930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: Frank Gallagher on May 16, 2005, 11:26:00 am
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....some *ucking doodle buys my beloved Manchester United! :(
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well there is another team in manchester ;)
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If I'm forced to switch allegiances to blue...it's EVERTON baby!
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Originally posted by O'Mankie:
If I'm forced to switch allegiances to blue...it's EVERTON baby!
Stay away from those Liverpool teams. Bolton, the new pride of Greater Manchester!
Not to rub salt in a womb, but it couldn't have happened to a better team. Not so arrogant anymore, are we? :D
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A love song to Malcolm Gazer. Come on Mankie, sing along, you know the words!
UNITED WE STAND
WRITERS TONY HILLER, PETER SIMONS
There's nowhere in the world that I would rather be
Than with you my love
And there's nothing in the world that I would rather see
Than your smile my love
For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We'll be together, together, you and I
For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We'll be together, together, you and I
And if the world about you falls apart my love
Then I'll still be here
And if the going gets too hard along the way
Just you call, I'll hear
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Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
Not so arrogant anymore, are we? :D
Yep. Adding millions of Americans to the coffers of United won't make them anymore arrogant. Americans aren't known to be arrogant, are they?
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Glaxosmithkline Stadium
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mankie,
you can always join me & the Gallaghers over at MCFC!! "it ain't shitty if it's Man City!!"
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Originally posted by Fico:
mankie,
you can always join me & the Gallaghers over at MCFC!! "it ain't shitty if it's Man City!!"
No offence, but I would rather have my genitals savaged by a pack of rabid wolves while at the same time being anally raped by Ron Jeremy and ten of his best mates.
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Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
Not to rub salt in a womb, but it couldn't have happened to a better team. Not so arrogant anymore, are we? :D [/b]
It's a good thing for United, they will become even bigger,better and more dominant than ever, and make Chelski look like Gillingham.....I'm just pissed off it's a friggin doodle! (Soz smackie, I but I am)
"American Express Field" has a better ring to it....at least that sounds like $$$$$$$$$
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Originally posted by O'Mankie:
I'm just pissed off it's a friggin doodle! (Soz smackie, I but I am)
No worries. I'll be first in line if he mismanages the team.
But I hear he's giving Fergie $20 Mill to spend in the off-season, which never would have had as a PLC. He also resigned Giggs today, which is a good move.
Of course, he also extended Howards contract, which is a clear US based move.
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Next season will be like 1980 all over again in the Premiership, a battle of the Superpowers.....America against Russia. Where's Ronnie when you need him?
All joking aside, unfortunately this kind of thing is going to happen more and more in professional sports. If you want to compete with a team like Chelsea and an owner that's willing to sink all that money into his team, you're going to have to find owners or investors who are willing to do the same. The sad thing is, unless you're a fan of one of those teams, it's pretty boring to watch as the same teams dominate year after year. The most exciting thing about the Premiership is the bottom of the table, seeing who's going to get relegated.
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Originally posted by vansmack:
Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
Not so arrogant anymore, are we? :D
Yep. Adding millions of Americans to the coffers of United won't make them anymore arrogant. Americans aren't known to be arrogant, are they? [/b]
Having an American owner won't necessarily translate to a huge American fanbase. It won't amount to much more than a passing interest for most Americans.
Oh yeah, Americans can be arrogant....and most of them are Yankees fans.
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Originally posted by vansmack:
But I hear he's giving Fergie $20 Mill to spend in the off-season, which never would have had as a PLC. He also resigned Giggs today, which is a good move.
Of course, he also extended Howards contract, which is a clear US based move. [/b]
£20m is chump change if you consider Chelski spent £218m on their team. You're right though, it's more than Fergie would've got had they been plc.
A lot depends on what Fergie does, if he steps down you can say ta-ta to Keano, Scholesy and most probably the Neville boys. Personally I would sell Ronaldo....great player but not a United player. Get some big cash from some Italian/Spanish team for him and add that to the £20m. Take Real Madrid's offer of £12m plus Owen for RVN (which is the rumour) and we basically have England's strike force on one team, Rooney, Owen and Smith. Another rumour is Beckham will be back on the way to United with his marketing power being the big draw for Glazer, although I can't see that myself, even though I believe what United lacked this season was him feeding the strikers....which I said would happen.
Give me Howard over Carroll anyday. Howard is a good goalie who's still a bit star-struck playing in the premiership if you ask me, and lacking in big game experience and confidence. Carroll is just a blundering idiot.
Dodgy slapper is only cheesed off because the only wallie interested in buying into Liverscum is some scouse bricky with a few bob in his pocket.
;)
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Scouse bricky with a few bob? Are you talking about Wayne Rooney? If it weren't for football that scally would be flipping buggers at McDonalds.
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Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
Scouse bricky with a few bob? Are you talking about Wayne Rooney? If it weren't for football that scally would be flipping buggers at McDonalds.
I'm serious, there was some scouse building contractor who tried to buy the team.
And doesn't your comment relate to all professional football players?
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Originally posted by O'Mankie:
Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
Scouse bricky with a few bob? Are you talking about Wayne Rooney? If it weren't for football that scally would be flipping buggers at McDonalds.
I'm serious, there was some scouse building contractor who tried to buy the team.
And doesn't your comment relate to all professional football players? [/b]
You said it, not me. I kind of remember reading about that building contractor, but I also remember last year when some guy from China wanted to invest in Liverpool. The deal wasn't finished because it involved money from the government. Even though the Reds could use an infusion of cash, everyone seemed to be happy that the deal never came about.
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Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
Originally posted by O'Mankie:
Scouse If it weren't for football that scally would be flipping buggers at McDonalds.
And doesn't your comment relate to all professional football players? [/b]
You said it, not me. [/b]
Well, apart from 'Gods Footballer' ;)
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NFL's Glazer Takes Control Of Man United
Buccaneers Owner Buys English Club, Draws Ire
By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 17, 2005; D01
American billionaire Malcolm Glazer yesterday took full control of England's Manchester United soccer club, one of the most storied and profitable sports franchises in the world, setting off waves of anxiety among the team's legions of fans across the globe.
The 76-year-old owner of the 2003 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers added 2.3 million more shares, giving him 75.7 percent of the publicly traded team. It now has a value of $1.47 billion, according to his Red Football venture, which is the holding company he is using to purchase the stock. Forbes magazine values the Redskins at about $1 billion.
Glazer has been accumulating stock for months, generating fears among Manchester United's fans, known as "Reds," that their beloved soccer club would be owned by an American with no appreciation for the hold that the 127-year-old franchise exerts on British sports fans. Man U engenders love and loathing throughout Britain, Europe and Asia in the same way that the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees spawn emotions in the United States.
"I'm unhappy about this," said Paul Lusty, a Welshman and owner of Lucky Bar near Dupont Circle, where fans watch Man U games live on a big screen. "I don't think it's a good thing for Manchester that someone from Tampa Bay is coming over [there] and buying it up. Glazer's loyalties are not in [soccer], just in big business. This is a major change in the soccer industry like the changes going on in sports in the U.S."
Fans opposed to Glazer started the www.shareholdersunited.org (http://www.shareholdersunited.org) Web site, organizing protests and write-in campaigns, and threatening boycotts and other actions against businesses such as Glazer banker J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and the team's business partners like Vodafone Group Plc, Nike Inc., Anheuser-Busch Cos. and PepsiCo.
"Prepare to feel our wrath," said Shareholders United in a letter on its Web site addressed to J.P. Morgan and Smithfield Financial. "Make no mistake, this is a hostile bid. And the hostility you face from our club's board will pale in comparison to the hostility you will face from us. If Glazer is successful, you will forever be known as the people who sold out Manchester United. You WILL regret this."
Attempts to reach Glazer were unsuccessful.
Fans plan demonstrations at the FA Cup final against archrival Arsenal this Saturday in Wales. Last week, an effigy of Glazer was burned by fans outside the team's stadium.
"We are calling on all supporters to wear black in Cardiff on Saturday," Mark Longden of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association told the Associated Press. "If they can get hold of black flags, they should wave them because it represents what is happening to the club."
Glazer last week bought out J.P. McManus and John Magnier, Irish racehorse owners who had been the largest shareholders. To buy the team, the billionaire is using $503 million in cash, issuing preferred securities and borrowing the rest. With 75 percent ownership, Glazer can now place his personal debt on United's books and move the club off the stock market and into private ownership. If he increases his stake to 90 percent, he can force the other shareholders to sell him their shares.
Manchester United had a profit of 19.4 million British pounds on sales of 169 million pounds in fiscal year 2004, no small feat in the Premier League, in which less than half the teams are profitable. The club pays millions in annual dividends.
Manchester United is one of the most powerful sports brands in the world, with everything from travel to mortgage to financial consulting services available under its umbrella. Manchester United merchandise and "megastores" run from South Africa to Bangkok. Its Red Cafe restaurants stretch from Manchester to Malaysia. Its games are televised throughout the world. Its five Premier League soccer titles during the 1990s are the British equivalent of the Chicago Bulls winning six NBA championships in less than a decade.
In addition to his sports businesses, Glazer is a shopping mall and animal feed magnate who grew up in Rochester, N.Y., where he worked at his father's watch repair shop, according to Forbes, which estimates Glazer's wealth at $1 billion. He has also made fortunes in mobile-home parks, restaurants, real estate and Zapata, a former oil-and-gas company that now serves as a holding company.
Fans worry Glazer will sell the 67,000-seat Old Trafford stadium, considered the cathedral of British soccer, to pay down the private debt used to buy the team. Manchester United has been listed on the stock exchange since 1991, and the club was able to fend off a $1 billion takeover attempt in 1998 by Rupert Murdoch.
Lusty said he's not concerned that Glazer will run Man U into the ground.
"He would be pretty silly to ruin the team," he said. "It's already the most profitable soccer and sports machine in the world. There might even be improvement in some areas. Who knows, he might get some veggie burgers in the stadium."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051600591.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051600591.html)
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Paul Lusty, a Welshman and owner of Lucky Bar
I miss Paul and his bald head. We could talk Giggsy all day and he's got a great football mind.
I still fondly remember England beating Turkey and Paul having no qualms about forcing the Turks to leave the bar to "Wonderwall" blaring through the PA. Those were good times.