More Than Football

I've already written a blog about the United Way. About how I continue to support United, not because of our success, but because of how they do things. I've used the Sir Matt Busby quote;

 "At Manchester United we strive for perfection and if we fail we might just have to settle for excellence" - Sir Matt Busby

As Manchester United fans we should all take pride, not only in this quote but in the fact that the club strives to live up to this standard it has set itself. In turn, as supporters, as TRUE supporters, we should look at our actions with the same ideals we expect the club to uphold.

Being of the generation I am, where I only began following United in the 90's I am always on the defensive of being a true supporter & not just a glory hunter, I'll admit I have known very little but success, 3years being the longest dry spell of league titles I have witnessed - but this is by chance, I will continue to support United for the rest of my life, regardless of success.

This is relevant because, at times I have to look at other supporters & wonder, do they really support the club for the right reasons, or do they follow the club because of the success instead of the manner is which we have succeeded. Is it part of their image rather than part of who they are.

I am not meaning to come across as preachy here (and perhaps failing) and certainly don't hold my-self above other supporters, but looking at a few of the things I have seen, heard & read this week it makes my doubt a few others.

I can have very little respect for anybody who has already lost faith in de Gea, or never offered any faith in him in the beginning. Even if he wouldn't have been your pick of goalkeeper to bring in or if you would start Anders Lindegaard ahead of the young Spaniard, he is the No.1 picked by Fergie and he is a Man Utd player. We should be offering our support, again I'll point out he should have done better with the Dzeko goal in the community shield & Longs goal in the West Brom game, but its not as if they were horrific mistakes, where he has dropped the ball through his hands or missed a pass back. Every fan should be rallying around him, giving him time & understanding the difficulty of the situation he has walked into. If we cannot even offer a young player, who could become a star player at United for a decade or more the benefit of the doubt, why even support United at all.

I have also came across a situation where so called United supporters have actually been abusing other supporters. Personally attacking them, with little cause and less evidence to base the abuse upon. It is a sad state of affairs, when you attack somebody who ultimately is part of the same group as yourself. I personally don't see the reason which would call for partaking in the abuse, I am not saying you have to like everybody who supports Man Utd or agree with every-bodies point of view (after all different points of view are what makes football so interesting). But we should be treating each other with a level of respect. There are ways of arguing a point with somebody with out having to personally attack them & even if you find there is no reasoning, or there is a trait in the person you dislike, there is nothing to keep you interacting with them. There are just some haters out there, in every large group of people it is inevitable that there are people who are hell-bent on attacking others, rather than adding something of value.

Rant over, I guess the point I am trying to make is we hold such high expectations for the club and the players while representing the club, we should also try to reach these expectations ourselves, by handling ourselves in the right way. Wether it be offering support to a struggling player instead of slating them because the newspapers have latched onto a 'headline' or whether it be how we treat our fellow supports, particularly fellow Manchester United supporters.

Our fans hold a banner which reads;

Not Arrogant, Just Better

We have to earn this motto and at times, unfortunately, the difference is a fine line which many of us can step over.


I realise that this post is more of a rant than any real football chatter, so I apologise to anybody you didn't enjoy it and can tell you normal service will be resumed next time :-D


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