Football Special

[Edward G]

Orph,
How much of Utd's financial burden would be eased by winning the Premiership/Champions league title or both? Surely their capacity gates / sponsorship / merchandising / TV revenues etc. should cover the loans in the long-term?

Originally Posted by orpheum I dont know if anyone else read David mellors coloumn in the Standard last night.On Chelsea he was berating them for the home draws against Wigan and Villa.Well i could start going on about home draws against Villa and Boro and Birmingham till the cows come home but it isnt going to change the situation.However what was truly startling was his point about United.They have not been able to pay back all of the mounting interest on their loans so they have had to roll them over and they are paying 14.5% interest!So they only need to have one bad season and they could well go bust.So if United win the title they clearly have done so by spending well above their means.Rather devalues the title.Given that the loans have to be repaid by 2016 there is going to have to be a reckoning sooner or later otherwise United could easily follow the path trodden by Leeds United.

[Harleybloke]

Originally Posted by batman Uh oh ......... a rival for harleybloke!

He comes from Farnham, just had to support some team from 'Ooop Norf'.

[orpheum]

If you are not paying off the interest on a loan be it your house or business loans then it means that either you are using the money to pay for other items or that you are not generating sufficient profits to pay back the loan.No football club is capable of winning everything every season.It therefore is quite clear thatif Untited fall into a lean spell or the bankers lose their patience then as i have already ststed they will be on the road to ruin.I doubt that any orgasnisation however big or succesful is capable at the current time in raising the sort of finance required by United.Incidentally Chelsea and Tottenham fell into this trap and were rescued respectively by Ken Bates and Allan Sugar.

[billy bentley]

How much does it cost to run a set up like ManU ? Their merchandisng revenues must be larger than some countries GNP and then there's the profits from 70,000 cups of Bovril when they play at home !

[David Brent]

Originally Posted by billy bentley How much does it cost to run a set up like ManU ? Their merchandisng revenues must be larger than some countries GNP and then there's the profits from 70,000 cups of Bovril when they play at home !

Don't forget the prawn sandwiches.

Dave.

[smiffy]

I will be as busy this weekend as I was last weekend , unfortunately last weekend I was at the " Theatre of Dreams " watching United win .
This weekend I have to work ,so I would like to offer my mate Bats ,my best wishes ( I can't extend that to wishing you luck Bats ) and I hope the best team wins.
If all four teams play to their potential , Bolton ,Chelsea , Man U ,Wigan , then Sunday tea time the WORTHY winner of the Premier league will be installed .

Chelsea have had their knockers , but even though they have Abramovich and his money ,this seasons team has shown qualities that other teams have failed to show when it comes down to a scrap with Man U .

I would like to offer my Applause to the Chelsea team before the game as an act of sincerity

[batman]

Well thank you smiffy. I will be hiding away tomorrow afternoon at the Gt Yarmouth Please Beach with the family. Listening to the Newcastle match on the radio in the car on Monday was bad enough .... my nerves will be shredded enough just thinking about it!

I have to be honest and say that ManU have consistently played the best football this season and probably deserve to win for that reason alone .... however, Chelsea have lost fewer games than anyone else and have had to cope with some terrible absences all season (Carvalho may miss tomorrows game) .... whoever wins will be worthy champions.

Then once that's sorted, there's the little matter of the Champions League Final to be decided .... it's a hard life.

[billy bentley]

Edward G, I'm not sure that "burden" is the correct word to describe Man Utd.s financial situation. How about "self inflicted wounds" or "wreckless spending" (trying to compete with a Russian robber baron).

p.s. By compete I mean in the realm of spending money, not football. Man Utd have been clearly the better footballing side over the season and no, I do not support them.

[batman]

Originally Posted by billy bentley Edward G, I'm not sure that "burden" is the correct word to describe Man Utd.s financial situation. How about "self inflicted wounds" or "wreckless spending" (trying to compete with a Russian robber baron). p.s. By compete I mean in the realm of spending money, not football. Man Utd have been clearly the better footballing side over the season and no, I do not support them.

Russian Robber Baron? Who, exactly, has he robbed?

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by billy bentley Edward G, I'm not sure that "burden" is the correct word to describe Man Utd.s financial situation. How about "self inflicted wounds" or "wreckless spending" (trying to compete with a Russian robber baron). p.s. By compete I mean in the realm of spending money, not football. Man Utd have been clearly the better footballing side over the season and no, I do not support them.

Uniteds financial situation is an unfortunate result of them being the best run club ( profits and otherwise ) in modern day history.
The foundations of the clubs wealth were laid by massive support ,and sound financial planning from the 60's onwards.United were predominantly the team in any league (including Europe ) turning in worthy profits .

The advent of SKY TV putting fortunes into the game, and Uniteds success on the field and off it ,Attracted the Glazers,who along with the financial institutions who loaned them the money thought United were a sound investment.
The sad thing is, that where United were once debt free and spending their own money on players ,the books have to be balanced with respect to the Glazers interest payments before money for players can be sanctioned .

So if that is what you mean by reckless spending Billy,you may end up being right ,but although United have sometimes paid over the odds for a player ,their spending wasn't reckless because it was their money being spent.

Self inflicted wounds and reckless spending ? It sounds like a Club in turmoil Billy ( by the way which team did you support ? )

[penfold]

That rustling sound you hear is Premiership teams digging out their old maps to find out how to get to Ashton Gate.....it's a bit premature, but City just have to hold their nerves for two games now.......

[billy bentley]

Buying something you can't afford is definitely reckless, we can all see that by looking around the world at the newly "discovered" cosequences of too much credit being available to the wrong people (I include myself in that group). Wasnt there once a saying "buyer beware". I'm sure we can even get a latin translation, can we ?

As for the team I support, I knew thios would come up sooner or later if I dipped in to this thread. Like both my grandfathers, my mother and father (all RIP) and my two sons - I'm a West Ham United fan, which means I am completely devoid of logic when it comes to my own team.

[billy bentley]

You are not seriously going to tell me that Roman made all his money legitimately and that after the fall of the Soviet Union, he and a clutch of other Russians were the deserving recipients of the nations assets. Putin put the other big money man in jail and would no doubt do the same or worse to Roman if he gave him any lip. From the little I have read and heard, I get the strong the Russian economy and its assets were carved up and shared out by gangsters.

[DB7]

Originally Posted by batman Russian Robber Baron? Who, exactly, has he robbed?

From what I hearing some match-fixing oop north might see you being robbed.

[batman]

Originally Posted by billy bentley You are not seriously going to tell me that Roman made all his money legitimately and that after the fall of the Soviet Union, he and a clutch of other Russians were the deserving recipients of the nations assets. Putin put the other big money man in jail and would no doubt do the same or worse to Roman if he gave him any lip. From the little I have read and heard, I get the strong the Russian economy and its assets were carved up and shared out by gangsters.

But who did he rob? The oil businesses that Roman took over were mis-managed by the government and were making no money for anyone. Roman took advantage of buying a business that was available to anyone to buy and has turned it into a higly successful company. I am sure that he has had, maybe still has, his finger in some dodgy deals but are you seriously telling that he is any worse than any other businessman who operates on that scale. Roman's companies employ more people in Russia than the old government versions did and they have raised their economic profile abroad, so far from robbing anyone, Abramovitch has created greater employment and has generated greater wealth than was there before. So what if he has amassed a few roubles for himself, good luck to him.