United on course despite stumble

THOSE who may want to see Manchester United's five year grip on the Premiership end like John Major's, have already resigned themselves to having to wait for another season at least.

Like the Tories, United are adored only by their own constituency and have problems with Europe. But they remain the team best equipped to stay in power, especially in the continuing absence of a credible opposition.

For Alex Ferguson's blend of home grown, shop bought and imports just four points from their last three games this week will be enough to win their fourth League title in the past five seasons. Given that they only lost the 1994-95 championship race on the final game and threw away the 1991-92 title to Leeds, that represents a Thatcherite hold on the reigns of power.

The backbone of their success is simple: a grinding consistency unmatched by Liverpool, Newcastle or any of the other pretenders to the throne despite the millions chucked at the problem. United's displays rarely take the breath away but nearly always take the points.

There is little reason why that should not continue against Middlesbrough today, Newcastle on Thursday and West Ham on Sunday. At Filbert Street they came hack from 2-0 down, rode their luck and took yet another point

They even came close to winning, though a United victory would have been unfair to the English League Cup winners for whom the loss of two points was bad enough. Their slide back into the shark-infested relegation waters increases the possibility of an unfitting end to their gallant season, though with two games left, safety lies in their own hands.

Everyone is agreed that Martin O'Neill has done a fantastic job at Leicester on limited resources, proving once again that as man-motivators go the Irishman is up there with his old boss Brian Clough.

The next test of his management will come if Leicester stay up, for O'Neill says that for the first time in his career he will then be given money to spend on higher quality players. How he spends that cash and how he copes with the egos that accompany the talent will go a long way to showing whether Leicester can become a consistent Premiership force and whether O'Neill himself has what it takes to manage at the very top level.

Lack of quality players is not United's problem. Signs of end of season tiredness punctuated much of their error strewn display on Saturday and Ferguson has promised to dip into his big squad for today's game and freshen up the team.

Andy Cole looked the sharpest, though Ferguson's attempt to praise him by saying "on another day he could have scored six" only highlighted the striker's enduring profligacy.

But he is an effective provider, cleverly setting up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for United's first goal just before halftime then creating the second by battling past Matthew Elliott and poking in a shot which the goalkeeper could only parry before Solskjaer pounced again.

Until that first goal the Norwegian had been as anonymous as a United defence cut open by any Leicester player prepared to run at them.

Gary Pallister and Phil Neville were particularly out of sorts, the latter tormented by Mustapha Izzett's pacy repetoire which, before he went off injured, included one occasion when the winger rounded the England fullback only to be brought down by Pallister in the area and denied a blatant penalty. That would have put Leicester 3-0 up with little way back for United on a tiring warm day.

O'Neill's band of fighters had scored first on 16 minutes when Pallister and Phil Neville went missing as Steve Walsh cracked in a header at the back post from Garry Parker's corner.

Four minutes later David May missed the ball, jumping with Ian Marshall who then dummied Pallister and shot home from 10 yards. The gangly striker had already hit the bar and later he headed straight at the goalkeeper and twice shot wide.

Once David Beckham came on as a substitute to add some much needed craft to United's attacking options, Roy Keane and Cole again went close before Leicester raised themselves for the final 15 minutes, with Elliott and Marshall forcing classic saves from Peter Schmeichel to go with the two he made earlier from Steve Claridge and Neil Lennon.