The Glazers did loosen the purse strings but that only happened after they neglected the academy/youth, with the football structure that also became dated with Derek Langley (Head of recruitment) reportedly being a pen and paper guy rather than having data bases to tap into which had become the norm at other big clubs. And it was reported that when Moyes arrived at the club he asked where the scouting/recruitment information was stored, the response he got was that everything was stored in Jim Lawlor's head who was the Chief Scout.
Man City bought David Silva, Aguero and Yaya Toure unchallenged because there was 'no value in the market'. Silva and Aguero were both reported to be players Fergie wanted. He never got those players but still carried on competing and winning whilst not being backed by the board imo.
And with David Gill making a swift exit and leaving behind a broken football club from the inside that had been left behind as far as modernisation is concerned, they replaced him with Ed Woodward. And of course you had to spend money and revive the club at all levels on the football side of the club. But when you have a dated football structure and you then bring in managers who are also dated in their beliefs, then the recruitment will reflect those managers whilst our rivals were recruiting for managers who adopted a more dominant, high intensity play style with pressing and counter pressing capabilities.
So yes, the Glazers did allow us to spend our own money. But they only allowed that to happen after they'd overseen the malaise throughout the club via both David Gill and Ed Woodward. And spending money was the only way to get out of the mess the Glazers had created. But their incompetence meant even the money was wasted due to the managers that were hired.