The future’s bright, the future’s… Norwegian?

With Joshua King making his first team debut in last night’s Carling Cup tie with Wolves, Magnus Eikrem joining him in receiving a squad number and earning a place on the bench, Etzaz Hussain starring for the academy in the early stages of the season and the prospect of more of their young countrymen arriving at the club on trial, the Norwegian influence at Old Trafford is steadily growing.

MSC fixture changes – Stockport game scheduled, derby postponed

United’s Manchester Senior Cup clash with Stockport County has been pencilled in for Monday November 16th, but this Thursday’s scheduled MSC tie with Manchester City has been postponed.

Barnsley 0 United 1: Third time lucky for Brady as Reds see off Tykes

September 19th 2009, 11am
Oakwell, Barnsley

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Barnsley U18s	0-1	Manchester United U18s

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Brady 66

 
A solitary second-half strike from Robbie Brady was enough to earn United victory over a dogged and determined Barnsley side at Oakwell this morning. It was a tale of three free-kicks for Brady, the United skipper rattling the crossbar with two great attempts in the first-half before adjusting his radar in the second half to curl a terrific effort past the helpless Tykes keeper, ending the hosts’ stubborn resistance and ultimately earning the Reds the three points they deserved.

Argyle take defensive duo on loan

Plymouth Argyle boss Paul Sturrock has bolstered his struggling squad with the temporary acquisition of United defenders James Chester and David Gray.

Liverpool 1 United 0: Reds disappoint as 10-man Pool take deserved win

September 17th 2009, 7.30pm
Prenton Park, Birkenhead

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Liverpool Reserves	1-0	Manchester United Reserves

N’gog 5

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United’s unbeaten start to the season was ended in frustrating fashion at Prenton Park this evening, a Liverpool side reduced to ten men just after the half-hour mark managing to hang onto a 1-0 lead handed to them by David N’gog inside the first five minutes.

Sloppy defending allowed N’gog to pounce on a long ball and wrong-foot Ron-Robert Zieler in the United goal, and a strong Reds second-string struggled to get a foothold in the match as Liverpool controlled the first half-hour. A dubious red card for Damian Plessis then threatened to turn the game on its head, but while Ole Solskjaer’s side dominated possession thereafter and eventually fashioned several decent chances, an equaliser wasn’t to be forthcoming and a first reserve league defeat since March couldn’t be avoided.

Cathcart makes Hornets switch

United’s Northern Ireland U21 defender Craig Cathcart has joined Championship side Watford on a loan deal that will see him ply his trade at Vicarage Road until early January.

United 3 Huddersfield 1: Reds weather second-half storm to take the points

September 12th 2009, 11am
Trafford Training Centre, Carrington

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Manchester United U18s	3-1	Huddersfield Town U18s

Cofie 19	-	Chippendale 61
Morrison 78	-	-
Hussain 81	-	-

 
United’s U18s picked up a first home win of the nascent Premier Academy League season against Huddersfield Town at an atypically sunny Carrington this morning, but only after overcoming what seems to have become the now traditional second-half wobble. In all three previous fixtures the Reds have gone into half-time with the lead, only to emerge for the second forty-five minutes a shadow of their first-half selves, conceding soon after the interval on each occasion.

The same happened here, with Paul McGuinness’ side leading 1-0 at the break – thanks to John Cofie’s tap-in – and well on top. The game turned on its head right from the start of the second half however, and Huddersfield were well worthy of their equaliser, scored by half-time sub Aiden Chippendale. The Terriers looked the more likely winners for long spells of the second half, but a Ravel Morrison goal on the counter-attack saw United regain the initiative, and when Etzaz Hussain poked home from close range just three minutes later the points were secure.

United, Chelsea and co. face the rap for poaching, but incompetent FA should come under scrutiny

With the Kakuta and Pogba cases dominating the back pages in this internationally-induced slow news fortnight, United, Chelsea and their English peers are under fire from all directions once again for their recruitment of young players from abroad. While they may or may not have a case to answer legally and morally, there is a definite guilty party whose role in the piece has thus far barely been touched upon.

August’s Player of the Month: Joshua King

Both the reserves and the academy have started the campaign brightly, offering up a number of potential recipients of our first seasonal award. Fittingly, the United Youth Player of the Month for August ’09 is someone who has made a big impact at both levels – step forward Josh King.

Cleverley’s U21 bow headlines long list of international callups

As ever during international breaks, the main focus of fans and media is on the many United first-teamers away representing their countries in the next week or so (an alarming 16 away with senior national sides this time around), but there’s an equally lengthy list of young players in action in various age groups and competitions to keep track of. Here’s a quick rundown on who, where and when…