Devils of Heath

  Aspirational or Pragmatic, two simple words but with colossal repercussions when applied to the Great Manchester United Managerial Race. I have to admit like most United fans, I have long craved a proactive manager with a well-placed attacking philosophy. It’s why I am allured by the prospect of Ten Hag and dream of the possibility of Enrique. But one look at Ralf’s time in charge is enough to move the needle from aspirations of what Manchester United should be and the reality of Manchester United will continue to be. For this is a club that hired not just a club builder but one of the most proactive managers of all time and turned him into a pragmatist. Is it Ralf’s fault? No, Is it the club’s fault? Not entirely. Although the club have been lucky that this is a far more grey-haired Ralf, someone who has the maturity to adapt to the design of the squads. And that part right there is the quality that Manchester United should prioritize the most as they search for managerial c...

As we prepare to play the old enemy this weekend, I cant help but feel but recollect on the sheer buzz before the opposite fixture that started the season. Varane was unveiled, Mason scored a beauty from a stunning Pogba pass and Bruno delighted a first fully packed Old Trafford post the pandemic with the perfect of hatricks. It was as close to eutopia as you can get from pre match to game to post match. Everything looked great, but that was the last time it did this season.   Going into this weekend, like many weekends this season, I long to watch United, but no longer experience the pre match nervousness. Hell, I am in a United fan panel this weekend to top my overall matchday experience. But increasingly watching United feels less like a experience and more like a ‘chore’. The only reasoning I have for it, is that the calamity this season has been has numbed me into submission. I literally have no expectations left atleast as far as this season is concerned.   Do I ...

  Just like the doomsday clock moves forward and backwards throughout its history, a full blown crisis at Old Trafford is forever looming on the horizon – its just the time span that keeps moving back and forth. This metamorphical clock that hangs over OT, signals the months each incumbent has remaining on the famed managerial hotseat. Only three incumbents had the might and the nobility to freeze time when they were in the hotseat and their surnames read – Mangnall, Busby and Ferguson, for these men won the holy grail for all United Managers – the domestic league title! Even in the post Sir Alex era, there are moments in time where you felt that a managerial tenure was on the verge of collapse in the next few months. These are moments when the focus shifts from the perennial transfer failings to the underperformance of the man in the dugout himself. For David Moyes, it may have been the week when he lost successive home games to Newcastle and Everton. For Van Gaal, it may have...

Imagine a young professional, who gives it his all every time he is given any responsibility, who handles the limelight with humility and who in his free time chooses to give back to the community. Such a person is not just a model professional but also a model human being, such a person is what you want kids to have as a role model. Does such a person exist? Yes, and his name is Marcus Rashford. Unfortunately, we live in a complicated world, a world in which the noblest of intentions are viewed with a tinted glass. So, when Marcus chooses to help those in need during the pandemic – he is called names by certain people – names that don’t deserve any attention by recapturing here. The very people who are doing this, may I ask them – what the hell did you do for your community when the pandemic struck – let me guess you chose the cowards way out and ignore it / act busy. It is not easy in any profession to take time out for anything beyond your immediate personal life, yet he...

  People see football as a beautiful leveler. Success unlike in some other professions is not an abstract term here. Success means victories, trophies etc. Failures means defeats, relegations etc. Simple isn’t it. Well not really, not when you put the term Football in between Manchester United & Club. In the Sir Alex era, a successful season was a season that ended with the PL title is his grasp. Any addition to the trophy cabinet meant, we would add adjectives like great, historic to the season. Simple as football was always meant to be. But the post Sir Alex era Manchester United Football Club is in a complicated relationship with success. If for Jose’s happiness we count the Community Shield as a trophy, then each of Moyes, LVG and the ‘trophy one’ himself have picked up something with a ribbon around them. Will they be remembered as successful United managers in the league of Sir Matt and Sir Alex - definitely not. And then comes Ole, 4 months a super sub, 24 months a...

No, I am not talking about VAR, Football Authorities, Inflated Transfer Markets, Players, Coaches or Club Executives. I am talking about us, the football fan.  During the lockdown, every stadium has displayed ‘Football is nothing without the fans’. While that is correct, today it’s the fans who are ruining the game. Sounds cruel, well asks the players how they feel, when they read what there own fans write to them on certain platforms. The term ‘reactionary fan base’ was coined by the hardcore loyalists to distance themselves from the volatile fans that surrounded them on different platforms. Terms like ‘agenda merchants’ have also been developed to define the reactions of certain fans. Actually, this is where the trouble really started, the division of the football fan base within a club has deepened since the turn of the millennium and has only accelerated further in the last decade. I see today the first tendency is to blame an increasingly connected world for giving a platform ...