AND so it starts. `End of an era,' `United in decline,' `Fergie's lost the plot.' A dozen hackneyed headlines and a score of clich'd radio phone-in calls get their annual airing.
One day, of course, the snipers will be right. United will hit the downslope, however temporarily.
But the only people with `Fergie Out' banners at Eastlands on Sunday were mischievous City fans. They wish.
To write Sir Alex Ferguson off so emphatically is to forget the essence of the man.
He remains the most successful manager in English football history, not because of his unequalled trophy haul, but because of his refusal to bow to adversity.
It is easy to look back over Sir Alex's 18-year reign at Old Trafford with a selective memory, smoothing over the bumps - league title followed league title, cup after cup, Treble after Double after Double.
Loyal
All of those triumphs were punctuated by moments like these, when pundits and prophets claimed Fergie had lost it, the critics running riot and even the most loyal Reds having their moments of doubt and fear.
Here we are in another trough, battered by the Champions League exit, deeply bruised by Sunday's freak result at the City of Manchester Stadium.
And while the vultures gather and the harbingers of doom pronounce their solemn words, Sir Alex will be looking deep inside himself, as well as into the hearts and minds of his players.
With the FA Cup the only salvageable silver this season, the inquest on a disappointing campaign begins now.
There are already rumours flying around Manchester that Sir Alex has had enough, that the trials he has faced this season, off the field more than on it, have exacted a price, both in terms of morale and health.
The minor matter of having a pacemaker fitted should not even be allowed to enter the argument. Managers like Gerard Houllier, Graeme Souness, Joe Kinnear and Barry Fry are still working hard having had far worse health problems.
Rumours
But the whisperers claim Sir Alex will pack it in at the end of this season, and that Carlos Queiroz, Martin O'Neill or Ottmar Hitzfeld is already being lined up as his successor.
The only man who truly knows whether there is any truth in the gossip is the Scot himself - and he will be keeping his own counsel.
United's season has hardly been an unmitigated disaster, despite under-achievement in the Champions League, and an inability to match Arsenal's scorching pace in the Premiership.
A place in the Champions League for next season is still highly likely, and the FA Cup still offers the players the chance to redeem themselves by finishing the season on a high note.
United fan and TV commentator Clive Tyldesley made an insightful contribution to the debate in his newspaper column last week.
He recalled looking over the shoulder of a red-top reporter in the Old Trafford press box as the game with Porto moved into the final minute.
With United 1-0 up, the report spoke of United's tenacity in the face of their problems, and was positive and full of acclaim.
Tyldesley describes how the reporter's finger was hovering over the `send' button when Costinha pounced on a mistake by Tim Howard - perhaps United's player of the season - and forced a hasty rewrite.
Axe
Predictably, the rewrite turned every positive to a negative. The swing of Costinha's boot had been every bit as heavy and incisive as the fall of the executioner's axe.
It was another "if only" moment in a season peppered with them.
If only the Russian linesman had taken that sight test before failing to spot the three Porto defenders playing Paul Scholes onside.
If only Ruud van Nistelrooy had placed his penalty kick against Arsenal a few inches lower.
If only Rio Ferdinand had not decided to begin his eight-month suspension when the Reds needed him most.
But, in reflecting on those twists of fate, it is important not to dwell on them - that way lies melancholy.
Sir Alex last week said that his main job now is to prevent his players from feeling sorry for themselves. That job got harder with the defeat by City.
Challenge
His challenge to his players is that they should prove the critics wrong. He has built a magnificent career out of doing so himself.
No-one can deny the problems besetting United.
The defence is in turmoil, Ferdinand's suspension has been a body blow, bans to Gary Neville and Roy Keane have hit hard, injuries have been costly and form has been patchy.
The task facing Sir Alex is to cement his team's fragile confidence together, win the FA Cup and then look at what action needs to be taken in the summer.
Now is not the time to declare that United's era of dominance is over. If the Reds are in similar disarray at this time next year, the prophets of doom may well have a point.
Do you agree: Is Fergie still the man to take the Reds forward? Or is it time to go? have your say
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theres no crisis we should all get behind fergie the we can overrun europe, conquer the world, fergie for king, long live the republic of man yoooo. oooh i think i need a lie down now.
I whole heartedly believe SAF is still the man for the job, however i do believe he is facing the hardest six months of his career! Tough decisions are going to have to be made over the summer, such as the following outgoings: Giggs, P Neville, N Butt, D Forlan. The major worry is going to be finding replacements for all these players at the right price, can this be achieved? I don't think so, not for the 30-40M fergie will have to spend. How much will Damien Duff cost if the rumours are to be believed? 20M? The final main struggle SAF faces is the replacement for R Keane, as this will be nign on impossible as the only players anywhere near keano will never be available or come to OT (S Gerrard & P Viera)
lads, the arse have laid down a serious challenge to us this year, do you think we have taken it up ?
agreed, the arse have laid down their challenge but I wholly believe that we have taken it up......
Its like saying get behind the captain of the Titanic, he was supposed to be the best captain around, Yet he took everybody down Fergie at the moment is the worst manager in the premiership.Get him out.
SAF does not sit alone as the main problem - after all we have had an injury crisis at the back that would have tested both Arsenal and Chelsea's resolve and resources, let alone Rio's untimely absence (good luck with the appeal, mate). David Beckham was not a defender, though Ronaldo has yet to develop this side of his game, if I am being kind. I agree that it was hard to bring in the kind of defender we needed, but surely Gareth for Diego was a good swap and no hindsight was needed to work that one out.
So to the management of the club - I have no confidence that the Board are up to addressing the problems - we should have a five year succession plan for players on the pitch, and the lack of investment in established, world class players is the problem - SAF has already pointed the finger over Ronaldhino - Mr Gill was involved every bit as much as Mr Kenyon on this deal, but I need reassurance that Mr G is learning from past mistakes and recognises as a good accountant should that cost is only part of a dimension on value - only Tim Howard has been worthy to wear the shirt regularly as a first temer this year from the current crop of signings- I am quite prepared to go with SAF and his signing recommendations, though he must get a decent no2 and the Board must rebuild the side properly, starting with next season and pay the market rate for the right players.
Danny Glover? Are you for real? If so I can't believe your true age lies in between the figs 12 - 88....
Fergie must go now.
Fergie must go now.He is dragging United down, he is the man in charge sack him.
Where have all the heros gone left United every one. What a really sad day that are great manager has gone so low.
Get behind the gaffer! He is still the man for the job! Less of the stupid comments from armchair fans would be appreciated (Dave Green!)
I have always been a believer in Fergie and he has done little in his carrer for us to doubt that but i am a little torn over this one and it is not that i lay all the faults at his door he has made some bad calls but i find the fact we are hampered by the PLC more gaoling. However having said that United are obviously in transition and i am wondering if age is catching up with Fergie and if this is to be a fresh start maybe it should be across the board. The person i'd bring in though would not be an O'neil but i would bring CQ back from Madrid who is a great coach who seems to have good fresh ideas about the game and is proactive in it (similar coach to Wenger and away from the stereotype english manager). This will not happen thou unless United are taken over which is a major posibility especially with the share price falling or Fergie decides to walk away which i don't think he will as i believe the people running the club are to weak to make a major decision like that. Rightly or wrongly only time will tell.
I would be the last person to attempt to decry what Sir Alex has achieved in his time at Old Trafford. What he has done for the club is almost beyond belief, transforming us from an underachieving team of misfits into a team who at one point looked set to take Europe by storm. For whatever reason, that opportunity has now passed us by. However, I am first and foremost a supporter of the club, not a supporter of any manager or player, no matter how great. My view - and I think it is one shared by many Reds - is that since Fergie took us to European glory in '99, he has presided over a team that has either stagnated or (as now) has gone backwards. He had the chance to take us on to the next level and he didn't or (probably)couldn't make the most of it. The game has moved on but Fergie hasn't and therefore United haven't. Of course, the problem for Ferguson is that he has set such high standards for himself and the club that any perceived fall from grace is seen as a crisis. Yes, we have seen these blips before, but I don't think that I am alone in feeling that this one is more serious. The reasons for our current predicament have been well-documented - in summary, the Rio affair, a preference for graft rather than flair in midfield, playing players out of position, off-field issues that have sapped the manager's energy and a catalogue of defensive howlers, injuries & suspensions. What I now question is whether Ferguson is the man to extricate us from this crisis - one which is to some extent of his own making. His health is clearly a concern, his decision-making in both tactical terms and the transfer market must now be seen as flawed and his stubborn refusal to face up to his own errors now make him a liability. He has been arguably our greatest ever manager but he is in decline and I think that even the dressing-room knows this. As someone else has pointed out somewhere else on the site, Fergie is no sentimentalist and has shown no mercy in moving on those who fail to meet his standards. Why should he expect to be judged any differently by the fans who make sure that he is very well paid for his efforts?
It's the club of 2004, not 1996 or 1993 that counts in this equation and I think any but the head-in-the-sand 'Fergie is God' crowd must now question whether he is the right man to lead us into the future. Fergie has been a brilliant manager for the club, but his best days now seem to be behind him. Time to stop daydreaming about King Eric and the Nou Camp. Look at what's happened to Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the last 10 years and learn from it!
I do still believe Fergie is the man for the job but to be the richest club in the world and not to be allowed to spend the vasts amount of money like the likes of AC, Inter, Barca and notebly REAL is beyond me. I knew this was gonna happen, sorry but the Nevilles should go and so should have the people we have purchased over the last two years or so. Once that is done we should concentrate on buying big time players, like Vieras, Ronaldos, Shevchenko's, Zidanes of this world.
I do not understand why suddenly everyone is turning their backs on Ferguson. Given the fact that there have been suspensions, injuries and Ferdinand being banned, even Arsene Wenger would not be able to turn the team around. I urge all the fans to stop whining and continue to give out utmost support for the team. True we may miss Beckham but live with it. Great stars have come and go and United continued on with their success.
Lets just stop bickering over whether Ferguson is at fault. We can always point our fingers but can we say we can go a better job? Lets respect the man for what he has done and not just what he has not done this season.
Does Mr Brennan ever read the comments? There are plenty of Reds on these pages calling for Fergie's head as a result of the mistakes made during this season in particular. There are plenty of calls now from Utd fans for "Fergie Out". It's a hard one as has done so much, but all good things must come to an end.
Ok so the loss to City went and made a bad year a lot worse. Sometimes when one thing goes wrong it just sets a domino effect of catastrophies. But let's not forget the pedigree of the man that so many of you are wanting to defile and the glory & success that SAF has brought to United over the years. Let's write this season off and look forward. We have a young and unproven squad of new players coming through. Surely he deserves the time to get it to gel, not to mention a lot more respect. Have faith.
The worry is partly that Ferguson told Gill that we didn't need a defender in January (when we clearly did, the manager thus revealing once again that his judgment is now consistently poor to bad) and partly that Gill says we needed a player that was eligible for the Champions League: oh, right then David and Alex, forget about the Premiership, let's put all our eggs in the Euro Cup basket. Thanks to those two we didn't buy a defender and we were knocked out of Europe and lost the League on the back of that decision. (Who apart from Ferguson and Gill thinks we can still win the League? we have absolutley zero chance, and have done since January).
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When are the Board going to realise that sometimes it's better to buy a player now, even if he's cup-tied. Does Gill realise the Premiership is important? It's not all about Europe, or nothing. If it was then everyone would have known months ago that our season would end up an embarrassment. Does Gill know anything about football? Does Gill realise we aren't one of the other 90 odd teams that he says would be proud of our season? What others think is not the point Gill. Stop saying we were unlucky, stop blaming injuries, stop blaming Kenyon and Ronaldinho's brother and this and that. START DOING YOUR JOBS!! Ferguson's only achievement this year is that he negotiated himself a nice new lucrative contract. Shame he's done nothing to earn it.
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I was glad when Kenyon left (I thought he was useless in player negotations and let's be honest Nike, Pepsi, the Yankees etc would always be interested in linking up with the richest football club in the world whether they were dealing with Kenyon or not). However, to see him replaced by someone as naive as Gill is incredible for such a powerful Plc: can anyone ever see Gill standing up to Ferguson (let alone telling him to call it a day)? Unless something fundamental happens this summer I can't see it changing.
SAF has been a great manager for the club. Unfortunately the emphasis is on has been, because it now seems clear he has to go. Apart from RVN his transfer record in recent years has been awful on three counts - poor players, overpriced players and unnecessary players. Why is his brother & son involved in player identification & transfers ?. His tactics are so often wrong, why pick that team for the Fulham game when it was our last chance to challenge for the premiership, why allow Porto to dominate the second leg and expect our defence to hold out no chance !). why do most of our (decent) transfer targets sign for other clubs ? Why was Carlos Qeiroz not replaced ? and then in panic finally hiring an old nobody from Glasgow Rangers and Everton ?
The directors sit there doing nothing - Magnier & McManus know what the problems are
Mat London Danny is correct, Alex would already have been shown the door at a top club like Madrid who actually get the best players, as they are prepared to pay the asking price. Anycase you probably will go and support Arsenal soon.
There were times, lately, that there was not one single defenceman on the substitute bench. That's how thin the squad has become. The situation at the back is quite serious, much more than Rio's. Some where thrown in positions that was beyond their qualifications and before they got accustomed to it, the next outing, they found themselves in another. Was it SAF's fault? Well, there were a couple of unforseen circumstances, but many thought that the return of Wes Brown would solve a lot. And it did not. Suspensions and injuries and bad luck did not help either. But there are seasons like that were everything comes out wrong. I believe that these crisis would have happened to any manager and there will be a fix for this team. Maybe not this season. It's not losing to City that's bothersome, but it is the attitude and lack of urgency in the play of certain players, when they know that they cannot be replaced. I'd like to see a kid or two from the reserves. Maybe they show a little bit more than we are seeing. I'm sure that SAF is not finished yet.
Truly excellent comments from Andy Cooper.
Its troubled times like this that make you appreciate what the great man has done for our club. He got back the respect for Manchester Utd that for many years it had lost.
The press are quick enough to pull out their knives, for the opposition and bandwagon Utd fans to stab with.
If this man does not deserve the time to take this team back
to the heights, that some people seem to think is our God given right, then which manager does.
99.9% of the teams in the world would snap him up if they could, but this man is 100% UNITED right through.
So would the real Man Utd fans please stand up (if we are allowed) and would the others kindly bug**r off and support the team you supported before SAF came to OT.
Fergie is responseble for the way utd is playing in the way of formation and use of players, 4-4-1-1 and longballs!? Arsenal is playing the type of football utd used to play a few years ago. The sale of Becham was like selling the heart of utd, his sensetive foot and his winning mentality cant be replaced.
SAF is still one of the best managers in the business, he just needs to have his hands untied by our measly board. People forget that he built a CL winning team from scratch, with the best players coming through the system he implemented. However, he has never been that successful at buying players, so maybe an advisor(director of football?) should be appointed to oversee all potential transfers and manage all transfers, obviously with SAFs consent. Our scouting system needs to be seriously revamped, they don't seem up to it if they recommend players such as forlan or bellion. Take the pressure off SAF, put it squarely on the board. Do you think SAF DOESNT want to sign players of the calibre of Nesta or Zidane? Blame our penny pinching monkeys in suits. I watched a german league game over the weekend, where the bayer leverkusen fans boycotted the first ten minutes to protest against theboard I think. Imagine the impact an empty old trafford, live on sky, would have on our board? Imagine their thoughts: 'where have our customers gone'!? A ten minute boycott would have a huge effect, but is unlikely to ever happen. In most companies the buck stops with the person in charge, well SAF is only in charge of the team, the board and Mr. Gill(what a nice guy, he seems to say yes to everything!) are in charge of the running of the club, which is a shambles. Blame them, not Fergie, the best manager since Sir Matt.