Like him or not, Sir Alex Ferguson has a point:

“There’s been a focus on fans’ behaviour and the chants towards Arsene Wenger and other managers. It’s ridiculous and I think the police should be doing more. They should be stepping in.

Manchester United and their supporters should know very well the chants that have been levelled at us over the years — ie Munich — and understand the sensitivity, and the criticism directed at members of the club itself.

I don’t agree with it at all and hopefully our fans appreciate it comes to me too. I hope other clubs share the same views I do.

There is enough to admire in our game without having to denigrate people.”

There’s a fine line between banter, enjoying the game, taking the piss and going overboard with your emotions and actively attacking other fans and their clubs and staff (playing or otherwise), whether those attacks are verbal or physical. As Neil Jones said in his excellent article, perhaps we need to learn again what ‘game’ really means.