Never-never land Manchester United 1 Fulham 3 Premier League Saturday 25th October 2003
Let�s not beat about the bush here - United were outclassed and lucky to get away with only conceding three goals. Fulham had waited nearly 40 years for this victory and they thoroughly deserved it. I had said, on the way up, during one of the most tedious of journeys, that we should consider turning around and going home. It just seemed to be one of those days. And it didn�t help when we heard the team news. There was an audible groan in the car when we discovered that, apart from Giggs, the whole of the midfield had changed. Now, there may have been perfectly good reasons for those changes (after all we are not privy to inside information) but when big Rich suggested, �They would only have to pin the United teamsheet on the Fulham dressing room wall for motivation� that Tinkerbell had escaped from Never-never land and had come out to play. We only just made it in time for kick-off. We ran the last mile from the Trafford, although I�m not sure why we bothered. I could have saved myself the effort and meandered down to the ground. Fulham turned up in their fetching (not) off-the-shoulder tops, but United didn�t. The red shirt is supposed to signify power, strength and aggression, but there was none. Fulham scored in the first few minutes. They could have been 3-0 up before half time, and the only point of tangible amusement was when a lone red wearing a ginger wig and tam o�shanter hopped onto the edge of a gangway wall and did a jig. The stewards didn�t know what to do but fortunately showed restraint, and the lad was finally escorted back to his seat to great applause. When Diego scored in injury time, at the end of the first half, we disregarded the total injustice of it all, celebrated wildly (more out of relief than anything else) and went below in fairly high spirits. Fergie was bound to skate down from his lofty perch on a tide of bile and the lads would come out with their hair blasted. So the mood downstairs was reasonably upbeat. And at the start of the second half it seemed as though United would get their act together and turn the game around. For about 15 minutes United looked like themselves but that�s when it ended. Fulham scored twice more and there was no return. I say there was no return, because there wasn�t - but there should have been. There was more than enough time for someone in a red shirt to get hold of the game and turn it in our favour. It�s happened so many times in the past, but even Scholesy, when he came on with 20 minutes left, hardly got a touch. Fulham were in complete control. And that was the major disappointment - that there wasn�t anyone who could inspire the rest. There was no hope. Passion was replaced by lethargy. There was no self belief. Not in the stands, where there was a great deal of bellowing, much gnashing of teeth and a large dollop of f�ing and blinding. Major discontent spread as far as the black and white corner where it disappeared in a wave of delirium. �Can we play you every week?� they asked. It�s not something you want to hear at Old Trafford. To top it all it pissed down as we left Old Trafford, perfectly mirroring our mood. We got drenched on the way back to the car and I hadn�t fully dried out 3 hours later as got out of the car and almost fell into the house. It was not a good day - not good at all. -- Copyright Paul Windridge 2003: http://www.Red11.org -- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/tsUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************** Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
