MARTIN SAMUEL: UNITED PROTESTS REEK OF ENTITLEMENT
If there is a single sliver of good to come from the attack on Ed Woodward’s house on Tuesday, it is that there is not a single civilised, rational, intelligent Manchester United fan, who is not repulsed by it. Who does not think this has gone too far; who does not believe that frightening little children, and singing songs about building bonfires and cutting people up, is utterly abhorrent.
This transcends opinions on the job Woodward has done at United. This transcends any mistakes that may have been made, any errors of judgment, any overplayed hands.
This is about human decency. Woodward does not deserve this. Even if all of United’s ills were down to him — and they are not — he would not deserve this.
He runs a football club. It used to be a pretty ordinary football club. Then, through the talents of one man it became a great football club. Now that man has gone, but the sense of entitlement remains.
That is what the vandalism and intimidation at Woodward’s Cheshire home reeked of: false entitlement.
This is a club that, at the time of the attack, was in every competition it had entered at the start of the season. In the Europa League’s last 32, the fA Cup’s last 16, the Carabao Cup’s final four and fifth in the league. No, it’s not 1999. But success on the scale United once experienced will never come guaranteed.
These protests stank of mewling self-regard, a belief that United have a right to be better than they currently are. And because the usual target — the manager — is a local hero and cannot be blamed, and because the Glazers are out of earshot and 15 years of curses and threats haven’t budged them, Woodward is now the lightning rod.
Thankfully, his family were at their residence in the south on Tuesday, where they will now remain indefinitely. So the thugs have managed to scare Mrs Woodward and two five-year-old girls out of the family home. Well done.
They must be very proud. As for Ed Woodward — who immediately signalled his intent to attend tonight’s match with Manchester City as planned — he was on the end of a telephone line as lawyers completed the £68million transfer of Bruno fernandes. Anyone objecting to that transaction, by the way? for now is your chance.
Get them in, the doubts and criticisms. Home in on fernandes’ poor disciplinary record, or the number of times he loses possession. Ponder why, as a Portuguese native, Jose Mourinho did not want him. Then, if fernandes doesn’t deliver as planned, at least you told them so.
Alternatively, celebrate this new arrival and then, if it doesn’t work out, blame Woodward as if you called it all along. That is the pattern with United’s signings.
from Alexis Sanchez to fred, via Paul Pogba and Eric Bailly, they start with universal approval, before being disowned as Woodward’s fancy alone.
Nobody credits Woodward for Daniel James or Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but if Nemanja Matic, 6ft 4in, jumps 4ft 6in against Burnley, this is somehow his fault.
United were considered to be in thrall to the agent Mino Raiola, paying him tens of millions to secure players who often failed to live up to expectations. In addition, he became a very high maintenance and disloyal friend, agitating behind the scenes to get Pogba out, and causing problems.
So Woodward did what his critics wanted, and stopped entertaining Raiola. Then United missed out on Erling Haaland, Raiola’s client, who signed for Borussia Dortmund. And now that’s Woodward’s fault. for not having a relationship with the agent everyone said he should not have a relationship with.
The same with managers. David Moyes, as we now know, was the recommendation of Sir Alex ferguson. What United fan would not have heeded ferguson’s counsel at the time?
Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho were coaches with huge reputations, adept at handling the pressure at Europe’s elite clubs. Mourinho had won the league everywhere he went. Both were widely considered suited to Old Trafford.
As for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, less than a year ago, when United won at Paris Saint Germain, the clamour to make his appointment permanent was huge. Rio ferdinand called on Woodward to give him the job — just as Paul Scholes this week said he should find the money to get the fernandes deal done. Woodward has obliged like this many times. Little he has done has actually gone out on a limb.
And yes, if United’s recruitment department is making mistakes, if the managers are struggling to end the post-ferguson malaise, the buck stops with Woodward.
There will, of course, be criticism. But it was not criticism that occurred on Tuesday night. It was vandalism, bullying, threats, crude intimidation. flares and fireworks aimed at a house that could have had small children inside.
United fans — who this group claim to represent — should be disgusted. Arsenal have not flourished without Arsene Wenger; Liverpool are yet to win the title in the Premier League era; Leeds fell through two divisions. If running an elite football club was easy, they would all cross the finishing line together, hand-in-hand.
And where have violent protests taken United in the past? That’s interesting. In 2004, John Magnier reacted with horror when the home of his brother David, the Grange Stud in County Cork, was targeted by a similar group.
David Magnier was described as a softly-spoken gentleman of the country, far removed from his brothers’ business interests.
It was not the only reason Magnier sold to the Glazers the following year, but it was among them; an unimagined consequence for the men in balaclavas, as they tip-toed away from the damage.
Thugs have scared Mrs Woodward and two five-year old girls out of their home