Well they do say what goes around comes around. A few years back Man Utd fans took great delight in singing that there is only one Peter Ridsdale during matches against Leeds. Now those same fans are being serenaded around Premiership grounds with a similar ditto about a certain Mr Glazer. However Ridsdale and Glazer, and their circumstances, couldn’t be much different.
Starting with Portly Pete he was in fact a longstanding fan for whom fate had handed him the job of his dreams. With no expense spared he started on a fast track to get his beloved Whites to the top of European football. No corners were cut as he lavished riches on every average player who simply told him they would love to play for Leeds, and then proceeded to do the same with their greedy agents! He acted like a megalomaniac out of a Bond film and surrounded himself with inexperienced highly paid non-executive directors who wouldn’t challenge his excesses. However the kid in the sweet shop finally ran out of cash and the rest is history.
In comparison to Ridsdale the Glazers are the chalk to his smelly cheese. The Americans have vast personal wealth and experience in running successful sports businesses but appear to have no love of “soccer” never mind a love for Man Utd. For them it is purely business. However one of the biggest differences is the size of the respective debt. Leeds went bust for around £85 million whereas according to the latest reports the Glazers have used the cash cow of a premier league club to fund the debt on their failing shopping centres and other USA property ventures to the tune of up to a billion quid.
Man Utd. fans are right to be concerned as despite a credible effort to challenge Chelsea for the title they had a poor season, especially in Europe. At times it looked like Rooney Utd as their striker gave such outstanding displays that he almost seemed to be playing on his own at times. A club of their size needs to replace stars who either leave to go elsewhere or retire. When Ronaldo left instead of bringing in a really top name he was replaced with 2 players; a guy from Wigan Athletic and a free Michael Owen! This can only be because of a lack of funds available. Ferguson has always splashed cash to help buy success and for every Rooney and Ronaldo there has been a Berbatov or a Veron. Do the Glazers not trust his judgement enough to give him the £75 million that is needed to keep up with the rest? Barca are lining up Fabregas, Real will no doubt have cash for the Special One to rebuild with, the Noisy Neighbours have their billions and Abramovich seems to have the appetite back again after buying new yachts over the last few years instead of footballers.
It could be interesting to see if this is the beginning of the end for Man Utd. A lack of real power in the transfer market, and an angry fan base together with stubborn owners may have Ferguson questioning his reasons for staying if he is not competing at the very top table.