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One night on Chester Road – Eric Cantona signs for United

There are some moments in life that you’ll remember exactly what you were doing and where you were. Virtually everybody of my parents’ generation remember precisely what they were doing and where they were doing it when they heard that John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been assassinated in his convertible Limousine in Dallas, November 1963. I vividly remember what I was doing when John Lennon was murdered, Princess Diana’s car crashed and the happiest memory of them all, when Eric Cantona signed for United, twenty years ago tomorrow.

Eric Cantona shields the ball from Brian Deane of Sheffield United at Elland Road in October 1992. Leeds would eventually sign Brian Deane to replace Cantona for nearly three times the price United paid for Cantona Continue reading One night on Chester Road – Eric Cantona signs for United

Hillsborough – How does Duckenfield sleep ?

Trevor Hicks, a man who lost his two daughters in the Hillsborough disaster, has behaved as leader of the Hillsborough Family Support Group with a calm dignity throughout the long, hard and ultimately succesful quest for truth (justice is another thing altogether). That’s not to say however that everything he says is correct. Such is the obvious emotive nature of the Hillsborough disaster that victims families have been given carte blanche to set the agenda into reform. If for example, anybody opposes all seater stadia, as many people in Liverpool itself does, then it’s as if they’re pissing on the memory of the victims of Hillsborough. This morning, I heard Trevor Hicks, along with Liverpool supporting Daily Mirror writer Brian Reade, on the Nicky Campbell breakfast show express the opinion that “One of the very few good things that’s come out of Hillsborough is that all seater stadiums are much better family enviroments where we don’t have a bunch of thugs going around swearing at each other”. That Hicks is an eloquent and decent man who’s tirelessly chased the truth from a lying police force and an ostrich like Labour and Tory government is beyond doubt. That said, it doesn’t give him any moral or legal authority to decree that everybody’s safer now in football stadia due to them being all seater.

Continue reading Hillsborough – How does Duckenfield sleep ?

Double Glazers, forever in their debt

Not since the Summer of 2006 have I approached a forthcoming season with such precious little optimism. Then, Chelsea had just won the title at a canter and bolstered their squad with the signings of Ashley Cole and Andriy Shevchenko along with Michael Ballack and John Obi Mikel, who’d been swiped from under United’s nose. With a seemingly bottomless pit of money and Jose Mourinho as manager, they looked unstoppable. In second place during the 2005/6 season were United. The position was a misnomer; at no point during that season did anybody think United were going to win the title. During the close season of 2006 United had only signed Michael Carrick. United also had the hysteria whipped up by the British media of the supposed Rooney/Ronaldo fall out after Wayne Rooney was correctly sent off in Gelsenkirchen for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho’s testicles. Cristiano Ronaldo was subsequently blamed by the very balanced and fair minded English tabloid press for England’s exit from the tournament (not Sven-Göran Eriksson’s tactics, squad/team selection or choice of penalty takers). That Rooney and Ronaldo clicked so well the following season was just as big a kick in the nuts for the anti-United brigade as the one on Carvalho. United seizing the title from a previously unstoppable-looking Chelsea is to this day, for my money, Sir Alex Ferguson’s finest hour.

Wayne Rooney is so angry at Cristiano Ronaldo getting him sent off in the World Cup in 2006 that he’s shaking his hand as he walks off the pitch

A few months after the controversial takeover by the Glazer family in May 2005, Sir Alex Ferguson had endorsed their running of the club. People who are wilfully blind, or believe what they want to believe, took this as proof positive that the protests that preceeded and greeted the Glazer takeover was not only futile but misguided too. That from season 2006/2007 to present day United have won the title four times and the European Cup once would, on the surface, make things look good. In 2010 United lost the title to Chelsea by one point and the season just passed lost the title to City on goal difference. Everything’s alright isn’t it ?

The Glazers being escorted out of Old Trafford in June 2005

Since United sold Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 for £80,000,000, things have been clearly far from alright. That summer, United also lost the services of Carlos Tevez having previously promised that the “permanent” transfer would be taken care of. Whatever people think of Carlos Tevez the man, he was as a centre forward for United, sensational. The reasoning emanating was that he was too expensive and that he’d left his United owned house in Alderley Edge a mess. On that basis, I was relieved he’d left Old Trafford, I can’t overemphasise the importance it is as United player to keep a tidy house. We were assured by David “manning the barricades” Gill that the money United received for Ronaldo in 2009 was waiting to be used on the right player. Sir Alex Ferguson claimed the money had not been used because there was no value in the market. That money could’ve been used to buy somebody like Ya-Ya Toure, a player who’d had a blinder against United in the Rome hosted European Cup final of 2009 but he obviously didn’t fit into the category of value. That Ronaldo money has now vanished. As for value in the market, if Dimitar Berbatov is representative of value then I’m looking at a completely different market.

Sir Alex Ferguson espousing his brand of socialism with the Glazers in 2006

Over the years, Sir Alex Ferguson has sporadically spoken well of the Glazers. Personally I was disappointed in this stance but I conveniently took a moderate position on these pronouncements due to him being “the man with the plan” (to borrow a phrase from UWS). This summer has seen Sir Alex Ferguson’s most aggressive display of support for the Glazers yet. What was once a feeling of disappointment and disillusion towards Ferguson from me has now turned into a naked disdain. I’m to the way of thinking how dare he question the loyalty and commitment of United fans who are unhappy with the blatant robbery of the club by his employers. This from a proud Govanite shop steward. The people who are expressing concern that he so disparages are the same people who with a loyalty that was blind and now apparently one-sided, were disrupting horse race meetings involving Coolmore nags when he was in dispute with Coolmore owner John Magnier, who along with J P McManus, also happened to be the major shareholders at Old Trafford. The dispute revolved around the stud rights to a horse that had been gifted to Sir Alex Ferguson, a horse that he’d not put a penny of his own money into (like his present bosses at Old Trafford come to think of it) and a horse that he’d drawn a healthy stipend off for basically having his photograph taken next to. Ferguson’s badly advised fight with such a powerful opponent as Magnier was only going to end up with one result (no matter what face saving bullshit was peddled by Ferguson’s PR people). It had echoes of Terry Venables’ battle with Alan Sugar approximately ten years prior, the only difference in outcome was that Ferguson kept his job.

Sir Alex Ferguson with jockey Michael Kinane and Rock of Gibraltar

I’ve no doubt that the actions of a well meaning but more militant faction of United fans (M.E.C) coupled with the action of Sir Alex Ferguson in his litigation over the stud rights lead to the chain of events which left the Glazers in charge at Old Trafford. People have said that Magnier and McManus would have sold out to the Glazers come what may due to the offer they received but I believe that to be rubbish. United were turning over a tidy profit for Coolmore/Cubic Expression every year which was an added bonus to the kudos of having a major share in such a world famous sporting institution. All the trouble from the Ferguson affair coupled with a very good offer from the Glazers (with borrowed money at crippling interest) have lead Coolmore to basically say, fuck this, give us the money and we’re out.

Sir Alex Ferguson with Susan Magnier, his partner in ownership of Rock of Gibraltar along with John Magnier in more harmonious times

Many people warned in the Summer of 2005 what the implications of this takeover were. Andy Walsh, Sean Bones, Duncan Drasdo, the three main fanzines around Old Trafford (Red News, Red Issue & United We Stand) and organistions like Shareholders United and IMUSA were pilloried for being scaremongers. Basically what they were saying in 2005 is very close now to coming true.

Former chair of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association, now General Manager of FC United, Andy Walsh

When Paul Scholes came out of retirement last January, he was truly brilliant and I’m glad he’s signed on for another year. That said, as good as he was, does anybody believe that Scholes would have returned in those circumstances pre-Glazer? Scholes would’ve probably gone to Everton as United would’ve already replaced him (don’t give me Tom Cleverley!) Towards the end of the season where United blew an eight point lead with six games to go, they needed a midfield general to marshal the team and maintain discipline, coupled with a player who could take a corner. City had Ya-Ya Toure, United had Ji Sung Park. God bless the lad, Park did some great work at Old Trafford, never moaned and was a particular thorn in Arsenal’s side but it was painful watching him against Toure at the tripe colony in April. At the time of writing, United have signed Nick Powell from Crewe Alexandra (their young players traditionally used to go to Liverpool) and Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. I don’t know much about Kagawa, I’ve heard good things about him from people whose opinion I respect and he was highly thought of at Dortmund. Nick Powell looks good but it’s too early to say how so especially after everybody getting giddy (myself included) about Phil Jones this time last year.

Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane happily reminisce at Old Trafford in August 2007

As for Sir Alex Ferguson, only time will tell if he’s pulled off a masterstroke and made another silk purse out of a sow’s ear. He’s seen off better and more shrewd managers than the likeable Robert Mancini. Wenger and Mourinho immediately spring to mind. From a sheerly pragmatic view, his past record should buy him time should he want it but his attitude to United fans, which is getting more like Marie Antoinette every passing year, means that patience is wearing thin from people like me who’ve previously devoutly defended him against all kinds of criticism over the last twenty six years. That he so virulently defends a regime that should be abhorrent to what he’s supposed to believe in is the greatest paradox. Whilst Roy Keane may be embittered (a recurring incidence with people who’ve had close professional dealings with Sir Alex), what he said last December about Sir Alex looking primarily after himself appears as accurate as any pass he made during his distinguished twelve years at Old Trafford. In the winter of 1990, Red Issue columnist Zar wrote that time was running out for Ferguson and despite United’s convenient denials over the years, it probably was. Then, he turned things round to a degree which nobody in their wildest dreams or a scouser’s biggest nightmare could’ve envisaged. He might do it again, only a fool would bet against him, but now, time really is running out for obvious reasons. Sir Alex Ferguson came to United when they were in a complete mess and was given time which would now be unthinkable to sort the mess out. That he did so is the greatest achievement of his professional life. Due to his lamentable endorsement of the Glazer ownership and the obvious decline in United’s squad and resources, he could end up leaving at least as big a mess as the one he inherited from Ron Atkinson. For that to be his legacy would be a crying shame, there’s no question about that.

An argument for the moving of away fans to the United Road third tier

There was a time when opposition fans were too scared to come to Old Trafford in any significant numbers due to the knowledge that United fans were famously inhospitable towards visiting supporters. If you ever watch a re-played United match from the 1970s on ESPN classic or ITV4, that was played at Old Trafford, you’ll notice that when the opposition score, there’s virtual silence in the ground. Friends of mine who remember Old Trafford in the 1970s say that while the football wasn’t to the standard we’re used to nowadays, the atmosphere at for United home games was collosal.

Entrance turnstiles to the Stretford End, circa 1980s, this must be just pre kick off as there’s no que

I went to my first United match in March 1981, it was a 2-1 victory against a championship challenging Ipswich Town who were managed by the late Bobby Robson. I became an Old Trafford regular in season 82/82 and one the first things I noticed was when the oposition scored, there’d be a tiny pocket of supporters on the Scoreboard terrace just below J & K stands celebrating. In them days, the only teams that would bring any decent amount of travelling support would be Liverpool, City, Newcastle United and Sunderland. The likes of Arsenal, Tottenham or Everton would bring good numbers if their teams were doing well otherwise, they’d be lucky to fill out two pens on the scoreboard terrace (1500 approx). I remember the atmosphere at Old Trafford in them days being lively due to the fact that people and more importantly, kids, could pay £1.10 on the gate of the Stretford End terrace, £1.30 on the Stretford End seats (E stand) or the Stretford End Paddock which cost £1.20. You had to be at the ground for 1PM at the very latest or you weren’t getting in. It didn’t really matter who United were playing, the atmosphere would build up over the two hours preceeding the match so when the teams emerged from the old tunnel in the middle of the main stand, the ground would be rocking. Nowadays, the ground is normally 4/5s empty half an hour before kick off so unless United are playing Liverpool or City, the atmosphere is more subdued.

Stretford End pre match in the early 1980s, notice how it’s full while the C & D stand on it’s right hand side are virtually empty

When Martin O’Neill took over as Aston Villa manager in the summer of 2006, one of the first things he decreed was that the away fans should be moved from Witton End of the ground and into the Witton Lane stand, left pitchside to where the away fans used to be. At Newcastle, away fans are that high up in the stand that I swear you can nearly see Scotland on a clear day at the Sports Direct Arena (touché). At Goodison Park, opposing fans were moved from the Park End many years ago and placed into the Upper Bullens stand. I can reel off a whole host of examples but the main point is, when these changes were made, supporters of the respective clubs weren’t lamenting the re-organisation as the death knell of the grounds atmosphere. The whole reason for these changes was to give the home fans the premium seat in the ground.

There’s an experiment taking place next month at Old Trafford for the United home match against Aston Villa where, the visiting fans are going to be placed into the top tier of the United road/North/Sir Alex Ferguson stand. Recently I’ve heard what I believe to be a lot of melodramatic nonsense about the adverse affects that this experiment and it’s probable end result is going to have on the atmosphere at Old Trafford. A lot of matchgoing reds that I like and respect are saying that it’s going to ruin the atmosphere at Old Trafford. The first thing I noticed was the concern over the demise of the self celebrated K-Stand top left. From where I sit in the old B-Stand (South stand) I see pockets of reds in the K top left making gestures and shouting retorts to opposing fans but the devastating wit and repartee that I’m always reading about in UWS is inaudible to me 100 yards away.

The other thing about the worry of the adverse affect on the Old Trafford atmosphere is the belief that opposing fans provide some sort of bouncing post to a great atmosphere at Old Trafford. To me, that is absolute bollocks . When the atmosphere was bouncing in the stretty in the 1980s and the opposing fans that had bothered turning up were at the opposite end of the ground, what was the provocateur for the atmosphere then if we’re so reliant on them being in close proximity ? What about when United played Barcelona in 1984 and the atmosphere was like nothing I heard before or since ? There must’ve been a maximum of 50 Barca fans in the stadium that night. It’s actually quite embarassing that United fans claim to need opposing fans nearby to rouse an atmosphere. Apart from showing a lack of imagination, something I’ve always believed United fans have had in abundance, can anybody tell me what inspiration a load of wooden heads like fans of Stoke, Wigan or Blackburn Rovers provide to creating a good atmosphere ?

Barcelona, 1000 miles and unknown light years away from Manchester United

United were running Barcelona ragged in the first 10 minutes of the Champions League final in Rome; a lethal Cristiano Ronaldo free kick had been parried by Barca keeper Victor Valdes and Ji Sung Park put the follow up over the bar. A shoot-on-sight policy had Barcelona desperately backpeddling, two more shots from Ronaldo in that period were scrambled away.

A Cristiano Ronaldo free kick in the first minute creates chaos in the Barcelona penalty area

There was great confidence amongst Reds that night, before the match kicked off. United had a fantastic side who’d just won the title against Liverpool and were in tip top form after a wee stumble following a heavy defeat at Old Trafford to Liverpool two months prior. A spellbinding performance of counter attacking football at the Emirates stadium, three weeks before this match, had ascertained that United were in peak form leading up to this game. Barcelona had played Chelsea in the semi final, qualifying for the final via the away goals rule after an injury time equaliser at Stamford Bridge from Andrés Iniesta had knocked Chelsea out after a bad tempered match. I saw nothing from Barcelona over those two legs that I thought that United should worry too much about. They were obviously a good side but United had beaten a Barcelona side of virtually the same personnel a year earlier in the semi final.

Ji Sung Park seizes on a Kieron Gibbs mistake at the Emirates stadium in May 2009

Ten minutes into the 2009 final, against the run of play and after successive mistakes by Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic, Samuel Eto’o scored from close distance on Edwin Van Der Sar’s near post to put Barca 1-0 up. We weren’t to know it then but everything changed after that goal. A previously nervous and pensive Barcelona side had suddenly got their confidence after that lucky break and started to take control of the game. Whilst there wasn’t constant pressure on United’s goal, Barca were comfortably the better team and when Lionel Messi was granted a free header by a sleeping Rio Ferdinand in the 69th minute to put Barca 2-0 in front, the game was up. Over the years, we’ve all seen United come back from impossible positions to gloriously win/draw games that they had no right to. The main difference in Rome 2009 was that this was probably the first time I’d ever seen United so comprehensively outclassed. United didn’t play too badly when they had the ball, it’s just that Barcelona were unplayable. I’ve sometimes wondered what would’ve happened if Ronaldo would have scored in that first ten minutes. Barca would’ve probably have panicked, playing right into United’s hands and I believe (obviously hypothetically) that United would have won the match. One thing I knew at the final whistle of that match was that I’d just seen a pretty special side beat United.

Lionel Messi puts Barcelona 2-0 up in Rome, May 2009

Soon after the 2009 Champions League final, to nobody’s surprise, Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for £80,000,000. The most disappointing thing for me that close season was not Ronaldo’s departure but the loss of Carlos Tevez, a player who at that time I believed to be one of the best centre forwards in the world, to a suddenly flush Manchester City. In came Antonio Valencia from Wigan Athletic, Michael Owen on a free transfer from relegated Newcastle United, the fast but useless Gabriel Obertan from Bordeaux and the dreadful Mame Biram Diouf from Norwegian side Molde. This was the summer where Glazernomics truly kicked in and suddenly, all the Give ’em a chance and Let’s wait and see advocates of apathy four years previously, were finally seeing what Sean Bones and Andy Walsh were frantically warning them about in 2005.

The following season, United surrendered the title to Chelsea, losing the league by one point whilst Carlos Tevez was on the East side of town scoring goals from lost causes and winning nothing. Whatever anybody thinks or says about Carlos Tevez, nobody is going to tell me that United wouldn’t have won the title without him in the side in 2010. United were knocked out of the Champions League by a good but unspectacular Bayern Munich side. This is where United had some stinking luck. In Munich, loss of concentration from Patrice Evra in the last minute where Bayern scored a winner and a badly twisted ankle for Wayne Rooney, which neutered him for the rest of the season, made the loss of Carlos Tevez all the more keenly felt. At that point, Michael Owen had been ruled out injured until August with a groin strain and the talented but unpredictable Dimtar Berbatov was suffering a savage loss of form and confidence.

Wayne Rooney picks up ankle injury in the Alianz Arena, Munich

The lack of firepower available to United was compounded in the second leg against Bayern when Sir Alex Ferguson started with a badly injured Wayne Rooney and left a fully fit Dimitar Berbatov on the bench. The gamble looked to have paid off when United raced into a 3-0 lead before Michael Carrick dawdled to allow Ivica Olic to sneak in a goal for a Bayern goal just before half time. A naive foul by Rafael on Frank Ribbery in the 50th minute, which earned him a red card, ensured a long second half in store for United.

Rafael Da Silva cropped Rafael sent off by referee Nicola Rizzoli in the 50th minute

United couldn’t hold out. On 74 minutes, Arjen Robben made it 3-2 on the night and United went out on away goals. Four days before Bayern Munich came to Old Trafford, Chelsea had deservedly won 2-1 at Old Trafford, which put them in the driving seat for the title run in. They didn’t relinquish. The season 2009/2010 ended so anticlimatically that most people had forgotten that United had won the League Cup, against Aston Villa at Wembley on February 28th.

The summer of 2010 was the close season where Sir Alex Ferguson infamously said that there was no value in the market, when asked what the Ronaldo money was being spent on . This despite spending £7,000,000 (approx) on a player that he’d never personally seen, the now notorious Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, better known as Bébé. a pretty ordinary United side didn’t lose a League or European match until early February where they lost 2-1 to Wolves. An average Chelsea side won the double on 2010 and this was followed by (in my opinion) the weakest United team since 1991 winning the title and also getting to the Champions League final, which was played at Wembley.

A follically liberated Wayne Rooney seals the title for United in May 2011

Like 2009, United started the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley on the front foot with a very aggressive start to the game. The only thing was, for all United’s traditionally English blood and thunder begining, it actually put me in mind of Ricky Hatton’s fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr where he fought hard with all his might but didn’t actually leave a scratch on him. In the 34th minute, Wayne Rooney equalised Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma’s goal seven minutes earlier to somehow send United in level at half time. This Barcelona team, as great as they are, were not invincible. Arsenal came back from behind to beat them in the first leg of the last 16, three months earlier. With Rooneys equaliser I was hoping that United might gain some momentum from this bit of luck and put Barcelona on the back foot. I realised early in the second half this wasn’t the case. Lionel Messi put Barca 2-1 up on 54 minutes and David Villa finished the scoring off on 69 minutes. This was probably the most humane hammering I’ve ever seen dished out. That United only lost 3-1 was a relief. Before the match, I came across many Reds who thought United could win the game (myself included) but I didn’t come across a single United fan who thought United would win the game. Since the 2009 match in Rome, Barcelona had improved as a side. Not even the most blindly loyal or gullible of United fans would say that United had.

Fernando Amorebieta marshals Ashley Young in the Estadio San Mamés last night

United’s main outfield inbound transfers of the 2011 close season, Ashley Young and Phil Jones, with the greatest respect to them, didn’t fill me with confidence that United had come close to bridging the gap with Barcelona. In this seasons European campaign, United have only beaten Otelul Galati at home and they were one of the worst sides I’ve ever seen at Old Trafford. What I wasn’t banking on though was United being outclassed twice by Athletic Bilbao, a side that, on present position, are unlikely to qualify for next years Champions League. Sir Alex Ferguson’s laughable claim on Valentines Day that United “have got the ambition to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid and I don’t feel we’re that far away from them” should have instead been made on April the 1st