The debt is beginning to hurt

David Conn and Daniel Taylor on the worrying signs coming out of old trafford, which has been all the talk on the various United message boards. David Conn asks who could have forseen just a few years ago that United would go into the new decade in such a dire financial position and that City would be entering it as the new powerhouse of British football.
Whilst all of us that opposed the Glazer takeover could not forsee what's happened at the boo camp we did point out the dangers that are now sadly being proved right at United. The fact that the vast majority of people couldn't be bothered to use their brains and read about the dangers and accused all of us who opposed the takeover of the club of being political, doesn't surprise me. It's the same situation that led to the credit crunch, I'm afraid everything has some political aspect to it. To a none financial expert it still holds true to me that if something looks too good to be true and just looks like funny money then it almost certainly is too good to be true and that it is funny money. The Barca, Real Madrid supporters owned club model that we argued for at the time was surely the way to go. Yet another catastrophic failiure by this supposedly centre left government. After the Murdoch inspired Sky bid that was defeated they had the motive to do something regarding football ownership that whilst it may have not been to the clubs liking it would have been popular with fans and it would have proved to have been the right way to go. As we look at the two biggest clubs in England United and Liverpool struggling with debt, Portsmouth in big big, trouble and outside the premier league Wtaford amonst others badly struggling.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2010/jan/06/manchester-united-glazers-debt

Whilst Daniel Taylor argues things are starting to not look so rosy for United's future
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jan/05/sir-alex-ferguson-manchester-united

Even the BBC's business editor has been looking at United on his latest blog, and he is none too impressed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/01/can_man_utd_spend.html

Yet for all the strong financial position City are in they can still post the second biggest financial yearly loss.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/city-record-16393m-loss-ndash-and-worse-is-to-come-1859133.html
At sometime financial restrictions will be brought into the game otherwise it will eat itself.

Nicky Butt considering hanging up his boots at the end of the season
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/newcastle-midfielder-butt-considering-retirement-1859395.html

Tim Rich tell us not to write Fergie off. I ain't, but i am increasingly alarmed, not just worried, about what happens when he decides he has had enough. Because that was always going to be the hardest job in football. But if the new man takes over a declining team that will have lost Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Van der Sar and who knows who we will have been forced to sell to help pay off the debt, he will be taking over an impossible job. And never mind winning trophies or qualifying for the champions league it could be a task to qualify for the UEFA cup. It will be the end of the Busby reign all over again. But whereas the money was available then and the mess United got themselves into should have been avoided. This time it will all be about some financial chancers from the States that were unforgivably loaned the money and allowed by the laws put in place by a Labour government to buy our club.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/tim-rich-ferguson-feels-the-heat-ndash-but-hes-been-here-before-1858821.html

Mark Ogden thinks that if the debt eventually becomes too much for the Glazer's to service then even in this severe downturn there will want to be somebody wanting to buy into the biggest sporting institution in the world.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/markogden/100004694/why-it-will-take-another-sheikh-mansour-to-rescue-manchester-united-from-the-glazers/
In all these reports it's hardly ever mentioned what madness the takeover actually was.

Vidic denies fallout rumours, but not that he wouldn't mind a move, or his missus would like one.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/6938757/Manchester-United-defender-Nemanja-Vidic-denies-bust-up-with-Sir-Alex-Ferguson.html

Rob Kelly thinks time is running out for Berbatov's United career
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/robkelly/100004676/manchester-uniteds-dimitar-berbatov-has-five-months-to-save-his-old-trafford-career/