Uniteds dads army are the union at Norwich, a despatch from a small town near Ipswich, 26th February 2012

This Friday marks the 21st anniversary of the debut of Ryan Giggs, a match when he came on as a sub in an awful match at Old Trafford against Everton where the Toffees ran out deserved 2-0 winners. Today, Ryan Giggs scored what could be a priceless injury time winner, 899 matches later against a Norwich side who, on balance of play, deserved a draw. The goal was greeted by the United fans in the Jarrold Stand at Carrow Road with the kind of primal roar which normally greets winning goals against Liverpool. There was none of the laconic cool that a good chunk of United’s support and Giggs himself sometimes demeans when United score, everybody, Giggs included, went f$ck%n mental when this goal went in. This goal mattered.

I was expecting a tricky game for United today. No matter how poor their recent form is, Norwich, like a lot of other teams always raise their game when playing against United Last time United came here in April 2005, a soon to be relegated Norwich side played United off the park to win 2-0 in what was one of United’s worst performances in recent memory. In October last year, United beat Norwich 2-0 on a gorgeous late summer’s day at Old Trafford but anybody who remembers that match will remember that the final score concealed a whole multitude of sins. Today’s weather was just as unseasonably pleasant and was looking even better on 7 minutes when Paul Scholes ghosted in on the far post to
head United into the lead.

Such is United’s way though that once an opponent is on the back foot nowadays, United don’t go in for the kill. A shell shocked Norwich were allowed back into the game by some typically sloppy passing from United today. Nani in particular had a shocking game and that’s before I yet again, mention his corners, which are now a recurring theme of a bad dream. David De Gea was again outstanding, on 28 minutes he saved with his feet from a low drive from Anthony Pilkington after a chipped cross from Kyle Naughton. Six minutes later he saved a glancing header from Grant Holt. On 83 minutes, an unusually poor ball from Paul Scholes across his eighteen yard line started the sequence of events which give Norwich their deserved equaliser. Norwich sub, Aaron Wilbraham forces another great save from David De Gea which leaves the United keeper conceding a corner. From the resulting corner, powerful Norwich centre forward Grant Holt controls a Zak Whitbread knockdown, to fire a belter past a despairing and faultless David De Gea.

Suddenly, United start playing again and force pressure on Norwich. Danny Wellbeck, who’d had a great game missed a free header four minutes after Norwich equaliser. It all looked like too little too late until Ryan Giggs, even at this late stage of his career stole three points for United.

Today’s been a long day. I got to Chorlton Street bus station at 7am to pick up the Red Issue/United We Stand coach. There was all kind’s of waifs and strays walking about, young lads and lasses coming out of nearby all nighters and hungover reds stood on Chorlton street in sullen silence wondering what the hell they were doing there at this hour. We got to Norwich at midday and were directed by an unusually pleasant and helpful policeman to the Compleat Angler pub on Prince of Wales road, by the banks of the River Wensum. On the bus going to and from Norwich, the reds were in good wit and fine voice. Chants of “De Gea, De Gea de David De Gea” to the tune of SL2s old rave classic
On a ragga tip (a tune I first heard on an all nighter in the Banshee, Oxford street 20 years ago). There were also a new chant of “Viva Ronaldo” which included in these Glazerian times, the very optimistic line of put him on a plane, bring him back from Spain. My favourite though was the chant of You are Scholes, Scholes, always believe in Paul Scholes
which went to the tune of “Gold” by Spandau Bollocks (sic). Why chants like these never take off in the ground is beyond me. It took an hour to get out of Norwich today after the game, but the locals kept us all well entertained with their middle and duel fingered salutes. It’s very hard to take seriously, anybody aiming abusive gestures while wearing Norwich shirts. .

After the recent impressive rendition by Ajax fans, the Bob Marley classic Three Little Birds has caught the imagination of United fans. If you’re gonna be influenced by visiting fans in European competition, I’d rather it be that song, than us standing with our backs to the game looking wacky. In the coach park today as we were boarding the home bound bus, there was a fella in the corner, really getting into the spirit of the song by singing don’t worry about de ting, cos every li’l ting’s gonna be alright.

On the way to Carrow Road today, I also read the newly published Sun on Sunday and headed straight to Roy Keane’s column. Having read it, I couldn’t believe how bland and forgettable it was. It saddened me to see a man of his integrity, honesty and principle put his name to such a load of pony. A man for whom I’ve always had awesome respect, for his candour and selfless, almost psychopathic endeavour on the pitch for United. If he dosen’t watch himself, he could end up being an embittered gobshite in the mould of Emlyn Hughes and Malcolm McDonald.

There was a lot of understandable dissent and disillusion when Paul Scholes returned to United’s squad for the cup match at City, nearly two months ago. Whilst it’s farcical that a club of United’s size and money generating capabilities are reliant on a returning retiree to galvanise them, it’s no surprise to anybody who’s not been burying their heads in the sand, that this has been coming since the Glazer burglary commenced in May 2005. Whatever the rights and wrongs of United’s hand to mouth transfer policy, one thing is agreed by everybody, Paul Scholes has been sensational since returning to United’s squad from what now looks like a much needed refreshing sabbatical, as opposed to retirement. United have never properly replaced the aforementioned Roy Keane, but have won four league titles and a European cup, since his acrimonious departure in the autumn of 2005. Paul Scholes’s absence this season was so keenly felt that he ending up coming back and replacing himself. What happens when he and Ryan Giggs finally call it a day, God only knows.

Moral Victory For The Perenial Losers In The FA Cup, Manchester, 10th of January 2012

The Police were having a quiet day yesterday in town, obviously disapointed that there was virtually no trouble so they did what they’re the best in the world at and tried creating trouble to give justification for their heavy presence in town. All the baloney pre-match from the GMP about every copper near the Etihad stadium “being in riot equipment” was shown for the rubbish it was on approach to the ground. There was a line of police outside the away fans turnstliles and approximately 30 police across Ashton New Road togged up in riot gear scratching their arses outside the Kippax chippy. In town, the Police unilaterally closed the Paramount pub on Oxford road to a group of peaceful fans five minutes before kick off. With the timing of the closure, a person of a more cynical disposition may think they’d done that to wind up a pub full of lads waiting for the match to kick off by forcing them to find somewhere else at such short notice, maybe create a disturbance. In my view, anybody who has that train of thought is spot on.

As we all now know, United ran rampant in the first half yesterday at the Etihad stadium. Rooney made it 1-0 when City still had eleven men on the pitch. City skipper and Centre half Vincent Kompany was sent off a couple of minutes later. When I was growing up, watching and playing football, the tackle that Kompany did would’ve been at worse a booking and a free kick. Most referee’s would’ve ignored it and called it a fair challenge, but whether it’s 1982, 1992 or 2012, a two footed tackle was the same then as it is now, the only difference is, now it’s an automatic red card. I don’t believe Vincent Kompany did that tackle yesterday with any malice, but malicious or not is not really the point. A footballer of Kompany’s skill and a man of his intelligence knew what he was risking when he went in two footed on Nani. How low his feet were to the ground, whether he got the ball or not or intent is a complete irrelevance. The most alarming thing to me about the whole thing was Wayne Rooney running to the referee, Chris Foy, like a schoolyard grass pointing out the two footed challenge. I don’t like seeing that from any footballer, but when a United player does it, it disgusts me. Rooney, we all love as a player and for his commitment on the pitch but for Christ sake, I hope he turn’s that in.

On Twitter last night, Vincent Kompany said “The fans, the players and every single person involved with Man City FC were incredible today. Definitely the moral winners of this game”. It was a surprise to absolutely nobody that City tried claiming a “moral victory” yesterday. The mentality of the club is of one constantly used to losing so they’ve been claiming all kinds of moral victories since 1976. The only people who ever claim a moral victory are the perenial losers. City won the FA cup last season, they look a good bet for both the Premier League and the League cup this season yet they’re still trying to claim moral victories in matches that they’ve lost. Can anybody remember the last time United tried claiming a moral victory or more accurately, the moral high ground after losing a match. United played Arsenal off the pitch in the 2005 FA Cup final in Cardiff but lost, on penalties. Not one player, fan or official of United claimed a moral victory after Patrick Viera slotted the winning penalty in for Arsenal that afternoon. It would’ve been deeply embarrasing if anybody had, United just went home, correctly feeling robbed but ultimately knowing that Arsenal won, United had lost and C’est la vie. City appear to want the respect, kudos and sympathy from every angle. In City’s world, there’s no such thing as a defeat, just victories and moral victories. When a player from an opposing side to them gets sent off, rightly or wrongly then that’s just how it goes. When one of their players get sent off, at best, it’s incompetence of the worst level or at worst, a conspiracy against them. City now want to be known as a club on the up, a club that’s gonna get used to winning things on a regular basis, a club that’s going to be mentioned in world footballing circles in the same breath as United, Liverpool and Arsenal. They also want to retain the affection of the English public that they’ve picked up over the years through losing games in pretty hilarious circunstances sometimes and as such, they’ve become much lionised for their gallows humour. One thing they’re going to learn is that if they do start winning things, with the regularity that they intend is that they’re going to come up against a lot of hostility in this country. The English mentality is to depise winners, take ’em down a peg or two. It’s based on envy and resentment but when City players and fans start noticing these emotions will be when they can call themselves succesful. It’s one or the other.

United fans of my age and above, should be able to remember a time when United were the most popular second choice team of a large section of the English population. In them days, particularly of teams fielded by Tommy Docherty and Ron Atkinson, United played exciting, swashbuckling football, won the odd cup, even more friends but more often than not lost agonisingly to teams that didn’t play with United’s flair or free spirited abandon but with more professionalism and discipline. It was OK to like United then because they were relatively harmless. Liverpool were the big bad dull ogre in them days, in 1982, they won the title with such ease, that when presented with the title at Anfield, instead of players passing the trophy along to their teammates, they nonchelantly tossed the cup to each other.

The day that Oldham won at Villa Park in May 1993, to hand the title to United for the first time in 26 years was the day that everything changed. Suddenly, resentment and jealousy reared it’s head from all kinds of unexpected avenues. It reached an hysterical crescendo less than two years later, in January 1995, when Eric Cantona took the law into his own hands at Selhurst Park and provoked a public and media outcry so severe that I was begining to think that England was a massive outdoor lunatic asylum. It was even worse when David Beckham got sent off for a petulant kick at Diego Simeone in St Etienne at the World Cup in 1998. The English public, heavily aided and abetted by a shit stirring tabloid press, decided that not only did Beckham cost England the match, but also the World Cup itself. I can see their point, the England team of 1998 would’ve made mincemeat of the winning French Team of Zinedine Zidane, David Trezeguet, Emmanuel Petit, et al, should they have met. There was police escorts for Beckham for nearly six months after that incident with panic alarms installed in his house. There was efigies of him hanging off a lampost in East London and hundreds, if not thousands of t-shirts printed informing Beckham that “He’s let himself and his country down”, just in case nobody had informed him earlier.

At about 5.45 yesterday afternoon, all United fans found out that our reward for beating City in the third round was going to be an away trip to Anfield. Whilst a shaken and stirred Jim Rosenthal was openly salivating at the outcome of this draw, there were wry smiles and grins all around me. Despite Joleon Lescotts attempted sage, but wildly innacurate and desperate assertion on Friday that City were now our biggest match, we’d now been drawn against our greatest enemy and rival. This is a match that in times of relative civility is a big one but after the recent affair of Luis Suarez racially abusing Patrice Evra at Anfield, this is bigger than ever. No doubt Merseyside police, Liverpool FC and the local council will come up with some spurious health & saftey excuse to deny United their right to 15% of match tickets. After United’s allocation for Anfield was slashed by a third for the league match in October on similar grounds, I’m confident it will happen again this month. it’s about time United hit these bastards tit for tat.

Luis Suarez’s comical defence has been made funnier by the chicken mourning followers of his club suddenly becoming knowledgable authority’s on the quirks and nuances of Uruguayan dialect. Suarez’s claim of terms of endearment whilst saying to Evra after kicking him on the knee  “Porque tu eres negro” (“Because you are black”), “Dale, negro…negro…negro” (“Bring it on, blackie”) and “No hablo con los negros” (“I don’t speak to blacks”) whilst pinching his arm was obviously a touching display of misunderstood bonhomie, to use Evra’s mother tongue for once. Since the guilty verdict was announced, Liverpool went on a robust defensive. Alluding without explicitly saying they’d appeal, wearing t-shirts at Wigan in support of a proven racist and once they’d seen the damning evidence against Suarez released, reluctantly and aggresively accepting the suspension without appeal but hinting at some sinster agendum and misunderstanding which, presumably down to the official secrets act, they’re not allowed to disclose.

What Liverpool have done is the classic default defence of the victim. It is not the first time they’ve done it. At the 1985 European cup final in Brussels, a faction of Liverpool followers were responsible for the deaths of 39 Juventus fans. Nowadays, if you hear any scousers reminisce about that night, you’d think that Liverpool were the injured party and not the club who’s fans had got all English clubs banned from Europe indefinetly, it ended up being five years. In the aftermath of the Heysel disaster, senior officials at Anfield tried blaming a gang of Chelsea fans (whom were never identified) who’d decided to go to Brussels for a Liverpool match against Juventus just so they could have a fight with the Italians.

Blood Red Sky Tonight Eclipses The Blue Moon, Manchester 8th Of January 2012

In two days time, it will be the 25th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson’s first FA Cup match as Manchester United manager which was won 1-0, with a goal by Norman Whiteside, against Manchester City. Over the last twenty five years, Ferguson’s been written off countless times by the certain people in the media. The first time was in the winter of 1989, the latest time was last week. Yet again all the obituaries have been written in haste, the front cover of this months 442 magazine was obviously commisioned with a United defeat at the Bradford gasworks stadium (thank you Mr Cousins) in the FA Cup expected. After the last match at Old Trafford between United and City, this is the first Manchester derby I’ve looked on with any trepidation since the 3-3 draw at Maine Road in October 1990, the last time City had a side that could’ve been considered somewhere near equal to United.

City today, were virtually at full strength. Sure, Yaya Toure has been collared by the Ivory Coast for African Nation’s cup but his replacement, Nigel De Jong ain’t a bad player to have as back up. City rested first choice keeper Joe Hart and replaced him with Costel Pantilimon, they can’t even say that the change of keeper weakened them as there was nothing Pantilimon could have done with any of Uniteds first half goals. Vincent Kompany was sent off for a two footed tackle on Nani on twelve minute’s, two minute’s after Rooney had headed United into the lead. In my opinion, the sending off was harsh, definetly a foul and a yellow card but not a sending off. Whilst Kompany may have been unlucky to have been sent off, the way City collapsed between then and half time is an indictment on them. Today in the first half, the pressure was really on for City and they can’t use the excuse of being a man down for that collapse. Any team with City’s aspiration’s should be able to cope with the loss of one man, no matter how harsh the decision or how important the player is to the team, which Vincent Kompany obviously is. The one City player who scares the shit out of me when he’s got the ball, David Silva, was anonymous throughout the entire game. The other dangerman Sergio Kun Aguero was a menace that was generally kept well under control apart from obviously the 64th minute when he seized on a James Milner cross after he’d capitalised on a mistake by a very rusty Paul Scholes.

United fans celebrating at the Bradford Gasworks stadium (Photograph courtesy of Neil Meehan)

I’ve since heard that from pundits and journalists that Wayne Rooney scored for United, against the run of play on 10 minutes. It must have been a similar run of play that the absent today, Mario Balotelli scored at Old Trafford in October as I never felt United were under any serious threat before City scored. Danny Wellbeck scored a beauty on 31 minutes with a swivelling volley that surprised Costel Pantilimon in the City goal. United were going for City with some gusto. Aleksandar Kolarov made a clumsy challenge on Wellbeck on 39 minutes for a definite penalty, Rooney forced a great save from Pantilimon but heads in the rebound. Before the match a win, any win would’ve been more than welcome. We’re now all dreaming of avenging the 6-1 defeat in October, especially when the magnificent Wellbeck just fails to connect in the six yard box in first half injury time. With all the momentum in United’s favour, half time was a nuiscance, it gave City time to regroup. When Aleksandar Kolarov scored with a perfect free kick, after a pretty soft decision from referee Chris Foy on 48 minutes, even with a man advantage, we knew it wasn’t going to be straight forward. Two minutes before Aguero brought the game back to 3-2, Valencia was tripped in the City box by Aleksandar Kolarov, for a blatant penalty which was waved away, by referee Chris Foy. After Aguero scored, it was a very nervous last 25 minutes.

United have had a couple of bad performance’s and defeat’s lately. Before today’s match, any win would’ve been welcome for United, bearing in mind City’s form and the feeling of dread amongst my red brethren for this game. With City’s failure to sell all their tickets for this fixture and with today’s result, it saves the deeply religious City fans of being in the moral Quandary of what to do on Sunday afternoons when their team are at home. Since the final whistle, a couple of hours ago, I’ve had text’s and phone call’s off red’s that I both like and respect telling me that it feel’s like a defeat or at best, a draw after the second half performance. As much as I like and respect these guy’s, I think it’s complete bollocks. United have won a game, back’s to the wall, away from home against a team that on present form, are the best in the country. There’s a lot of talk of papering over the cracks, especially with Scholes coming out of retirement but the crack’s have been getting papered over ever since them parasites seized control of the club in 2005. Whilst City have been running round like Viv Nicholson after too many Babycham’s and financial armagedon might only be round the corner for United, we might as well enjoy days like today as we’ve all known for a long time what’s coming.

Long, Cold And Dark November Nights – Manchester, 19th Of November 2011

Two long, long weeks of of no club football but a couple of international friendlies for England, a storm over poppies, Sepp Blatters blarney and an embargo on transfers ’til January mean newspaper journalist get ever more desparate to fill their pages. The day after United beat Sunderland, a frenzy was brewing up over FIFA’s refusal to allow England players to wear poppies on their shirts for the forthcoming friendly against Spain. Amongst the usual knee jerk reaction of political correctness gone mad and such forth (waddya mean you’d forgotten about it ??). Exactly six years to the day before England played Spain, England played against Argentina without wearing poppies, there was no clamour for the team to wear poppies, can anybody tell me what’s changed in the last six years ? By sheer coincidence, prior to the poppy furore, England skipper John Terry, had been accused of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers centre half Anton Ferdinand. This allegation had taken up a lot of column inches in the national press and the FA, with admirable common sense had decided to adopt an innocent ’til proven guilty stance. I wonder why they didn’t take that stance with Johnathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer in 2001 or with Rio Ferdinand in 2003? The problem the FA have with the John Terry allegation is that, like badly pasted wallpaper, the bubble gets pressed down, only to resurface, just as bad, pretty close by. Still the poppy fury sold a few papers, got an awful lot of people wound up about something they’d forget about a week later and ended up with the farcical gesture of players having poppies painted on their boots to circumnavigate a ban that had never existed in the first place.

Continue reading Long, Cold And Dark November Nights – Manchester, 19th Of November 2011

Fergie Time: 25 Years ago 1986/1987

United made a terrible start to the 1986-1987 season, apparently still in a state of depressed inertia after blowing a ten point lead the previous season. The reds didn’t win ’til the 13th of September, beating Southampton 5-1 but United were only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. The discontent on the terraces towards Ron Atkinson was now coming to the fore. Ron Atkinson never had the hearts and minds at Old Trafford with the fans the way Sir Matt Busby or Tommy Docherty possesed, despite being very popular with the media. The United team were suddenly looking old and tired, players who should have never have pulled on the red shirt, like Graeme Hogg, Colin Gibson & Johnny Sivebaek were getting regular games. The main problem with the midfield of Bryan Robson, Norman Whiteside and Paul McGrath was trying to keep them out of the pub. Up front, we had a forward line of an ageing Frank Stapleton, the incredible Terry Gibson, a man who was signed from Coventry in exchange for Alan Brazil, he had the physical build of Diego Maradona and the footballing skill of Madonna and the hard working but not good enough signing from Nottingham Forest, Peter Davenport.

United drawing at Filbert Street in September 1986

United were drawn against Southampton for the 3rd round of the League Cup and six weeks after beating them 5-1 at Old Trafford, drew 0-0 meaning a replay at the Dell. Just over a week later, Southampton beat United 4-1 to knock United out of the league cup in what was Atkinsons’ last match as United manager.

Ron Atkinson’s last match as manager at The Dell

We’ve since learned that Bobby Charlton sounded Alex Ferguson out about the United managers job at 1986 World Cup in Mexico whilst he was there as Scotlands’ caretaker manager.

Alex Ferguson who’d nearly become Tottenham Hotspur manager when Keith Burkenshaw resigned in 1985, had been a phonemenal success in Scotland as Aberdeen manager and he had a clause in his Aberdeen contract that if Manchester United expressed an interest in him, he could talk to them. The talks which ended up in Ferguson becoming United manager were conducted in such a clandestine way as to bless a novel by Ian Fleming. On the 5th of November 1986, Ron Atkinson was dismissed as Uniteds’ manager, he walked away with a dignity which Tommy Docherty would’ve done well to witness and emulate. The following day, Alex Ferguson was announced as Uniteds’ new manager. He had two days to prepare for his first match against Oxford United at the Manor Ground. United lost 2-0 to Oxford, Ferguson claimed later that the enormity of what he’d taken on became apparent that day.

United lose 2-0 at the Manor Ground on the 8th November 1986. Alex Ferguson’s first match in charge

Following a goalless draw at Carrow Road, United won for the first time under Alex Ferguson when Johnny Sivabeck scored against Queens Park Rangers in a 1-0 win two weeks after he took over the reigns. Following a 1-0 defeat to newly promoted Wimbledon and two consecutive 3-3 draws against Spurs and Aston Villa, United went to Anfield to play the previous seasons double winners, Liverpool. If there was one game United didn’t need at this moment it was to be playing away to a Liverpool team whom in my opinion, at that time, would’ve given any team in the world a good game. As per usual in this fixture during the 1980s, Norman Whiteside upset the scousers and the form book whilst delighting the bookmakers to give United an unexpected win and as an added bonus, incur the wrath of the legendary John Peel on Radio 1. United only won one away league game all season, it would be typical that of all the places to get that win, it would be Anfield where it happened. Everything that symbolised United during that era occurred the following day when United lost at home to a Norwich City who in those days, were no mugs, but they shouldn’t have been beating United at Old Trafford.

Norman Whiteside scores the winner at Anfield on Boxing Day 1986

In early February and in a game where Terry Gibson scored his only goal for the reds, United won 2-0 against a title challenging Arsenal side who’d been taken over by George Graham the previous summer. This was the first sign of the steel Ferguson had instilled in the United side. Norman Whiteside wound up Arsenal midfielder Paul Davis and full back Viv Anderson to a frenzy and alongside Bryan Robson, ran the midfield imperiously. It wouldn’t be the last time during Fergusons reign that a match involving United and Arsenal became heated. Ferguson steadied the United side for the rest of the season to achieve mid table safety by March. On Easter Monday, with a last minute goal from Peter Davenport, United completed their first league double over Liverpool since 1969/1970.

United beat Liverpool 1-0 on Easter Monday 1987 with a late goal from Peter Davenport. Look out for Alan Hansen in the run to the goal. “Dreadful defending Des”

United finished the season in 11th place and with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa. In the FA cup, United beat Man City in the third round with a goal by Whiteside before losing to eventual winners, Coventry City in the fourth round. After the start to the season United made, the fans were generally happy with the placing but were hoping on a quick improvement. What United fans didn’t then realise was that the charismatic and likeable Atkinson had left the club in a shambles. In them days, City had a pretty decent youth side and were getting the best kids off the streets of Manchester, Uniteds’ youth side, despite reaching the youth cup final in 1986, losing over two legs to City, was a mess. This along with sorting out the active social lives and bonding sessions that Uniteds best players indulged in was Fergusons overriding priority which came to a head during the hilarious and now infamous interview with Norman Whiteside and Paul McGrath, on Granadas Kick off programme where both of them had clearly had a good day, just prior to an away match at Loftus road. This new policy was implemented much to the chagrin of pub landlords in Hulme, Salford, Altrincham…

United are knocked out of the FA Cup by eventual winners, Coventry City on the January 31st 1987. Look at the state of the pitch…