Forget Manchester City and Chelsea - Manchester United are back.

Manchester United are back.

And back big time.

Not that they were really ever gone mind.

It’s just now the fears of them actually going away have been extinguished.

For anyone who ever had any doubt - Louis Van Gaal gave them one hundred and fifty four million reasons this summer.

Each single reason a pound.

A single currency that appears to be Manchester United’s new way of thinking.

Although very much their old one when you give it a moment’s thought.

A lot has been said about how United have become the new Manchester City.

Or the new Chelsea.

Even the new Real Madrid with the phrase ‘The Galáticos’ being replaced with ‘The Gaaláticos’.

Truth is, they were always that.

They just hadn’t flexed this muscle as often in the previous few seasons.

There were clubs who spent more than United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure, sure.

But United were invariably coming from a healthy position of talent.

When they had to spend big to address any discrepancies they may have had - they did.

Sir Alex Ferguson broke the British transfer record five times alone.

Five times.

The only reason it’s not six is because Robinho signed the same night as Dimitar Berbatov.

The Brazilian forward becoming the first major signing to symbolise Manchester City’s ‘buying success’ period.

He cost a mere £1.75 million more than what their city rivals had just paid.

The following summers saw an increase in City’s spending but only because they were starting from a distance back.

They needed to play catch-up first to obtain success before they could try sustain it.

A much more expensive game.

A game of heavy spending that inflation has a habit of distorting.

But just as Chelsea or Manchester City needed to do so of late - United needed to play catch up on Arsenal in the summer of 1998.

It was a huge summer.

A £27 million size summer.

Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam, Jasper Blomqvist all bought in.

Almost triple the amount spent by their nearest rivals.

An historic treble followed.

A treble funded by the largest outlay any English club had green lighted before.

Manchester City have been the most recent club accused of buying success.

But it’s been a long time since a team hasn’t.

The last of the non ‘big’ teams to win the league was Blackburn Rovers.

Bankrolled by the treasure chest of Jack Walker, they paid huge sums for various players at the time.

The British transfer record was broke to bring Alan Shearer to Ewood Park before they won the title.

Job done.

There’s even teams in the Premier League who have spent massive amounts to ‘buy success’ yet just haven’t achieved the desired results that go with this expression of intended derision.

Liverpool have spent more than Manchester United in the Premier League era.

Tottenham Hotspur have spent more than Arsenal.

The only difference between what they did and Manchester City or Chelsea did is the amount spent in the first few seasons of this ‘new’ money.

Playing catch-up meant they had to spend big to jump up to a level playing field with the established clubs.

But just as this season sees Manchester City spending only £50 million compared to their previous larger amounts - a plateau invariably occurs.

Resulting in spending now that equates little difference to the regular spends of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Tottenham of certain periods in the last 22 years.

£154 million was a huge outlay.

And one suspects there will be more money spent come January and next summer.

But it’s no different to breaking the British transfer record to bring Juan Sebastien Veron to the club for £28.1 million in 2001.

Nor is it any different to breaking the world transfer record for a defender when they brought in Rio Ferdinand for £29.1 million in 2002.

Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Ruud Van Nistelrooy the same.

All 5 times Sir Alex Ferguson broke the British transfer record was an example of a big club buying success.

It’s been that way for a long, long time.

Manchester United haven’t become the new Chelsea.

Haven’t become the new Manchester City either.

And they certainly haven’t sold their soul.

They’re just back to their traditional Manchester United selves.

The original big spenders of the Premier League.

Intent on buying success again...

Best Fans in the World Maybe, But Not the Best Supporters

I took a considered moment out for myself as the fields of Athenry billowed around Arena Gdansk.

After due deliberation, I too, joined in for a chorus of one of Ireland’s most renowned football anthems.

I was gutted that we had just been thumped so convincingly.

But I felt the Irish players deserved something back for all the effort they’d put in over the previous 2 seasons.

If they had of performed as inadequately as they had against the Croats - it would have been a different story.

When outclassed by superior opponents yet willing to give their all, I decided to support them.

I was there as a supporter after all.

And they needed me.

Support can change a game.

Fortress Anfield became synonymous with their successful football club due to the vociferous crowd.

Roy Keane himself spoke of the respect he had for the Liverpool atmosphere.

How intelligent they were about football, respectfully applauding when the opposition had done something worthy of ardent praise.

However, this week was also the week in which Roy questioned the expectations of the Irish support.

In an opinion subjected mainly towards the players of the Irish squad, it was the supporters who took offence.

Or at this point, I’ll switch the expression to ‘fans’.

The supporters knew what he meant.

They know enough about football and enough about what they’d seen unfold in front of them in Poland to interpret Roy correctly.

Roy was right.

Ireland weren’t good enough.

And the supporters should demand more.

In fact, they deserved more.

Roy has no problem with fans and supporters singing throughout the build-up and throughout the match itself.

He’d already gone on record as saying how great the Irish support is.

He even went as far as clarifying his comments in his column the following Sunday to avoid confusion.

Yet come kick off in the next game, the ‘fans’ of Ireland had already created a song all for the great man himself.

“F**k you Roy Keane, we’ll sing when we want”

Roy had won his potential debate with the Irish fans, without a need for retort.

4 nil down and heading for our heaviest competitive defeat in over 50 years.

“We’ll sing when we want”

Heading out of the European Championships after only 4 days?

“We’ll sing when we want”

Losing to Italy on the way to equalling the worst ever record at a European Championship?

Well, you get the picture.

If that’s all that’s needed to get the fans singing - there clearly is no requisite for expectation.

Not from the fans anyway.

The supporters, well that’s a different matter.

For them, this hurt.

And hurt badly.

10 years is a long time not to feature at a major tournament.

To come and see our dreams turn quickly to nightmares was not a singing affair.

The supporters were too crestfallen to keep the songs going.

And they were too knowing about football to join in with the “F**k yous” directed at the greatest player ever to don the green jersey.

Roy had done too much for Ireland to warrant abuse like this.

Let alone warrant abuse for a justified attack on our underachieving players.

Yet it was the fans who took exception to these home truths.

These same fans who had the audacity to hurl abuse at their captain and record goalscorer when deployed in the thankless task of chasing down the possession obsessed Spanish defence - outnumbered 5 to 1.

If they got frustrated at a player not giving 100%, behaving selfishly, even arrogantly - they could be forgiven.

But when their team is quite simply outclassed by potentially one of the most successful sides ever seen, support was the answer.

Not jeers.

Or cheers.

But encouragement to push them on.

Give them the support to chase down one more lost cause.

Force one more corner.

Score one more goal.

But no, the same fans who had just jeered Aiden McGeady to stay off the pitch after his momentum had taken him over the touchline, had turned their backs to the action to ‘do the Poznan’ by the time he had returned to play.

The Poznan, reserved only for goals by Manchester City supporters, was been exercised whilst 1 down to the Italians.

What was Mario Balotelli figuring as he watched on from the bench?

Had his beloved Italian support all wore green that day or did this Irish crowd just not ‘get’ his club’s goal celebration?

Manchester United supporters didn’t do the Poznan when 1 nil down at the Etihad.

They expected more from their team.

As did Roy.

The Irish fans had different ideas though.

They were there to party.

The atmosphere they created was unbelievable.

Build-up to every game commenced hours before any ball was kicked.

And it was world class to experience.

Unless you were a supporter.

It just made it all the more difficult knowing the only time the Aviva had sold out since it opened was against Estonia.

Not when the team needed support.

They were already 4 nil up.

No, the return leg was going to be a party.

Armenia at home was when support was needed.

But the fans weren’t there.

Slovakia didn’t sell out either.

Not even Russia could.

When the team really needed support.

It was when 4 nil up against Estonia.

When the fans could party.

And they did.

Unsure as to whether they were so jubilant for the group of players who had finally qualified after so many years of heartbreak.

Or because they’d secured the biggest two week party of the year for themselves.

The fans will remember the European Championship for the sing songs, the beers and the ‘craic’ that occurred on every night.

And who can blame them?

The supporters however, will all meet up in a few months at the Kazakhstan game.

In hope.

Eternal optimism for Ireland’s next campaign.

Their dreams may having turned to nightmares.

But in Kazakhstan, at least they’ll be able to support each other...

Go Giovanni Go. (In the supportive way of course)

If you want entertaining football and want success with your national team these days, then you’re going to have to hail from Spain, Germany or Uruguay I’m afraid.

Cause if you’re born in any of the other 205 nations, it’s a choice of wanting one or the other.

I for one, want success.

Success like the Holland side that won every qualifier for the World Cup in South Africa and every game all the way up to the final in 2010 - yet were absolutely slated in the press for their brand of football.

I want success over the entertainment that is the Armenian side who banged in a whopping 22 goals in Ireland’s group this campaign, making them the 5th highest scorers out of the 51 nations involved.

They won’t play a competitive game for almost a year.

I won’t lie - given a choice, I want to replicate Greece rather than go all Kevin Keegan on it and enjoy our summers off.

Kevin entertained the socks off my generation in the mid-nineties with his attack minded Newcastle side.

Countless 4-3 thrillers mixed with 3 goal comebacks almost every second week.

Entertaining - So entertaining.

But at the end of it all the only thing he won was the guarantee of being the extended highlights match every week on Match of the Day.

No Champions Leagues.

No league titles.

No FA cups.

Not even a mickey mouse cup.

Unlike Giovanni Trapattoni.

The third most successful manager in the history of the sport.

He is to winning what Kevin is to entertainment.

The perfect man to be in charge of the Irish national team right now.

In a period were we have no world class players for the first time in almost 50 years.

Giovanni has his team brilliantly organised, completely disciplined and making the absolute most of what they have at their disposal.

This team is full of passion, guts and a determination to punch above it’s weight.

There are more ways to play than the British style of frenetic pace and hard man defending.

There’s the successful way of playing too.

Like the Italian way which has yielded 4 World Cups for the national side.

That’s the Giovanni way.

Which has seen him manage some of the biggest teams in the world - AC Milan, Inter Milan twice, Juventus twice, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Fiorentina and Italy.

Having success at them all.

No manager in the history of Irish managers has ever won a major honour with the exception of the 1955 FA Cup.

Yet ‘fans’ are calling for his head?

Mick McCarthy got us to one major Championship in 3 attempts - He had Roy Keane in all of them.

Brian Kerr couldn’t even manage a play-off in 2 attempts - Even he had Roy Keane for a campaign.

Steve...

Staunton...

Giovanni takes over - And from 3rd seed gets us to within extra time of a World Cup in his first attempt.

That group had Italy, Montenegro and Bulgaria in it.

And from 3rd seeds this time round, he has split Russia and World Cup last 16ists Slovakia.

Just 2 games away from only our second major tournament in 18 years.

Doing it the Italian way.

Yet an increasing amount of Irish fans are calling for his head.

I’m not sure exactly who they think will take over if Giovanni were to leave?

Martin O’Neill, Sven Goran Eriksson, Carlo Ancelotti - Good Luck.

Dave O’Leary, Paul Jewell, Chris Hughton - More likely.

In reality, if we lose Giovanni, we will get a manager who will be out of work, in the Championship or an ex-player who has never managed before.

And fans want this over the 3rd most successful manager of all time?

Cause they want to be entertained!

Do me a favour - get behind the greatest manager we have ever had and enjoy the success that will come with it.

I don’t want 7 goal thrillers like we had against Cyprus.

I want 4 draws to set-up a World Cup quarter final against Italy.

And no, we can’t have both.

We don’t have the players to give us both.

Not even England do.

Our players play for Stoke and Wigan.

Wolves and teams from the Championship.

And L.A. Galaxy!

But they are showing the sort of heart and character that should make every Irish supporter stand up brimming with pride.

These heros haven’t got all the ability in the world.

But they have got all the courage.

The sort of thing this country used to admire and respect.

We made heros of these players under Jack.

Now let’s do the same for Giovanni...