By Ollie Irish

If you don't mind me indulging in a spot of kneejerk-reaction action, then I have a rather obvious and timely question for you: with Dimitar Berbatov playing so brilliantly, and not just against Liverpool (he's been United's best player this season), and Wayne Rooney blatantly out of sorts, in terms of his centre-forward play and also compared with last season's feats (of course a below-par Rooney is still better than most players), are we witness to the moment when Berba assumes the role of Fergie's No.

This is a guest post from Ian Carroll, a first-time contributor to The Offside.

The last two competitive games I've been to were Newcastle v Villa (season ticket holder at SJP cautiously optimistic of survival y'see) and England v Algeria, so I figured this should be fun! A hell of a lot more fun than the game in Cape Town anyway .

We've all been bummed out by the international break and can't wait for week 2 of La Liga to start. Isaiah has finally joined us again for the first time this season so there was plenty of Madrid-Barca banter. No Corey & Christina though... they'll be back hopefully next week.
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Welcome to the NUFC Blog match banter for today's home encounter against Blackpool with your's truly, Workyticket, standing in once again. As usual, for more in depth pre match stuff, you can always check out Toonsy's excellent match preview, and the maiden article from new NUFC Blog recruit, Paul Reece, with his "Top Ten facts [.

I'm a little bit confused this morning. I went to a local pub to watch the game last night. It wasn't particularly busy but more than average for a week night. As far as I could see, there wasn't anyone wearing a Spurs shirt, but there were a good few patrons in Chelsea colours.

I didn't think much of it but once the match got underway, it became clear they were all staunch Werder Bremen supporters for the night.

What a night, what a couple of days. I'm feeling it badly now as I try to resemble a human being in the office. God only know's what this afternoon is going to be like. To say it was all worth it though would be an understatement.

My trip to Bremen started at 7pm on Monday night as I drove to Kent to stay with a friend.

Make sure you don't miss the latest top notch episode of 3 Up Front!

Adrian Clarke, Iain Spragg and Iain Macintosh provide all their best insight and banter during a show that includes;

Fact or Fiction Are the Champions League group stages a snorefest?

The X-agerrated Factor Could Liverpool be even duller under Hodgson?

Make sure you don't miss the latest top notch episode of 3 Up Front!

Adrian Clarke, Iain Spragg and Iain Macintosh provide all their best insight and banter during a show that includes;

Fact or Fiction Are the Champions League group stages a snorefest?

The X-agerrated Factor Could Liverpool be even duller under Hodgson?

Just never stops being funny does it?! Hahaha!...So once again we're here folks. The excitement, the nerves, the bubbling hatred for the likes of Gary Neville and Farty Fergie's extra chewing gob. This kind of feeling only tends to come around twice a year and as much as it brings out the worst in me i can't help but absolutely love it.

By Amy Quinn, writing from Dublin

The eve is upon us, and looking around me, I find it inherently strange that there are Liverpool fans with calm heads. No other game gives me quite the same sense of uneasiness, a knot in my stomach. Obviously, it's a wonderful match to win, but it's a difficult, if never very surprising, match to lose.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has today backtracked on his somewhat outrageous claims made earlier this week that he would be fit to manage any of the worlds top clubs and "would win the double or the league every time". Big Sam has however claimed that his somewhat amusing comments had been purely meant as a tongue in cheek way of expressing his personal desire and driving ambition to improve as a manager and ultimately drive his managerial career to the highest levels in world football.

It's official, Sky are not alone when it comes to licking Manchester United's backside. Premier League sponsors Barclays have run a poll inviting their readers to vote for the best ever Premier League XI. The response was pretty emphatic but if you're not a fan of The Red Devils it's probably best to look away now.

From a betting perspective, I like the best price of 11/4 on West Ham tomorrow. That's not to say I don't think Spurs can win the game, they most certainly can, but I feel we are a little skinny at 11/10 coming off the back of a demoralising defeat against Arsenal. I realise that game doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things but it still wasn't nice and it will likely give the Hammers a bit more confidence, especially when they are coming off the back of two decent results.

I do enjoy me some fired up Zach Woosley, even if he manages to shout me down on occasion. This week's episode of the American Soccer Show is chock full of quality banter with Ginge on subjects like: Klinsmann's second dance with US Soccer, MLS refereeing and how to "fix" it, Ian Darke's hiring by ESPN and stories from Portland on Don Garber's visit.

In casual racism terms, they might as well have said spic-savers So where do you draw line between inciting violence, banter, and offensiveness? Asda have today had an advert cleared that offers free eye tests to Uruguayan members of the public, as a response to Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in the World Cup.

In casual racism terms, they might as well have said spic-savers So where do you draw line between inciting violence, banter, and offensiveness? Asda have today had an advert cleared that offers free eye tests to Uruguayan members of the public, as a response to Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in the World Cup.