I think it's a load of crap.
The way I see it is:
Spurs Fixtures earlier this season..
Sat Aug 26 2006 Everton (H) 0 - 2
Sat Sep 09 2006 Manchester United (A) 0 - 1
Alex Ferguson was watching Spurs in anticipation of his upcoming fixture.
Gary Neville went along to watch his brother.
No clue about Arteta/Cahill
Tim Howard/Phil Neville were allowed to leave because they were not getting first team football, AF is a friend of DM and the clubs are not too far away so players did not need to move house.