What a week it has been for United and van Gaal ay? Well no, what a week it’s been for the United fans. I’ve never felt so much unrest at a final whistle and leaving the ground compared to last Saturday. Somehow my face was on most of those news clips that were all over Sky Sports, MOTD and then all of the local news on Monday and Tuesday too.
Not for doing anything wrong I might add, simply for just looking unhappy at Old Trafford after another defeat. It’s happened many times before, but on this occasion I happened to be picked up by TV. I wasn’t yelling, I wasn’t booing – I never do, the booing that this. Believe me I’ve yelled many a time, yelling is good if you do it in a positive and constructive way!
Anyway, if you’re reading this, that’s good – it’s worked. I set this article to be published at 4pm today (Friday 29th January) as by now I should be (traffic depending) in a pub in Derby already ahead of tonight’s game. Well, we were leaving early enough for the 8.05pm kick off on a Friday night. Yep, a Friday night. I think tonight is going to be our third Friday night game in a year, after Cambridge is the same round of the FA cup last year and of course Villa away at the start of this season.
Friday nights are never ideal but for me they’re perfect, I have a lot of other football related stuff going on at weekend like coaching and playing, so a United Friday game means I won’t miss anything else this weekend. Not that I ever miss a United game anyway, whether I’m there or not!
This will be my third visit to Pride Park (or The iPro) and on both previous occasions we’ve won. The last time was way back in March 2008 when the main man that season Ronaldo popped up with yet another goal and winner with about 8 minutes to go. I’ve not looked it up to check it was the 82nd minute, so if I’m wrong, apologies, I’m just going from what’s in my memory.
Also from my memory that day, apart from it being a cracking day out after travelling across from Nottingham, after a night out there the previous night. Was that the main man on the actual day was our goalkeeper Ben Foster, he was absolutely outstanding and without him we would of lost to a very poor Derby County team that season.
I was going to say Foster was quite young, I suppose in goalkeeping terms he was, but I’m guessing he was about 24 or 25 and of his dozen or so appearance for United in the five years he was there. This must have been his best day in a United shirt.
Anyway, enough has been said in the press about van Gaal this week, so I’m not going to talk about him. Last week was close to being the last straw I’m sure for a lot more United fans, myself included. Fans wanted him gone in November and December, I was happy to stick with him. Thinking he knows it’s not good enough so he needs to change it, that’s obvious surely, well maybe not to him? Right, let’s just get behind the team again tonight!
Enjoy the game, I’m going 2-1 United. Either way it’ll be a happy and manic journey home. Away days usually are, let alone on a Friday night. I might even have time to go “clubbing” once back in Manc!!
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