Still Following the Trawler

January 17th, 2004. With over half the season gone, we went to Molineux as the team top of the league facing - yep, that's right - bottom of the table Wolves. It was Rio Ferdinand's last game before his  eight month ban . He limps off injured in the 50th minute. On 66 minutes, Kenny Miller scores... 1 - 0 A famous win for Wolves that shakes United, who go on to lose five and draw four of their remaining 16 games. Arsenal win the title. Going all season unbeaten! ...we finish third and don't win the title again until 2007.

So, there you have it. It's been an uncertain, emotional and rather confusing ride (in the sense that 'how the f**k did it take us this  long to lose?'). But lets admit it...it was special. And like all good things, it simply had to come to an end. There were the 'I can't believe they didn't win!' ones - away to Fulham, Birmingham City and Everton. The ' that's why they'll be champions' ones - at home to Blackburn, Wigan, Liverpool and Villa - and the  'surely they're going to be beaten this time' ones - against Villa and Blackpool away. But even through the tribulations: the last minute goals (for AND against), the snowed-off games, the  Darren Gibson selections, strikers' strops and retiring captains, we remained defiant and simply refused to give up all three points. Yet after 29 defeat-avoiding games (the majority of which we displayed average form at best), the somehow inevitable happened - we were beaten by the team plan...

I was all geared up to write a hearty old rambling, zero-structure piece. You know, in the 10,000 word theses that used to define every single one of my blog posts (from random news articles to even the most insignificant draws), and thus allowing the lazy 'Good' and 'Bad' format that I have adopted this season. But, ironically (actually I dunno if this is the right use of that ridiculously overused/misunderstood word), this weekend was entirely the epitome of a Good and Bad weekend for United. Good. Invincibles! The first time we've gone the first 11 games without losing in 472 seasons. Harah! Never, ever say die. On the exact day of his 24th Anniversary as United boss, what better way to mark victory than by displaying the unique, proud spirit that has been an integral part to every one of Sir Alex's sides? Park's 94th minute winner - a brilliantly architected dribble fromm the right flank that beat four Wolves defenders and was finished with his w...

Good. The second half . I can't remember the last time I saw a first half of football so bad, followed by a second half so good. 5 goals in 34 minutes resulted in a bonerific game of catch-up by the away side...until you know who settled things late on for the second game running. I suppose, given their intensified effort levels, Wolves were unlucky not to earn the reply, but really we dominated and played by the far the most threatening attacking football. Smalling . The boy's growing in confidence and stature. With Rio's role at the club not nearly as pivotal as it once was (some suggest that off-field distractions are to blame. And by some, I mean me), what we need is quality and consistency at the back. He was paired alongside fellow young'un Evans (weird to consider him still a youngster given his experience) and in doing so, maybe we saw the appearance of a United central defensive partnership for the future. Replace yesterday's right-back, Brown, with the Da...

1-0 with just under 20 minutes go; yet the way the game was ending – with Wolves pressing and United failing to convert their infrequent yet profound chances – the dying moments simply screamed the word ‘upset’. And then that inevitable golden ‘oh my god I can’t believe United dropped points at Molineux’ chance came. Carrick (who, it’s appropriate to mention, had a poor game) cleared the ball weakly to a Wolves player, and then with a fumbling passage of play, the ball eventually fell to the marginally onside, and so completely unmarked, Volkes. Regardless of the legitimacy of his status in the box (and of course the incapability’s of our defence as to why he was alone in the first place), he had space and time to slot it in from about 6 yards. However instead he decided to sky it over. If that goal to equalise would have all but finished our challenge (after Arsenal kept the pressure by beating Burnley 3-1 at home), perhaps Volkes’ convenient forgetting of the difference between foo...

United’s goal of the season – scored by Valencia and created by Gibson, Scholes and the genius of Berbatov – rounded off a more than comfortable evening at Old Trafford last night, as United ran away with a 3-0 victory that made us level on points (if only for 24 hours) and nicely pumped up our goal-difference. Wolves looked determined in the first half, even though they  were playing their reserves; as McCarthy made 10 changes to the side that beat Tottenham a few days ago. Y et, once Rooney converted his penalty after Zubar   pointlessly handballed from Gibo’s corner and Vidic scored one of his trademark yet, nowadays, rather rare header (his first goal of the season), you knew there would be no coming back for enthusiastic Wolves. Whatever McCarthy’s point was in his team selection, it failed miserably. His side were effectively battered by half-time, even though the Champions gave yet another  lacklustre performance, and the travelling fans – who chanted ‘we want ou...