Manchester was a complete mess just a couple of months ago, following the dreadful behaviour of travelling Rangers fans to watch their team in the UEFA Cup final.

Following the failure of one of the screens as well as a defeat for the Scottish side, the Rangers fans went mental, destroying our city.

As a consequence, it was announced that Manchester United would not be allowed to parade their Premier League trophy through the streets. The European Cup final was to follow in the next week, but even a victory in Moscow wouldn’t change Manchester City Council’s mind.

“There will not be a parade immediately following the Uefa final next week but details are being discussed to organise an event which may take place during the summer,” read the statement.

Albert Scanlon, one of the Babes, condemned this decision, taking a swipe at the city council.

“All they’re doing is punishing their own people for their own mistakes. It wasn’t the people of Manchester’s fault what happened on Wednesday. It was shambolic,” he said. “It is all down to their own mistakes with Rangers which has condemned the United fans out of hand. If we win, the only place you will be able to see the cup is at Old Trafford, but not everyone can be there.”

Owen Hargreaves has today echoed these sentiments, claiming all the players, as well as everyone else at the club, is bitterly disappointed that they couldn’t share their success with the fans.

The trophies have been shown to our fans in the pre-season tour and will be revealed at Old Trafford before our friendly against Juventus next month. However Hargreaves believes that the fans should have been given the opportunity to celebrate with the players and trophies immediately following our success in Moscow.

“This is a belated opportunity for the fans to see the cups because obviously we did not have a celebration afterwards,” said Hargreaves. “However, it really is something that should have been done as soon as we came back. Everyone was disappointed it did not happen – the players, the staff and the fans. Trophies such as that are the culmination of so much hard work. It doesn’t happen very often, so it is a shame something could not be set up. It is something that needs to be looked at because Manchester United could not be blamed for what happened at the UEFA Cup Final.”