Just when you thought Manchester United had hit rock bottom they find a new and interesting way to dig a little deeper – this time conspiring to get eliminated from the League Cup at the hands of Grimsby Town.
Yes, Grimsby!
A team that plays in the bottom division of the professional pyramid and whose squad was put together for roughly the same amount the United team spend on tattoos every season.
Yet on Wednesday, Ruben Amorim’s United were so badly outplayed for periods of the match you would have been forgiven for thinking it was the seaside club that came from the top-flight and had 20 league titles to their name.
So, does this latest embarrassment, the first time United have ever lost to a team from the fourth tier, spell the end for Amorim’s turbulent reign? Hard to say.
On the one hand, he looked utterly clueless as the Mariners outthought, outfought, and then out-penaltied his expensively assembled gang of internationals. The image of him fiddling with his magnetic tactics board while United’s cup dreams went up in smoke was oddly reminiscent of Steve McClaren’s umbrella moment... the symbol of a man out of his depth.
His post-match interview sounded like a man without answers, and even his hair gel seemed to have given up by the end! In the immediate aftermath it felt like the end was nigh.
And yet, there are arguments for sticking with him. United have just spent hundreds of millions on players tailored to his system. Pulling the plug now would be as impulsive as the decision to sign Antony on the basis that he must be good because he only uses one name.
There’s also the small matter of credibility, which is already wafer thin among the United hierarchy. They simply can’t keep backing managers in the transfer market and then firing them before they have chance to finish learning how to pronounce the names of their new signings.
That’s just not sensible football management.
But you can’t escape the fact that, right now, Amorim looks more comfortable fiddling with his magnetic players than managing the real ones.
And there is a distinct possibility that, even if Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his cronies are prepared to stick with their man, the man himself may decide he has bitten off more than he can chew.
If United comprehensively beat Burnley yesterday, then that should help calm things down. Anything other than a win though, and Amorim may have already gone by the time you read this – having jumped or been pushed.
And the saga of United’s descent into full-on farce would roll on.
> If United comprehensively beat Burnley yesterday, that should help calm things down. Anything other than a win though, and Amorim may have already gone by the time you read this – having jumped or been pushed
**Football history is made**
For the first time in our history, a Maltese football team has qualified for the league stage of a European competition.
It was nervy at times, but Ħamrun Spartans’ 2-2 draw in Latvia last Thursday gave them a 3-2 aggregate win and the coveted prize of a place in the UEFA Conference League proper.
It is estimated that this achievement will earn the club a rather healthy €3 million, which is a massive amount by local standards.
But it isn’t only Ħamrun fans that should be celebrating this achievement – this is good news for fans of every single local club.
Ħamrun have raised the profile of Maltese football as a whole, and that, in both the short and long term, will make the entire sport better off.
Well done boys!
**Prediction fallout**
More than a few people have been in touch on a personal level last week to mock my annual Premier League predictions. For the most part, these individuals have highlighted one game or another and suggested that particular result shows how wrong I am going to be.
But I say this to you all: it’s early days, so bite your collective lips.
Yes, of course, there is still a more than fair chance I will be wildly off the mark come the end of the season. It’s par for the course.
But don’t let these early games, being played when teams are still finding their feet and the transfer window is still open, make you all giddy and excited.
Things will settle down in a month or two and that is when you will be able to point at me and laugh with a degree of confidence.
**A false aura of supremacy**
Wow, Wrexham fans are starting to feel a little entitled, aren’t they?
Last weekend, the Hollywood bling team threw away a two-goal lead at home, drawing 2-2 with Championship crisis club Sheffield Wednesday.
Not a great result, it has to be said, but the sort of thing you would expect from a team that has only just returned to England’s second flight after an absence of around 200 years.
So how did the fans respond? By booing their team off the pitch.
Really? Have they forgotten that three years ago they were in the National League and, if it weren’t for the surprise intervention of mega stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, there is a reasonable chance they would still be there?
Wrexham have enjoyed a meteoric rise with three consecutive promotions lifting them to within touching distance of the Premier League. But as I said a while back, life in the Championship was always going to be tricky.
Whereas Leagues One and Two are mostly made up of small sides fighting to survive, or medium-sized teams going through a tough time, the Championship is packed with former top-flight clubs with massive budgets, international players and serious promotion aspirations.
It’s a whole different ball game to the three divisions they have just come through.
There are millions of fans of small teams that would give their right testicle to be in Wrexham’s position: glamorous owners, worldwide fame, constant investment and unprecedented success.
Yet instead of embracing and being infinitely thankful for their good fortune, the Wrexham fans have now started believing they are entitled to win every match.
It’s not a very attractive attitude, and one they would be wise to drop pretty quickly if they don’t want their team to become one of those that other clubs love to despise.
**E-mail: [Jamescalvertmalta@gmail.com](mailto:Jamescalvertmalta@gmail.com)**
**X: [@maltablade](@maltablade)**