I have been delaying writing this for a while now. I guess I’ve been trying to plan it in my head since the room silencing news that Old Trafford would lose its greatest driving force in the clubs history, but until now I’ve yet to find the words, which if you know me, seems barely possible on any subject.

I’ve followed football for more than two decades now, from a kid with a United-poster strewn bedroom to an adult living half way around the world and waking up at horrific hours of the morning to watch my team play - they are My Manchester United. I have seen United win, lose and everything in between. I have seen legends start their first game and end their last. I have seen opposition sides strengthen and weaken through decades. I have seen the game itself change along with every team in the leagues managers, kits and players. Suffice to say I have seen a lot happen in football over the last 22 years.

One thing I have never seen is a Manchester United sideline without Sir Alex Ferguson on it.

After the last home game against Swansea I battled to fight back the tears. It may sound stupid to those of you who aren’t emotionally invested in sports but to watch a man (or woman) lead a sporting team to greatness somehow resonates with me on a very deep level, but to watch someone have the hunger and passion to do it for 25 years plus is something that has been a privilege and an honor to be able to share in and something I doubt I will ever feel again.

At the start of the season I predicted glory but then again as a United supporter we have almost come to expect this. That’s the magic of Fergie. From his first interview at the club you can feel the humility, focus and the pride that drives the man. You can see in his eyes that he wasn’t in it for the glory or the money, which in todays game seems impossible, he was in it to build something great, to create and shape the future of club that would stand as a legacy never to be overshadowed.

He built this legacy day by day, year by year and not with lavish sums of money nor plain luck but with hard hard work, determination and a hunger to win that inspires me as a human being. He never took anything for granted and he never let the name and honor of Manchester United Football Club be tarnished not for a second, unlike some of our greatest historical rivals. He created and shaped the greatest players in the world, not ONE of which having left the club went on to be more successful.

Even in his final interview, on an occasion that so many people would have taken, rightly so, to bathe in their own glory he thanked everyone for helping him build the Manchester United legend that exists today and he heaped praise on players, coaching staff and fans, and with his final words he gave an instruction to the fans to support his successor. Its men like him that inspire me and moments like these that reduce me to tears.

I wont go through his countless achievements and his honor role of trophies and accolades but suffice to say he pretty much did it all and if, like we so often wish in life, time wasn’t catching up with him he probably would continue to scale even greater heights.

So Sir Alex, from an anonymous Manchester United supporter I want to thank you.

Thank you from the boy who got to admire the teams you created, whose images were stuck to his wall only to be replaced by wave after wave of players you built and created. Thank you for the moments of highs and of lows and for your unwavering commitment and dedication to the success of the club above all else. Thank you for being a leader I can ultimately be proud of in every respect and who just by sheer virtue of who you are inspires me to be better. Thank you for creating Fergie time and for allowing me to fundamentally believe nothing is ever done until it’s done. Thank you for never allowing anyone to be bigger than the club and what it represents and for never allowing any ego or actions to over shadow the honor of the club. Thank you for allowing us, the fans, to be part of something magical and historical for all these years. Thank you for it all Sir!

I hope by some slim miracle I have the honor of shaking your hand one day and looking you in the eye to deliver this thank you in person.

Goodbye Sir Alex, you will remain in our hearts and our stories always and we will forever be your Red Army!

Lets get a few things out of the way right up front because I know you are going to nag on them as you read the rest of this post.

First and most important I’m a massive Manchester United fan, I have been for a very long time. I entertain debate about players, teams, coaches and refs all the time, I love the game and I love great players, in fact some of the players I will mention below I believe are true greats of the modern game.

Second I believe in winning, not at all costs but close. I believe in playing to the rules but playing as close to them as possible but never to the point of cheating. Above all sport should be about honor and integrity and if you cannot win with both intact then you lose with them both but you never blur the lines on this.

Lastly I don’t mind controversy. As I’ve said with my previous post on Tiger, I don’t care what the hell sportsmen do off the field, it’s not our right to judge! I don’t care Mario Balotelli parties in Ibiza with models mid-season (in fact I probably applaud it if his in field performance was as good as off it), I don’t care that Ryan Giggs had Tiger like sexual encounters and I don’t care that John Terry Slept with his teammates wife. All of these may be morally apprehensible but they are not popes or politicians, they are sportsman and the only judgment we can pass is that of their play on the field.

Now lets get to it then.

Football as far as I’m concerned has always had some controversy, sure, but it seems that nowadays we are entering a space that I feel the integrity of the game is being compromised. Racial chants from all corners of both international and local grounds, players spitting, punching and diving, referees using the pitch as their own personal power play, it is all starting to get a bit much and I feel a few people, especially one needs to made an example of.

Luis Suarez has made it into my crosshairs more than once and for good reason too. He has shown through so many events I can barely recount from biting someone, to racial abuse of Patrice Evra (then not shaking his hand in the next game), to hand balling in the World cup (and celebrating when the penalty was missed) to, this week for Uruguay, punching a defender in the face. I won’t go into his diving, crying and wining antics because that’s a football problem not a Suarez problem.

Through all of these things he is unapologetic and unwavering, he has not changed or corrected his behavior and it seems that the footballing authorities are either to scared or to stupid to do anything, but the bottom line is people who behave like this in sport degrade the game and its standards for everyone else!

Sure there have been some colorful characters in the past, Cantona, Maradona, Di Canio, John Terry, Joey Barton (I put him in the same category as Suarez, he should have been banned for years but he managed to run away and escape which is also not right) and the list goes on and on. The biggest difference is none of these players have had ongoing run-ins with refs, players and the rules like Suarez. Every time they stepped out of line they were punished or they learnt not to do it. Suarez like a child testing the boundaries with its parents continues to mess about and he needs to be put in his place, and soon!

The game is too precious to us all to allow people like him to continue to piss on the moral fiber that has been built for so many years. We must make an example of him, players like him and I fear that the football authorities must make the teams who employ these hooligans pay, not financially, for indiscretions that go unpunished.

I truly believe that if a few people are made harsh examples of we will be able to bring the moral compass somewhere closer to north because right now its certainly turning south and turning quickly!!

So Tiger is back on the throne he built! Thank everything that’s good in the world.

Yes sure Rory gave us some moments of magic and showed the promise of the golfer he may one day become and he even gave us some great new Nike ads that made us believe we could have two messiahs, but lets be honest, golf without Tiger is boring as hell.

Now all the buzz is about Nikes new ad after Tigers weekend return to the top. There seems to be a backlash of people online today complaining about what bad taste the ad was. I’m not sure if we are still silently punishing Tiger for being a philanderer or if we just don’t think he should be winning again but have a look.

For me its simple, I love Tiger, or at least I did until he stopped winning. I don’t care how many hookers he had dancing around his hotel room, that’s not what I watch him for. His personal life has absolutely no bearing on the way I feel about him what so ever! I watch him because he is a magical sportsman that draws me in to see him sink that long put and fist pump down the green as he reels in another major. That’s why I love Tiger.

So as you can imagine I am so happy Nike have the balls to come out right behind him and rightly so! He didn’t cheat like Lance (on his sport that is) and he didn’t shoot his girlfriend like Oscar. He had a personal issue which took him all of three years to get through and thankfully he is back.

A talent like his comes along once in a generation if we are lucky and when it does its there for all to marvel at! I hope he eclipses Sneads tour record and Jacks major record and I hope we can all go back to judging sportsman on the stuff that matters – THEIR SPORT!

Ps Its nice to see Tiger has a new Elin – hopefully this one sticks around, I’m not sure I can take another three years of Tiger-less golf!

I had the privilege of captaining Bryan Habana at school for a while back in the days when I thought I had a career in rugby and he was then about the size of his left thigh today, so he didn’t!

I remember watching him from year to year and at some point he started putting in some serious work, bulked up over the off seasons, grew stronger, faster and really started to develop from a sneaky tiny scrumhalf to a talented, smart and agile member of the backline!

He started to make provincial youth teams and around about the same time people started saying it was because of his race, because of his father’s influence, because of a million different things other than his talent. As if he had been training for his future stardom he took this all very much in his stride, put his head down and carried on developing.

I followed his career with keen interest for obvious reasons but it never really hit me what a global superstar he had become until the 2007 World Cup. While stumbling blind drunk back to my hotel I got lost and managed to find someone to ask for directions. Once I had shown him the hotel’s name and he had pointed in the general direction he asked “Afrique du Sud?”, in my very limited French vocab I responded positively to which he burst into the boradest smile and screamed “HABANA! WOW!” that was the sum total of his English vocab. Through a haze of red wine it made me vicariously proud to have in some capacity known this kid from KES who had made such a positive impact on so many people around the world!

Today he is a household name, he is a magician on the field, he is the leading Springbok try scorer of all time, he is the highest capped Springbok of all time and he has just won his third SA Rugby Player of the year. There is certainly a case for him to be one of the all time Springbok greats.

A far cry from the young man who was accused of getting ahead because of his race.

I could not think of a more worthy representative for South African rugby. He is humble, joyful and thankful for what he has achieved and what he has got. He comes from a good close family who has and continues to support him and he without doubt deserves everything he has achieved!

Congratulations on yet another accolade Habs! You continue to make us all proud!

We’ve all had those moments, ones when we finish a race or get off a sports field and our instant reaction is an outburst of anger and complaint, generally because we know deep down WE are to blame. This of course is never instantly understood. Fortunately for most of us this ended during our teen years (then again I’ve never competed in global competitive sports so maybe I’m out of my depth here)

The long and short of it is Oscar Pistorius, global hero and icon after this year’s able bodied Olympics, fought his way through two years of courtrooms and committees to declare that his blades give him no advantage over anyone and therefor he should be allowed to compete in the Olympics. To his absolute credit he won the fights and he won over the fans, all over the world.

After a magical appearance at the able bodied games he turned his attention to medal hunting in the Para-Olympics (where he is the ‘Usain Bolt’), he stormed through the 200m heat setting a world record in the process. Moved into the final and as he coasted ahead with 80 odd meters to go, I’m pretty sure he took his foot off the gas and tried to soak it all in. What happens next however is unscripted, a Brazilian kid called Alan Oliviera, who no on has ever heard of, burns his way down the track and pips Pistorius at the finish.

Cut to what SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED . . .

Pistorius, hands hiding his face in bitter disappointment, tears streaming down his Olympic-dream-broken-face walks over to Oliviera, hugs him and congratulates him on his win! The world celebrates an underdog triumph and a superhuman performance to take gold – all the good and gushy stuff that the Olympics is always about! They both then take the podium and emotionally accept their medals proud to have achieved all they have!

What actually happened was a disgrace, Pistorius refused to congratulate the winner, stormed off to an interview and basically blamed Oliviera’s blades for giving him an advantage (slightly ironic, no?). In his view this is the only way Oliviera could have managed to achieve this time, was to have cheated, disgraceful, disrespectful and astonishingly bad form on the global stage!

When you lose, and ESPECIALLY if you know deep down it’s your fault, you don’t look for someone or something to blame, you don’t use the closest scapegoat to whinge and whine at. That’s not what champion’s do, that’s not what role models do and that right there was the defining moment of Oscar Pistorius’ s character for me sadly.

As a hero sometimes you need to learn to accept defeat as well as you embrace victory and especially for someone who has overcome so much in their life, to see them react like that is not only horribly disappointing for me but I think marred one of the greatest Olympic underdog victories.

Congratulations to Alan Oliviera, he ran a stellar race and he deserved to have his moments of glory! He deserved to smile and be congratulated by those he defeated instead of demeaned by a spoiled child.

I can only imagine the thrill of winning an Olympic gold medal and to do so by beating a global icon must be even more rewarding, in some way to topple your personal hero must be the pinnacle of every sportsman’s dreams, no one deserves their hero to turn around and say they cheated!

Let me first say how outrageously excited I am for the new season!!

Suffice to say I think I was the first person to order the new home kit and have placed and order for the away kit!

I even went to go watch United’s C team in action in Shanghai just to warm up and to get a quick look at the new boys!

Now if you’re a football fan, settle in, this is going to be a long one! What is my view of My United this season?

So first to the big things, yes Robin Van Persie is signed sealed and you have the tracking number for his delivery. Does this transfer make me happy, in theory yes. In practice I think that its a lot of money for a guy who possibly peaked at the end of last season. He was majestic and magical last year and I just don’t think he can get close (and that’s if he somehow manages to stay injury free).

In fact I’d go as far as to say that the return of Nemanja Vidic is more important to Uniteds trophy hunt than the signing of RVP. Having said that he is tremendously talented and lets be fair we need someone to chip in with a few goals!

So up front we have Wayne Rooney, who if we are honest has not hit quite the heights everyone has hoped. He is, for me, the hardest worker in this side and embodies what it is to be a United player but as good as he gets (and he has been magnificent in recent times) his talent promises to exceed superlatives and I’m not sure we have seen that from him just yet, certainly not consistently! I think this season with RVP, as a partner, may just be that one!

Then as cover we have Danny Welbeck who seems to get better and better every year, I cant imagine he is too happy about the RVP deal, and the Little Pea who showed so much promise in his first season but since then hasn’t really fulfilled all expectations – I have no doubt he too will be back this season and show his worth.

Bebe and Macheda both wait in the wings but unless they score more goals in the mid week fixtures than RVP did last year I don’t think they will get much of a look-in, unless of course RVP gets injured, as he does. Although Bebe and Macheda (to a lesser degree) impressed on tour (more than they have before which isn’t too tough) there is plenty of cover upfront! Berbie is another stuck in the United wilderness and even though I think he is probably the most naturally talented out of ALL of them, his slightly slack sometimes lazy approach has left him, possibly unfairly, out in the cold. Where he will fit in this season? Your guess is as good as mine. Oh yes, and then there’s Michael Owen – no comment (but he was really good a decade ago!)

It almost feels like the Springbok selectors trying to choose loose forwards, two spots and a million talents! We really should have NO issues scoring goals this season, unless . . .

Midfield remains a problem! We have not managed to sign anything really of significance except for the only-just post pubescent Nick Powell. I have seen barely anything of him except him missing an absolute sitter in Shanghai so I shall reserve judgment. The other mid field purchase Shinji Kagawa looks fast, slick and focused. The Ji Sung Park version 2.0 if you will. I am very excited to see what he can do combined with some youth and experience around him.

On the wings, depending on form Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia as well as Nani can all be devastatingly good on their day and very average off it – Valencia probably has the slight edge here as he has been more consistent than the other two. Thankfully the ever green (yes I know its horribly clichéd) Ryan Giggs is sticking around for another year and his influence on the team as well as on the pitch is absolutely invaluable! He is simply a class above the rest and always has been but his ability to evolve his game to suite his aging legs has been exceptional!

In the center of midfield there are the injury prone Tom Cleverly and Anderson who started last season like Xavi and Iniesta. My bold pick of the year is that these two stay fit and hit their best hurling United clear at the top of the table come mid-season. They are, for me, two of United’s biggest talents and if they click like they did in the first few games of last season, we could be in for something stellar! I unfortunately think they will not only not be at 100% the whole season and they won’t get the game time needed to get there with players like Shinji and my all-time favorite Paul Scholes around and about.

Scholes can pass and strike a football like no man on the planet, he has a football brain designed by the gods and he can execute like a sniper, he is a true United legend and again he may have aged but as soon as he re-entered the United fold last year he assumed complete control of the midfield.

So again, on paper we should have enough talented cover to either hold and press, out right attack or defend the midfield with absolutely no problem, on paper that is!

So where do I think our Achilles heal may lie, right here in defense!

With Michael Carrick (I call him the most boring footballer in the world) having filled in for most of the pre-season tour in defense our troubles have started early this season! Like last season we may be make shifting the back four for the better part of 20 games with already Evans, Jones and Smalling all out injured and with Rio looking sort of like a pensioner with a Zimmer frame and Patrice Evra, who I have rated as one of the best fullbacks in the game over the last 5 or 6 years, seriously starting to struggle, I’m a little concerned to say the least.

I don’t even think Nemanja ‘Chuck Norris’ Vidic can hold this defense together.

If Evans and Smalling come right we should be OK as both have shown they have come a very long way over the last 18 months but I still do not feel close to as comfortable as I have with pairings like Bruce and Pallister and Rio and Vidic of a few seasons ago. Even Wes Brown and John O’Shea felt a little more stable! Jones on the other hand I think will develop into a world class defender or midfielder even, but again he needs to stay on the pitch long enough to do so.

It looks as if a lot of responsibility will be put on the young shoulders of Rafael who I hope has been whipped into shape over the pre-season. Last year he was too cocky, too rambunctious and was caught out of position making stupid decisions far too often. He is young and he must be given some time and leeway but at this level that is sadly not going to happen!

There is not much more to say about Vidic other than he is world class, his absence quite possible cost United at least one trophy last season and his reintroduction will rejuvenate the defense. He has more heart than most complete football teams and the fact that he was injured last season may just mean that he remains at United instead of being the target of big money from around the world! Even with a limping Rio they are a great defensive unit but I still believe that we will see a new United central defensive partnership emerge this year and one for the ages. I have a very funny feeling Carrick in central defense may just be a stroke of genius!

Between the sticks I feel progressively more confident with De Gea even though he looks like he stuck pubic hair to his chin. He has grown and continues to grow as a United keeper which at his young age must be seriously tough to handle. He is also being pushed a very talented Lindegaard and I think between them they will keep a solid session in goal this year, especially if we can guarantee a slightly more stable back four!

So that’s the entire team. What do I think of the season ahead, the ups and downs and the many many games to come and many trophies to be potentially won?

I think if MOST importantly this teams stays relatively injury free they will get very close to winning the league. City are of course very strong and Chelsea remain a great threat, especially because I think Torres will have a blinder season. Arsenal are never to be written off and Liverpool are a wild card under new management. I do however have a very strong feeling barring injury and without getting cocky that United may just have a monster season and win by 5 or 6 clear points!

The FA cup is always a gamble and can never be predicted, if we get to the latter rounds we should make it at least to the semis and then its anyone’s game from there. The league cup is not a priority but depending on how the season goes it may be that we start saying ‘a trophy is a trophy’. If we do though I fear there is SERIOUS cause for alarm. Again like the FA Cup but not as precious, we will try get to the later rounds and then see. With the amount of talent we have though we should have no problem getting through the early stages with a second string team.

Now the big one, the Champions League. We should make it to the quarters and then depending on the draw we will have to see. I think though we have enough experience to get through almost anyone and then the semis will be tough. If Alex stops playing the very flat defensive pattern in the CH league that i feel cost us the last few years I think with the strike power we have we will get a long way to lifting the trophy.

So all there is left to say is bring on the new season and COOOOMMMMEEE ONNNNN UNNNIIIITTEEEDDD!

I haven’t been very patriotic lately. It may be the fact that I’m living so far from home that every time I smell anything resembling a braai I try and lick the air, or it could be the fact that when you are outside the snow globe you can actually see how dirty it is and it makes you sad.

Either way I haven’t been particularly kind in my writing about SA lately. The truth I think ist because I really feel sometimes there is very little to be proud of and even that seems to be slipping away quite quickly.

Enter the Olympic games . . .

Now I guess skepticism fills me during these occasions (probably more the fact that I want to pre-empt the disappointment of what I’m used to seeing from South African Olympians generally) but when I saw South Africa walk proudly into that stadium I couldn’t help but cry.

You see we are a nation that sends our men and women off with vuvuzelas! We are a nation who gets to the Olympic village and makes sure that there are enough flags for every man women and child in Britain to see!

We are a nation of fighters, we are a nation of being written off and coming back to kick Michael Phelps’s ass to the finish line!

We are a nation who are missing both legs and when they tell us we cannot compete we fight them in the board rooms and court rooms until we get our shot to compete as an equal and we make the world fall in love with us!

We are a nation of women who are mocked and ridiculed about their sexuality in every circle both nationally and internationally and we keep composed and quite because on day we will lead our nation into an Olympic arena!

We are a nation who were once told blacks and whites would never co-exist let alone rely on each others every stroke to win gold one day!

We are Chad LE Clos’s father talking about his beautiful boytjie! We let our emotions gush because we are a nationa that loves and lives passionately for each other!

We are a proud and honorable nation, one you dare not discount or disregard for we will make you eat those words one way or another! South Africa made me very proud this Olympics and very heart sore. I’m sure very few of you know what it feels like to be in a very foreign place (one where your home country actually doesn’t even exist on the map for most locals), the truth is when you know the feeling of every one back home, you know they are having a braai and a beer and cheering on our athletes whether they have no chance in hell or whether they are medal winners, those are the moments you miss the most!

South Africa made me proud these Olympics because they reminded me why I love this country so much, because it’s the under dog, because it fights and because it is eternally hopeful of itself and its people. Those traits are the ones we often forget and those are the ones that make me so proud of our nation.

Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika

Yes I know they are not done (and Caster still has to run her  final) but we’re sure as hell not going to spend this weekend posting about it!

So we decided its maybe important to have a little fun send off to this year’s epic games in London!

In STM style this is about the fun, the silly, the sexy and the cool (basically everything besides who won anything!)

Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Sorry and just a little touch of Michael Jackson synchro swimming to finish it all off!

I stumbled across this video of USAIN BOLT vs 116 YEARS of the 100m and as interesting as it is, after watching this video I started thinking . . .

You see I don’t get massively excited by the Olympics generally, I guess it’s because I’m consistently underwhelmed by South Africa’s achievements over the years (yes we won a few gold’s but come on, surely we should have more of an impact!) . I mean I watch the usual opening and closing and a few other events depending on who’s in them but mainly I’m in it for the highlights.

Things like . . .

Then maybe a few funnies . . .

Or a little bit of skin . . . 

But this video really got me wondering what is so fascinating about it all. You see the Olympics are the biggest stage in the world of combined sports. It is the best place for athletes to showcase themselves and so every effort in training, nutrition, gear and technology is focused on pushing the limits here.

In short it is the pinnacle of human performance and therefor the premier event to advance human ability.

This video shows just how incredibly the performance of the 100m has improved over time. It shows that, if nothing else, whenever you hear anyone say, “They will never beat . . . “you should slap them in the face and HARD! Humans will continue to develop as they have over the last 100 years and Usain Bolt is merely one point in time of that evolution. Granted he is one majestic stride forward but one step in the process never the less.

I guess I’ve realized that the Olympics is more than the hype, the medals and the sponsors, it is our best way of ensuring that we as a species continue to move forward in at least one sphere.

Like, there is a legless man running in the Olympics or I got sent a press release that is actually interesting. I know I’m being a little mean (about the second one) but so seldom is it the case that I get sent something as blogger that interests me.

We normally get flooded with endless promotional crap that somehow the senders think we’ll just be happy to copy and paste in. Now sure, we love individuals sending in things to post but the mass market digital agencies or PRs – not so much.

Of course we all know Oscar is competing in the Olympics (I guess our minds have been blown so many times by this dude that its actually not massively surprising anymore!)  and now his official watch sponsor is U-BOAT. His specific watch . . . U-BOAT 53mm CLASSICO Titanium Automatic Chronograph watch ‘the Oscar of timekeepers’

I’ve seen him in a number of print ads for fragrances, Nike and a few others but let’s be honest here this dude deserves to get the metal scratches on his blades sponsored by someone. I’m not going to go into a long story about his determination and spirit but I think the most accurate (and granted clichéd) thing I could say is that he, ironically, probably embodies the epitome of an Olympian!

Here’s the times & dates he will be running (click for more details) . . .

 But these are the times you should be watching (his personal bests) . . .

• 100m: 10.91 seconds (South Africa, April 2007)
• 200m: 21.41 seconds (South Africa, March 2010)
• 400m: 45.07 seconds (Italy, July 2011)

While I would rather see him wearing this . . .

I suppose this is cool in the meantime!

As a country we are proud to have Oscar Pistorius representing us at the Olympics. As a brand U-BOAT salutes their brand ambassador Oscar Pistorius Blade Runner!

The dedication and incredible fortitude against the odds has ensured Oscar a place in history. Already a Paralympic gold medalist, Pistorius’ ability has not been without controversy – initially banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage, he continued to strive toward his goal. “One of the reasons for doing the tests was proving that I’m in a sport and have the ability to run due to my own talent and hard work and sacrifices, and that was important for me. Looking back at that, I’m happy that we went through it.” Says Pistorius 

In keeping with Oscar’s spirit he has been named brand ambassador for U-BOAT watches –  Luks Group CEO Marc Hoffman, U-BOAT distributors is elated at placing the hottest time piece on Oscar’s wrist … U-BOAT understands the value of every second, which is why each watch is hand-crafted with meticulous attention to detail ensuring each time-piece is of the highest quality. Nobody is better suited to understand the brand ethos more than Oscar Pistorius who is also dedicated to making every second count both on the track and in life.

“Oscar is an inspiration to all South African’s and millions of people around the world. He is showing us all how to live beyond our limitations. Oscar encompasses strength, individuality and inner confidence. The same values that U-BOATwatches stand for. U-BOAT South Africa feels privileged to affiliate with Oscar as he pursues his dreams.”

When U-Boat paired Oscar Pistorius with their 53mm CLASSICO Titanium Automatic Chronograph watch, it was a perfect match for the athlete. With Oscar being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2012, he was a natural choice as a U-BOAT Ambassador, for U-BOAT too continues to influence watch design and style around the globe.

I love sport, all kinds of sport, no matter how stupid, useless or irrelevant it may seem I love them all (well except South African cricket but that’s a whole other story). Each sport represents some kind of way for humans to excel, push themselves and achieve. It is the greatest teacher of life lessons of triumph, elation, heartache and so many more.

Tonight is one of those great moments in sport where everyone invested will be taught one of these lessons.

You see tonight, well actually at 3am my time, My Manchester United will play Manchester City in a football game that will most likely decide the destination of the Premier League trophy for another year.

The significance is special on so many levels. City have been very much in the shadow of United for decades until they were scooped up by an Abu Dhabi billionaire in his quest to play Football manager (as seems to be the trend) and they immediately used the open cheque book to buy a way to compete.

This year they may not have achieved their goals of European glory but they have certainly shown they are no longer merely Man United’s neighbors.

United on the other hand are the epitome of legacy, they have been at the top of English and sometimes world football for the past two decades and winning is not only expected but its engrained in every players brain when they pull on that shirt!

Tonight will be a great test of new spirit and its will to win and old hands trying to prove they are still on top.

Tonight out on that pitch you will see the desire to win like you seldom have the privilege of seeing and regardless of result it will be an epic clash. Either United will seal the title on the very home pitch of their biggest rivals and we will learn to celebrate and win with a level of humility or City will finally earn the chance to topple their generally patronizing neighbor and we will learn to accept pain and heartache of defeat with heads held high.

If you are a United fan the wounds will still be fresh of the last time we faced our rivals from the other side of town, home thrashings are not usually part of the United script!

I love sport for games like tonight because whichever way they go we will learn something and we will feel emotion on a level that we seldom can.

It’s always said with a clichéd snigger that ‘sport is the real winner’ but the truth is we are the ones who win, we are the ones who have the privilege of watching modern day gladiators do battle and thrive off the electrifying emotion they give us!

There has been a lot of banter around the football world of late comparing Lionel Messi to every footballing great whether dead or alive. I suppose these comparisons are inevitable as he is most certainly one of, if not the, greatest player of the current era (Cristiano Ronaldo starts crying in the fetal position in the corner)

I never had the privilege of watching Pele or Maradona play really but from the limited amount of YouTube clips and statistics I’ve seen you can clearly appreciate their genius.

Maradona, with all the baggage that comes with him, won one world cup and dominated the Serie A and La Liga during his peak and as an attacking midfielder and striker his goal ratio was fairly impressive. I guess why he is so widely recognized is for goals like this at times like these!

You cannot deny the level of skill and pace that this man possessed even late into his career (well not so much the speed) but, for me, if we are talking about greatest of all time I think sometimes that Maradona has the advantage of being traded in a free market football economy which Pele did not and that certainly gave alot more hype to his ability!

Pele on the other hand was devastating in front of goal, I mean I kind of new this but to achieve a goal to game ratio of 0.94 is absolutely unheard of in a career that spanned over 650 games (and even when you compare this to Messi’s 160 goals in 209 games and counting (0.74) its astonishing). He scored 77 in 90 games for Brazil and this completely destroys Messi’s 20 odd in 60 games!

Not only was his club career unquestionably the best ever but he won three world cups and it just gets better from there. At 17 he made it through to the quarters and scored there (youngest to do so), then in the semi he scored a hat-trick (youngest to do so) and then when he played in the final as the youngest player ever he scored twice and became the youngest player to win a world cup (not win but pretty much carry the team as the youngest player)

Just enjoy this!

Now I’ve heard some talk about Ronaldo (maybe not in this category but I thought he is worth a mention – but a small one). No one can deny his talent – he is brilliantly skillful. His goal ratio for a winger essentially is superb and at Real Madrid where he can control the show he has 107 goals in 96 games!

But the simple fact is, he dives, he cries and he whines and while he his career is hopeful in its middle stages and he may go on to mature to an all-time great he has a long way to go – but with skill like this no one better count him out. The only reason i think he is not mentioned close to as much as Messi is quite frankly cause people just don’t like him very much!

Now onto Messi.

He has won three champions leagues, five La Liga titles and about a bijjillion other trophy’s with his beloved Barca. He has won three consecutive Ballon D’ors and is the first player in 30 years to score 60 goals in a season AND HE IS 24 YEARS OLD!

He has already broken the Barcelona all-time scoring record and he hopefully has another 8 – 10 years left in him.

He somehow manages to create space and time like no player I’ve ever seen and he almost plays football target=”_blank”>like Bradley Cooper deals with Robert De Niro in the last scene of Limitless! He is without question the most talented, most brilliant and best big game temperament player in the world but he does have an all-star team feeding him the ball every step of the way.

He is quite simply just magic to watch (except when he scores against Man United – then I want to punch him in the temple) and he certainly deserves to be in the ‘greatest player of all time’ discussion – yet he is only 24.

Just have a look!

Now for the downside – he has won no major honours with Argentina and has failed to impress mostly in his international career (this lends itself to the argument at Barca he has the greatest midfielders in the world giving him the ball) and until he proves himself in a World Cup I don’t think he will be considered to have overtaken Pele –certainly not by me!

So to the initial question – who is the greatest football player of all time?

The answer has to be Pele quite simply from every aspect. For me Maradona didn’t come close in achievements, not in club nor international and Lionel Messi has not yet shown he is a world beater. Messi does however still hopefully have a decade odd left in him to prove me wrong!

Let’s get one thing very clear – if you are not a regular reader then you need to understand I am a MASSIVE Manchester United fan (if you don’t believe me have a look)! I respect Tottenham Hotspur tremendously as a club, their history, their legacy, their fans and their passion. I only scream for them when they play any of United’s traditional rivals and so I have no reason writing this!

Harry Redknapp arrived at a rather desolate and bleak White Hart Lane in 2008, the club had won nothing of significance, wait scrap that, they had won NOTHING in a decade and the fans, the sponsors and the spirits that watch over that hallowed ground were close to meltdown.

The Spurs motto is Audere est Facere ‘To Dare is to Do’ and on cue arrived a man that embodied just that in every sense.

He started his managerial career at West Ham United and saw the rise of current stars Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole to name a few (he oversaw and promoted players from probably the most successful youth program in English football). He took them to their highest finish ever of fifth in the league and qualified for Europe (this with a team that two seasons later got relegated!)

Then he got fired. To dare is to do!

From there he moved to Portsmouth where he coached them to the League One title and promotion to the top flight at the same time his former club West Ham got relegated (Karma’s a bitch!).

Shortly thereafter, once again a small dispute with an owner and once again Harry was out on his ass! To Dare is to do!

After a shaky spell at Southampton (and a fight with owners of their appointment of Rugby World Cup winning douche Clive Woodward to the coaching staff) he was back at Portsmouth trying desperately to save them from relegation, which he did, and to put an exclamation on his return and a big middle finger to the previous owner by finishing a club record ninth. Not stopping there he took that team to FA CUP glory at Wembley in 2008 and their first silverware in two generations!

TO DARE IS TO DO!

White Hart lane was indeed dark and gloomy as Spurs sat bottom of the Premier League log 8 games into the season as the somewhat cheery, semi alcohol face of Harry arrived and proceeded to grab Spurs by the scruff of the neck and drag them up the ladder, and quickly. In the Jan transfer window he bought Robbie Keane, Defoe and Palacios (the latter two are still club stalwarts!). Spurs lost in the league cup final to My United and eventually finished the season a MUCH improved eighth!

The next season he led Spurs to their best ever finish of fourth and burst their way into the Champions League, something no Spurs fan on earth would have thought possible less than a year earlier! Not only did they qualify they made it to the quarters only to come up against Jose Mourinhos gazillionaire Real Madrid! Spurs went on to finish fifth in the Premier league behind the ‘big four’.

This season he has managed to keep Luca Modric (who the whole world seemed to want at one point in the summer), sign Scott parker, get the best out of Gareth Bale, loan Adebayor (who was crap at City and now leads the line superbly for Spurs) and sign 40 year old Brad Friedel which turned out to be a stroke of genius solving his leaky goal problem! So far Spurs sit third behind the nuvo riche blue side from Manchester and the REAL side from Manchester – UNITED!

So, why the entire preamble?

Well, Harry set out on a journey with Spurs. He set out with a crumbling club to take them to heights they had never been. Sure he’s done that already BUT I believe he’s not done yet, not by a long shot. I’m not sure I can see Spurs winning a title this season, perhaps it’s too soon to tell but with their squad now strengthened and their re-introduction to the Champions League imminent I believe they could potentially become a seriously big name on a European and perhaps global scale.

I’m sure the luster of coaching his national team must seems desperately appealing, especially since its ready for his turnaround magic BUT coaching England is perhaps the riskiest step in his career and could turn out to be the least rewarding, whereas I believe if he stays at Spurs he can build a legacy that the Spurs fans have deserved since the Linekar / Gazza era!

To dare is to do, and Harry Redknapp could not be a better example of a manager embodying a clubs motto. He is outspoken, harsh, certainly not refined but gets the best out his players both on the pitch and off and has certainly found a home in North London.

As a football fan first and then a United one I truly hope he stays to finish the journey he started a few years ago. I believe the club world would be worse off without his spirit, passion and heart (all the things I believe make me a United fan ironically) and while he certainly deserves his shot as the coach of England, I truly believe it won’t bring him the joy or satisfaction that he seems to have found playing on Europe’s biggest football stage!

I may be a little biased due to the fact that this little bastard cost the last African team left in the target=”_blank”>2010 soccer world cup their spot because, let’s be honest here, he’s a fucking cheat! I hated him when Manchester United threatened to sign him and I hated him the most when his cheating antics landed themselves at Anfield (a club I respect tremendously – even more so under ‘King Kenny’)

The fact is the man is a VERY good footballer and I suppose as the season went on a bit I started to hate him less for being a cheat and more because of his and Liverpool’s new found success (if you are a football fan you will understand this is a normal and very acceptable hatred of other teams players)

Then one fine winters day Suarez came to Manchester and without question racially abused Patrice Evra (a guy who at his worst is a tough no nonsense footballer) over and over again – the cheating hatred began to come back. Over the coming days video evidence proved the abuse and Suarez was given an eight match ban!

In support his fellow players decided to warm up in Suarez shirts I support of this now proven Nazi! (even King Kenny who I’ve downgraded to a Nazi SS footsoldier)

What I cannot understand is why and how firstly this kind of racism is allowed in football, this coming from me, who wrote an article in ‘defense’ of Sepp Blatters so called racist remarks, and secondly how teammates of this idiot can come out in support of someone who was PROVEN guilty!

Liverpool has been an amazing club for me over the years. It’s had the same tradition, passion, heart and players that I’ve grown to love about the English Premier Leagues great old clubs and this event and more importantly the way the team and club handled it has really put them into a new realm of darkness for me. I understand supporting your players no matter what, but, there really are better ways of handling a situation like this!

Suarez is and always has lived on the edge of the law with football and for top flight players I guess that’s sadly become the norm but to be a proven racist should really mean he now must become a pariah (Darren Scott must have his hands in the air somewhere asking how come he was so vehemently outcast)

Right at the beginning of the 90s I started supporting Manchester United.

Probably not for any other reason than I was just a kid and my older brother who I worshipped supported them. I guess I was lucky that I started watching them at the beginning of dynasty, it could quite easily have been Liverpool who was just about at the end of theirs.

I quickly started to realize that this club was different to most other teams I had been a supporter of. It seemed as a player it demanded more of you, it demanded a level of commitment to excellence that I’d seen few other times before in my life.

Quickly my walls were coated with players like Bryan Mcclair, Dennis Irwin, Lee Sharpe, Bryan Robson & Mark Hughs! I had team photos, I bought the magazines and I watched every game I possibly could. I saw an empire being created led by a dynamic and passionate general in, at the time, just Alex Ferguson and on the solid cornerstones of giants among men like Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and Peter Schmeichel and on the creative talents of Paul Ince and strength of Roy Keane in midfield. I had the priveladge of witnessing the magic that was Eric Cantona. I saw the birth of the team they said were merely ‘kids’ that eventually went on to take the treble together! I’ve seen almost 20 years of Ryan Giggs and will have the memory of him tearing solo through Arsenal on-route to part of that treble winning season, I’ve seen the genius of David Beckhams right foot and strike partners of Andy Cole, Dwight York and solo strikers like Ruud Van Nistelrooy. I’ve been through the best of goalkeepers and those that made my stomach turn whenever they got close to the ball like Fabien Barthez and the other 9 including an aussie and a tourettes spewing yank before sanity returned in the form of the gracious Dane Edwin. Ive watched in awe as a little ginger kid called Paul carved passing lines through defenses like a sniper. I saw the birth of Wayne Rooney as a United legend and the metamorphosis of a scrawny Portuguese winger who turned into a worldwide phenomenon called Ronaldo! The list of truly magnificent footballers than I have been honored to watch goes on and on.

I’ve experienced wins, draws and losses in the hundreds. I’ve seen the greatest heights in Europe when the baby faced assassin Ole Gunner Solskjaer scored and then Teddy Sheringham the second to bring us the Champions league for the first time in my life. I’ve seen captains hold up Carlings Cup, UEFA cups, Super cups, FA cups and Premier league trophies and I’ve seen our fearless leader being knighted by the Queen for his services. I’ve gotten drunk on success and I’ve thrown furniture around my house in anger.

The reason I tell you this is for no reason other than to establish myself as a fairly knowledgeable United fan.

Throughout my twenty years of supporting one thing has always been abundantly clear, our manager, our players and our fans have always demanded more! We are and have always strived to win and although it’s not always possible to do so, there was always a burning desire for it! Every player who has ever pulled on a United jersey has given their heart and soul on that field and THAT is the reason I watch them day in and day out for twenty seasons. That is the reason that I cheer and cry and praise year after year.

On Wednesday it is the first time since 2005/6 that I’ve felt that heart slipping slightly. Back then the world called for Sir Alex’s head, they said he was too old, not hungry enough and it was time for a new leader. I’ve never felt that way – the man has built something that I can’t ever imagine will ever be equaled in my lifetime and regardless of results he should be able to go on his own terms. He is, for me, the embodiment of greatness and my only regret is a I sadly will never get to take him a great bottle of red and talk football with a man who has stood on the front lines and won battle after battle with dignity, strength and courage.

For me, I felt for the first time we started to expect to win instead of fighting tooth and nail for every inch of it! That made me sadder than anything. On Thursday morning I woke up with a very sore head and a sadness in my heart that I haven’t felt in a long time, not anger not depression but sadness that for the first time in a long time this team of men, this club and this dynasty that I have spent most of my 29 years being a part of seems to be battling and what aches most of all is I don’t see the players hurting.

By no means do I think this is anything near the end, all I can say is that I hope when those men, who get to put on that sacred jersey, are all alone late at night, without twitter, newspapers, annoying reporters and loud mouthed fans of their own and other teams, that they think about the honour they have of wearing that crest over their hearts. I hope they dig deep down and they find the fight that MY United have always had.

I hope those men take the pain of bitter bitter defeat and turn it into the pride and spirit that I’ve seen shown through my years and years watching this glorious club.

I hope to see MY MANCHESTER UNITED again . . .