http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/footba...rticle/285120/
Brace yourselves, Manchester
Tue Sep 14 08:52AM
The greatest show on earth returns, and Manchester is bracing itself for an invasion not seen since Attila and his pals' 5th century rampage through Italy.
The Champions League group stage kicks off tonight, as Manchester United host Rangers in the now seemingly annual Anglo-Scottish derby, games that are usually fairly uneventful - on and off the pitch.
The picture above is one ED lovingly cherishes and often brings out at weddings, Christmas and other family gatherings.
It is a tear-jerking snapshot of Rangers' 2-0 2008 UEFA Cup final defeat to Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester, an image that is almost touching.
In case you don't remember, the loss to Arshavin and co. was followed by scenes of (mostly ticketless) Rangers fans trashing Manchester before getting a shoeing from riot cops.
ED is not sure if the lads photographed were looking for trouble or merely got caught up in the ruckus: they don't look like the toughest of nuts and the desperate clinging to multiple fags hardly exudes a sense of strength and vitality.
Had it been taken in a developing country, the photographer - Darren Staples of Reuters - could well have been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
While Glasgow is a former European Capital of Culture (although bizarrely, given its relative achievements, Manchester has been so far ignored), ED regularly pounds the battle-worn streets of Feltham - whose Friday night scenes are nothing short of Third World - and believes the United Kingdom to be at the brink of descent into shambles.
But the good people of the People's Republic of Mancunia needn't worry, not least because any Rangers fans' beef would be with the Old Bill, not United supporters.
And in a move that sounds as complex as it is crude, Greater Manchester Police are caging Rangers fans at Wigan's DW Stadium before handing them tickets closer to kick-off time - presumably to induce sobriety before minimising contact with humans.
It echoes Rome's attempts to appease Attila, returning miscreant renegades in exchange for guaranteed peace in their empire.
Don't hold out for a lengthy ceasefire though - history shows that Rome's tactic eventually backfired, with Attila and cronies resuming hostilities and ultimately negotiating a fat bribe to hold back, before Attila's ego spiralled out of control and all-out war was declared.
Whatever happens at Old Trafford and the surrounding areas, the return leg in Glasgow could prove interesting...
can hear the bloo mails being typed
MUFC 1977 - death... 
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