Never understood the hate for the Glazers since 2013

[432JuanMata]

Probably going to be murdered but I really don’t get it. I agree beforehand when they put the club into debt to purchase us and if it wasn’t for the greatness of SAF we probably would of won feck all during them years.

But since SAF has retired we have spend over 1 billion on transfers and during this time when it got bad all the fans turned on them and Ed. Now I understand Ed getting hated as he is the one negotiating in and outs but I doubt the Glazers even know half the players we bought over the last 7-8 years.

They bought the club(shouldn’t of been allowed put us into debt for it) and too them yes it is a business but they have invested heavily over the last few years not really their fault Ed and our previous bought crap.

Can someone fill me in why you dislike them especially in recent times ?

 

[Deery]

I think people feel we should be a super power like Real or Barca and a lot more money should be invested in the squad to purchase better players and managers.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Ed is their man.

 

[Solius]

Yeah man that £474m debt is wicked cool.

 

[Samid]

Glazers/Woodward OUT

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Not seen a Glazer thread for ages!

im going to let this unravel.

to be honest, I’m indifferent.

United sold its soul when we listed on the stock exchange. It’s then a business to the owners. Most clubs are the same these days.

they aren’t the worst owners a club could have.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I’ve never had an issue, we were a plc and there to be bought, fans could have gotten together in the early 90’s and bought the club but didn’t, so it was always going to happen.
I hate the banks that allowed it though.
Liverpool aren’t exactly loose with their money either, so the money thing means nothing, they spend plenty and the plc was much tighter with the cash.
Problem is they seem to have no real plan post Fergie, other than to trust Fergie’s choice, leave it to Ed, and now with Phelan and Ole they are clearly back to “trust Fergie’s advice”.
Hopefully the advice from Fergie and others in the club is right this time, it certainly does seem more “sustainable”, even if at some point we do change managers, the transfer board system does seem to have built a much better squad that’d suit many managers and shouldn’t need to be ripped up.

 

[horsechoker]

We spent after years of neglect, they were happy to let the squad get worse because Sir Alex could win the league with a box of matches and an elastic band.

We've fallen behind many top clubs in Europe due to a lack of proper footballing direction which has resulted in a haphazard transfer policy and managerial appointments.

It's resulted in us going back to basics by only after a decline that had been occurring after Ronaldo left but only truly became noticeable once David Moyes took charge.

 

[432JuanMata]

We spent after years of neglect, they were happy to let the squad get worse because Sir Alex could win the league with a box of matches and an elastic band.

We've fallen behind many top clubs in Europe due to a lack of proper footballing direction which has resulted in a haphazard transfer policy and managerial appointments.

It's resulted in us going back to basics by only after a decline that had been occurring after Ronaldo left but only truly became noticeable once David Moyes took charge.

Though I agree and did put it the OP that SAF’s greatness covered up a lot. But doesn’t a lot of that fall on Ed ? Yes they are the one that employs him but even if they said right we want to do this and play this way, It would be up to Ed too make that happen. That is one of the big issues I have with them is Woodward should of been sacked but I guess he is a great marketing tool.

 

[432JuanMata]

Yeah man that £474m debt is wicked cool.

That is true but I got a scenario if we continued to spend money like we have a sign a RW a CB and a ST in the summer then went on too win the league and say SF of the CL and we were 400m in debt would you care ?

 

[arthurka]

Spent 1bn.. The club has, they have still left the club in massive debt, taken out money and still do and leave Old Trafford to rot. Other than that they are fantastic.

 

[Gopher Brown]

My only problem is that they are happy with second best, in every aspect of the club.

 

[Valar Morghulis]

I'm sorry but an actual United fan posting anything that even mildly excuses the Glazers just comes across as pure ignorance to me at this point.

The Glazers owning this football club is the worst thing that's happened to the club since Munich (Yes, worse than us being relegated) and they should rightfully be condemned wholeheartedly by all of us until they go or until they miraculously clear the debt and have the footballing operations of the club take precedence over purely squeezing profit out of us year after year (Don't hold your breath on that one )

 

[decorativeed]

They havent "invested" a single cent of their own money. That's the problem. They simply take a slice out of the club's earnings and allow them to spend some of what is left.

 

[Crustanoid]

Shakes head.

They have completely fecked the club we love. Is that enough for you?

 

[Solius]

That is true but I got a scenario if we continued to spend money like we have a sign a RW a CB and a ST in the summer then went on too win the league and say SF of the CL and we were 400m in debt would you care ?

Yes?

All the money they’ve spent is the clubs. How would you feel if someone took over your finances, and spent all the money you earned but when they eventually left you owed 40 grand because they spent so much to take over your finances in the first place. You didn’t gain anything. You spent your own hard earned money and now you’re in debt.

 

[Greck]

Their actual management of the club's value has been great and they brought that hardcore capitalist way of having a sponsor in every industry rather than being tied down to one global sponsor. Really exploded our revenue stream

...still, it's hard to overlook the fact they made us pay for their acquisition of the club. Massive salt an a gaping injury. The club being forced to pay for its own acquisition is infuriating. If we had our way their dividend should be going to servicing the club's debt

 

[432JuanMata]

Yes?

Ok was just wondering your opinion. Real Madrid was getting themselves in debt but were winning CL nearly every year and their fans didn’t care same as Barca so I just wanted to know if you would care if we won things.

Overall thanks for all the responses. I’m not defending the Glazers nor am I saying that I even like them or that they have done a good job. But when we don’t sign players the Caf will say we are being cheap or when we walk away from a deal(Sancho for example) it’s because we don’t have money etc. I just opened the thread as I feel we do spend and it’s more to do with the people under them as too why we have underperformed over the last few years.

 

[Rightnr]

Their actual management of the club's value has been great and they brought that hardcore capitalist way of having a sponsor in every industry rather than being tied down to one global sponsor. Really exploded our revenue stream

...still, it's hard to overlook the fact they made us pay for their acquisition of the club. Massive salt an a gaping injury. The club being forced to pay for its own acquisition is infuriating. If we had our way their dividend should be going to servicing the club's debt

Not really. On the sponsorship side, sure. But a true capitalist would have sacked off Ed from transfer dealings ages ago.

We could have spent more money, wont more trophies and subsequently got more from TV rights and additional revenue from sponsors if the structure was adjusted to a club of our stature and money power.

If they truly cared about hitting the heights a proper enterprise, they'd be a lot more critical of how money has spent so far. Instead, they're happy to take their £30m of dividend cash and buy some more shares for their arbitrage funds.

 

[Bojan11]

We spent after years of neglect, they were happy to let the squad get worse because Sir Alex could win the league with a box of matches and an elastic band.

We've fallen behind many top clubs in Europe due to a lack of proper footballing direction which has resulted in a haphazard transfer policy and managerial appointments.

It's resulted in us going back to basics by only after a decline that had been occurring after Ronaldo left but only truly became noticeable once David Moyes took charge.

Well said.

They had to spend. How else were we going to replace Rio, Evra, Vidic, Carrick, Rooney, Giggs, Scholes and Fletcher?

Not like we replaced most of the above players as we been pissing a lot of the money down the drain due to the poor management that the Glazers hired.

 

[432JuanMata]

Not really. On the sponsorship side, sure. But a true capitalist would have sacked off Ed from transfer dealings ages ago.

We could have spent more money, wont more trophies and subsequently got more from TV rights and additional revenue from sponsors if the structure was adjusted to a club of our stature and money power.

If they truly cared about hitting the heights a proper enterprise, they'd be a lot more critical of how money has spent so far. Instead, they're happy to take their £30m of dividend cash and buy some more shares for their arbitrage funds.

Even starting the thread and me not hating them this has been their biggest downfall. Ed is a marketing genius so they are happy as he brings in the money, but they and Ed don’t have a clue about the football side because of the Glazers did Ed would be nowhere near transfers or anything to do with things on the pitch

 

[JB7]

Every time I see a thread like this from a supposed United supporter I genuinely feel like a tiny tiny tiny part of my soul just dies. How on earth can any United supporter defend them?

 

[clarkydaz]

Their actual management of the club's value has been great and they brought that hardcore capitalist way of having a sponsor in every industry rather than being tied down to one global sponsor. Really exploded our revenue stream

...still, it's hard to overlook the fact they made us pay for their acquisition of the club. Massive salt an a gaping injury. The club being forced to pay for its own acquisition is infuriating. If we had our way their dividend should be going to servicing the club's debt

id say the whoring of the clubs name has been great and their number one priority. They hit the jackpot with what Fergie left them to the point they could fail, burn money and still get away with it. any other club would have crashed

 

[stw2022]

I think there are legitimate concerns and criticisms of the owners but aren’t focused around the debt. I think the reason why that still persists as an issue is out of people’s embarrassment that their doom and gloom predictions didn’t come true in 2006 or 2011 and now that cacophony of face-saving noise drowns out what should be the focal point of the criticism.

I don’t think the Glazers are great owners. At the same time I think people who can’t handle the fact they ended up looking like morons about the debt issue need to - after nearly fifteen fecking years - learn when to quit and let the focus be on what it needs to be on, which isn’t on how best Andy Mitten and Red Issue pals can save face.

 

[432JuanMata]

Every time I see a thread like this from a supposed United supporter I genuinely feel like a tiny tiny tiny part of my soul just dies. How on earth can any United supporter defend them?

I didn’t defend them per se. I just don’t get the hate in the last few years. If I don’t understand the hate doesn’t mean I like them. They have done plenty wrong and most have pointed out. I just feel if we had a football man in Ed’s position in say 2014-15 with the money the Glazers are spending (finally) we would be back at the top

 

[MadDogg]

They bought the club(shouldn’t of been allowed put us into debt for it) and too them yes it is a business but they have invested heavily over the last few years not really their fault Ed and our previous bought crap.

If Ed keeps making mistakes, it's the people who allow him to continue in that role who ultimately are at fault.

 

[gazbradley]

We’re the only club they could’ve bought the same way and not completely ruined. They saw an opportunity to make a lot of money with minimal risk and took it so fair play to them for that I suppose.
I don’t like them as owners but suppose they’re better than having the Saudis so could be worse

 

[432JuanMata]

If Ed keeps making mistakes, it's the people who allow him to continue in that role who ultimately are at fault.

100% agree. It’s their biggest downfall. As I said above if they hired a football man and left Ed to just the marketing we be back at the top already(or really close). The reason I made the thread because when things go bad and most United fans turn on them it’s always about not spending money yet in the last few years(not the start) it’s a myth.

But yeah I agree them letting Ed away with his failures is a problem and one I’m not happy about.

 

[Withnail]

How good of them to invest some of the club's own money on
n the club while also squandering vast amounts of the club's money on a debt they created, all the while lining their pockets with dividends.

What's not to like?

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Woodward has been running the club poorly in terms of football performance, and they haven't replaced him because their goals are related to revenue growth and not football. That is the major issue in the last several years

 

[Neo_Mufc]

A leveraged purchase of one of the best clubs in the world.

If we hadn't and had proper management who knows how many more trophies we would have had now.

I've asked this question before and I don't think it's been answered but after we sold Cristiano Ronaldo can people name a player we sold for more than when we bought them?

They never got the criticism because we won trophies. Even when SAF left because of the success we had it was obvious to expect a dip for a couple years but did we really anticipate it would get this bad?

 

[city-puma]

I think most of us rightly feel it a disgrace that they used the leveraged buyouts to gain control of this club. In any aspect, the leveraged buyouts is an unethical and unhealthy financial practice. It drill out the big part of the company’s earnings. Of course, one will argue that there is no guarantee that’s the amount can be used effectively even though they are not used to serve the interest payments. But at least a potentially failed reinvestment is definitely better than the use on interest payments.
every uncertainty in the world has brought a number of the former business giants to bankruptcy. Many of them have been the victims of the leveraged buyout.
Just imagine that if the leveraged buyouts didn’t happen, the club set up a fund. Then every year those interest payments serving the loan had been sent to the fund. The fund would have already become a powerful financial muscle and reservoir for the club to use in the emergency. But now, they have been completely wasted.

 

[holdsteady]

Probably going to be murdered but I really don’t get it. I agree beforehand when they put the club into debt to purchase us and if it wasn’t for the greatness of SAF we probably would of won feck all during them years.

But since SAF has retired we have spend over 1 billion on transfers and during this time when it got bad all the fans turned on them and Ed. Now I understand Ed getting hated as he is the one negotiating in and outs but I doubt the Glazers even know half the players we bought over the last 7-8 years.

They bought the club(shouldn’t of been allowed put us into debt for it) and too them yes it is a business but they have invested heavily over the last few years not really their fault Ed and our previous bought crap.

Can someone fill me in why you dislike them especially in recent times ?

Get. To. feck.

 

[JB7]

I didn’t defend them per se. I just don’t get the hate in the last few years. If I don’t understand the hate doesn’t mean I like them. They have done plenty wrong and most have pointed out. I just feel if we had a football man in Ed’s position in say 2014-15 with the money the Glazers are spending (finally) we would be back at the top

They aren't spending. They never have. They didn't even spend their own money to buy the club, they borrowed it and leveraged against the club to essentially make the football club pay to be owned by them. The money the football club spends is generated solely by the football club.

What kind of position would the football club be in now if it had had the £1bn that being owned by them has cost us? We wouldn't have had to let the squad decay between 09-13, so what difference would that have made to on-field success post-Fergie? How would the stadium look now - considering it was in almost constant renovations to remain the biggest & best stadium in the country until barely a penny was spent on it in the first 12/13 years of Glazer ownership. How different would the various youth levels of the club have look? Again an area that was constantly changing to find the best local talent ahead of City/Liverpool etc that was largely ignored under Glazer ownership until just a couple of years ago.

It took around half of that £1bn for City to go from bottom half nobodies in 2007 to title winners in 2012, to give you some context of how the money that has gone out of the club to finance their ownership could have benefitted us.

 

[2 man midfield]

We spent a billion of the clubs money. The Glazers haven’t personally shelled out for anybody.

 

[always_hoping]

Glazers haven't invested a penny of their own money in the club since buying it in 2005. They have cost it £1.5billion in that timeframe though.

 

[glazed]

The club is run to maximise profit, not to win stuff. It's that simple. The two should be the same but they are not, simply because fans remain loyal for decades irrespective of results. The Glazers are effectively monetizing Top Red stupidity

 

[cyril C]

You only have to understand the difference between Newcastle fan, Vs City / Chelsea. The Glazers tried to manage the Club like a business, City, Chelsea owner manage their Clubs like a spoiled child, provide unlimited financial support until glory delivered as promised, hence always forgiven. As for Newcastle fan, always open promise, no glory deliver...

 

[432JuanMata]

You only have to understand the difference between Newcastle fan, Vs City / Chelsea. The Glazers tried to manage the Club like a business, City, Chelsea owner manage their Clubs like a spoiled child, provide unlimited financial support until glory delivered as promised, hence always forgiven. As for Newcastle fan, always open promise, no glory deliver...

So what would you prefer ?

 

[Acheron]

We spent after years of neglect, they were happy to let the squad get worse because Sir Alex could win the league with a box of matches and an elastic band.

We've fallen behind many top clubs in Europe due to a lack of proper footballing direction which has resulted in a haphazard transfer policy and managerial appointments.

It's resulted in us going back to basics by only after a decline that had been occurring after Ronaldo left but only truly became noticeable once David Moyes took charge.

That sums it up perfectly, even when SAF I felt the team was regressing or just getting stagnated compared to other top clubs across Europe. Then putting someone like Moyes ahead of the club should be more than enough to deserve all the hate the board and owners get.