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In his own words "I might be sick, but I'm not dead". Then he goes and writes his best article ever. Please read below.
Another Wembley Final made all the sweeter by our semi final victims. It was quite the game including theatrics by some City players, Zabaleta for one who twice went down like Ricky Hatton had hit him. The other theatrical moment involved Craig Bellamy who fell down after getting hit with a coin. I have been hit in the face and on the back of my head by coins, in fact once I was hit by a power pack battery, luckily on the shoulder and I didn’t go down. The reason is that it doesn’t hurt that much so why is he writhing on the floor in agony. The morons who throw things at players deserve banning orders from the ground but players have a responsibility to not feign injury when these isolated incidents occur. Just a quick explanation about being hit by coins, in the old days in the corner where Bellamy was hit was the Scoreboard end, a standing area housing the away fans. When we played Leeds Liverpool and other clubs coins, batteries, golf balls etc. used to fly over the segregation area from both sets of fans. Most of the time it was 1p and 2p coins but occasionally higher denomination coins were used, which if I was struck with went straight into my pocket. It also went on at many away grounds to. In fact, at Chelsea, some idiot threw a 50p piece which went straight to that night’s beer fund. So many fans have been hit by coins and do not roll around on the ground; anyway Bellamy should regard it as payback for assaulting the fan that ran on the pitch at the end of the last derby at Old Trafford. The outrage today by the bitters is predictable with one fan calling for United to be thrown out of the competition; he must have forgotten the lighter thrown at Patrice Evra in the first leg. Obviously our fans have better aim which is unfortunate. So back to the game and even though we won it does not prove a thing about Manchester supremacy because that will be decided by the positions in the league come May. What it did do was prevent City a chance to win a final and a route into Europe if qualification via the league eludes them at the end of the year. The reason is that there are so many clubs vying for that fourth spot and qualifying for the Champions League the team finishing at the bottom of that battle may not even qualify for the Europa league. So happy days at least on the pitch in the red two thirds of Manchester. Has anyone else noticed that FA cup crowds are way down this season, the Middlesborough v Man City game was played in what looked like an empty stadium. The game at Stoke last weekend with Arsenal, the visitor was played to a crowd about 8,000 under capacity. Even the “loyal fans” at Newcastle (sarcasm) managed a paltry 15,800 for their tie against Plymouth. The cause has to be high ticket prices coupled with some teams fielding weakened sides in the grand old competition. Wenger did this against Stoke which is surprising, as it was probably his best bet for a trophy this year. Sol Campbell return at Arsenal is surprising given his age but I want whatever Martin Keown had been smoking when he said that he backed Sol to reclaim his England place. Finally United fans have wakened up to the fact that the Glazers are taking us down a very dangerous road. They have no feasible plan to pay off the debt ever and are treating United like a cash cow until they can sell us for a nice profit. Our only salvation is a benefactor with deep pockets and there are suitors out there but not at the price the Glazers want. So in Canada how do we voice our displeasure? Well one course of action is one I have followed since 05 which is to blacklist the sponsors and the megastore. Do not buy replica shirts, drink Budweiser or Pepsi, do not buy Nike apparel, do not fly on Turkish airlines or buy an Audi. All these companies and more sponsor United and expect brand loyalty in return. If the reverse happens and companies in fact lose customers than their sponsorship will end, if another takes their place, we boycott their brand. Glazer needs good sponsorship deals and the profit from the megastore just to tread water, so the less we give him, the tighter the financial noose becomes. Will it work, I don’t know but it is better than doing nothing. Until next time |
