Fergie likes Howard’s way

ALEX FERGUSON is hailing rookie American goalkeeper Tim Howard as Manchester United’s star performer during the first half of the Barclaycard Premiership campaign.

While Ruud van Nistelrooy has maintained his phenomenal scoring streak and Rio Ferdinand has shrugged off the mountain of publicity surrounding his missed drugs test to finally find the form which made him a star of the 2002 World Cup, it is Howard who has impressed Ferguson the most.

A complete unknown in this country when he was snapped up from Major League Soccer outfit New York Metros in the summer, Howard has shown no signs of being overawed by his new surroundings.