All Too Human Johnson Has a World of Worry in His Hands

United rotation shows why Ferguson is still on top

In the seasons when Manchester United were winning their first titles under Alex Ferguson, a reporter could turn up at Old Trafford with the names of the back four already inked into the notebook: Parker, Pallister, Bruce and Irwin were as much of a collective fixture as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All the more remarkable, then, that Ferguson's current team should have broken the English league record for not conceding a goal in more than 18 hours with a line-up that has changed from week to week as a result of injuries and suspensions.

In part this is the result of the demands of modern football, which require a club with Champions League pretensions to invest in a squad containing at least two top-quality players for each shirt. Ferguson can field one defence comprising Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, and another made up of Rafael da Silva, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, and John O'Shea or Fabio da Silva, or any combination of the two.

Saturday's match against Everton was the first time his rearguard has been unchanged in seven league matches (all won) since they returned from the world club championship, and nothing speaks more clearly of Ferguson's continuing pre-eminence than his ability to manage change in the area of the team that most demands stability.

The fine art of the umpire in an age of appeals

Sooner or later every child discovers that his or her parents are not infallible. That moment arrived for me the night my father was among the volunteer line judges at an appearance of Jack Kramer's professional tennis circus in the late 50s. Under fairly dim lights, and with the ball skidding off the wooden boards laid over an ice rink, he made a call that earned a reproving look from Lew Hoad. On the way home he conceded that the great Australian had probably been right.

I thought of that moment while watching the latest episode of Nadal versus Federer in the men's final at the Australian Open on Sunday, when one of the players questioned an "out" call and the replay proved that the verdict had been correct – by about the width of a racket string. "Call of the tournament," said Mats Wilander, commentating on Eurosport, and you could only imagine the relief and satisfaction felt by the line judge in question as the validating image came up on the court side screen.

City's young Hart in search of costly transplant

Spare a thought for Joe Hart, the 21-year-old whose excellence in the Manchester City goal over the past couple of seasons has been rewarded by the arrival of Shay Given, 11 years older and vastly more experienced. Hart is England's best prospect in the position, but will now presumably have to go out on loan, to a club with whose defenders he is not familiar, in order to press his claim as David James's successor.

Capello could learn Sven's way with women

How on earth did Fabio Capello get himself into such a humiliating position on Italian television last week, as some woman in a lacy basque writhed all over him? At least Sven-Goran Eriksson kept his lingerie moments behind closed doors.