Dedworth
21st October 2010, 16:41
From the Manchester Evening News
It won’t be long before Manchester United fans have to start prioritising their grievances just to get them all out inside a 90-minute time-frame.
That’s 25 minutes on the Glazers and 25 on Wayne Rooney.
Another 25 minutes to poke fun at City’s trophy drought. That leaves 15 to cram in the obligatory jibes at Liverpool and Carlos Tevez, pay homage to Eric Cantona – oh and offer the odd voicing of support for the players out on the pitch.
That’s the problem at Old Trafford these days – the greatest dramas are unfolding off the field of play, rather than on it.
Be it the continued debate over the Glazers’ controversial ownership, the lack of investment in the transfer market or now the future of Rooney, football matters are increasingly becoming incidental.
You’d be forgiven for forgetting there was a match taking place on Wednesday night, such is the frenzied interest in Rooney’s movements.
You’d also be forgiven for forgetting there are any other players currently drawing a wage at United, such is the importance placed on their No10.
Talk before kick-off was not of Turkish opponents, Bursaspor, but Rooney – specifically his carefully worded riposte to Sir Alex Ferguson’s bombshell 24 hours earlier that the England striker had rejected the offer of a new contract.
Backlash
Timed for release before United’s supporters began to fill Old Trafford for their Champions League Group C clash, he was perhaps hoping to pre-empt a backlash from the terraces.
And as such he would have been pleased with the initial reaction within the stadium.
While in the pubs and bars surrounding Old Trafford fans jeered every image of Rooney on their television screens, inside their ire was almost entirely muted.
Perhaps 72,610 in attendance were as ‘dumbfounded’ as their manager.
“Coleen forgave you Wayne, but we won’t,” read one banner just after kick-off.
Both were folded up and put away almost as soon as they were raised.
Chants of: “If you all hate scousers, clap your hands,” rang out without any real conviction later, and one wag tweeted: “Fergie should’ve gone to Shrek-savers,” referencing the 24-year-old’s supposed likeness to the cartoon ogre.
Tame stuff from a wounded fanbase, so publicly jilted. Certainly not the cauldron of hate some might have anticipated.
Ferguson’s momentous statement on Tuesday had effectively hung Rooney out to dry.
And while he clearly had the backing of supporters, receiving a rapturous welcome as he made a delayed walk to the dugout, the reaction to Rooney’s imminent departure perhaps pointed to a lingering hope that there could yet be a reconciliation.
Though predictable, Rooney’s reasons for leaving tapped into the consciousness of every United fan. He wants assurances that the club can continue to compete for the world’s best players. So do they.
Trinity
Like them he’d watched as the new Holy Trinity of himself, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez were disbanded over the last 18 months without adequate replacements.
It may now be inconceivable that a bronze tribute to that trio will ever be erected outside Old Trafford, as there is for Sir Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.
But it is no less likely than, say, Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Javier Hernandez being immortalised in statue form.
If anything, Ferguson’s team sheet against Bursaspor only strengthened Rooney’s argument.
Admittedly a weakened line-up with no Berbatov, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or Rio Ferdiand, it was desperately lacking in stardust all the same.
A penny for the thoughts of Nemanja Vidic, who only just signed a new contract during the summer.
Lone striker, Federico Macheda, may yet prove a star of the future – but at 19, he is far from the level of Rooney at the same age. Comparisons of young players are unfair, but at 18, Rooney made his debut for United – scoring a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in his first ever appearance in the Champions League.
The former Everton man at least had the luxury of playing in the same side as Ruud van Nistelrooy and a six years younger Giggs. Ronaldo could only make the bench.
Macheda, in contrast, was playing at the head of what felt like the touring cast of a West End show.
The question now is how much longer will audiences continue to buy tickets for this particular show when the production’s star has gone?
It won’t be long before Manchester United fans have to start prioritising their grievances just to get them all out inside a 90-minute time-frame.
That’s 25 minutes on the Glazers and 25 on Wayne Rooney.
Another 25 minutes to poke fun at City’s trophy drought. That leaves 15 to cram in the obligatory jibes at Liverpool and Carlos Tevez, pay homage to Eric Cantona – oh and offer the odd voicing of support for the players out on the pitch.
That’s the problem at Old Trafford these days – the greatest dramas are unfolding off the field of play, rather than on it.
Be it the continued debate over the Glazers’ controversial ownership, the lack of investment in the transfer market or now the future of Rooney, football matters are increasingly becoming incidental.
You’d be forgiven for forgetting there was a match taking place on Wednesday night, such is the frenzied interest in Rooney’s movements.
You’d also be forgiven for forgetting there are any other players currently drawing a wage at United, such is the importance placed on their No10.
Talk before kick-off was not of Turkish opponents, Bursaspor, but Rooney – specifically his carefully worded riposte to Sir Alex Ferguson’s bombshell 24 hours earlier that the England striker had rejected the offer of a new contract.
Backlash
Timed for release before United’s supporters began to fill Old Trafford for their Champions League Group C clash, he was perhaps hoping to pre-empt a backlash from the terraces.
And as such he would have been pleased with the initial reaction within the stadium.
While in the pubs and bars surrounding Old Trafford fans jeered every image of Rooney on their television screens, inside their ire was almost entirely muted.
Perhaps 72,610 in attendance were as ‘dumbfounded’ as their manager.
“Coleen forgave you Wayne, but we won’t,” read one banner just after kick-off.
Both were folded up and put away almost as soon as they were raised.
Chants of: “If you all hate scousers, clap your hands,” rang out without any real conviction later, and one wag tweeted: “Fergie should’ve gone to Shrek-savers,” referencing the 24-year-old’s supposed likeness to the cartoon ogre.
Tame stuff from a wounded fanbase, so publicly jilted. Certainly not the cauldron of hate some might have anticipated.
Ferguson’s momentous statement on Tuesday had effectively hung Rooney out to dry.
And while he clearly had the backing of supporters, receiving a rapturous welcome as he made a delayed walk to the dugout, the reaction to Rooney’s imminent departure perhaps pointed to a lingering hope that there could yet be a reconciliation.
Though predictable, Rooney’s reasons for leaving tapped into the consciousness of every United fan. He wants assurances that the club can continue to compete for the world’s best players. So do they.
Trinity
Like them he’d watched as the new Holy Trinity of himself, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez were disbanded over the last 18 months without adequate replacements.
It may now be inconceivable that a bronze tribute to that trio will ever be erected outside Old Trafford, as there is for Sir Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.
But it is no less likely than, say, Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Javier Hernandez being immortalised in statue form.
If anything, Ferguson’s team sheet against Bursaspor only strengthened Rooney’s argument.
Admittedly a weakened line-up with no Berbatov, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or Rio Ferdiand, it was desperately lacking in stardust all the same.
A penny for the thoughts of Nemanja Vidic, who only just signed a new contract during the summer.
Lone striker, Federico Macheda, may yet prove a star of the future – but at 19, he is far from the level of Rooney at the same age. Comparisons of young players are unfair, but at 18, Rooney made his debut for United – scoring a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in his first ever appearance in the Champions League.
The former Everton man at least had the luxury of playing in the same side as Ruud van Nistelrooy and a six years younger Giggs. Ronaldo could only make the bench.
Macheda, in contrast, was playing at the head of what felt like the touring cast of a West End show.
The question now is how much longer will audiences continue to buy tickets for this particular show when the production’s star has gone?