great that john o`shea remains with united..seems to be getting better with each season...

may l make a comment on englands football situation..

whether we beat croatia (or not) our international program is stagnant

steve mcclaren will never be good enough to coach england to greatness...mcclaren was a mediocre head coach at middlesboro..learned nothing as assistant for five years under sven erickson..and has shown no coaching style in his present position

l am amazed that the fa did not offer this prestigous football position to martin o`neil..lippi..scholari (or) other world renowned football managers around the world..instead took mclaren

steve mcclaren is out of his coaching league as head football coach of england...

england will NEVER win top football honors in euro 2008(or) world cup 2010 with steve mcclaren in charge..surely better football minds than mine should have realised this was a monumential coaching error...steve mcclaren must go..but how many more disappointments must our long suffering england fans endure in the foreseeable future..enough sa

Another duckegg signing an extention.

Glad to hear the news.

I'll be the first to admit he's not one of our better players but he's been a loyal servant for the past several years.

squad player at united first team anywhere else

3 new contracts in well I make it 5yrs so job's a good un why should he want to leave? What a waste of a potentially top player shame he can't yet trap a ball the guy is a jammy git but basically a tart blocking young players breaking through.

McLaren makes safe political decisions regardless of the opposition and the type of players he should be playing in each position. For example Lampard and Gerrard will always be picked as they are super stars and you dont drop superstars. Michael Owen was going through a horrendous goal drought but he was always an automatic.England will probably limp into he finals but If the FA aren't looking for a replacement for McLaren right now, they can kiss eny thoughts of success in the finals goodbye.

Many may have misgivings about O'Shea (myself included) but this is a player who understands the need for a large squad and is willing to play his part as a squad player. So, its good news that he is extending his contract!

Patrick McLoughlin -

Ah, still refusing to swallow your words I see.

You're obviously one of many who thought that Russia would beat Israel and was salavating at the idea of a Euro 2008 with no England.

McClaren got Middlesbrough to the UEFA Cup Final! Middlesbrough! Yes they got thrashed by a superb Sevilla side but he still got them there!

Middlesbrough are way worse now under Southgate than they were under McClaren.

Getting a foreign coach is a dent to the national pride, like we needed any more.

Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, France and Spain all wouldn't dream of having a foreign coach. Yes, they all probably have better selections (Luis Aragones isn't the best but he's still got them through) of home coaches than us, but you get the picture!

And don't say that I'm behind the times either.

What's more Sven and Macca both speak English. I'm not sure how much of that Marcello Lippi speaks. Yes you can have interpretors, but it's not really the same is it? (And can lead to mis-understandings if the interpretors are unscrupulous).

Patrick McLoughlin -

Luiz Felipe Scolari! If you want England players to dive and foul all the time, get other teams players sent-off, our ball-boys to throw balls onto the pitch to dis-rupt the play, and our coach to slap other players, then you'd have the right man in Scolari!

I'm not sure exactly how much English he speaks either, despite being called "Big Phil"

Martin O'Neill? I'm sorry Patrick but winning the Scottish League 10 billion times in a row isn't criteria.

Rangers would struggle to beat Derby.

i'd say england will never win any top football honour at all with the current academy system.

Gamst will be pleased !

JOS looks one of the least gifted players now that Anderson and Hargreaves have arrived but he has loyalty and we've all been glad when he's chipped in with the occasional very important goal.
He looked pure class in his debut season but hasn't really progressed.I get the feeling he's well liked by other players and perhaps he's a good guy to have around.

Signing players like Oafshea on long term deals is OK if he's getting £10 to 15k a week. He is worth no more. He is a stop gap left full back only. He cannot and must not ever play midfield again. He is a poor tackler, can't pass, has clumsy feet, is slow,and has no vision. The reality is that he WILL be getting more money than this. Probably £50k a week. There are many better footballers around than him, on half that. It's a disgusting disgrace. It's no wonder he want's to stay for the rest of his career. What other team would pay Oafshea that kind of money?

Delighted to hear the news; he's a very valuable squad member ; totally committed and far more ability than he's given credit for.
perhaps never quite developed to top level because he's been asked to play in so many positions. When he came inti the side he was a v.good centre back but after the first couple of seasons was used everywhere as cover because of our poor squad depth. that constant rotation must dilute a players ability -look what it did to Smith, he does'nt know what he is supposed to be now; a decent striker ruined!
whilst he does'nt perform at the same level as the normal occupants of those positions I'm always confident that he'll do a job in any defensive position or midfield.

Jerzy. Do you live in Outer Mongolia and support Hamilton Academicals or something? O'shea didn't come into the team playing centre half at all (bet you only support United because they're famous and they win stuff). His frst season was at left back (hence the song "When Johnny goes running down the wing"), and a very good season it was. He has been used since as a centre back only in the Carling Cup or in a severe injury crisis. Mostly since his debut season, he has been used in central midfield, and he is HOPELESS. One of Sir Alex's weaknesses is thinking full backs can play midfield. He has tried it with O'shea, Phil Neville, Fortune and even Evra at times. If we'd had another good right back, I bet gaz would have had a run in midfield! It doesn't work! It is hard enough in the premiership to play in your natural position. To play out of position in the prem is folly. Why do managers presume non midfielders can play midfield? It is an incredibly difficult position, demanding many skills, most which O'shea doesn't have, ie quick feet (Scoles), vision (Carrick), passing ability (Anderson), agressiveness (Hargreaves). Who's idea was it to first play Alan Smith as a midfielder (not Sir's , I know), and what was the thinking behind it? "Alan Smith gets stuck in, so lets make him another Roy Keane"? Stupid, stupid folly. You wouldn't play Vidic on the wing if Ronaldo got injured! Or would you Jerzy?

im pleased to hear this news. Oshea is a quailty squad player he wont get in our strongest 11 but he dont mid sitting on the bench and playing the odd game like fletch this is what we need at the club. grat news.

This is a player who has played 260 games for United. IMHO he's a good all round player who has seldom let the side down.
These type of players are invaluable to the squad.
No, he wouldn't be a regular but he's going to clock 300 -400 appearances for the club so don't underestimate his importance to the team.

how the hell does oshea get games and contracts.hes the worst player in the league and hes an absolute joke when playin for ireland.hes crap wherever he plays.he shud be at rochdale and andorra

Wunderkid while I agree we don't necessarily want O'Neill as manager and I have said the same in the past, Rangers did beat Lyon 3-0 away so not beating Derby is unlikely.

Khaled, i fear 'mad goat's' has spread to humans ! ... 'cos he's right actually ..JoS did intially come into the 1st team as a centre half. That was his position in the stiffs. I particularly remember (& i think it was his debut) he did a cruyff turn in front of K stand. It was around the time Rab c Nesbitt was in goal & came off injured i think to be replaced by Rachubka. He didn't play many games there though 7 the following season he did start playing LB.

Either way, & one thing all remaining sane folk must agree on is...he's no more a CM player than one of your goats !!

Say whatever you want but every team needs a John O'Shea, a versatile and reliable player who doesn't mind sitting on the bench. Besides, he deserves a new contract through that goal against Pool last year alone..

And no Khaled, I seriously doubt he's getting 50k a week. 20k would be more likely considering Vidic only got a payrise to about 60k a couple of weeks ago..

Well Khaled; I know he started off at centre back 'cos I saw him play there and he had always been regarded as that.As for supporting Utd; whilst I've never lived in the Manchester area and don't go to many games these days i'd guess i've probably seen utd play in excess of 600 games so I'd consider myself to have more than a passing affinity for the club and more than just an inkling of what i'm talking about . Moreover if you care to read my post again you'll that your criticising me for making the the same point about playing people out of position ( Alan Smith) as you are. Relax matey, you'll live longer!

he`s good for the squad, as a person and as a utility player, good news.

cultsevers, be a good little boy & get back to the blue side where you belong. The other numptys want their crayons back in the wastelands.

Duncan, London -

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you see all of that Rangers-Lyon game Duncsy?

At La Stade Gerland Lyon lashed the Glaswegians from pillar to post, dominated all the possession, hit the bar numerous times, had almost all the shots on goal, and Rangers JUST TOOK ALL 3 OF THEIR CHANCES.

Barcelona killed Rangers in both games but the scorelines didn't reflect it.

The Celtic-AC Milan game as we know was a scrappy affair.

I seriously don't think that winning the Scottish League 10 million times is good enough criteria to be the manager of England.

And I prefer McClaren who's very experienced, and took Middlesbrough to a UEFA Cup Final.

People say McClaren's not a good tactician but he was an assistant coach for years AND THEY USUALLY HANDLE THE PLAYS AND TACTICS, whilst the No.1 is the "man-manager" and motivator.

In Germany's team at last year's World Cup for example, it's pretty well established that Klinsmann was the man-manager and motivator and that his assistant Joachim Lowe (who's now taken over and done an excellent job) was the tactician, this is the case most of the time, and I think that McClaren has shown that he is both a very good man-manager and tactician.

Against Israel in Tel-Aviv they put 11 men behind the ball the whole game, and we never moved the ball quickly enough. Result 0-0.

Against Macedonia it was similar, against Croatia in Zagreb a dodgy bit of turf didn't help our cause.

There were always injuries.

Against Israel and Russia at Wembley we rocked without a lot of established 1st-teamers and with players like Barry and Owen producing the goods.

Whether Macca would've put these players in without the injuries is a moot point and against Russia in Russia we got a very dubious decision against us.

I think we already know the elements of the system we have to change regarding youth coaching, style of play etc and we don't need foreign coaches to do it.

Call me a bit of an old-fashioned patriot, but that's just how I feel.