I can honestly say I have never met a Manchester United fan who is actually from Manchester

Down here in London, I am good mates with a guy from Bradford.

Who when he wants to point out a contentious issue, will say something along the lines of “just saying like” as a suffix to whatever point he wanted to make.

It’s a defensive line that allows you to go into whatever offensive point you want to make.

So, if he was with us, he would say something along the lines of “Notts Forest are rubbish”… “just saying like”.

Or “That Shelvey fella is a waste of space”… “just saying like” All, said in a heavy Yorkshire accent.

Well, we were really disappointed with last weekend’s result at Villa, I had hoped to be there as it was the away game closest to my son’s birthday and I had promised him an away game as a present (we went to Norwich away last season and what a day out we had).

I have previously stated in the past that I hate Manchester United in an article on The Mag. Some of my woke Guardian reading friends read that article the other week and called me out for hating, saying that hatred was such a negative force in life.

Well, I can honestly say I have never met a Manchester United fan who is actually from Manchester, though they normally claim to have some tenuous family link to that area.

I work with a lifelong Manchester United fan who is actually from the Isle of Wight! He’s a friendly knowledgeable chap, quite witty, who does actually attend games at Old Trafford.

All the supposed Man U fans I have met have not been people I would want to be around for very long. My work colleague, especially when conversation comes round to football, becomes the works bore that you can’t wait to get away from. I haven’t spoken to him since the last conversation I had with him about football as he just could not wait to use the phrase “blood money” and the classic “it’s amazing what spending a load of money can do for a team” even though technically this is untrue, and nothing but biased media reporting that has manipulated a situation to influence people’s thoughts towards Newcastle.

People I find are generally lazy when it comes to finding out what is actually happening in the world, which allows for poor coverage going unchallenged.

I know there are solid Man U fans out there, who are Manchester born and bred, and I have witnessed their mob, while drinking in Kings Cross after games, and even having a stand-off (putting it politely) with them in the dark days of the late eighties.

Before the League Cup semi-finals, I had quite a few London youngsters where I work, telling me “We will beat you in the final.”

The use of the word ‘we’ makes me shake my head at the lack of knowledge and understanding of what they are actually saying. These are the citizens of the future who will continue to perpetrate what the media fills their heads with.

My riposte to these ill-guided comments was to simply say “Newcastle are gonna beat Forest in the final” but alas, it was not to be. Me and my Forest mate and our young lads, were fated not to be watching our teams do battle.

So, on Sunday, me and my son and the Forest lads, will be watching women’s football together and then the Spurs game afterwards.

Another weekend double bill of football.

A couple of pints of Peckham pale ale pitchside is planned (one of the reasons I don’t want Dulwich Hamlet’s men’s team to get promoted is this luxury of drinking pitchside will be stopped, so I am told), followed by a couple more pints watching the lads play Spurs on TV in the club bar, and hopefully getting back to winning ways.

At this juncture, I just need to send a message, to all my woke Guardian reading friends, but in the words of my Bradford City supporting mate “I rather dislike Man U somewhat” No that’s not right, is it? “I effing hate Man U”… “Just saying like.”