Tetchy Fergie running out of places to hide

THEY can dodge the questions but there is no hiding from the increasingly troublesome answers for Manchester United.

Aside from a tetchy Champions League press conference in Valencia, Alex Ferguson has not spoken to the written press since the build-up to the Liverpool match in mid-September after being enraged at the way his post-match television interview was used.

After United stumbled to a fifth draw in eight Premier League matches, television and radio interviewers were informed they could not ask Ferguson why Wayne Rooney, who last week contradicted his manager’s claims that he had an ankle injury, was left on the bench for 71 minutes.

He will have little choice but to face up to his inquisitors when he previews Wednesday’s match with Bursaspor as apparently there is a little more respect for UEFA than there is for the Premier League.

Perhaps he will tell us that Rooney was being rested ahead of a Champions League game against a side that was undone by the ingenuity of Rangers’ 5-4-1 formation in their last European fixture.

Media relations reaching new depths are just an indication of the way things are at Old Trafford these days, with many supporters wondering how their team are going to finish above City, let alone challenge for the title.

In their last two title-winning seasons, their defence covered for a multitude of problems but that certainty has evaporated to the extent that United do not consider a side like West Brom ‘killed off’ when they have a two-goal lead at half time at home.

This wasn’t the first time united squandered a lead this season.

On the contrary, they have made a habit of it.

The longer this goes on, the harder it is to claim that it is not just how things are. They led 2-1 at Fulham with six minutes left and drew, went into injury time with a 3-1 lead at Everton and drew and let a two-goal slip even against a struggling Liverpool side before winning 3-2.

Ten points have already slipped away and the concerning aspect for United supporters is that, while they can not expected to win every match, three wins out of eight against the opposition they have faced is a dreadful record.

They have beaten Newcastle, West Ham and Liverpool but have not had enough to pick up three points against Fulham, Everton, Bolton, Sunderland and now West Brom.

As well as the problems in their strongest area their attacking power has regressed significantly since the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

With Antonio Valencia sidelined for some time, Ryan Giggs struggling with hamstring problems, Nani looks like United’s only sole creative player.

“We need to start killing games off,” United defender Patrice Evra said. “I remember talking about the same thing after we played Liverpool saying I hope we don’t give away a lead again like we did that day, but we did it again.

“We have two choices – either we accept it or we don’t accept it and I think it’s the moment to not accept it.

“It’s not Manchester United. We need to work hard and show our character and I’m confident we can do that.”

Such a damning run-down of the situation hardly seemed credible when United burst into a two-goal lead by the mid-point of the first half on Saturday.

Javier Hernandez showed great anticipation to tap in after Scott Carson’s poor attempt to save Nani’s free kick before the Portuguese scored himself after swapping passes with Dimitar Berbatov.

But after the break, Chris Brunt’s free kick deflected off Evra and beat Edwin van der Sar at the near post.

Then Van der Sar inexplicably spilled a routine Brunt cross for Tchoyi to touch in to an empty net and in the half hour that followed, Carson was not particularly stretched and in the end Brom deserved their point.

“We thought Rooney was going to play, but we knew there were some things going on with his foot and stuff like that,” Jonas Olsson said.

“But this is Manchester United. Rooney is an important player, but whoever replaces him is a good player too, so we had to adapt to that.

“When you look back on our last season in the Premier League, we lost 4-0 and 5-0 to United, so coming here is as tough as it gets but everyone was up for it, especially after our result at the Emirates.

“I’m a bit sick that, every time we get a good result, people say that United or Arsenal or City didn’t have a good day. Well I think we deserve some credit as well.”