After an impressive start to the current campaign, Darren Fletcher is said to be in line for a £1million a year pay rise.

The Scotland midfielder has been our best midfielder so far this season, out-shining the likes of Scholes, Carrick, Anderson and Giggs. His tireless performances have earned him praise from team mates and fans alike.

I used to rate him as simply a squad player like John O’Shea, but the difference between the two is that Fletcher wasn’t happy being a squad player and has worked hard to force his way into the first team and stay there. He’s now arguably the first name on the team sheet for the big games because it’s him that can be relied upon to perform out of our current crop of midfielders.

The News of the World are reporting that his 50 grand a week salary will be increased to 70 grand and you have to admit he’s earned it.

His current contract runs until 2012 and I wouldn’t mind at all if it was extended beyond that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUlTSUSnL4A

I bet it was him who did this miracle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl8jS9z_0...re=related

Shame he couldn't produce some magic against Villa!

- Following the media reports during the week that Anderson and Sir Alex Ferguson had a big bust up ahead of the Community Shield because he wasn’t picked, I can reveal that there is an element in truth to it. On the Friday before the Chelsea game Anderson kicked off massively with Federico Macheda on the training ground. The manager was not at all impressed and told Anderson he wouldn’t be playing at the weekend - something the player wasn’t happy about but did back down, contrary to reports in the press.

- Michael Owen is loving life at Manchester United and is ever so polite to all the staff - the admin ladies, the people who work at the canteen and those at the MU Foundation. He is friendly and professional with all those he comes in to contact with and still can’t quite believe we snapped him up.

- The players were not happy at having to attend the launch of the “incredible” Hublot clock in the carpark outside Old Trafford. Having to get in the gear and pose in front of some tacky clock was not high up on their list of things to do on Friday tea-time ahead of a big game. For those of you at the game yesterday, you will have noticed that one of the lights lining the stand had blown, adding to the shoddy look.

- Dimitar Berbatov is always very straight faced and doesn’t have many mates. When told to ‘cheer up’ and ‘look like he wanted to be here’ he responded by claiming that in his heart he was very happy and loved being here. He was told he was a very good actor then which did get him smiling!

- Whilst reports keep insisting Nemanja Vidic’s wife is unhappy in Manchester, it’s news to anyone at the club who has dealings with her. She’s always at the charity events with a smile on her face (something some of the other wives and girlfriends have a problem with - Gabby Heinze’s wife was a right bitch apparently!) and doesn’t appear to be at all unhappy.

- Nani isn’t sad about Ronaldo’s departure and like he said in the press, sees it as his chance to shine.

- New signing Obertan speaks perfect English, whilst Valencia really struggles to communicate and his only mate so far is Anderson.

"Everybody in the team watches a lot of movies, but with me it is a real hobby,” said Berbatov. “When you are a foreign player in another country sometimes you have a lot of time on your hands. I am always watching movies at home. If I wanted to, I could open a video store with my DVDs! At the moment, though, I am more into watching TV shows. I watch House and Entourage, and I’m waiting for the new series of Heroes and Lost. My favourite is House, I never miss an episode.”

Wayne Rooney recently joined an elite group of players who have scored one hundred goals for Manchester United. He has since claimed that he wants to stay at the club forever, which has sparked comments from Gary Neville, who reckons Rooney could one day become our all time top scorer.

Rooney is currently on 102 club goals which is still some way behind Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 249. Rooney’s strike rate is better than Charlton’s though, so if Rooney can stay fit and continue to thrive in his natural central position, who knows what he could achieve?


“There is a long time to go before he gets there but Wayne does have an opportunity to beat Bobby Charlton’s scoring record,” said Neville. “He will have to play a lot more games and stay clear of injury because that record has stood for many years and will be very difficult to break. But a player of his ability should score goals. He plays centre-forward for Manchester United. That points you in the right direction.”