Stage set for Nani to prove his match-winning credentials

GREETINGS from the foothills of the Pyrenees where your correspondent – equipped with half a pound of Etorki cheese and a fetching Catalan beret – is camping en route to Valencia for the second in our series of peachy, beachy away trips.

Scunny and Wearside’s golden stretches do not quite compare with those of the Med Costas, though: this jaunt is undoubtedly the highlight of our autumn campaign, and the last chance to catch some serious rays and warmth before the chill. (Yes, I am aware we also have a visit to Turkey pending, but the scars of 1993 linger long: it’s not one I’m looking forward to, despite the venue’s novelty.)

Valencia are not the force they were, supposedly. Two massive summer departures set against the backdrop of a crippling debt situation is leading many to make some patronising assumptions about the possible ease of our task. Yet as I write, we are digesting the loss of Scholes, Giggs and Rooney, and are being invited to welcome Carrick as our potential saviour.