Tis the season to win one nil

Well, there's much to catch up on...

Firstly the World Club Cup.

The first match was a typical exhibition affair. Do enough, get the job done, then open the game up and give the fans what they want. Nothing more really needs to be said.

The final was a much more tough affair. Quito were clearly right up for it and the fact that this competition means a lot to the South American teams was shown by the ferocity of some of the tackling and, at full time, Cevallos lying against the post, sobbing into his gloves. The game itself was nothing to write home about, but I felt we were comfortable even after going down to ten men. Therein lies a major worry come true over this competition; Vidic is now suspended for at least the away leg of the CL match and very possibly the home leg and the next game, too.

Jonny Evans has been more than capable when deputising this season, as he has done often in the CL, but the theatre of the San Siro on a heated European night is a step up again. I have confidence in my fellow countryman though, he looks a real prospect and has eased my worries about depth at CB since Pique left in the summer.

However, we returned with no major injuries and as world champions (though this title doesn't actually mean anything unless another English team has won it first, apparently) so as long as there was no knock on effect in the league, no short term damage will have been done.

Then we had the two demolitions(!!!) in the league of Stoke and Middlesbrough. The Stoke game was everything you could have expected it to be. They got stuck in all game long, especially on Ronaldo (whose petulant flick could/should have been punished) and Rooney, who was also lucky to escape punishment after what looked like an arm swung in the direct of Abdoulaye Faye. I don't agree with Ferguson's constant bleating for protection for his flair players but Stoke were clearly on a wind-up mission and our players need to learn to expect it and if it does happen, approach the referee with the captain and outline their thoughts. Believe it or not, a ref may respond to this kind of approach. The goal was an excellent move, culminating in my two favouritist of all time in the world ever players linking up for what was a worthy winner.

The Boro game should have been a much more cut and dry affair, but I felt instantly worried by the fact that Tevez had disappeared back to Argentina on family matters. I then got asked for ID in Old Trafford when trying to buy a Bud to drown the worry away. The fact I hate beer and that a bottle of this swill costs £3 should show just how nervous I was to be purchasing it, especially with my proximity to fans of the Teesside-club in everyday life, but being asked for ID? I'm 25, for what it's worth. Ah well, “it's a compliment”. The game itself ran the course of the majority of our season. Controlled the game, couldn't score. I sent a text message to a mate saying “We're never scoring here” about 30 seconds before Berbatov volleyed in the winner. Anti-scud. Nice. Although the words “barn door” spring to mind, I thought Ji Sung Park had a great game which is very important as he always seems to get games in the Champions League away from home when graft is as necessary as guile.

The FA Cup game on Sunday past was textbook, pretty much. Absolutely coasted it and goals for Welbeck, Nani and Gibson should give a lift to some of the younger players looking to establish themselves. All may well feature tomorrow night against Derby. Lots of bleating about our “offside” goal which wasn't actually offside, and to think people pay these commentators and pundits that much money. The incident is certainly a lot more complex than being just about where Welbeck was when O'Shea touched the ball. As O'Shea meets the ball, is Welbeck gaining an advantage by being offside? No, he doesn't interfere with the Southampton defenders running back or with the goalkeeper. Then when he does come into play (after a save is made) he is clearly onside, behind two defenders. He gained no advantage, came back onside before having any impact on play and is thus onside. The penalty decision was probably wrong but someone in the wall shouldn't jump with his arm raised like that lest he ask for a decision like that. Now we have Spurs in the next round. What? Us draw a Premier League club in the FA Cup? Never! At least it's a home.

The league cup game against Derby this week should be a formality after their very fortuitous victory over Forest Green at the weekend. They appear as a club in disarray, having never really recovered from their disastrous spell in the Premier League last year, and are currently managerless after the resignation of Paul Jewell. Hopefully we'll see appearances from the likes of Possebon, Rafael, Nani, Evans, Foster and Tevez as all need games at present.

Transfer news... after confirming that we won't be buying in January, Ferguson went out and bought Tosic and Ljajic for a reported £16.3m. There isn't much else to say about them. Hopefully Tosic puts real pressure on the likes of Ronaldo, Park and Nani for a spot on the wing. Competition for places shouldn't worry players, it should inspire them and the two Portuguese players seem to need inspiration at present. Bambi will stay at Partizan until next January to aid his footballing development. If the fee is true, I hope this wasn't to the detriment of money available for a forward (be that sealing the Tevez deal or someone else.).

On Tevez, over Christmas I seem to have warmed to him. Some of the statements he has made have been very promising though he has come out today and accused us of playing games over his contract. I would assume this means that we're still haggling with his owners, possibly over how the balance for him would be paid in installments and so on. Time will tell.