This is where I sit.
Club Sale | It’s done!
- Thread starter JB08
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Hasn't happened in 17 years, except when coordinated with other clubs regarding the Super League. It's not going to happen now. They don't give a shit about protests. And I doubt any protests would ever take place regarding this. The fanbase would already be split if the options are between Glazers staying and Qatar. There will be no protests of any consequence.
Yep, I can't promise I'd walk away after over 35 years supporting the club, but I really it doesn't become like fantasy football, turning any future success instantly hollow.
Yes but I dont want the club having to pay stupid money for players because other clubs are also doing it. We have seen it with Chelsea already. Its the perfect time for Ten Hag to build something special, less competition for players signatures the better.
In what way? We still can't outspend our means otherwise we'll end up where City are now or kicked out of the CL. If we're only spending what we generate how does that make success hollow?
And even if it does feel hollow right now, in the next 20 years most PL clubs are going to be owned by some form of state or multi billion dollar investment vehicle.
If the Glazers sell to a client from ME, you can bet that in 1year's time, the club will be in a much healthier financial state than it has been the past 15 years. In 3years time we will be on the very top of the football world. In the meantime, number of United fans will increase, while Qatar continues to sell gas to and buy arms from UK.
I thought this as well but I don’t think anybody would ever be so far ahead of second on a consistent basis. Look how close City are / were to losing titles to non oil clubs that simply came down to who they can bring off the bench.
I’m not sure anybody who was best in the world have been miles ahead of number 2 in the world and in turn 3rd etc. these teams were just spread across Europe. What will make the EPL different, and what sucks for the rest of football, is that these teams will all be in one league competing against each other because they simply have to. That will add the flavour of genuine competition
You misread me. I said I'd rather we spent what we generate, not get some massive cash injection to buy Mbappe et al. Can't say I have much faith in FFP given Chelsea and PSG's spending, regardless of what's going on with City.
I'm not pretending it's a consistent view either. We have a debt problem and OT is falling apart. Trying to juggle all that with your distaste for state owners is admittedly tricky. Something has to give somewhere.
If you look at Newcastle, it seems that any potential state owners are being told about spending regulations upon involvement. City have blatantly cheated and Chelsea think they've found a loophole in offering their players 20 year contracts and spending whatever they want, at some point that will blow up in their face.
If we were to go the same route of City we'd get absolutely hammered from day one, the rest of the league will make sure of that, in fact I'd be surprised if there wasn't some new ruling brought in regarding the amount you can spend in one window if we ever become state owned.
We've been lucky, a club with any less statue or revenue than United wouldn't have survived the Glazer ownership and only fell as low as 6 over the last 10 years, not only that, the club has stalled on it's commercial revenue for the last 7 or 8 years, there's still way more growth to be had but the Glazers and Woodward just gave up until it was time to sell.
Plus, if we do become state owned and the PL fail in their bid to put City in their place at least we'll be able to compete with them. If not we're looking at decades of City dominance.
I can't believe people saying they rather keep Glazers than Qatar as owners. It also depends what you want your football club to do.
In my view, Manchester United is one of the top 5 clubs in the world. That means you have to have standards.
1. Top tier infrastructure - United fail at that
2. Top tier stadium - united fail at that
3. Top tier training facilities - United fail at that
4. Top tier footballing structure - United fail at that.
Add to that, we have spent more money in the last 10 years than any other club.
We have the most debt.
That is what the glazers give you.
Look at City, since the take over, they have invested heavily in their training ground, attract the best young talent now, their academy sells players like Lavia for £15m without playing a game.
Look at the investment into the area as well.
Everyone going on about human rights, it is correct in what people say but things are changing, even in these countries, things are changing.
How many of the people against the middle east countries taking us over have used one of their airlines?
In my view, Manchester United is one of the top 5 clubs in the world. That means you have to have standards.
1. Top tier infrastructure - United fail at that
2. Top tier stadium - united fail at that
3. Top tier training facilities - United fail at that
4. Top tier footballing structure - United fail at that.
Add to that, we have spent more money in the last 10 years than any other club.
We have the most debt.
That is what the glazers give you.
Look at City, since the take over, they have invested heavily in their training ground, attract the best young talent now, their academy sells players like Lavia for £15m without playing a game.
Look at the investment into the area as well.
Everyone going on about human rights, it is correct in what people say but things are changing, even in these countries, things are changing.
How many of the people against the middle east countries taking us over have used one of their airlines?
Very good post. But imo there is probably another group:
5. Those who continue to support and watch the club despite knowing fully well how evil the Qataries royals are and all their wrong doings. There is no 'but' or 'if'. Just because they love the club and can't quit watching or have nothing better to do in the weekends. Like you continue to smoke despite knowing smoking will kill you. I belong to this group and I smoke too.
This is just the way premier league football is now.
There's actually more Billionaire owners of PL clubs than there is not.
It gets to a point where being Rich isn't enough. Is United being bought by a rich owner enough to make us win? no.
If we get success it's because we deserve it. FFP rules are going to mean the club can only spend a certain amount anyway, nobody will be blowing 500m a season etc.
I understand where you’re coming from, but we can see the trajectory of the Glazer’s ownership. Infrastructure is decaying, and while it can be patched, there will come a time when serious money needs to be spent. Based on their time to date the Glazers are unlikely to spend the 1-2B needed out of their own money and I don’t see how they can add that amount to the existing club debt.
A few years ago I would have been excited by Musk buying United. Great sponsorship opportunities from his other companies (at fair market value, of course), the best tech and some off-the-wall ideas to move football forwards. However, his takeover of Twitter has been unhinged and I dread those type of decisions at United and the damage they could do.
For me, and purely from the perspective of running the club (leaving other issues with their ownership for other threads), Qatar is much the best option of the ones you mention. I would expect that they will remove the debt, take no dividends and address the infrastructure issues. Hopefully they will also know what a gem they have in ETH and will back him with the players he wants rather than the biggest names.
I don't know why people are rattled by the Qatari news.
This are the best news from a long time and finally we can see the end of Glazers - LETS HOPE
I don't understand with what Qatar are different to other owners like SJR or the US Consortiums and people dislike them. Nowadays i don't see a better owner than them and i am not even joking.
Qatar will get to own 1 of the biggest club in world possibly the biggest and we the fans will get to watch a squad, a stadium, and facilities deserving of the club.
Stop living in the past and accept that there is nothing wrong to have Middle East owners which will want only the best for the club.
They know that they will have a big task in front of them and will make sure that our fans will be delighted by their plan and will show to us their investment plan for the whole club from facilities to new stadium, backing the manager etc .
Love the hypocrisy of fans on here, giving it Mr Big Balls “if this happens that’s me done as supporter, human rights migrants slaves blah fecking blah” while typing on their iPhone and wearing a pair of Nikes. Take a stance on your soap box, but I guess only when it’s a convenient height
We are not Man City, we already have the revenue and money-generation to operate like a big spending club and still be within FFP. What's stopping us right now is the insane debt, which was never ours to begin with (obligatory feck The Glazers), and would be wiped by a sale anyway. We could spend without fear of failing. That's how these state clubs just break the game. At current with the way we've been run United should be entering a sharp decline. We're in massive debt, can't afford new infrastructure, and have no cash in the bank to build on success. If we were not being sold the next few years could be bleak.
City had to make up ground where we don’t. Just sort out OT, clear up the debt and we’re good.
In fact, this could be pretty significant for foreign investment. Qatar might use this as an opportunity to say that they don’t have to cook the books every time, making them look good compared to the rest of the GCC.
In the END, All I want is that the new owners would invest money in our infrastructure, clear the debts and not take money out of the club. If it's gonna be the Qataris, then so be it. Man Utd under ETH with oil money will be depressingly scary.
If this goes through and takes us back to the top of world football I might start taking domestic flights via Doha to thank them. We've been waiting 15yrs or so for the Glazers to feck off !!! Imagine if they decide not to sell because the bid is too low and they stay again WOW the uproar against them will be enormous.
In the end it’ll be good for the club and people will change their opinion about Qatar way faster than someone would expect.
Viva Qatar, Viva Al Thani !
This are the best news from a long time and finally we can see the end of Glazers - LETS HOPE
I don't understand with what Qatar are different to other owners like SJR or the US Consortiums and people dislike them. Nowadays i don't see a better owner than them and i am not even joking.
Qatar will get to own 1 of the biggest club in world possibly the biggest and we the fans will get to watch a squad, a stadium, and facilities deserving of the club.
Stop living in the past and accept that there is nothing wrong to have Middle East owners which will want only the best for the club.
They know that they will have a big task in front of them and will make sure that our fans will be delighted by their plan and will show to us their investment plan for the whole club from facilities to new stadium, backing the manager etc .
Love the hypocrisy of fans on here, giving it Mr Big Balls “if this happens that’s me done as supporter, human rights migrants slaves blah fecking blah” while typing on their iPhone and wearing a pair of Nikes. Take a stance on your soap box, but I guess only when it’s a convenient height
We are not Man City, we already have the revenue and money-generation to operate like a big spending club and still be within FFP. What's stopping us right now is the insane debt, which was never ours to begin with (obligatory feck The Glazers), and would be wiped by a sale anyway. We could spend without fear of failing. That's how these state clubs just break the game. At current with the way we've been run United should be entering a sharp decline. We're in massive debt, can't afford new infrastructure, and have no cash in the bank to build on success. If we were not being sold the next few years could be bleak.
City had to make up ground where we don’t. Just sort out OT, clear up the debt and we’re good.
In fact, this could be pretty significant for foreign investment. Qatar might use this as an opportunity to say that they don’t have to cook the books every time, making them look good compared to the rest of the GCC.
In the END, All I want is that the new owners would invest money in our infrastructure, clear the debts and not take money out of the club. If it's gonna be the Qataris, then so be it. Man Utd under ETH with oil money will be depressingly scary.
If this goes through and takes us back to the top of world football I might start taking domestic flights via Doha to thank them. We've been waiting 15yrs or so for the Glazers to feck off !!! Imagine if they decide not to sell because the bid is too low and they stay again WOW the uproar against them will be enormous.
In the end it’ll be good for the club and people will change their opinion about Qatar way faster than someone would expect.
Viva Qatar, Viva Al Thani !
True, and perhaps its emblematic of the possiblity that free thinking is not acceptable in the ME outside of groupthink.
I live in the UK and hate the Tories. I lived in Israel and hate the government and the way they treat the Palestinians. And Iran is my absolutely favourite place in the world, but I hope the regime crashes and burns and society rises from the ashes.
Wouldn't blame yourself mate. I think it's an intended function of the bid/purchase to mobilise these fans with such sympathies to advocate for them, vertically integrating their ideology in there slowly but surely because we're already fans. We've seen it at City with them coming together over time, when at the start a lot of them called out the ridiculous statements for well, being ridiculous.
Yea I think it's difficult in a consumer world like ours to honestly say that you'll take a stand without being or feeling hypocritical. 60% of the worlds solar panels or something are made by chinese slaves, but i'll still buy them to help the environment. We still buy flagship smartphones etc etc. We do what we do to
Were I the perfect man, I'd be in #1. It would be a hard limit and I'd be protesting it and not support the club if it went ahead. But I like football, the club, my quiet life. Were I the perfect man, I'd probably also be off fighting in Syria or Ukraine.
I'm no psychologist, but as I mentioned shortly above I think this is kind of a function of them buying/bidding for the club. Stage one is to buy and their fanboys will harp on, integrating with the other fans. They'll do 'good' for the club, for the city. Let us spend our own money. Knowing that for many fans who have that bitter taste in their mouth it's still a lifestyle, an addiction. Slowly move us down until we really don't care, and we're singing from the same hymm sheet. The ones who were originally mad at it in reluctant acceptance, whilst the ones who didn't care from the start move to full on shill mode.
I honestly think we're seeing this now with City. They are becoming more and more full throated in their support.
I don't think our interest will diminish? It's still our club. The same boys/girls, the same managers. We'll just be more... empty perhaps? When we win or in general, who knows.
As for some mythical billionaire; though I'd love Mackenzie Scott to swoop in to put a finger up at Bezos, I only really see 2 viable options and I'm not sure how serious about us either would be. (And no Ineos isn't viable for me) [for reference: my idea of viable is defined by "rich enough for the club to be a hedge, and cash rich enough to plough cash into the club for a decade without caring for anything but capital gains"]
Very well said and more eloquently put than I could write. Bravo.
United and Liverpool have always been the most socialist of institutions in English football basically. It’s in our DNA and part of what sets us apart from the Real Madrid’s of this world for example.
Very measured post
Maybe it is closing the barn door after the horse has already bolted, but that's no reason not to take a stand. I don't care what City do and their titles and rivalry mean nothing to me, and I'll feel largely the same about ours if we clean up with a team resembling the Harlem Globetrotters.
Make no mistake these regimes may have tentacles in London but they are still minor players on the global stage. They have a single trump card, oil, which the world is moving away from, and that's why they're desperately trying to gain legitimacy and build their profiles up.
One thing to consider about the apparent Tottenham valuation - they don't need any work done to their stadium. Old Trafford will be a significant outlay for new Man Utd owners - likely reducing the buying value.
And that wrong, cause Democrats are garbage as well, i as a non-american don't have any bias, Democrats have bombed/killed as many people in the ME region as Republicans (probably a bit more considering how many drones Obama and Biden dropped in Syria).
Choosing one side cause ones look more progressive at home seems clueless, both parties have history of bombing countries and putting dictators in power here and there, just cause ones wear rainbow flags doesn't make them any better, neither this will matter to the families of all the people they have murdered.
It's still crap whataboutism. Nobody against Qatar is against it because they think it doesn't benefit the club financially. The only other argument in there is 'I bet you use their airline', as if state funded transport amenities is remotely the same ball park as state funded football clubs.
It still needs paying off though. That’s where the 750m debt comes from
In my opinion, the reason everyone is so against Middle east is because of all the negative media that has surrounded them in the last few years.
Everyone says oil money, well that's how they make money, so why not spend it? Why is oil money dirty?
Say for example INEOS / American owners, people do not scrutinise them to the extent they do with middle east owners, why? Do we know how these people make their billions?
What I have seen is, the middle east owners will put the right people in charge to win, whilst investing in and around Manchester.
We could have a state of the art stadium.
I'd like to see some evidence for your claim that Obama and Biden have killed more people than Bush, let alone Bush and Trump.
So both Man Utd and Tottenham are level pegging in debt, which still makes sense about their valuation in contrast to ours.
Okay, so let me ask you, you are against Qatar because?
States have all kinds of powers to abuse which aren't available to private individuals. It's impossible to ignore this and disingenuous to pretend it isn't an issue.
It's not a case of bad PR, it's fundamentally wrong.
States shouldn't own football clubs. It's morally reprehensible.
But you think we will be state owned. Alot of talk has said it is private individuals that will bid not the state, so where is the issue in that?
I also think people are very against the fact that they don't treat everyone as equal,so there is concern of how will our LGBTQ+ and women's team feel about Qatar owning the club
I read that Spurs would get 3bn and 750m of debt would go onto club accounts
State actors using state funds to get around dual ownership rules is state ownership. The mental gymnastics required to deny that to yourself is incredible.
You should log in more often- brilliant post. Agree completely.
I think overall that’s one of the key issue, seems either naive or purposefully disingenuous to pretend the issue people have is with where the money comes from.
But then that poster was convinced City were in trouble due to the length of their grass, so……..
Nail on head- great post.
In dollars, Geebs. That puts them in Chelsea's price range but Chelsea need a new stadium on top of that
There are no private individuals with this kind of wealth that aren't associated to the royal family there.
Can you elaborate more on what do you mean of a free thinking not being acceptable in ME?
Yeah I am trying my best to see both sides on this. I also believe that the country is probably trying to improve their acceptance towards women and LGBTQ but know saying that looks like I'm trying to defend them
Lets be honest here, that was lost a long time ago its not the new owners that saw to that, its football as a whole at the top elite level.
United haven't been the working class club for decades and they can't and never will if they want to stay at the top of football.
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