EPL Monday commentary by Nick Webster ---
voice of EPL on Fox Soccer Channel ---
posted on http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/soccer

All raging fires eventually burn out, leaving behind
nothing but ash and memories.

On Saturday at the Riverside I witnessed the blazing,
volcanic inferno that was once Sir Alex Ferguson
reduced to just a few wisps of smoke as his Manchester
United side was clinically dismantled by
his former pupil, Steve McClaren.

In the past, a performance as limp-wristed as this
would have had SAF steaming and alarm bells ringing in
the technical area. His cheeks would turn a brilliant
red, the gum he chews so intently
would've been pulverized and lip-readers around the
world would've have felt their ears tingle. But it
didn't happen at the home of Middlesbrough, where Man
United went down 4-1.

I like — many other pundits — have made the mistake of
writing off
SAF in the past only to see the Scotsman charge back
and rub our
noses in the ridiculous folly that he is passed his
sell-by-date.
However, his reaction during the battering at the
hands of Boro
spoke volumes. He just sat there 'mummy-like';
unmoving, emotionless
and seemingly unable to provide the inspiration his
team was in
desperate need of.

Please remember that this was quite simply a
'must-win' game for the
Red Devils as they began the start of the day ten
points behind
Chelsea, with a game in hand. Three points were
critical with the
fixture against the Blues looming next weekend at the
Theater of
Dreams.

A win against the champions along with maximum points
in their make-
up game against Wigan and all of a sudden the gap
between them and
Chelsea would've have been just four points — game on,
title race
alive. But not now and not ever again at this
uninspiring rate.

The fact is this: dominating clubs have dominating
leadership in all
facets of the organization. You just have to glance at
the side that
is currently pulverizing English football as they
boast Roman
Abramovich in the stands, Jose Mourinho on the
sidelines and Frank
Lampard on the pitch.

United has a mystery ownership that rarely appears at
Old Trafford
(I have it on good authority that the Glazers don't
even show up for
board meetings), Fergie who is fast becoming a spent
force and a
cavernous hole in midfield where Roy Keane or his
world-class
replacement should be.

The look or lack thereof Sir Alex gave Mr. Casual, Rio
Ferdinand,
when he was substituted with three minutes left told
the story of a
man up a creek without a paddle. I could just see him
thinking, "I
spent $53 million on this. A man I defended staunchly
and paid
handsomely when he was suspended. A man who demanded a
huge pay
raise at the beginning of the season and got it. A man
who has as
much fire burning in his belly as a snuffed out
match."

To rub it in, Mr. Casual didn't even look that
embarrassed when he
came off even though he'd been taken to the cleaners
twice by Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink and Aiyegbeni Yakubu!

This is now a team that is searching for an identity.
Without Keane,
Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, the heart that drove the
club to
greatness is barely beating. Throw in the increasingly
ineffective
Paul Scholes — who incredibly still hasn't scored this
season — and
a distracted Cristiano Ronaldo, and United is nothing
but a poor
man's Manchester City. Change is needed and I think it
will happen
soon.

The Glazers — who have spent a lot of money on this
product — aren't
going to sit around and watch their investment go down
the toilet.
At the start of the campaign, conventional wisdom said
that they
would give SAF a year because of two factors. One was
the opposition
to their takeover was so big and two was that you
can't fire the
most successful manager in the history of English
football. But hey —
what have you won recently?

I'm going to bet the house that before the end of the
season SAF
will either resign or unthinkably be sacked and that
Martin O'Neill
will be installed as the new guvnor of Manchester
United. O'Neill in
so many ways is the re-incarnation of Fergie except
for the fact
that he isn't burnt out on the Manchester scene. He is
bright,
young, ambitious and more than ready for the challenge
of managing
the second biggest club in the world.

Regardless of what happens next Sunday against
Chelsea, I firmly
believe the end of the SAF era is close at hand. It is
simply
impossible to keep that fire and intensity that has
burned so deeply
in the soul of the Scotsman for the past 20 years
alive. He knows it
and now after witnessing his demeanor on Saturday, we
all know it.

Until then, get the beers in...







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