Fergie slams "funeral" atmosphere at Old Trafford
"Like a Funeral"
By Chris O'Brien
January 2 2008
Roy Keane once famously labelled a section of the club's fans as the "prawn sandwich brigade". Now, the manager is having his say. Sir Alex Ferguson compared the Old Trafford atmosphere to a "funeral" on Saturday after United's 1-0 victory over Birmingham was met by silenced New Year's Day murmurs from the Red Army.
Sir Alex Ferguson was furious with the very poor atmosphere at Old Trafford after the 1-0 victory over Birmingham.
The Red Devils laboured to a narrow win on New Year's Day thanks to Carlos Tevez's strike; but the fans failed to get behind the team throughout and Sir Alex dealt a strong message to the supporters after the game.
"The crowd was dead," Ferguson told MUTV. "That was the quietest I've heard our crowd. We need the supporters to create a good atmosphere here because the players respond to that. At times it was like a funeral."
"We need the fans to get behind us," added the United boss. "We were careless with some of our chances and we only really had brief moments in the game. It was a workmanlike performance which got us the win."
Fergie has a point. United were below-par on the weekend and struggled against a determined Birmingham side. However, there does seem to be a mentality from many supporters that we have a divine right to beat the likes of Brum, West Ham and co. The fact is - we don't!. The Premier League is a competitive division and complacency is not an option for the players or the fans as we look to regain the Championship.
Watching football at Old Trafford has changed. The horrendous number of corporate suits and an obsession with forcing fans in the Stretford and Scoreboard Ends to sit down is always damaging to the atmosphere. Until the authorities see sense and bring back terracing the atmosphere's will never fulfil their potential; but Fergie is right and the fans need to be heard when the players need them most.
I think the fans who pay the money to make the trip to OT on New Years Day deserve to be entertained. We dont have the divine right to beat Birmingham etc but its right that we should expect a win and a good performance against a club nowhere near our ability. SAF wouldnt want his players thinking they might not be able to beat Birmingham so why should the fans??
Im not excusin the lack of atmosphere at OT which is becoming more frequent but sometimes you have got to understand why. A lot of the other grounds were the same yesterday.
