OPINION: Manchester United are now the greatest club in English football history.
The most consistent premier club of the past two decades have taken the second to last straw Liverpool held over them, with the Merseysiders now clinging to their superior European Cup record as their last retort.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the second-greatest manager Old Blighty has seen behind Brian Clough, has now snared 12 championships in his unrelenting reign.
The fact that he has done at the same time he looks down his purple-toned nose at those living on the banks of the Mersey has been particularly galling for Liverpool fans, who have now gone 21 years without adding to their 18 league titles. "My greatest challenge is not what is happening right at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their (expletive) perch. And you can print that," Ferguson said in 2002.
Nine years on and he has done exactly that after United got the point they needed to snatch a 1-all draw with relegation threatened Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, albeit on the back of another controversial penalty. Title No 19 has not been the prettiest of Ferguson's dozen but the Scot will not care.
Style has never been the priority for Ferguson it has been for great rival Arsene Wenger.
Ferguson's demands on his players have never been complicated, he just wants them to work, work and keep working. Why else do you think they score so many late winners?
There will be those that argue that his success has been on the coat tails of so many fine players but the truth is Ferguson has turned many promising young footballer into world beaters, often on a much smaller budget than some of his most recent rivals.
It is amazing United had to wait 26 long, barren years for top-flight triumph before Ferguson grabbed his first in 1993, which could give clubs like Liverpool a small ray of hope.
What would give them more would be Ferguson doing what most 69-year-olds around the world are doing and retire.
You can't help but feel he is not finished with annoying the establishment just yet, though. Nor, you feel, has he finished sending Liverpool fans deeper into despair.
It was Clough who once said: "I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one." Maybe now that applies to Ferguson, though he will never admit it.
Speaking of Manchester, the blue half finally got to celebrate trophy success when they lifted the FA Cup.
It has been 35 years since City beat Newcastle United to win their last significant trophy, and even then it was only the League Cup.
They say money can't buy you love but it can buy you trophies. I suppose the question is whether winning one of the world's oldest was worth the billion or so bucks flown out from the desert?
It might to some under a blue moon but you feel the night sky will be red for some time yet.
- Taranaki Daily News
The most consistent premier club of the past two decades have taken the second to last straw Liverpool held over them, with the Merseysiders now clinging to their superior European Cup record as their last retort.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the second-greatest manager Old Blighty has seen behind Brian Clough, has now snared 12 championships in his unrelenting reign.
The fact that he has done at the same time he looks down his purple-toned nose at those living on the banks of the Mersey has been particularly galling for Liverpool fans, who have now gone 21 years without adding to their 18 league titles. "My greatest challenge is not what is happening right at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their (expletive) perch. And you can print that," Ferguson said in 2002.
Nine years on and he has done exactly that after United got the point they needed to snatch a 1-all draw with relegation threatened Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, albeit on the back of another controversial penalty. Title No 19 has not been the prettiest of Ferguson's dozen but the Scot will not care.
Style has never been the priority for Ferguson it has been for great rival Arsene Wenger.
Ferguson's demands on his players have never been complicated, he just wants them to work, work and keep working. Why else do you think they score so many late winners?
There will be those that argue that his success has been on the coat tails of so many fine players but the truth is Ferguson has turned many promising young footballer into world beaters, often on a much smaller budget than some of his most recent rivals.
It is amazing United had to wait 26 long, barren years for top-flight triumph before Ferguson grabbed his first in 1993, which could give clubs like Liverpool a small ray of hope.
What would give them more would be Ferguson doing what most 69-year-olds around the world are doing and retire.
You can't help but feel he is not finished with annoying the establishment just yet, though. Nor, you feel, has he finished sending Liverpool fans deeper into despair.
It was Clough who once said: "I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one." Maybe now that applies to Ferguson, though he will never admit it.
Speaking of Manchester, the blue half finally got to celebrate trophy success when they lifted the FA Cup.
It has been 35 years since City beat Newcastle United to win their last significant trophy, and even then it was only the League Cup.
They say money can't buy you love but it can buy you trophies. I suppose the question is whether winning one of the world's oldest was worth the billion or so bucks flown out from the desert?
It might to some under a blue moon but you feel the night sky will be red for some time yet.
- Taranaki Daily News
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