Victory parade; POTY; The final bow from Fergie and Scholes

Alright, with the trophy presentation done and dusted and covered in our last post, we had an eventful week culminating in the end of season with a 10 goal thriller at Hawthorns and the MANAGER bidding adieu to the game he so dominated. Before we go in to the game, let us look at the highlights of the week and rightfully to start from the open top bus parade for the champions. As I mentioned in the last post, I was so eager to catch the action Live and to be frank, it was a nice experience too and enjoyed the celebration. This being the last season for Sir Alex, no doubt the city of Manchester was in full attendance to say goodbye. The streets looked like they were given a fresh paint in red.

Manchester is RED

MUTV were covering the event Live and they were pulling aside the players for their comments on the season, triumph and of course on their thoughts on Sir Alex’s retirement. The younger players were overwhelmed with the occasion and why not, having tasted the league triumph for the first time after agonisingly losing to Man City in 2012. Rio and Ashley were the leaders in the pack belting out one song after the other for the fans to pitch in and sing along. It wasn’t surprising to hear a lot of “oh Robin van Persie..” or “He scores goals galore”. At the end of the parade, Fergie addressed the gathering and pretty much covered the same points that he gave out at the last home game. There was one point however that Scholesy and Fergie kept repeating – “I thought that ’99 could not be beaten, but I think this was better than that”. We know the reason behind an unprecedented crowd swelling up the streets of Manchester largely due to the manager’s decision to retire from the game.

                Couple of days later, it was the team’s end of the year party where the POTY and other awards are dished out to the deserving. When it was time to announce the awardees, I was right on 4 of the major awards. Adnan Januzaj was announced as the winner of the “Reserves player of the year” and this was hardly a surprise if one was following the reserve team in action for the last few months. Goal of the season – who else could it be if not for RVP having fired 25+ goals. He bagged the award for scoring a peach of a goal against Aston Villa, yes the game that mathematically confirmed us to be the winners of the league. “Sir Matt Busby Player of the year” is given to the player chosen through fans’ voting. Since it was RVP who grabbed the headlines for all the right reasons and completed the United puzzle, also becoming a crowd favourite instantly, garnered most number of votes to pocket this trophy as well.  I was a little bit disappointed as I had voted for Michael Carrick. L The last but the most important of the personal awards is the “Player’s player of the year” and I don’t recollect if there had been a unanimous choice for this in the last 10-15 years. Sitting deep and dictating the game for the whole season and being the heartbeat of the team, Carrick was more than deserved in receiving the award from Sir Alex. It has taken quite a few seasons for many people to acknowledge the talent that he is, rightfully the successor for Scholes.

MU awards

                On Sunday, the season came to an end with United travelling to West Brom, an occasion that would also mark an end to the careers of Paul Scholes and Sir Alex Ferguson. Giggs and Scholes started from the bench while Rooney was given a leave of absence to be with his wife at her bedside as she went into labour. It was a young and untested eleven that was fielded to mark 1500^th game of Sir Alex as a manager for Manchester United. To mark the occasion, both the set of players gave a guard of honour for Sir Alex. It was also unheard off that a club dedicates 40 pages in the match day programme to the visiting club or its manager which underlines the respect and adoration that Fergie commands across the whole of Britain. Thanks to the West Brom club, its manager and especially their fans who were equally applauding and saluting Fergie when he walked into the pitch, they made it special.

When the teams headed into the tunnel at half time and the score reading 1-3, it was like the players had planned for a great send off to the gaffer. I was imagining us winning by a goal difference of 5 or more. This being the last game for the gaffer, I knew there would be room for some sentiment. Giggs and Scholes (his last game as well) made entry into the game in the second half as substitutes. I was delighted to see Adnan in the bench and was expecting him to make an appearance as well. However, things took a turn at Hawthorns as home team took the game to the United players and they in turn were least bothered about their defensive duties. Anders was not afforded any protection by United’s defenders and I felt bad for him. With United leading 5-2 when Scholes came in, were trying to save some grace in the last moments of the match after Lukaku scored a second half hat trick to bring the score line to 5-5. I guess this was the reason, Adnan was not sent in and Rio was pushed instead to shore up the defence.

Bowing out

When the final whistle was blown, the away fans let out a collective sigh of relief for not losing game and embarrassing the outgoing manager. This was a game that we should have put to bed very early but the players slackened a bit and never looked to play like the champions that they are. End of the day, Fergie was not left embarrassing, but still it was a good send off with a 10 goal thriller. A thriller it was, that had come to define the manager’s reign at Manchester United. A goal in the “Fergie time” so fervently hoped by many fans including yours faithfully never came but it was still a wonderful game that I enjoyed (only because we had won the league already). Fergie took to the field and applauded the visiting fans for their support over the last 27 years. It was again a teary eyed moment for me reminding me that this giant will not be in the bench next year plotting for more glory.

We will look at the U21 action that happened this week and a review of how the season was in our next post. Until then....

Swansong for Scholes and Fergie; The trophy heads back home

An emotional day it was yesterday and Sir Alex who has been dominating the headlines from Tokyo to New York the whole week received a fitting reception and result for what was his last appearance at the theatre of dreams as a manager. Ever since he announced his decision to abdicate his throne, the highly anticipated weekend when the champions were to lift the trophy went up a notch in frenzy. I was all positioned before my television a good 10 minutes before the pre-game show and fidgeting around. Though it was all about Sir Alex, I didn't forget this was the last time our ginger prince would also weave his magic at Old Trafford. Now why would this not be emotional?

When the teams were announced, I was surprised to not find Rooney in the bench let alone the starting eleven. This confirmed the rumour that was also doing the rounds last week on his alleged request for transfer. However it was the neither the time nor the day to spare a thought for that cunning ba****d as it was all about the God of Manchester, God of Football. Given the occasion, Fergie fielded the best eleven with Scholes starting beside Carrick. Further, the gaffer was given a guard of honour by both the set of players, a deserving one or should I say it was the duty carried out. The crowd was in ebullient mood having secured the 20^th title and the fans created a mosaic featuring “20 CHAMPIONS 13”. All the fans were given a red flag to wave and the entire stadium was covered in red specks. MUFC were however thoughtful to provide the away supporters with white flags to celebrate their League cup win.

Guard of Honour

Once the game started, it was back to business for the Manager chewing gum and chatting with the assistant coach. Players in the field were all pumped up for the occasion and United were harassing the away team with continuous bombardment from all directions. If there was any occasional counter attack launched, they were swiftly hacked down. The reds were putting on a classy display to send off their manager on a high. And the home team was rewarded for their efforts with Chicarito doing what he does best – poaching a deflected ball from a free kick and slotting home a goal. It sent the rapturous crowd to their feet and Sir Alex was all gleeful. When the teams went in at half time, the tone was set for the game. Paul Scholes was the man pulling the strings in the middle of the park creating chance after chance and even came close to scoring one last time. Carrick was playing a second fiddle to the midfield magician who was constantly reminding us what we would be missing from the next season.

Rio Screamer

After the last half time talk by Fergie in OT, I was expecting United to pile on misery and carve Swansea out and scoring more goals. Unfortunately, it was the away team who started the half with intent to crash Fergie’s party and soon they were rewarded with an equalizer from none other than Michu. Was it complacency or being overwhelmed by the occasion, United started to lose the plot and were chasing the game in the second half. After an hour mark, as I expected, Sir Alex substituted Scholesy with Ando and the ovation given by the OT faithful was hair-raising. It was the gaffer’s way of thanking the genius for his contribution for the last 2 decades. It was also when Giggs was brought in to replace Welbeck – to soothe the nerves and create chances for United to win the game. It was not until 3 minutes from stoppage time that the matters were put to rest. Fergie found a saviour for his party in an unlikely source – Rio Ferdinand who latched to a poor clearance from a corner and thundered a volley in to the net. Yet another late goal from United that had come to define Fergie’s reign and the goal sent the OT crowd to delirium. We could also see Fergie doing his daddy dance, clearly delighted with the outcome after some nervy moments. On the whole, even if United slackened a bit in the second half, I could count everybody chipping in with their effort yesterday. There was a marvellous tackle from Scholesy without conceding a foul and winning the possession back. Kagawa was making some intelligent runs and showed glimpse of what he could offer the next season, RVP was determined to star in a play maker role, Jones deputizing for Rafael in RB hacking down any counter attack and Vidic and Ferdinand offering a composed back line. This was Fergie’s 1499^th game as a United manager!

Thanks to Star Sports for not thrusting any commercial breaks after the game as I was eager to follow the happenings in the pitch. But I guess that was because the manager was about to make a speech. Though he said he might ramble on without any prepared script, his oratorical side was at exhibition again as he made a heartfelt speech and requested everybody to support our new manager without naming him J. Of course we will be behind him the next season but today is about you. When it was time for the trophy presentation, it was Steve Bruce and Bryan Robson, ex captains of the United team who carried the trophy to the podium. Soon the gaffer and the team followed to collect their winner’s medals. As the trophy was presented to Vidic and Evra, captains of the season they chose to hand it over to the Manager who lifted it for the 13^th time in his career.

Not 20 forever?

As luck would have it, MUTV were providing a free link to follow further celebrations in the pitch and a lap of honour. The gaffer was accompanied by his eleven grandchildren, so cute, wearing a jersey that said “Granddad 20”. Awesome. It was another 30 minutes of celebration in the pitch which I did enjoy and that is when the gaffer opened up on when he decided to retire and on Rooney. He proved a point even at the end of his career by dropping the fat man and showing nobody is bigger than the club. I should however say, I didn't enjoy the studio setup of MUTV with Lou Macari and Ron Atkinson sharing their pearls of wisdom. Thank god, I was saved with some coverage of the dressing room where the players were enjoying posing with trophy and pulling other’s legs. David Gill and Malcolm Glazer were blindsided when the young kids opened the champagne on them who had joined the staff and the players in the title celebration. You could also spot Giggs and Scholes in the corner soaking in the mood in the room and happy for the ones winning their first medal. I guess that is what you expect when somebody wins for 13^th and 11^th time respectively. I could not write this up yesterday as it was well past midnight when MUTV stopped the telecast (well at least for free users LOL). I have whipped up this post now as quickly as possible to make it in time to catch the parade, again MUTV bringing it to us... J.

He scores goals galore; He scores goals.

Like how all good things have to come to an end, yesterday was perhaps an end of 2 glorious chapters in the history of Manchester United. You are never going to find another Paul Scholes. It was a shame he retired early from his international career – courtesy Erikson. The national team’s loss was the club’s gain I believe. Likewise, repeating a Ferguson is an impossible task and going by the present trend, if a manager could stay with the same club for more than few years the same will be celebrated – funny but possible.

           Let me sign off for the week with some piece of my mind.

• Thanks to Sir Alex Ferguson again for making an impossible dream made possible.
• Thanks to Paul Scholes for pure, unadulterated entertainment all these years.
• The little boy after all gets his flavour of ice cream, the one he wanted at the end of last season.
• For what it is worth, let us dump that twat to PSG or any oil sheikh bankrolled club outside PL. He is a piece of work, but if his heart is set elsewhere, why hold on to him and allow him to keep insulting us. What if Sir Alex will not be around, he deems Moyes fit to carry on with the work. So let us trust him to carry us for further seasons drenched with more glory.

          Another emotional weekend awaits, until then.

A Legend retires; An era ends; The game will never be the same

Fergie, give us a wave, Fergie, Fergie, give us a wave...

”An end of an era” is something people casually cough up but if these words are to be used in an occasion that actually demands it, there is no better time than now as Sir Alex has decided to walk down the sunset in football management career that spanned 4 decades of which 27 years being at the helm of Manchester United. A sad day for football and specifically for me indeed for I have always known that Manchester United is Sir Alex Ferguson. His retirement though inevitable was something that was pushed back to a corner in my mind thinking it will never happen for few more years filled with glory. This being the 10^th season since I started following football and the MUFC could not comprehend a possibility of seeing another bloke taking the reins over from our beloved Scot. Though not going into details, I can say my productivity at work was impacted today post noon when the news tricked down.

What is left for me to talk about this wonderful person who has continuously pushed himself against all challenges to deliver success and enthrall everyone with his brand of football? The sheer length of his duration at the club of this magnitude deserves respect and is now a rarity with a hire & fire policy being the mantra at all clubs. Only Arsene Wenger and David Moyes in Britain can boast of longevity at a particular club. It will be left to Arsene to carry the torch alone from next season as the rumours suggest the Evertonian might replace SAF. Let me refrain from talking on who can replace SAF anymore as I am yet to recover from the shock dealt today. How could you ever do this to us Fergie? I thought you still had 10 more years to go on in you and pit your wits with the then new crop of managers, possibly ones from the current first team.

All day I have been recollecting his duels in the past with the usual rivals and Arsene in particular for the reason I have been ranting incessantly all along and how he had come out on top. The most famous quotes of Sir Alex I guess would be “I ll knock them off their perch” when unveiled as the manager in 1986 on Liverpool’s dominance. I bet except for him and a few in the club hierarchy who knew what they had in possession would have discarded those words as gibberish. He did knock them off their perch in 2011 and kept his word. Now we can all agree he actually meant them way back then. If there was a season when we did not win, it spurred him and he made sure we were back to the pole the next season, latest victory being an example. Now I feel he may have planned to retire last year but City made sure he had to put his plans on hold to let them know who the boss is at Manchester! Love him or hate him, you cannot deny the greatness he has achieved and the service he has rendered to football. He was not an ambassador just for MUFC but for the Barclays Premier League and football in general as well.

What has amazed me over the years is how he handles player egos under his roof. To sell David Beckham at his prime who was a youth product could have been possible only for SAF. He sent his messages loud and clear. Toe the line or head to exit ASAP. He was lucky to have a team of people working for him and the owners who made things possible if he requested for. As a corollary, you could also say that his vision and achievements made his requests a no-brainer for the above said group to comply with his requests.

Sir Alex’s trust in youth development has been a major contributor towards constant success at the club. When the other clubs went out to pay over the odds to usher in stars, he was steadily setting up a supply chain of young players who could excel in the top league. How else do you explain the 2012-13 league win with a couple of stars and a whole bunch of kids in their early 20s. Even if I were not around following football in the 90s, I am aware of the “Fergie Fledgings” in the same mould as “Busby babes” comprising Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Neville brothers who made Alan Hansen eat his words “You can’t win with kids”. That is a mark of a genius. He always championed for a good youth academy and an organised scouting system to be set up in the club and he has seen them reap dividends and the national team have also been a beneficiary in this instance. He knows the recipe for success and reinvents himself to adjust to the present climate to sustain successes.

In his 27 years of association with the club, he has also seen a number of star signings and couple of them at a bargain price. I hear Cantona’s transfer originated from a chance enquiry on his availability from Leeds and when he received a positive response, we all know what followed. He also oversaw the signings of Peter Schmeichel, Andrei Kanchelskis, Roy Keane, Jaap Stam to name a few who had a proven record. He knew how to blend youth with experience to extract the maximum potential from the group. He could convince players he felt would contribute to the club to join him at United if they were uncertain of their future. He always launched a passionate defence for his players if he felt were targeted and was protective of them like a family. David Beckham in his tribute today had acknowledged this virtue by saying he may not have become a person he is if not for Sir Alex.

13 league titles, 5 FA cups, 2 European cups in a span of 27 years, 38 in total with Manchester United should be a massive record of sorts. Given the present scenario of how the clubs are run, I do not see a manager in the future who can achieve the same with one club. I do believe it is possible at MUFC but could we unearth the next Ferguson? We can painfully remember how long we took to find Fergie since Matt Busby moved on to become the director at the club. We had to even face relegation in 74’ironically pushed to by a goal from Denis Law for City. One note of satisfaction is the club during those days are far cry from how it is being run now. With the present set up, I think we are safe for few more years to be competing for top honours in England and in Europe. That too is a vision of the Glaswegian to make sure the team did not suffer from his exit.

For the last few years there has always been a legend retiring from the ranks to bring us fans to a standstill and then let us celebrate them for their achievements. I still remember when Scholes revealed his retirement right after losing the CL in 2011 but having won the PL. I have been a huge fan of his that I was thinking along on the lines of who could be brought to replace him in the midfield. Though he was irreplaceable as a legend of MU, there were still a handful of equally brilliant players in his position who could have made his departure less painful. That was because we still had Sir Alex and I trusted if he waved his wand, the gap may be filled. When the magician himself makes an exit, who do we look up to? That is why it is more disheartening to witness the manager bid goodbye.

Fergie time - open for extra 5 minutes today - cashing in on the occasion

I am going to miss the gaffer constantly chewing the gum from the bench while plotting his next strategy to gain an upper hand in the game. I am going to miss his antics at the touchline when the game heads to some nervy moments and his jibes at the fourth officials. I am going to miss the” Fergie time” when we are trailing after 90 minutes. I am going to miss him as manager with youthful enthusiasm in celebrating goals. Overall he leaves a gaping hole in the club that is not going to be filled anytime soon. I can only hope for a Matt Busby reborn in this era to take over the club again.

His statue at the entrance of Sir Alex Ferguson Stand

Thank you Sir Alex, thank you for entertaining us all these years. To me Manchester United will always be you. You define Manchester United. Take a bow. A tribute from one of the millions of Manchester United fans across the globe.

Oh, every single one of us,

Loves Alex Ferguson,

Loves Alex Ferguson,

Loves Alex Ferguson...

Title hangover continues, also covering week 36 updates

          If you were expecting a game review here, I am sorry to disappoint you guys because it will be a 3rd review of games against Chelsea in my 9th post. Having said that, I should not have waited till the game to write this as I am still hurting from the way we lost the game to the blues. I don’t give a shite if we have won the league and the team just needs to go through the motions. When we play the big 4 it is always an important game and let me tell you how I get these losses out of my system. Play the victors in FIFA PC game and hammer them in the professional level for a minimum of 3 games. Of course it doesn’t make any difference to the outside world, but that is how I make peace with the result.

          Alright, let us look at the news for the week since the last post. To start with the game at Emirates – everybody showed a generous dose of hangover from a weeklong partying. I can live with it for the guys had delivered the Holy Grail for the season. However it was a marked improvement in the second half when the lads put the gunners to their places though the finishing in the last third was left wanting. As mentioned earlier, I would have loved to see us win against Arsenal but had to contend with a point. A special mention here about RVP who kept his cool in the charged up atmosphere to slot in the penalty past the gunner’s custodian.

          On the personnel front, did anybody miss Cleverley? I sure did, that lad sure has talent and with a bit of application can nail down a permanent CM position. But what goes through Sir Alex’s mind is impossible to decipher. The Basingstoke born lad had been a revelation in the first half of the season and was the first name in the team sheet when on international duty. So why he has been MIA is beyond me. Now that the league is all wrapped up, it would be nice to see the kid play again. He did play today’s game but I still wanted to write on his absence as this had been nagging me the whole week. Probably you can choose to assume this post was written before today’s game. :P

          Along with the quarterly revenue announcements midweek shared by Ed Woodward who is set to take over from David Gill as Fergie’s boss, he spoke about how the team doesn’t need retooling citing the depth the squad has. Guess he is trying to set the tone of his regime or the anti-united would like to believe that the picture is not going to be rosy with the manager as it had been in the last 26 years. pooh pooh. Fergie’s sentiments echoed the same even if he dropped a hint on possibility of couple of marquee signings. This has been a change from his earlier days when the transfer targets were secretly guarded. Robert Lewandowski? Radamel Falcao? CR7?

Sir Alex with the outgoing Chief Executive David Gill

         Another news that popped up last week was that of the op that the gaffer had to undergo before the next season starts. I guess the timing coincides with the community shield against City and he may miss the season opener. However, the op being scheduled after the pre-season tour and not immediately after this season gets over suggests it may not be a major surgery. I am not sure if his age of 71 should be factored into despite his boyish enthusiasm when I opine on the severity. As expected, his retirement was brought in to discussion again with Jurgen Klopp being mooted as a replacement. Though the German is a good tactician, I sincerely hope our good old Scot continues to oversee many more triumphs.

        Van Persie knows how to win the fans over. (Has he not already at Manchester?) Since the Bulgarian Berbatov’s departure last season the no 9 has not been allocated to anybody. Does his role fit the jersey #, of course yes. But he has chosen not to switch from his #20 because the fans will have to fork out extra quids. Wow! And he gets to enjoy another year with the title #20. The little boy in him should have advised him on the jersey number. Since we are on this topic, let me get something else out. Valencia deserved to wear 7 after last season’s performance. Editing this season’s highlights for United, he may resemble a shadow of himself and to think of the legends who have donned the jersey – Best, Robson, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo oh my god.

Making Busquets proud?

       Though I decided not to write a review of the game against Chelsea, let us glance over some salient points of note. The team line up screamed only one message – give a run in for players with less time on pitch so far. Despite this, the team boasted of RVP, Jones and Rafael who have been standout this season for the team. I started writing this post immediately after the game and I was boiling at how the game ended. I so hoped for us to do the double on the blues shite but they trumped us clearly a CL spot being a motivation. We were so lacking on that, lads didn’t know what they were playing for except probably Jones who does wear his heart on his sleeve. I agree with the gaffer that he is destined for greatness at Old Trafford. To make matters worse, Rafael went bonkers revealing his petulant side in fouling David Luiz to see a red. He may have deserved the card, but to see that twat laughing at the sidelines feigning injury, I wish Rafael caused him serious injury. Let me stop now as I may tip over thinking about the game again and again. It is time to kick Rafa’s arse in my FIFA game - AGAIN.

Until next week.....