WHEN NORMAL PEOPLE are bored, they slouch in front of the TV or spend far too long on the internet.

But when David Beckham has a load of free time on his hands, he has a quick chat with everybody’s favourite rolling sports news channel and tries to wind up the blue half of Manchester.

Yesterday, Sky Sports News asked the LA Galaxy star for his expert opinion on the forthcoming Premier League season and, in particular, the prospects of Roberto Mancini’s cash-heavy Manchester City side.

“They’re bringing good players in,” Beckham said. “They’ve got strong people with a lot of money behind them, so they’re going to improve.

But they’ll never be Manchester United. They might be a threat this season but United have got the history, the silverware over the last 20 years.

And then, obviously fearing that his argument might be misconstrued, added “there’s only one team in Manchester – but City I’m sure will be a team to look at going forward.”

Needless to say, Beckham’s comments were quickly brushed off by fans of the Eastlands outfit.

One poster on a popular City supporters’ forum described the remark as “probably the most irritating, un-educated dig going against us” while another asked a very pertinent question: “Are we just stating obvious things now and getting them published?”

Don’t expect this “row” to continue for too much longer.

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