The original version of the chant from the Old Trafford away end was first belted out about Carlos Tevez by those in the home section.
Manchester United fans tweaked it from the "who's that man we all adore" to "that money-grabbing w---e" when his billboard graced Deansgate in the summer of 2009. Mason Mount was subjected to the latter lyrics by
Chelsea fans in December. Mount often sits in the directors' box when he is injured but he kept his distance for the reunion. If Mount was in the stadium, he would have been in the hospitality box he shares with Luke Shaw in the Stretford End. The Chelsea fans' noise may not have carried that far. On Thursday, Mount will arrive at Stamford Bridge as a visitor for the first time in his career. It is not uncommon for visiting players to high five waiting fans as they walk towards the entrance but Mount could get a cold reception. READ MORE: United's pre-match preparations for Brentford make you wonder what they talked about READ MORE: Ten Hag hints why Garnacho went down the tunnel after he was substituted According to a well-placed United source, Mount spoke with
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp in January last year and Mikel Arteta felt a deal was all but done. That Mount had the courtesy to record a farewell message the day before his unveiling by United did little to assuage Chelsea's followers who now refer to him as the "t--t from Portsmouth". Mount's return is auspiciously timed for United. He has been energetic in both cameos since returning from a four-month absence with muscular problems and the second at Brentford was crowned with a first goal for the club. Mount was minutes away from his image gracing every back page in the country. Instead, his maiden United goal was not even mentioned in Erik ten Hag's press conference. Still, Mount has had a progressive build-up to what would be a first
Premier League start in nearly five months. That was so long ago it was the reverse fixture against Brentford and Mount, moved to the right-hand side that day, was hooked in the 63rd minute. Mount was signed as a central midfielder and has started on the wing but it would be logical to move him to the middle back at Chelsea. Ten Hag did not sign Mount to solely occupy a central midfield berth and he deployed him as the No.10 in the pre-season friendly defeat to
Real Madrid, with Bruno Fernandes shifted to the right. Substantial changes to the starting XI are warranted after the draw with Brentford, United's worst performance of a season already littered with 16 defeats. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo is clearly United's most balanced midfield pair and Alejandro Garnacho will have five days to recover from a taxing week that began with a full debut for
Argentina against Costa Rica in
Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Mount looked to have won it at Brentford Garnacho headed straight down the tunnel when he was substituted and did not re-emerge. Mainoo was subdued having been unwell only two days earlier. The teenagers can be cut some slack. United matchgoers are almost always warm with returning players, which made the caustic reception for Angel Di Maria such a jolt in February 2019. Tevez was predictably booed and there were murmurs of disapproval when Romelu Lukaku emerged for Chelsea two years ago. A recent trend has been to turn on red-shirted scapegoats.
Paul Pogba was repeatedly told to "f--k off" and promptly did after his final Old Trafford appearance against Norwich two years ago. Marcus Rashford, Antony and Anthony Martial have all got it in the neck from United fans home and away this term. With former Hammer Paul Ince on the United coach at the Boleyn Ground in 1995, the West Ham fans assembled for a scene out of Night of the Living Dead. Once Wayne Rooney's relationship with Evertonians started to thaw, his performances back at Goodison Park became gradually worse. Rooney gestures to Everton fans in 2008 shortly before his removal Rooney's seven-game goalscoring run ended on the blue side of Stanley Park in October 2008 when the crowd got the better of him. Rooney was substituted in the 71st minute and he did not score at Everton again until 2015. Rooney bickered with a fan before kick-off on his first return in February 2005 and the repartee was reignited on Everton's visits to Old Trafford. In 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson omitted Rooney from the matchday squad to purportedly protect him from the Goodison crowd's barracking after his philandering was exposed. In truth, Rooney had been dropped after demanding to know why United had not signed Mesut Ozil. A "stocky" Rooney was dropped after the opening defeat at Everton in August 2012. Stamford Bridge is one of the unhappier grounds in the country. The denizens have jeered Raheem Sterling and have not warmed to Mauricio Pochettino amid his
Tottenham allegiance and Chelsea's 11th-placed status. The Chelsea Supporters' Trust warned of "irreversible toxicity". It is bound to be toxic for Mount. Yet as a loanee at Derby County, he entered possibly the most bilious ground in
England at Elland Road, scored and pressed his index finger against his lips as he passed the frothing Leeds fans in the Norman Hunter Stand. If Mount hears the Chelsea fans, he has doubtless heard worse.