Sport
When it rains it pours: Old Trafford’s flooding once again sums up Manchester United’s downfall
If Sir Jim Ratcliffe was shocked by the standards at Carrington, he has work cut out with Old Trafford.
The infamous Old Trafford leaks burst open worse than ever this weekend as Manchester United lost 1-0 to Arsenal, with the pictures of flooding from inside the stadium only further symbolising the club’s downfall under the Glazer ownership.
Although the home defeat meant that the Gunners could still potentially go on to beat Man City to the title, it was hard for fans not to turn their attention to the deluge of rainwater that began dumping on various parts of the stadium, which continues to look more and more out of date every year.
It is by no means the first time we’ve seen Man United’s home ground leaking – even sparking the ‘Old Trafford is falling down’ chant from opposing supporters throughout the EFL – but the footage captured this Sunday might be some of the most damning.
This is not the kind of conditions fitting of somewhere long referred to as the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.
In truth, Erik ten Hag‘s defence has been leaky all season, having conceded a record 82 goals since the start of the campaign and famously blowing multiple two-goal leads in various games, but these kinds of scenes do feel rather symbolic of the underlying problems at United.
New co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe reportedly sent around a mass email condemning the “disgraceful” state of the Carrington Training Complex earlier this month and it seems he now has his most telling example of how the club has been neglected, right down to its infrastructure and the most basic things.
Seeing their food hygiene rating drop from five stars to just one after serving undercooked meat is yet another example of how not only have the facilities been left to rot but the standards have slipped over the past 10-11 years.
It’s not just that the brand of football being seen isn’t up to the level of Sir Alex Ferguson, it’s that literal debris has been spotted falling in the concourse, transfers have been botched and the outrage from fans has become so great that they broke into the stadium whilst protesting just a few short years ago.
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The list goes on and what’s even more indicative of this gradual downfall than anything is that fans now find themselves in the unpleasant position of having to potentially swallow losses against rivals like Arsenal in the hopes that they might stop City from winning a record-fourth division title in a row.
Over the past decade or so, the ‘noisy neighbours’ have gone on to become treble winners, Liverpool returned to their former glory with a Premier League and another European title, Arsenal could be set to do the same and the Red Devils simply aren’t the threat they once were.
It seems almost hard to believe that Manchester United could still go on to win back-to-back trophies in ten Hag’s first two seasons if they manage to get past Pep Guardiola’s men at Wembley on Saturday, 25 May but, for many, it will still remain merely a plaster slapped over a hole just waiting burst open again.
The Old Trafford flooding isn’t just proof of the shocking state of disrepair it finds itself in but is emblematic of what the Glazers have allowed the club to slip into and just how much work needs to be done by Ratcliffe, INEOS and the new figures working behind the scenes at the club.
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Featured Images — @CameronFozzi/Sky Sports (via X)
Sport
Academy graduate Oscar Bobb is leaving Manchester City on a permanent transfer
Danny Jones
Manchester City youth academy graduate Oscar Bobb is leaving the club after sealing a move to Fulham FC.
Despite plenty of loan interest throughout the January transfer window, the Man City attacker has secured a switch to the in-form West London team on a permanent basis.
Bobb looked increasingly likely to leave in some capacity following the arrival of another winger in the form of instant hit, Antoine Semenyo, but it now looks as though his departure is all but confirmed, bar an imminent official announcement.
As reported by Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the agreement has now been reached between the two clubs pending a full medical today (Thursday, 29 January).
According to Romano, Fulham will pay Man City approximately £27 million for Bobb’s services, who becomes the latest addition in what has already been a fairly busy period of recruitment.
He goes on to add that “City also mantain [a] 20% sell-on clause, matching rights and future control on the player based on his decision.”
There is no suggestion of a buy-back clause at this time, but given his age and having already made a fair few appearances for Pep Guardiola‘s first team, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility to see him return to the club one day.
Bobb also arrives at Craven Cottage following the exit of multiple wingers and offensive options, including Adama Traore, ex-Man United product Andreas Pereira and Arsenal youngster, Reiss Nelson, whose loan deal has expired and has signed another temporary deal at local rivals, Brentford.
A similar scenario played out with James Trafford at the start of this season, though it now looks as though the young keeper could once again leave before the end of the month. Many City supporters understandably have some mixed feelings about both situations.
The young Norwegian winger joined the Etihad Campus back in 2023 and went on to contribute a handful of goals and assists, despite limited appearances and some very unfortunate injury issues.
Only seven months ago, his soon-to-be former parent club released a short video charting his return from the sidelines after fracturing his leg – a setback which kept him out for roughly five months.
Plenty of fans have quickly placed him in the so-called ‘what if?’ category of players, and given that he’s still just 22 years old and has already impressed on a number of ocassions for such a big club, we wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on to have a very exciting career.
Can you see the Blues bringing in or letting anyone else go before deadline day?
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Featured Images — pantkiewicz (via Flickr)/El Loko (via WikiCommons)/Man City (via YouTube)
Sport
Tyson Fury has officially revealed his comeback fight after coming out of ‘retirement’ once again
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury has officially announced the opponent for his comeback fight after yet again returning to professional boxing.
Fury supposedly ‘retired’ for seemingly the umpteenth time last January following his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk the month prior, and some even believed it might have actually been his final outing.
Nevertheless, ‘The Gypsy King’ said he was coming out of retirement once more earlier this year, and now his next match-up has been confirmed.
Revealing the other contender as Aslanbek Makhmudo, the fight will be aired live on Netflix only.
Partnered exclusively with boxing magazine, Ring, the bout between Fury and Makhmudo is the latest big fight night to be picked up by the streaming giants.
The most recent example was, obviously, Anthony Joshua’s brutal knockout of influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul this past December.
Makhmudo, just a year younger than his opposite number, is a fellow experienced heavyweight based mainly out of Canada with a decent pedigree of his own.
The Russian, simply known as ‘The Lion’, has a record of 21 wins – more than half of those coming by KO.
With that in mind, he presents a potentially exciting prospect for the famous Manchester fighter, who hasn’t won a proper competitive fight since the defence of his WBC belt against Derek Chisora in December 2022.
Similarly, this should at least see two very well-seasoned pros going head to head.
He did fight MMA veteran Francis Ngannou in a one-off exhibition, but there was no title or anything tangible on the line.
In fact, even Fury himself admitted it was a “below par” showing.
Many fight fans would argue that there haven’t been enough proper big heavyweight dates since Fury vs Usyk, and even then, we are still yet to get a date for the all-but fully confirmed final fight of the trilogy.
Fury himself did state that the conclusion of their clash is scheduled for this April, but nothing official has been set in stone by any promotion or venue and the new date means it’s even less likely to be any time soon; meanwhile, plenty are still hoping for AJ vs Fury.
The 37-year-old will take on Makhmudo on Saturday, 11 April, and you can bet the world will be watching.
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Featured Images — FurociTV (via YouTube)/Netflix/Ring Magazine/@Mike_DiDomizio(via X)
