Soccer: Please Santa, protect Ruud from any injuries

TO QUOTE that master foot-mouthist Samuel Goldwyn: this Christmas is like déjà vu all over again.

How many times have I sat here in December and thought to myself: "Blimey, this has been a boring season so far. Thank goodness Manchester United provides such a soap opera off the pitch, or else we'd never have anything to talk about down the pub."

That applies in spades this year.