No one can put it on target!

In a completely original challenge that bears no similarity to any events that may or may not have occurred in a Soccer AM car park, Manchester Utd’s elite played the ‘Hublot Clock Challenge’ during their Far East tour.

While this publicity stunt has convinced The Spoiler that the artisans at Hublot create fine timepieces, we’re not so convinced that Utd will have an easy time finding the net in 2009/10.

Sir Alex’s attempts to make amends for his players’ inability to place the ball is commendable, but perhaps he wouldn’t have had to step up if Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo were still on the books?

[Video: 101GG]

Captive players aren’t making the most of their trip to the Far East

As men who are only obliged to work for a few hours each day, Manchester Utd’s star players are quite adept at finding ways to while away the hours - Rio Ferdinand spends most of his free time merking, Dimitar Berbatov sleeps until he needs a cigarette and Federico Macheda prowls the streets for ladies who are impressed by a seventeen year old in a sports car.

However, thanks to a combination of terrorism, poor weather and fanatical supporters, Fergie’s men have been confined like prisoners in their luxury hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The Telegraph reports:

Since their arrival last Friday, the United camp has been billeted on its own floor in the Mandarin Oriental, away from the supporters and autograph hunters who spend hours in the hotel lobby attempting to grab a glimpse of their idols.

It is a tale of DVD’s, iPods and sheer mind-numbing boredom for the majority of the players once they have done their training for the day.

Some are lucky enough to be selected

Act of terrorism rocks the Asia 2009 pre-season tour

A 100,000 sell-out crowd were looking forward to seeing Manchester Utd play a friendly against an Indonesian All Star side in Jakarta on Monday, but the game has been cancelled after a series of hotel bomb attacks killed at least nine people.

Yesterday the squad arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of a friendly against a Malaysia XI on Saturday, and were due to stay were due to stay in Jakarta’s Ritz Carlton ahead of Monday’s match. Said hotel suffered in a series of attacks which happened in Jakarta’s central business district just after midnight GMT.

Manchester Utd have issued a statement via their official site:

Following the explosions in Jakarta - one of which was at the hotel the team were due to stay in - and based on advice received, the directors have informed the Indonesian FA that the club cannot fulfil the fixture in Jakarta on the 2009 Asia tour.

We are working on a revised itinerary outside Indonesia with the promoters and we will make a further announcement when these decisions have been made.

We are deeply disappointed at not being able to visit Indonesia and thank the Indonesian FA and our fans for their support.

Our thoughts go to all those affected by the blasts.

Alex Ferguson told a news conference that the cancellation was the correct decision in light of the need to safeguard the players and staff.

There’s no word yet on whether this attack will affect the rest of the Far East tour, which should also take in China and South Korea.

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