Manchester United v West Ham - 04/02/24 2pm KO - Official Match Thread.

Originally Posted by Hyman_Roth

Massive tin hat on but I find all the Munich stuff a bit much tbh. I’m all for it being remembered but do we have to have the flowers of Manchester, lone bag pipe player on the pitch, everyone looking earnest and sad each year? Maybe on its 50th/60th anniversary etc but every year? why can’t we just have that bald ‘do you wanna go faster’ announcer just say that everyone at United is remembering Munich today and leave it at that.

It’s a mournathon.

Reds we weren't even born in 1985 let alone 1958 paying 500 quid+ to check in at Manchesterplatz

Originally Posted by Hyman_Roth

Massive tin hat on but I find all the Munich stuff a bit much tbh. I’m all for it being remembered but do we have to have the flowers of Manchester, lone bag pipe player on the pitch, everyone looking earnest and sad each year? Maybe on its 50th/60th anniversary etc but every year? why can’t we just have that bald ‘do you wanna go faster’ announcer just say that everyone at United is remembering Munich today and leave it at that.

It’s a mournathon.

I think you’re right tbh.

The Munich stuff seemed to go into overdrive after they made, very reasonably, the big deal out of the 50th anniversary back in 08.

Almost as though they felt they couldn’t step back from that for fear of looking like they weren’t paying enough respect.

A minutes silence before the nearest home game and laying a wreath is a perfectly reasonable and proportionate way to commemorate it each year.

Originally Posted by naes_sean

I read that in a scouse accent

Well, yes.

Originally Posted by Dacter

A minutes silence before the nearest home game and laying a wreath is a perfectly reasonable and proportionate way to commemorate it each year.

is what they did this year, only without the minute's silence

Originally Posted by larry

is what they did this year, only without the minute's silence

Well no, They did a 3 minute + rendition of the flowers of Manchester ahead of laying of wreaths. Too much for me. Make the announcement, lay the wreath , move on.

Originally Posted by wiganste

Agree

Not gonna change any of my social media profile pictures to the clock, not gonna do anything differently today,

Noticed a lot of people doing that the last few years. Posting transcripts of the Flowers of Manchester and poems too. Some who have surprised me tbf.

Grief is a commodity across certain media these days.

Maybe I'm being cynical but I don't wear poppies either.

There is certainly a truth to grief being a commodity, something to be marketed and shared, for people to compete and show how much they care and, as with much else in our society, to be seen to care.

I hate all the forced wearing of poppies, the changing your social media profile to the flag or colours of the latest crisis, war or global drama. I wear a poppy, but it goes on for Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, and that’s all. I do it in memory of family members, not to be part of any group.

That said, I think the club still gets it spot on for the Munich memorial each year, and i don’t feel five minutes or so before the home game closest to the date is too much or over the top. I think it’s pretty apt. It’s something that binds everyone connected with the club together. The triumph that came from that adversity is what marks us as different to others. It’s right and proper that we acknowledge them for who they were, for what they could have become, what we became in their memory. Probably more so for the younger generation for whom there is less of a connection.

The social media stuff - nah.

Originally Posted by Hyman_Roth

Massive tin hat on but I find all the Munich stuff a bit much tbh. I’m all for it being remembered but do we have to have the flowers of Manchester, lone bag pipe player on the pitch, everyone looking earnest and sad each year? Maybe on its 50th/60th anniversary etc but every year? why can’t we just have that bald ‘do you wanna go faster’ announcer just say that everyone at United is remembering Munich today and leave it at that.

It’s a mournathon.

Agree. And we normally play absolutely shite on these days. West Ham a welcome exception.Three minutes of bagpipes - £#%&! off.

Club can't win when it comes to Munich.

If they minimise the fuss, people will claim that its being brushed off, and if they make a bigger event of it, some will say we're being "too Scouse".

For me, its one of the most important events in the club's history, and I've never felt the commemoration to have been overly mawkish. Its perhaps the only classy thing the club ever does in the modern day.

The images of Fergie in the crowd at the weekend with Sir Bobby's wife were a poignant reminder of what this club is actually about. To remember the most tragic event in European football history in the way we do, literally for one game every season, is perfectly reasonable IMO.