At the joint MUST/IMUSA meeting last month various ideas were discussed as to what we could do to get rid of the Glazers. Boycotting was a popular idea, with some fans suggesting that nobody should show up for the AC Milan game. The obvious problem with this is that the 56,000+ season ticket holders have already parted with their money for this game, as part of the automatic cup scheme.
It was also argued that over 30,000 people had already chosen not to renew their season ticket since 2005 but that isn’t reflected in the weekly attendances. Whilst there are some games where attendance is lower than expected, this is a trend seen around the country, with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Villa and Spurs amongst the majority of clubs who are suffering from lower gate numbers this season compared to last, which may be explained by the recession.
Keith Harris, the former Football League chairman and man behind a proposed £1billion buy-out of United, has argued that the way to get the Glazers out is to boycott the games. Whilst I’m not going to start preaching as to whether I think an individual should or shouldn’t attend matches anymore, that is up to them, I can say that based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, failing to renew your season ticket will not have any financial impact on the Glazers. It simply means you don’t get to go to games and usually some knob head, who doesn’t love the club half as much as you, will fill your seat. But the seat will be filled, just as the 30,000 people who gave up their season tickets before you have seen their seats filled.
To send out a strong message, just like the green and gold campaign has done, it was suggested that fans missed the first ten minutes of the AC Milan game, but Harris isn’t impressed.
“Turning up to games 10 minutes late and things like that just doesn’t do the job,” Harris said. “The green and gold protest is fabulous, a symbolic and significant message to the owners. It is like the white handkerchiefs in Spain. But that won’t force the Glazers to sell to us. However, if enough people – and I am talking about thousands – stop turning up to matches and do not renew their tickets, then that does it. The supporters have to hurt the Glazers in their pockets. They have to be prepared to take the pain of not watching their club in order to achieve a long-term gain. Supporters have to be galvanised to say, ‘We will not come. We will not buy programmes and merchandise’.”
You do have to wonder if Harris is motivated by lowering the price for his clients as much as he trying to get the Glazers out of the club.
Still, this is a positive sign that the future of our club may well be put in to the hands of people who have our best interests at heart.
“I would not talk about this if I didn’t have full confidence in our ability to raise the money to do this,” he continued. “I never talk publicly unless I have confidence. Getting the money together is the easy bit. But we can’t make an offer until the Glazers are placed in a position where they are forced to consider it.”
Go without a pint during the game, resist buying a programme, don’t invest in the latest strip and we can see how much of an effect this has. Being an irritant to the Glazers is maybe the best approach we can adopt, with them sooner or later getting tired of the battle and finding a more compliant “franchise” to put their money in to.
Then Harris can get his lads in and we can expect price reductions/freezes so all our fans can return, right? We shall see…
Man Utd News 24/7
I have’nt bought anything official since the glazers took over. Only puttin money in their pockets.
ya, dream on for é fans to ur last statement to happens. dont see ot happening. do they really have united in their heart? fuck me to believe. é only person i trust is Sir Alex. too bad he can’t tell us exactly what he think & what we should do. *sign*
Would it be a case of out of the frying pan? What we need is supporter ownership. If Harris can promise us a say in our club, fans on the board and a share/membership scheme with a vote for president like Barcelona has, then he’s got my support. On the other hand, he won’t be able to hide like Glazer does so at least he’d be more answerable. I think we’ve got to support anybody that has a chance of getting rid of the vultures.
And, whatever happended to Orville?
i made my comment on this guy in the liverpool article comes across like a used car salesman i wouldn’t trust him as far as i could throw him
I reckon Keith Harris has it right, but there’s no way it’ll happen how he thinks. Hitting the Glazers in the pocket is the way to convince them to sell up, they are ultra-stubborn and they were obviously determined to own the club from the start. Simply waving green and gold scarves about isn’t gonna make them sell in a million years.
That said… it would take a sustained campaign of boycotting to get them to go… and I don’t think you’d get enough fans to sign up for a long term boycott like that.
Personally, I think Keith Harris needs to do everything he can to convince the Glazers from his angle as much as pushing the fans to do their bit. If he’s got the money, let the money talk… the supposition is that the Glazers would consider a bid if it gave them a sufficient return on ‘their’ initial investment, so he’ll need to scrounge up another couple hundred million from the Red Knights and see what they make of that.
As stated, our tickets are already in pocket, or will be gobbled up by others. However, but you don’t need to eat, drink, or buy programs / merchandise at the matches.
The Glazers will notice those financial shortfalls. Every penny counts when you’re £700M in debt!
SB
Other than trying to oust the Yanks, have we had any meaningful insights as to how the club would operate if Harris achieved his goal of a takeover?
What would the policy be re transfers, fan participation etc?
For Harris to really get the fans behind him we need more info, lots more!
As mentioned above, we must be careful of the frying pan scenario.
@RedAlert260599
He has already stated that despite claiming a Barca style ownership was on the cards that thats not viable and it will be a Villa style buyout where its funded via a loan from the buyers secured against the club that has annual payments with intrest to be made.
And I still don’t understand why people think the Barca/Real/Valencia style ownership is so appealing. All these clubs are continually in Finacial issues which are only delayed via Governmental and Bank Handouts and the investment each president has to bring in (But again is investment so is supposed to be paid back). Once elected the Fans really can’t do anything to get the person out before their terms up and most dig in stubbornly and end up sacking managers and spending more and more money that they don’t have to secure a good legacy. It really isn’t the great situation that it is so often held up as as the fans simply don’t have the say that people often claim
@sambo
The thing is Harris and the Red Knights he is working for are trying to use us the fans to make money. They have already lied to us and their plan that we know of is riddled with holes and actually puts us in a worse finacial situation. I’m going to include a previous post I made about the latest Harris comments to highlight the facts
———————————–
Wakey Said,
February 23rd, 2010 @3:06
@Kel
it’s just more bullshit from Harris to use fans to make his clients richer. The initial comments from him that everyone clung onto and most still seem to talked about rich red knights who would clear debts and set the club up like barca and real.
Since then we have learnt from him and others connected that
1) they think it will take 1.5billion to buy the club (that’s 30mill each just before admin and restructure fees)
2) they won’t clear the debts/bonds
3) the club won’t be fan owned
4) these red knights are London money men and a few multi millionaires such as Fred Done so they don’t have and won’t be intrested in splahing 30mill and not get good returns
5) the buy out will be done in the same way as Lerner at villa. Villa have a 70mill loan (the cost of the buyout) from one of Lerners companies which has to be paid back with intrest. So what Harris is saying is that the red knights want to load a further 1.5billion debt on the club ontop of the 0.5billion bond
6) that he wants us to damage our team and the club just to force the Glazers out and save the red knights some money thus increasing the amount they can each take. It’s safe to assume that Harris as the point man is actually on a bonus for getting the club for less than their top price.
So how exactly are these red knights better for the club than the Glazers again? I know Harris comments seem to be ignored by the likes of Scott when they don’t have the same ability to push an agenda but I hope most people aren’t stupid enough to fall for Harris headline rally cries and reads everything he saysand realise he is a parasite using our emotions to get rich
Maybe Keith Harris is right, but it will take a huge leap of faith for anyone to do what he says.
And if he is as confident as he is maybe atleast one of the red knights should come forward and explain what they want to do with the club finances. Coming out and asking people not to renew their season tickets without really giving out any other information is a bit difficult to understand.
Its like being blindfolded and lead down a dark alley with someone on the other end calling out loud, reassuring us that everything will be alright.
I sick of hearing people saying Harris is not good. So if he is not good, how we could get rid of the Glazer? Going on with the Green and Gold Campaign? For how long? To me, it seems like it’s not working. They carry on earning money from the supporters who are not happy. I think the Glazer wont leave the club for sure unless they are force to sell.
@ wakey
Wow, I did not know that. I always thought the bonds and more importantly the PIK’s would be paid off asap.
What i don’t understand is that shouldn’t the actual value of the club as agreed upon by both parties be reduced by the debt payable? Will the Glazers even accept anything less than 1.5 billion dollars for the club? No chance. Something dramatic should happen for the Glazers to part with their toy.
So basically not only do we need the Glazers to sell, we need the potential buyers to take on the Glazers’ debts, which would only mean that it would be another highly leveraged buyout.
The level of debt is frightening.And can someone clarify the PIK’s for me? They are secured on the club but David Gill seems to believe that its not our debt per se. Where is he getting this figure of 360 million odd dollars?
football for you and me and not for fucking industry..
football for the true fans!!
against modern football
against the glazers
LOVE UNITED
@kel
Because people have their own agendas, that’s why. I won’t jump on the Harris bandwagon until I know all the facts. I won’t call him a fluke either. I hope he will give an interview soon where he will clarify the Red Knight’s stance on a number of topics.
Does nobody realise that you cant hurt the Glazers finances. All these calls to hit the glazers where it hurts, but Glazer cannot lose. By boycotting games, we only damage the club. Glazer has manipulated his initial takeover to make it almost completely risk free to himself. All these refinancing deals have made the club succeptible to all risk. Revenue cuts for the club lead to rocketing debt for the club, and NOT for glazer. If things get to bad, what can happen to Glazer? the club gets repossesed and he walk’s away, losing nothing. Debts could be in excess of 1Bn by then and asset stripping would follow. It leaves us in a much worse situation.
If you hit them in their pockets, the Glazers can easily recoup money by selling Wayne…
@sinred
The thing is with the bonds (And the Loans before it) to pay them off early you have to have the holders want to sell them back and they won’t do as they are guarenteeds 44million a year and then their 500mill back at the end. As such to pay them of now they would have to pay them over 800mill to get them to agree.
The PIK’s aren’t debts of the club and ARE NOT secured against the club. They are the Glazers responability to service.
As for the clubs valuation. While in theory it should be the clubs market value of 1.2billion minus the debt of 0.5billion thats only if its a sale of neccisity. This would be a hostile takeover as the Glazers are confident in their business plan so they will be wanting top dollar to sell which is why Harris wants to try and force the matter by putting the club into a serious chance of administration so they lose faith in their business plan.
As for the 360mill. Its the debt figure of the club which is 500million minus the Cash on Hand in the business which is 140mill.
@Costas
He has been giving regular Interviews. Himself and those interviewing him generally seem to focus on the big headline things but if you read all of them theres plenty of information in them about the intentions and plans. In some of the audio/visual ones that are out there he answers the things that show up the Red Knight plan for what it is but quickly shuts the questioning down and moves onto something like talking about Boycotting season tickets.
All the information I have posted comes from the various interviews himself and Fred Done have conducted on the buy out so it is there
@kel
Whats the point in driving the Glazers out unless there is something viable thats guarenteed to be better? The campaign ATM is like the the Invasion of Iraq in that there is no viable exit stratergy on the table. It shouldn’t be about getting rid of the Glazers for the sake of it but because that just leaves us open for something worse. Just look at Portsmouth, every takeover this season has been labeled ‘The Clubs Salvation’ but pretty much each ones been worse than the last
Harris is right “hurt them in the pockets” – but giving up your season ticket also equates to giving up the platform to have a voice for this club. If true fans aren’t going to games, no one’s going to listen.
So, Scott’s hit the nail on the head; don’t buy the merchandise.
Keep your tickets! Never give ‘em up! Keep your green and gold on the TV week in week out.
Hmm, as much as i hate Glazer, i want some information about the ‘possible takeovers’. We don’t want to be put in to a position where our next owners are complete knobs either. For all we know they could also be complete dicks, and milk us for the money…
@The Mr Fox
Even if they were directly effected by a drop in revenue I don’t think merchandise will impact it that much tbh. A number of United merchandise deals see almost all the profit going to the manufatuer (This is how the Shirts work with Nike for example) with the manufatuer paying United upfront for that right.
And revenue drops as others have said hit United first and formost.
@Wakey
Well, he needs to become more specific then. Because as much as I want the Glazers out, the answer isn’t going along with the first group of investors that comes along. What I get from his comments above, is that he wants to reveal his plans once a deal is in place.
@Costas
I would say its more he knows the info on the deal won’t actually please the fans which is why he first made promises that feed into what the fans dream and then is cagey and answers abrubptly before changing the subject when details are questioned. He knows if he is going to be able to make his clients the profits they really want then he has to get the asking price down and to do that he needs to use us the Fans while he has ‘good faith’
If he came out with the details he would have little support from the fans
@ Costa
say if i had the money to buy united and the chance id have to think about it because i dont know the first thing about running a buissness the size of united, so if i came along with the money im no better than the glazers
althou i do know all the players names
whats best for the club is always most important
-
anyway nani better watch out he doesnt end up in the reserves
http://www.trulyreds.com/20100223/no-coloured-shoes-for-uniteds-youth-players/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TrulyRed+%28The+Manchester+United+fans+blog+%29
@ Wakey
Totally agree with you there. It’s not a dent in the profits, my point is it’s a statement.
Yes, an unsold hot dog or programme doesn’t make much of a difference, but it also didn’t cost much to make either of them in the first place. However it does reduce the trappings of why they invested in the club, without taking away the core business of ticket sales.
I have a season ticket, but it’s a family shared thing as I live and work abroad so I see my share of games so I also follow via media – being noticable and vocal at games is vital, it’s a vital part of how this campaign is going to work.
My point is that if we lose the green and gold from the crowds, who’s going to see and hear us?
At present, everytime a camera cuts to the fans, it’s a green and gold army, not a red army – I’d love to see them try to show only red in the ‘official end of season review’ DVD!
So, the point we have to make is that we’re there for the football, always have been. But it’s the ticket sales that bring in the real revenue and keep the club ticking. And we need to be there to be seen and heard.
@Wakey
Hmm…interesting stuff.
It’s not gone totally unnoticed that he’s been selective in forwarding information. Some of that could be just normal business sense, not to fully reveal ones hand so to speak.
However, i for one AM concerned that certain aspects of future plans on the takeover, remain shrouded in secrecy.
In a nutshell we will always realistically only have two options:
1) A billionaire steps forward, doesn’t need finance but we would remain, as now in some respect, at his/her whim.
2)Any other takeover would need finance. On this issue, it’s simply the level and type involved that needs to be clear. That’s where we are with the Yanks right now though.
I would love to throw my voice behind a “fan’s saviour”.
I’m not convinced this is the one yet. Sadly though, he seems to be the only one at the moment.
Harris needs to do a lot more than recruit a United supporting bookie before he can count on the fans vote.
I don’t think boycotting games is an good idea because if we hurt the glazers financially we hurt manchester united as well so let’s just keep
the green and gold. I’m from canada by the way i’d love to go to old trafford.
LUHG and Haaaate man city.
harris needs to Fuck Off… with the utmost respect, of course.
Dont really trust this guy, Utd fan or not, although I would love the Glazers out I would prefer it to be somebody else to Harris. He keeps asking us the fans to give up our tickets and boycott games but as has already been said in earlier posts the green and gold campaign is truly starting to stand out and if we dont go somebody will and they might not care enough to keep it up!!.
Harris says raising the money is the easy bit, well if thats the case raise it and make a bid, money talks to the Glazer’s, so make an offer to good to refuse.
To me it sounds to much like another money man who is looking to take advantage and drive the price down and then make a killing off the back of our club. I really hope that isnt the case but I honestly think it is!!
@ Wakey
Aren’t we paying Interest on the PIK’s? If they are not ours and not secured on the club why are we then?
Well well well……
It seems like we all in a civil war and that aint good for the team, honestly I dont think there is anythin us supporters can actually do however can we really trust Harris? What makes him MUFC’s knight in shining armour??
Cuz if were honest we’re so deperate to get rif of the glazers we’d take any new owner!!
We don’t need RED KNIGHTS, what we need to do is Keep up the Green and Gold and win some Silverware with it. Think about it, Winning the Champions League below a SEA of Gold and Green will hurt Glazier more then you not buying your bloody pint. Winning our Nineteenth and Fourth title with everybody drapped in Green and Gold will be the best form of protest EVER as these are the images that will be beamed worldwide. United is in too strong a financial position to be hurt by its Supporters. Not buying merchandising or not going to games will take years to hit Glazier in his pocket, we’ll fall from the top four before that happens. I don’t think the majority supporting Green and Gold are advocating destroying our club, just like I doubt the majority of supporters support this half-arsed take over advocated by this Harris fella. Red Knights my Arse.
What you, me and every UNITED fan season ticket holder or not, wearing green and gold or not have in common with SAF is that we want to see long term success on the field. He and I both fail to see what the current owners have done or are doing to interfere with this. As long as that’s the case I want to get behind the team and not let any type of protest distract from that.
Harris and MUST have a flaw. They want control of MUFC and they need to use us to get it. Harris admits raising a billion or more would be no problem so why is everyone getting so excited by our current debt structure, especially when Fergie says ” the Glazers have been terric owners”?
Don’t let your support and love of UNITED be used to fuel others agendas
LU – IFIT
It is a business.
Stop the revenue stream – Tickets, merchandise MUTV etc.
Glazers (MUFC) STILL has to meet PIKs. Either the Glazers pay with THEIR money or MUFC defaults because it no longer has the money coming in.
Once MUFC defaults they will go into administration. The first thing the administrators will seek to find is a buyer who will assume all the liabilities.
If the Glazers find themselves having to foot the bill they will take a different view – do they even have CASH to do this or would it impact on their other Sports Business Assets?
What people need to understand is that it is not a question of saying that the Glazers have nothing to lose because they do. They have a potential windfall profit which they will only get if THEY control the sale and not the administrators.
I do not think that the RED KNIGHTS have the financial muscle necessary to buy the Glazers out. It would take a sovereign wealth fund who see MUFC as a Trophy aquisition and would be prepared to buy the debt and pay the glazers several hundred millions which would require a cash offer of approx 1.2 billion GBP (at least).
The Red Knights want the fans to act as fulcrum in the deal forcing the Glazers to offload by cutting the revenue stream and promising to switch the revenue stream back on (buying tickets/merchandise again) once the Glazers are out. This only works if the fans are behind the RED KNIGHTS alone otherwise another buyer may well out bid them. It all depends how the buyer views the business , either as a going concern and values it accordingly looking for a return on the level of investment or a sovereign wealth fund ( a country) decides to buy it because it has more money than it could ever spend and fancies owning the Worlds greatest Football Club and the celebrity status that would afford them.
I’m so wary of frying pan > fire and I think others are too.
There are but a handful of people on the planet right now that could comfortably afford to buy United outright. None of them to my knowledge are passionate United supporters – so that’s out.
Harris himself hasn’t been to OT for at least 5 years, due to the Glazers presence he claims, but in reality it’s more likely to be down to the gravitional pull of the Capital – so him and his hedge fund buddies are out (in my eyes)
Nobody wants the unpredictability of being a sugar daddy’s latest plaything – so that’s out.
So as it stands, there are three realistic options:
1) Glazers make private sale to one of the above – unchartered territory for us all, could be great, but could be dire
2) Glazers return United to Plc status via an IPO and in the process exit completely or gradually reduce their holdings over time before exiting stage left (a la Martin Edwards, who incidentally I saw last night looking happy as Larry in a game of doubles tennis at my local club – let’s face it you would be laughing too with £500m in the bank) – but as we all know Plc status reduces flexibility e.g. in the transfer market. However for those of you pre-occupied by debt, you’d be happier in this scenario because anything unviable would not be tolerated by the markets….
3) Glazers continue with their long term ownership plan and the G&G campaigns continues unabated – well at least the atmosphere would stay hot
Which leads me onto to my point. I’ve asked this question before and nobody has really given me a straight answer from a supporters point of view. I can understand the reasons why. But by answering this, it could help to bring some safe, low risk closure to this issue. I’ll ask it anyway. All you need to do is say whether you AGREE or DISAGREE.
So, if the current owners:
1. Provide independent assurances to state the debt is manageable and serviceable by the current business plan (i.e. not just David Gill saying so) without the need to part with crown jewel assets such as Old Trafford, Carrington and Wayne Rooney (unless he suddenly develops an urge to leave or course!)
2. Set up a proper forum to engage with supporters over unpopular issues such as the home cup ticket scheme and other items
3. Make long term commitments over the prices for season tickets and membership
4. Continue to support the manager and invest in high quality new playing staff
If all of the above was achieved. Would you gracefully disband / stand down / retire the G&G campaign?
Well would you? Or is regime change the single aim here, irrespective of the consequences?
Answers on a postcard….or this blog…it’s up to you.
@GHTT
That’s true mate. And in times like this, it’s easy for someone to manipulate United fans to their advantage. That’s why I say it’s important that this guy comes clean before we do anything. No one can say for sure right now if he could be a savior or a continuation of our problems.
harris should get these people he talks about to make an offer insted of him running around trying to get his name in the papers
its as easy as 1-2-3…
get the glazers to sell out to a die hard United fan and with their money they can invest into a new “promising” franchise … aka the dippers, cuz they seem to think they are always gonna win the league “next year”….some one relay this message to fat american cunt and we’ll have no problems.
@Its in my blood
TBH I don’t think we will see any other offer either. A serious bidder is unlikely to be able to pay off the bonds and are going to have to get their money back so a few years down the line when 44mill a season is still being paid out and the new owner is seen to be taking a significant but fair amount out of the club then they too are going to find themselves under flak
@sinred
Nope the interest the club has paid out was on the bank loans (and now on Bonds) not the PIKS.
It is complicated a little because Bonds have released 70mill to the Glazers which will probally pay off some of the PIKS. On the current rate that saves them £9mill a season BUT with the rate was due to rise without a chunk being paid off and the budget would have been on the higher intrest rate so the savings will be higher. That in turn in theory should help the club because at some point the debts going to have to be paid off, when 2017 comes around either the debt needs refinanced or paid off (Or a combination of both). If some or all is paid off the chances are it will be done by the Glazers loaning the money and it either being paid back in the way that Lerners loan is done at Villa or they will do what has been done at City and Chelsea and the Loan will then be written off in a debt for equity swap with the Glazers getting Preferential shares (Preferential shares are shares that pay out first and pay out a guarenteed amount)
Fans should not even consider boycotting games/not renewing the season tickets until they know who the potential buyers are. Who are the Red Knights exactly, what are their plans, do they have the money, if they don’t just how and where will they get it from? We don’t know a thing yet. I am all for their supposed ‘rescue’ but they will have to get a huge amount of money, large enough to tempt the leeches to sell, combined with the power and strength to force them out. If Utd fans are given a little more clarification about the Red Knight’s plans then it is safe to boycott.
I think the G&G campaign is the only form of protest which guarantees long term publicity and potential worry among the Glazer family; every Utd fan going to the CC final should wearing Green and Gold. The game will be televised abroad; imagine how much attention it would generate as a result of these two symbolic colours covering half the stadium. Soon all of OT will be Green and Gold; principally we should continue buying the scarves, displaying banners, spreading anti-glazer chants etc and this campaign will just grow further. If we win number 19, the pictures of our celebrations and lifting of the trophy will be splashed on newspapers worldwide, including pictures of our celebrating fans wearing Green and Gold. People will become interested, pressure will mount on the Glazers because of the increase of protesting fans across the globe so they could get tired of all of this. It is a silly scenario which many never materialize and I wish it were this simple but the G&G might serve us a greater purpose than we have ever imagined it would.
I applaud Mr. Harris for his interest in our protests and for his support but I for one could not boycott going to watch United. I love this great club of ours and going to games is always such a thrill, it’s where I am most happy and, through thick and thin I will always attend matches and show my support to United.
at arsenal season ticket holders who cant attend can sell their tickets back to the club and the club credits 90% of the ticket (for the 1 match) value back to the ticket holder by taking the amount off the season ticket purchase for the next season, surely manchester united have something simular in place and a game could be boycotted without costing a full ticket price to the allocation of season ticket holders? (as long as general sale folks dont go mad an buy all the tickets that have been sold back)
I find this whole green and gold campaign very amusing. Sure enough, look at those wearing it. It’s not the people that would be buying out the fan shop at every game to begin with.
Find me one fan who is visiting Old Trafford for their first game that would rather be wearing green and gold than the infamous red. It’s absurd to think that a few people wearing scarves will drive away the Glazers.
Manchester United is a money making machine. Like it or not, that is how we have been able to be so successful. How else do we get/keep such great talent? It is clear that teams with no money( cough Portsmouth) never win. It’s simple. Winning makes money. Money creates the chance to win.
The fact that you all believe that Manchester United should only be about football should really think about the club as a whole.
Our kits are sponsored by Nike, we have deals with Audi, Budweiser, Hublot, and many others. Are they parasites too? they earn money off of our name.
You think the green and gold trend is moving to the real merchandise markets that are Asia and North America? Absolutely not. You’d look like a fucking twat wearing a green and gold scarf here in Canada and claim it is becuase you are a real fan.
Look at the revenue turnover for the club. Merchandise, naming rights, gate sales, advertisement placement, sponsorships, endorsements, tv rights, and other ventures such as those in Asia(*restaraunts) Are all of these venues of making money not a good thing? No.
Any large corporation carries significant levels of debt. It’s the ability to cover the debt that comes into question as well as what you are doing with that debt. Manchester United has become one of the strongest brands in the world. We generate significant revenues by leveraging our debt into new ventures.
If you really think that wearing your green and gold(which many people are making a pile of money by selling to you) makes a difference, you are deluded. You live in a fantasy world.
And if you think these Red Knights(whoever the fuck they are) don’t care about money and only care about football you are insane. These men thrive on making money and finding ways to exploit potential revenue streams. You don’t become rich enough to buy the club by avoiding opportunites to make money.
Wackey – as i was reading the article, i thought the author was you
because you’ve already highlighted harris earlier. My only worry is to whether trust harris and his red knights, or to risk the possible betrayal by my fellow “red”. Am confused in this one.
I don’t trust this Harris fella
PPL should be starting to talk about the game tonight like I say I am with the red knights and it would be great day for the club when the parasites are gone
foster nev brown vidic evra
valencia scholes gibon anderson(left?) rooney berbais the line up
Foster neville evra wes vida, valencia scholes ando gibson, wazza and berba.
Rio not even on the bench.
Hm, not sure what to make of that team. I expected changes but that’s a weaker team than I thought we’d have out.
Glad Wazza’s playing though.
For fuck’s sake where’s Rio?
Bench is:
PIG, Evans, Owen, Diouf, Rafael, Park and Fletcher
I guess Wayne will play non stop until the League cup final.
The boss said this is a big game for us, it seems he thinks the league cup final is a bigger game with that team he’s put out.
If Vidic leaves in the summer, then surely we can’t depend on Rio as a regular centre back???
Anyway, I think the team is slightly weak, but good enough to win this game. Anderson on the left should be interesting.
anyone any links for good ol GHTT
Costas – well you are going to have to. I did not trust berbatov to be the one to replace tevez because berbatov lacks the key ingrediants to make it at united, ferdinand next year will be much better I think all round
Very risky selection with Foster,neville,Gibson and Anderson(out of position).Lets not forget West Ham are in a decent run of form and have got Cole and Behrami back from injury.
Oncce again doubt whether we can keep a clean sheet.
That’s a decent enough line up to deal with the Ammer’s.I just hope and pray(shaking like fuck) that we do the buisness.
If we dont and that’s A big if,I can clearly see in the line up who is gonna take the crap.Namely Foster, Gibson, and of course Anderson.
But being an optimistic fellow, Il will suggest a repeat of the result at Upton park.Lets get right behind the team and enjoy our fabulous team.Cooooommmmmmooooonnnnnn you REDS.
That’s a very weird team. However i’ve learned to trust Fergie and I reckon we’ll win anyway. If nothing else, the team selection shows that Fergie is pissed about the Everton result.
Oh, fuck! I missed that Foster is playing. We’re doomed I tells ya! DOOOMED!!
No specific link for the game but one of these may work
http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=66436&part=sports
@AIG
Hey man. Good to see you here. In home games we have been able to keep clean sheets lately. I hope the trend continues.
@RTNK
Can’t see Rio getting any younger or fitter. That’s the problem I have with this. Haven’t heard a word about his absence today, but one would think that he needs games after his long lay off.
WTF, where did you find out tonights team?
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4-4-2 again? I’ll be honest I’ve got a bad feeling about this, I’d rather see Rooney on the bench and Berbatov spearheading a 4-5-1 then see them both start in a 4-4-2. I’d rather the extra man in midfield. I hope they deliver the goods tonight I really do. That midfield looks like it could do with an extra man in there to make it 4-5-1….. I hope im wrong.
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Really glad to see Anderson back, REALLY GLAD, but surely if he’s such a liability in Alec’s eyes he should pick a stronger midfield to introduce him into. If Ando needed all that time on the bench because he’s not ready then what about Gibson he’s just out of his nappys !!! Of course Gibson will get better in time but Christ, its a very strange line up…. I hope im proved wrong and Ando has the game of his life and Gibson scores a screamer 40 yards out. The line up has me very worried. I wasn’t worried with Arsenal or Milan I new we could beat them with a 4-5-1 but when I saw our Everton line up I knew we would lose, and today im not being filled with confidence. Again, I sincerely hope im wrong (altho the 20-1 odds offered earlier in the week were too good to ignore lol) BUT if we lose this match Arsenal can jump into 2nd with their next game and all hell will break loose. Im really surprised we’re not treating this game like a Final, the title is still ours to WIN – I really can’t believe our line up/formation.
@ Colbert, you sound like Captain Mannering IN Dad’s Army lol. Believe m8.
paul parker
MUTV
@Costas
Hi mate. same here
Hope we can keep a clean sheet but with Brown, Neville and Foster playing there is enough reason to worry
If Berbatov and Rooney are ever to run rampant in another teams Goal mouth NOW IS THE TIME !!!!!!! Nothing would please me more then to see us run out 2-0 winners with Berb and Rooney both netting with assists from Ando and Gibson. It would make my SEASON to see them CLICK.
…and don’t allow any of my skeptical posts to fool you, I believe in Alec wholeheartedly, the man is a living Legend, I just have my fears. So lets see how his hand plays out tonight in a 4-4-2….
Costas – I look at MUTV and they actually think there is nowt wrong with the side there is so much wrong with the team, I could not say anything after beatiung the likes of milan and arsenal but many have to realise money needs spending to get this side back to what it was
Scotty parker not on for the hammers.
Cheers ‘Emily Jane 3 weeks till she hits old trafford’
Great name !
anyone got any live television links, please?
@AIG
Interested to see how Vida holds up. Last year there were times when his mere presence helped us to clean sheets.
@RTNK
It’s no big deal. I mean, we all have our own ideas. Personally, I woulod have went with Obertan instead of Gibson and played Ando as a cental midfielder. I wonder if this means that Scholes won’t start the final.
redscot
Tongue firmly in cheek, buddy:) Though I am somewhat worried. But we should beat West Ham at home regardless of who’s in goal. I just hope we get Good Foster tonight!
Ah fcuk it 4 0 united.
Costas – like I say the depleted backline and the loss of key players in ronaldo and tevez is starting to reach breaking point especially when united are playing strong tough sides that can defend well.
@ Colbert, I realised that m8″Tongue in cheek comment” Agreed regard’s Good Foster tonite, or other wise that Lad’s confidence will be totally crushed, and nobody wishes to witness that. Enjoy the match and cross everything you can.I have so many crosses in my mind for the Game. Crapping myself here, loose this and I think its Curtain’s for Us.
Believe.
Second home game I have missed all season and I come on here to find RTNK slagging Berbatov AGAIN and saying we are shite without Ronaldo and Tevez. Change the bastard record son you are getting boring.
Bang on king Eric.
get in, Rooney!
I do hope they can come out more saying what they want to buy but i dont think they will want to because at the moment it seems like they tried to talk to the owner and they dont want to sell so any talk it seems are not happening.
Guys Rios is suspended, thats why hes not playing! remember the elbow he hit out, which the darlings at the fa extended to a 4 game ban
missing games is a bit drastic, The green and gold protest is a simple but effective visual symbol of unity against the glazers. if we stopping buying all the pies beers and programmes from the kiosks it would hurt them much more, i could put up with going without a beer or a pie at half time more than i could not going to games or giving my season ticket up.
Also, There seem to be a lot of people who are eating and drinking at half time also wearing green and gold scarves…. which is sort of missing the point of the protest if you ask me.
MUFCOK – Know what you mean mate – last night some prick even passed me wearing a green and gold scarf whilst clutching a bag from the megastore ffs.
Bishopsville red – in the past I would of agreed with you about season tickets being ‘gobbled up’, now I’m not too sure. The huge waiting list myth was sussed as b0llocks a while ago, attendances are down, tickets are now frequently advertised etc.
Out of the 7 lads who I go to the match with, three are giving up their season tickets and two are considering it. This situation seems to be getting more and more common – e.g. three lads my brother works with are also getting rid, two others turned their’s in at the end of last season. They are also constantly touting for firms to take up boxes – suggesting that all’s not well in the prawn sandwich section either.
What I’m going to do I don’t know yet, what I do know is the Glazers are draining the life out of the club and nobody seems to be able to offer a solution.
@MUFCOK
Hitting the club in the pocket (And that’s what you do, you don’t really hit the Glazers) is a ridiculous thing to do especially when there’s not ‘exit strategy’ on the table. Even the G & G protests are a little misguided for the same reason as the end goal of these are to get rid of the Glazers but if they decided today to buckle to the protests and sell up then what? We are leaving the club open for anyone to then buy, it might be the Red Knights (But they have already lied to us and have tried to use us) but it could be anyone.
And what exactly are we protesting over anyway, if its the debt then how does a new owner help? I don’t see any new owner clearing the debt after they have spent anywhere from 1 to 2 Billion to buy the club. The bonds are 500mill but with the guaranteed interest the amount they will being the bond holders is over 800mill so that’s the minimum to clear the debt early. The Red Knights have said they won’t clear it for example