Fergie's men fire blanks

The rumour going around is that Sir Alex Ferguson is shopping for a striker. So depleted were Manchester United in the attacking department that they made use of a player by the name of Fraizer Campbell in their opening game against Newcastle at Old Trafford last weekend.

Judging by the fact Campbell missed a simple header in the 1-1 draw, he should be shipped back to Hull were he made his name in the Championship last season. However, with only one week left of the transfer window, United might want to hang on to him in case they don't get anyone else.

Sir Alex Ferguson is getting sloppy in his old age, it seems. He has had a whole two months to bring in a striker, but chose instead to stalk Cristiano Ronaldo across Austria and Switzerland, making sure no Real Madrid secret agents caught hold of the youngster as he played at the European Championships.

That sloppiness already cost him the chance to sign another promising midfielder last month. United were in pole position to sign Cardiff City youngster Aaron Ramsey, but because Ferguson was travelling around Europe, he couldn't meet the player. Instead he sent him an Old Trafford welcome pack, picture and a letter assuming that would seal the deal.

However, in jumped Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who was also travelling Europe, but he took the time to charter a flight for the midfielder to come meet him while he was on holiday – Ramsey is now a Gunners player.

Ferguson has succeeded in keeping Ronaldo at Old Trafford, but with the free-scoring midfielder out injured until later in the season, the issue of a striker remains.

Meanwhile, United's rivals Chelsea got off to a dream start under new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari with a 4-0 thrashing of Portsmouth.

It was the same team that Ferguson had said was too 'old to win the league'.

Maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but what matters is that they were able to field strikers who actually had experience playing in the Premier League and scoring in it as well.

For that matter, even Hull, who in their 104-year history had never played in the top division until last weekend, managed to field strikers with experience at scoring in the Premier League and guess what – they won.

A 2-1 win against Fulham at the KC Stadium marked the historical moment for the new boys.

Chelsea though, were the team of the first weekend. The Blues played with creative freedom uncharacteristic of the Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant eras. New signing Anderson Deco, who was giving a free role in the midfield by Scolari, was at his absolute best as the Portsmouth defence were run ragged.

To think that Deco was signed for a mere £8-million (Dh 55m) after Barcelona president Joan Laporte made the 30-year old playmaker the scapegoat for their bad performances last season – the Chelsea board must be still celebrating.

As will be New Zealand after their thumping 19-0 win over the Springboks in the Tri-Nations, in South Africa as well.

It seems that the Boks are falling the same way that England did after winning the 2003 World Cup. This loss makes it three defeats out of four games in the Tri-Nations now and new coach Pieter de Villiers will be getting another title before his name soon, something like: former Springbok coach.