Watching Manchester United trip, stumble and struggle in English Premier League football is compellingly appealing, satisfying and almost comical for those of us who witnessed their golden age.
Frankly, like many others, I am thoroughly enjoying watching the once great club become nothing more than a mid-table player, capable of a decent win, yet laced with obvious internal strife and a lack of quality in a squad that has been expensively built.
Despite wage commitments estimated at somewhere near $380 million, the highest in the league for 2023/24 and close to ten times the amount spent by battlers Luton Town, United are a shambles when it comes to delivering what their self-entitled fans expect.
You see, the problem with Manchester United fans is that the majority of them can still remember the Alex Ferguson years and the unprecedented levels of success of what was arguably the greatest English team ever built; certainly the most winningest.
A total of 20 domestic league titles, twelve Football Association Cups and six league Cups stand proudly at Old Trafford. In a more modern context, when the Premier League began in 1992/93, United held the inaugural trophy aloft before finishing in the top three 21 years straight.
2013/14 was the first year in EPL history that the red side of Manchester had not been in the top trio of teams and since, life has been far from routine for the once-dominant club.
Not a championship has been won since and just four appearances in the top three at season’s end have been achieved. Meanwhile, cross-town rivals Manchester City have spent big, dominated the league and enjoyed their fair share of continental success.
The Citizens have won six championships since United last conquered the domestic landscape and only once finished outside the top three on the final day in May.
Quite frankly, it is wonderful. Not the City dominance of course, that sucks too and the sports-washing 101 from the City Football Group should make them ineligible to participate, if the world actually stood for something even near morality, integrity and justice.
Yet, that is now the world we live in and the Melbourne and Manchester City’s of the world will continue to exist as long as football maintains the cowardice it displays every day of the year when it comes to holding people to account, as opposed to profiting endlessly from the involvement of those with endless and offensive streams of money.
(Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
With that reality firmly in place and jettisoned to the side as something of an inconvenient truth, it perhaps is best to merely sit back and enjoy the pain and suffering of the most entitled group of supporters I’ve observed in world football.
For quite some time, Manchester United have been non-entities in the title race and 2023/24 looks like being a new low-point for the club.
Seeing Alex Ferguson squirming in his chair and eating historic words that disrespected the now far more successful side of Manchester is simply heart-warming.
Watching self-absorbed pundits like Gary Neville wax lyrical and undertake an endless diatribe of commentary and analysis around a team that matters little in the current context is wonderfully enjoyable.
When Roy Keane and Neville buddy up and critique performances that will hardly matter come the end of the season, the sheer insulated and entitled views held by supporters of the club are exposed.
Rather than discuss a superb Fulham win, a Burnley triumph against the odds or a brave effort from Nottingham Forest or Luton, the two ex-players seem more intent on excruciating post-mortems of their own club’s performance.
Like many others in the media with United ties, they are utterly bereft of ideas as to why their team is not winning. We always won, why aren’t we winning now! WHY? It’s not fair!
I say welcome to the world of the majority of EPL supporters. Everton fans, West Ham fans, Crystal Palace fans, Fulham fans and the most pained of all, Tottenham fans.
These folk enter each and every season with moderate hopes, and a stunning title win like Leicester managed in 2015/16 is merely a pipe dream against the backdrop of the unfortunate uneven reality of the EPL competition.
United fans are spitting through teeth like little children and we should all be enjoying the pain considering the suffering inflicted on others for an extended period of time.
The most appealing part of the downfall is that Manchester United pays more in weekly wages than any other EPL club. Frankly, they should be far better than they are. However, the fact that they are not remains incredibly satisfying.
Watching their self-entitled fans suffer is simply heaven.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Blackburn played in the Sydney Festival of Football, they dont have a huge number of fans here, neither do AEK, Rangers outnumbered both but they were both cunning and tight as. The organisers decided they would charge over 60 for the supporters area per match, and half that for general admission, the Rangers fans bought the cheapest general admission tickets and some were buying concession tickets as well. Then they were all in the supporters area. Then the CEO of Sydney boasted about being paid 100k to play three matches, when Sydney provided over half the attendance.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
It's been a hell of a week and I have COVID again. Wild times my friend!
jupiter53
Roar Pro
Not at all a Real Madrid fan, but I would think that the “Real Madrid formula” has worked pretty well for them…..
Jack
Roar Rookie
schadenfreude Is an ugly emotion.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Tell you what Stu, you've earned your pay packet this week. Your job is to right articles that facilitate discussion, debate and educate. Strike me, you've certainly done that ahahahahah
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Qatar cannot afford to fall foul of the US for a list of reasons so long it's ridiculous
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
punch and counter-punch
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Deano, take faith in the fact that Ratcliff is a long term genuine supporter of the club. He is a Manchester United man. At least that is what I have read. How do you come to conclusions you have posted?
Deano
Roar Rookie
qatar is a double edge sword, if they fall foul of america they will lose the club ,i still miss romans chelsea,
Deano
Roar Rookie
unfortunately for man united , they spent a billion pounds and it hasn't been remotely well spent , this has continued for 13 years now, and the club is broke, owners spend nothing hence why the club is in debt, the glazers are a poison to everything our club believes in , wrong owners,wrong people in the correct positions, now we have sir jim ratface and his cycling dope head sir brailsford , its a tough ride for us fellow man united fans, our most succesful period was under sir alex ,
Garry
Roar Rookie
I’ve been a utd supporter since I was about 8 I’d say..roughly sixty years :happy: I don’t see them as entitled per se but ‘we’ do expect successful attractive teams. I continue to watch the epl as it shows the standards to reach. I also watch alw and alm.Both can be great to watch BUT don’t ignore the epl for all it’s faults. Whilst I agree the money level is out of touch with reality the players remain the same
Philip Panson
Roar Rookie
Might need to recap on your geography skills there, Bury yes greater Manchester, Burnley and Preston, not in the Manchester conurbation, close but ask anybody from those places and they will put you in your place if you suggest they are from Manchester.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Yep - I almost forgot that one. I have met Leicester fans here before and after their surprise season but Blackburn are the only team to have won the title where I haven’t come across at least one fan here. I know they exist in the Uk…visited their ground and Burnley and Preston, bury - all very loyal fans that live in the Manchester area but didn’t opt for one of the two big ones!
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Yep Buddy and something that makes Man U totally different to others based on the level of success they have achieved in the past. For FieldGoal to suggest they are similar to any other club is simply absurd.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
You just called me hateful, jealous, woke and a failure. I'd say 'entitled' is far less offensive. As for the 'examples and facts', I'd suggest you've not even read the extensive ones I've provided.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
FG - In the context of EPL teams it generally applies to persons who appear to believe that their team has the divine right to win premierships because they have done it in the past and have a history. It isn’t a label I place but I understand the thought process and always happy to engage in a discussion on the subject. :happy:
chris1
Roar Rookie
Well said
chris1
Roar Rookie
"although I haven’t met an Australian that supports Blackburn Rovers!" Even Robbie Slater who played for Rovers in their title winning year supports Liverpool lol
chris1
Roar Rookie
Gary Neville has a lot to say for someone who was a disaster as a manager. His stint as manager of Valencia was at best a disaster. Not sure if you can say Man U fans are entitled though. They were relegated soon after the Best, Charlton, Law era so they have been through it before. Ok, the older ones have at least. It'll happen to City as well once the money stops flowing in as readily as it is now.
FieldGoal
Roar Rookie
‘self entitled’ gets used a lot. I don’t think it applies much at all. It’s a pretty hateful thing to say. Usually used by jealous types enjoying seeing failure. And by the ‘woke’ as a reason to hate anyone more successful than themselves. Define exactly what you mean and back it up with some examples and facts. How are MU fans different to any other highly successful EPL fan base? I have loved watching them over the years. I have no club loyalty in the EPL.