With Manchester United suffering another defeat midweek and being incredibly tedious and uninspiring on Sunday, appearing likely to finish between 12th and 16th, I question how long some of their current fans – including tourists, megastore regulars, and occasional day visitors – will tolerate this combination of not only failure but also utter monotony before they decide to leave and not return.
These supporters gain no reflected glory from such tiresome mediocrity. Not even several objectives. Only Everton and West Ham have netted fewer goals away from the bottom three. There is no benefit for their lavish expenditure. No superstars to behold. You won't feel a sense of dominance or superiority following another loss or an excruciatingly dull draw. It begins to appear inflated, gassy, and self-absorbed.
In my lifetime, only Liverpool during the 1970s and 1980s has drawn numerous casual supporters, simply seeking a day of fun and the assurance that comes with backing a triumphant team, as opposed to the rest of us who rely on various cultural factors to choose our allegiance. Evidently, one might assume that expenditures will trigger a recovery eventually, but we’ve been claiming that for ten years, and it’s no closer now than before. Even further away if anything, despite the consistent trophy victories. In some way, they don’t matter.
The match versus City was ridiculously poor – it was at a fourth-tier level. Picture spending money to gaze at that grime? It must diminish support since it has become widespread. They are nearly always tedious and unhelpful. You can't continue behaving that way and anticipate that the capricious crowd will keep paying to tolerate it. They provide nothing whatsoever to the glory seeker.
The reality that things have deteriorated further since Jim Ratcliffe's arrival is partly due to his pretense of being a tough businessman while appearing more like a petro-chemical Worzel Gummidge. However, supporters have a lengthy tradition in football of backing the club even when the owner/chairman/Middle-Eastern authoritarian tyrant is transforming it into a dreadful nightmare. However, is this accurate for United? It is argued that their fanbase is larger yet more delicate than that of many others, largely consisting of tourists, whom they have actively targeted.
Until lately, the support overall has not needed to reflect on itself like those of us who remain loyal to a club during the trophyless years do. Never reached the point of saying, ‘I think I’ll skip it this week.’ This is now a genuine challenge that only older folks will truly remember experiencing.
The 1973/74 season when they dropped to a lower division was my greatest season ever. Boro secured the Second Division title by a remarkable margin, suffering only four defeats and triumphing over Sheffield Wednesday 8-0, while it’s commonly overlooked that Carlisle also moved up to the First Division with Chris Balderstone, a rare midfielder who was also a first-class cricketer for Yorkshire and Leicestershire, boasting 19,000 runs and two England caps. Denis Law relegated United. Oh how we reveled.
Even at that time, Manchester United drew kids in my class to back them, just like Liverpool did as well. They appeared glamorous in a way, despite it being six years since the victory in the European Cup. However, that has never appealed to me. The unchangeable distance from Boro’s ground to my house somehow appeared to overshadow such trivial behavior. I was merely two miles from backing Darlington, if you can believe such a misfortune.
Regardless, after their relegation, children ceased their support for a few months, until the team began dominating the Second Division. As we know, despite the Premier League's frantic attempts to persuade us that mere participation in their league is superior, they are misleading because winning numerous games, regardless of the division, is truly fantastic. And they all gathered again. The same event could occur once more, but they will never face relegation.
Ruben Amorim has one opportunity to equip the team with players who will fit into his system. You obviously can’t change a side in just one window, but can you imagine anyone accepting a 15th place standing by November, especially a dense yet self-important character like the unusually dim-witted Ratcliffe? I doubt that Amorim can either. He appears to be either entertained or ashamed by their terrible quality.
Relegation would refresh the club and success in the lower division would, surprisingly, provide fans with a renewed connection to the club. However, as that is improbable, they remain in limbo, constructing a circus tent for the clown car of a team to house a dysfunctional club’s past with diminishing support. Who is interested in purchasing the club's official pack of egg noodles after experiencing a 13th loss this season? The entire structure is founded on significant achievements, not pitiable, weak failures.
As revenues decline and supporters remain at home, United will need to tighten their belts, find a way to remove the Glazers and Ratcliffe, along with all the sharp-dressed executives who self-promote but are ineffective. However, for that to occur, they must have a season in which they genuinely fail and get relegated; otherwise, this mediocrity will persist and they won’t be able to bounce back. Resources will diminish as the chopped liver provider and others retract their backing, falling behind those with greater wealth, who do entice the plastic enthusiasts and visitors. United have consistently gained from – I won’t refer to them as fans, as that would be disrespectful to their true supporters – followers, who merely desire the reflected fame or entertainment. When they depart, what will remain? Not a stadium for 75,000 and definitely not for 100,000.
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