Yesterday was no exception. United save some of their best moans for defeats at the hands of Southampton and I'm sure we all still remember the shirts being the wrong colour.
According to Phil Neville it was the pitch, which just wasn't wet enough for them. Oddly enough, Southampton certainly had no trouble pinging passes around and United looked to be able to do it too. It's a scary thought to think that the champions rely more on the moisture in the pitch than on their own talent.
As for Alex Ferguson, well he tried to be nice about it, but his instincts to be a moaning arse were just too strong.
Succumbing to the dark side of petulance, he had a pop at out striker. You know, the one that actually managed to put the ball in the net unlike his own.
"Beattie is a good, old fashioned centre-forward", said Sir Moanalot who must have been looking at the betting form rather than watching Beattie's excellent all round game.
"He causes you problems," continued the United boss, his red nose getting brighter with each piece of nonsense."He is powerful in the air but his goal was not about climbing above anyone, it was just falling and nodding it into the net."
So Beattie merely stumbled into the path of the ball. No talent involved. That's odd because everyone else in the ground saw a nice little run, a good jump and a nice finish to cap of a rather excellent performance.
Of course, a man who spends so much time around horses, knows the value of a good whinny and Ferguson went on to claim that Tim Howard had got pushed for the goal.
"He had an excellent game, absolutely superb," he said of his American 'keeper who would never just stumble into the path of anything."He felt he had a little push on the goal but I didn't see that." No reason to mention it then is there Sir Moanalot ?
On the overall game Ferguson sniffed,"We didn't deserve to win but maybe a draw was fair. There were few chances and little inspiration. Saints made it difficult but you can't deny them victory. We've got over these difficulties before but the season is a long one and you don't win anything at this time of year."
From those looking to emulate the United boss, hopefully minus his childish antics, remember the following from the above quote. The team that wins doesn't always deserve to do so, never give your opponents credit for completely shutting your side down in every department, and don't bother working out tactics or training for the opening month as you're not going to win anything anyway. Top coaching tips there. Repeat after me, Denial, denial, denial.
With the fun and games out of the way we can now here from a manager who had really successful times at Aberdeen and Manchester United and who has since developed into a fine coach and manager. Gordon Strachan said. "I'm very pleased, and our season started today. It was plodding with our first three draws, but now
our season's under way."
"I am delighted with how hard we worked. The more you work the luckier you get. James had maybe a bit of luck with his goal but he deserved it for all the work he put in.
"And we defended so well as a team. It wasn't panic defending. It was ordered and disciplined. I am delighted with the performance and the result. It means the season has finally started for us. And it makes the three draws we had in the first three games look half decent."
Concerning the Beattie and Phillips partnership Strachan said: "It's a bit too early to say what the partnership between Beattie and Kevin Phillips will achieve, but they looked superb on the opening day of the season," he said after the match.
"They both scored at Leicester, but after then we had two blanks and people began to wonder. But they've both got four years on their contracts so we've plenty of time to judge them.
"Obviously I'm very pleased with this result which means that the season has finally started for us. It makes the three previous draws looks half decent."
"We had plodded along for three games but those draws now look good results with this win on top of them.
"We have six points and we are still unbeaten so we can be pleased with ourselves.
"We are getting back to where we were last season. To beat the champions is great.
"I don’t think they have been beaten in the Premiership in 2003 so that a big achievement – and we kept a clean sheet as well so it says a lot for the team.
"I think it is a big highlight for everybody, we have all enjoyed it.
"We make no apologies for the fact that we are very, very happy – that is one of the best teams in the world that we have beaten today.
"I am happy with the way that we played today and I think the hunger that we showed at the end of last season was starting to show again.
"The two guys up front dictated the pace at which we played and also the pace at which they played.
"They were the first line of defence for us, they kept the tempo high and determined how long we kept the ball and how soon Manchester United had to pass it."