muckypups

From The Times, Saturday:

Summer Sales

BOLTON Wanderers manager Sammy Lee wants to make Fulham midfielder Michael Brown his first major signing of the summer. Brown, who will start the new season suspended following a three-match ban, is keen to leave Craven Cottage and would relish a return to the north west. Lee has been given funds to spend and is willing to meet Fulham's valuation of £3 million.

Liverpool want to raid Blackburn Rovers for new striking sensation Matt Derbyshire. Derbyshire has impressed in his first full Premiership season and Rafa Benitez is keen to take him to Anfield. Blackburn, however, look set to resist a £4m bid from the Merseyside club.

Thierry Henry could be poised to finally leave Arsenal and join Barcelona in a £30m deal. The French forward has become disillusioned at the Emirates Stadium following the departure of vice-chairman David Dein and has failed to secure the assurances he craves about the club's ambitions for next season.

The Spanish giants have been chasing Henry for five seasons and are willing to match Arsenal's valuation of the former Juventus player in what would be the biggest transfer of the close season.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is willing to offer Titus Bramble a Premiership lifeline. The defender has been released from Newcastle United following the arrival of Sam Allardyce as manager, but Redknapp is keen to add him to his squad and could need him as a possible replacement for Sol Campbell, who looks set to travel in the opposite direction.

Redknapp is also putting together an ambitious bid to lure Jermain Defoe to Fratton Park. The Tottenham Hotspur forward has struggled to hold down a regular starting place in Martin Jol's side and the Dutch manager is also keen to sign Darren Bent from Charlton if the asking price remains realistic.

Jol, meanwhile, is ready to challenge Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson for the signature of Southampton left back Gareth Bale.

Bale's departure from the south coast club is regarded as inevitable following their failure to win promotion this season and while Bale is keen to go to Old Trafford, he has not dismissed a potential switch to White Hart Lane. Bale is valued at £6m.

Craig Bellamy is being touted as Carlos Tevez's replacement at West Ham United. Tevez is expected to leave Upton Park this summer, with a host of European clubs jostling for his siagnature. Alan Curbishley has now made unsettled Liverpool forward Bellamy his main target. Bellamy would cost the Hammers around £8m, with Curbishley willing to offer him a deal worth £60,000-a-week.

Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele is poised to leave Stamford Bridge and join Spanish club Villarreal, while West Ham forward Bobby Zamora is wanted by Atletico Madrid.

I love Cup Final day...

From The Telegraph:

United look to finish off wounded Chelsea

Manchester United have been staying at the crenellated Berkshire manor house where the pig-tailed terrors of St Trinian's ran riot, seeing off all-comers, and their kindred spirits, Ronaldo and Rooney, Scholes and Giggs, threaten similar mayhem today.

Pace and skill, rather than hockey and lacrosse sticks, will be United's weapons of choice, although Rooney looks the type to conceal a catapult down one of his socks. When Sir Alex Ferguson's title-winners board their coach outside Oakley Court, where the St Trinian's series was filmed, they will travel hopefully to Wembley, knowing they possess the individual flair to defeat Chelsea. Whether they boast the collective fortitude to kill off opponents Ferguson describes as "wounded animals'' is another matter.

Chelsea are hurting, smarting at the loss of their Premiership trophy to United. The feeling of ill-will is not simply confined to the fans - Jose Mourinho upset Ronaldo; Ferguson has irritated Frank Lampard; If Scholes survives the day without receiving a booking it will be another extraordinary chapter in the season's tales of the unexpected. The new Wembley, with its vaulting metal structure piercing the capital's skyline, makes a fitting venue for these arch-rivals.

Mourinho's team talk will be simple. Stand up to the champions. Fight the favourites for the Cup. It is time for his team, his talents like Lampard, Didier Drogba and Joe Cole to reclaim the limelight otherwise the deification of United will continue unabated. The feting of Ferguson's side has been long and loud, rightly so because of the magnificence of the football flowing from the happy feet of their awesome attacking foursome.

Ronaldo has bewitched defenders and audiences alike this season. "His strokes of artistry put paint on the canvas," Ferguson enthused with typical eloquence in paying tribute to his No 7 at the scribes' Footballer of the Year bash in London on Thursday. Ronaldo received a standing ovation from those who painted him as the villain behind England's World Cup exit.

He has displayed real "courage" and "the heart of a lion", as Ferguson put it, to keep taking on opponents this season, however bruising the reception committee. This high-speed streak of luminosity will love today's grand stage, and particularly the chance to run at Chelsea's full-backs, Paulo Ferreira and Wayne Bridge, who has held off the challenge of Ashley Cole.

Ronaldo's strength is formidable, too. "I have worked hard this season, not only on football but physically as well, and it's helped me,'' he observed. Rooney, another attacker difficult to shrug off the ball, will also drift wide, seeking to drag John Terry or Michael Essien out of the centre, opening up space for quick-thinking colleagues such as Scholes to burst into. On parade again today, Rooney's touch, vision and selflessness are an impressive example to all youngsters hoping to scale the heights

It is impossible to stop the tributes flowing. Scholes, all dexterity and guile, has scored sensational goals and created havoc with his accurate delivery this season. The ageless Giggs, football's Peter Panache, continues to win friends and trophies. Eulogies everywhere.

So Mourinho will tell his players that it is time to silence the songs of praise heard across the land for United. It is time to prove their worth. Spines like Chelsea's, stretching from Petr Cech in goal through John Terry and Lampard to Drogba, do not come much stronger. Some backbone. Some resilience. Such characters will find their pride particularly piqued by the Cup final billing of Dead Men Walking versus Red Men Running.

The season has been long, hard and frustrating for Chelsea. They were caught out by United's charge, by debilitating injuries and tensions between board and dug-out, but they have enough heavyweight performers to hit back this afternoon.

Accepted wisdom is that finals fall to those who seize midfield, so controlling the supply lines. The destiny of this trophy may come down to who wins one particular duel, however - the bone-jarring collision of Drogba and Nemanja Vidic. United's muscular Serbian centre-half admitted that "it is hard to play against a great player" like Drogba, yet he did not sound too daunted.

United fans keep showing their appreciation for Vidic with a rather lively chant that climaxes "he will murder you". Although reassuringly stressing that "I am not a killer", Vidic understood the logic behind the lyrics, adding: "The fans recognise I give 100 per cent all the time."

Vidic must concentrate like a hawk against Drogba, who can out-run and out-muscle markers. The pair should spend much of the afternoon bumping into each other, particularly at corners. Such set-pieces could prove key. Terry and Ronaldo also have the jumping ability to make their mark when the ball is dropped into the box.

Those hoping for the sort of drama that Liverpool and West Ham conjured up last year may be disappointed, although there should at least be enough entertainment to take fans' minds off Wembley's shamelessly inflated prices for merchandising, food and drink, and any travel difficulties.

Blue eyes will doubtless turn to Joe Cole for much of Chelsea's invention. With Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick holding midfield for United, Chelsea will need some touches of magic to spirit the ball through crowded enemy territory. Cole can provide it.

"We want to see a good Cup final that represents the English game the right way," Ferguson said. It would be wonderful if the headlines revolved around the good, rather than the bad and the ugly (as at the Snarling Cup final). Yet it would be a major surprise if some controversy did not stain the occasion: a clattering, a dive, a spat. Football's dark arts will be on display.

Chelsea look exhausted but they should have enough guts for one final shot at glory, possibly via penalties. One thing is guaranteed: it will be a feisty affair. The most expensive lawn in the world is no place for shrinking violets. As the St Trinian's song exhorted: "Grab the nearest weapon, never mind which one."

"Oh You Pretty Things" David Bowie

Are you a Farang? Where do you socialise?.. I suspect/hope that your comment is a wind-up.. if not..

I certainly would never recommend any Farang, probably cos all the Farangs I see in Thailand are total rubbish.

Really..? You must mix with a very nefarious crowd..

Strange things Parrots...

Police are hunting a blue-throated Amazon parrot called Chelsea who screeches when anyone mentions Manchester United, stolen from its owner's garden this week.

The family pet, which is tame and able to tell people its name, was taken from a home in the English Midlands on Tuesday night, apparently after having been bundled into a towel stolen from the washing line.

"I think it was stolen to order ... I don't think someone would just steal a parrot for a pet," its owner Richard Threadgold told AFP, confirming that the bird emits a "high-pitched screech" when Manchester United is mentioned.

"We are avid Chelsea fans, that's how he got the name, and my son used to taunt it by saying 'Manchester United' at it every time he went past the cage," leading it to develop the unusual reaction, he said.

The family bought the bird five years ago for 600 pounds, and is considering offering a reward if no progress is made in finding it within the next few days, he said.

Police confirmed in a statement that the bird had been stolen sometime overnight Tuesday, adding that the family's car had also been broken into.

Threadgold said he hopes Chelsea's football-related verbal quirk will help detectives identify the bird -- and dismissed any suggestion that the thieves stole it because of its team affiliation.

"I don't think they would pinch our parrot just because of its banter," he said.

It's outrageous.. I'm self-employed and I'm sacking myself immediately...

I don't want to hijack the Chelsea thread Soihok and my apologies to Seapok. However, United may not have been at their best in the match against West Ham but we still did enough to win it.. goal line clearances, good goalkeeping and yes, tired players meant that West Ham got the result. Fact is, United started that match with 8 of the team that defeated Roma 7-1.. of the three missing only Ferdinand played no part.. and we were a lesser side (IMO) in the second half after Giggs and Ronaldo came on. You cannot blame Ferguson, when playing at home, for being unable to beat relegation candidates.. bear in mind, Sheffield United lost to Wigan, at home..

Who knows?..They might even go BUST..

"Life in the Fast Lane" The Eagles

"If both teams can have an attacking and positive spirit, we can make the game a real final. I will be very sad if the final is not a good event, with a good winner and a proud loser."

Spot on.. I really hope it's a great game..

Thanks for the article Seapok. It seems that Fergie and Mourinho are as bad, or good, as each other when it comes to wind-ups...

(Hard to forget the famous Keegan outburst some years ago.. a classic.. )

Thanks again Muckypups for the posts, I must start buying the mail but then again I'm not that old! haha

Me neither!.. well, maybe just a bit..

Blimey, with a CV like that I'm amazed the Scousers didn't sign him..

steady on muckypups

Just a bit of pre Cup Final banter scousemouse.. no offence intended..

Ferguson could be thwarted as Bale leans to Spurs

Tottenham seem to have gained the upper hand in their battle with Manchester United to sign the Wales defender Gareth Bale, with the 17-year-old left-back understood to be leaning towards a move to White Hart Lane.

Southampton accepted a bid from Tottenham during the January transfer window but the teenager, mindful that United were also interested and keen to finish the season on the south coast, opted to stay at St Mary's. With the Saints failing to win promotion, however, his departure is now regarded as inevitable. His future is expected to be discussed at St Mary's next week, with north London emerging as the most likely destination.

Spurs are keen to add a left-sided player to their squad and it is believed that Bale has been made aware of the financial package on offer. He was shown around White Hart Lane in January and, although United's interest has flattered the teenager, the opportunity to play regularly may be a decisive factor in his decision.

And...:

Arsenal's captain, Thierry Henry, was reported last night to have told team-mates that he plans to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer, though his manager, Arsène Wenger, insisted a week ago that the striker would not be sold. Barcelona are keen to buy Henry, having been turned down by him a year ago, and their president, Joan Laporta, has privately expressed confidence in achieving that.

Bolton have signed the Slovakia Under-21 international Zoltan Harsanyi. The 19-year-old is Sammy Lee's first signing since becoming manager and has agreed a three-year deal after impressing on loan.

Claus Jensen has left Fulham, criticising the manager Lawrie Sanchez's tactics. "The long-ball game has been pretty much what we've been doing and that isn't my kind of football," he said.

The Chilean winger Mark Gonzalez has hinted that he may be leaving Liverpool. "I have a three-year contract but you never know," he said. "I would like to stay next season and beyond but it has not been the best year for me."

"Another Runaway Song" Reggie and the Full Effect (with thanks to Google )

Anyone else being prevented from accessing a wide range of websites today

Not sure about prevented.. but I'm having trouble accessing a number of sites (BBC, British newspapers, etc..) I'm with TT&T.. As to why; no idea.. guess it'll sort itself out in the end..

"Runaway Train" Soul Asylum

The Sun on Evra...

Streetfighter and a shoplifter

PATRICE EVRA goes for an FA Cup winner’s medal against Chelsea tomorrow knowing football saved him from a life of crime.

The Manchester United left-back, 26, went wild on the streets of Paris as a teenager. Close pal Mamadou Niakate has told how Evra formed part of a gang that went on regular shoplifting raids.

He also took part in bare-knuckle street fights with rival tearaways, openly begged for money and reformed only after being arrested and hauled off to a police station.

Evra, born in Senegal the son of a diplomat, was brought to France aged three.

His family settled in Les Ulis, the poor Parisian suburb which produced Thierry Henry, and that is where he met and grew up with Niakate — now a respected coach for the local town team.

Niakate said: “When I see what Patrice has achieved, the self-discipline he has acquired, I admire him so much.

“We were a gang of around 10 kids and there just wasn’t enough money to go round, though Patrice’s mum did her best. She raised a large family on her own with help from social security.

“It was obvious from the start Patrice was a fantastic footballer, so brave and quick for a small boy.

“Unfortunately, we got up to no good once we had finished playing. A gang of us used to catch the train to the big shopping centres in Les Halles in central Paris.

“We became quite expert at nicking things to sell once we got back home. We hung around the city all night, riding fairgrounds, trying to get into clubs and ending up in the sandwich bars.

“Patrice and I often got the first train in the morning back home at around 6am.

“Patrice always seemed to have the most energy and was one of the best at getting shoppers to give us money.

“There was a baker’s just next to the College des Amonts, which we both attended. Patrice stood outside and asked for a franc or two when people came out.

“The way we lived wasn’t anything we were ashamed of at the time. It seemed the thing to do. This was a rough area with murders, rapes, drugs and hold-ups.

“I suppose we were pretty hard lads. When we had teachers who gave us a bad time, we slashed their car tyres until they found a job somewhere else.

“Not that Patrice was very keen on studying. He used to bunk off quite a few times.

“All he really wanted to be was a footballer.

“When he was just a tiny 13-year-old, he was tackling men of 23. The losers had to buy the pizzas and those guys would rather break your leg than pay out.

“The only times I saw Patrice cry was when he lost at football.”

The crunch came when the gang were caught stealing by store detectives and arrested.

Niakate added: “Our parents were finally called to collect us and take us home. We were all scared stiff and lucky it never went to court.

“Patrice’s mum was so mad she threatened to send him back to Senegal. That really frightened Patrice.”

Luckily, Evra’s football skills rescued him.

After playing for local clubs Les Ulis and Bretigny, he was taken by an agent to Italy.

Evra suffered racist abuse and was paid just £20 a week by Third Division Marsala

Then came a move to Second Division Monza, on to Nice and, finally, in September 2002, a switch to Monaco and a place in the side beaten 3-0 by Porto in the 2004 Champions League final.

United bought him for £5.5m in January 2006.

His wages have helped him buy his mum a home back in Senegal and he is still loyal to his old pals. He invited 10, including Niakate, to Old Trafford for the Champions League showdown with AC Milan.

Evra acknowledged before joining United: “Football took me out of a life of delinquency. It’s true that, at 16, I was almost sent back to my uncles in Senegal.

“I stole things, I got into fights and even asked for money at the door of the bread shop. It is something I regret and I now want to build something stable.”

Streetfighter and a shoplifter !!

Blimey, with a CV like that I'm amazed the Scousers didn't sign him...

"All the Way from America" Joan Armatrading

The Times on Ronaldo...:

How a boy fulfilled an island of dreams

Tearful in defeat but talented in the extreme, Cristiano Ronaldo instilled pride in family and friends on his journey to fame and fortune

Alberto João Jardim was reelected as president of Madeira 12 days ago and one of his first decisions was to have Cristiano Ronaldo’s former house knocked down. Three days into his new term of office, a digger duly arrived and flattened it. “Maybe they will build a statue there,” Hugo, Ronaldo’s elder brother, said, sarcasm ringing in his voice. But it just so happens that the razing of Ronaldo’s house is a compliment, albeit a peculiar one.

You do not have to look far for such compliments on this lush Atlantic island. The “favourite son” cliché he fulfils to the letter, though the competition is not exactly tough. No one here can recall another person to have stepped from its sleepy shores into world reknown. Someone mentioned a poet but could not recall the name. And the football diehards also recall Chino Termura, Petita and Nelson Fer-reira, players of a bygone generation who made the leap to the mainland but landed in the drinking establishments and left their reputations there.

So feelings for Ronaldo here are as warm as the sun. But beyond natural local pride, you could hardly find a more genuine compliment than that being paid just 30 metres down the road from the rubble of his home, in Bar Falcão, an unlovely, everyday, working-class bar run by Miguel Andrade, who has known Ronaldo since they were boys.

“We all grew up with a dream and Cristiano is making it come true,” he said. The day his friend signed for Manchester United, Andrade told him he wanted to be there when he won the Premiership and at the start of last week two tickets duly arrived for the match against West Ham United.

Andrade went with Hugo and Dolores, Ronaldo’s mother, and had his picture taken with Wayne Rooney, Alan Smith and celebrity celebrant Jus-tin Timberlake. His most prized piece of footage is the video of the fireworks blasting and the stadium announcer calling out Ronaldo’s name. He now has it playing on a loop on the bar TV.

“He always comes back here,” Andrade said. And this is the point, the same one made by other clientele and other childhood friends. Once tomorrow’s FA Cup Final is done, Ronaldo will be back here playing pool with them again. It is a decade since he departed Madeira in pursuit of his dream, but he never really left.

So the two most famous Portuguese faces at Wembley tomorrow will not divide the punters here. They, too, find José Mourinho’s tongue a turn-off and when he called their Ronaldo “ill-edu-cated” they laughed at the irony that he also dubbed him “disrespectful”.

When Ronaldo comes back, Jardim invariably indulges in a photo opportunity. He is simply too big to miss. The President even attended Ronaldo’s father’s funeral. On an island where there is little news, Ronaldo is a massive headline – and that is why his old house had to go.

Mourinho’s comments hardly helped, but so frequently had pictures of the small building with its corrugated iron roof been published in newspapers around the world that it was deemed bad publicity. Madeira is no tin-shack island – that is the message. And for the record, Ronaldo long ago bought a far lovelier house for his mother, but it is still a short drive from Miguel’s bar.

So first let us nail those slurs on his education. His school in Madeira, Escola de São João, is a church school and thus strong on discipline and morality, and popular with all stratas of society. His former head teacher recalls in particular Ronaldo’s fine performance in the lead role of a school play about St Francis of Assisi. She says that she always suspected he rushed his homework in order to play football, but that he passed every year.

His sister, Elma, tells a similar story. “He was always in the street playing football,” she said. “The whole family told him to pay attention to his school-work, but he’d just stay in the street with his ball. But it was a good school. The only year that he did fail was when he was 11, when he moved to the mainland, to Sporting Lisbon.”

As for the popular depiction of an upbringing in Third World poverty, that is an exaggeration. Their father was a gardener, their mother a cook. “We worked for a living like everyone did,” Elma said proudly. “Cristiano didn’t have Nike shoes, but it’s not as if he was playing football in bare feet.”

“He was 6 when I got my first job, making aluminium window frames,” Hugo said. “And when Elma started working, too, we did get a better, more stable life. When I got home from work it was 9.30pm and he’d still be there kicking the ball against the wall and I’d have to tell him to go home.”

On the pitch back then, he is remembered for a similar single-mindedness. From his local team, he joined the academy of Nacional, the Madeira club, and neither can recall him enduring a single defeat without crying. “When they were losing, he’d be playing and crying at the same time,” Pedro Talhinhas, his coach at Nacional, said. “We’d talk to him about it but it was his will to win – it overcame his will to contain his tears.

“He was a natural leader, too, even of the boys two years older than him who he was playing with. But he had this troublesome temperament and would get angry and shout at them when he was losing.”

Goncalo Filipe, his former teammate, said: “I certainly remember the crying. We had a very good group and sometimes we’d hug him and tell him not to cry, but it didn’t make any difference. It makes me so proud to know I played with him and that he comes from Madeira.”

These days, Filipe plays third division football and works in a drinks-bot-tling plant. Of that Nacional academy side, the striker is now a mechanic, the captain a truck driver and the goal-keeper sells air-conditioning units. No one else made it in football – or even off the island.

What was special about Ronaldo? Talhinhas acknowledges that he was as good a junior as he ever had, but returns to this burning inner desire. “For someone from this small island to leave home for Sporting Lisbon so young was a very big step,” he said. “He had to go – he needed to be with other players as good as him. But I was concerned for him. Very often he’d say he wanted to come home. But he never gave up the dream.”

He mentions another boy, Steve Andrade, who was at Nacional’s big rivals, MarÍtimo, the same age as Ronaldo and rated his equal. Andrade, too, was offered an early ticket to the mainland, but opted to stay. Tomorrow, he will turn out for Madeira’s third division side, União. And the hearts and television sets of Madeira will be far away with Ronaldo at Wembley.

Another longish piece from The Mail on Peter Cech.. but if anybody deserves it's him.. A very courageous man IMO

Now Cech is aiming to teach boyhood idol Edwin a lesson

Among the messages of support Petr Cech received when he was recovering from brain surgery last year was a fax signed by everyone in the Manchester United team.

For the most part the names on the sheet represented respected, sympathetic fellow professionals and sometime rivals for the Chelsea goalkeeper.

But 36-year-old Edwin van der Sar’s stood out as a player Cech had been influenced by as a child.

The FA Cup Final, in which the pair will face each other at Wembley on Saturday, never made it on to his TV as grew up in then Communist-run Czechoslovakia.

Yet the Champions League Final was different story and Cech has vivid memories of Van der Sar helping kick Ajax to glory in 1995 against AC Milan in Vienna.

He said: “At that time he was a great example when the new rule came in that meant goalkeepers could not pick up back passes. Everybody could see that he was playing well with both feet and they were using him a lot.

“He showed that in the future everyone should develop their kicking. When he played in that final I was 13 and for me he was a good example for one of the ways I should work. In this aspect he was the one who caught my eye.”

Cech’s footwork is one of the many impressive parts of his game and when he lists Peter Schmeichel and Gianluigi Buffon as other goalkeeping influences, it helps explain his rounded style.

Many at Chelsea, and beyond, have little doubt the club would have retained their Premiership title if their No1 keeper had not missed the start and the middle of the season recovering from a shoulder operation and fractured skull. Cech would more than likely been voted the league’s best goalkeeper too, but instead the award went to Dutchman Van der Sar.

The Czech international said: “I voted for him. He had a great season and you always need a good goalkeeper to be successful. They won the league and he was solid for the whole campaign.”

Although the form of the keepers on Saturday could be decisive, most United watchers expect the difference to come in attacking play.

United are less cautious than Jose Mourinho’s team and have a wealth of creative talent which Chelsea lack.

Arjen Robben’s absence after his knee operation in March emphasised the point and on Saturday he may only be able to offer his side a 20-minute burst.

The Dutch winger warned the fitness and guile of the man he was almost bought from PSV to replace three years ago at Old Trafford, Ryan Giggs, could be one of Chelsea’s biggest problems at Wembley.

Robben said: “When I was younger and started to watch English football a little bit more I was quite a fan of him.

“He’s had a great career and even now even though he’s 33 he looks so fit and sharp still. He can win games for United.

“Maybe he’s lost pace but he makes up for it with experience. It’s the perfect example of it this season. He was one of the most important players for United in winning the league.”

Cech hopes to keep the Welshman quiet and celebrate another clean sheet when he turns 25 years old on Sunday.

His family are coming over from the Czech Republic for the game but, unlike most foreign players who come to England, they cannot claim any longstanding love affair with the FA Cup.

Cech only viewed his first full final four years ago — Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Southampton, which featured Ashley Cole. He was with with Rennes in France at the time and he is relieved his friends back home will be able him in his debut Final.

He said: “In the past few years the Cup Final has been on telly in the Czech Republic, thank God. You have got so many fans of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal because of Tomas Rosicky, so I am happy they can see the Final.

“I never had the chance to watch the FA Cup growing up because in the former Czechoslovakia at that time it wasn’t on.

“You couldn’t see any Premiership games and there were just the highlights in a sports bulletin for like 40 seconds, you could see only goals.”

His experience could not have been more different from Mourinho’s, for whom watching the Cup Final was one of the annual football highlights of his childhood.

The Portuguese used to dream of winning the trophy and enjoyed about how special the FA Cup Final is but when you cannot see the game you don’t realise.

“When I saw the first game I realised how much it meant to the players and the fans to be in the final.

“Before I came to England I didn’t know much about the FA Cup but since I arrived it has been incredible and now I understand.”

Mourinho is considering bringing back Ashley Cole and playing Wayne Bridge in front of him in midfield.

Michael Ballack is out, Robben and John Obi Mikel are doubtful and the absence of defender Ricardo Carvalho is likely to force Michael Essien into the back four.

Mourinho said: “Ashley or Bridge — I have to make my decision. Who knows, I could play with both because Bridge can also play in midfield and we are struggling with players there.”

Mikel is determined to play despite suffering a hamstring problem last weekend but the Portuguese doubts his ability to come through 90 minutes and the same goes for Robben, who has made one substitute appearance since knee surgery in March.

Mourinho said: “If Ashley and Robben are fit from the body point of view, I have many doubts they have good conditions to play the game.

“But if I can have Robben on the bench to give 15 or 20 minutes, I would be very happy with that.

“Mikel is a risk, especially in a final where you have 90 intense minutes and the chance of 30 more.”

"Train to Nowhere" Savoy Brown

"Troy" Sinead O'Connor

The press is awash with Cup Final build up stories I'm pleased to say..

Interesting interview with Drogba...From The Mail..: (bit long though..sorry about that..)

The making of Drogba: 'I knew I'd arrived when John Terry and Frank Lampard said they believed in me'

By JAMIE REDKNAPP

Have you ever seen a striker defend his goal with as much relish and force as Didier Drogba? "Yeah, me and John Terry both go hunting for the ball. We compete to be the first to get there.

"Sometimes, I want to win the ball so much, I forget about the man who I was meant to be marking. That has cost us goals this season."

He smiles as he tells the story. In fact, he smiles a lot during the four hours he is with us for a photoshoot and interview.

No sign of the ferocious monster of a centre forward who has battered opponents in the Premiership and the Champions League this season — in defence, as well as attack.

Alan Shearer was pretty good — the best I played with — at defending the near post and dominating that space, but Drogba puts as much into defending the box as he does attacking the glory at the other end.

He has a sense of duty, when most of us were just making up the numbers, happy to leave the defending to the guys with the cuts and scars.

It will be the same story in the FA Cup Final tomorrow. He is very proud to be walking out at Wembley.

"When I was a young boy in Africa, I used to love to watch the FA Cup Final. Africa stops for this match. It is an important game. It is the only domestic trophy this group working under Jose Mourinho have not won."

These are the words of a striker on top of his game and on top of the world. Is there a better centre forward in the game right now? "I am very proud when I hear people say things like this about me," he says softly.

"This year, I have felt like I did in Marseille, with all my confidence restored. When I am like this, I know that I can make the difference on the pitch. I can see that my team-mates trust me; they believe I can score at any moment, even in the last minute.

"When you have this feeling, you come out on to the pitch relaxed because you’re on top of the world. But, you know, being the best striker in the world means nothing because it is just one season.

"I need to see what happens next year and the one after that. The potential is there, but you have to be aware that everything can change through bad luck or injuries.

"Just look at Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o, who have been very unlucky this season. To be the best, really the best, you have to be good again and again and again."

There is a calm and a charm about Drogba. He enjoys the attention of the camera so much, there is no time to move his car. Instead, I am dispatched to find an alternative parking space.

Our meeting takes place shortly after Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool. What sort of mood will Drogba be in?

"Am I sad to have lost out on the two biggest trophies of the season? Of course I am, but the day after the defeat at Anfield, I woke up to the news that four Chelsea fans had been killed in a helicopter crash on their way back from the game.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'Didier, you went to Liverpool and lost a match; others went there and lost their lives'."

His answer says much about him. This is a deep-thinking, intelligent man, a fascinating interview subject. And, as we know, one hel_l of a centre forward.

Only last week Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he once considered signing the Ivory Coast international and believed this season, as Drogba scored and scored again, that the only way to stop Chelsea would be to shoot their No 11.

How Manchester United stop Drogba tomorrow could determine the outcome of the FA Cup Final. Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba has re-invented himself.

We thought he was overpriced last season, that he spent more time collapsing to the floor than leading the line. He was branded a cheat and a diver and his popularity was low.

Now he has hit 32 goals in all, he is the top scorer in the Premiership and he plays as if it would take a tank to put him on the deck.

"I got stronger and learned to stay on my feet," he admits. "No, no one at the club talked about it, though sometimes my friends would tease me and say, 'Oh look, Didier is on the floor again'. But I never felt it was that big a deal.

"You know, the cultures are different in France and England, so for me to adapt to your football required many adjustments.

"In France, I never had to use my arms to protect myself because as soon as a forward is touched, the referee blows his whistle. Here, I realised you had to look after yourself on the pitch.

"First of all, I didn’t want to leave Marseille. I was sold against my will, so it is no surprise I was a bit unhappy to start with.

"It’s not that I didn’t want to come to Chelsea; it’s just that I was settled in Marseille. If I am being honest, for the first season I was in Chelsea but my heart was still in Marseille.

"And the pace of the game over here is unbelievable. It took me a long time to get to grips with it. I still managed to score important goals in my first two seasons but not as many as I have this season.

"The moment I really realised I had established myself in England was when two particular players told me they believed in me.

"When those compliments come from John Terry and Frank Lampard, the two main men for Chelsea and England, it makes you feel very good. Right now, I’m a very happy man."

He cares about his image, too, and would sit for hours studying videos of every game; watching his own performances, but also learning to understand the runs and movements of his team-mates, especially a player such as Joe Cole.

He realised, as he watched those videos, that he had to change his playing style. Since then, there have been times this season when he has seemed unstoppable.

My personal highlights include the goal against Liverpool when he controlled the ball, turned and smashed a shot past Pepe Reina.

There was also the winner at Everton, to keep Chelsea in competition with Manchester United for the Premiership title.

It was a contest they eventually lost, but Drogba almost led the crusade alone. When Chelsea walked around Stamford Bridge on their lap of thanks last Sunday, along with Lampard and Mourinho, Drogba was still saluted like a champion.

It has been an astounding rise for the striker, aged 29. His game now is about raw power, strength, running into the channels, holding up the ball, bringing his team-mates into play. His confidence is high, but it has taken time.

"I came to France from the Ivory Coast when I was just five," recalls the African Footballer of the Year. "I lived with my uncle [a professional footballer called Michel Goba] in northern France and played football here and there, but because we moved around a lot I was never able to make a name for myself anywhere.

"Then, when my parents decided to move to France with my other siblings, all nine of us lived in a tiny, one-bedroom flat in the suburbs of Paris. It was tough, but it made me want to get out and play as much as possible.

"Even when people started noticing me, I still wasn’t being signed up. I had to wait until I was 20 to join a club and even then they were a second division team called Le Mans."

It took four years for him to get a big break, moving to newly promoted first division side Guingamp in 2002. He has since become a £24million striker.

"Everything has gone very fast from there. I spent one season there and then got a move to the biggest club in France — Marseille. Just one season later, I was joining the richest club in the world — Chelsea. It’s been a mad few years."

Playing for Mourinho clearly agrees with him. He speaks passionately about his manager. "This man gave me everything," he says.

"Do you realise that when he arrived at Chelsea [in 2004] he could have bought any striker in the world, but he chose me. No one had heard of me, but he was sure I was the man to lead the line. That sort of confidence makes you feel very special.

"I know he says some crazy things sometimes, but this guy has something special. He can really fill his players with confidence.

"When you walk into the changing rooms the day before a big game and he tells you that you are one of his 'untouchables', it makes you feel incredible.

"That’s why if Mourinho does go, it will be very difficult for me. I’m a professional, so I will honour my contract and maintain the same level of performance, but it would hurt me a lot."

It has not always been that way with his manager. He describes their tensions last season as "my little war with Jose" and continues: "Before the end of last season, I sat down with Mourinho and told him I didn’t enjoy the way we played the game.

"I told him that I had given my all for the good of the team playing alone up front in our old 4-3-3 system, but that it was probably time for me to move on.

"I felt a bit unappreciated. This is not me being arrogant, but I felt the Chelsea fans did not show me enough respect last season.

"Maybe I didn’t do what they expected of me, but I was working really hard and their criticism hurt me. But then I went off to the World Cup and did a lot of soul-searching.

"In the end, I just really wanted to stay at Chelsea. I realised that some of the criticism was perhaps justified and I needed to work harder and improve. I wanted to come back and show everyone how good I really was." He has done that.

"I could not leave these shores until I had made it in English football. I’m too proud. That’s not to say that I’m now ready to go, because I want to stay at Chelsea and win many more trophies in the future.

"But at least I can relax because I now know I’m good enough to impose myself in the Premier League. When AC Milan came in for me last summer it was very tempting but I was determined not to give up that easily.

"I was too proud to walk away from Chelsea and wanted to show everyone I could be No 1 over here. My work at Chelsea is not finished, however. There is still plenty left to achieve."

We certainly haven’t heard the last of Didier Drogba.

The Independent:

O'Shea shoots on sight along his road to United redemption

With the grand total of four goals from five attempts John O'Shea has materialised as the most accurate marksman in the Premiership this season and he has not wasted the opportunity to rub it in the noses of the disbelieving Manchester United forward line.

"I've been giving the strikers stick about that statistic," says the Irishman. "The ratio is only high because I don't have many shots but I wouldn't mind outscoring Didier Drogba at Wembley on Saturday."

Another grandiose feat of the 26-year-old from Waterford is that he represents the barometer of United's transformation these past 18 months. That mantle will broker less argument at Old Trafford which, given the contrast between the past two press conferences O'Shea has held for his club, is a sign of progress comparable to leaving Drogba in the new Wembley shade tomorrow afternoon.

It is 1 November, 2005. Mutiny is in the air as United officials censure Roy Keane's infamous 'Play the Pundit' appearance on MUTV while, in a Parisian hotel, O'Shea sits beside Sir Alex Ferguson to preview the Champions League game against Lille.

The following night at the Stade De France, United deliver a dreadful performance, yet even before kick-off there is confirmation of the despair caused by a preceding drubbing at Middlesbrough and Keane's honest analysis as several of his targets, O'Shea among them, are jeered in the warm-up by the travelling support. Keane's name is sung throughout the game.

Today, back in front of the media again and having been heralded by Ferguson as integral to the destination of the title, O'Shea is candid as he retraces hisroad to redemption.

"I was aware of the criticism at that time," the United defender recalls. "I had to do a press conference before the Lille game and I was fully aware of the atmosphere because the manager was tapping me during the press conference to make sure I got my answers correct. When you lose 4-1 at Middlesbrough and then to Lille, that didn't help matters.

"For me it was easy to shut out the criticism because it was all on the outside and I knew what was being said by the manager on the inside, so it wasn't affecting me. "

Despite igniting an inflammable situation that winter, Keane remains a major inspiration to his compatriot. "His determination, his will-to-win, everything about him was a very positive influence," says O'Shea.

"When you do get your chance you have to give the manager a tough choice to leave you out. That was difficult last season," he admits. " The last time we won the League I was a regular in the team. I was a regular the next season but then in and out for the next two seasons. It is just about finding that consistency level and I think I've found that now."

Only Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo have made more appearances this season than O'Shea butthe description of a squad player is one that is still levelled at him. "I don't accept it," he insists.

But there is likely to be cause for complaint for either O'Shea or Wes Brown tomorrow, as the pair vie for the injured Gary Neville's right back slot. Perhaps a prolific goalscoring record will swing the vote the way of O'Shea.

* Cristiano Ronaldo last night completed a clean sweep of awards for the season. The 22-year-old Manchester United winger received the Football Writers' Association award for his outstanding season.