Once again, it was all about Roy on our television screens this week. But this time it was not Yer Man, it was Yer Other Man, says Liam Mackey.

Winnie-The-Pooh has triumphed over modern titles such as The Gruffalo to be named the best-loved children’s book of the last 150 years.

COMMUNITY SHIELD:

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is likely to face questions about Wayne Rooney and his side’s controversial Champions League exit when he meets the media today.

ALEX FERGUSON saw Wayne Rooney help Manchester United into the fourth round of the FA Cup and insisted reports of a rift between manager and star player are greatly exaggerated.

Blue Nights

ON Thursday night, in his regular slot on Off The Ball, John Giles ventured the opinion that on the strength of his performances against Everton and Galati, Wayne Rooney was the best central midfield player in the Premier League.

Disney leave the more modern forms of animation and return to the traditional hand-drawing for this return of the much-loved A.A. Milne characters of the Hundred Acre Wood, characters which have served Disney well over the years, and been equally well treated in return.

NO OFFENCE intended to that silly old bear Winnie the Pooh (G), but it’s a telling indictment of the week’s releases that an animated movie for a young audience is the most accomplished film of the week.

HUNCHED in an over-sized duvet coat, the last place Wayne Rooney wanted to be on Saturday was surplus to requirements on the substitutes’ bench at a freezing St Mary’s Stadium.

AS years go, 2010 was as bad as Wayne Rooney has known.

A FRIEND of mine once told me that he’d briefly toyed with the idea of joining Friends Of the Earth but then decided against it. “You know me,” he explained, “I’d want to be more than just friends.”

IT’S rare but wonderful to welcome a new Red star you can adore wholeheartedly. You want to know what’s wrong with Hernandez? Absolutely nothing.

I KNOW we shouldn’t laugh but, a bit like the spectacle of a top banker having his gleaming motor repossessed, the sight of everything that can go wrong going wrong for Man City is a guaranteed source of schadenfreude in these bleak times.

THE economies of these two islands may be going south at a rate of knots but, let’s face it, there’s been only one story in the news this week.

FORMER Manchester United skipper Roy Keane says his old club will be fine even if star striker Wayne Rooney moves on.

ROBERTO MANCINI wants to show the world Manchester’s finest at Eastlands — and that means Wayne Rooney being fit.

ONE question towers above all others after what we witnessed in the Nou Camp on Tuesday night: Wayne who? Okay, okay, that’s a bit mean.

THERE is a certain grim fascination to be had in the examination of a building collapsing around your very ears.

I DON’T often get cause to mention it but I’ve always had a soft spot for Park, one of nature’s real triers who’s never caused the club the slightest bit of grief.

SO what was your gut reaction when you heard the England team hotel had been bugged last week?

PERCEIVED wisdom might have been that David Beckham had a point to prove in the San Siro last night, the prodigal son seeking to show how wrong Manchester United were to cast him out seven years ago, sending him on a global odyssey that has since taken him to Madrid, Los Angeles and, now, Milan.

SO Michael Owen DOES still know where the goal is after all, and few would dispute his clipped finish at Wigan was quite masterful. Be grateful that his leg didn’t snap in two during the process, as has been his wont. He looked suitably delighted, and thankfully spared us the grisly hands-rubbing-together routine he used to indulge in at Liverpool.

THERE was an amusing tale in the London Daily Mail last week about warnings being issued not to wear any clothing with ‘AIG’ on it, lest it attract unwanted violent attention.

During a relaxing swim, loveable elephant Horton is startled to hear voices emanating from a speck of dust lodged on a clover. He soon discovers that the speck is actually the microscopic world of Who-ville, presided over by the Mayor.

REFEREEING decisions have been the dominant topic in much of European football for a fortnight, not least thanks to Michel Platini’s various amusing interventions.

LONG-TIME loyal regulars over there (top o’ the morning, Messrs ‘Boggers’, ‘Digger’ and ‘Major’) probably don’t need reminding that I write this on a Monday night.

MANCHESTER UNITED assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has warned an expectant public not to demand miracles from Wayne Rooney.

The Examiner’s football correspondent Liam Mackey likes a good argument when he hears it, and he’s got strong views of his own. Today, and every Tuesday, he will be acting as referee on your opinions on the Premiership. Let him know what you think and he’ll argue the toss with you. We’ll be offering a free sports prize to the star contribution each week.

Gary Neville has rubbished suggestions Manchester United do not want Wayne Rooney to be fit for the World Cup.

ONE of my favourite regular correspondents amongst the readers of this column remarked to me after the Benfica victory last week that my “momentary excitement and delusions of reaching the final may well have been dampened by last night, no?!”