Eat the Rich

Quite a bit to get through this morning, most of it financial, and we can certainly expect to read a lot more on this in the coming days, given the late hour of the announcement of the launch of the IPO leaves most papers with just the PA story.

Here that is, from The Guardian:

An announcement was made on Monday night and confirms an intention to raise around $300m (£190m), with shares set to start between $16 and $20.

However, there does appear to have been a significant shift in how the proceeds will be used. Previously it was suggested that the entire sum would be used to pay off United's massive debt, which currently stands at more than £400m.

However, the prospectus that has been released to accompany the announcement indicates only half the money will be used in that way, with the rest going directly to the family.

And here's Reuters with a little more detail. 

The IPO may be a tough sell in the United States given the lack of U.S. publicly traded sports teams to compare Manchester United against and given that many Americans don't regard football as a top sport.

The company's latest financials may also give investors pause. Revenue for the fiscal year 2012 is expected to 315 million pounds to 320 million pounds ($495 million to $503 million), down 3 to 5 percent from the previous year, the company said in its S-1.

The Mirror lead the PA story with the headline "Glazers risk fan fury":

However, the prospectus that has been released to accompany tonight's announcement indicates only half the money will be used in that way, with the rest going directly to the family.

If that proves to be the case it will provoke fury among the United support, who have already seen vast amounts of cash disappear in various charges following the Glazer family takeover in 2005.

Also yesterday we signed a deal for a new shirt sponsor, bringing in lots of cash, The Guardian have nice quotes from the corporate side, which we'll ignore, while The Sun goes for the more sensational: 

MANCHESTER UNITED have signed a world-record shirt sponsorship deal worth £210million.

The seven-year contract with US Car firm General Motors will see Chevrolet on United’s shirts from the start of the 2014-15 season.

It is worth an incredible £10m a year more than their current deal with AON.

...

The £30m-a-year deal eclipses the current highest shirt sponsorship contract of Barcelona’s with The Qatar Foundation, which is worth £25m a year.

In other news, Rio Ferdinand is charged over his "choc ice" (re)tweet.  The FA charge is written to cover so much that he's almost certainly going to be found guilty. The charge quoted from The Telegraph:

The allegation is that the player acted in a way which was improper and/or bought the game into disrepute by making comments which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race.

The Mirror and The Sun disagree on how Rio is taking the news.  The Mirror report:

Rio Ferdinand is kicking himself over the tweet that has landed him with an FA charge.

The Manchester United captain is frustrated that he let his guard down when he forwarded a Twitter message he'd received that called Ashley Cole “a choc ice”, repeating the term in the process.

While The Sun says:

A source said: “It is fair to say Rio is dumbfounded by this.

“He saw the tweet as a simple response to one of his followers rather than anything malicious and fears the FA is out of touch with modern-day social networking.”

The Daily Star go with "stunned and furious."

Finally, The Daily Mail do a classic manoeuvre:  when a transfer rumour proves baseless, say the club's backtracked rather than admit they were wrong.  Berba isn't going to Galatasary apparently, after they "withdraw" their offer:

A club statement from the Turkish giants read: 'There have been some reports in the media that Dimitar Berbatov will be transferred to our club.

'The club would like to declare that there is no transfer and no attempt has been made in that regard.'

The National Anthem

The question on everybody's lips this morning: who precisely is bothered by Ryan Giggs and the rest of the Welsh contingent not singing the anthem?  Who, outside of The mail that is.  Yet even they use mealy-mouth passive language when mentioning it:

Giggs and fellow Welshmen Craig Bellamy and Joe Allen caused a row during their side's opening 1-1 draw against Senegal on Thursday by not singing God Save the Queen.

Did they "cause a row,"  or did the Daily Mail make an issue of it?  Let's just assume his goal scoring is good enough for The Mail.

The Sun have an odd juxtaposition in their reporting of the story:

Asked why he doesn’t sing, Giggs said: “It’s a personal thing.”

But Giggs insists he will have no problem shaking hands with Uruguay’s Luis Suarez after the race row with his Manchester United pal Patrice Evra.

Not sure I'm seeing the connection...

The Sun have some random comments from Sir Alex on qualifying from Champions League group stages:

“It’s fair to say we threw that one away. That won’t happen again next season.

“We’ll qualify from the group stages. I’ll make sure of it. European football is hugely important to us and we must compete for the biggest trophies.

“We need to make a statement — and show everybody last season was just a blip.”

And The Manchester Evening News have a piece on why the Glazers must back Sir Alex: 

And even after such a trophy-laden reign at Old Trafford, any retirement would surely be soured if his final years were spent looking up at Roberto Mancini’s side.

That would only be exacerbated by the knowledge that he had to take on the last great challenge of his career with one arm tied behind his back by those who control the purse strings above him.

That United managed to push last season’s Premier League title race to the final seconds took every ounce of Ferguson’s managerial expertise.

He was able to wring every last drop out of his squad to miss out on goal difference alone. And privately even he would accept that it would be too much to expect a repeat – especially against a City squad emboldened by success.

...

The all-Manchester battle for Arsenal’s want-away striker will serve as a perfect appetiser before both sides go head-to-head for the title again next season.

It would serve as a psychological boost to whoever wins his signature.

For Mancini it would be further confirmation of the growing power he craves at City.

For Ferguson it would be a sign that United are prepared to loosen the straightjacket to give him a fighting chance of ensuring his final years in management are spent leading the pack, rather than chasing it.

Always be wary of signing players for a "psychological boost" I say, sign them because they'll make us a better team. 

Eiffel Tower High

Ryan Giggs led by example for "Team GB" last night, opening the scoring with this header-



Goal Ryan Giggs for Great Britain!!! by stvolfd

Cleverley also had a good game apparently, here's a brief bit from Henry Winter's Telegraph report for lack of video evidence:

Cleverly was soon marauding forward, impressing with his industry and distribution. He kept linking up with Bellamy, who was hugging the left touchline. From one of Cleverley’s passes, Bellamy delivered a magnificent cross in for Giggs to head GB in front.
Aaron Ramsey was also proving influential, playing a neat pass to Marvin Sordell, the Bolton Wanderers striker who almost scored an excellent goal. Turning sharply, opening up a fraction of space, Sordell shot strongly but Ali Khaseif saved well. Still Team GB attacked. Still Cleverly shone, teeing up Bellamy on the left, demanding another good stop from Khaseif. When one of Richards’ trademark buccaneering runs was ended illegally, Ramsey took the free-kick quickly, spotting Cleverley’s forward burst. Khaseif was again alive to the danger, blocking Cleverley’s effort as UAE defenders were still organising themselves.

Another Sunny Day

Quiet again today.  Luckily Peter Reid comes through for us, finally sharing with the world his views on the possible signing of van Persie courtesy of The Daily Star Sunday:

Arsenal can’t afford to keep him until even the next transfer window in ­January, because effectively you would then be looking at a free ­transfer as his contract runs down. So I can easily understand both City and ­United being interested in Van Persie.

But my honest opinion is that there would be no guarantees with buying him.

And I think there is certainly an element of a ­gamble about the deal.

That's interesting Peter, he also thinks Sir Alex does a good job, and apparently the pope's a catholic.

The same paper also "reports" that van Persie will be/wants to be paid lots of cash.  Quite the paper of exclusives.

The only other thing making the papers is some comments from Paul Scholes.  He bemoans our poor finish to the season, in The Sun:

“When City went to Arsenal and got beat, you do think it’s all over.

“But you know you still have a job to do.

“We failed at the end of last season, we should have won the league and didn’t.

“It was a major disappointment to lose the league from there.”

And on his comeback, in The Sunday Telegraph:

“I did feel nervous when I first came back,” Scholes said. “When I first went back on the pitch I thought ‘what the Hell am I doing here? I could just be at home watching it’.

“The game against City was strange. I just wanted to get through it unscathed and just about managed it.

“I felt quite fit, but the footballing part of it wasn’t quite there and it probably took three or four games to get used to it.

“But it went alright when I came back and the manager asked me to stay for another year and I said yes, simple as that.

“ “He didn’t have to twist my arm. He just said ‘you’re going to play next year aren’t you?’ and I just said ‘yeah.’”

Finally, The Sunday Mirror have the headline "Still Hurting: Paul Scholes opens up on how seeing Kompany lift the trophy pains him" which includes this quote from Paul Scholes:

“I haven’t even seen them lifting the trophy"

Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep

Slow news day doesn't describe it.  If it's news about Manchester United your after I'd give up now.
The one actual news story is this: Peter Schmeichel is appointed an official club ambassador:

'I am looking forward to working with United again and sharing my experiences, as well as catching up with some of my former team-mates.'

And that's it.  The other thing I've dredged up is that Juventus have pulled out of the "race" for Van persie, leaving it to us and Man City to "scrap for his signature", according to The Daily Star, who must also take credit for the mixed metaphor...
This despite Arsene Wenger today saying that they'd not received any bids for him.  This article though claims RvP would prefer a move to us or Juventus rather than City (who wouldn't):

it is understood that, while Mancini is determined to sign the player, a superior financial offer from Juventus and the lure of playing for
Ferguson at United are currently the two proposals that appeal most to Van Persie.

And that's the lot.

Way more brazil

Not sure how long this video will last, given the (over)aggressive policing of it's "property" by the IOC but here's Rafael's goal from last night's game.  Nice finish -




Enjoy while it lasts

Floating Downer

Not too much around today, Olympic fever perhaps distracting the papers from their usual transfer speculations. The Sun are the only ones to indulge today, and that a mere 2 sentences saying Galatasary are after Berba.

Then there's a couple of articles on the delay of the share flotation, one from each side of the argument.  The Independent have what might be termed the official version, while The Guardian blog has the sceptical MUST version.  An excerpt from each:

Manchester United appear to be planning an imminent launch of the marketing roadshow for their proposed $300m (£193m) New York flotation, despite the apparent postponement of the move designed to reduce the club's crippling debts.

Sources suggested yesterday that the roadshow, a vital component of the drive to make the United States initial public offering (IPO) successful, may begin today or possibly early next week and that the offering may be priced in three weeks.

But the situation is fluid and jitters in the market showed no sign of receding yesterday, providing more evidence for why the float is understood to have been delayed. The S&P 500 index fell for a fourth day on Wednesday, amid worries about the European debt crisis and earnings

...

After a proposed float in Singapore was pulled last year, it has emerged that United's planned initial public offering (IPO) in New York has been temporarily postponed because of volatile US markets. While United and Jefferies, the investment bank signed up to lead the flotation, remain tight-lipped about the process, those that forensically examine the Premier League club's accounts are questioning whether the latest setback is about more than the fiscal shockwaves triggered by another turbulent week in the eurozone.

"Obviously it's a tough time economically but the US stock market has barely changed from where it was when they published the original prospectus," said Andy Green, a financial analyst who writes the "andersred blog" about football ownership and is an adviser to the Manchester United Supporters Trust (Must). "Although it's hard to see inside a process like this, they're obviously having problems, and I get the impression from people that I'm talking to in the market that it's at high risk of being cancelled."

The Mirror has a few quotes from Kagawa, not sure where they originated from, here he is on claims he turned down the number 7 shirt:

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” he added.

“But the most important thing is not which number I have on my shirt but how I play for the club.”

Slightly off topic but there's not much else around, The Mail make a silly issue of Giggs and Bellamy not singing the national anthem at their Olympic match yesterday.  Because footballers are notoriously raucous singers of anthems...

Finally, The Mirror have some pictures of Sir Alex and the players on the catwalk for some reason or other.

It's tricky

Belated highlights of yesterday's game.
Star of the show was apparently (I never got to see the game) Kagawa, here's his goal (respect to Bebe for his contribution too)-



And his every touch



Short match highlights-

Tricky Kid

While I often criticise The Daily Mirror, today it wins the award for most extensive match report of our pre-season friendly.  Most of the others use the PA story, for instance The Independent here, but The Mirror have an actual report from David McDonnell, who cites Kagawa as the star man:

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Shinji Kagawa as his first Manchester United goal saw them wrap up the first part of their pre-season tour with a win.

Kagawa was United's most influential player and served notice of the impact he can have at United following his £17million move from German champions Borussia Dortmund.

"Kagawa was man of the match and I thought he deserved that," said Ferguson.

"He has settled in really well and is going to be a really good player for us. I was really impressed with him tonight.

"One of the features of our game over the years now has been the speed of our counter-attacking. Antonio Valencia is good at that, but Kagawa adds to that.

"But more than that, I think his awareness of receiving the ball and speed of turning defenders, I think that's going to be an asset for us."

The Japan international, playing in the hole just off lone striker Federico Macheda, scored a deserved goal in the 68th minute.

The Sun use a slightly rewritten version of the PA story, rewritten primarily so as to include "tricky ace" as a description of  Kagawa.

The Moura story is still news with the usual suspects,  The Mail and The Mirror both reporting comments made by the Sao Paulo president, comments which are fairly meaningless beyond their over-politeness:

"I don't rule out the possibility that in the future there are some sort of negotiations, because we received Manchester [United] with great courtesy and left open the possibility of more talks.

"Manchester [United] came to us and their approach was serious. Other teams expressed an interest for Lucas, but only through the media in their countries."

Lopes did warn, though, that Lucas, who is currently in England with the Brazil Olympic squad, is happy to remain at home-town club Sao Paulo.

"The player has expressed his intention to remain at Sao Paulo, and is a very important player in our squad. He wants to stay because he is very young," he added.

The only other story is on the Glazers apparently postponing the stock flotation, from The Guardian:

Manchester United are thought to have postponed temporarily plans to launch their $300m (£193m) flotation in New York, after volatile US markets spooked the Premier League club into a rethink.

The move is the latest setback in a long-running attempt to list the company's shares, a move that had previously been earmarked for the exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore, and comes as the club had been looking to kick off their roadshow presentations to potential share buyers this week.

However, United and their advisers are now believed to be reassessing that plan following another week of turmoil in the eurozone that has caused world stock markets to slide. Wall Street's S&P 500 index is trading down 2% this week, while keenly watched statistics on the volatility of the market are thought to have made potential investors more circumspect.

The plan had been for United's shares to begin trading in early August and it is not clear if United will still attempt to list their shares ahead of the traditionally quiet period up until after the US public holidays in early September, when Wall Street tends to return to work.

Neither Jefferies, the investment bank that has been signed up to lead United's flotation, nor the club returned phone calls on the flotation delay, reported on Wednesday night in the Financial Times.

Year of Silence

The Mirror persist in their "at least one unfounded transfer story a day" policy.  Today it's outward bound as they tell us Zenit want Berba.

Other transfer speculation comes from The Daily Mail, in the form of more speculation on Lucas Moura.  They have the pretty meaningless story of how we have to decide whether to bid more money.

The only other story comes from some comment Rio Ferdinand made on tour. Most of the papers lead on his comments on Twitter, linking it to Ashley Cole despite Rio not saying a word on it.  And all the papers claim he's "defending" Twitter use, combining Rio's anodyne comments with the fact that the FA have asked him about his Ashley Cole (re)tweet, making one slightly juicier story out of two.  The Sun going the furthest with the headline "I Will Not Be Gagged". Anyway, some of his comments, from the Telegraph:

“When I first started doing it, they [team-mates] were all caning me, saying, ‘What are you doing that for?,’ but then they see there is some benefit in doing it.

“I would love to have been able to be close to people like John Barnes, Gazza and Paul Ince when I was a kid.

“I would love to have just got their autographs, let alone be able to speak to them publicly, so Twitter is something that lets fans get a bit closer to you, letting them see you do everyday things, just giving them a glimpse of what you get up to.

“A lot of fans presume you’re at the opening of a bar, nightclub or a premiere every other night. They don’t realise you’ve got a normal life in most ways.”

He also comments on being in the last 12 months of his contract:

“Nothing has happened yet and I don’t envisage it happening until at least January because that’s the way the manager works.

“I am not a special case because I am Rio Ferdinand. Giggsy, Nev and Scholesy have all been the same, when the manager pulls them aside at the back end of the season and says I would like you to continue or clear your locker.

“Hopefully, the manager pulls me aside and says, ‘I want you to continue playing here’, because I love playing for this club and love being here.”

He also has some words on blowing the eight point lead to lose the Premier League title:

“You think to yourself that the young players will learn from last season.

“We would rather have won the league but it’s a valuable experience that I’m sure they’ll learn from because that feeling in the dressing-room after the Sunderland game isn’t one you want too many more times in your career, if any.”

And that's it today.
Late addition: The Guardian website reporting new comments from Moura's agent saying they're still negotiating with us.

Bull in the Heather

Yesterday The Mirror reported we'd agreed a fee for Moura, today the equally reliable Daily Mail report comments from his agent suggesting otherwise:

And Moura's agent Wagner Ribeiro has now hammered the final nail in the coffin in United's interest after insisting the teenager's asking price is well beyond the Barclays Premier League side's range.

'They have reached their limit,' Ribeiro told UOL. 'Lucas Moura won’t leave.

'He is happy at Sao Paulo. We have to forget this subject. There is no possibility he leaves now.

'Manchester United made an offer, which was rejected and they won’t make another one as they have reached their limit.'

How he knows what our limit is, who knows.  After their success reporting on Moura, The Mirror today link us with another South American, Ezequiel Cirigliano. Don't hold your breath.

Some comments from Sir Alex in the papers, on various subjects, from The Mirror, comments that could 

justify the paper's aggressive rumour-mongering:

“At this moment in time, we’re looking at other options to bring others in.

“We’re not lying on our backside doing nothing. We’re trying hard to bring players into the club.”

The Daily Star report Sir Alex bigging up Chelsea's title challenge: 

“Chelsea’s owners have got their enthusiasm back after winning the Champions League, there’s more expectation on them now.

“That was the trophy Roman Abramovich always wanted, so he’s invested in the team again this ­summer.

“It’s a challenge for us, and we ­always respect Chelsea. You just have to wait and see how good these ­players are."

Rio Ferdinand has nice things to say about Kagawa:

'He's been fantastic. He's quick, he's sharp, he has great awareness, he plays off both feet. I'm excited about playing with him and getting the season started.

'He's been one of the better players in Germany for the last few years. I think he will bring that form to Manchester United. I think he'll be a great acquisition.'

Anders Lindegaard has a positive outlook on life if these comments are anything to go by:

“I played six or seven games in a row before I was injured and I think that speaks for itself,” he said.

“If I don’t believe that I become No.1, then no-one else can believe in it. So, of course I believe in it.

"I’ve said a million times, I’m not at United to pick my nose and I will never be at United just to sit on my money.

“I want to deserve the money I earn, and I want to deserve it by playing. I’ve never seen myself as a straight No.2.”

And finally there's a bit of a look at pre-season tours from Mark Ogden in The Telegraph. Nothing to interesting, unless you care about the money.  the brief summary: harder to make money from China if their own league takes off.

Returning the Screw

It's the return of the (hopefully) regular column rounding up the Man Utd stories from the day's papers.  And it's been so long I've lost the ability to construct a decent sentence... Let's start again.
It's the return of the (hopefully) daily Man Utd paper round-up.
Not much around this morning, even in terms of silly transfer stories, just the one of those, from the never-reliable Mirror, we've agreed a fee for Lucas Moura apparently.
The Guardian have an interview with David de Gea which concentrates on the Olympics and Spain, but has a bit on Man Utd, here he is on English football:

"My English is getting better," he says. "I understand most things but I find it harder to speak. English football is different, especially for a goalkeeper. It's more aggressive, more physical. It's far, far harder. The ball is in the air more and you get pushed about. And the referees don't blow anything!"

Some comments from Carrick about playing for England get a bit of attention.  Here from The Guardian:

"I've had no contact from Roy Hodgson, so it would be wrong of me at this stage to make a decision either way," said Carrick. "But I would consider it, definitely."

Yawns.
And finally, The Daily Mail have a silly piece about how Rio Ferdinand landing in Shanghai in a cap shows he's still upset about the England squad:

Rio Ferdinand was a prominent figure at the airport in a red baseball cap which featured his Manchester United number on the front.
The defender referred to his self-styled #5 cap on Twitter earlier in July, saying: 'Started making my own #5Caps as I won't be getting any more with England!'
He was obviously still smarting about his omission from Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad, and indeed, the future does look bleak for Ferdinand at international level.

Any excuse to dredge up the past, The Mail that is, not Rio.
And that's it for today, a nice gentle warm-up for the first one in a while.

No (satis)faction

Just a brief post on the comments on the Glazers by Sir Alex which have been causing such consternation.

Firstly, the rather banal comment that seems to have everyone most riled:

"I think there are a whole lot of factions at United that think they own the club. They will always be contentious about whoever owns the club, and that's the way it's always been.

"When the Glazers took over here there was dissatisfaction, so there have always been pockets of supporters who have their views. But I think the majority of real fans will look at it realistically and say it's not affecting the team. We've won four championships since they've been there and one European Cup."

is really nothing.  Even the childish cries from some supporters about how "Sir Alex says I'm not a real fan because I don't like the Glazers" aren't actually true - the set of "real fans" is not equal to the set of people who like the Glazers.  

More interesting is Sir Alex's use of the word factions, because it allows us to bring in Lenin, and his remarks on party unity:

All class-conscious workers must clearly realise that factionalism of any kind is harmful and impermissible, for no matter how members of individual groups may desire to safeguard Party unity, factionalism in practice inevitably leads to the weakening of team-work and to intensified and repeated attempts by the enemies of the governing Party, who have wormed their way into it, to widen the cleavage and to use it for counter-revolutionary purposes.

The way the enemies of the proletariat take advantage of every deviation from a thoroughly consistent communist line was perhaps most strikingly shown in the case of the Kronstadt mutiny, when the bourgeois counter-revolutionaries and whiteguards in all countries of the world immediately expressed their readiness to accept the slogans of the Soviet system, if only they might thereby secure the overthrow of the dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia, and when the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the bourgeois counter-revolutionaries in general resorted in Kronstadt to slogans calling for an insurrection against the Soviet Government of Russia ostensibly in the interest of the Soviet power. These facts fully prove that the whiteguards strive, and are able, to disguise themselves as Communists, and even as the most Left-wing Communists, solely for the purpose of weakening and destroying the bulwark of the proletarian revolution in Russia. Menshevik leaflets distributed in Petrograd on the eve of the Kronstadt mutiny likewise show how the Mensheviks took advantage of the disagreements and certain rudiments of factionalism in the Russian Communist Party actually in order to egg on and support the Kronstadt mutineers, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the whiteguards, while claiming to be opponents of mutiny and supporters of the Soviet power, only with supposedly slight modifications.

The unintentional consequence of factionalism is to strengthen the opposition.  Our discontent is the enemies fuel.

Lenin indeed goes one step further than Sir Alex.  For Lenin, factionalism does prevent you from being a "real fan:" 

In order to ensure strict discipline within the Party and in all Soviet work and to secure the maximum unanimity in eliminating all factionalism, the Congress authorises the Central Committee, in cases of breach of discipline or of a revival or toleration of factionalism, to apply all Party penalties, including expulsion, and in regard to members of the Central Committee, reduction to the status of alternate members and, as an extreme measure, expulsion from the Party.

My Life is a Succession of People Saying Goodbye

A tribute to the looking-like-leaving Park Ji-Sung, conforming to stereotype I'll keep the post simple, but effective, just some videos of him, starting with this one, showing lots of his goals, with "Eye of the Tiger" as the soundtrack:




Always the big game player, here he is scoring the winner against Liverpool in 2010 -



And scoring the opening goal against Arsenal in the Champions League Semi-Final -



And scoring the winner against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final second leg 2011 -



And who can forget the classic "Evra interviews Park..."



And finally, a few words from Rio Ferdinand, found in this profile of Park -

"He's a real players' player," says Ferdinand. "Up there with best in world for movement, and so intelligent and direct with runs off the ball. His work-rate is unreal, he adds a dimension no other player brings to the team. He's underrated, a real top player."

Banking, Violence And The Inner Life Today

This post comes from a certain unease I feel when I see people complaining about the Glazers and looking wistfully across the city at the spending power available. 

It's just a series of semi-connected thoughts, because I'm not sure where the answers lie. It's more about clarification for my own benefit. 

And it certainly isn't pro-Glazer, it’s more anti-football-owners

1) That if there needs to be a "fit and proper person" test for owning Premier League clubs then the wrong people are probably being attracted.  That this test implies a line drawn somewhere: "while he's undoubtedly morally dubious, by our calculations he's passed the test by half a point. He's a fit and proper person. 

2) Should football be insulated from the moral concerns of the rest of society? So when we look wistfully at clubs where one man owns the club and voraciously spends money making that club successful, one man whose money may well have been gained by illicit means, and a club unconcerned by, not only financial, but any responsibility, are we saying that this is how we would like our club to be run? And these are the sort of people we would like running it? 

3) Is the only moral concern what happens on the pitch? And here I think we can answer. The Glazers are bad regardless of what happens on the pitch. Even in the seasons we've been winning trophies the protests have been ongoing. The Glazer's model for football club ownership is roundly despised. 

Why does this not hold from the other perspective? That the billionaire owners are morally wrong regardless of what happens on the pitch. We should not desire this model of club ownership. 

from Flicker set

From a Comment is Free article by Dave Boyle: 

It's this economic problem that leads to the moral one. The default position of most people in football has been to wonder why there's any fuss; in the traditional worldview, all new money is to the good, regardless of provenance and impact. Who cares where the guy got the money from, as long as he's got it?

And so Manchester City became owned by the deposed Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra; a good guy to play golf with, said the club's then-CEO Garry Cook. As Amnesty International pointed out, he was much less engaging when it came to summary executions of suspected criminals. His funds soon proved inadequate to City's needs, and so they traded up to the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.

In a sense, all that's happened is that a local wealthy class have been inadequate to the sums needed to subsidise a modern football club, and the task has fallen to a global elite who are attracted to the sport's ability to render us blind to the provenance of their wealth.

As Aguero scored his goal, people were talking about the owners having fulfilled a dream, obscuring the grim nightmare of life in Abu Dhabi as an indentured labourer or political prisoner, unable to vote with either their hands or their feet. Drogba's penalty too brought fawning comment about Abramovich finally having achieved his goal, as if failing to win the European Cup were an arduous labour on a par with that endured by the vast majority of Russians, denuded of their country's wealth by the oligarchs in the 1990s.

4) That self-evidently debt affects the club. Why, when documents reveal that debt affects the club, does everyone go, "AHA! We've caught you out now! Look! Debt affects the club!" No shit. 

From The Guardian’s blog, on that document: 

It is worth noting, though, that the Glazers are legally bound to outline to the US Stock Exchange the "doomsday scenario": the direst – and in some cases, almost impossible – factors that might affect United, which when valued at around $2.24bn by Forbes in April confirmed the club as the world's richest for the eighth successive year. In total there at 21 pages that come under the heading of "Risk Factors" and alongside the incendiary paragraph about "indebtedness" another scenario listed that could affect United is titled: "Business interruptions due to natural disasters and other events could adversely affect us and Old Trafford." It goes on to state: "Our operations can be subject to natural disasters and other events beyond our control, such as earthquakes, fires, power failures, telecommunication losses, terrorist attacks and acts of war. Such events, whether natural or manmade, could cause severe destruction or interruption to our operations, and as a result, our business could suffer serious harm. Our first team regularly tours the world for promotional matches, visiting various countries with a history of terrorism and civil unrest, and as a result, we and our players could be potential targets of terrorism when visiting such countries." All the above may happen but the threat of an earthquake, for example, is far more unlikely than that of terrorism – and even how that could terminally affect United is as difficult to see as the further risk described as: "There could be a decline in our popularity or the popularity of football." There is more likelihood of England ending as a sovereign state than football ever falling away – never mind dying – in popularity in this country. 

5) That in hard economic times it's actually quite fitting that we should be burdened with the debt that everyone is burdened with. That, instead of the likes of David Cameron and his devastatingly rich cronies preaching "We're all in this together," we are all, in a sense, with the Glazers, in this together. Man City and Chelsea with their billionaires, they're not in it. 

6) And just as the government attempts to get the burden of debt down, so do the Glazers. And there are different approaches to this. The Tories use the bringing down of the debt to hide their ideological agenda of removing state-funding from society- we can afford to subsidise the banks but not welfare or the NHS. Whereas another approach would be to throw money at the economy in the hope of stimulating it and creating more money with which to bring down debt. And isn't this second approach the Glazers’, indeed the only possible, approach? That we have to keep spending to stay competitive, because being competitive is the only way to keep revenues flowing and keep paying off debt. 

7) Of course the Glazers would, I think we can safely assume, prefer to be as rich as Abramovich. And of course they only want us for our money-making potential, and of course they want to skim money off us. 

8) Any alternative that doesn't involve the uber-rich seems somewhere off the scale of unlikely (which isn't to say we shouldn't strive for it, but something other than replacing one rich twat for another). And it's one of those odd things about supporting a football club. That one supports no matter what. That on one level if you don't like the business of football and the type of people who own clubs and the huge amounts of money about, maybe supporting one of the world's biggest, richest clubs isn't the best idea, but on another level, we're stuck with it... And we're back to the problem of squaring off-field awfulness with on-field beauty...