Fergie finally comes unstuck

“ONE game too far,” was how one interviewer described this stunning loss to the Premier League’s bottom-placed club, and it was an assessment that Alex Ferguson, with all his 70 years’ experience, was forced to agree with.

For a number of weeks, Ferguson has chopped, changed and stuck together his weakened team with sticking plasters yet somehow not only maintained pace at the top of the table with neighbours Manchester City but actually gained acres of lost ground.

An impressive 5-0 St Stephen’s Day win over Wigan saw Ferguson field a less-then-impressive (on paper at least) central midfield pairing of Ryan Giggs and Darron Gibson, with Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick concluding the game in the centre of defence.