By Cathal Dervan

'There is nothing normal about life on or off the pitch at the Theatre of Dreams that is Old Trafford these days — as events on Saturday served to prove.

Manchester United against Southampton in the Premiership would seem like a routine, run of the mill game as Christmas approaches, a sure three points for the home side and another defeat for the Saints down the other end of the league table.

Fact was, though, this was the first three o’clock Saturday afternoon fixture that United have played at home all season. Such is their television drawing power that United have played home games on Saturday mornings, Saturday evenings, Sunday afternoons and even Monday nights.

The fact was not lost on their manager Alex Ferguson, who issued a little heartfelt plea to the Premiership powers that be after the game to try and have some respect for the fans when it comes to fixing kick-off times for United matches.

Whether he will ever admit it or not, Fergie was wasting his time with such comments. Television calls the tune in the Premiership these days, and if TV executives decide that United will kick off at 3 a.m. on a Sunday then United will kick-off at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning.

The fact that they may have to play in front of an empty stadium will matter little to Mr. Murdoch and his likes so long as the cameras are switched on and the satellite dish is rolling across the middle-of-the-night sky.

It’s a lesson that the likes of baseball in America, as far as I am aware, learned many years ago.

And those United fans currently protesting against the attempt by American football tycoon Malcolm Glazer to buy into their club would do well to learn the television lesson.

Just as non-football business men now decide when they play their games, so non-football tycoons will soon decide where United play them.

One day soon Glazer or some other mogul may buy control of United and move it to Burnley for all we know. Stranger things have happened, especially in football.

The only things that Ferguson and his fellow insiders at Old Trafford have any real control over at the moment are events on the pitch, and right now Fergie is exercising his powers like never before.

For a start, he has finally got United playing like potential champions of England after the sort of start to the season that could have prompted a dope test – to see if someone gave Roy Keane and co. the wrong stuff!

After a stop-start start, if you know what I mean, the most successful manager in the history of the Premiership has his team believing in their ability to sweep all before them, Southampton included, as they look to turn up the heat on Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton, the only three teams ahead of them in the ratings.

More interestingly, Ferguson has started to play mind games with the Chelsea team currently five points ahead of the Gunners and nine points ahead of the Red Devils. 

In the surest sign yet that Fergie actually believes his team can catch the Blues, he is turning the heat up on the Londoners and their new manager Jose Mourinho, a man who was missing when modesty was handed out as one London hack described him recently.

Just minutes after his team’s 3-0 win on Saturday, Ferguson declared, “Chelsea will have a blip. They will lose games. It’s then a case of how their players react which will be important. 

“Arsenal and ourselves have got that experience. We have seen title challenges be over by March. Chelsea doesn’t have the experience of winning when it really matters.”

Ouch. You could nearly feel the dagger digging deep into Jose Mourinho’s back as Fergie faced the press and released that prediction.

Mourinho, of course, has dismissed it all as a big bluff on Ferguson’s part, but he has no experience of previous outbursts from the United manager, having only arrived on the Kings Road last summer.

The United boss has made such threats before, but they have seldom been idle ones. If Alex Ferguson really believes that Chelsea have the ability to slip up and, more importantly, that his team have the ability to take advantage, then Mourinho and his fans should be seriously worried.

Fergie can’t control the kick-off times at Old Trafford, but he may yet control the destiny of one of the most intriguing title races in England for years.

The three horse race between Chelsea, Arsenal and United – with due respect, but Everton will be out of it by May — is now well and truly underway.

May the best manager win.