Manchester United fans have come out in defence of Harry Maguire after the centre-back faced boos from the crowd in their final pre-season game on Sunday.
The Man United and England international was unfortunately subjected to prolonged periods of boos from sections of the 50,000+ strong fans inside Dublin’s Aviva Stadium as he and his teammates faced Athletic Bilbao in a 1-1 draw.
It seemed as though the number five had just as good a reception as any when the squad walked out onto the pitch but the jeers were clearly audible after Maguire‘s mistake led to the opening goal.
After misplacing a short pass to United youngster Dan Gore, the Spanish side broke quickly and took the lead. You can hear the booing begin almost as soon as the ball goes in the back of the net.
While plenty of the visiting supporters in the Republic of Ireland’s national stadium seemed to be involved, many more were clearly behind the struggling centre-half as they tried to drown out the boos with cheers and applause.
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In contrast, a large chunk of the response online seemed fairly supportive, with many insisting, “You don’t have to like him, but you don’t need to boo him”, “Embarrassing booing one of your own players” and some even going so far as to say they “sickened and embarrassed that there was so many ‘fans’ booing Harry Maguire.”
Although they had no problem recognising that the 30-year-old was at fault for the goal, the overriding sentiment seemed to be: “you don’t boo your own players. Ever. Simple as that”.
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Even ex-pro turned pundit Andy Townsend came out in passionate defence of the former United captain, stating that the reaction was simply “too far”. The behaviour comes nearly a year on from Luke Shaw arguing that Maguire receives “more stick than anyone [he’s] ever seen in football”.
“Oh come on.. it’s a bit too far!” 🙄🤫
😡 “Why has everyone got to jump on the bandwagon? Just booing for the sake of it.”
Many were also quick to point out that despite slipping up for the opening goal, Maguire also assisted Facundo Pellistri for the equaliser in the dying embers of the game and fought hard throughout the game to make up for his previous lapse in concentration.
Maguire was said to be training as many as “three times a day” to try and fight for his place in the starting line-up and was also applauded by countless Reds for his “classy response” to being stripped of the captaincy last month.
Everyone knows Maguire’s time at United hasn’t exactly been plain sailing but it’s fair to say his treatment at times has been questionable. Nevertheless, there are plenty that feel the negativity is misplaced and believe he still has plenty to offer.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
7th August 2023 
