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Manchester United News

Glazer Dead

May 28, 2014

Manchester United owner, Malcolm Glazer, has passed away.

Scott Patterson

Scott is the editor of RoM and has a season ticket at Old Trafford. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter or @R_o_M7 on Instagram.

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92 Comments

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Gary Mitrovic May 29, 2014

United till I die, good point mate. I'm not holding it against Scott by any means, at the end of the day I don't know anything about him anyway apart from he's a red. He should as the face of the most popular Manchester United blog show a little bit more class. A little human dignity doesn't go a miss.

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united till i die May 29, 2014

Agreed. Scott's more than entitled to his opinion I personally just think it doesn't reflects well on his site.

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Sigmund Vestergaard May 29, 2014

I didn't know this was the Malcolm Glazer appreciation society. It is concise and factual. The Glazer takeover has been bad for the club we all love, plunging it into debt and investing very little of the ever growing revenue in the team. That is why a large part of the fans, including me, hate these guys and find it difficult to sympathise with them.

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Sigmund Vestergaard May 29, 2014

I see that one of my sentences is gone. I meant to say that I don't see anything wrong with the headline. It is concise and factual.

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Tommy May 30, 2014

With regards to the takeover, theirs only 1 man to blame, Martin Edwarrds, he floated the club on the stock exchange which meant anyone could buy shares, and when you buy them all you own the football club, whilst I am by no means a Glazer fan like @Gary said theyve not broken any rules and as for the red knights, you all know they are a joke right, who were in it for publicity, theyve even got that currupt agent Barry Silkman involved

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united till i die May 30, 2014

@ Tommy

Unfortunately way too many fans are incapable of thinking for themselves and just follow the crowd with regards to potential new ownership. They listen to their heart and not their head when it comes to the club which is why I'm personally against fans owning the club outright. I'm all for fans having a say in things but fuck me could you imagine the chaos and drama with 10-12 of theses red knights each owning a part of the club.

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Tommy May 30, 2014

@United till I die

Exactly, I never thought they were serious at all, I dont think their rich enough for a start and thats before you get into things like conflict about having many different owners, The one thing about the Glazers is they are buisness men dining at the top table so to spek so they will never let a buisness fail

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Mirainashe May 30, 2014

Personally I think that people like Scott have become too big headed. When you start a project the humble beginnings sometimes help in keeping you grounded. But sometimes when you begin to see relative success and adulation, you get arrogant and this is the result. So maybe you start off your Twitter account with 3 followers and at some point you find yourself with 300k followers, the psychological dynamics change. People start to see their feet leave the ground and Scott is not different. Same with these Red Flags guys. Sometimes these people miss the point. A hobby today can become a serious movement tomorrow with far reaching global effect. You simply decide one day to make a huge banner with Moyes and you don't take into consideration the responsibility you have. This banner once placed on an old Trafford terrace is no longer just a banner. It's now an image representing over half a billion. It's no longer just a hobby, it's a responsibility. Maybe before creating one , try reaching out to as many of these half a billion via Twitter or Facebook or somethin. What do the people want as their next banner?

RoM, is nothing without Manchester United, which in turn is nothing without the multitudes of supporters. So by extension,RoM is nothing without these people. There comes a time when this revelation should be applied. Coming up with emotional but ultimately shameful headlines and soulless representation has far reaching consequences than one person's bitterness. Malcolm Glazer is not responsible for genocide. He is not responsible for global warming or any other holocaust. He did nothing wrong in pursuing business interest. Leveraged takeovers are actually the most common and most logical form of business takeover. Only in the business of football do you find misinformed consumers making a fuss about it. People quickly forget or simply express great ignorance because it's what everyone else is doing. No one seems to care that the glazer regime has been at the helm during what is now Manchester United's most successful era by far. In our entire history. I'm talking on and off the pitch. The debt has had a completely negligible effect on the club's historical policy. Besides the fact that this most maligned debt is going down according to schedule. Barcelona for instance have a significantly greater debt and if I'm not mistaken so does Real Madrid.

Ferguson was given money to spend and the freedom to spend it how he wanted. When you look at the transfer fees Real Madrid paid for Sami Khedira and Ozil or what Juventus paid for Vidal,Pogba,Tevez or what Roma paid for Strootman or the cost of acquiring Fabregas, all these if you date look them up will tell you quality players are affordable. What I see from all this is Ferguson screwing up in the transfer market and criminally neglecting the midfield in pursuit of strikers wingers and defenders. Not Malcolm Glazer's fault. But of course the fans were looking for a scapegoat and because of fear of criticizing Ferguson, the much hated Glazers take the fall. It's more convenient but nobody bats an eye at just how illogical it is. What I see from the Glazer regime is, the significant growth the Manchester United brand. I see a regime that did not interfere with the manager and his team. I saw trophies galore. Complete dominance of the domestic league. Three CL finals in less than 7 seasons. Can Madrid say the same? I saw record level revenues. I saw the upgrading of Carrington, expansion of Old Trafford. I saw the most scandal free well run football business in the world. For all the hate the Glazers get, they have actually taken very little money from the club as per records. They seem to have come to with a long term plan to make MUFC not just the biggest and most valuable sports brand, but one of the most valuable brands in the world period. And that plan is working well. I'm pretty sure they want to sell the club at some point when the value has risen to astronomical levels and guess who benefits from this? MUFC. It's not out of the question that the club could be worth $6 billion before 2020. Only Real Madrid can hope to achieve this, yet they spent probably a billion just to get to a CL final in over 12 years.

It doesn't matter what your opinion is. The facts don't say the Glazers are the destroyers of MUFC. The club is actually in better overall shape and has tasted greater success than before the Glazers. All the haters have is conspiracy theories. People said the Glazers were going to bankrupt the club and destroy it. Yet we are still here. I'm not trying to force anyone to like them. But I'm not gonna go with popular opinion even if I see something wrong with it. Also I think whilst you can hate them, it is irresponsible to express it in a time of misfortune when all your reason for hating them are based largely on opinions, theories and unquantifiable misconceptions disguised as "facts". If you say they are siphoning money, then put an amount and a date to it. If u say they restricted funds for transfers then prove it. Tell us no quality midfielder is available for the kind of money

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Mirainashe May 30, 2014

Edit

For the kind of money we paid for Shinji Kagawa,RvP,Jones,Valencia,Ashley Young

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sheffieldgeek May 30, 2014

@Mirainashe
STFU and fuck off

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Mirainashe May 30, 2014

My point exactly. Idiots always never have anything constructive to say. No facts. No logic. Just drunken ramblings and zero use of the little intellectual capacity they are fortunate to have.

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Will03 May 30, 2014

@Mirainshe was actually thinking the same thing, and enjoyed your comment. I thought the title to this article was very harsh and lack a bit of class and also they why Moyes was viewed rightly or wrongly. I've been a big fan of this blog for years, but I feel the mood and comments of people recently has changed and become very negative and in some case abusive... like the one you received from @sheffieldgeekm, you should be allowed to express your point or view and not be worried about stupid backhand comment.

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The One May 30, 2014

@Tommy, exactly, I've held the same view all along!! The moment United was floated, it was liable to be bought over by whoever who could afford it and that was what happened in 2005.

We may dislike the glazers for the leverage and hostile takeover (and I absolutely loathe them cos they know nothing about football nor the club) but I don't blame them for buying the club. A business opportunity presented itself and they were able to see a huge potential in buying the business and proceeded to acquire the club. malcolm glazer had business acumen; he didn't become a millionaire or billionaire without it. He started off as a watch salesman and built a business empire from such a humble beginning.

Screw the red nights and the other like-minded supporters clubs with the rubbish they spout, especially the idea that the glazers are unwilling to invest in the team. People should get it into their thick heads that the glazers definitely understand that without a successful team, their business model will definitely fail. So while I do not like their ownership of the club at all, I doubt they'd compromise the success of the club by making short-sighted business decisions.

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Tommy May 30, 2014

@Theone

Whilst I am not a Glazer supporter and never will be, the Glazers are apparently worth $4billion, thats a lot of dough, the red knights dont have anywhere ner that, its all fantasy having people wanting a fan to own the club, The only examples off the top of my head of fans owning clubs they support is Bill Kenright at Everton and Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough, I am sure theirs many in league 1 and 2 but the chances of finding a billionaire United fan is quite low

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Imran May 30, 2014

The debt was a big problem. Let me repeat that the debt WAS a big problem. When the glazers bought the club it could've gone bad, very bad. But that debt is down to about 350 now and the glazers are very much pseudo owners They don't do much other Than run the business part of the club. I'm no glazer lover and i think banks that give loans are really not helping in anyone. But the glazers have taken a risk and it has paid off. I can see the fans will say that They spent money Which They didn't have and are now eating away at the transfer funds. But look at it the other way and I'm pointing this out the second time on this post, they've made Manchester united the brand that it is today. That brand is a monster Which is bringing in commercial deals at a rate faster than any of our competitors. The one mistake They made was of not getting mourin last year. I still wonder What could have happened If Someone like him stepped into the hotseat. Hopefully we will find out this time with van gal who is an upgrade on mou considering the attacking style his teams play.

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Imran May 30, 2014

on a footballing note, How Good is that boy pogba. How did Sir Alex let him go, surely there was something wrong. I think he was thinking about retirement that time and couldn't figure out How to deal with the bad boys. There was also morison and fryers who left that year

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Tommy May 30, 2014

@Imran

I hate the word brand, to me when I go and watch United im watching my local team but since you mentioned it, United were the biggest so called "brand" in the world before the Glazer family took over so you can credit them with that one and the 3 players you mentioned Pogba and Fryers were greedy so and sos and Morrison thinks hes a gangster, Only Pogba out of the 3 has done anythin worthwhile, Not even a manager known for handling trouble makers big sam could do much with morrison so shipped him out to the championship and Fryers is stuck on Spurs bench, hardly impressive from those 2, Pogba is a quality player though

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The One May 30, 2014

@Tommy, ya, it's kind of sad that this is very very unlikely, a billionaire United fan. The club has grown massively in value so it's gonna be very difficult for any individual to buy it over. I just hope that we can continue to grow both on and off the field long long after we're dead and gone and continue to be every bit as successful. United fans deserve this.

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The One May 30, 2014

I know many people here question Sir Alex about Pogba's departure. However, I don't look at things that way; just ask yourselves if it was very possible too that Sir Alex would have started Pogbe in many more games in the very season he started playing regularly for Juve (i.e. if he had stayed on). If you're familiar with football, you should realise that a summer can make a hell of a lot of difference to a player's physique and development, so the same thing could have happened to Pogba. Up till now, Pogba has been going on and on and on trying to justify his departure. If he had really left for footballing reasons, then I do not see the need to go on and on and on about it at all. I suspect that he left for reasons other than football.

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united till i die May 30, 2014

The sad reality is the Club has become so big over the last 10 years that any new ownership would most likely put us into even greater debt. We could easily go from 350m in debt to a billion quid in debt over night. At least with the Glaizers we know what we have got and the have history running a sports frsnchise.

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Mirainashe May 30, 2014

I don't think Pogba had gone on and on about it. Reporters have always made this a big deal and ask questions relating to this because it is a sensational story. But looking at it whichever way, Ferguson blundered. I specifically remember complaining bitterly the day Ferguson played Park and Rafael in midfield with Pogba on the bench. Last year he claimed this is the day he decided the coach had no faith in him and he had to move on. Why do you think Januzaj was given every opportunity possible at such a young age. The loss of Pogba was a bitter one no matter what we think. Only the imagination will know the possibilities had he stayed. I remember the week me arrived in Turin, Conte told reporters that Pogba was going to be a world star. Pirlo said the same thing at the time. All this from training sessions. People are calling Pogba a bad boy simply because he refused Ferguson's offer.

What are the chances we would have been beaten by Juventus money wise if we knew his potential? Zero. They valued him more and promised him significant first team football immediately. So how is this anything other than a football decision? In any case what the hell is wrong with a footballer going for more money? It's not like you wouldn't switch companies in blink of an eye if someone offered you double the wages, so why should a football player not maximize? If we showed Pogba that we valued him more than what Juventus did, then he would have been a United player today. We underestimated his worth and came out looking the fool, to Juventus' benefit. That's why right now Januzaj is according to his agent the highest paid youngster in the world. We made a mistake and we learned from it. I'm pretty sure Moyes was pressured into giving the kid games. I know it's hard for people to admit that Ferguson made mistakes by it's a reality. Look no further than last season for evidence that Ferguson was actually only human

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The One May 30, 2014

@Mirainashe, believe what you choose but you don't know for sure because you're only listening to one side of the story, and that's been coming from Pogba. I believe Sir Alex will always play a player who's ready, notwithstanding his age. Anyway, I've always seen this whole episode differently from most people who just accept what the media report which is effectively what Pogba has repeatedly said.

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The One May 30, 2014

@Mirainashe....what are the chances we would have been beaten by Juventus money wise if we knew his potential?

One more thing, Sir Alex's stand had always been that nobody is bigger than the club, not even Rooney, so do you think he'd give in to Pogba's demands? I remember Sir Alex saying then that he knows he's at a good club and should take up the club's offer. Besides, Juve got him on a free, so what's to stop them from offering Pogba what he demanded.

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capelcrusader@yahoo.co.uk May 30, 2014

Seeing a lot of 'Glazers made us the brand we are' shite. Fuck me! £700m taken out of the club and we open our legs to Mister Potato and fuck knows whatever else. I know where Scott is coming from. It may not be 'realistic in the current commercial climate' or whatever bollocks, but it will always strike a chord with anyone who bounced around the terraces before we worried about our 'brand'. United supporters used to be lads out for a bit of fun. This is all sounding like the letters page of the Financial Times

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Mirainashe May 31, 2014

@The One

I'm not looking at one side. I'm looking at what I saw and not speculation. We are 10 times more financially capable than Juventus and there is no way they could have beaten us in offering more money if 1. That is what Pogba was after and
2. We were desperate to retain him

Case in point is the Rooney situation last season. We offered Rooney an obscene amount of money because for some reason we were desperate to keep at all costs. Why? Moyes valued Rooney as his most important player. If Ferguson valued Pogba he would have made sure he was not in the situation where his contract was going to expire after the season ends. He did publicly promise to give him a chance using him as an excuse for not going after Sneidjer. But he didn't exactly do that did he? Pogba left for Juventus because they valued him more. It's very clear. It's not about being"bigger than the club". It's about a player wanting the chance to play. It's about looking at your options and saying will these guys haven't bothered to offer me a new contract. And now Park Ji Sung and Rafael are ahead of me in the central midfield. If it was you, would you feel valued? I doubt it. It's not like football isn't a career. You have to look out for yourself. He made the right choice

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The One May 31, 2014

@Mirainashe, like I've said, choose to see what you wish, it's your mind and your heart, I'm not gonna debate this with you indefinitely.

Pogba was at it again, claiming that United disrespected him as a player and as a man, that his worst experience in football was his time at United. Ask yourself if any other young player who's left united has ever said such a thing, Pique, Rossi, to name but a couple. To me, the greatest mistake United ever made was to sign that piece of shit. He might be a good player with a lot of potential but he sucks big time.

As for rooney, well, United were caught between a rock and a hard place. Either sell him to chel$ki and mourinho who were doing everything they could to get one over us, or tie him down to a new contract. As far as I'm concerned, we chose the lesser of the 2 evils.

A lot of people on this blog, you included, are unhappy with our midfield situation and feel we should have bent over backwards for Pogba, Well, I disagree. As far as I'm concerned, it's to hell with him!!

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Sparkz May 31, 2014

Show respect, but don't rewrite history - http://www.football365.com/f365-says/9330707/Show-Respect-Don-t-Re-Write-History...

Good piece on the Glazers, well worth a read for some of the apologists.

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Mirainashe May 31, 2014

Sorry mate that is bitter nonsense. Whether people like it or hate it, the Glazers were critical to United's success. Look at how the poor management of leaders at Chelsea, Barça,Madrid,Spurs etc has cost these clubs at certain points on time. Success off the pitch feeds off success on it and vice versa. Nothing is more important than the other. That's why at Dortmund the name Waztke is mentioned as much as Klopp when talking about the success of that club. As much as Malcom Glazer wasn't involved much, Avram and Joel were all over the off pitch work together with David Gill and Ed Woodward, with policy admin, financial and commercial strategy. A more critical and objective eye will reveal just how important their leadership has been. There's no middle ground in big business. If you don't do exceptionally well, you do poorly. If they were not doing a good job, the club would have collapsed a long time ago. Big risks,big rewards and big failures. That's how big business works. So they did a fantastic job

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Will Devine June 1, 2014

Can I ask why my comment was removed?? It contained nothing offensive.. I'm a bit confused

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Sparkz June 1, 2014

United have always been a big commercial business - the Glazers have done well on that side of things but we were always going to continue on an upward trajectory making money.

The reason we've done so well on the pitch was primarily Fergie - and I'd wager a lot of money that we'd have been even more successful had the Glazers not tightened the purse strings. So yes, they have "cost us" at certain points in the same way as the leaders at those other clubs you mentioned

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fltmed June 2, 2014

@Mirainashe:
Your comments are the most sane ones I've heard here in quite a while. Well said!

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Mirainashe June 2, 2014

@fltmed

Thanks for the vote. Ha ha

@Sparkz

If you think Ferguson should take all the credit it's fine. But I've seen plenty of excellent managers fail because of poor leadership from admin and ownership. Ask Martino at Barça. They did everything possible to make his time there impossible. Secondly, there's no such thing as automatic success. United were not always going to succeed as you claim. If it worked that way, admin would be a breeze. Things change and those that maintain consistency win. The Glazers regime did steer the ship during the 2008-11 global recession that affected companies like AIG,Merryll etc. In football, clubs like Valencia, the whole Serie A, several French clubs etc went down during that time. And if all the doom prophecies were to be believed given our debt situation,United should have been the first club to collapse financially. Yet this was the period we made the most money and increased value. Clubs like Chelsea,City etc without the charity work of their sympathetic owners would have gone under completely. When you understand the dynamics of international business you'll realize this was a truly remarkable feat.

Finally, as concerns transfers,Ferguson is responsible 100%. He was given the money he wanted to get the players he wanted. That's what the facts say. It is a complete myth easily disproved that the Glazers were thrifty. He wanted Valencia who was also being chased by Madrid at the time, and he got his man. Ferguson had no interest in midfielders and people translate that to mean the Glazers denied him the funds. I've already pointed out how so many quality midfielders were available for less than the money paid for the players Ferguson actually bought. He genuinely believed Giggs,Scholes,Carrick,Anderson,an injured Hargreaves etc were good enough. Otherwise he would not spend more money on Bebe than what Spurs paid for Van Der Vaart. That doesn't exactly point towards a stingy regime does it? It's amazing how people simply base their whole points on conspiracy theories with no factual basis whatsoever just to protect Ferguson's legacy. The lack of depth in midfield is entirely on him.

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Tommy June 2, 2014

@Mirainashe

No one needs to protect fergies legacy, his record does that for himself, but it would take an idiot not to be a success as owners of United, you mention the midfield, the same midfield pissed the league under Fergie, Fergies the reason United were successful over the last 27 years, its not about protecting anyones l;egacy its a fact, 2 years ago had Fergie been in charge of city/chelsea/arsenal or liverpool, theyd of been the club winning the title by 11 points, he is the difference its that simple

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Tommy June 2, 2014

Fergie really was the difference, someone was spot on the other day when he told me "Sport is supposed to be about 2 teams compeiting on equal terms, football is no longer a sport, its whoever spends the most wins"

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Kris Okechukwu June 2, 2014

@mirainashe spot my guy u really spoke my mind. @Tommy:who spends most wins all? Really? Utd had advantage of winning the league easily because our rival owners keeps on sacking there coaches even when they met the target they were given. Glazers will never sack moyes if to say we reached ucl, but chelsea will not even wait for season to run half or once it ends they pull the trigger. Mourinho, Di matteo, Ancelloti, Mancini, would not have been sacked under glazer. And all this unrest benefited utd.

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Tommy June 2, 2014

@Kris Okechukwu

If you think in recent years we would of won the league with anyone else in charge then youre deludedand then when you look at the other winners of the league in recent years it proves my point, its who ever spend the most wins simple, footballs not a sport any more its like playing monopoly, oh I fancy this playerr and this player, its ridiculous, UEFA need to ban teams who make a loss from spending at all

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Tommy June 2, 2014

@Mirainashe

Im with @theone with regards to Pogba, in football ho can you use the term disrespected, hes lucky to have had the opporunity to play for United, Just because he set the world alight playing in a two bob Italian league does not mean he was ready for a much tougher premier league. United are a far bigger club than Juventus, Juventus are a much bigger club than PSG but I bet he ends up at PSG, I wonder why? ££££s might have something to do wth it.

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Kris Okechukwu June 2, 2014

@Tommy in recent yrs barca dominated madrid but they never out spent them. Atletico can also prove you wrong. The difference between chelsea and shiity spending last season was just 3m difference(van ginkel shrulle willian matic eto'o ) and when you add zouma is more than shitty spending. Liverpool was almost there despite spending nothing close to them. But the difference is the manager was given maximum support and also free avenue to employ his ideas. You might think it means nothing but when there is so much speculation about a coach it affects the whole team. 2011/2012 when saf said he was going we saw the impact on the team.

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tallestreD June 2, 2014

I'm with Tommy on this one. As he rightly said Fergie was the difference despite not spending as much compared to the others. You will just have to take a look at Arsenal and wonder if stability wins you trophies why aren't they winning too? PSG is now a powerhouse in France and transferring it to Europe, when Anzhi had money cannot be compared to what they are now. So for every Dortmund there's a PSG, for every Ath. Madrid there's a Man City and so on.

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Tommy June 2, 2014

@Kris Okechukwu

You give an example Athletico Madrid and you could also mention dortmund but their shortlivid a year or twos success and thats it, The big boys in spain and germany spende, spend and spend meaning that everyone else cant compete. Same in England, its not a level playing field, citites spending over the last 3 years means that if a city manager cant win the league, that manager is simply not very good (Mancini). The fact that these clubs are allowed to spend money when they make losses year upon year makes a mockery of football

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Mirainashe June 4, 2014

@Tommy

It's ok if you choose to actually believe Ferguson is some supernatural being who can muster complete success by himself. But it won't make it the truth. The recession was an extremely dangerous time for United. We breezed through it and that is good leadership. You say you'd have to be an idiot not to succeed at United. Funny. You do know before the takeover,Chelsea was kicking United left right and center? It wasn't exactly a breeze was it. Are you also aware that before the Glazers took over Ferguson was in charge of a midfield consisting of Liam Miller,John O'Shea,Kleberson,Djemba Djemba,Richardson,an ageing Roy Keane? But of course it's fashionable to blame the Glazers for our midfield situation when you'd have to look as far back as Veron for the last time Ferguson bought a quality midfielder. You do know that in 2003 the Glazers had not taken over and Ferguson failed to get Ronaldinho and instead got a precocious 18 year old highly inconsistent winger who even in his second season struggled to get games ahead of freakin Fletcher on the right. No one was complaining then. But somehow the Glazers are blamed for changing our transfer policy when the truth reveals this has always been Ferguson's MO. Nothing changed. 2003 he replaced our biggest star Beckham with an inconsistent youngster when the only upgrade would have been Ronaldinho. So why is it such a shocker when he replaces said youngster with Valencia who was also being pursued by Madrid. Right or wrong decision, it is completely consistent with Ferguson's way. Moyes came in, wasted the whole summer trying to sign a player who didn't want to come but of course we should blame the Glazers. In the case of Herrera, which is a shocker why he even wanted the guy given how he struggles to get into Atletic Bilbao's first team, we were never going to pay £35m for that kind of player. Not the Glazers fault. When he went for a realistic target in January, he got his man for £37m.

All I get from this is, the Glazers give the manager space and control and provide with all resources necessary to get what he wants. It's a little known fact that in 2010,United submitted a bid of £63m for Ribery in an auction of sorts with Madrid and Barcelona I think. This was confirmed by Rumminege the Bayern Munich general manager, who rejected the offer,because LVG wasn't interested in. Ferguson wanted Ribery and money was availed. Bayern were not selling. But I get the feeling that even if they sold Ribery to United, people would still find excuses to blame the Glazers. It's amazing how people develop strategic amnesia. Our transfer policy has not changed much since 2000 to date. With the exception of 2007 we have never spent a lot of money in one window. The purchase of Nani,Anderson and Hargreaves at such high cost was a once off and only bureaucratic issues stopped us from buying Tevez outright due to the complex issue of ownership. That exception was early in the Glazer period, but had not happened before.

Now the contradiction part. Someone brings examples like Atletico Madrid to show that spending large sums of money does not work in football and you give an example of Dortmund. Anyway the point here is obvious. The clubs that have spent the most have been the least successful in reality. In England,United have spent very little as compared to Chelsea and City but since 2006, have been the most dominant. In Spain Real Madrid spent half of other countries GDP and still got dominated by Barça who spent half of that. Then an even thriftier Atletico win the league in a season that Real Madrid broke the £100m barrier for the first time in history. In France PSG have spent loads but teams like Lille have won the league in the same periods. You'd think they would have been breezing through. In the Champions League,Real Madrid spent close to $1bn just to reclaim the cup after 12 years. During that period the dominant teams were Manchester United,AC Milan and Barcelona who spent fractional amounts in comparison but share between them 8 finals in that same period. Yet people look at the Glazers' continuance of transfer policy as a failure. So who exactly are you comparing with who has had more success? All the big spenders are also the biggest failures. In fact if an outsider is doing research on how to succeed in European football in and off the pitch they'd use Manchester United and Barcelona as the benchmark. No one can say this about United before the Glazers. It's high time people started showing respect to the club by actually knowing it's history. People who keep criticizing are completely ignorant of the history of United, because they'd know that this has been United's most dominant era by far since the clubs inception. And I hate it when people diminish that just to get one over the Glazers. The same Ferguson was in charge when United was a non entity in Europe. So don't give me that "United was always going to be successful stuff". History suggests otherwise. So I still maintain, success off the pitch and success on it is complimentary one to the other. The Glazers whether you hate it or loathe them are as responsible as anyone for United's overall success. Just like Ferguson and his staff. Just like the much maligned players like Carrick and Rio. They all played critical roles. This era has not been a failure.
When I look at failed clubs I think of Real Madrid,Chelsea,City,Arsenal,Monaco. Clubs with inefficient transfer policies that have up to now not been justified. You'd think with the way United is criticized, these clubs must have been dominating Europe. How many trophies do they have been them by the way. Combined they'd still struggle to match United's trophy cabinet since 2003 to date.

My point in all this is, if you are going to criticize do it with facts not conspiracy theories. Prove it with history. Eg, the Glazers are the cause for our below par midfield because history says we always bought world class midfielders. Then proceed to give the names of said world class midfielders. Let history also prove that spending lots of money had been more successful as a method of success. Then give examples of the mega spenders who have more success than United.

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Kris Okechukwu June 4, 2014

@Mirainashe spot on, u spoke my mind. God bless you

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