Just like old times as Ryan Giggs keeps his promise to bring back smiles

Ryan Giggs, Manchester United's interim manager, did not take long to recall the Ferguson era at Old Trafford. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images

The sun shone on a late afternoon that had the Manchester United crowd smiling again now Ryan Giggs had supplanted David Moyes as manager. A week described as "a whirlwind" by the Welshman, who was given the job on an interim basis, was expected to end in cathartic victory.

The roar that greeted Giggs as he strode from tunnel to dugout would be the soundtrack to a new era – despite his truncated four-match tenure – in which United would rediscover the champagne football lost under Moyes.


Giggs, who slipped effortlessly into the role during Friday's first press briefing, had warned that 17th-placed Norwich City would arrive "fighting for their lives". The opening half of his "reign" hardly proved scintillating, though the feelgood factor ensured a step up in tempo. United dominated but passes still went awry, touch could be clumsy and the pattern sideways.

Giggs, looking sharp in club suit and shiny black shoes, prowled the technical area occasionally. When Norwich broke they did so at a pace that troubled United, who could be as flat-footed as in the worst times under the old manager.

After the travails of Moyes's doomed 10-month spell, during which the Scot did not retain the same XI once for his 51 matches in charge, Giggs's lineup for his inaugural game was a first point of intrigue. This would offer a clue to his United vision and signal whose slate was wiped clean now Moyes was gone.

It did not disappoint. Giggs dropped Juan Mata to the bench and Marouane Fellaini was left out of the squad. In one fell swoop £64.6m of Moyes's buys (his only two) appeared of questionable value, while Shinji Kagawa was recalled, along with Tom Cleverley and Rio Ferdinand.

To explain this, Giggs had said: "The preparation's been good, and I just want to go out and enjoy it now. It's been surreal. Leaving players out has been the hardest part. To be honest I could have picked two teams. But that's why I'm in a job, I have to do it. Danny Welbeck scored at Norwich earlier this season, while Shinji Kagawa scored a hat-trick against them last season. That was in my thinking. Marouane Fellaini's unfortunate not to make the bench but he'll be involved in the coming weeks. I'd like to put my stamp on things, whether or not it's just for four games."
Some 32 minutes in and Cleverley suggested why Moyes had not fancied him. The United No23 took aim with a shot inside the area only to fashion one of those embarrassing miskicks that has the stadium in stunned silence before jeers break out. Still, the best move before the break derived from Kagawa, another of the Moyes forgotten men. The Japanese scooped a pass out to Phil Jones on the right then ran into the area. When the defender flicked the ball over it was Kagawa's right boot that nearly opened the scoring.

Moments later Wayne Rooney did, when Steven Whittaker pulled down Welbeck and Lee Probert awarded a penalty that was converted by the Merseysider.
During the first half a plane trailed a banner that said: "Thank U Moyes – Malta FF", apparently from a group of football fans on the island. It followed the one last month that informed Moyes he was

"The Wrong One". Twenty-three seasons as United's most decorated footballer make Giggs a bona fide club legend and always "The Right One" in this parish. Yet nearly a quarter of a century on from his debut against Everton in this stadium, Giggs admitted feeling odd when sitting down to pen a first column as manager. "I've supported United all my life and I've been connected with the club since I was at school," he wrote. "It's the rock which my life has been built on and I can promise you that I will give this job the best I can in the last four games of the season."

As Giggs sent his players out for the second half he was 45 minutes from what was craved: a maiden win. When Rooney doubled the score by beating John Ruddy from distance only three minutes into the period the place relaxed, and the occasion could be enjoyed. Mata, on for Welbeck in Giggs's 4-3-3, confirmed the result with two strikes that allowed United to canter home.

Giggs had joined George Clarence "Lal" Hilditch as United's only player-manager. Hilditch took over in October 1926, earned less than £500 a year, and lasted 31 games in a six‑month tenure that remains the shortest of all United gaffers.

The club are pursuing Louis van Gaal to be the next full-time manager and Giggs seems certain to beat Hilditch's record for now. Do not be surprised if he is back one day, though, this time as the permanent No1.