Have Manchester United fans become brats?

Last night, as Manchester United were beaten at home by Newcastle, two things came starkly into notice. One, the continued absence of Michael Carrick from the squad through injury has led to a lack of cohesion and creativity that led to not one clear cut chance being created by United in the whole match. This is the result of an abysmal transfer window that saw only Maurouane Fellaini being added to a midfield arguably one of the most middling midfield of the whole league.

The second incident was the way many fans started heading early for the exit as the match veered to a close. The atmosphere during the match too, was dead as the only noise to be heard was the din raised by the away supporters. Old Trafford, the stronghold of old was dragged down to the level of a ruin.

David Moyes has been getting a lot of flak in cyberspace for recent results and this is to be expected for a club of United’s pedigree and mammoth fan base. I’ve even seen close friends, loyal fans of United, lose patience and hit out at the current shambles United find themselves in.

This had led me to a depressing and agonising realisation. Manchester United fans the world over have become a spoilt, loud and obnoxious lot who think that they have a God-given right to win all the matches and whine and scream if they don’t.

This has happened due to an excellent era when United have conquered all under Sir Alex Ferguson. An era, when the same fans used to laugh at the likes of Chelsea for sacking managers after a bad patch. An era, when these seemingly rational lot would extoll the steadfastness shown by the board when the board persisted when they stuck by Fergie’s side for three years when United won nothing.

The walkout staged last night by some fans at Old Trafford goes to show the ‘love’ these ‘fans’ have for their club. These people believe that paying for their tickets makes up for not cheering their team on, for not singing and creating a dour, dull and listless atmosphere.

Manchester United fans used to laugh at other clubs for not having patience with their managers. We used to remark that Real Madrid fans were a bunch of glory hunting plastic fans who only liked winning.

Has the same happened to us?