The Morrison Obituaries

We all fancy ourselves armchair managers or voyeurs who can predict a line-up or substitution or a transfer. We sit at home, pint in hand, and we figure that we know what’s best for our club. And a few weeks ago when the rumor mill was churning about the end of the transfer window and who would/wouldn’t be leaving their clubs, all of our eyes shifted to the rumors about our Ravel Morrison. The enigmatic player who had only made 3 League Cup appearances was suddenly the talk of the United Kingdom. The buzz about this player was a mix of the good and the bad. The best academy player since Scholes mixed with the attitude of someone like Balotelli. In his limited appearances for the club, he had become a cult legend. If he made the bench, Twitter exploded. If he made it on the pitch, Twitter imploded. The only thing that was for certain was that all Reds wanted him to come through the ranks and live up to the billing he brought with him. As of January 31st, that door closed with the closing of the transfer window.

In the article “Morrison vs. Morrison” I wrote two weeks before the window closed, I wrote down what I felt would most likely happen. On 1/31, those hunches, and fears, were realized when he left for West Ham. People took to the Internet to vent their frustrations that we couldn’t hold on to him or to lambast him for wanting to leave. As much as it hurts to see such a talent leave our club, the one thing people shouldn’t be is surprised. His exit was in the making years ago. I was never sure how bright his star would shine, but I always feared it wouldn’t be brightest in Manchester. Morrison is a tabloid’s wet dream. I’ve been to Manchester, and as lovely as it is, the city isn’t big enough for our club and for Morrison. It was a showdown in the vein of the OK Corral. When the dust settled, there was really only one outcome and it was Morrison riding off into the sunset, destined for a life outside the city of Manchester.

People speculated where he’d go. People speculated what the fee would be. People speculated as to whether it would be a loan or a permanent deal. First, people were sure he was going to Italy. Then people were sure he’d be loaned out. People thought he might end up at City. Then we read that he was headed for the Championship on a permanent deal. Cue a wave. What I will say is that I’ve never been fickle on my thoughts about Morrison. You can see them in my articles. You can see them in my tweets. If he didn’t want to be here, then I didn’t want him here. It was that simple. I refuse to believe that you can fundamentally change who someone is. As promising as this talent was, it just wasn’t meant to be and that really shouldn’t be a shock to anyone.

The UK is a place where nothing is off-limits in the press and tabloids. So, it was really a match made in heaven. The bad boy from up north comes riding into London, baggage in tow. No doubt we’ll read about Morrison getting into an early morning fight in a bar with the hooligans on Green Street. No doubt we’ll read about a row he’s gonna have with Big Sam. No doubt we’ll read about some (and watch some) lovely goals at West Ham. The kid has raw talent, there’s no denying that. But the kid also has some raw emotions and manners. That equation never yields truly predictable results. In the end, I feel that he just wasn’t destined for United. Seems he is destined for the newspapers.

Follow me on Twitter at @JasTheDevil




About Steve Ferguson 886 Articles
Steve Ferguson had taken over & re-branded The Faithful MUFC website back in the summer of 2014 and is now the owner and editor of the site. Steve, from Ashton-Under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, is a 35-year-old life long Manchester United fan, travelling over the globe to see the Reds play. Steve has been lucky enough to be at both the 1999 and 2008 Champions League finals, seeing Manchester United lift the biggest trophy in the World, none more exciting than that faithful night in Barcelona in 99. The website is a blog, but also hopes to deliver the latest Manchester United news from around the internet too, linked up with our growing twitter account which is @TheFaithfulMUFC, give it a follow as we will follow you back as soon as we can.

2 Comments

  1. You’ve TOTALLY missed the point, haven’t you? Nowhere does it say that Manchester isn’t big enough for the club, does it? I was using the “this place isn’t big enough for the both of us” comparison.

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