Howard Webb, the story of United's 12th man

Sir Alex Ferguson is planning to rest his star performer Howard Webb to prevent 'a needless injury' after his tireless work in yesterday's FA Cup victory over Liverpool . Webb awarded his own side a penalty, but he stood aside to allow a team mate to take it.Mr Webb who secured his team's passage into the 4th round of the FA cup is said to be 'exhausted' following his Herculean efforts in providing his side with the winning goal by awarding them a 'completely deserved' penalty after Liverpool's Daniel Agger 'viciously kicked Berbatov in the head with a knife'. Man United's 12th man Howard Webb, whose dressing room locker is right next to Rio Ferdinand's, said: "Yeah, it's a massive win for the me and the lads". The gaffer told us all in his pre-match talk to get in their faces, and work hard for each other. He reminded me to wait at least an hour before giving us a penalty or it could look suss, but I was just too excited and went for it a few seconds after I blew the starting whistle, however, I did wait a little longer than usual to send Stevie G off, to make up for it."I was thinking about taking the penalty myself, but then thought I should let one of the other lads take the glory for a change. It's a team sport after all, and I get embarrassed when people tell me I single-handedly win all the games I get picked to play in."However, his boss, Alex Ferguson is concerned that if he continues playing his star man in every game he'll pick up a serious injury or may get exhausted towards the business end of the season.
"Howard's a great servant to the club, " said Sir Alex. "And he's a real role model for the younger lads. He's always first on the training pitch in the morning and the last to leave. He practices pointing at the spot, and sending opponents off for hours on end. But I fear if he carries on at the same intensity he'll pick up an injury that could see him out for months.
"And that's a risk we can't take. He's just too important for us, his ratio of games played to penalties given is almost one per match, which are amazing stats." Manchester United's club shop has just released its sales figures which indicate that 'Howard Webb' is now the most requested name on the back of their replica shirts, and that if his popularity grows they may be forced to rename the Stretford End in his honour by changing it to the 'Massive-Bell End', or MBE for short.

Manchester Wheel and the iPhone

I was out shopping in Manchester the other day and decided to put the iPhone 4 camera through it's paces by taking a picture of the Manchester Wheel after the sun had set. It's not worked out badly for a smartphone camera.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland (British Version)

A new British take on the old favourite, Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

The phones ring
No one's listening
All the staff
Have gone missing
Check the website
You won't get a flight
Stranded in a Heathrow Blunderland

Locked away
Are the gritters
Read about it
On Twitter
It's nobody's fault
We ran out of salt
Stranded in a Winter Blunderland

Snowfall came
Without warning
You could blame
Global warming
But nobody cares
About Polar Bears
When they're stranded in a Winter Blunderland

More Snowy Pictures

Here is the second photo from my photo shoot yesterday.

First Snow

It's been a bit cold and snowy the past couple of days here in Cheshire so i decided to take my camera out and snap a few winter scenes.

Iphone 4 Blends

The big question is not how good the screen on the iphone 4 is or how fast the processor is, the big question is. Will It Blend ??

Broken Through The 50 Mile Barrier

Although it hasn't been raining the weather has been pretty poor today, the temperature has been about 16C and there has been a strong wind. Undeterred i set off this afternoon to break through the psychological 50 mile barrier, i had my route planned and was feeling strong, as it turned out the ride proved to be tougher than i expected. The outward leg down to Holmes Chapel via Congleton was a breeze and i was flying all the way with the wind at my back, however the return leg was a different story. The wind that had been pushing me on was now coming straight at me and as well as that the road from Holmes Chapel to Knutsford has a shocking surface, full of pot holes, cut up and very rough, it was a case of get my head down and try and make as quicker progress as possible. Of course everything comes to an end and it wasn't too long before i was in Wilmslow and on the last easy home stretch. Did i break the 50 miles ? yes i did 51.5 miles in 3 hours 21 minutes and don't feel to bad on it, perhaps the energy drink i had near Knutsford should take some credit for that, i haven't had Lucozade since i was a kid.
For the statistically minded i have now done 15 rides since i got the bike, covered 493 miles and used 26,537 calories.