The Red Report: SAF & The FA, should he stay or should he go & POTY
Following the FA Youth Cup tie on Sunday at Liverpool, United’s fans came under immense criticism for sick chants aimed at Liverpool. What can football do to try and put an end to these chants?
Justin| Red Flag Flying High: For starters it’s a lot easier to see people making Munich gestures than it is to see what people are chanting so any of the people seen at Old Trafford, doing the airplane signs should be ejected and banned for life.
I’m a hundred per cent convinced that if it wasn’t for antagonism by opposing fans the sick chants by some of our own would stop almost immediately.
If stewards or police hear people chanting things that are out of order then it’s up to them to try and act.
Nick | United Youth: It’s a shame, but there are still a number of fans, even otherwise relatively sane ones, who think the Munich/Hillsborough tit-for-tat (and similar such chants) is an acceptable part of an intense rivalry and that the rivalry would be worse off without them. Bollocks, frankly. There’s so much more to the United-Liverpool rivalry in particular than that, it just isn’t needed, and that’s before getting into how pathetic you have to be to consider the death of players or fans as an acceptable stick with which to beat others with.
How do you cut them out? Million dollar question I guess. Peer pressure and self-policing strike me as the most effective method, but that clearly isn’t working currently. It’s just so hard when you’ve got an idiotic minority like those at Anfield last weekend who clearly go along with the intention of singing such nonsense rather than supporting their team. You can only hope things like cctv/effective stewarding(!) and so on can weed those people out, but then you risk that overstepping the mark, infringing on supporters’ liberties and so on.
The media have a part to play as well – both in reinforcing how unacceptable this behaviour is, but also in not overblowing certain occasions and increasingly fanning the flames with inflammatory, inaccurate reporting.
TG | ManUtd24: What can we do? It’s not the perfect option but it’s the only logical one and that’s to fine and even, in the most extreme, deduct points or order to play a game behind closed doors. Sometimes, this action might be taken for abuse that is racially motivated. Now, there’s no point in saying what is worse whatever your opinion, racism or mocking the dead, but neither are things that are tolerated in society. So the Premier League and the Football Association have to act and charge the team – that way the fans will be cautious and only the idiotic would dare to jeopardise their club’s position like that.
Siddarth | Bangalore to Old Trafford: It was disgraceful behaviour from those fans really, that too in a youth cup tie! Guess the FA will have to get strict about such things and also clubs should start banning people who do this from attending games! There’s a limit between friendly banter between fans and just insulting/ degrading the opposition, even if they are Liverpool. That line shouldn’t be crossed; even if the opposition does it to us, why should we stoop to their level?!
Herzog’s Child | Stretford-End: Quite simply, I don’t think they can. Personally don’t think it’s as wide a problem as the media have attempted to suggest this week. Of course you get your idiots – the ones who think it’s witty, or big, to go that step too far and attempt to rile even more. Sad thing is, most who sing it are doing it for one reason only – to wind up. Deep down, I don’t think people are really sneering at the death of others. It’s mere winding-up, albeit loaded with inexcusable fuckwittery
It’s the sorry side of the game; the side the majority, thankfully, do not take part in. As it’s simply the ejecting of words – of crass sentiment, admitelledley – it’s almost impossible to stop. People should know better. And, to be fair, on occasions I’ve heard the odd shout of ’96 etc.’ shouted down and condemned by reds who understand the idiocy of it. Again, a lot of it is just crowd mentality – fuelled by a buzz to make those you’re chanting at desperately irate. It has no place, but sadly it’s something that crept in and stuck. Only the advent of a semblance of decency among all would stop it, but what are the chances of that?
Chudi | The Busby Way: There have been a number of instances where we have been highlighted as the ‘bad guy’, first Arsenal and the Wenger chants and now Liverpool but to be honest we aren’t the only club that has fans that indulge in these chants and secondly it is a silly minority.
There is nothing funny or smart about mocking the death of innocent people but unfortunately as obvious as this is there are fans who can’t grasp this and never will. We can condemn them as much as we like but it is likely they will continue.
Time for the authorities to get tougher?
As per usual we decided to look at a non-United topic. This week we discuss the players outside of United who have impressed us most this season:
Chudi | The Busby Way: Enrique and Tiote have done good work for Newcastle and Seamus Coleman definitely deserves a shout. Then you have the obvious names like Van Der Vaart and to a lesser extent Nasri.
Herzog’s Child | Stretford-End: Bale, in stages, has impressed me greatly. An old-fashioned winger. Gets it, runs with it and whips it in. There’s no stop and starting, no endless fannying about, and, for the most part, he just does the basics but terribly well. The collective drooling – particularly following the Inter Milan slaying – was a unmerited and predictably cringe-worthy. But he’s good player, real good, and would be even better in a top side. Grates a tad that we missed out on him.
Wilshere is always a pleasure to watch, unlike his childish tweeting. Distinctly un-English in style, he’s quick-footed, clever, and constantly tries to make things happen. A rarefied talent, who, like Bale, will keep on getting better. England – and Arsenal *sighs* – have a real gem there. Nasri is another who does those things well – a creator, and a continuous threat in all games. Those two, in particular, have really stood out for Arsenal this season. Unfortunately . . .
Others…..Adam has done well. Great passer, leads the team well. Could do with shifting a few pounds, mind. Van der Vaart, and, dare I say it, Meireles, have both particularly looked like *gulps* ‘value.’ Carlos, the shit, keeps on producing. Silva is another who’s really impressed. Scott Parker has wielded a bit of magic, I guess, and will unfortunately just about dig West Ham out of the relegation misery-pit. Think that’s about it, really – which is a sad story, considering the great swathe of past regulars who have, for some reason, failed to cut it this year: Drogba, Torres, Lampard, Gerrard, and a number of others.
Siddarth | Bangalore to Old Trafford: In England, I think Bale has been sensational this season, while even Charlie Adam had a great start to the season, waned off a bit now, but still never expected him to have such an impact! Carlton Cole and Scott Parker have been excellent this season, probably the only reason West Ham are still in with a chance of escaping relegation! Abroad, the usual names pop-up, Messi, Ronaldo, Ozil, Iniesta, etc. Alexis Sanchez is another one having a fantastic season with Udinese, while Manuel Neuer continues to amaze me in goal!
TG | ManUtd24: This is the part where I could make a witty remark such as Chelsea’s Martin Atkinson but, as you’d gather, I don’t think like that. You could for one of the Spurs players, Gareth Bale or Rafael van der Vaart but my choice has to be one of the City players. Boo me all you want!! I’ve been really impressed with Vincent Kompany and Joe Hart and the latter has solved England’s goalkeeping crisis and finally, finally, they’ve seemed to find a proper number one. Then there’s Jack Wilshere. The player of this generation. You don’t need my word for it – we already know how god he is and how good he’ll be in a couple of years to come. All the purring is justified.
Nick | United Youth: Domestically, let’s have a go at a Team of the Year, minus United representation (VDS, Vidic, Nani would all be certs, Rafael, Evra and Berba decent shouts) – Cech; Carr, Kompany, Dawson, Baines; Nasri, Wilshere, Parker, Bale; van der Vaart; Tevez. Particularly impressed by Baines and Nasri, Bale and VDV very strong in Europe. Tevez and Parker have led their teams so well, albeit in differing circumstances. Honourable mentions for David Silva, Charlie Adam, Nolan and Barton at Newcastle and *spit* John Terry. Have also been impressed by Albrighton at Villa and Coleman at Everton as far as young players go, Kelly at Liverpool too.
Justin| Red Flag Flying High: Hate to say it but Vincent Kompany’s looked decent for City, if it wasn’t for him they’d be nowhere near the top four. Wilshere’s a shoo-in for the young PFA award and rightly so as he’s class and one player I’d love to see at Old Trafford. Other than that they’re all rubbish!
No one going for Torres then?!
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Best of the blogs:
The Busby Way | The Only Bad News To Have Come From This Weekend
Stretford-End | Manchester United Debt and Ownership Explained
Bangalore To Old Trafford | Will We Really Miss Rio?
Red Flag Flying High | The Misguided Scapegoating of Michael Carrick
ManUtd24 | (Analysis) Michael Carrick v Marseille: Effective From The Deep
United Youth | Ravel Morrison – The Next ‘Saviour of English Football’?
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