Doomsday at The Theatre of Dreams?
The recently played FA Cup match between Man Utd and the lowly Leed Utd can be seen as a rare blip from the Reds. One may not and should not read much into it. But with the recent news pouring in from the ManUtd boardroom about the seemingly insurmountable debt that ManUtd now owes, I can't help but think of the Leeds Utd that vied for the silverware one season and nose dived into the Championship the next. Can the same happen to United too?? Can the Premiership champions and last year's European beaten-finalists see themselves going down? Will we also have to watch ManUtd play against the Nottingham Forests and the Preston North Ends next season or the season after that? Right now, even thinking about this sounds highly incredulous. But, could one have imagined Leeds going down too when they were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Barcelonas and the Valencias of Europe? A side boasting of some highly skilled players viz., Viduka, Paul Robinson, Rio Ferdinand, Lee Bowyer, Harry Kewell, Jonathan Woodgate and many more was surely destined towards winning the silverware sooner or later. But, suddenly the financial rot growing within the club came to the fore one season and there you had the Yorkshire club relegated to the Championship! Some of the best players of the club became highly under-valued and were sold cheaply to other big clubs of England.
Last week it was announced that the club owners- the Glazers had created a debt pile of over 700 mn pounds!!! News has been rampant about what measures ManUtd might have to take to bring it down. The obvious one was to sell Rooney off for 94 mn Euros in the summer to Barca. A bizzare suggestion was to dispose off the club's Carrington training ground. The most absurd was the one that suggested to part with the 76,000-seater Old Trafford Stadium!! Absolutely ridiculous!
But what other options does the club have? How many more titles can this side win so as to ease off the financial burden? Many sceptics were against the Glazers' bid to takeover United. Clearly these people pointed out then that Glazers didn't have anough money to buy 100% stake in the club. Predictibly the Glazers resorted to leaveraging their purchase of the stake. Malcolm Glazer succeeded not only in gaining control of the club through his takeover vehicle, Red Football Ltd., but converting it into a completely private company. Soon the club was saddled with 660 mn pounds debt with an annual interest payment of 62 mn pounds! In July 2006 the club announced a refinancing package. The debt taken on by the Glazers to finance the club was split between the club and the family, approximately £256 million is secured against Manchester United's assets. Under the terms of Glazer's financing, in the event that Glazer is unable to repay bondholders, majority control of Manchester United will pass to three New York hedge funds in August 2010. With the current financial scenario at the club, the possibility of insolvency doesn't seem too distant.
I hate writing this. But there are so many factors that are indicative of end of United's dominance. 1) Sir Alex is seen as retiring within the next 2 years. Some of the foreign names in the side can be tempted to transfer to other big clubs of Europe. 2) The 'one-club' players such as Giggs, Scholes will retire soon. So which big player would want to come to United after 2 years, when Sir Alex's days come to an end. 3) Like most other clubs, I don't see one man fitting into the manager's role right away. Any new person who would come would be under tremendous pressure to win titles from day one...such is the legacy Sir Alex will leave behind. So I forsee tumultous years ahead as far as getting the right person to manage the club is concerned after Sir Alex leaves.
Slowly the club will start drifting down the table. And adding to this there will always be this debt which will make it impossible for anyone to purchase a 'big name player'. Recent past has shown, it took only one season for Newcastle and Leeds to get relegated if the clubs are not professionally managed in the boardroom. As I see it, the Club does not even have a strong and a settled line-up. With oil money coming into the Premiership, the competition for ManUtd is only getting stiffer by the day.
Slowly the club will start drifting down the table. And adding to this there will always be this debt which will make it impossible for anyone to purchase a 'big name player'. Recent past has shown, it took only one season for Newcastle and Leeds to get relegated if the clubs are not professionally managed in the boardroom. As I see it, the Club does not even have a strong and a settled line-up. With oil money coming into the Premiership, the competition for ManUtd is only getting stiffer by the day.
There is every reason for every ManUtd fan to worry. I hope good news pours in soon. The club is on the verge of signing a lucrative deal with with the American Insurance Co. AON- a deal rumoured to be worth 80 mn pounds for a period of 4 years. Also, it now becomes even more imperitive to win the premiership and the Champions' League this season.
All this seems like just another nightmare which I sincerely hope it would remain just a nightmare and nothing more.
