Old Trafford was crackling with excitement and anticipation, the fans were abuzz and and even the players seemed a little bit extra pumped up. The cheer and applause when Ryan Giggs walked out of the tunnel , as he had done for the last so many years was deafening, but today was different, today was the first time he walked out as the manager of Manchester United.
As 70,000 pairs of eyes followed his walk to the dugout, and fans cheered him on, the forty one year old who must have experienced such an atmosphere countless times before, couldn't resist a smile as he took his place in the manager's seat. In the dugout, he was accompanied by Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, part of the legendary Class of 92. The players seemed to have an extra leap in their stride and Manchester United were at there clinical best with a resounding 4-0 win over relegation threatened Norwich. Old Trafford reached decibels it has failed to reach in recent times yesterday, with chants that hadn't been heard in while now, once again started to ring around the Theater of Dreams. For a while, the recent problems looming over their club were forgotten, and the red part of Manchester finally united to give Giggs a reception worthy for kings.
What a week it has been for Manchester United, losing at the hands of Everton, Moyes getting sacked and the Class of 92 taking over. Moyes's sacking send ripples all around the footballing world, I didn't expect a club of the stature of United to sack a manager to whom they had given a six year contract in 10 months. Stepping into the boots of Sir Alex was always going to be difficult , and even the top managers in the world would have had a run for their money. Sacking Moyes was a mistake but appointing him a bigger one. You don't make a person, who has not won a single trophy in his entire managerial career and who's only experience in the Champions League is two qualifiers against Villareal, the manager of Manchester United. Moyes lacked the mentality to be a manager of such a high profile club, and just didn't have the winning mentality to carry out such a job. But if you have chosen him, you don't sack him before he has completed even one season
The Class of 92 taking over almost seemed inevitable , but it has caused great excitement , none more so in the United camp, imagine a training session watched over by Scholes and Giggs. They will all command the highest of respect from the players, which wasn't the case with Moyes, with many players questioning his training methods and also his CV. But it will still take some time for the players to get accustomed to taking orders from Giggs, who until Sunday was team member. It's a bit like taking orders in school from a friend who has been made prefect, you joke around with him, but in the end know that he has full authority. He will know what exactly the players feel, being one at the club for 23 years, and what they expect and want from a manager. Giggs and co will be able to get the best out of players like Cleverly and Kagawa.
The decision to appoint Giggs was one well received by the fans, one of their own was going to be taking over their club. The game must have passed in a blur for Giggs, but will live long in the minds of the United faithful. United have had a treacherous season this year, but despite bad form in recent times, the result on Saturday seemed as if it had been decided before, there was no way United could lose. Giggs chose an attacking side, that was very easy on the eyes and yesterday , for the first time this season they played like former champions ! It is still unknown if Giggs will be given the post permanently, or if someone like Van Gaal will take over, and what the future is for United but one thing is certain, the remaining two games of the season are going to eventful for the fans, and more so for the players.
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