Mid-stride side-eye was the name of Berba's game in the airport earlier today ahead of Manchester United's battle with Newcastle at St James' Park.

szólj hozzá: Incredible Mark Bunn save 1. While you've all been busy stuffing your faces for a few days, Blackburn boss Steve Kean might just have found a Bunn to save his bacon. Young keeper Mark Bunn put in a great performance to earn a point at Liverpool. 2. It definitely wasn't a Blue Christmas.

szólj hozzá: Incredible Mark Bunn save 1. While you've all been busy stuffing your faces for a few days, Blackburn boss Steve Kean might just have found a Bunn to save his bacon. Young keeper Mark Bunn put in a great performance to earn a point at Liverpool. 2. It definitely wasn't a Blue Christmas.

There are lots of things which are either rigged, not taken seriously or both in football. FIFA qualifies in general. So too does the electoral process in Bulgaria. (The footballing variety, obviously.)

The Bulgarian Player of the Year is something of a travshamockery, given that it's Berba's year after year, and justifiably so.

Whilst his agent hinted that he would be open to a move to Anzhi Makhachkala this week, Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that Dimitar Berbatov is going nowhere.

"Dimitar is still in my thoughts," said Ferguson. "I have read some things but there is absolutely no reason for me to let him go.

By Chris Wright

Got a couple of minutes to spare before you split? Then why not enjoy this little viral of the Manchester United boys (Evra, Berba and Ash Young to be precise) bowling with footballs while subliminally encouraging the nation to gamble responsibly on behalf of flutter-merchants Betfair.

What's in a name?

Ducky, Nickspinkboots, Maddy (although BFZ has no clue as to where this man has disappeared) - names that I first saw when I entered BFZ long ago. Strange pen names, I thought to myself. A few weeks later I wrote my first article and have written a few more after that.

What are the odds Fernando Torres outscores Wayne Rooney on Sunday? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

Fergie has promised Dimitar Berbatov that he'll get some games this season – presumably Call Of Duty for his X-Box and Grand Theft Auto for his PlayStation. The only reason the £30million Bulgarian loafer hasn't gone down as the worst buy of all time is a man called F.

Wayne Rooney set up two goals and Park Ji-sung danced around a defender for another as Manchester United put on another show during its tour of the United States with a 4-0 victory over the MLS All Stars on Wednesday.

The Major League Soccer all-stars even looked good for about 18 minutes with David Beckham pulling the strings in midfield.

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More United related footage at RoM videos

"VIDEO: Ando, Park, Berba and Welbeck's Goals vs MLS All Stars" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Dimitar Berbatov turned 30 this year and after missing out on the Champions League final squad, looked to be on his way out of the club. However, the Bulgarian has shown his determination to stick at it.

Speaking from the USA tour, Berbatov has reflected on how he would like the fans to remember him.

A backwards-capped Berba looked studiously smokin' last week during his team's tour of Harvard's campus. Since he's yet to complete the prestigious American university's admissions process, he unfortunately could not practise his tonguing talents with us after school. We're elite like that. Images: Ciacha.

By Chris Wright

Massachusetts Channel 5 News very nearly got their caption right (a damn sight closer than ESPN managed the other day) for Berba's post-game interview, bless their little hearts for trying...

We can't help but notice that they've also spelt 'swastika' wrong.

Transfer news, rumours and gossip from Sunday's papers

Gunners go for two Liverpool targets, Real in Tevez swap bid, Spurs want Berba and Evans

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-07-10 07:36:58 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Every year, Dimitar Berbatov plays five-a-side friendlies in a competition with his friends. They were kitted out in United shirts and in the picture above had just won a game 10-5. Berba scored 2 goals but played in defence.

Thanks to Inna Ivanova for the picture

"PICTURE: Berba Wearing United Gear For Friendly" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Dimitar Berbatov is currently studying a Sports Management course at the National Sports Academy in Bulgaria.

On Tuesday, he passed his latest exams with flying colours, before going on holiday to Greece.

"PICTURE: Berba On Sports Management Course" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

I loved Martin Jol when he was at Spurs. How could you not? The genial giant with that hypnotic Dutch accent knew how to click with the fans. Besides, I was scared he'd be upset if I didn't like him. He's really big! I wouldn't want him angry with me. No matter how much I liked him when he was at Spurs and no matter how disgusted I was at his treatment at the end, nothing prepared me for the gushings of admiration for him today when he was announced as Fulham's new manager.

In an interview with a Bulgarian newspaper, Dimitar Berbatov insisted that he will be playing for Manchester United next season.

"I'm a Manchester United player and will be glad to fulfill my contract," said Berbatov, whose contract expires in 2012.

In the interview, Berbatov also denied earlier reports that he had left Wembley Stadium ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday.

Chicharito, our Little Pea, has superseded any expectations our fans, players and manager had of him. After signing for United, he left the World Cup as the fastest player of the competition, having scored goals against Argentina and France. He had given us plenty to be excited about but having spent his career in Mexico and not having the build you would think necessary for English football, it was hard to imagine he would make much impact during his first season.

Chicharito, our Little Pea, has superseded any expectations our fans, players and manager had of him. After signing for United, he left the World Cup as the fastest player of the competition, having scored goals against Argentina and France. He had given us plenty to be excited about but having spent his career in Mexico and not having the build you would think necessary for English football, it was hard to imagine he would make much impact during his first season.

Thumbs up if you'd probably score more goals than CrouchUltimately, it all comes down to goals. In 2009/10, we scored a lot of them and were able to finish fourth as a result. In 2010/11, we couldn't hit the proverbial barn door with a banjo. End result? No fourth place. Disappointment.
So it seems that this area of our game is the one that is in most urgent need of reform.

Dimitar Berbatov was the joint top scorer in the league this season with 21 goals. The achievement is made all the more impressive given that that Berba is not the club's penalty taker so all of his goals were scored from open play.

Well done Berba!

"PICTURE: Berba With Golden Boot Trophy" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Our 2 primary concerns coming into this game was firstly, to ensure that we put out a strong enough squad and performance so that our selection would not come under FA scrutiny. Secondly, we needed to ensure that our key players would come away from this weekend's encounter injury free and ready for Wembley.

What an efficient and entertaining display by the lads. Let's not forget as well that we had most of our second team out to start the game.

On to the impressions:

1. Smalling and Evans surprised me. Smalling made the most of the opportunity with a very good outing save for the misplaced pass that led to their goal.

Van der Sar, Fabio, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Rooney, Hernandez.

Bench: Kuszczak, Owen, Berba, Smalling, O'Shea, Rafael, Valencia

Cesc Fabreas was injured during training yesterday.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey, Nasri, Van Persie.

Ok, I love Berbotov a little bit more than I did already.

"VIDEO: Berba Does Godfather Impression" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

We're less than an hour away from kickoff of tonight's Champions League quarterfinal second leg showdown with Chelsea, and I don't know about you, but my cup runneth over with anticipation and excitement.

The task at hand is pretty simple. Thanks to last week's 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, all United need to do is, well, not lose.

Usually I'm not all that enthused about the extended international breaks that occur during the season, because it means that there's a two-week gap between Manchester United matches.

But for once, I say thank goodness for the international break, because at the rate that we're losing defenders this way or that, I'd rather us not have a match this week or weekend.

As if to compound an already miserable 7 days, word has emerged from OT that the injury sustained by Nani on Sunday will keep him out for a month. Nani has singlehandedly won us games this season that we had no business winning and has also carved out goals from seemingly impossible angles. In short, he's been a poor man's Ronaldo and we've benefited tremendously from it especially in light of the overall poor production and performance from the rest of our midfield.

Remember when we were top of the table with a healthy lead over our closest competitors and threatening to run away with the title? That seems like such a distant memory now after back to back losses against our heated rivals. After going through the first half of the season entertaining thoughts of finishing the season undefeated, we now find ourselves with 3 losses out of our last 5 league games.

It wasn't pretty and the scoreline didn't do Wigan justice especially the way they played in the first 45, but a win is a win. With 2 massive games coming up next week, we'll take the 3 points in any shape or form.

Impressions:

Rooney – Should probably have been sent off for that flailing elbow in the first half.

As the dust settled from a frenetic end to the January transfer window, there was still the matter of actual games to be played. The reality is that the jubilation and adrenaline that results from a new signing fades quickly if the new signing doesn't produce the kind of results that the fans were hoping for.

"Let me tell you that Nani isn't very good on the piano. He's hopeless!" said Anderson. "I didn't know about Berba's drawing... My talents? I'm good at video games. Does that count? It's important to relax, so I spend a lot of time on my PlayStation. I play mainly football games, but I like shooting ones, too.

No longer will we have to lose him to the Asian Cup or other international related selections. This is good news for the club since it means a more rested player while others are incurring an extra 90-180 minutes of game time and potential injuries.

Look at our existing players and how they've benefited from international retirement.

Having had time for the emotions to subside after a fantastic come from behind win, I realize again how little I care about being undefeated. Sure, it'll be nice to equal the feat of the Invincibles, but at the end of the season, that's not the ultimate prize. I don't think going undefeated and winning the league are mutually exclusive.

Last week, in previewing Manchester United-Birmingham City, I was cautiously hopeful that we'd see the kind of Manchester United performance that has been lacking for the most part this season.

As fans, spoiled as we may be, we can't help but hope for and expect to see some domination every now and then, and that's not been the case thus far, as successful of a season as it's been and could be.

Fresh off a third hat trick of the season, the plaudits continue to pour in for in-form Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov. United defender Chris Smalling is the latest player to heap praise on the Bulgarian following his three goals against Birmingham City yesterday.

"Berba was brilliant," Smalling said to MUTV.

A unique similarity occurred for two top strikers in the premier league, Dimitar Berbatov and Robin Van Persie as both players play a major part for their respective teams in taking all three points this weekend by scoring a hat-trick. Berbatov strike his third hat-trick of the season to give a 5-0 victory for the Red Devils at Old Trafford, while Van Persie got his first three goal of the season that helped the Gunners destroyed Wigan at Emirates stadium.

That sucks. Just when it looked like he was going to get started with the goalscoring again. Then again, he's always been one to recover faster than expected. Just don't rush back prematurely. At least Berba is scoring. And we also have a certain Chicharito who has a knack for goals. So, it's not entirely doom and gloom.