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Why do United fans hate the Glazers?

Graham Fisher in Editorial, English Premier League 3 Mar 2010

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Glazers not wanted

Glazers not wanted

I’m not a Manchester United supporter and I am certainly not financially knowledgeable or astute, so maybe I should have tried to stay out of the Glazers row at Old Trafford.

Debts

I am well aware that United have debts in excess of £700 million, but I am also aware that the Deloitte’s report on the top twenty richest football clubs in the World yesterday had Manchester United in third place. They are only behind Real Madrid and Barcelona and that is largely due to the weakness of the Pound in the financial markets.

I am also aware that since the Glazers took over in 2005, United have won three Premier League titles, three Carling Cups, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Successful

Whilst the debt figure seems incredibly high, they are still earning more money than almost any sporting club in the World and they are still remarkably successful on the pitch.

I guess the question I am asking is, why do the United fans hate the Glazers so much?

It is very rare that fans have any time for the owners of their club but the United fans have gone way beyond the normal mistrust and suspicion that fans have about the money men.

Fortune

It seems that the fans fear that the huge debts the Glazers have inflicted on the club will restrict the potential for future success. They also fear that the Glazers will make a fortune for themselves at the club’s expense.

The Glazers do not seem to like the limelight and they make very few, if any, public statements. Rightly or wrongly that silence is regarded as proof of their guilt in the eyes of many Manchester United fans.

Common

My limited understanding of financial matters is that what the Glazers did with Manchester United was common practice in the financial world prior to the credit crunch. In other words, they were doing what they thought was right for the football club but got caught out by the sudden fall into recession.

Now, like many businesses and Governments for that matter, they may be well advised to try to reduce their debts. As astute businessmen I have no doubt that is what they shall attempt to do.

Hopes

Hopes are being pinned on a buyout of the club by a group of financiers who apparently go under the title of the ‘Red Knights’. The money men behind this group are men who have made a fortune doing the same type of thing that the Glazers have done. They have made money in the same way and built up debt in the same way in order to do so.

I am not saying that the people behind the ‘Red Knights’ are bad people or are any better or worse than the Glazers, but I think the fans might be being naïve to think that all will be well if the takeover went ahead.

Statements

I haven’t heard that the Glazers interfere in any way with Sir Alex Ferguson and football matters in general. They don’t make public statements about each other, the manager or the players, like some other American owners not too far from Manchester seem to do.

In fact, as an outsider, the Glazers seem to be pretty good, supportive owners. They have a huge debt that they need to start clearing, but if they do so, I really can’t see the problem with them.

As I have said, I am an outsider and there is probably more to it than I know. Can any United fans explain why it is exactly that they hate the Glazers quite so much?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Graham Fisher


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  • Danny

    0 0

    Bollox, im from Moston, right next to Uniteds birthplace in Newton Heath, and these so called fans who desicrated teh Newton Heath name and changed the beloved colours from Green and Yellow to Anti-glazer os for the non manc fans, ticket prices have not gone up 60%, and demand for tickets for rich cheshire fans has gone up and they are willing to apy anything to come along and slate man united players for droppign a point, let me tell you something, a real fan supports the badge and not the ownership or need to jsutify their loyalty by ownign the best seat by paying the top most amount, its about being part of the club and being there in 40 years when the glazers have gone and some other rich idiot buys it! We now have a situation where so called Man UN ited fans who now turned their back on the club and set up FC United are trying to take the ground of Moston Juniors away from the local community and build FC united there becasue its right next to Newton Heath, the truth is FC United has nothing to do with united except they have fickle ex united fans who turned their back on the badge, and as a real fan who beleives in club history and tradition you should always call the colours newton heath colours, and get away from the LUHG nonsense, them plonkers have been attacking our sponsors who are crucial to our success!

  • Jay

    0 0

    Frank – what utter garbage that is. Because you’re a Utd fan you think you know more than the rest of the public, simply laughable. You’re more likely blinded from the truth by your red tinted specs. I didn’t see you complaining when they were giving Ferguson funds for quality players to help u win the league 3 times in a row and the european cup.

    I think it’s even funnier that Ferguson is in full support of the Glazers and yet u fans choose to ignore him and still carry on with your meaningless, pointless protests that will not change anything. After all he’s done for you it’s nothing short of embarrassing. The fact is your club is a business like any other and isn’t bulletproof, and like every other business has been hit by the recession, it’s highlighted at Utd because the amounts of money involved are so much bigger.

    You seem to think that the Glazers are some evil American family just trying to bleed the club dry, the same thing would of happened whoever bought the club, you were in debt before they came along. The family bought it to make money (shock, horror) and are now in trouble thanks to reasons out of their control. All they’re trying to do now is to keep it sustainable and afloat, so that they can carry on and keep u going. I’d think twice before u blame them, because it’s a massive possibility they’ll get u out of this mess you’re in.

    I’d do your research before you jump on that ridiculous yellow and green Norwich bandwagon.

  • Chris

    0 0

    Hmm …. Where do I start ? 700 million debt ! 16.25 pct interest rate on the money glazers borrowed from RBS! 3-4 transfers this season total net of 20 million ! Hell even a relegated team has spent more money than that ! And still there are ppl who think sir Alex has a free reign at the transfer market ? Wot is he supposed to do with so lil money ? How is sir Alex going to build up his squad ! How long do we rely solely on the able shoulders of Neville , scholes, giggs ? Young talent is what united needs , to train ns accitimalise into the team ! So for all this da club needs money nd not leechers who leech all the money from our club nd stuff their greedy pockets ! Sometimes I envy barca fans – they each own a part of the club , no individual owns da club(so no exploitation ) there are no shares of the club ( for hostile takeovers) ……. With glazer at the helm united is in a downward spiral!!!!

  • doobydude

    0 0

    ever try to pay half a billion in salaries each year without a gigantic loan, for that matter has any sensible business person not acquired some sort of debt for the purpose of running said business……
    700 $ debt or whatever doesnt mean the folks stole it from man utd. In all intensive purposes, the 700 mil made the reddevs that much more powerful in the lucrative european transfer markets…..and if you consider net worth of some top clubs bigger than africa’s total wealth, this number seems reasonable

  • Brad

    0 0

    And Park Ji-Sung is our Lucky 13 man. I also said that before.

  • Brad

    0 0

    I can see how some of our fellow Red Devs hate the Glazers, due to the $700 million debt (it has the us dollar sign, but you get the idea).
    I dont hate the Glazers either, but, as I said before, I dont trust them either. maybe fergie could take over as the owner.

  • Ali Ezzedine

    0 0

    Baka: Park Ji Sung is a top player – He is my 4th fav player of all time(all of ’em are Man Utd players).

    I dont hate the Glazers – Everything Sir Alex is content with Im content with it – 700 million pounds in debt are not easy pickings though, but it seems any amount of Money is avaliable for sir Alex to invest in new players. I recently read on ESPN soccernet that 80M Euros are available for his summer transfer budget (to buy a new keeper(Neuer) and a striker (Di Maria or Villa) )

  • Brad

    0 0

    I bet you’re worse than him. . .

  • baka

    0 0
  • Brad

    0 0

    What?

  • baka

    0 0

    Nah, I’m just a weeaboo

  • Brad

    0 0

    I dont see how baka could hate Park Ji-Sung; he’s our Lucky 13 player. For him to hate Lucky 13 is to show that he is an idiot.

    Well, I don’t hate the Glazers. I just dont trust them for putting us into, what is it now, 700 million pounds (anyone know how much that is in U.S. dollars)? That’s what it was last time I checked.

    For the good of Manchester United, they must leave Old Trafford. To not leave is to say they WANT to put us into even more debt.

  • James Taylor

    0 0

    Baka: you must be Japanese to specifically say you hate Koreans and Park Ji Sung…so then you must know that the word “baka” means “idiot” in Japanese..Are you jealous over your neighbor’s success in soccer? Was 2002 an embarrassment? Get over it dude..

    Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans are all trying to gain recognition as Premier League quality players…It’s difficult for all of us, and Park has shown that he has the consistency, skills, and physical ability to be chosen by the greatest coach in the world. Players like Park and Nakamura help open the door just a little bit more for other players to break into La Liga, BPL, and other top leagues.

    We should support each Asian footballer and hope for the day that Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy will start losing consistency to the powers of the east…someday buddy, someday!

  • baka

    0 0

    I don’t hate the Glazers. I hate russians, koreans, greeks. And I hate Park Ji Sung.

  • Frank

    0 0

    I doubt you would understand seeing that you are not a Man-Utd fan.
    you simply wouldn’t understand even if we pelted it in black and white.your post contains just about 40% of the answers you require visible to the human eye, the other 60% can’t be seen and are feelings that can only be understood by a Red Devil and only A RED DEVIL.

  • Graham Fisher

    0 0

    Philip, thanks very much for your response. That certainly paints a different picture to the one that I have seen as an outsider. The owners you describe are very different to the public image that is presented.

  • Philip

    0 0

    Graham where do I start? They took our club and plunged it into a henious amount of debt, debt that was described by our chief executive as the road to ruin and far to aggressive for the best interests of the club. They haven’t lived up to one promise they raised ticket prices 60% they’ve made no net investment in the squad, somehow I think the glazers weren’t the difference between us winning those trophies or not, they’ve just recently offered our training ground and stadium as collateral against the debt whilst they continue to steal money at an incredible rate. Why don’t you tell me what’s so good about them?

  • Philip

    0 0

    Graham where do I start? They took our club and plunged it into a henious amount of debt, debt that was described by our chief executive as the road to ruin and far to aggressive for the best interests of the club. They haven’t lived up to one promise they raised ticket prices 60% they’ve made no net investment in the squad, somehow I think the glazers weren’t the difference between us winning those trophies or not, they’ve just recently offered our training ground and stadium as collateral against the debt whilst they continue to steal money at an incredible rate. Why don’t you tell me what’s so good about them?

  • Graham Fisher

    0 0

    Philip, thanks very much for your response. That certainly paints a different picture to the one that I have seen as an outsider. The owners you describe are very different to the public image that is presented.

  • Frank

    0 0

    I doubt you would understand seeing that you are not a Man-Utd fan.
    you simply wouldn’t understand even if we pelted it in black and white.your post contains just about 40% of the answers you require visible to the human eye, the other 60% can’t be seen and are feelings that can only be understood by a Red Devil and only A RED DEVIL.

  • baka

    0 0

    I don’t hate the Glazers. I hate russians, koreans, greeks. And I hate Park Ji Sung.

  • James Taylor

    0 0

    Baka: you must be Japanese to specifically say you hate Koreans and Park Ji Sung…so then you must know that the word “baka” means “idiot” in Japanese..Are you jealous over your neighbor’s success in soccer? Was 2002 an embarrassment? Get over it dude..

    Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans are all trying to gain recognition as Premier League quality players…It’s difficult for all of us, and Park has shown that he has the consistency, skills, and physical ability to be chosen by the greatest coach in the world. Players like Park and Nakamura help open the door just a little bit more for other players to break into La Liga, BPL, and other top leagues.

    We should support each Asian footballer and hope for the day that Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy will start losing consistency to the powers of the east…someday buddy, someday!

  • Brad

    0 0

    I dont see how baka could hate Park Ji-Sung; he’s our Lucky 13 player. For him to hate Lucky 13 is to show that he is an idiot.

    Well, I don’t hate the Glazers. I just dont trust them for putting us into, what is it now, 700 million pounds (anyone know how much that is in U.S. dollars)? That’s what it was last time I checked.

    For the good of Manchester United, they must leave Old Trafford. To not leave is to say they WANT to put us into even more debt.

  • baka

    0 0

    Nah, I’m just a weeaboo

  • Brad

    0 0

    What?

  • baka

    0 0
  • Brad

    0 0

    I bet you’re worse than him. . .

  • Ali Ezzedine

    0 0

    Baka: Park Ji Sung is a top player – He is my 4th fav player of all time(all of ’em are Man Utd players).

    I dont hate the Glazers – Everything Sir Alex is content with Im content with it – 700 million pounds in debt are not easy pickings though, but it seems any amount of Money is avaliable for sir Alex to invest in new players. I recently read on ESPN soccernet that 80M Euros are available for his summer transfer budget (to buy a new keeper(Neuer) and a striker (Di Maria or Villa) )

  • Brad

    0 0

    I can see how some of our fellow Red Devs hate the Glazers, due to the $700 million debt (it has the us dollar sign, but you get the idea).
    I dont hate the Glazers either, but, as I said before, I dont trust them either. maybe fergie could take over as the owner.

  • Brad

    0 0

    And Park Ji-Sung is our Lucky 13 man. I also said that before.

  • doobydude

    0 0

    ever try to pay half a billion in salaries each year without a gigantic loan, for that matter has any sensible business person not acquired some sort of debt for the purpose of running said business……
    700 $ debt or whatever doesnt mean the folks stole it from man utd. In all intensive purposes, the 700 mil made the reddevs that much more powerful in the lucrative european transfer markets…..and if you consider net worth of some top clubs bigger than africa’s total wealth, this number seems reasonable

  • Chris

    0 0

    Hmm …. Where do I start ? 700 million debt ! 16.25 pct interest rate on the money glazers borrowed from RBS! 3-4 transfers this season total net of 20 million ! Hell even a relegated team has spent more money than that ! And still there are ppl who think sir Alex has a free reign at the transfer market ? Wot is he supposed to do with so lil money ? How is sir Alex going to build up his squad ! How long do we rely solely on the able shoulders of Neville , scholes, giggs ? Young talent is what united needs , to train ns accitimalise into the team ! So for all this da club needs money nd not leechers who leech all the money from our club nd stuff their greedy pockets ! Sometimes I envy barca fans – they each own a part of the club , no individual owns da club(so no exploitation ) there are no shares of the club ( for hostile takeovers) ……. With glazer at the helm united is in a downward spiral!!!!

  • Jay

    0 0

    Frank – what utter garbage that is. Because you’re a Utd fan you think you know more than the rest of the public, simply laughable. You’re more likely blinded from the truth by your red tinted specs. I didn’t see you complaining when they were giving Ferguson funds for quality players to help u win the league 3 times in a row and the european cup.

    I think it’s even funnier that Ferguson is in full support of the Glazers and yet u fans choose to ignore him and still carry on with your meaningless, pointless protests that will not change anything. After all he’s done for you it’s nothing short of embarrassing. The fact is your club is a business like any other and isn’t bulletproof, and like every other business has been hit by the recession, it’s highlighted at Utd because the amounts of money involved are so much bigger.

    You seem to think that the Glazers are some evil American family just trying to bleed the club dry, the same thing would of happened whoever bought the club, you were in debt before they came along. The family bought it to make money (shock, horror) and are now in trouble thanks to reasons out of their control. All they’re trying to do now is to keep it sustainable and afloat, so that they can carry on and keep u going. I’d think twice before u blame them, because it’s a massive possibility they’ll get u out of this mess you’re in.

    I’d do your research before you jump on that ridiculous yellow and green Norwich bandwagon.

  • Danny

    0 0

    Bollox, im from Moston, right next to Uniteds birthplace in Newton Heath, and these so called fans who desicrated teh Newton Heath name and changed the beloved colours from Green and Yellow to Anti-glazer os for the non manc fans, ticket prices have not gone up 60%, and demand for tickets for rich cheshire fans has gone up and they are willing to apy anything to come along and slate man united players for droppign a point, let me tell you something, a real fan supports the badge and not the ownership or need to jsutify their loyalty by ownign the best seat by paying the top most amount, its about being part of the club and being there in 40 years when the glazers have gone and some other rich idiot buys it! We now have a situation where so called Man UN ited fans who now turned their back on the club and set up FC United are trying to take the ground of Moston Juniors away from the local community and build FC united there becasue its right next to Newton Heath, the truth is FC United has nothing to do with united except they have fickle ex united fans who turned their back on the badge, and as a real fan who beleives in club history and tradition you should always call the colours newton heath colours, and get away from the LUHG nonsense, them plonkers have been attacking our sponsors who are crucial to our success!

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