After a horrendous result, like the one Manchester United experienced against Bournemouth at the weekend, it used to feel like an eternity before turning up for work on Monday and facing the music. You knew that no matter where you sat in the League, how you were performing in the cups, Monday morning would be hell. Fans of any other team would take great pleasure in piling on the misery, so from the final whistle to clocking off time, it was a depressing experience. The next game couldn't come round quick enough. Those were the days. Now, by the time you have switched your alarm clock off to get up on Monday morning you have been pummeled. 27 WhatsApp messages, 15 texts, three phone calls and don't bother looking at Twitter if you can't take the amount of derision and obligatory mocked-up photos that are going viral.
When Monday comes around, you have taken more blows that Dillian Whyte and Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan did put together at the O2 Arena on Saturday. And they shipped a few. Still, there is something cathartic about the amount of stick fans take on social media that somehow makes Monday's less blue that it might have been. For some, anyway. You have heard all the jokes, you have read all the banter, and you may have engaged in some wallowing with fellow reds and dissected the performance with a random stranger from East Anglia, or Slovakia for that matter. Such is United's fan base, there are plenty of voices to engage with. And that's a good thing. Whereas the conversations and differing of opinions were confined to your mates down the pub in the evening, they can now be with anybody from anywhere, even during the game.
Abuse gets you nowhere
Everybody has an opinion, and that is the best thing about football. If everybody felt the same way and supported the same team, then it would be plain boring. So diverse opinions count just as much as common trains of thought. The trouble is, don't dare express that opinion on the likes of Twitter. You will be shot down in flames. It is a general observation, but it is becoming increasingly prevalent in the wake of the LVG out campaign that appears to be growing legs. If you appear to support van Gaal, then woe bedite you express those views. You will be seen as a 'plastic' or quite simply a non-United fan. Van Gaal is even getting abused on there right now, though what calling him a range of unrepeatable adjectives achieves is anyone's guess. I have booed players in the past but am reticent to do so now. One of my favourites was Colin Gibson (to boo I mean), but I met Paul McGrath and he put me straight that Gibson was a decent player.
He never changed my mind, but at least I felt I should respect him more. If you play at any level, you will appreciate that even the worst Premier League players are simply miles ahead of the majority of people that kick a ball. They don't look it when they are up against people in the same small percentage, but they are. So, booing is an entitlement when you pay your money, but one I refrain from these days. Just as a player is generally trying their best, so is the manager. And van Gaal is no exception. That results and entertainment are now at a pretty low point doesn't mean he should be abused. I am not a van Gaal fan. I wasn't a Ferguson fan. I shouted with thousands of others "Fergie Out" in 1989, and that also taught me a lesson. United were extremely poor at that precise point in time, and Ferguson had been in charge three years and spent an awful lot of money. Results and performances did not seem to be improving and the fare being served up was at times worse than right now.
When the trophies started being collected in numbers under Ferguson, and later on, we understood what he was doing behind the scenes, you start to appreciate how wrong you were. Had fans had their way in 1989/90, then we may be hailing van Gaal as a Saviour. Not quite. We wouldn't be in the same lofty place pining for the olden days though. I say I wasn't a fan of Ferguson, I, of course, thought he was and is the best manager that has graced the game. What I learnt to do was trust him. When he sent Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Hughes packing, even after two League titles and an FA Cup, fans thought he had lost the plot. He proved them wrong. Time and time again he proved people wrong. In the end, you stopped doubting him. When he sold David Beckham, you knew you had to trust him. Along came Cristiano Ronaldo. Job done.
I am not for one second saying that van Gaal has done anything at United to deserve trust. Not at United, but he has throughout his career. What he achieved with Holland was quite miraculous when you consider their fall from grace since third place in the World Cup in 2014. Van Gaal hasn't changed, and neither has football. You can question his style, but nobody thought a 5-1 thrashing of the holders Spain was boring. However, we are definitely reaching a tipping point. December has plenty of tricky fixtures, and if poor results continue even his most staunch supporters would have to look at the situation and agree things cannot continue. Whether the United board do is another matter. The transfer window may confuse things. Bringing in a new man at this moment in time could prevent new signings, as January deals are difficult enough at the best of times. A new man in charge would be unlikely to have a shopping list on day one, so the opportunity to bring in some better players could be lost.
My personal opinion is that United should take stock after Christmas. If results have been good, keep van Gaal, give him money and let him see the season out. Any success should be welcomed and give him that final year. If he ends the season without a trophy, then regardless of a top four finish I would make the change then. Many fans were happy to see the back of Nani and Tom Cleverley, yet believe that van Gaal has replaced the outgoing players with lesser quality. That might be right, but if a new man comes in then the process of overhauling the squad starts again. Mid season is not the time for that to happen. Whatever happens to van Gaal, he or any United fans do not deserve abuse.
Has van Gaal reached the tipping point?
When United lost 3-0 to Liverpool in David Moyes' reign, that for me was the tipping point. I felt he was the right appointment, but the way I felt after that result was as low as I had in a long time. In fact, it was probably 1990 when United were thrashed 4-0 at Anfield. The gulf between the teams was so great, it was demoralising and it was quickly followed up by an even worse pasting by City. He would have gone that evening had it not been for the fact they still had to face Bayern Munich, but I didn't care. For me, the game was up for Moyes and that's how many United fans feel now about van Gaal. I don't feel that way about van Gaal and despite the boring, uninspiring performances and real lack of quality, I still feel there is a spark about certain players and that things can turn for the better.
Maybe this is the 80's supporter coming out in me. Too blind to see what's in front of you, or maybe it is that wake-up call that when Sir Alex found the key all my doubts and made me feel embarrassed. Maybe that's what being a United fan is all about. The thick and thin. I wanted Moyes to succeed so badly, to keep that continuity. I want van Gaal to succeed now, and dispel the myth that United are gone now there is no Sir Alex. It is not nice being a United fan right now, and enduring watching some rotten football and taking stick from all corners, but at the end of the day if you are a United fan then you stick together. Opinions are the lifeblood of football and if the opinions of others are not what you want to hear, then you don't have to listen. That's modern technology for you. Keep the faith.