Now for the real stuff as Carling Cup loses its fizz

SO, how did we do last night?

Not that it matters very much, in truth, despite all Fergie’s protestations about the importance of avoiding other group-toppers in the draw; frankly, all eyes were already gazing towards the next two weekends, and the potentially seismic encounters with London’s finest that await.

Our encounter with London’s least-fine last week didn’t go so well, of course. The 6,000 who braved the snow and submitted to the onerous expense were not happy about the apparent lack of desire and correct attitude on show, with only Anderson and Obertan escaping the general opprobrium.