And at the other end of the table, who do you guys see getting sent to the Championship? I see Newcastle surviving

United will forever remain a contender,\
Finished second to Chelski last season only a point less, the squad will remain almost intact, expect fireworks from the devils,
Firstly, whilst I'm no fan of the Glazers, I do think most of the stuff written about our finances and debt levels is put forth by people with little or no understanding of corporate finance. If we were really teetering on the brink of ruin, they'd be hawking us round and not telling the Red Knights to f*ck off. If you want to see what a club in financial meltdown runs like, have a peek down the M62!

Secondly, whilst our lack of outlay is frustrating, Fergie is right, the market is inflated. Hate to state the obvious, but there's a recession on. Only three clubs are chucking around money like a few years ago; Real, Barca and City. Two of these clubs have independent TV deals that dwarf every other big club in Europe. The other is funded by a multi-billionaire as a hobby. As far as I can see, AC Milan, Inter, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Lyon and pretty much every other big club in Europe (bar Juve, who are undergoing a post calcio rebuild) have broken even or made a profit on transfers in the last 12 months. Inter are European champions and all the talk is of who is leaving! The market is incredibly quiet, because three clubs have bullied everyone else (i.e. clubs run with some fiscal sense) out of the market. If everyone else was chucking money around and we weren't, then I'd be worried. We've signed two promising youngsters so far, at considerable cost, and our chief rivals for the title have signed a 30-year-old Israeli.



Take City, Real and Barca out of the equation and look at the last two or three transfer windows - they've all been incredibly quiet. United are tightening their belt with regard to transfers, but so is (almost) everyone else.

McReggae....The Glazers stated that there are willing to buy any player in the market BUT they are not ready to pay "crazy wages". Wayne Rooney is your best player at the moment yet if he signs his new contract he'll be earning 140K pounds per week compare that to Terry, Lampard, Adebayor, Tevez or Yaya Toure salary!

Man Utd sold Christiano Ronaldo for 80 Million pounds yet they are complaining of inflated prices, how ironical is that????? Most of the best players in the market expect Man Utd to compete with the likes of Real, Chelsea and now Man City in terms of salary packages anything short of that is unacceptable.

Berbatov is not good enough, van Der Sar is 40 yrs Old, Ferdinand can't seem to stay away from the medics, Hagreaves is a non-starter, Giggs & Scholes are pensioners....Man Utd NEEDS new experienced players if they are to be competitive next season!

I'm not sure how Man Utd will compete effectively without any big name signings and it looks like SAF is happy with the current squad according to ESPN soccernet, but I'm confident because of 2 things:
1. The squad has played together and gotten a lot of experience - both by getting to No.2 in the EPL and by exiting at the CL in the quarters. Guys like Nani, Fletcher (who by now is the heart of the teams's midfield), Park,Valencia, Fabio, Rafael,maybe John Evans, can only get better
2. For guys like Berbatov, this will be a make or break season for him - if he doesn't peak, then he'll never do it in Man Utd. Everyone agrees that the guy has got skill but he's lazy/the Man Utd style of play doesn't click with his; either way he has to perform. With the untested Hernandez upfront, they might just take off the pressure for Rooney who'll have a hard time replicating last season"s form

The fact that Man Utd come in as underdogs in the race for the title i.e. there's no clear favourite though Chelshit would be expected to retain it, makes me think the pressure would be less. Smalling in defense and Kuszczak in goal make me comfortable despite Taz's assertions on Man Utd's defense

Frankly speaking I think the race this time could be much closer to call than even last time where it ended being a two horse race...this time I think there'll be a third team in the works...whether it's Arses, Scousers, Shitty or Spurs is any ones guess but I can bet the first 2 will be Man Utd and Blues (in that order I hope)

Personally I don't believe in City's potential because of their coach ( Just like Argentina with Maradona) but if they gel quickly, they'll be a force to reckon with

Arses, untested talent in Chamakh (in EPL) and a few new signings (same youth) probably means the same story for them. I just don't think they have enough depth to go the mile.

The team with the most depth wins...Chelsea have it more than Man Utd (perhaps), City have it but it has not gelled...I think Spurs and Fools will be the dark horses and could spoil the party for many, but not the top two.

That's my two cents...and am sticking to it