It's been something of a miserable weekend for United supporters. Yesterday, a late Beckham strike gave Man U a 1-0 win over the Boro and returned them to the top of the Premiership, at our expense. And all this after Robson's men had missed a penalty and had a player sent off.

Then, this afternoon we let a comfortable first half lead slip through our fingers, against Aston Villa, and were dumped out of the FA Cup. It's now a case of everyone pulling together to get a result against Liverpool at Anfield next Saturday. Yet again, it's one of those games thgat we really can't afford to lose. How many times have we said that over recent weeks?

The Woodgate/ Bowyer contoversy just won't go away. Today's Mail on Sunday reported that Gary Kelly, of all people, had been targeted by locals, angry at Woodgate and Bowyer's alleged involvement in a race attack on an Asian youth. Apparently, Kelly's house had been pelted with eggs and rotten vegetables, whilst he was away. Kelly has lived in the area since arriving from Ireland and is genuinely surprised, considering how warmly he has been treated by local residents in the past. However, he is understandably concerned about the welfare of his wife and children - and will be reviewing his security arrangements.

Is this to be our year for the FA Cup? Well, by te time tomorrow we should be a little closer to finding out. Villa have already beaten us once this season but didn't exactly look like world-beaters. Even excusing the fact that we were without almost our entire first choice midfield, we were still very poor on that particular day - memorable only for Harry's 30 yard scramer.

Tomorrow should be very different with O'Leary able to pick from a near full strength squad - the only likely major absentee being David Batty.

The signing of Jason Wilcox is already starting to look like something of a master stroke. Not only has the former Blackburn man slipped effortlessly into the first team but has given us the opportunity to play Bridges in a more central attacking role. According to the latest Leeds United World poll, most of you seem to agree with me that the Bridges/ Kewell partnership up front is our best option. As a result, it looks as though Alan Smith might have to make do with a place on the bench tomorrow, as he returns from a one match suspension.

Injury news for Villa is not so good. Ian Taylor, who has been prolific from midfield this season, looks doubtful - after picking up an ankle injury against Leicester in midweek. Add to that the definite loss of fellow strikers Vassell and Dublin, then Gregory cleary has few options in the attacking third of the pitch. Having said all this, he has made them a difficult team to beat in recent weeks - so we will be in for a tough game on Sunday afternoon.

Jardel has long been mentioned as a possible signing - but the rumours have been constantly denied by Peter Risdale. Today his name came up again - with the Brazilian giving a few hints on where his future might lie at the end of the current season.

When it comes to goalscoring, then the word 'prolific' doesn't do jardel justice. His record up to the start of this season for Porto was 92 in 93 games. He's banged in another 32 this season and, perhaps most significantly, has been just as productive in the Champions League. He certainly looks the business and, in my humble opinion, possibly a better bet than Van Nistlerooy.

Talking today, he admits he'd like to play in "a more competitive league" than at present...but that's about as many clues as he's giving. The good signs are, though, that - unlike Van Nistlerooy - he's not putting a list of pre-conditions down before any negotiations have even begun.

Elsewhere, John Arne Riise, another earlier United target and close friend of Eirik Bakke, seems to have talked himself out of a move from Monaco to the premiership. He's had a £7 million price tag placed upon him and goes on to say, "I don't want to leave France for another three years." What's more, he is also the target of Man U and Arsenal. Nuff said!

Man United and Arsenal gave us the best possible scoreline at Old trafford tonight, with a 1-1 draw. The Gunners dominated the early stages and should have scored more than the single Henry goal. However, true to form, Manchester came back into it late on, with Sheringham giving them a share of the spoils. Still, mustn't complain...we're still tops!

Whoever said that TV was calling the shots when it comes to the planning of fixtures? Wouldn't it be great to have a few games on a Saturday for a change?

Well, the rescheduled dates for the Man United home game have been announced. Still, though, it's about as clear as mud! If we beat Villa on Sunday, then the Man United fixture will be on Wednesday February 16th, kick off 8.00pm - but should we lose at Villa Park, the new date will be Sunday February 20th, with a 11.30 start.

Over recent weeks, we've been at the centre of countless transfer rumours, particularly in relation to our need for a centre forward. However, today's 'stories' really do take some beating.

Firstly, the News of the World claims that O'Leary is interested in Jason McAteer from Blackburn. As unlikely as it may seem, with Danny Mills not able to get in the side, I suppose McAteer could offer options on the right hand side of midfield. However, even at £3.5 million he looks a little overpriced - for a player whose good times happened several years in the past.

If the McAteer story looks a little fabricated, how about the idea of United selling Kewell to Inter Milan for £10 million? At today's prices, that should just about buy his left foot. What's more, the idea that O'Leary might be tempted by a part exchange deal involving Roberto Baggio is laughable, given the Boss's views on buying young mainly British stars.

Finally, The People claim Arsenal will make a £10 million bid for Woodgate, should Leeds off-load him, following last week's stories. The less said about this the better!

This afternoon's game was always going to be a massive one, especially given the events of the last week and the fact that both teams were in severe need of a victory. In the end, goals by Wilcox and Bridges secured a 2-1 win for us - keeping us at the top of the Premiership for another week, even if Man United get a result against Arsenal tomorrow.

To read a detailed match report of the game, click here.

As David O'Leary has to make one of the most difficult managerial decisions of his career so far - whether to play Woodgate and Bowyer in Sunday's crunch game at the Stadium of Light - there was news today that the shamed pair had received death threats.

Obviously, the club and police need to take such threats seriously. What's more, it remains to be seen what mental effect the new revelations will have on the two players.

It's all a real mess and something everyone concerned with the club could have well done without. Although it needs to be constantly stressed that neither player has been found guilty of any crime, the very fact that they have allowed themselves to get mixed up in such a shocking incident shows naivety on their part, if nothing else.

Are we a big enough club to tempt the great one , Ruud Van Nistelrooy, to sign for us? Well, one thing for certain is that if the guy's footballing prowess is even half as good as his P.R. outfit or his ego, then we'll have one hell of a player on our hands.

The latest tease yesterday was his comment that "you can still count on the fingers of one hand the clubs in Europe I would be willing to join." Considering that he's talking about England, Italy and Spain here, you get the feeling that perhaps we're not exactly top of his list!

The tabloids continued to have a field day, at our expense, today, as they contemplated the repercussions of this week's unfortunate events - despite the fact that neither Bowyer or Woodgate have been found guilty of any crime.

According to the 'Daily Mail', if the pair should later be found to have taken part in an assault, they could face the biggest fine in the history of football. Although, under present rules, United could only fine the pair a maximum of two weeks wages, it is claimed that they have been in touch with the FA to explore the possibility of increasing the amount to £100,000.

It's been a dark few days - but things might still take a turn for the worse, with the news that both Bowyer and Woodgate could miss Sunday's vital televised clash against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

If this proves to be the case, then we look like being well and truly up the creek without a paddle, especially in the centre of defence. Let's just be grateful that Quinn isn't playing. Otherwise, we might be in for a very rough ride.

Without Lucas - against Villa - we looked decidedly dodgy at the back. Without Lucas and Woody, it hardly bears thinking about. It's time to pay back some of the £5 million, Duberry! Here's hoping that Big Bob will soon be ready for the first team.

Similarly, in midfield, the Man City game showed the watching millions just how vital Bowyer is in keeping us ticking over. There are rumours that Batts might be about to make a return...or is that just wishful thinking?

Whatever, we shouldn't underestimate the importance of some kind of result against the Mackems. Despite the euphoria of the Man City result, defeat would be our third in a row in the Premiership - with the likelihood of a fourth a fortnight later at Anfield. Should that happen, then the comparisons with last season's Villa outfit would be looming alarmingly large!

Who was it that said that there was no such thing as bad publicity? Well, clearly there is...and this is it! Driving home from work tonight, I was, as usual, hoping to hear that we'd made a big money signing. I wasn't expecting to hear that two of our best young players had been arrested!

Of course, we have to bear in mind that, at present, no-one has been proven guilty of anything. However, on the surface things don't look too good. It appears they were both questioned by police this morning following an incident that took place in Leeds City centre last week. Apparently, in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, outside the Majestyk Nightclub, a group of white men chased some Asian youths and, having caught up with them, one was kicked to the ground, suffering serious head injuries.

Of course, the notion of boozed up young footballers shouldn't exactly come as a big surprise to anyone. However, the idea of having their names linked with a racist attack is extremely unfortunate, easpecially given their position as role models within the local community. If it is proven that they played a part in the assault, it would be hard to stomach, no matter how highly we value their footballing skills.

United are clearly concerned, issuing an immediate statement. Peter Risdale said, "Leeds United firmly believe that all players have a personal responsibility to act in a way that befits their position within the local community. If it is subsequently proven that this has not been the case in individual circumstances, serious internal disciplinary action will be taken."

Having been linked to just about every Premiership frontman, during the last few weeks (not to mention a good few from overseas!) it was the turn today of Wimbledon's Carl Cort.

Could there be any more truth in this than in recent stories linking us with Fowler, Iversen, Nistelrooy et al? Well...he certainly fits all of O'Leary's now infamous categories. He's British and at 22 he's certainly young enough. My only question mark against him might be that he's not the experienced centre forward I would like to see arrive at the club. However, I must admit I've been very impressed by what I've seen of him this season. At 6' 4", he could offer an extra dimension to our forward play and if we can get him for a reported £8 million, he might represent better value than the likes of Heskey. I even noticed Iversen quoted in the £12 million category, at the weekend!! Please...give us all a break!

Rumours were circulating today that Bradford city might be about to make a bid for Alfie Haaland, who has been unable to make much of an impact this season in the United first team. The Bantams certainly seem to have done quite well by us in the past, getting Wetherall and Sharpe very much on the cheap. It would be a shame if haaland was to go the same way. Like Wetherall before him, he has never let us down - although with the emergence of McPhail and Bakke this season, it is difficult to see how he's going to get the regular first team football he needs to ressurect his international career.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy has been mentioned a s a possible target for O'Leary for months now, without anything actually materialising. However, transfer talk now seems to be really starting to hot up, with news of apparent interest from Arsenal and Chelsea amongst others.

The bad news is that PSV Eindhoven have slapped a £30 million price tag on his head. However, presumably this is primarily designed to fend interested parties away. In reality, a fee of around half that amount seems likely. However, this would still represent a massive gamble for us: shattering our transfer record on a player who has yet to prove himself at international level....and waving goodbye to a big chunk of O'Leary's transfer kitty in one swoop. Is he worth it? What do you think?

We today signed aussie keeper, Danny Milosevic, from Perth Glory for a reprted fee of £100,000. Apparently, the guy - who is understudy to Mark Bosnic in the full Australia team - looks set to have a bright future in the game. However, with Martyn and Robinson firmly cemented as the top two at Elland Road, he's going to have to play out of his skin just to be given a chance!

Tabloids today suggested that chris Sutton might be a possible transfer target for O'Leary, in his apparently never ending search to find a replacement for Jimmy Hasselbaink. However, Peter risdale has immediately poured cold water on the story - saying that although Sutton's name was passed on to the Leeds boss earlier in the season, O'Leary said he wasn't interested in making a bid.

The price quoted for the 26 year old former Blackburn and England star was £5 million, which would represent a loss to Chelsea of 50% on the price they paid over the close season. Not good business, even by Leeds usual standards!

This season, he's only scored 3 in 16 full start for the Blues. However, at a cut down price, he might be worth a look - especially since our style of play might very well suit him more than that of Chelsea, where they tend to play a lot of their stuff down the middle, not on the flanks.

Unsurprisingly, our FA Cup fifth round tie against Aston Villa, at Villa Park, has been switched to a Sunday - in order to accommodate television coverage. This time, though, we'll be starring on terrestial rather than satellite, with ITV showing the game live. Typically, with TV completely calling the shots these days, we can't even be sure of a kick off time at this stage. It's scheduled for 2 pm but this will depend on the result of the fourth round replay between Arsenal and Leicester and the fourth round tie between Chelsea and Forest. Presumably, Sky are licking their lips at the prospect of a Chelsea v Arsenal clash - which would alter the starting times of the afternoon's proceedings.

A mark of just how popular we are at the moment - at least as far as the television companies are concerned - is that this will be the twelfth time this season that we've been shown live on the box...with the prospect of much more to come over forthcoming months. What's more, it will be the third consecutive Sunday that we will have been shown live on TV, following the Manchester City and Sunderland matches.

As King Lucas jets off for the African Nations Cup, one of his old partners in crime made a long awaited comeback this evening.

Robert Molenaar had established himself as a firm crowd favourite and, alongside Lucas, was forming one of the meanest central fefensive partnerships in the Premiership - when his season, and almost his career, was cruelly cut short at Highbury just over a year ago.

The good news is that tonight he not only made his comeback, against Liverpool reserves, but actually managed to play the whole ninety minutes. No mean feat! All United supporters will be keeping their fingers crossed that he can stay injury free and force his way back into the first team spotlight as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we now face the daunting prospect of being without our inspirational leader, Lucas, for several crucial games - as he jets off to play with South Africa.

How long will he be gone? Well...purely from a selfish point of view, the best case scenario (however unlikely) is that South Africa get knocked out of the competition at the group stage. Should that be the case, he would return for the Liverpool clash but if they make the quarter finals, he would miss the Anfield trip. If they get to the semis or beyond, he would miss the Tottenham game at Elland Road. The final is due to be played on February 13th. Of course, whatever happens, he will be missing for the trips to the Stadium of Light on Sunday January 23rd and to Villa Park, for the next round of the FA Cup.

Yesterday's victory at Maine Road has certainly made the whole footballing world sit up and take notice. Had we lost, the knives would have been out - yet victory has seen us installed as favourites to lift the Cup in May. Let's just hope this doesn't prove the kiss of death...it was bad enough been tipped by Mark Lawrenson at the start of the competition!

What's more, another of the big guns went out tonight - with Liverpool getting beaten 1-0 by Blackburn Rovers at Anfield. Certainly the Scousers would have been one of the teams to avoid although we've still got the small matter of a trip to Villa Park to safely negotiate before we can even think about further rounds.

Elsewhere, we have been connected in the tabloids once again with a move for Geoff Horsfield of Fulham. This appears to be another one of those stories that does the rounds on a regular basis. In many ways he offers what the Leeds Boss would be looking for - but not at the kind of silly price that has been quoted. He is still very raw and totally unproven at the highest level. However, perhaps at half the £5 million being quoted, then we could start negotiating.

We have been drawn against Aston Villa in Round 5 of this season's FA Cup. The tie will be played at Villa Park on the weekend of January 30th. If we are to win the competition this season, it looks like we're going to have to do it the hard way. However, with more of a full strength team out next time (hopefully!) we can put on a much better show than we did last week.

Leeds produced a stunning display of football this afternoon to sweep past Manchester City 5-2 in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.

Twice they had to come from behind but thanks to goals from Kewell (2), Bakke, Smith and Bowyer, we eased our way through what always looked like might be a tricky tie.

To read a full match report, click here.

Tomorrow's FA Cup tie against Manchester City at Maine Road should be one hell of a game - and one which we simply can't afford to lose. Despite all the promise of the early season, our recent Worthington Cup exit means that the FA Cup now surely represents our most likely chance of some deserved silverware. I know that might sound a little pessimistic, given the fact that we are still heavily involved in three competitions, but - in all honesty - is anyone out there ultra-confident of us lifting the Premiership and/ or UEFA Cup?

The good news for tomorrow is that Radebe and Bowyer both return and that McPhail has a 60-40 chance of passing a fitness test today. Anyone who witnessed the shambolic defending of the Villa game would not underestimate the massive impact Radebe has upon our back four - and it's a massive boost to have him available.

The not so good news is that Bridges is unavailable through suspension, leaving us paper thin up front. Smith has not done the business all season but no doubt will make the starting eleven. Personally speaking, I'd prefer to see Kewell and Huckerby as a front pairing with Wilcox on the left. Having said all that, if Alan does start, please prove me wrong and smash in a hat trick against City.

On the never ending transfer speculation front, two more interesting names were added to the list today. The first, a certain George Weah, certainly gets the pulse racing. However, the fact that the former World Player of the Year is now 34 years of age and fourth choice striker at AC Milan lessens the likelihood of this being a genuine story.

The second name, however, rings a little more true. Steffen Iverson of Spurs fits most of O'Leary's credentials - being young and, although not British, being Scandinavian is the next best thing in the Boss's eyes. Unbelievably, in today's money laden days, Tottenham's top scorer is on a 'paltry' £4,000 a week and is understanably not thrilled at the club's offer to 'double this' as part of a new contract. Especially as teammate, 'sicknote' Anderton has recently turned down £24,000 a week - and he never plays!

I certainly like the look of the Spurs frontman but whether he'd be the ideal player to partner Bridges I'm not sure. I think both need someone to play off: a powerfully built 'target' man. However, at the right price, he might certainly be worth a look - especially if we could get one over again on Graham in the process.

David Batty today jetted off to the South of France (It's alright for some!) to complete treatment on his troublesome calf injury. It is hoped he will return to first team action sooner rather than later - but, unfortunately, not in time for Sunday's FA Cup trip to Maine Road.

On the subject of the Manchester City game, we received a boost today with the news that South Africa would allow King Lucas to play. What a refreshing change from the previous Australian FA debacle! Also, of course, they are being far more cooperative than Nigeria who are insisting that Kanu flies out to the tournament prior to Arsenal's FA Cup tie on Sunday.

It was today suggested that O'Leary might swoop for Cedric Roussel, who has made such an impact during his loan spell at Coventry.

Strachan understandably wants to keep the player but Ghent - his club in Belgium - are reportedly being a little bit naughty, trying to raise the asking price from £1.5 million to as much as £4 million.

Some tabloids are suggesting that, at the raised price, Coventry might lose interest - leaving the door open for Leeds to prise the player away. However, whether O'Leary would stoop as low "to do a George Graham" (Remember Mr Korsten!) is unlikely. In any case, Roussel appears more than content to stay at Highfield Road.

We lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Elland Road this afternoon, our first home Premiership defeat since August. Two Gareth Southgate goals did the trick for the visitors and two sloppier bits of defending you'd have to go a long way to see.

Of course, you can't win them all and we've been rather spoilt over recent months. Still, the manner of the defeat was disappointing. With Tony Adams and Paul Merson, amongst others, starting to doubt our Championship credentials during the week, it would've been nice to prove them wrong this afternoon - and show the rest of the country that we can do without our big name players. Unfortunately, though, we clearly can't.

O'Leary is right to point out that the regular midfield was missing today but it was in defence where the poorest. Kelly had a nightmare, possibly the worst display I've ever seen him put in (on the day he was given the Captaincy), and the jury is still very much out on Duberry. Is he really worth the big bucks we paid for him? I know it's early days but I seriously have my doubts. Is he any bettter than Wetherall? I know what my answer would be!

With tough away games coming up against Sunderland and Liverpool - both without Radebe - I hope the ex Chelsea man proves me wrong. He'll need to, if we are going to get the four ponts which Alan Hansen reckons we'll need to maintain our Championship challenge.

What was I saying yesterday? Now we have a hat trick of old targets, with Liverpool's Robbie Fowler once again in the frame.

Call me cynical but just what motivates a player like Fowler the most? A desire for trophies may be right up there but even bigger is his desire for a massive pay cheque each month. We may be a 'buying' club once again but are we realistically able to pay £15 million for a player plus £2 million + per year in wages? If so, he'd be earning almost twice as much as any other player, which I'm sure would be just great for team morale. All this is purely academic of course, as this is yet again another lazy bit of tabloid journalism.

Happy new year! Well...my computer's still working and there's not a sign of a Millennium Bug anywhere. Let's be thankful for small mercies.

It may be a brand new start for many but newspaper hacks don't appear to be getting any less lazy. Last week it was Jardel: today it's Van Nistelrooy. Now don't get me wrong...I'd be as happy as anyone if O'Leary rushed out to buy a world class striker. However, anyone who follows transfer speculation on a regular basis will know that these are just complete replicas of stories doing the rounds months ago, just after Jimmy left for Athletico.

What's more, I seem to remember at the time that Van Nistelrooy didn't exactly sound keen at the thought of joining us. Is this the type of committed player the Boss is really looking to sign? Me thinks not.