Collective Madness

What a week in Manchester and it's not been United but the Rangers invasion. Went into town during that day. It was already full of thousands of fans many walking around with slabs of lager - 18 cans for an afternoon in the sun. They don't have trams in Glasgow but you don't stand on the tracks when one is slowly coming towards you. Basic common sense. But to me the whole notion of hundreds of thousands driving 200 miles to watch Tv is madness. Manchester city centre is quite small and doesn't have enough open spaces to cope with those numbers.

So now after the rioting there will be no big outdoor screens showing the United v. Chelsea final. There will probably not be any showing big screen football in Britain for a long time. The authorities will be worried about another repeat of alcohol fuelled violence. Instead it's big indoor screens at the M.E.N. Arena showing the final at £10 admission.

On a brighter note Manchester City have got themselves into the UEFA Cup with a fair play place. It's a bit of comedy going on at the council house. Is the manager staying, are the whole squad up for sale by the owner? Well they have a few weeks to sort it out. The UEFA Cup campaign starts in July and the pitch won't even be ready. There is speculation of the qualifying game being played at Huddersfield. A week after an 8-1 defeat by Middlesboro the team flies out to Thailand to get beaten 2-1. It's always a recipe for disaster when the owner interferes with playing and selection.