Manchester City's poster wind-up at the start of the season DID get under the skin of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Times says in the summer City spent £55,000 on a poster, next to the Arndale Centre, which displayed Carlos Tévez, arms outstretched, above the slogan "Welcome to Manchester".

It was conceived in part to wind up United's supporters but with the hope that it would also irk Ferguson and create awareness, globally as well as locally, that an old rivalry was brewing in Manchester.

To say that it paid off is an understatement. Within 24 hours it was a news phenomenon, with Ferguson taking the bait - "poor stuff", "it's a go at us", "small club, small mentality".

He even vented his fury at Vicky Kloss, City's director of communications, within seconds of his team's dramatic injury-time victory in the Manchester derby two months later.