PRESS BOX VIEW – GUARDIAN

‘This felt like the beginning of the end for Sir Alex Ferguson. That is some statement but what other conclusion is there to draw from a match that concluded with vitriolic abuse being directed at Manchester United's manager from the club's own supporters? How can any shred of optimism be drawn from this defeat when he has been booed for the first time in 16 years? Ferguson was a plain old Mister when it last happened and a knighthood did not spare him on Saturday from being called, among other things, a "disgrace", a "shambles" and "fucking clueless".

A tape recording of this match would tell the whole story. At times one could hear a pin drop. Mostly it was audible disenchantment, not just muted groans but the type of open hostility that nobody could have envisaged. Long before the end the loudest noise inside Old Trafford was of thousands of plastic seats being emptied - a mass walk-out that must have made Ferguson's teeth ache.

The hostility directed at Ferguson after the final whistle was made even more callous when contrasted with the standing ovation for Hughes a few moments earlier. Ferguson cannot even console himself with the thought that it was a one-off, having already been subjected to several angry tirades from behind his dug-out. Once he swivelled as if to face one of his detractors, then decided against it.’

The Glazers are entitled to have expected better than the title to have been conceded before the end of September, and from within Old Trafford as well. Ferguson's players looked confused with their puzzling new formation..

…maybe the fans are targeting the wrong man. In Ryan Giggs's autobiography one small paragraph has largely gone unnoticed. Ferguson has given his assistant Carlos Queiroz the responsibility to "train us, prepare us for games, organise the team and decide the things we need to work on".

So what exactly does Ferguson do, except fall out with the media? If ever there was a match demanding an explanation, this was it. But Ferguson is not speaking to the BBC, the press and, most laughably, the club's own television station, MUTV. And Sky spent the weekend panicking after he took offence to a relatively trivial question about Rooney and ripped off his mic mid-interview. Ferguson should realise the first way he can win back United's fans is by answering their questions. Otherwise the damage to their relationship might become irreparable.’