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The Glazers valuation of the club - they’re typically money-grubbing and self-serving parting gift - is £6.5 billion
Which is an insane sum of money given that the club is still saddled with nearly a billion pounds of the debt they piled on to it in their how-can-this-possibly-be-legal leveraged buyout
So that’s pretty much everyone out of the bidding other than petrodollars and ego-crazed tech billionaires
There are no ideal outcomes, just least worst options
All we know - and we’ve known it from day one - is that the Glazers only interest in buying the club was to asset strip it and milk the ‘brand’ for every last cent they could wring from it. They’re leeches
So they can take their billions and * off! And when they’ve done that they can * off some more!
Whoever comes next would have to do something pretty damn spectacular to be worse than them
It's all about prestige with buying ManU, i know it's all going off about Qatar and human rights, but we're on about an investment group that is the 10th largest UK landowner, that is the majority shareholder in Heathrow, owns many exclusive London businesses and properties and sponsors a lot more.
The real worry is that if they buy ManU, they'll bring back David Beckham in some role, that alone should bar them from bidding!
To be honest with you, I think all this is still in the realms of speculation and everything is still in the hands of the Glazers, who just can’t be trusted
And there lies the problem. They could stop this whole process at any point and will do if they think they can wring a few more quid for themselves. They genuinely couldn’t give a shiny shit about the club and only care about the money
I don’t hold out any hope until any sale has officially all been completed.
How many times did Mike Ashley do this with Newcastle? Announce the club was being sold, then pull the plug on it all? I can see the same greedy self-serving farce playing out at Old Trafford
To be fair, Ashley did lose a bit with Newcastle by all accounts, the Glazers have just got that look of wanting to get out of the game and make as much as they can. As for the future, can you imagine ManU owned by Qatari investment, you know how much they love the UAE and Saudi's, i could see some spicy off-field battles going on to see who is the top dog!
With, it seems, an Iranian American billionaire who has financial interests in multiple large sports teams, preparing a significant bid for spurs I share your confliction. On the one hand enic/Joe Louis have done great great things for spurs but on the other they fail to spend on the pitch in the way the other big clubs do. Obviously spending and success are linked and all fans are frustrated with no success. However I agree with levy who has been consistent and resolute with only spending what is sustainable. FFS, ffp is basically there to ensure just that! It irks when citeh and Chelsea flout that.
Better the devil you know?
Here’s an interesting little read for all of you fed up with big money football. Disenchanted Arse fans have started their own club Dial Square FC Maybe it’s the future?
In other United news, Ten Hag and his wife are regularly spotted cycling around Cheshire
There was an article in todays guardian speculating on what ant new United owner would do
Top of the list was keep Ten Hag happy. I don’t think you’d get an argument against that
spending what is sustainable. FFS, ffp is basically there to ensure just that!
FFP's stated aims and actual aims are very different, it was originally introduced to prevent another Leeds united, to stop asset stripping debt being loaded onto a club. It morphed into protecting the established "European royalty" under the guise of a level playing field, while united, barca, Juventas and madrid have no penalties for financial mismanagement (Juventas broke the law, the football penalties were only given when the league looked weak afterwards)
I wish some corrupt, suitcase dismemberer, insanely rich mad person would buy Reading.
They have, several times (cavet, I don't think Sir John has actually dismembered anyone)
Trouble is they largely kept their money in their pockets and remained insanely rich.
Perhaps that’s the problem? A few half-time beheadings to appease the football gods might do the trick?
They have, several times (cavet, I don’t think Sir John has actually dismembered anyone)
Well there was the son of the only penniless oligarch.
To be honest I'm sitting on the fence over beheadings at half time as I'd need a beer by then.
Agreed, it does protect the status quo. Look at the American sports and their draft system helps to keep a level ish playing field, they recognise the strength in a decent competitive league. Football in Europe needs a complete restructure, but the money and interests it drives make the European super League a when, not if, unfortunately.
I don’t know about using American sport as a comparison. Nobody gets relegated or promoted do they? Aren’t the leagues all closed shops?
Which is what the likes of the Glazers wanted for the Superleague
Sod that. Imagine no relegation battles or Championship playoffs? No Brentford’s and Burnley’s causing chaos against ‘bigger’ teams.
I can’t see that happening given the enormous backlash to it last time
Look at the American sports and their draft system helps to keep a level ish playing field, they recognise the strength in a decent competitive league.
It's a completely closed shop. As Binners said there is no promotion or relegation.
Also, you can just buy a "franchise" and move it lock stock to wherever you want.
Couldn't be further from a level playing field.
Perhaps a better comparison is the MLS which also doesn't have the jeopardy of relegation.
The whole point of the Superleague was to provide a constant, predictable (massive) income to the clubs owners.
So no promotion, no relagation, a total closed shop, with no qualification for the champions league as there wouldn’t be one. I suspect all the other cup competitions would be jettisoned too.
The people who were in favour of it: the club owners of the ‘Big Six’ clubs
The people opposed to it: absolutely ****ing everybody else
And if you look at the ‘Big Six’ clubs this season, one is presently in 9th, another in 10th with decidedly non ‘Big 6’ Brentford, Brighton, Fulham and Newcastle (debatable whether they’d be invited to the party now, with the new big money owners) above them, showing for definite what an utter farce the whole thing is
It was dead on arrival and nothings changed
Never going to happen
This is why United and Spurs are presently for sale
Whoever comes next would have to do something pretty damn spectacular to be worse than them
Awaits a Truss/Johnson consortium bid
Great header from Emiliano Martínez - worth watching on MOTD.
Karma for his time wasting antics, apparently. Still life in the title race, Man U could yet make it a three way race.
Pochettino in at Chelsea by Monday?
I can’t see Potter being there for much longer
I saw his press conference the other day where he was spouting some old nonsense about guerrilla warfare and thought ‘mate… you’ve just spent 350 million quid’
WTF has Nick Pope just done?! 😳
The thing is there is some fairly strong correlation between quality and money. So the European football model pushes the top clubs to spend huge sums and it risks a Leeds (could insert any number of clubs that have come close to bankruptcy, eg spurs in 1991). None want that because of the damage a mid season bankruptcy would do to all competitions. So along comes FFP. However if you can't allow a new owner to spend large sums and try to improve a club's performance then FFP becomes a straight jacket to competition and as you say the status quo is protected. Hence my view that current system needs some restructure.
I agree lack of promotion etc in the US system protects the status quo but, is there not more competition among that status quo and a system to handicap the top performers and aid the worst so as to maintain a successful league with profits spread across all members? At the end of the day sport these days is a business and NFL, NBA etc were established recently enough to recognise that from the as to start. One thing they recognised is the money generated is, at any given time, limited and linked to to the number of fans. The NFL has grown over it's lifetime, don't know exactly but think it started with 2 Championships with 3 divisions and 4 to 5 clubs, so about 30 teams. It's now 4 divisions of 5? Per championship, so 40 teams. The growth has been managed with teams being brought into the top flight of the NFL as the fan base grows to make it viable, and franchises are positioned and moved to maximise support and minimise empty stadiums. (This all sounds strangely familiar.... Look into how Woolwich arsenal bought their way into the first division after the war. I digress.)
Our football has been around far longer than since people thought about the money....erm, premier League was when it got monetised...1990? 33 years later we still haven't updated the structure. Nuts and kind of surprising. I agree that any restructuring would have fans of all the clubs that don't benefit raging, but a good industry or business recognises that to make big steps forward car can't be done without disruption. My view is a restructure is essential or the league goes backwards and sooner or later a premier League club will fail, and cause chaos. I've no idea what the restructure should be, but ALL the clubs need to recognise football is big business and a structure where the aim is to grow the popularity of the league brings success, and growth, to ALL members.
Hi, just logging in to say Arsenal are still top of the league.
Have a good weekend all. See you next time
Devon Lough/Newcastle United.
My view is a restructure is essential or the league goes backwards and sooner or later a premier League club will fail, and cause chaos
They’ve been saying that for as long as they’ve been saying that the housing market is about to collapse and house prices can’t keep rising
So roughly since Blackburn won the league. There’s simply no way on earth that a Premier League club will go bust
And we’ve all seen that any ‘restructure’ proposed will only be done to serve the interests of club owners, a la Superleague
Given that the biggest, richest clubs in Europe had been plotting and scheming for years to bring it about and when they did their big reveal it lasted what? Before being torn to shreds, set fire too then put out with a shovel…. 48 hours?
The bottom line is that the Premier League in its present form is the most monumentally successful sporting product ever. It’s a global juggernaut. A worldwide monster generating billions and billions on a weekly basis and watched in every country. For good reason. It’s bloody brilliant!
Good luck with any serious proposals to upset that
The only thing that the Premiership is missing is owning it's own broadcasting network, they are waiting for that day they don't need Sky/BT/etc to sell their wares, they have complete autonomy over their empire, that is also a scary thought for football!
I love the premier league. Feel a bit dirty saying that given the wealth, greed and hyperbole that surrounds it, but it’s some watch.
Chelsea. How many players signed did Potter actually want?! They’ve been signed by the owner…,,rumours going about they want Neymar!
Glad Azpilicueta is ok.
I think the first thing they could do is just have a complete even split of the tv revenue.
As above I think the PL is great to watch, better than any other league, so they have to be careful in how they impose any FFP rules that they don't lose their competitive advantage over other leagues. The Bundesliga is frequently a borefest with a guaranteed outcome, and barca, madrid and juventas are financial basket cases who are all much more corrupt than any pL team, they just throw stones at the PL, city and PSG to distract from their own activities.
Fan representation in the boardroom seems like a good idea, but are fan groups really equipped to deal with the sharks who own football clubs, IMO they would just be rolled over with a gold plated steamroller.
shouldn't the sheikh pay more attention in looking for his mrs than buying united?
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I'm not sure I prefer the idea of a successful Quatari bid to the Glazers, as much as I dislike what they've done.
We don't need a rich benefactor to be successful.
Some sort of Ineos / fan ownership model would be the best outcome in this situation. Not got much hope their bid will be able to compete though unless the PL (or FA) suddenly change their 'for show only' fit and proper test.
We don’t need a rich benefactor to be successful
What we need is an owner who isn’t milking the club as a cash cow and has more than a passing interest in what goes on on the pitch, rather than if they can get another noodle partner in Malaysia or a donut franchise in Wisconsin
Some sort of Ineos / fan ownership model would be the best outcome in this situation
Absolutely! But as it stands, we just need this present gang of parasites gone. Their ownership has been an unmitigated disaster from day one
Anyway… more importantly… Leicester this afternoon and they’re coming off the back of giving Spurs an absolute shoeing, and some United players are going to be distracted by Barca on Thursday or the league cup final next weekend
A definite potential bananaskin, this. It’s going to interesting to see what squad he puts out. This is a busy old week by anyones standards
ManU and the ilk have huge squads; our 5-aside team only had around 8 which could quickly be decimated by babysitting, hangovers etc.
This is a genuine issue. I’ve got mates who’s 5 a side team were so desperate they once asked me if I fancied playing. Think of a sort of makeshift Neville Southall 😳
Really hoping the Qataris buy Man Utd so all those Man U fans who were so outraged at the new owners of Newcastle will have the opportunity to demonstrate their disgust by ripping up their season tickets and never supporting their team again.
Should have been out on my bike but this time procrastination paid off as I watched journeyman Messi score a winner for new ManU sister club.
It's not like Man U haven't spent over 10m on a player since 2005 or something, it's not Ashley level strip out is it? They've invested billions (?) In players in that time, taken on some of the worlds best managers but because they've not been able to reproduce a Fergie level of medals it's completly Glazers fault? not any players, not any managers?? The place has been a basket case since Fergie left.
They've got to get shirt sales etc, where does the money come from for 80mil CD's? They're running a business
It's like me blaming the board because we've not found another Clough, they're few and far between.
Anyway.. do us a favour against the Foxes.
Saying that, Cooper is starting to get very close
I for one can't wait for the United fans to mysteriously stop moaning about other clubs' oil money overnight while they wait to move into their giant bedpan stadium.
Marcus Rashford is simply unplayable right now. The form under Ten Hag is ridiculous. Think I might have to invest in the latest Stan Chow print
https://twitter.com/stan_chow/status/1627327320028598274?s=46&t=KqMa-ZvMKKEzrg536Cx-Yg
Pains me to say it but United have got a good one in Erik Ten Hag. Man management and big decisions bang on, and he’s improving players too.
Stan Chow print of Marcus ordered to go next the one I’ve got of his of Dave, which is up above my desk.
He passed Schmeicel’s record of 180 clean sheets today. That’s some benchmark, especially considering some of the ropey defences he’s had in front of him.
An absolute ****ing legend!
https://twitter.com/pschmeichel1/status/1627342620589432834?s=46&t=dx3RWs1M2Vt053O-GICwWg
Spurs win puts us beck in the top 4. Played a game more than the barcodes though. Chelsea come to the Lane next.... Could be the return of Poch if rumours are to be believed. To be frank, I'd feel peeved by that.
You'd be peeved by the return of someone who got you to the European Cup Final and finished 2nd in the league. Ok we'll have him instead.
Spurs getting rid of Poch was the dictionary definition of getting ideas above your station.
From the owners, not the supporters.
You’re at a club that hasn’t won anything since dinosaurs roamed the earth, you get into a champions league final and get sacked?
At least he knows what to expect at Chelsea. You can win the champions league there and get sacked a couple of weeks later
Went to watch England Women play today - it was fantastic, good match, great family atmosphere, a flowing game, and no booing of the opposition anthem or players taking the knee. This is the way forward. 🙂
No binners, I'm peeved we sacked him.
The impression I get is that pretty much every Spurs fan is. I would be too. Seemed like an insane decision at the time, and so it has proved to be. It’d be like us getting rid of Ten Hag if we lose next Sunday
It seems that the trophy will go to Manchester this year. IMO. Watched the UTD game yesterday. They look a much better team that this time last year. The dutchman is working wonders there.
We were good against Villa, but I still think we will finish 3rd or 4th.
Seemed like an insane decision at the time, and so it has proved to be. It’d be like us getting rid of Ten Hag if we lose next Sunday
That's got to be worth a fiver with Ladbrokes....
ManU always had a good team, they just went wrong with Rangnick, Ole got them second place, they then had a bad spell, sacked him, which was a good decision, but then brought in Rangnick as some halfway house.
Ten Hag is a decent manager, but he's not exactly doing things well beyond their means, they spent big in the summer and some of those players who went off the boil are back again, i'd have been more surprised if a team could possibly have so many out of form players continuing to be out of form at the same time, would love to see Sancho go on and get his place back permanently, i like the guy, he's a pro who has suffered big time due to the debacle that was happening at ManU and him being scapegoated at the time.
The whole Sancho thing just typified the mismanagement at the club. We were after signing him for ages, paid top dollar for him, then just left him sat on the bench week after week, or played him totally out of position, until his confidence was shot to pieces
That’s got to be worth a fiver with Ladbrokes….
Don’t even joke about it. I wouldn’t put it past them
Poch is a fan favourite. He plays exciting football, he is passionate and shows it, and he brought spurs on tremendously. Oh so close.
A couple of things went wrong. He and the players all had a bad reaction to losing the cl final, and poch didn't get the financial backing he wanted that summer. We did spend, quite a chunk. Those signings didn't work out (ndombele, gil, lo celso, and sessegnon in particular). With the next season going poorly it did feel like poch was sulking a tad. He didn't seem to be trying anything. TBF, he had limited options.
Like most managers and fans I struggle to understand the enic strategy currently. I backed levy 100% while we were building, building the team, the staff, the world class training facility and world class stadium. Now though it seems they don't want to sell but are averse to a cash injection to significantly rebuild a fading first team and kick on again. We are puzzled. I'd welcome poch back and would offer Conte to Chelsea, but tbh it may still be too early for the prodigal return. Maybe poch and a new owner would work, dunno, poch and money? Poch and something, then we could go forward. But TBF, Conte (or many others) and money/new owner may be just as successful. As I said, money and success are closely linked.
I'm undecided on ten hag. He is doing well currently though.
Liverpool proving that they can be even more Spursey than Spurs.
Playing their bogey team!
First 20 minutes was like the 2018/19 days, frenzied, tearing into teams. Along with Allison turning into Karius.
And then they come back to Earth with an almighty bump 😂
Oh dear.
Milner on to kick someone/get booked.
As snatching defeat from the jaws of victory goes, that was pretty ****ing spectacular! 😂
Woooah. I last looked when they had just gone two up, thought they were in for a famous European night.
Looks like the fan strategy of letting off fireworks outside Real's hotel last night worked well.
Liverpool are just a side that are full of errors, they've had a good couple of games, but a bit of pressure and there's always a mistake in there, especially in the midfield and at the back. Real were too good, Modric just never ages, same with Benzema.
Napoli look good as well, i think whoever gets Osimhen this summer is on to a winner, Chelsea spent a fortune and this lad is what they really need, think ManU are sniffing around him as well, that would be some upgrade to Weghorst!
After 15 minutes, watching Celtic fans knew exactly how the Liverpool game would go.
Real Madrid will let you play for a while, but then they take the ball back after 20 minutes or so and just set about you. When they came to Celtic Park in the group stage, we all got excited as we cut through them a few times in the first half (unfortunately without managing to score) and thought we were onto something. Then they just got going and gave us a lesson in how to win games. They'll just suss you out then expose any fragility you have over and over again.
So when do man u play their European stuff? This is the period where the poor sods in the Europa League have to squeeze in an extra round, assuming they progress. Tough. I remember 2 consecutive years not long ago with spurs playing every 3 days for over a month.
So when do man u play their European stuff?
Return leg at home to Barca tomorrow. 2-2 last week.
Not sure how I feel about this one TBH. Win it and possibly go all the way and pick up the EL cup, but how much might those Thu night games cost us in the league (and any potential FA cup run)? Wasn't bothered last time we won it with Jose. Can't see winning the league, but second place is on.
It should be a belter of a game on Thursday, but I'm with you on this one. Its the Europa League so its always
just 'Not the Champions League' and you'd like to think that a top four is the very least of our expectations, so next years champions league qualification won't depend on it (hopefully). But it is a big night against Barca and the first leg was an absolutely brilliant match, so its just a case of enjoying watching us play some decent football
Like you, I don't think we can win the title this year. Its a step too far, despite the massive improvement under Ten Hag. Thats still a two horse race, but at least its resembling a proper title race and one we're still hypothetically involved with. Its been a while.
Meanwhile, watching the currently more successful Manchester team playing I'm slightly curious in that Grealish has forgotten how to fall over on a whim.
He doesn’t really have to though, does he. This looks like a Sunday afternoon kickabout
Has anybody ever actually seen Timo Werner score?
I think Werner once scored in a warm-up but it was offside.
Bloody hell! Mottie’s died 😢
RIP an absolute bloody legend!
RIP an absolute bloody legend!
The voice of my football-obsessed childhood. 😢 RIP
Bit of a shock. One of my earliest TV memories was Motty in his sheepskin coat in a blizzard.
Oh no! The English Archie Macpherson.
Very soft. Next time my 8 stone gf holds my hand I'll spin and tumble. She's half my weight.
This Europa League stuff is a good watch! What a tool Bruno is though.
Dominant second half. End product from Antony!
Well that was a game of two halves
Superb second half performance! Fred was unreal? Cheeky backheals from Shaw? What’s going on?! 😳
Every time I see him I think “**** me! Steve McClarens our assistant manager (again) isn’t he?” 😂
The Walley with the Brolly? I thought it might have been him, I'd know that scarlet face anywhere.
Brushing up on his Dutch with ETH. A quadruple is still on Binners!
Apparently so.
I’ll just take beating Barca for now. Let’s call it ‘managing expectations’