excellent. Every session he comes in knowing that it's worthwhile. He has a purpose about his training. For quite a few weeks we've been saying, you can't hold a young one back. They tell you that themselves. And I think Darron is approaching that. He has

become a very good, powerful midfield player."

"The youngsters have reached a point and it happens in football, when a footballer has the ability to be a top player and you recognise that. You have to give them the challenge. If you don't, they lose the scent. But this club has been good at recognising that over the years."

"Sometimes it happens and you get good runs free of injury, and other times you don't. That's the value of having a good squad. It'll probably be the same back four as Saturday against Everton.

"When Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes came through, we thought they were certainties. We had to give them a chance, and we did. That's the nature of football. A young player turns the corner and then ends up taking someone's job."

So to conclude, Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck have really gotta attack from the word GO! and have a good partnership between them. I am excited to see Obertan and Park (if he plays) working together in the mid-field. I wouldn't mind if Michael Owen warms the bench till the half time and maybe he can have a shot at a goal or two. United although need to be careful, they must be fully aware of what happened against Tottenham Hotspurs in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton when they lost and eventually lost the precious trophy!

I hope the youngsters dont let the Seniors down... GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!!!

United Probable 11s: Foster; Evra, Vidic, Brown, Rafael; Park, Anderson, Gibson, Obertan; Berbatov/Macheda, Welbeck.

Besiktas Probable 11s: Rustu; Uzulmez, Koybasi, Ferrari, Toraman; Ozkan, Ernst, Fink, Ekrem; Yusuf; Bobo.

theRedDevilSpot prediction: United win 3-1