Sir Alex hopes Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov’s flourishing partnership can fire Man Utd to glory during the second half of the campaign.

The pair have linked up brilliantly this season with Berbatov in particular enjoying a memorable campaign to date as Man Utd’s and the league’s top scorer.

Rooney may not have been quite firing on all cylinders in front of goal – he hasn’t netted from open play since March, but he has still made a valuable contribution to the Reds’ quest for silverware and his partnership with Berbatov appears to be going from strength to strength, much to his manager’s delight.

“Some of their combination play has been terrific and we’re very pleased at that,” said Sir Alex.

“Dimitar’s in his third season here and it’s maybe because he’s more adjusted to the type of player Rooney is [that things are working well].

“Dimitar’s performances have been terrific and his confidence is sky high; he probably doesn’t think he can miss at the moment. It’s a confidence thing with strikers – when they are scoring they never think they’re going to miss and when they’re not they never think they’ll score.

“Wayne needs a goal and it will come. His performance level has been good, we’re happy with that and his work rate is as it always is, he’s such an energetic lad. The goals will come, there is no question about that. He just needs to keep that belief in himself.”



Source: manutd.com

Hello another newbie, just wanted to say hi to everyone here. Looking forward to watching the Sunderland game and having some good chats regarding utd, football etc.

Hope you all enjoy the game
Regards
Seb

Sir Alex Ferguson is happy to be top of the league at Christmas – and determined still to be there after Man Utd’s busy run of festive fixtures.

Quote:Steve McClaren has been given a vote of confidence by German side Wolfsburg, despite the former England manager admitting they had "hit rock bottom".

McClaren's team were booed off after losing to Energie Cottbus in Germany's DFB-Pokal cup competition on Wednesday.

Wolfsburg have struggled since the Englishman took over in May and currently lie 13th in the Bundesliga.

But managing director Dieter Hoeness said they would be making changes to the team rather than the manager.

In a statement, Hoeness vowed: "We will clean up. With this team and its make-up there can be no long-lasting success."

The former Bayern Munich and Germany striker said McClaren would be given a new fitness coach, while players Karim Ziani and Caiuby would be dropped to the reserves.

McClaren had earlier admitted there were "problems in the dressing room".

Hoeness added: "We said eight weeks ago that the attitude should change. It was about passion, willingness to run and one-on-ones. We did not see a response so that is why we must act.

"We expect from the coaches (when the team meets on 2 January) to punish severely any wrong behaviour on or off the pitch."

Hoeness said fans should expect major changes to the squad after the winter break, admitting: "The road down which we will go may be painful for some of them."

Quote:Inter Milan have parted company with manager Rafael Benitez just over six months after appointing the Spaniard.

The move follows Benitez asking for backing from the board to buy players following the Serie A side's Club World Cup win over TP Mazembe last Saturday.

A statement on Inter's website said "a mutually satisfactory agreement for the early termination of his [Benitez's] contract" had been agreed.

Benitez took over from Jose Mourinho at the San Siro in June.

Mourinho, who left for Real Madrid, led Inter to the Serie A title, the Italian Cup and the Champions League glory last season and left his successor with a hard act to follow.

Benitez was named Inter manager a week after leaving Liverpool on 3 June and, although he had injuries to key players to contend with, the 50-year-old's exploits have not helped his cause.

Inter are 13 points behind Serie A leaders and arch-rivals AC Milan and struggling for form.

Although they have two games in hand on the teams above them in the league table, the Nerazzurri are languishing in seventh place having won only six of their 15 league games.

In defence of their Champions League crown, Inter could only finish as group runners-up behind Tottenham to leave them facing a difficult tie against Bayern Munich in the last 16.

Even though Inter won the Club World Cup by beating TP Mazembe, it did not leave Benitez in a strong enough position to survive his outburst after the match.