How red are you?

THE MOST common title on most e-mails, faxes and texts that fans are sending to each other this morning is stark and simple: ‘Manchester United RIP’.

For thousands of us, that is the truth. For perhaps many more, that may reflect their feelings in the heat of rage and despair but it will soon fade. I have no doubt that Old Trafford will continue to attract large, if not capacity, attendances and that to some extent the club’s global march will go on as ‘the brand’ extends itself to the farthest reaches of the planet’s markets. But it is not being melodramatic to say that for the majority of hard-core United fans, this is the darkest day since February 6 1958.

Of course, many are venting their spleen in the direction of Cubic Expression. Some hot heads threaten reprisals; Irish Reds contact their Mancunian friends to express their shame that they share the same passports as Messrs Magnier and McManus. Personally, I can’t get too worked up about them, and most so-called ‘leading Reds’ recognise that directing any action towards the two would be a waste of time and energy. The deal is done: it is already ancient history. Only the future matters now.