The Manchester derby was an intriguing affair but one that was a good pointer to the future.
There has been a great deal of talk about City becoming the richest club in the world and how much money they are going to spend in January and talk of how they are going to go for the world's best players.
But money alone will not be the cure and the best players don't necessarily make the best teams as we have seen in other clubs. Chelsea got things right a couple of years ago but as well as bringing in top talent from abroad they also bought some excellent English players through such as Terry, Lampard and Cole who know all about playing in the Premiership. It will be a fine balancing act for City and they will have a lot to think about as they get the cheque book ready. In the build up to last week's game Ryan Giggs and Alex Ferguson both said it may take some time before City become real challengers.
On Sunday's display I think they are spot on. Anyone who saw the game will have seen that United were comfortable winners and they set the standard for everyone again. They may be five points behind the leaders at the minute but they I think they will soon kick on. They have such experience that I am sure they will have an excellent second half to the season and be there at the end.
I bet the news that Sir Alex says he intends to stay on for a while longer didn't go down well in some quarters - mainly from those hoping to take his crown.

IN the other big game on Sunday it was a case of welcome to the Premiership Mr Scolari as his Chelsea lost a second home game in quick succession. Arsenal showed once again why they are such a topsy turvy team at the moment with a great win although there was a major debate raging about their first goal which was clearly offside. I think it was unfair of the Chelsea boss to call the referee biased because it was one of those decisions made purely out of human error - nothing else. I have talked about technology for goal line decisions but I don't think I would want that extended to such things as offside decisions because it is the human fallibility aspect that can make such issues become the main talking points of the weekend for some people.

INTERESTING times for my old Republic team mate Roy Keane at Sunderland at the moment. His team's 4-1 defeat on Saturday was a real killer and it is clear that you can see he is under a bit of pressure.
His comments about asking himself every day if he is the man to manage Sunderland are a bit worrying and point to someone not totally at ease with his situation.
The good thing for Roy is that he is a battler but he also has an excellent chairman in Niall Quinn who will give him huge support. Roy couldn't ask for a better man to be behind him because he will do his best to give him everything he asks for. Sunderland have spent a lot of money but like a lot of clubs they are chasing their goal of staying in the Premiership and getting the rewards that brings every season.