For some, with victory there is still no survival on massive day

TV VIEW:ALEX McLEISH, Steve Coppell and Roy Hodgson were probably delivering the same words to their players at that precise moment, but it was that more esteemed gaffer Winston Churchill that Sky Sports chose to credit yesterday when this call to arms filled our screen: "Victory at all costs, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."

Richard Keys was clearly emotional. To be honest, Winston had us in buckets too: we always knew avoiding relegation was a big thing, we just didn't realise it was that big.

"It has all come down to this, the last day," Richard panted.

"Yeah, it's massive," Jamie Redknapp agreed.

As for the Premier League title chase, Richard resisted drawing from the same Churchill speech to describe the importance of the "monstrous tyranny" at Stamford Bridge being denied on D-Day, instead opting for, "Wot a day!"

It struck us that if Richard had been in charge in June 1944 we might have been inspired to surrender to them on the beaches.

It was, though, at that point the tone was lowered somewhat on Sky Sports when we dropped in at St Andrews to see the Birmingham players warming up ahead of their massive game against Blackburn. The sight that greeted us was Brum ace James McFadden limping, his pre-match exercises having left him sufficiently injured to be ruled out of the game.

"****ing hell," said a Sky Sports voice.

We're not sure who it was, but one thing's for sure, it wasn't Winston.

"If you inadvertently picked up sound there, that we would not have wished you to have heard, we apologise," said Richard.

Ray Wilkins looked aghast, appalled by the industrial language.

Back to Stamford Bridge to see the Chelsea players arriving. All of them listening to their iPods, we noted, just to drown out the sound of Avram Grant's pre-match tactics talk.

Back to Wigan.

"It's a massive, massive, big game," said Andy Gray, outdoing Jamie in the massive stakes, before we had a pre-massive-match quick chat with Alex Ferguson.

"Is it true what today's papers say, are you buying Michael Owen?" he was asked.

"There's nothing in that at all," he said, confirming Owen's arrival was imminent.

But never mind next season; this season's massive prize was still up for grabs. A big prize too, £14,400,000, Richard reminded us breathlessly.

Roughly what Chelsea pay for a fourth-choice left back or what United spend on Louis Saha's medical bills, to be truthful about it.

Kick-off time loomed. Just time for a last word from Ray.

"Scholes brings a peacefulness to United," he told us.

Up and running. Scholes brought a certain turbulence to United by earning two yellow cards. But the ref gave him only one, evidently moved by the protestations of innocence from that bundle of ginger loveliness.

"I think he's bottled it," said Andy of the official, already peeved by his failure to award Wigan a penalty when Rio Ferdinand thrust the bit just below his shoulder (the anatomically correct term is "arm") at the ball deep inside his penalty area.

Those of you who are sticklers for the rules of Association Football would have said, "Penalty!"

D'you know, you'd have been right.

But in fairness, the ref tried to make amends by actually awarding a penalty in the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo tucked it away nicely.

Half-time. Scholes? Lucky?

"His face told a massive story," said Jamie.

Ray agreed. In fact, he was so incensed he let rip, declaring, "Mr Bennett has, unfortunately, made a mistake."

Second half. United one up, Chelsea one up. Alex Ferguson a picture of serenity on the touchline. The old ones, eh?

Giggs. On. Goal. Title? Nigh on in the bag.

The sweetest moment, though, was when Cristiano responded to the Wigan supporters' request for confirmation of how many goals United had scored by raising two fingers in their direction.

"Nice," as Martin Tyler put it.

Title? Sorted.

But Richard, we felt, looked a little deflated.

"Do you sense a twist?" he had asked Jamie a mere two hours before.

"We wanna twist, don't we," Jamie had replied, letting slip that he was on the side of the monstrous tyranny.

But there was divil a twist in the end.

As Winston concluded that day, "Come then, let us go forward together with our (Manchester) united strength."

For those of us who declared two years ago that the trophy-winning party was over for Ferguson, only to watch him win two successive Premier league titles and reach the Champions League final, we again bow to Winston: "It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right."