As Noddy Holder once said “It’s Christmas” and that means loads of games in a short period of time and the usual festive gag of “what have Santa and (insert name of any manager) got in common? Thats right, they are both usually legless on Boxing Day. (not the actual punchline, just wanted to see if you were still paying attention).
It wasn’t always the case though, let me take you back to 1989. I was 12 and a half. This is a difficult period in a boys life, it’s a time when you should invest any money you make from your paper round into Kleenex shares, a time when you start to notice the “opposition”, and a time when you start to rebel.
My dad is a Man Utd fan, I grew up supporting Utd but by the age of 12 1/2 I was allowed to go 3 miles down the road to watch Bury. It was love at first sight, this was MY club, not my dad’s, I needed my fix and anyway, Utd hadn’t won the league for 22 years at that point and under Fergie in 1989 they didn’t look like winning it soon. City cuffed Utd 5-1 that year and a banner was unfurled at Old Trafford that read “Three years of excuses and it’s still crap…ta-ra Fergie.” 
By the end of the 89-90 season Utd went on to win the FA Cup and the rest is history. The board at Utd gave Fergie time and never panicked like so many other boards do. They claim Fergie’s job was never under threat but that’s easy to say now.
So why do football clubs never learn, why do they invest millions in one manager and then within 18 months do the same all over again? There are it seems one exception at the moment, Blackburn Rovers. Under unbelievable pressure the board are publicly backing Scotsman, Steve Kean. I am writing this before Kean takes his Blackburn side to Fergie’s Utd on New Years eve and hence if they get a tonking and ad such Kean is sacked or resigns then the following is irrelevant.
1884, 1885, 1886, 1890, 1891, 1928
It’s not exactly mind blowing is it? Sometimes fans need to trust the board and I think sometimes the board need to be a little stronger in the backing of “the bright new hope”. For what it’s worth, I believe Blackburn will stay up, hopefully with Kean in charge. The scorpions “Wind of Change” is now going round my head and this time it has nothing to do with Brussel Sprouts!
Have a great New Year, Mark x
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About the Author
For as long as he can remember, Mark has loved football. Originally from just outside Manchester, he supports Bury FC so can’t be labelled as a glory hunter (although they do hold the record for the biggest FA Cup final winning margin, 6-0 in 1903 and it still stands today!).
Mark drives a cab, so automatically he “has an opinion and usually it’s the right one!” All opinions are the author’s own, and they can be heard on twitter @bigmarkdavies. You can contact Mark via email at bigmarkdavies@talktalk.net
