Armchair Managers

Fans are the lifeblood of football. Never has that been more apparent than it has been in the last year and a half. Football without supporters just isn’t the same. The spectacle is so different: it’s not as appealing looking at empty stands, the pace is often so much slower than before, and everything just seems less authentic; the canned crowd noise doing little to make it better. On the face of it, the game is not half as good without fans in the stadium, which just shows that it is next to nothing without them. Their power has been demonstrated through the failure of the recently touted European Super League; albeit the extent to which the owners actually listened to us is questionable at best. Like much that comes with the game, the fan base of a football club, and fans of football in general, are a huge benefit to the beautiful game, but they can also be quite divisive.

I have spent a lot of time, especially during the recent lockdown, scouring Facebook posts on football; for the comments and to have a little debate. Doing this has been a real eye-opener for me, from which I’ve seen how wide-ranging opinions on the beautiful game can be; with some of the crack-pot suggestions on teams doing nothing but making me laugh. Others, I can’t help but respond to: some points I agree with, some I disagree with wholeheartedly, and that's fine. Many fans, though, just seem to want to complain; to whine, to moan and, as I like to say, throw their toys out the pram (metaphorically, of course). They think after seeing a team for 90 minutes once or twice a week, that they know more than the manager, and they throw a hissy fit when certain players aren’t picked.

I think I’ve mentioned in an earlier piece that I’m a Manchester United supporter, and I have even written a piece in defence of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. When it comes to that man, as well as a few players like Harry Maguire, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, there has been a pretty big divide. As much as I will tend to disagree with them, I can respect when someone has a constructive argument – even enjoy the debate – but some of the drivel I read can get almost tiring. Even when there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, people will stick to the same narrative they’ve held since day dot, an opinion they have potentially held for two or more years; like players can’t grow, improve and evolve. They’ll use the same buzz words that they’ve clearly read from others, and will use all of the expertise they’ve garnered from their armchairs to tell people how to do their job (like their target will actually scour the social media comments).

When it comes to the Manchester United manager, I see a lot to expect instant success. If people believe that’s how it should be, then that’s fine for them; but I refuse to subscribe to this. I’ve just not seen it as realistic and I expected it to take at least three years to build a competitive team. We’d been hearing how many transfers the club were supposedly away from a competitive team; and that was before a global pandemic had even crossed anyone’s mind. No club, even one as big as Manchester United, is immune to needing to build at times; it happened when they were at their most successful, so it was my expectation that it would be necessary when Ole came in. Usually, the loudest voices come from the most negative, and most of will be placated by a shiny piece of silver, any shiny piece of silver held up by complete strangers. They will complain if big names that they’ve personally promoted to like-minded individuals on social pages aren't signed, and they’ll criticise each and every line up. They’ll hide away after a good result and will slink out of the woodwork the minute the team doesn’t perform. I see similar on the England message boards, nit-picking when certain players aren’t picked, before a ball has even been kicked.

Having watched the Alex Ferguson documentary ‘Never Give In’, it’s plain to see that it has always been the same. Seeing fans showing signs towards Fergie that said ‘time to go, Fergie’ and ‘enough of the excuses’, it’s clear that patience isn’t the forte of all fans; it’s just been completely blown up with the growth of social media. I sit here sounding like a know-it-all, or at least someone that professes to know it all, but that’s far from the truth. I’m no more an expert when it comes to the inner-workings of a football club than any of the people that I’m talking about in this piece. I put my opinions across of course. But that’s the point, I don’t pretend to know more than the people tasked with taking up these high pressure jobs; at least not on purpose.

By Calum Dewsbury