Manchester United pair Sir Alex Ferguson and
Dimitar Berbatov have been named Barclays Manager and Player of the
Month for January.
United have had a fantastic start to the year, winning four and
drawing one of their five matches to extend their unbeaten 2010/11
campaign.
Ferguson is certainly no stranger to the award and wins it for
an unprecedented 25th time in his distinguished career, after
seeing his side pick up wins at home to Stoke and Birmingham and
away at West Brom and Blackpool, as well as claiming a hard-fought
point away against Tottenham.
Ferguson's United teams are renowned for building title-winning
momentum after the turn of the year, and this season would appear
to be no different after they took 13 points from a possible 15 to
finish the month in charge.
Bulgarian marksman Berbatov, the leading scorer in the Premier
League this season, immediately picked up where he left off in 2010
with five more goals in January to take his tally to 19.
He struck a stunning hat-trick as United eased past Birmingham
5-0 at Old Trafford, and then scored twice to help his side
complete a trademark comeback to win 3-2 at Blackpool, having been
2-0 down at half time.
It is the first time that Berbatov has won the award as a United
player, and the second time in his career after sharing the April
2007 Player of the Month award with former Tottenham strike partner
Robbie Keane.
The decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel that includes
representatives from football's governing bodies, the media and
fans.