News!

So, what's been happening on this filthy little planet of ours in the last week? Well, it would be impossible to ignore the earthquake that hit China yesterday, killing over 500 people and destroying the lives of many more. What an awful tragedy. An acquaintance of mine has recently moved to China so I kept my eye on this, although according to Google maps (which is fantastic by the way) he would appear to be quite far away from the epicentre. Is it me or are there more natural disasters happening recently? If you haven't seen the movie 2012 yet then I suggest that you do in order to get a quick insight into how our lives will unfold over the next few years. I'm not ready for the end of the world. I haven't skydived yet.

Barack Obama hosted a summit of the world's leaders to discuss rounding up all the 'loose' uranium in order to keep it away from all the baddies. From what I can understand, the most important deal to come out of this conference is the turning over of some of Canada's uranium to the United States. Yeah, great. I feel safer now. What are the peace-loving Canadians going to do with a load of uranium anyway? Once they worked out they couldn't smoke it, they were bound to hand it over to the US eventually. They probably traded it for a ounce of Cali-green and a bag of Cool Ranch chips.

Gordon Brown has announced that the General Election will be held on the 6th May. I haven't yet decided whether or not to go to the trouble of registering as an overseas voter. Mainly because I'm not sure if I'd vote even if I was in the country. I think the UK is going to shit and I'm worried for the future of my country, but I don't see a single person stepping up and saying what needs to be said. Brown's an idiot, David Cameron is a fucking idiot and I don't think that, yet, a Lib Dem vote is worth anything. I expect to see a Conservative government in place for the first time since I hit puberty, and I would not be surprised if the scumbags, racists and idiots rise up and spit their poisonous votes at the BNP. Back home, we need a complete revamp on our priorities, our beliefs and our politics and there is nobody standing for election who will offer that. It will be Prime Minister Cameron, mark my words, and the descent into chaos will continue unabated.

And finally, a quick word on United's results over the last week or so and how this leaves us for the rest of the season.

Fucked.

We crashed out of the Champions League - a two-leg defeat to Munich punctuated by a 2-1 loss at home to Chelsea -  and followed that up with a pathetic 0-0 draw at Blackburn that has left us 4 points behind Chelsea with 4 games to go. On Saturday we cross town to play City, a team who's current form is almost as strong as my hatred for them, and Chelsea are away at Spurs, who just beat local rivals Arsenal last night. We have to win all our remaining games (that aren't easy) and hope that Chelsea drop points. And they're ahead on goal difference. It's not looking good.

It's a strange thing being a United fan in your early (ish) 20's, because we have never known failure. I have never been aware of a time when United were not the most successful team in the country. My mum and dad, who grew up watching the Busby Babes of the late 60's, had to watch in horror as the team fell apart and descended into mediocrity, culminating in the previously unthinkable relegation to the old Division 2 in 1974. So, it can happen. And with the way things are - Fergie reaching the age where retirement or, I'm sad to say, death, are around the corner; the rise of the foreigner investment allowing sup-par teams like Chelsea and City the fast track to success; the huge debt that United are currently riddled with - I can see a time in the near future where this extended run of glory will come to an end and United will be another team fighting each season simply to stay in the Premiership and keep ticking over. A Tottenham Hotspur, an Aston Villa, or - god forbid - a Liverpool.

This is not a gross over-reaction to us failing to win the League this season - I know we can't win it every year - it is an observation of what is going on in modern-day football, and an acknowledgement that in the club's current situation, we are unable to compete. We can't pay the transfer fees of the top, top players and are relying on scouts to find us bargains. That's fine when you come up with a Cristiano Ronaldo, but that doesn't happen all the time. I hope I'm wrong, and that the club can find a way to evolve without selling it's soul like they've done at Stamford Bridge and Middle Eastlands.

But - and it breaks my heart to say it - I don't think it can.

Love, Smithy x