RIO FERDINAND set to miss tonight’s derby after being charged with violent conduct Read the Rest of this Article…
Browsing Posts published in January, 2010
1. Ferguson uses City game to blood youth team players. Read the Rest of this Article…
The Press are loving it. Newspapers are flying off the shelves, articles predicting the collapse of one of the great football institutions in the world are springing up like daisies. Even when a United story has nothing to do with the debt situation, it is introduced into the story. Take this article on the BBC website [...]
The Press are loving it. Newspapers are flying off the shelves, articles predicting the collapse of one of the great football institutions in the world are springing up like daisies. Even when a United story has nothing to do with the debt situation, it is introduced into the story.
Take this article on the BBC website the other day:-
“Wayne Rooney targets record haul for Manchester United”
Was the headline and it starts off enthusing about Wayne Rooney’s brilliant four goal blast against Hull and his hopes to set himself new heights on the goalscoring front before descending into a five paragraph doom and gloom piece, just to curb the highs that any United supporter might have been feeling.
The BBC are by no means alone in this, they are all at it. I just picked this one at random from a selection of thousand that have been written in the last few weeks.
What the Press realise is that any good story needs “good guys” and “bad guys”.
In the Good Guy corner, we have the players, the manager, the fans and even fan minority groups such as MUST.
In the Bad Guy corner, we have the Glazers.
They have spent the last few weeks driving a wedge between the two to the point that it is fast approaching breaking point.
The debt that the Glazers have saddled United with is bad because bad guys only do bad things.
The fact that they have lined their own pockets by taking some £24 Million (£10 million of which has been listed as a “loan”) out of the club since arriving almost five years ago is a bad thing, obviously, because only a bad guy would pay himself out of the business he owns, right?
They have kept the feelings of hatred going against the Glazers by releasing details of how the Glazers could sell Carrington and even Old Trafford itself. This despite the fact that when going out there looking for £500 Million from outside investors, they needed to illustrate to the investors how secure their investment is by showing that there is collateral there that could provide the funds should the whole thing go belly up. Boo, hiss.
And having portrayed the Glazers as the ultimate bad guy whose sole mission in the world is to destroy Manchester United, they turn towards us, the supporters and ask: Are you a good guy or a bad guy? Are you a good supporter or a bad supporter?
A good supporter surely would not want to do anything to encourage these wicked villains because that would be bad, right?
Were you thinking of buying a poster of Wayne Rooney for little Jonny’s bedroom? Well, buy it if you want but you do realise that that money goes straight into the Glazer’s pockets don’t you? What? You thought it went towards Wayne Rooney’s wages? How naive you are!
Ditto when you renew your season ticket. Ditto when you buy the shirt. Ditto for anything you do to show your support in any way that does not involve sitting in your house on match days with your wallet firmly in your pocket.
It has reached the stage where a United fan does not know what is the best way to show his/her support for the Club. Do I stop buying my season ticket? Should I stop buying the shirt? Perhaps if I turned up with a green and gold scarf, that would show the Glazers what I think of them? (I think it can be safely assumed that the reasons behind the green and gold are completely lost on them).
The Press are laughing at us now because we have fallen for their plan hook, line and sinker. They can now reel us in or throw us back out to sea at will.
We could win the Champions League, Premier League and Carling Cup treble this season and every single article “congratulating” us on our success will be littered with little mentions of the players we might have to sell to survive because of what those nasty Glazers have done. They will be littered with questions such as “But how long can the glory days continue under the financial pressure the Glazers have put Manchester United under?”
Well, here’s a suggestion for you. It’s a bit drastic and many of you might find this unpalatable and a little hard to digest at first but give it some thought. Are you ready for this?
Support your team.
There, I’ve said it. I know. You might want to lie down for a while now. I know I did when the thought first occurred to me.
However, when I say “Support your team”, I mean get behind Manchester United like you have never got behind them before. Renew your season ticket. Buy the shirts. Plaster your kid’s room with posters of his or her heroes. Why, even get a window sticker for your car and possibly even some red and white fluffy dice (ok, maybe not).
Ditch the green and gold. We play in RED. We are The Red Devils. We are Manchester United. Wear your Manchester United shirt and wave your red scarf with pride.
I am English born and bred. I love my country but I am not too keen on the people who run it at the moment but does this mean that I should defile my house as “protest” against them? Should I dismantle the country brick by brick in “protest”?
Where will this get me?
The enemy here is NOT the Glazers. It is the Press. They have provided the ammunition, they have loaded the gun and now they are manipulating us to the point where we are turning it on ourselves.
The Glazers will walk away from all of this one day and when they go, they will have made a tidy sum out of Manchester United, regardless of what happens between now and then. The question is: what will they leave behind? The answer is up to us.
Don’t hate the Glazers, just pretend they aren’t there. In case you might be wondering, I am not their number one fan either but since when have you chosen which team you support based on who runs it?
“Hmm… I like Manchester United, they play excellent football, they have some very exciting players and have a long history of bringing through brilliant young talent but I am not sure that I like the fact that they have been purchased using PIK loans and hedge funds. I think I’ll support Liverpool instead”, yeah, right!
Instead focus your attention on the people who are currently trying to undermine the Glazers, and in the process, Manchester United and the great work Fergie and all those great players have done over the last 24 years. Ask yourself, “Why are they doing this? Is it because they truly care for Manchester United or do they have some other agenda?”
You will quickly realise what is really happening here. We have fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Divide and conquer.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Together, we can get through this and look forward to continued success on and off the field. Whether it is the Glazers, Joe Bloggs or a million faceless shareholders who own the club is far less important than YOUR support. Without sufficient support, a team dies. A club as big as United needs a lot of support. Your support will be rewarded as it has been for many years now – with dreams fulfilled, a cabinet full of trophies and a lifetime full of great memories.
Withdraw your support and your worst nightmares will come true, your bitter rivals will win all the silverware and all you will have to show for it is “We told you so” in the newspapers.
Show the real bad guys that their game is up… Love United, BE United.
P.S. You might think otherwise but this has NOT been a party political broadcast on behalf of the Glazer party. To be honest, I still don’t quite know what to make of them. We have continued to enjoy great success (arguably our best ever period of success, in fact) since their arrival and as things stand right now, we are right up there and competing for almost everything.
The big worry for United supporters is what will happen in the future?
This has led to all kinds of speculation in the press. They’ll sell Carrington, they’ll sell Old Trafford, they’ll sell all the players and leave Manchester United in a pile of debt and debris.
We have been hearing this since they have arrived five years ago but it has not happened.
The common sense side of me doesn’t believe that they would willingly do any of this. Why would you destroy something you own? Why would you want the world to see what a complete and utter bunch of failures you are?
I have given them great credit in the past for not getting involved and keeping a low profile unlike some owners who seem to think that they are the celebrity and not the manager and the players but I think that possibly the time for them to break their silence is now.
They have had a lot of flak thrown in their direction over recent weeks but have maintained a dignified silence and have got on with business. However, I think it is time for them to answer some of the critics and defend themselves.
They need the backing of the fans in order to make what they want to achieve actually happen and I do believe it is time they redressed the balance with a statement of their own.
So far, we have trusted them and it requires our trust for the whole thing move forward once again. At this moment in time, due to the bad press, trust and belief in the owners is at an all time low.
I just feel that as supporters, we have come to a junction and we have to make a decision on which way to turn.
In one direction, there is hope for United because we give it every chance to work (even though I accept, it still might not be enough). If we go in the other direction, there is no hope for United at all.
I just don’t think it is possible to withdraw support for the Glazers without negatively impacting on the team in one way or another so the only way forward is to support the club wholeheartedly, even if this means supporting the Glazers by default.
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Sunderland manager says striker Kenwyne Jones has been unsettled by reports of a loan move to Liverpool. Read the Rest of this Article…
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Aaron Mokoena calls for a united front as Pompey aim to overcome their cash problems and beat the drop. Read the Rest of this Article…
Argentina striker Marco Ruben has agreed to join Wigan Athletic, according to his Spanish club Villarreal. Read the Rest of this Article…
