Utter garbage fergie you have had to say that or youd be sacked,you should have said no comment,thats what you should have said,when the knights take over youll say oh i was all for then but you might not be manager.

Well there goes our heavyweight. Whoever leaked this to the press is at best stupid and potentially dangerous in the extreme. How to take Fergie out of the fight with one punch . .

Glazer might think of selling at £1.4Bn to £1.5Bn. Much less than that it is just probably not worth it to them.

So here's the conundrum. The consortium put together by the "Red Knights" would have to gain access to £1.5Bn which will be all borrowed money. The debt will be then £1.4 to £1.5Bn. Even if the figure is £1.2Bn the total debt will be £1.2Bn. And nothing in the kitty to buy players.

Furthermore, are these so called "Red Knights" that philanthropic? Lawyers, bankers - come on! Also who would manage the club 50 people with big ego's?

Surely it is better to stick with Glazers at £700M rather than incur more debt??????

Would the Glazers wait to be leveraged out of Utd. They are waiting to see the quantum of unsold season tickets. The fans want to see major spending in the market.
Of what I have seen English fans can do if they feel they are being sold down the river, and I don't think Utd fans are not any less ardent, in fact the Mancunian Utd fans are more passionate than most.

Well surely he is a Red and a Knight already?

This arguement that keeps cropping up about the number of Red Knights managing the club is spurious.

What do you think happens to a company that has millions of investors? (millions of owners), they elect a board with a chairman to run it. Which is exactly what the RKs will do.

Read between the lines people!
SAF has to tow the party link or it's P45 time, he made his real thoughts clear enough!!!!
The club is bought out, the debt cleared and the future profit shared, the question is do they want to share the future profit of a club of our standing, or one of the Bitters? It's not in the interests of the Knights, or any owner, to diminish the stock of your asset! It's not rocket science!!

fergie part with his own money? rubbish journalism, everyone knows a scotchman never parts with his own cash!!! lol

the fox

total rubbish everybody knows a scotchman never parts with his own cash!!

the fox

The crafty goat - whilst I am not sure I 100% agree, you certainly raise some valid points that I think many are missing. Whilst I would like the Glazers out, I don't want to end up 'out of the frying pan, but into the fire....'

Reddevil4ever - Whilst I would agree with you that Utd fans are the best and most paaionate in the world, we have to bear in mind the Glazers view on Utd. It is long distant and a business - this is not all bad, at least we know where we stand and irrespective of the motives, both have an interest in the club being succesful on the pitch. In my opinion, the Glazers will not care one jot about how many green and gold scarves are worn, how many people do not renew their tickets or how many people boycot games - until if affects the bottom line. The truth is that corporate hospitality, sponsorship, tv money etc are not going to change and for every season ticket holder that is going to rip up their ticket - there are 100's that will buy them.

Ball and Bat, all over - SAF is paid a huge amount of money to look after the Man Utd team - I think he is obliged to stay out of the ownership arguments. If you look at his comments, he hasn't really ever publicly supported the Glazers, nor has he been against them - he has made comments when he feels that innacurate statements have been made, or the team performance will be affected. In my opinion, irrespective of his personal views, he has done the right thing and not got publicly involved.

I am far from a Glazer supporter and would love to have the club run by the fans with all profits going back into the club, but just wish that there was a little more realism about the situation and the possible outcomes.

With all this talk about Red Knights, and Sir Alex now a Black Knight is all very amusing, is Old Trafford now the new Camelot? I'm reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, except this comedic farce is funnier. Next we will be hearing tales about Sir Robin, the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot [Berbatov] the knights who say Ni,[Scholes, Giggs, and Neville]and of course the Black Knight, a very stubborn knight who refuses to admit defeat even when dismembered,[Sir Alex] The theatre of dreams, followed by pantomime, then the Carry-On movies, and now a farcical rendering of Camelot. What next?

Oh dear! Trying to bribe Fergie has backfired. The furthest the Red Knights can go with this is put the Glazers at a point where they are temptable to take an offer. But at that point just, before they swallow, I can see a better businessperson snatching the deal away, leaving them with a long miserable yawn.

totally off topic, and a bit embarassingon my part to be honest,but watching dancing on ice and there was a green and gold scarf in the audience,it was that hayley bird from corrie';s dad.

It is amazing the lengths some people will go to justify their point of view. This is so absolutely boring now and over the top that it is beyond belief. So now SAF is lying to save his skin and the Glazers are the only people trying to make money off the club. All business men enter ventures to make money. The Glazers are no different same as the previous owners before. As for those of you talking of boycotting season tickets, I would think twice as you probably won't get them back. Tickets to see United have to be considered value for money. I am not sure but I think United tickets are not the most expensive in the country yet you get top quality entertainment each year. I just don't understand all the griping if you cannot purchase a ticket don't go.

It does not matter a jot as to whether Ferguson is on board or not. If the fans boycott next seasons merchandising/season tickets the Glazers are sunk. The recent bond prospectus reiterates the importance of the match going fan to future revenues. Of course if this happens Fergie will continue to offer his unconditional support to the Glazers as he is a man of proven integrity and loyalty. His stance reminds me of the working class saying"You cant do enough for a good gaffer".

Hey, Sigmund, you're on to something. Let's put the killer rabbit upfront with Rooney; they'd be unstoppable!

He knows which side is bread is buttered.

sigmund fraud, strangeways
7/03/2010 at 21:02

Whatever the outcome of the dealings at Old Trafford dear Sigmund,Rest easy, City's status as the Premier leagues "joke outfit" is safe,And 'The Theatre of base comedy' (eastlands) continues to provide sufficient material for stand up comedians for the foreseable future

The problem is, at present, Ferguson has never wielded so much power, and, probably never earned so much money. A new regime and he would probably be held more accountable. He has a lot more in common with the greedy Glazers than people think. As for Joe Cole, he satisfies the main criteria for a Fergie signing, in as much hes constantly injured.

davmac

You make fair points really, but think about the next 5-10 years.

In a few years, Fergie, Giggs, Scholes, Nev, Wes, Edwin will all have gone (along with maybe Vidic?). And in 3-5 years Berb, Rio, Carrick, Park, OShea may also go, or will be too old.

That means our team need massive investment to maintain standards. All in 5 years.

Our last 5 signings are: Valencia, Obertan, Owen, Diouf, De Laet.

Valencia apart, we need to be signing better players than these if we want to continue to win trophies.

Do you also think SAF's replacement will be able to continue to work wonders on a limited budget? Mourinho would reject us, and O;Neill has spent more at Villa than United have in the same period.

sam davis


my mates ordinary working lads on probably less than the average wage have been pushed out at united because of increases at 4 times the rate of inflation.

in the dark days of the early seventies and in the first 4 years of fergie's reign when the offer was utter shite they were there supporting the team now they don't match the profile. the massive increases have been soley to meet debt payments how do you think they feel? they just want to go and watch the team they have supported man and boy.

Sam Davis,
7/03/2010 at 22:05

Not 100% sure you understand the North/South divide when it comes to income

Dobbin,the horse is too old, diseased, and lame with too many riders on its back. Sir Alex himself resembling one of those great Spanish legends Don Quixote or El Cid is now too ancient to get back in the saddle without support. The entire tribe of the Glazers are also seated on its poor spine, along with the gold bullion in bags. The horse is propped up every morning with smelling salts, and given a dose of cod liver oil just to get it started, the sheer gravity is slowly killing the horse. However, there is hope on the way for Dobbin or Muffin the Mule as it is affectionately known. Apparently a group of activists, animal rights group I believe given their true name have taken up the cause on behalf of the sick, and dysfunctional horse, and have begun a campaign to rescue the creature. These good samaritans all agree that the horse exhausted by overwork, and burdened with to many riders needs protecting, and placed into the hands of competent veterinarians. Still their are critics who suggest that the new, and would be campaigners would treat the animal no more mercifully than the present owners, and consequently Dobbin would be tortured and abused as previous. Will this Steptoe and Son existence of Dobbin never cease, some have even proposed that the knackers yard is the only remedy with the poor creature transformed into glue.

The idea that a consortium of the kind proposed could work has already been proven to be a fantasy. The self-proclaimed Red Knights can't even brief the press in a co-ordinated manner, despite appointing a PR company. Add to that, MUT now have 5 people briefing the press whereas it was one or at most two before Jim O'Neill appeared.

Look at the chaos.... The members heading the consortium have briefed papers that they value to club at £800m, that they haven't talked about value, that they have pledges from 40 wealthy fans, or 60 wealthy fans, the pledges are worth £1bn or £1.5bn or there's one investor putting in £600m who may or may not be foreign. SAF is in on the proposal and supports it or isn't in on the proposal and doesn't support it or has pledged his own money. The fans will get 25% of the club, or can buy up to 25% of the club or will get nothing or will be placed at the heart of the club or the club will be membership owned like Barcelona. Gill will remain at the club or Gill will be on his way or Gill supports the bid and will pledge his own fortune or not. The investors will get a return on their money or they'll get their name scratched into a board at OT and no return or some will want a return and not others. The bond debt will go or the bond debt will remain if they can renegotiate with the bond holders or they'll arrange another bond to replace the first bond. They've briefed that SAF will get more transfer funds or the same transfer fund. They've briefed that there will be a statement soon or not or a bid soon or that they are currently looking at the viability of a bid or it's too soon to say or it's early days. They brief that United is for sale or it's not for sale or they don't know wheter they can force the Glazers to listen. They are for a boycott and they are against a boycott.

The whole thing is currently a shambles. O'Neill needs to get a grip and shut people up. He needs to boot Harris out altogether as he'll destroy any prospect of a serious bid. Then he needs to set out clearly which of the contradictions above are the official line. At the moment this lot make the Glazers look experts when it comes to PR.

The Bacon-faced bottler showing his true colours, dont care about you, dont care about Utd, only cares about earning vast amounts of money, if thats at the expense of the supporters, the club or anybody else, so what?