Beckham stays out in the cold

THE Birmingham City public address requested a round of applause for the
visiting fans. The response was predictable, if no less hearty for it -
the
boos rang round St Andrews.
Well used to being unwelcome guests, the Manchester United support did
not
bother to respond. They had other things to sing about - in particular,
David Beckham.

"There's only one David Beckham" does not seem to ring true at the
moment,
because he has had more publicity in the past two weeks than Birmingham
have
warranted in their history, but the away following bristled with
indignity.
"Jealousy," one Mancunian said, "that's all it is. If Beckham played
for any
other club or went out with any other girl, none of this would have
happened." But what has happened? In reality, nothing of substance, yet
that
is enough to create a furore around the club that claims to be the
biggest
in the world.

United have long since moved away from the region where reality is
required
to match the actuality of a story. Even so, the past week has witnessed
such
a cavalcade of speculation and, at times, overdressed nonsense that it
has
confirmed Alex Ferguson as the inheritor of Busby Berkeley as much as
Sir
Matt Busby.

Leading up to yesterday's match, we were warned of Beckham's
confrontation
with a West Midlands "hate mob". Luckily for Beckham, this was never
going
to happen because Ferguson had no intention of playing him. Sadly,
nobody
told Trevor Francis, and the Birmingham manager issued a plea for peace
so
portentous and unnecessary that Neville Chamberlain, a better-known
leader
from the West Midlands, would have blanched at its delivery.

We were also advised that Roy Keane would return from injury in this
friendly. Despite the obvious contradiction in that sentence, the
presence
of the Irishman had already been decided against when he picked up what
Ferguson called "a wee knock" in training.

Training gave the real picture in Manchester last week. World Cup
players
were rested, non-World Cup players were given extra work. That might
explain
Keane's knock but it also discounted the appearance of Beckham, Paul
Scholes, Gary Neville and Jaap Stam.

Consequently, as United fans gathered in Birmingham, the talk was of
Andy
Cole's last hurrah rather than the suspect mobility of a Dutch
centre-back.
Most want Cole to stay. "Why stand by him when he was bad and let him go
when he comes into form?" was a common question. The clear answer is
Dwight
Yorke.

Cole's popularity has been in inverse proportion to his achievements,
and
yesterday Ferguson would not commit himself on the striker's future or
"answer any other daft questions".

The Champions League transfer deadline is August 1 and the real news for
United last week was the continuing Yorke saga and the rumoured arrival
of
Patrick Kluivert. And as Marc-Vivien Foe, the Lens and Cameroon
midfielder,
sat in a Manchester clinic contemplating a failed medical, supporters
with a
more long-term attitude were thinking beyond Beckham's fling with
notoriety
and looking to the shape of teams to come.

The same supporter who bemoaned the probable departure of Cole admitted
relish at the possible arrivals, as much for other teams' failure to
sign
them as for a potential effect on United's football: "Arsenal can't get
any
of these people. They won the Double but we are still the biggest team.
Transfer speculation whets our appetite, it's like playing fantasy
football.
Kluivert and Yorke up front with Scholes behind them - fantastic."

It remained fantasy yesterday. With so many heavy hitters missing from
Ferguson's line-up, we were presented with Man-U-Lite. But even that
concoction has fizz and flavour. The abilities of Ryan Giggs have faded
in
the public consciousness without ever deserting the player.

Which is just as well because his colleagues in defence yesterday
showed a
generosity that went so far beyond friendly it bordered on the amorous.
Fitting, then, that Peter Ndlovu, the Birmingham forward, should benefit
twice in the first half, with striker Paul Furlong's goal combining to
take
the triumphalism out of Mancunian voices.

That it crept back was due to the emergence of a partnership that surely
will not flourish; not at Old Trafford anyway. Twice Cole (remember
when he
was a scorer rather than a provider?) set up Phil Mulryne, twice Mulryne
scored. If Aston Villa manager John Gregory was watching, and if he ever
does get round to that telephone conversation with Ferguson, he would be
wise to insist on the inclusion of Mulryne in the Yorke deal.

Ferguson was quick to say: "We don't analyse the first kicks of the
season,"
but he will surely be considering a central defence that appeared
unable to
distinguish between its rear and its elbow. Such was the
misunderstanding
between John Curtis and Ronnie Wallwork that they seemed never to have
met
before, or perhaps they were going through a bitter separation. Ndlovu
trotted through the rift again and once more Nick Cullen was retrieving
the
ball from his net.

Stam will fill that gap, and the fact that many players were playing in
the
shadow of greater talents may explain their unhappiness.

Yet these are also opportunities to shine. Mulryne took that
opportunity,
but Jordi Cruyff seldom managed to smile, let alone sparkle. His early
departure from this match was a reminder that Ferguson's forays into the
foreign market are not always successful.

But Mulryne, 20 and nurtured at United since 1994, proved that Ferguson
need
only pluck another pearl from the Old Trafford oyster bed to find a
better
player than most teams can buy.

So, Beckham met no hate mobs and Birmingham City won 4-3. Meanwhile, in
the
real world, United prepare for their championship challenge.