Up In Middle Earth Today – Burnley, 30th August 2014

Another confused performance from United brought a 0-0 draw against Burnley. United had plenty of possession and, with the likes of Juan Mata, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and new signing Ángel Di María on the pitch, should have posed a better goalscoring threat.

Dave Jones hits the bar with David de Gea well beaten in the 3rd minute

United’s problem was the age-old one of a poor final ball and a nervous hesitancy to attack. Continue reading Up In Middle Earth Today – Burnley, 30th August 2014

Beeping Reliant Robins Back Down The M5 – Manchester 16th Of August 2014

Swansea took the lead with a goal from Ki Sung-Yueng in the 28th minute. The goal was in my opinion against the run of play but United had hardly run Swansea ragged before then. I don’t think Yueng could believe his luck at being left completely alone by Ander Herrera and Darren Fletcher dead centre on the eighteen yard line. He just gently knocked the ball into David de Gea’s far left post in front of a disbelieving Stretford End. Swansea’s winner, scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson on 72 minutes was also against the run of play but despite Swansea catching United on the sucker punch twice, I believe they were good for their win.

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Juan Mata lining up a free kick in front of the Stretford End (Photo courtesy of Neil Meehan) Continue reading Beeping Reliant Robins Back Down The M5 – Manchester 16th Of August 2014

Under New Management – Manchester 27th of April 2014

Photographs from Carrington immediately after Ryan Giggs’ appointment showed ‘Happy Valley’ under new management. Players were laughing and joking, Paul Scholes was back in the fold, even Bryan Robson put an appearance in to show the United family were all, um, united. I’m always suspicious of these photographs; they look like something TASS would have put out before the Cold War went warm. For all my suspicions of these photographs, there’s Continue reading Under New Management – Manchester 27th of April 2014

Watching A Game Of Tennis – Manchester 21st April 2014

Being in the Bullens Road stand at Goodison Park is like stepping back in time. We found ourselves right behind a pillar propping the upper tier. We swung our heads like people watching a game of tennis to see what was happening on the pitch. We bemoaned the fact that we had a lousy view of the pitch and about sixty minutes into the game, we were very grateful for the same reason. For all the poor view, there is something quaintly old fashioned about the Bullens Road stand. The concourse was tight and before the match beer was being served. When Kevin Mirallas put Everton 2-0 up just before half time, we had the consolation of knowing we could have a pint or two at half time to anaesthetise us from the shite we had just witnessed. A stream of reds went down to the concourse, every one to a man gagging for a pint. Getting there, we found that Police had banned the sale of alcohol for half time and for once, I don’t think they were acting out of order. This was down to people with beer prior to the match throwing it indiscrminately on the concourse. Just to clarify, people were paying £4.00 for a pint of beer to throw it around like they were at an Oasis concert. I’ve been boozing since the late 1980s and trust me, I can think of far better things to do with a pint of lager that’s cost £4.00 (or even £2.00 come to think of it) than throw it around. I do wonder sometimes what kind of dickheads we have following United, who in their right mind would want to throw a pint of beer up in the air? There was similar goings on in the Wetherspoons Continue reading Watching A Game Of Tennis – Manchester 21st April 2014

A Night To Be Proud – Manchester 1st of April 2014

Nobody I know fancied this tonight. Bayern Munich are to my eyes the best team on the planet at the moment and it’s fair to say that United are a street or two behind them. The bookies were offering 1/2 on a Bayern win and I personally thought prior to kick off, they were relatively generous odds. Reds had all seen that video in the past week of Bayern literally running rings around City, the same City side that had outclassed United at Old Trafford exactly a week ago. Bayern Munich were confirmed champions of Germany the very same night that City murdered United. To say things didn’t bode well tonight was an understatement.

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View from the Scoreboard End (Photo courtesy of Joe Leonard) Continue reading A Night To Be Proud – Manchester 1st of April 2014