I’ve been transfixed to the circus that is the US election. It’s mental!
Who knows what’s gonna happen next? In all probability Donald Trump will end up conceding defeat, because there ain’t any real evidence of foul play or excuses and Joe Biden will be sworn in.
The scary thing is that half of America actually voted for that nutcase and the other half, a slightly better version who (because Trump is so overtly terrible) actually appears to be a "good guy".
Of course the truth is, Biden is part of the elite, the stablishment, the Barack Obama camp… those who levelled more destruction on foreign soil than any others in history, kicked the poor in their teeth and propped up major corporations.
Why am I mentioning this you ask? Well, we’ve just been on a (boring) international break and my mind got thinking: “There are so many similarities between the troubled United States and the situation at Manchester United!”
Ok, let me start by saying, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a really nice bloke and I have no right comparing him in any way to the sick gingerbread president of America.
But… figuratively, he is the Trump of the Old Trafford conundrum. He’s not good at what he does, he makes lots of excuses, he has no long-term strategic plan and at least half the fanbase wants him out.
Let’s not beat around the Bush (excuse the pun) there’s MANY better candidates for one of football’s top jobs, some currently unemployed and looking for work. Mauricio Pochettino is a prime example.
Now you can’t tell me, as a United fan, that your sentimental bollox regarding Ole as a club legend would get in the way of Poch taking over right? Ole was never a "legend" anyway?
He was part and parcel of a great era. He was good off the bench, but Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona and the likes, those are the fellas that carry legendary status.
The worry of course, and getting back to the USA comparison, is that the club has been bitten HARD a number of times when they’ve ousted a coach for what looks like a shinier one.
Since Alex Ferguson retired, it’s been a succession of disappointment, much like I believe Biden will be to the naive gloating world.
David Moyes, Ryan Giggs, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho…. my god, the club has steadily been reduced from one of the biggest, most successful, enjoyable to watch, impregnable outfits, to an inconsistent, mid-table, flat bunch of average plonkers, who just happened to get a chance to play in a United shirt.
So what next? How far down the tube can the club go, ok let’s say “stagnate”… they’re in a place of cloudy limbo and no one knows how to switch the fan on to clear a path to a brighter future.
The nightmare gnawing away at the football subconscious of everyone concerned with Manchester United is the fact that in today’s game it doesn’t matter what the f**k your history was, some billionaire toilet-roll manufacturer can buy any club and turn it into a European force.
Having been the top boys in the past doesn’t give the divine right to continue dominating those beneath you.
There are richer, more ambitious youngsters banging at the door and at some stage the hinges are gonna buckle, making it harder and harder to reclaim elite status.
And, as with the greedy, snarling, conglomerates licking their lips as Biden draws closer to swearing in, the Glazers are totally oblivious to the destruction they’re creating along the path to profit.
But people NEED hope… hope that things will change, like the Zondo Commission exposing the corrupt at home, like the American people rising against the system, like arrogant Liverpool fans not celebrating back-to-back championships, like Ed Woodward resigning and the club being led to its former glory.
Unfortunately, I’m not feeling any of that myself!
Back to the Premier League this coming weekend and a couple of interesting games to look out for, a really tough one at Old Trafford as United face West Brom and on Sunday, the ever-depleted Scousers host Leicester City, that should be a proper game! Chat next week…
*The Beautiful Game, is on hold on Monday’s but catch Nick on Heart 104.9FM on Wednesday’s at 3.30pm. You can also follow Nick on Twitter @thehonestnick, e-mail: [email protected] and Facebook: nick.feinberg