After the humbling United suffered at Wembley at the hands of Barca, most Utd fans I know were looking for a sign from Fergie of how he intended to get closer to the Catalans next season.
A big signing - a la Modric, Sneijder, or even a semi major one like Ashley Young - would have appeared the perfect antitode to lift spirits.
Especially as just days after the defeat at Wembley, Paul Scholes announced he was off into the Chadderton sunset.
So all I heard was a collective groan of despair - and disbelief - when Fergie trumpeted the signing of...Michael Owen...or at least his re-signing for another year.
Is this a warning of things to come? That a bloke who has lost a yard of pace will still be vital as Utd try to make up ground on Barca? Are the Glazers still refusing to let go of the purse strings?
Surely Fergie would have been wiser to have allowed Owen to go to Aston Villa - and let Danny Welbeck have his chance if Utd are short of money? A depressing start to the new world after the Barca hiding for Man Utd fans...
About Me
- Frank Worrall
- is a Fleet Street journalist who has written regularly for The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Mail on Sunday, FourFourTwo magazine, Melody Maker/NME and many other newspapers and magazines. The subjects of his critically-acclaimed books include Gareth Bale, Roy Keane, Lewis Hamilton, Alex Ferguson and Rory McIlroy.