They belt out Mull of Kintyre loud enough at the City Ground to cause ripples in the Trent. At Manchester United, Antony is treading water.
The last time Antony started against Premier League opposition was at Nottingham Forest on January 30. When his number was up early in the second half, an audible contingent of the United supporters in the Bridgford Stand cheered.
It happened to Antony nearly two months earlier at Craven Cottage, another quaint ground that backs onto a river. Antony is in need of a liferaft. One of the last questions asked of Erik ten Hag during his press conference at Carrington on Tuesday afternoon was, "Is Antony really one of the quickest players over the first 10 yards?"
"Ten yards he is very quick," Ten Hag stated. The reporter politely opined that Antony actually seems to lack pace. Ten Hag doubled down on his assessment. "I know the stats, maybe. But he's not showing it."
It was pointed out that pace is a natural release that would be difficult not to express. Ten Hag offered examples of "the goal against Arsenal, the goal against Everton. Two things where he was very quick. I said on the first 10 yards, I don't think there's almost a player quicker than Antony." Ten Hag had also described him as "unstoppable"
Antony's goal on his debut was a one-on-one laid off by Marcus Rashford that required precision, rather than penetration. The Everton example - Antony's third goal in his third Premier League appearance - was valid. He reacts with alacrity as soon as Bruno Fernandes regains the ball and outsprints Vitaliy Mykolenko to run onto Anthony Martial's threaded pass.
That was on October 9 2022 and Antony has scored once in the Premier League since - at Forest last April. That was his finest performance for United and the day Ten Hag compared him to Arjen Robben. "I've seen, for instance, Arjen Robben a lot. They say he had only one trick but that one trick was so brilliant no one can stop it."
One is the operative word for Antony. One-paced, one-dimensional, one trick, one assist and one goal this season. The assist and goal came against League Two Newport County and he was dropped four days later at Wolves. His substitute appearance at Molineux was the absolute antithesis of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's super sub exploits. Antony sunk.
United publish more Securities and Exchange Commission filings in a day than Antony has league goals. Alejandro Garnacho, Omari Forson and Amad have all played ahead of him in recent weeks. Two 19-year-olds and a winger on loan at Sunderland last season.
Ten Hag, to his credit, has revoked Antony's privileges in recent months having previously been accused of showing favouritism to a player he coached for two years at Ajax. Antony took a leave of absence in September to address allegations of domestic abuse in England and Brazil. Both investigations are ongoing and Ten Hag previously confirmed they had had a bearing on Antony's form.
"Not anymore but definitely has had," Ten Hag reiterated on Tuesday. "Now he's left this behind but for a moment in the season it had an impact on him, you could see in his performance, in his attitude, but now he's back.
"It affected him and the process is still going, now he has to turn the point and to bring his big potential in again. Therefore you have to fight and there you have to give every day the maximum. I see in the training he's doing and he will turn the corner."
Not well enough to start ahead of Forson, with Antony brought on in the 89th, 88th and 86th minute in his only competitive appearances before a premature promotion to the starting XI against Fulham on Saturday. Better players have not survived as long at United as Antony and he has a minimum 13 games to ensure Sir Jim Ratcliffe does not cut United's losses.
"Pre-season I think he played very well," Ten Hag remarked. "He scored two goals in pre-season, but after the first games when that issue was in Brazil and he came back, he wasn't the person like he was before. That did something with his belief.
"One of the big skills from Antony is that he's very brave, so he has to find that back and it's up to him. We will support him, absolutely, all staff. Me as a manager, I support him and have 100 per cent belief in him. I know what he's capable of.
"I have seen his moments, I've seen that for Ajax in 88 games, he scored 24 goals and 22 assists, that he was performing in Champions League. He was unstoppable in the first games. Also we have seen here, first three Premier League games, he scored three goals, so he is capable of it."
But he has only shown it by the Trent.