Aidan Smith: Fergie’s got talent but City are providing the sheikh-up

THE TV singing contest The Voice has been such a hit that it’s claimed ownership of those high-backed leather chairs used by Sir Tom Jones and the other judges.

My three-year-old daughter, on seeing Sir Alex Ferguson sat uncomfortably in one, remarked, “What’s that man doing in Jessie J’s seat?”, before her big brother put her right: football was using them first.

In any event, football’s chairs don’t swing dramatically through 180 degrees as happens on the telly show. Possibly last Monday night Sir Alex Ferguson was fiddling for a switch to turn away from the pitch. You could hardly blame him, given how the biggest-ever Manchester derby unfolded. In that position, of course, he’d be like most Man City fans after their team’s possibly title-deciding win – but the only one not doing “the Poznan” in celebration.

To extend the analogy, Man City at the Etihad were The Voice, this year’s bright, brash, usurping newcomers. Man U, then, were Britain’s Got Talent, the team that had been so used to No.1 that they got complacent. On BGT, Simon Cowell thought he could disappear for a year without the programme suffering any slippage (it did); then when he returned he thought it could square up to the noisy neighbours on BBC1 without the need for even the slightest alteration to the hoary variety-show format. At Man U, Fergie didn’t address the problems in his midfield despite them being glaringly exposed by Barcelona. On BGT, Cowell thought singing dogs would go on for ever. At Man U, Fergie thought Ryan Giggs would go on for ever. Sadly – and here I’m only talking about Giggs, couldn’t care less about BGT – it’s not the case.

Giggs has looked his age this season. You could argue he’s looked it for the past three seasons, that all the praise in the autumn of his career has been too gushing, but I’m not going to do that, not while Fergie is his manager. Yes, it’s great to have all that exerience and you can see how it helps Giggs anticipate what’s going to happen on a football pitch. But deed can still beat thought when it’s the deed of an explosive midfielder like Barca’s Andres Iniesta or, last Monday, City’s David Silva.

Paul Scholes has set off a few fireworks this season, but don’t forget that, for him, it’s only been a half season. Nani flatters to deceive and doesn’t have the heart for a physical contest so I was surprised Fergie picked him ahead of Antonio Valencia who’s been in fine form in attack and is also prepared to track back – a phrase that means as little to Nani as it did to Cristiano Ronaldo. It clearly doesn’t translate into Portugese.

Michael Carrick? The central pairing of him and Anderson was powerless to stop Barca in the 2009 Champions League final and some were surprised that Carrick survived to partner Giggs for the repeat of 2011. In an ideal world, Fergie would surely have made signings in this area, but Man U are hampered by toxic debt. The Glazers have drained them of £500million, City’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan has invested a billion.

To be fair, Fergie did not imagine his midfield looking like this, come the business end. He started with Tom Cleverley, who inspired a thrilling comeback against City in the Community Shield but then got injured. United have had to cope with more injuries than City whose absences – the suspensions to Vincent Kompany and Mario Balotelli – have been mainly self-inflicted. Against a United in transition, then, they really should have won the league before now. And, of course, they haven’t won it yet.

At various times they’ve displayed caution and disunity and, for these reasons, deserve to win nothing. At others, though, they’ve reached heights that Man U haven’t, not least in that 6-1 win at Old Trafford, and you’d have to say that would make them worthy winners. Man U have done incredibly well, not just to hang in there but lead by eight points with a handful of games left. Have they blown it? Or will City, who thought they’d blown it already, blow it again at St James’ Park today? It’s not been a classic season but it has been gripping. As they like to say on those TV shows, we’ve all been on a journey.