THE BUSBY WAY

February 6, 1958. A day etched in every Man Utd fan's mind and imagination. An all conquering team set to win the historic treble fought cold and snow and a tough away fixture against Yugoslovia's Red Star Belgrade side  and managed a 3-3 draw. They landed at the Munich airport for refueling. Hopes were high after finally qualifying for the semi finals of the European cup. Hope is a traitor. A slush of snow at the Munich runway caused a bad take -off  which resulted in a tragic accident. At that stage in the premier league, the so called "Busby babes" were on a eleven game unbeaten streak  and were six points behind leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers with fourteen games to go. A group of young and fearless footballers attempting to achieve the rather impossible were stopped by nature. Few of the most precious gems in football were lost, some were scarred and injured which made them unfit to put on the soccer shoes anymore. The chants of "MANU-RE... MANU-RE"  began at the away fixtures mocking the Munich disaster victims as fertlisers for the paddy fields of Munich.

Man united never really recovered from it, but they managed to win the league in four years time. The chants still continued and so did " the Busby way" of football at Old Trafford. The galleries of the stadium continued to witness the dreams of numerous young and unproven talents produce masterclass and carve a niche for themselves at the walls of Old Trafford.  That is why it is called the Theatre of Dreams. Years passed by and we were still the anti-incumbents. The Reds of Liverpool had a golden era of two decades. There were the "glorious" Blackburn Rovers and the often threatening Leeds. A Scottish man, a former toolmaker and Aberdeen coach was introduced at the helm of affairs at Man united. He slowly established himself and earned the faith of the people who called for his head after the initial failures. Then came the year 1992. An excellent breed of British footballers with the right desire and ability came up through the ranks at Old Trafford. Fondly called as the 'Class of 92' by the faithful; David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville etc began the golden era. The boys needed someone to look up to, someone who could free them of their "school boy obedience" and inject some creativity and fearlessness in their young minds, and the Gaffer looked up to a certain Eric Cantona, the bad boy of  football stating mildly. He could have been a negative influence on the kids, they could have simply fallen apart then but the Scot had faith in his lads and more importantly understood the need for a little eccentricity! The kids loved him and he loved them back, the gaffer looked from the stands,  smiled and nodded at the brilliance on show.

Liverpool were knocked off their perch permanently and Cantona  knocked a few within and outside the fields. 'All geniuses are a little weird', understood Fergie. The cries of "OOh aaH Cantona" never died in his absence. I guess that is what separates Sir Alex Ferguson from the rest. If you could remember the likes of Ronaldinho and Mario Balotelli were shown the door at Barca and Inter by Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho respectively. Sir Alex had more patience with his lads, he understood the different geniuses; Roy Keane was one among them. He handed him the captain's armband, the year of 1999. It was time to announce the world that the Busby babes were not manure for the Paddy fields of Munich but were sown as seeds in the sands of time. It was time to realize the dream, the Historic treble loomed large and what stood in front of us were a team from Munich and time. Four minutes remaining and 1-o down when David Beckham stood to take a corner. The fearless United keeper Peter Schmeichel left his goal post and jogged to the bayern area to leave the crowd in the penalty box bewildered. A weak shot from Giggs was deflected to goal by Sheringham.  "Why did the gaffer buy Sheringham, why Solsjkaer??" they needed to be answered right? Yes they were that night, Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer, the baby faced striker from Norway scored the winning goal in extra time to silence the critics. Now that was a goal worth more than 50 million pounds. Sir Alex Ferguson, the toolmaker, the ageless Scot achieved what Sir Matt Busby set to achieve. We play the Busby way then and now and forever. At United we have our values and we have our morales. We the fans, were labelled "Glory hunters" by the rest. But the truth is that we were , are and forever will be the anti-incumbents. We fail, we suffer but still we love United. Our reign was always questioned, we were never  invincible, we saw off Liverpool and then came the challenge from the Gunners and the Blues. We tamed them and then rose the Catalunia. The neighbours got richer and noisier.

Sir Alex Ferguson is a fighter, we trust in him unlike clubs who change managers like half time jerseys. He will probably not rest until he has conquered those challenges. He will but dream, as another new chapter unfolds in the club's history. The class of '92 will reincarnate anew, the Holy Trinity will continue to bless their dreams and Sir Matt Busby will watch over again as the boys turn into men. " Can United score??, YES THEY HAVE" will again be said by awestruck commentators. KEEP THAT TROPHY SHINING HOLDERS, WE ARE COMING!!