Did you leave United because you were looking for a change of scenery?

“No. I always said that the manager would come and tell me what games I’d be able to get and different things. That was the case. I had a year left and Sunderland came in with a four-year deal so it was fairly straightforward. It (Old Trafford) was a home from home as such because I’ve been there my whole career. But if it was going to happen, it was going to happen. Life goes on.”

What do you think prompted the manager in to thinking it was time for a change?

“I think the finals against Barcelona were a key to the manager thinking: ‘Right, I have to get energy and vibrancy back into the squad’. And that’s clearly what he’s done.”

He laughs: “I can see that they’ve gone downhill, they’re not creating any chances, they’re struggling…”

Do you have any regrets?

“How could I have regrets? No, nothing like that, not at all.”

What were your highlights?

“One or two. Just everything; the whole lot. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Chris Eagles – Bolton

Phil Neville – Everton
Total appearances: 386
Phil joined when he was 13 years old and left when he was 28. He made his début a week after his 18th birthday against Wrexham in the FA Cup. He became vice-captain at Everton a year after joining them and was made captain the following season.

Danny Guthrie – Newcastle
Total appearances: 0
He joined the United academy when he was 13 years old and left for Liverpool FC when he was 16. He was loaned out to Southampton and Bolton before joining Newcastle in 2008, for whom he has played 85 games.

Danny Simpson – Newcastle
Total appearances: 8
Salford born Simpson joined the academy when he was 15 years old and left for Newcastle when he was 23. He made his début when he was 20 against Coventry in the League Cup and spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp, Sunderland, Ipswich, Blackburn and Newcastle, before joining the latter club on a permanent basis.

David Fox – Norwich
Total appearances: 0
Fox signed his first contract with United when he was 17-years-old and left the club when he was 22. After spending time on loan at Royal Antwerp and Shrewsbury, he signed for Blackpool. He was released by Ian Holloway three years later and signed for Colchester where he spent a season, before joining Norwich. He became a first team regular last season and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League.

Ryan Shawcross – Stoke
Total appearances: 2
He joined the club when he was 15-years-old and left for Stoke when he was 20, after playing there on loan. Two years later, Shawcross was made captain.

Danny Pugh – Stoke
Total appearances: 2
After joining the academy, he made his début when he was 19-years-old before joining Leeds two years later in part exchange for Alan Smith. He stayed there for two seasons before joining Preston North End. From there he joined Stoke on loan, in a deal which became permanent.

Danny Higginbotham – Stoke
Total appearances: 7
Born in Manchester and joining the academy as a lad, Higginbotham spent time out on loan at Royal Antwerp before signing for Derby County when he was 21-years-old. Since then he has played for Southampton and Sunderland, as well as his current club Stoke, which he joined for the second time in 2008.

Mark Wilson – Stoke
Total appearances: 0
He joined United when he was 13 years old before moving to Portsmouth four years later. From there he spent time on loan at Bournewoth, Yeovil and Luton, before joining Stoke last year where he is a first team regular.

John O’Shea – Sunderland
Total appearances: 392
O’Shea joined United when he was 17-years-old and when still a teenager was loaned out to Bournemouth. He made his début when he was 18 against Aston Villa in the League Cup. Only 28 players have featured more for United more than O’Shea.

Wesley Brown – Sunderland
Total appearances: 361
Born in Longsight, Wes joined the academy when he was just 12-years-old. He made his début against Leeds United in a 3-0 win when he was 18. Only 36 players have featured more for United than Brown.

Phil Bardsley – Sunderland
Total appearances: 18
Born in Salford, Bardsley joined the club when he was just 8-years-old. He grew up near The Cliff and used to watch the players train during the school holidays. Whilst at United, he spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp, Burnley, Rangers, Villa and Sheffield United, before signing for Sunderland when he was 22.

Fraizer Campbell – Sunderland
Total appearances: 4
Campbell joined our youth scheme when he was 10-years-old and made his début against City in the league when he was 19. He spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp, Hull and Spurs before joining Sunderland.

Kieran Richardson – Sunderland
Total appearances: 81
Richardson joined our academy when he was 16-years-old and made his début when he was 17 in the Champions League. After enjoying a loan period at West Brom, where he was instrumental in saving them from relegation. He scored two goals on his England début before being sold to Sunderland.

Alan Tate – Swansea
Total appearances: 0
Tate joined United’s academy when he was a teenager and went on to captain the Reserve team. He spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp and Swansea, before making a permanent move to the latter, where he is now the vice-captain.

Luke Daniels – West Brom
Total appearances: 0
This Bolton born keeper joined United when he was 9-years-old and left the club for West Brom when he was 16 in a deal that saw Kuszczak come the other way. He has yet to make his way in to the first team at West Brom, spending time out on loan and playing for Motherwell, Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers, Charlton Athletic, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers.

David Jones – Wigan
Total appearances: 4
Jones joined United’s academy when he was 10-years-old and made his début when he was 19 against Arsenal in the League Cup. He spent time on loan at Preston, NEC Nijmegen and Derby County, before joining the latter permanently. He spent just one season there before joining Wolves. After three seasons there he was offered a new deal, which he rejected, before joining Wigan on a free transfer this summer after spending a period there on trial.

Mike Pollitt – Wigan
Total appearances: 0
Politt joined United when he was a teenager and signed a two-year apprenticeship when he was 16. After spending time on loan with Oldham and Macclesfield, before joining Bury on a permanent deal when he was 19. Since then, he has played for Lincoln, Altrincham, Darlington, Notts County, Gillingham, Brentford, Sunderland, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Ipswich and Burnley. He joined his current club in 2005 but has largely been used as back up.

Sylvan Ebanks-BlakeSyWolves
Total appearances: 2
Ebanks-Blake was a boyhood Liverpool fan but opted to join United’s academy when he was a teenager. He made his début in the League Cup against Crewe Alexandra when he was 18. Ian Holloway signed him for Plymouth Argyle where he spent two years before joining Wolves. He won the Championship Golden Boot in 2008 and 2009.

Scott the Red: Are you pleased with the signings of Wes Brown and John O’Shea?

Collin Randall: Sunderland fans have broadly welcome the O’Shea singing more than that of Brown. I’m more positive, taking the view that you don’t get to play for United unless you’re pretty good. Also, I know some United supporters actually rate Brown higher than O’Shea.

STR: I’d actually say most United fans rate Brown more highly. His omission from the team this season wasn’t down to ability! Which do you think will get the most game time now they’re in the North East?

CR: I think both will play important parts in the first team squad, and probably start together in the first game at Anfield.

STR: You’ll have us lot cheering you on for that! Where do you anticipate them playing?

CR: We have serious centre-back injury problems so I’d expect that to be where they’d play. However, one area of weakness remains full back. Bardsley has proved he can play either flank so maybe Bruce has that in mind unless we make one more defensive signing. I don’t see O’Shea in a midfield role given all our contenders for that part of the formation.

STR: Any chance of either of them being captain?

I am deeply unhappy with the idea of Cattermole as captain; his disciplinary record did improve but that relied on a degree of luck. O’Shea as captain would feel like a good move to me.

STR: Do you think Bruce has done a good job in the transfer market this summer?

CR: Overall, yes. We are still short of a dependable striker, as we have been since Bent was inexplicably sold without a replacement in view. Gyan is good, but his commitment to the club is at best debatable, and Connor Wickham may take time to prove himself. And a left-back. Then Bruce must start offloading a few.

When Roy Keane took charge of Sunderland, less than a year after leaving United, it was natural for us to look out for their results. He had been such a massive figure in shaping our greatest moments over the past decade so of course we would wish him the best wherever he got in to management. If the United connection had ended there, we probably wouldn’t have thought much else of it, but as the years have gone by, this connection has grown.

In the past five years alone, Sunderland have been represented by Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Phil Bardsley, Kieran Richardson, Frazier Campbell, Jonny Evans, Danny Welbeck, Danny Simpson, Danny Higginbotham, Liam Miller, David Healey and Paul McShane. Our former keeper, Raimond Van der Gouw has worked at the club as a coach and our former Reserve team coach, Ricky Sbragia, was on their staff and was caretaker manager when Keano left. Mick Brown, our former assistant manager, was their head scout, Neil Bailey, our former youth team coach is on their staff, as well as our former player, Michael Clegg. Not only was one former captain, Keane, their manager, but our captain when we brought back our first title in twenty six years, Steve Bruce, is their current manager.

With John O’Shea and Wes Brown joining those numbers yesterday, it’s pretty hard to deny the link between the two clubs. Whilst some of those players mentioned above weren’t fans’ favourites or hadn’t played at United for a while, these two are well loved by our fans.

In the 2003 run in, United fans took a “We’ve got Wesley Brown, we’ve got John O’Shea, Manchester is dreaming of silverware in May” banner to the away games. Both their songs, particularly Wes’, regularly get sung at Old Trafford and will do for years to come. Seeing these lads we’ve watched grow up at the club wearing the shirt of another won’t feel nice, but it will also make it more difficult to avoid that soft spot for Sunderland.

Clearly though, I’m not actually adopting Sunderland as my second team, but I will probably feel a stronger attachment to them than I have any club that isn’t United before. Just looking at their squad, their back four next season will probably consist entirely consist of our youth team products!

I will be cheering them on though, looking out for their score, and hoping they do as well as possible next season.

Come on Brucey and the lads!

“John has been an outstanding servant to the club, since he broke into the first team almost a decade ago,” Sir Alex told the official site. “His versatility, calmness under pressure and his commitment to the cause at United means that fans will remember him with great affection. John has won so many medals – and has deserved every one of them. He epitomises our club’s approach as a team. After so many years of service to United, I’m pleased that John has found a career opportunity which will deliver the number of games he deserves. We wish John every success in his new life. Steve Bruce is a manager that knows how to blend youth and experience and I’m sure he has John earmarked for a senior role in trying to take Sunderland on from their finish last season.”

That’s the thing with O’Shea, the player who was once tipped to reach great heights, who once said he was unprepared to have his position chopped and changed, and who once nutmegged Luis Figo, he never fulfilled the potential we thought he had, but he always did a job.

He isn’t first choice in any of the positions but he’s reliable enough in all of them. I’d rather not see him in the midfield and we have better players than him at full-back, yet when we have an injury or need to rotate to rest our players, he’s a great stand in.

He’s experienced and has played in massive games, whether that be against our fiercest rivals, in European Cup semi-finals or cup finals. There’s no occasion that could overwhelm him and that wealth of experience can’t be bought. Looking at the current squad, only Ryan Giggs has more appearances for United than him.

O’Shea has been at United his whole life and knows as well as any the “United way”. After losing the presence of Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Wes Brown in the dressing room, I don’t think it would be wise to lose another one. Whilst I can’t imagine that O’Shea is the most authoritative member of the team, he sets an example like any of our old boys do and I don’t think that can be underestimated. Whilst Sir Alex Ferguson is an obvious constant in our recent glory years, we shouldn’t overlook the fact we’ve always had homegrown talent in the team too. We’ve got young players coming through but they’re not there yet. It’s important to have players like O’Shea around.

Finally, it’s hard to avoid the sentimentality in keeping O’Shea at the club. I won’t pretend that I don’t feel attached to the Irishman for irrational feelings about his attitude towards the club and the length of time he’s spent here. Sir Alex recently said it was hard to avoid sentimentality with his players and that he had struggled to tell Nicky Butt and Phil Neville it was time for them to move on. Whilst not wanting to criticise O’Shea, I believe those two players had bigger aspirations than him. They both went on to captain the clubs they left for and put first team football ahead being a United player. That is fair enough. But in the last five years, I’ve never got that impression of John’s priorities. He has been our utility man, played when needed, where needed, and seems happy to do so.

For United to accept the offer for him will obviously have made him think though. Why that offer from Sunderland was accepted is still beyond me though. Our available full-backs are Evra, Rafael and Fabio, with the latter two struggling to ever play 90 minutes. Jonny Evans plays at left back for his country and did a good job in that position against Chelsea last year, but that defensive role is not usually required from a United full back. O’Shea is far superior to Evans in that respect. There is also the possibility of Smalling playing at full-back and he does enjoy to get forward, but again, he’s not as skilled as O’Shea in this position and I wonder what the merits are of watering down his natural ability in the centre of the park.

So, with the pitiful amount of money that was accepted for Gibson, Brown and O’Shea from Sunderland, a total of £12m, will the club be planning on buying another full-back? That would certainly soften the blow of losing O’Shea and at least make more sense of the decision to sell him, but it still wouldn’t justify it for me and honestly, I can’t see us spending cash on a full-back when it’s looking like we’ve still yet to splash out top dollar for a world class central midfielder. If we were to spend, would we find an experienced full-back for a few million quid who was happy to play if and when? It’s unlikely.

Both Niall Quinn and Steve Bruce have said a deal for O’Shea is close though, so this was probably written in vain, but I will be genuinely gutted to see John wearing another club’s shirt and hope there’s a last minute spanner in the works.

“That’s a fucking foul!”

After Paul Scholes scored that late winner against City last season, Gary Neville did what any proper red would, and showed his feelings in their shining glory. He grabbed Scholes by the face and kissed him on the lips but has had to put up with some stick as a consequence.

“A few people have given me a bit of stick,” said Neville. “But I’ve spoken to a lot of my mates, who said they’d have done exactly the same if they’d been able to get to him! I was just so happy.”

O’Shea has confirmed that people having be ribbing Neville and offers his sympathy to Scholes.

“Nev did get some stick for that, but poor Scholesy couldn’t do much, could he?” confirmed John O’Shea. “He was the poor victim who tried to push him off, but it was too late. That’s Gaz for you. I don’t think it was for his benefit, mind you. I think it was to make the City fans feel that little bit angrier!”

But what about the poor victim, Scholes?

“A kiss on the lips from Nev is worth it any time after a winner against City!” he said.