It was always going to be an emotional evening at Old Trafford last night. It is unlikely that we will see many of the current crop play for the club again. However the certainities surounding the departure of the club captain Nemanja Vidic and more solemnly the possibility of interim manager Ryan Giggs hanging up his boots made the evening more about them than anyone else.
Vida seemed prepared to give a reasonably worded speech until the Stretford End burst into a chorous of 'Nemanja Vidic, He comes from Serbia, He'll f**kin murder ya'. You could see that it took the words off his head. Sometimes words fall short of expressing one's feelings and that is exactly the tragedy that befell the tough Serb. Being the rock that he is, he probably realised another minute with the microphone would have given way to tears and so he opted to let the fans chant into his speech and leave them with the most heartfelt thank you he could afford.
Up until that point, I had succeeded in holding back any tears, but the floodgates opened when Ryan Giggs paused in his speech to wipe a developing tear from his eye.
We did have a game of football to sit through before all that. James Wilson and Tom Lawrence were handed their club debuts in a bid to show the fans a glimpse of what we can expect moving forward. Wilson in particular took the opportunity with both hands by grabbing two poacher's finishes enroute to becoming an instant social media hit. His brace ensured that he's now scored for the U17s, U18s, U21s and senior side in the same season. You don't build a CV like that in 8 months unless there's something about you. He'll need to keep it up though as one area we're usually fully stocked is the strikers department.
Robin van Persie came off the bench to score a decisive third goal taking his season's tally to 18. In an injury plagued season, that is quite a remarkable figure even by his standards. It almost measures to the conclusion that when fit, he'll make at least 30 as was the case in his debut season. Here's to an injury free 2015 campaign.
The season closes at St Marys on Sunday and the club has chosen to get the season out of the way before they can announce the new manager. Before then, it will be about going through the motions to put to bed an otherwise forgettable season.
Labels: NEMANJA VIDIC, REVIEWS, RYAN GIGGS