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Manchester United supporters get a raw deal with Fergie's FA Cup team selection
You get up at the crack of dawn, spend hours on a train clutching a £70 ticket and arrive at Wembley only to discover your manager has named a second string side.
That was the fate that befell Manchester United fans who went to the FA Cup semi-final with Everton on Sunday.
And while I rarely have much sympathy for fans of a team that has won everything there is to win - and on a regular basis - over the past 20 years, I did feel a little sorry for them at the weekend.
It soon passes of course, but it cannot have been much fun.
And it will have been less fun for those making their third trip to the capital, assuming they didn't already live there, this season.
On each of the previous two occasions United played at Wembley this term - against Portsmouth and Tottenham - the games ended goalless.
The difference this time was that they lost the penalty shoot out.
There were two great moments in the semi-final.
The first was when Sir Alex Ferguson turned purple when his side were denied a clear penalty, not something that would have happened at Old Trafford you wouldn't have thought.
And the second was when Fergie went on to complain about the Wembley pitch.
Having visited Clitheroe and Harrogate Railway for the first time this season I can tell him there is nothing wrong with the National Stadium's surface.
And why it would be an excuse for fielding a weakened side I am not sure.
Teams have for many years taken the FA Cup less seriously than they really should - United even pulled out one season, you will remember.
I say teams, but it has generally been those at the top of the Premier League like United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
And it was, ultimately, good that none of those reached the final.
The nation can now throw its weight firmly behind Everton for the big showpiece event at the end of May and that has to be a good thing.
David Moyes has done a magnificent job at a club which has never been particularly wealthy or had much luck with injuries.
The Scot and his team deserve success.
Alan Shearer has a strategy to get Newcastle out of the Premier League bottom three - win their last three home games.
It just goes to show how simple football really is.
Oh, hang on a minute, I think I have spotted a flaw in his cunning plan.
Of the 16 games the Magpies have played at St James' Park so far this season, they have won just four.
Why he would think they can go from a 25 per cent record to a 100 per cent record when under the most intense pressure of the year is anyone's guess.
Clearly they will not win away to Aston Villa or Liverpool, but why would he think it would be easier at home to Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Fulham, two of whom are scrapping for their lives and the others in with a shout of getting into Europe?
Shearer may be able to rouse the Geordie fans, but the players are simply not good enough and are going down.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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