Fresh from the Premier League triumph against Portsmouth, the Carling Cup is next for Manchester United. Last season's beaten finalists, Tottenham Hotspur are the designated opposition and are likely to provide a stern test for the boys in red.

Expect a much-changed side from the weekend's Premier League fixture at Fratton Park.

Sir Alex Ferguson ignored the famous Alan Hansen "you will never win anything with kids" line and gave his young players much-needed experience in the Champions League and the Carling Cup.Darren Gibson rewarded his faith in the young guns by scoring both the goals that dumped Totteham Spurs out of the Carling cup.

Sick as a parrot and over the moon are now cliched football cliches. OTP's new feature looks at modern day phrases that football could live without We kick-off this new feature with an Alan Hansen special. The MOTD pundit has been rolling out his favourite 'indecision is final' line for years now. The first time you [.

It's hard to believe that a classic West Ham United team featuring legends such as Trevor Brooking, Alan Curbishley, Frank Lampard Sr., Billy Bonds and a young Alvin Martin were staring down the face of relegation on the last day of the 1977-1978 season. But they were, and they needed a win to try to stay up.

Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres took a private jet to Zurich yesterday for the FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a brief respite from the crisis engulfing Anfield.
It was an opportunity to rub shoulders with football's elite at a time when Liverpool's awful form has made a mockery of their claims to be among the world's leading clubs and Rafael Benitez's bold prediction that his side will finish in the top four of the Barclays Premier League once more.

Every time this current batch of the Arsenal team goes on to lose or draw a game from a winning position, pundits are quick to jump on the case citing a lack of maturity. How these players are not experienced enough to hold on to the lead. How their tender years have allowed the game to slip their grasp.

Steven Gerrard has rejected the tag of 'Liverpool legend', insisting that his decorated career will be incomplete if it ends without a Premier League title to show for it.
The England star made his 500th appearance for the Anfield giants in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Blackburn Rovers; a milestone that brought with it praise and testimony from all over the country.

"Alan Hansen said a few things and Mark Hughes said a few things back, but I don't like to think about it too much.

"It's going to hurt or bother anyone, but I didn't need to watch Match of the Day to realise I had played badly and been out of position.

"He (Hansen) said a few things, but I'm not going to cry about it.

Betfair is the official Manchester United betting partner and we here at Red Rants have partnered with them to offer a free £25 bet when you register. Unlike other betting sites, Betfair allows you to place bets when the game is running and choose the odds at which you want to play. What allows you to do these things is you're betting against other fans, not the bookie, so if you want better odds than are currently available, for example, you can place an order for a better price (but bear in mind that if your price is unrealistic your bet is unlikely to be accepted).

We at AANP Towers are generally peace-loving folk, but amongst the few things that have us stomping our feet in apoplexy is the brand of anti-football purveyed by Sam Allardyce.

History is littered with epic confrontations – Good against Evil; Beauty against the Beast (not sure that was a fight actually); Bruce Willis against Hans Grüber and his henchmen.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez tellingly spoke of the need to "change your targets" after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth.
The Spaniard may well have been talking about shifting focus to the Boxing Day clash against Wolves but following the performance at Fratton Park, the comment could easily apply to Liverpool's season.

Alan Hansen writes about why Manchester United is still the favorites for the English Premier League title-
We are talking about the most the most open race ever but there are still only three teams who I see winning it: Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United. If I was putting a bet on, then, for character and the ability to play poorly and win, then it would be United every single time.

The news we have all been waiting for arrived today: Roy has signed a new deal.

Peering over our shoulders at Bolton Wanderers, we see a club that is in the same position we found ourselves in pre-Hodgson, a team that's okay but not okay enough, a team that might stay up but might not, but a team that is emphatically not moving in the right direction.