Is This It

I’m reluctant to use the word ‘progress’ but there are signs afoot that we might finally be getting somewhere. 5 league games unbeaten isn’t exactly a milestone to be celebrated but putting all cynicism aside, it’s the first time it’s occurred since February 2024. When the team loses its innate ability to suffer a collective meltdown once a game I might truly start believing things are changing. Until that occurs and for the moment at least, it’s a step in the right direction

I’m becoming more and more convinced that a number of our problems are self-made. In a season where we’re only playing once a week, I’m not sure why Amorim persists with this habit of making defensive changes at around the 70 minute mark. If these were purely down to injuries like the recent Spurs game then fair enough – but half the time these occur for no discernible reason. Despite the recent improvement, the team remains very fragile and it doesn’t take much for things to quickly unravel. I’d be far more confident if the manager decided on his preferred back 3 and stuck with them wherever possible.

The single biggest change that’s affected our fortunes over the last month has to be the emergence of Senne Lammens. He deserves immense credit for stepping into the starting keeper’s berth with zero fuss and looks totally unfazed by his new surroundings. Bigger names than him have shrivelled in the spotlight when given the opportunity, so it’s very encouraging he’s made such an assured start to his United career. Given the fact he’s already proved he can handle Anfield on a Sunday afternoon, I’m fairly confident we might have fixed one of our biggest problems.

When I wrote last time I was genuinely concerned for Amorim’s future and doubted if he’d even reach November. The Chelsea and Liverpool results together with the current mini unbeaten run have probably bought him more time as well as regaining the support of a sizeable number of fans who were previously wavering. There weren’t many left in my circle with anything positive to say about him after the defeat at Brentford – a terrible performance that followed a similarly listless display at the Etihad where City barely had to get out of 2nd gear.

The Liverpool game was a huge result for both the team and the manager. It was a long time since we’d won there and they’ve given us a few maulings in recent years. They certainly don’t look the force they’ve been in recent seasons now the hangover from Klopp’s departure has finally kicked in 12 months later than anticipated. Nevertheless, we looked competitive and there was clear evidence of a plan in place. Cunha was absolutely terrific holding the ball up during the 2nd half – what a difference having a player like that as an outlet as opposed to the likes of Rashford or Garnacho.

The challenge now is to prove that this current run of form isn’t just a blip and to keep it going. Looking at the upcoming fixtures, this could be doable. Villa away and Newcastle at home over Christmas are the only moderately tough games we have until we face City mid-January. The rest look very winnable on paper, though these are precisely the type of routine games in which we’ve struggled over recent years. If we can string a few more wins together then a top 5 finish and European qualification should become an achievable goal – something that looked a distant prospect when the season began so poorly.

Whereas fortunes on the pitch might be improving, everything else about the club continues to disappoint. It’s now 12 months since the announcement of the stadium no sane person actually wants and the project’s progress is predictably slow. The latest survey was an absolute belter, containing the most rudimentarily stupid set of questions about ticket prices and seat locations. Q7. ‘Would you be interested in buying a ST costing £3000 situated in row 700?’ Errr… no. Q8. ‘Would you be interested in buying a ST costing £3000 situated next to the dugout?’ Again… no. Q9. ‘Would you be interested in buying a ST costing £500, 20 rows up behind the goal?’ Obviously… yes.

I’m not sure how they intend to extrapolate any meaningful data from this nonsense other than ‘the idiot proles desire sensibly-priced tickets close to the pitch’. It’s a completely pointless exercise in the guise of ‘fan engagement’ that’ll be used to justify a steep increase in ST prices when the move eventually does occur. It’s blindingly obvious now what happen – any tickets within a few feet of the pitch will cost an absolute fortune and if want a ST for less than a grand, brace yourself for several flights of stairs (possibly escalator rides provided they’re still within budget).

The 5 year timeline that Ratcliffe mentioned previously continues to look incredibly optimistic. Andy Burnham appeared on a podcast recently saying that the train line running adjacent to the ground will need to be moved and could end up “nearer Lou Macari’s chippy”. Completing an infrastructure project of that scale within the next 4 years would be some feat, never mind building a new stadium from scratch. Even if they managed to purchase the land required tomorrow I reckon you’re looking at another decade at least before we’re even close to leaving OT.

The ticket office remain fixated on doing their utmost to make life as difficult as possible for supporters. Anecdotally at least, success rates for away tickets have reached an all-time low – yet there’s no way of actually proving this following their decision to stop publishing details of application numbers and % splits across the different pots. Plenty I know in the standard pot have had nothing all season despite applying for every game – yet entirely coincidentally, instances of groups of a dozen tourists appearing in away ends appear to be on the rise.

Even if you are fortunate enough to receive a ticket, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to see the game. At Spurs recently, some tickets were being scanned red which meant the holder had to visit the TO and verify their identity with ID. There were other reports of people being stopped at the turnstile and made to close and re-open the app to check that they were the original recipient and holder. You might read this and think ‘what’s the problem?’, but it all amounts to a gross abuse of privilege and the club wildly overstepping the mark in terms of what’s actually legal.

As I’ve said previously, the claim that these measures are in place to combat touting is highly dubious as tickets for away games continue to be traded online for eye-watering sums. I’m more inclined to suggest it’s part of a campaign to target regular fans and dish out sanctions if any minor transgression of their ‘rules and regulations’ can be proven. A word of advice, if anyone purporting to be a club employee approaches you at the turnstile of an away ground and demands to see your phone, wander off and return 5 minutes later when their attention is elsewhere. Either that or just tell them to sling it.

rednews.bigcartel.com