Would mean Man Utd can't win the league. It sounds sweet. The only down side is that Manure can't get relegated.
After years and years of hearing how good Man Utd from their armchair fans it's really nice to see them have a bad season by their Standards. I hoping now for them not to qualify for Europe. Knowing them they'll probably qualify by winning champions league.
I hate them because my son grew up when ManU were at the very top. He was 7 or 8 when they won the treble, and all the other kids who jumped on the UTD bandwagon would taunt him at school because he supported Leicester (to be like his dad). It really got him down even though he was the only boy in the class who went to any football games. Now he's 22, at Uni and was wearing his City shirt when he watched the Burnley game. Even then he was wummed by his house mates...he simply doesn't care any more. They couldn't turn him when he was 7, they never will now. I don't know who all the kids 'support' now..Man City or Chelsea I suppose.
Any reason NOT to hate Man U (or rather their many plastic fans)? Winning things should be the rewards of following your club through thick and thin, and United are long due some "thin". Let's see how many fakie fans stick by them if this continues for the next few years...
... I understand that but, lest we forget, it was very similar regarding Liverpool fans during their heyday too ... and not all that long ago I remember phone ins where Liverpool fans wih distinctly non-Merseyside accents were complaining bitterly about the lack of success under Houllier and then Benitez ... successful sides will always have their share of glory hunters ... actually love watching them squirm when you ask their 'connection' to their team ...
United were still incredibly well supported throughout the long period of title drought - I don't think that will change dramatically through a period of trophyless 'introspection' - frankly I've nothing against Manchester United the club (nor any club) - successful teams will always attract the footballing equivalent of flies round ****e ... but there are many many genuine Man United fans ... I console myself that such people as the glory hunters can never really appreciate the feelings that 'genuine' local club fans experience if their club ever goes on to win something ...
I agree FF. They don't know the ecstasy of winning when it's a once in a decade/lifetime/century achievement. And if the amount of Liverpool glory supporters still hanging around from the 1980s are anything to judge by, the plastic United fans will remain clinging to the their club - and the past. Still, just from the point of view of seeing different clubs achieve, it's a small shift in the right direction (just need Chelsea, Man city, Arsenal and Liverpool to drop off!).
I think it might do them good this season, as it may shake off some plastic/armchair fans, like the ones that paid for that stupid plane at the weekend, dumbasses.
I would be nice to see the likes of Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc, fall from grace like Man City did, to be honest they've come back all the stronger for it. I sometimes think it takes adversity, like relegation to the 3rd tier of football, to allow the 'real' team followers to come to the fore, look at the Man City fans who stuck by their team in League 2, they were still getting full houses at home, same for us although it's taken a bit longer for us to get back to the big time.
True story - I played to quite a good level in my younger days and we would let youngsters on the pitch before games etc to kick around in the goals (provided it wasn't conditions that would damage the pitch etc) - was quite good for them as we had stands floodlights etc ... the year Blackburn won the Prem and Newcastle were also fliyng high I was doing a warm up when I noticed a couple of these kids (in Buckinghamshire) were sporting brand new Blackburn and Newcastle tops - now I was particularly intrigued by the Blackburn one as my mum and her family came from a small place, Clayton-Le-Moors near Blackburn - so I asked this young lad, aged 13/14ish what his com=nnection was ... should I have been surprised to hear none at all ... but they'd won the league so he was now a Blackburn 'supporter' - turned out the same for his Newcastle 'supporting' mate ... now whether it's fair to blame a lack of professional clubs in Buckinghamshire or not I don't know ... but I'll just bet they have both changed allegiance several times since
Now we are getting into a different debate which is successful branding. Why does anyone buy anything if not influenced by some ones sales pitch. Transfer that to football and you have the best branding tactic there is, winning. The same argument could be used for City, bet they have sold more replica kits this year than the last two. I was around when every man and his dog was a Liverpool fan and even now where I live it's all Man U, Man C Chelsea and Gooners plus the odd West Ham tragic. success breads success. For us folk who support less fashionable clubs it will always bring a smile when one of them comes crashing down.
I somehow got into an argument the other day between two kids (I teach them, not just on the street or anything) both born in Leicester who were Manchester United and Manchester City fans arguing over their club, when I told them Leicester were winning far more games than either of their teams, and they could go to a ground barely two miles from their homes, they just laughed at me. Shouldn't upset me but it does. I went to a school where I was constantly ridiculed, despite doing, what I thought was the sensible thing- supporting your local team. That's why I hate the Liverpools and Manchester Uniteds of this world.
