обращение коалиции NFS, основная суть которого сводится к тезису: "не поддавайтесь на дешевый пиар" и это правильно. жирным выделены вопросы, на которые, видимо, ответов не последует ...
(“WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T MENTION THE DEBT”)
The Glazer charm offensive has begun. Warm words flow and verbal assurances are given about the family’s intentions. The Premier League, the FA, the Sports Minister, the directors and employees at Old Trafford, the manager, the players, Sir Bobby – all appear to have accepted at face value the brothers protestations that they will not change anything, that they will work with everyone at the club to achieve success, that there will be money for new players with no caps or tied hands, that the collective TV deal is safe in their hands and that they fully respect the history and traditions of the club.
These words are intended to allay the fears of the fans, who are expected to watch MUTV tonight to hear Joel address them directly for the first (and only?) time. It is notable that so few people actually subscribe to MUTV (thousands have cancelled their subscriptions since the takeover).
But United fans are right to look behind the soft words, because they have seen at first hand the actions of the Glazer family. They have seen the Glazers mount what was a hostile takeover of United, against the wishes of everyone at the club; they have seen three directors kicked off the board; they have seen a debt–free club taken over with over with Ј650 million of borrowings – more than any other sporting club in history. These are the facts.
Verbal assurances from the Glazers must be treated with caution. The family gave undertakings to the City of Tampa that they would pay half the cost of a new stadium in Tampa when they were looking to acquire the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995 – they reneged on that undertaking after they bought the team, threatening to take the Bucs franchise to another city if Tampa did not pay the whole cost. The City ended up funding the whole bill for Glazer’s stadium and the citizens of Tampa are still paying for it through higher taxes. Ex-Tampa mayor Bill Poe estimates that this has cost the City some $400 million in all.
So no, United fans have no reason to believe their velvet words. We’ll judge them on their actions.
And having bought the club and kept the executive directors in place, we are now hearing from CEO David Gill how great it is to be working with the Glazers. This just months after he and his colleagues damned the Glazers’ takeover bid as “aggressive”, “potentially damaging” and putting a “direct and indirect strain on the business”. Fans groups were told by Gill and Finance Director Nick Humby on many occasions in the past that they would never sanction the club taking on any debt because of the potential consequences and risks. And now we have JP Morgan and three US hedge funds holding the future of the Glazers and our club in their hands, with Ј650 million of expensive ‘junk’ debt which is already growing at an alarming rate. There are serious questions of integrity to be answered here, given the rewards that the executive directors have been offered to stay on.
United fans have seen their club go almost overnight from being a debt-free, profitable well-run club to one which has been taken over using Ј650 million of debt. We are entitled to ask the questions which no-one so far appears to have asked the Glazers –
• How can you repay this huge amount of debt and expect to fund the rebuilding of the team?
• How are you going to make enough profits to do this and what happens if you don’t?
• How much are the fans going to have to pay in increased ticket prices and for their merchandise to meet the debt service and repayment needs of the banks?
• Will there be a sale & leaseback of Old Trafford to pay back debt?
“Joel speaks about United as a national treasure – well he’s taken on the national debt to pay for it” said Mark Longden, Chair of IMUSA “and it will be the fans footing the bill”.
The Glazers dare not speak about the debt or their plans to finance it, because it would involve coming clean about how the fans will be expected to behave like good economic units, like sheep to be milked to keep the banks serviced and the Glazers in profit.
No-one is accusing the Glazers of buying United to intentionally ruin it. They want success on the pitch to lead to success and profit off it. But in the words of Sir Bobby “they do not know the football game” and it is almost incredible that they have been allowed to take such an enormous gamble with our club’s future. Fans have every right to be concerned. We will continue to voice those concerns on behalf of the fans at every available opportunity.
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