Old Trafford ‘crisis’ averted as new-boy Nani turns it around

CRISIS? What crisis?” asked Fergie in Jim Callaghan mode before the press pack last week — and despite me being the type always to decry a glass as being half-empty, surely he had a point?

The first Tottenham victory at Old Trafford since December 1989 was successfully, if fortunately, prevented, and suddenly we have at last crept into the top-half TV-frameshot, as though turning up fashionably late at a title-chasing party and asking if there’s any punch left.

Ahh, December 1989: now THERE was a proper crisis. Or take the dark period Fergie chose to refer to, the autumn of 1992, when a similarly-poor start led to us at one point trying comically to engage the services of David Hirst (incidentally, nice rewrite of history by Fergie there — his claim that we would have won the title that year even if we hadn’t signed Cantona was, umm, playful to put it mildly). This isn’t a heart-stopping crisis — yet. It’s still mere mild indigestion.

Yes, yes, Spurs were ever so slightly robbed (once again!), at OT on Sunday but didn’t Nani’s supposedly fortunate deflection only even up the equally lucky strike City undeservedly beat us with the week before? Several topflight hacks are writing about us in exceedingly doomladen terms nonetheless. Loath though I am to play the Fergie apologist, where is the recognition of our eight injuries, our four new players who need bedding in, and most pertinently, our two unavailable world-class superstars?

Being five points behind Chelsea is frankly nothing at this stage; besides, deep down, most of us are with Fergie in prioritising something else — namely that we are prepared to cut United some slack domestically as long as they figure out a good modus operandi in time for Europe. Given last season’s wonders, they have all earned the political credit to burn for a while, no? So hey, it’s all a work-in-progress. Example: Sunday established to all that it is clear we can’t have the duplicatory Scholes, Carrick AND Hargreaves all in the same line-up again.

Besides, one thing we already know for sure: at least Hargreaves, Tevez, Nani and Anderson had all proved long before they joined us that they are essentially decent players — it’s not like we signed a bunch of cheapo unknown quantities here, as so often in the past (eg Kleberson, the Djumbo Twins et al). The only doubt should be as to whether they will be used correctly by management, and it’ll take more than three weeks’ tinkering to come to a definitive view about that. Oft-forgot: it took Fergie three months to stumble onto the winning formula in 1998/99, for example.

Mind you, if only the stories about Berbatov were to come true: then the glass would be almost full. My website broke the story of our likely pursuit of him last April and the skill highlight of Sunday was not the Nani goal but Dimitar’s exquisite pull-down and curler at the Scoreboard End, of which even Cantona might have been proud. Chief executive Gill has denied making a formal bid, but not the existence of our interest; unfortunately, it would appear we will have to wait.

Waiting being something Roman Abramovich is not prepared to do vis-à-vis Ronaldinho, if Monday’s Daily Mail is to be believed. Much as I would enjoy seeing the little troll’s skills in our stadia making monkeys of trundling British centre-backs, I am naturally praying the kid comes to his senses and reverts to his former bitter opinion of CFC and all their devilish works ASAP.

Meanwhile the ultimate modern Red Devil arrives this weekend as Roy Keane brings Sunderland to face his old master: no hype required. !By then, one hopes injury-hit Liverpool are out of Europe, and City’s owner en route to a Thai cell. One can but dream here at the Theatre…