I pointed out Manchester United dressing room issues and was banned

During a heated discussion with a Manchester United player outside the team coach at Southampton last season, the player asked me, "Do you support us?"

I informed him, "Journalism is an impartial industry."

The exchange ended with the player having more of an understanding of what the role of a United correspondent entails. I stressed to him I had "criticised and praised every player on that coach".

We are accused of being negative. The irony is players, players' relatives, managers, fans and press officers home in on the negative more.

A United player's father contacted me over a story he was unhappy with. Had he seen this piece about his son, trumpeting his development and community work? No, he hadn't.

Around a month before Erik ten Hag stepped into the Old Trafford press conference room and pressed the flesh of journalists to engage with the British press for the first time, this correspondent lunched with a senior staff member.

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United were approaching a transition period under new chief executive Richard Arnold and Karen Shotbolt, the long-serving press officer, left at the end of the 2021-22 season. Among the various trivial matters discussed, the topic turned to the dressing room issues.

I flagged some abusive emails that I continued to receive from the relative of a player, citing it as an example of the toxic culture within the squad and the need for tangible changes.

Whether the staff member passed on the information he was furnished with is unknown. But, as Jose Mourinho once said, the problems are still there.

One of United's summer signings is represented by the same PR whose clientele includes disgruntled