Weeks like this were made for Keano

“IT’S a week for warriors at Manchester United. Saturday was the War of the Roses part 874; tonight it’s the Battle of Britain.

Not surprising, then, that our top fighter Roy Keane looks in such fine fettle at the moment.

Weeks like this were made for him. Remember all that brouhaha when he announced he was quitting the Irish team to concentrate on extending his club career?

Well, surely Saturday was ample proof that he did the right thing. He looked about 25-years-old out there and you can be certain that, as a Celt, he'll be resembling a mad-for-it teenager tonight at Ibrox.

I also hope that Rio Ferdinand can continue his good work at Leeds though, in truth, he wasn't up against much on Saturday and will not have one of his forgetful moments in the box tonight such as he endured at Stuttgart, or indeed after training last month.

Those of you who thought I was a bit unsympathetic towards him in last week's column will, I trust, be reconsidering now that you have digested the weekend's tabloid revelations.

There is a significant minority of United fans who wish that one story in particular from Sunday's press comes true: Joe Melling's punt that Chelsea will buy him for 20 million in January.

Melling, you should note, previously broke the Becks sale story.

One oughtn't over-egg this a majority of United fans still support Rio and don't wish him to leave.

But if he does indeed receive a hefty ban from the FA, sentiment might change.

Certainly, the plc might look at him as a rapidly depreciating asset who will continue to cost us €150,000 a week even though he's not playing; in such circumstances, 'only' losing €10 million on him by selling to the fiscally-incontinent Abramovich might appear to be a decent option.

It hasn't escaped our attention, incidentally, that Rio seems to be spending much of his leisure time in London rather than Manchester and that most of his close mates continue to be based in the capital.

Anyway, let's not mention him anymore: I'm sure you're as sick of reading about Dopey as I am.

And whilst on the subject of old saws, I shan't devote any more time to Diego Forlan either, bar to mention the obvious that he was absolutely useless again on Saturday and that his continuing appearances in Red are an embarrassment to us all.

Leeds was odd, frankly: the most low-key Roses battle I can remember. Even the hooligans didn't seem as excited as usual, which is explained for United's part by the fact that they have much bigger fish to fry tonight.

Back in 1974, an infamous 'friendly' took place between tonight's opponents at Old Trafford, which inspired the most unbelievable scenes of crowd aggro ever seen in Manchester.

There will be heavy blokes around Glasgow tonight with keen memories of that confrontation and I for one will be skedaddling out of the city centre as fast as possible at 10 o'clock so as to avoid the nostalgia-fest.

I suspect we'll need to show rather more imagination on the field tonight than we did on Saturday.

Against Leeds, we were competent and spirited without ever approaching excellence.

I was surprised to read after the game that we have, statistically, made our best start to the season for 10 years, which only goes to show that statistics are the last refuge of the fool.

Not a Red I know believes we have played particularly well yet, and it is universally accepted that we will need to strengthen in January or face the inevitable consequences.

I will admit that it is galling to see Beckham and Ronaldinho playing so inspirationally well in Spain, and to hear of the exploits of Kaka at Milan, a dazzling Brazilian we could have signed but over whom the journeyman Kleberson was selected instead.

We all talk about possible winter purchases incessantly but when you think about it, who will actually be available?

The one great hope was Kluivert, who has now fallen out with his hitherto proselytizer Nistelrooy and thus is expected to join Newcastle instead.

All the other class acts and we need proper established stars, not more cheapo squad-fillers appear to accounted for and tied up.

Oh, sorry, I forgot we still have David Bellion to come through, don't we?

YOU will pardon me if I don't stick the mortgage on him winning us the European Cup or shouldering the attacking burden should Ruud get injured.

Most Reds were stunned by the news that United had agreed to pay 5million for him this week, which was clearly way above what both the League and Sunderland thought he was worth.

However, it was typical of United's market dealings over the past two years, which have been unprecedentedly incompetent.

Perhaps it is no accident that the acronym for the formal title of United's holding company the 'Manchester United Group' is MUG.

Still, chin up: we've got ex-security chief Ned Kelly's kick 'n' tell book to enjoy very soon, court case allowing.

For, although we may not always get the best quality players here at OT, but we continue to enjoy the best quality scandal

Richard Kurt is deputy editor of 'Red Issue' magazine