Fergie blasts United crowd

United boss compares Old Trafford atmosphere to funeral

By Chris Harvey   Last updated: 1st January 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Fergie blasts United crowd

Ferguson: Felt let down by Old Trafford crowd

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Sir Alex Ferguson hit out at the Old Trafford crowd after his Manchester United side laboured to a 1-0 win over Birmingham City.

After taking the lead courtesy of a fabulous goal from Carlos Tevez, the hosts failed to make their dominance count and were left hanging on to their narrow lead at the end.

The Manchester United boss blamed poor finishing for failing to kill the game off but felt the sell-out crowd could have given his side better backing.

"The atmosphere was not very good," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"It was like a funeral out there and we needed them (the crowd) to lift us a bit. We needed that today.

"It was the quietest I have heard here for some time and the atmosphere today

did not help us.

"There have been periods like that in the past. Some years ago, when we were dominant, the crowd came to be entertained.

"Sometimes we need them to get behind us. They can help produce the right

performance but we did not get that today."

The United boss was annoyed his side did not kill off the plucky visitors who came more into the game the longer it stayed at 1-0.

"We were very careless with our finishing; we need to be doing better," said Ferguson.

Embarrassed

"The last 15 minutes was all Birmingham and we could only have blamed ourselves if we had conceded. We could have been embarrassed."

In spite of missing a host of chances, United did score a superb goal courtesy of Tevez who was substituted later with an injury which makes him doubtful for this weekend's FA Cup tie with Aston Villa.

"It was a fantastic piece of football for the goal," enthused the United boss.

"The vision of Ronaldo to put Tevez in the clear was excellent but after that we were so careless with our finishing and we could have paid the penalty for it."

Ferguson was also glad to see Park ji-Sung back in the side after being sidelined by injury for a long period. The Korean completed 75 minutes before making way for Owen Hargreaves.

"I thought Park and (Nemanja) Vidic were our best players today. As Park has been out for nine months I thought it was a very impressive performance from him."

Comments (23)

  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2

Colin Murphy (Manchester United fan) says...

I cant get to old trafford all the time because i live in ireland, but that doesnt mean in not a real fan, i love going to manchester . i sing all the songs at the match and in the pub before the game, but i agree the atmosphere isnt great in the lesser games!!!! i hate seeing people sit there and do nothing!!!!! stand up and support your team!!!

Posted 23:05 2nd January 2008

Liam Dair (Liverpool fan) says...

Why has it taken Fergie so long to have a pop at the United 'fans' for sitting in silence? Apart from the Stretford end the ground is always silent until they score. You could be forgiven for thinking you were sat in Edgerley park not a stadium that holds nearly 80,000. Even United's away support arent as vocal as some I have witnessed. Over the years, the best away support I have witnessed at Anfield are the Portsmouth fans by a mile, followed by Southampton, Everton and Newcastle. Im not being biased but I would put United's travelling fans as only the 5th most vocal in the Premiership.

Posted 16:53 2nd January 2008

Ian Turrell (Manchester United fan) says...

I have to agree with fergie, the crowd at old trafford of recent has been dismal, i sit in the lower tier of the North Stand and am week in and week out amazed at the amound of 'fans' who leave with ten minutes to go, after sitting in silence all game, and only rasing their voices to moan at one of our own players. the ground is quiet all game, and the i have seen spoilt rich kids in the 'posh seats' playing games on their psp's instead of watching the match! i think these people should b banned from the ground, and the seats be given to true supporters who will sing and support their team.

Posted 13:49 2nd January 2008

Mark Green (Manchester United fan) says...

I agree with Nick the fact that the second tier in the stretford end are always standing and singing. I watched liverpool and city the other day and the only cheering you heard at that game was when city won a throwing or cleared the ball away from there box. Well done city for getting no shots on target at home and being proud of it. And the Villa fan to comment on away fans being louder i think you'll find that our away fans out sing any other team we visit. Anderson for young player of the year. already outclassed Fabregas and Gerrard this year in their own back yard. One To Watch.

Posted 13:48 2nd January 2008

Mark Rimmer (Newcastle United fan) says...

I am a season ticket holder and was at the game yesterday and yes the crowd were quiet, i look around were i sit and its full of tourists who just go to the game to take pictures! they dont know the songs so just sit there and jump up when we score, I agree with the comment from another united fan that the Glaziers are pricing the real fans out of OT, prices need to come down in my opinion.

Posted 13:20 2nd January 2008

P W (Manchester United fan) says...

As a season ticket holder for many years i have to admit it was v poor yesterday for atmosphere, i sit in north lower opposite fergie and yes it can be quiete, although it isnt as silent as people make out. This is prob due to size and not everyone joining in, its pockets of noise - bar stretford end. They should encourage singing etc and a better atmosphere. Its true poor performances get reflected and maybe we have been spoilt with too much success, we expect 3 or 4 nil etc all the time and when it doesnt happen they just sit there. Yes Carrick and others were utterly rubbish and it was new years day! but, the finger does lie mainly with the prawn sandwich brgade and all the - no offence but its true - elder generation, who moan if we stand or get vocal or god forbid, actualy enjoy the game!

Posted 12:37 2nd January 2008

Steven Tarplee (Birmingham City fan) says...

I was at Old Trafford yesterday and we were the only section of the ground singing and even our support wasn't as noisy as it is on other away days. The Utd fan said that the noise in the Stretford End was deafening but I can assure him that in the away end we couldn't hear a thing from anyone in that stand! Perhaps our chant of 'you've got the worst fans in the world' was a bit exagerrated but you could have heard a pin drop for the most part and the only time Man U fans did pipe up was to sing a one word chant of 'United'. I've now been to OT on 4 different occasions as a Blues fan and never sampled a decent atmosphere - same goes for Anfield which I suppose gives credence to the Liverpool fan's view that it could be something to do with us! I too was at that 0-0 in September and didn't hear the scouse fans sing once - they were even quieter than Utd's fans. Hate to have to agree with a Villa fan but the message is there - support your local team!

Posted 12:15 2nd January 2008

David Taylor (Aston Villa fan) says...

Hungover from new year? unable to sing? You should have been at Villa Park, maybe the paracetamol had set in for the late kick off but our holte end was in great form. There's a great atmosphere usually, but yesterday was immense. Can totally agree with Ferguson about it making the team play better when there is a buzz around the ground. We needed some support yesterday and I think our 12th man helped edge out an under performing Tottenham side.

Posted 11:17 2nd January 2008

Simon Jones (Manchester United fan) says...

I was at the match yesterday and like at most of our games of late, the crowd were dire. I sit in the North stand and the people surrounding me simply dont look interested in getting behind the team. I cant speak for the whole stadium but I know the people in my vicinity just sit there quietly and do nothing but criticise and moan. I wonder why they bother to go. Sometimes I wonder if they even like football! Yes, it was New Years Day and yes, certain players were very poor, (notably Michael Carrick), but surely the whole ethos of supporting a football club is to go and support your team and get behind them... After all, we pay enough money to go and watch them now so we should surely show enthusiasm and try to give them a boost. I was constantly trying to instigate songs and boost the flagging atmosphere, in spite of my dreadful hangover. A season-ticket holder in front of me also did the same but the thousands of people around didnt join in, instead opting to sit there looking glum-faced. It was disappointing but I find unless we're playing someone like Liverpool, City, Arsenal, Chelsea or Milan in the Champions League, the mood is typically pretty sombre now. I know plenty of people who would love the opportunity to have a season ticket at OT and contribute to the atmosphere in a great way, but instead, the ground is getting filled with misers who cant even be bothered to open their mouths and sing a few verses, or even applaud their team off at the end. Poor effort.

Posted 11:09 2nd January 2008

Matthew Clarke (Newcastle United fan) says...

The atmosphere is horrible at old trafford!!! and from the comments made saying that they had a good reason to be quiet because of the peformance and having a hangover makes me laugh!!!! how do u think 52.000 geordies feel every week and people say we are un patient!!!!! our football is horendous the price of tickets are far from cheap and we still show our support because we do keep the faith!!!! we might be having a go at our team and outting presuure on our manger but if our football was better and we actually played some football then things would not be so bad!!! man u fans should always show support cos there players and manager are winners and prove that week in week out!!!

Posted 11:07 2nd January 2008

Ian Davis (Manchester United fan) says...

I was at the game yesterday in my season ticket seat in the stretford end teir 2. We were the only stand in the entire ground up singing. We would have been singing more if it wasn't for the ground stewards telling everyone to sit down all the time. I thought they had learn;t there lesson as they haven't done it for a long time but when everyone is sat down it's very hard to get going and get behind the team!

Posted 11:01 2nd January 2008

John Tilley (Manchester United fan) says...

I have said for a long time the problem is supporters in each stand cannot hear supporters in the other stands.Surely a speaker relaying system would ensure that all the crowd can vocally support the team in unison.

Posted 10:41 2nd January 2008

Kevin Surrey (West Ham United fan) says...

I noticed alex mentions how quiet the man u fans were at home after the visit to upton park. When Ronaldo missed the penalty, the west ham fans really created some noise to get the team going and it worked, the eam reacted to the crowd. I went to Arsenal yesterday and that was devoid of atmosphere, there must be something linked to size of ground and atmosphere it creates?

Posted 10:30 2nd January 2008

Nick Wood (Manchester United fan) says...

As a regular Stretford Ender, I can assure everyone that there is no louder or more passionate support than the Red Army - and this remains the case. It's always deafening up there! However, I agree that in every other area of the ground the atmosphere is flat. What are the reasons? * The club stuck the Red Army in Tier 2 of the Stretford End. If you want to hear us, put us lower down! * Too many people go to the matches and are to embarassed to sing. If you sit in the South/North stands and sing, more than likely you'll be the only one! * The corporate types, who wouldn't know the words to any of the songs anyway. I accept that corporate hospitality is vital to a successful club that wishes to invest in the team. However, these people should realise where they are, the history of the club, the tragedy of the club and the absolutely great players currently on show, scoring brilliant goals week in, week out. Enjoy it, enjoy being present as history is being made, make the most of it and support the team with everything you've got! There have been exceptions. Times when the atmosphere of the whole ground was amazing. An example was against Roma last year. Unfortunately, it required Wilf McGuiness to rally the troops before the game. But it prooved that it could be done. Pull your finger out reds and stop being so lazy!

Posted 10:27 2nd January 2008

Simon Smith (Aston Villa fan) says...

As the Everton fan said earlier, Old Trafford is always quiet until Utd score, quite simply they are always out sung by the away fans! The solution is simple, support your local team!!

Posted 09:56 2nd January 2008

Stuart Cullimore (Liverpool fan) says...

I was at Anfield for Liverpools awful bore draw with Birmingham earlier this season and the atmosphere was awful then, maybe it has somithing to do with boring boring Birmingham!!

Posted 08:47 2nd January 2008

Al-arshie Bin sultaan (Manchester United fan) says...

Old Trafford is one of the biggest stadium in UK, always mostly packed in every game, and mostly quiet! You can't compare it at all with Liverpool, a shame. But having Sir Alex mentioning it, hopefully the crowd will lift up Utd. The performance was generally okay, it was obvious Birmingham will try at least one point during the last 15 min. Utd lacked a maestro on the field, but hey we got 3 points!

Posted 08:44 2nd January 2008

Paul B says...

Too many Prawns and not enough locals!

Posted 05:22 2nd January 2008

O R (Manchester United fan) says...

the prawn sandwich brigade are back in old trafford again. (probably never left!) solution: stop pricing the real fans out of the ground, or relocate to london so i and a whole army of united supporters (many of which are probablyl foreigners, or glory hunting londoners) would create a great (well ... relative to the theatre of yawns at the moment) atmosphere. lets face it most manchunians are city fans. ok maybe not a realistic option but i do think stadiums these days are not worth the price and hassle, and it definitely isn't a place to go with your kids or family anymore.

Posted 04:44 2nd January 2008

Dan . (Manchester United fan) says...

I agree with Sir Alex as i was there today and the crowd was relativly quiet but to be fair some of the players did not perform well for example Carrick was very poor and this cased the united fans to become unsettled due to the fact the play broke down every time he tried to pass the ball forwards. Hargreves, Andeson, Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo, Vidic and Evra have been exellent this season.

Posted 00:22 2nd January 2008
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private