Fergie moaning about value. Gill claiming money is there to buy players if Fergie wants to. A team whose midfield is so bad that it is one of life's mysteries how we are top of the table (though we won't be for much longer the way things are going). Finally owners who have saddled the club with a huge amount of debt.
Now I seriously doubt that it would take a rocket scientist here, but one of those points above does not fit with the pattern. I will give you a clue. Gill said it.
You see, Gill says that Fergie has money to spend on players. Fergie claims there is no value in the transfer market. The only time I ever hear this is from managers who don't have much money to spend on players. Managers who seemingly have plenty tend to go about spending it, because having a larger pool of talent to chose from makes life easier throughout a long campaign. Certainly Fergie didn't see their being a value problem when he signed Berbatov for £30 million which was way above his value. He certainly did not flinch at paying £28 million for Veron who had not even kicked a ball in the Premiership.
So why is he suddenly complaining about a lack of value when there is a clear and dire need to buy players and Gill is telling everyone who will listen that there is money there to buy players? Hm, it's a strange one isn't it?
For two seasons now the midfield has needed addressing and for two seasons Fergie has been moaning about value whilst spending conservatively in the transfer market. Considering the loss of Ronaldo who was the FIFA Player of the Year at the time and Carlos Tevez who was a key asset with Ronaldo and Rooney up front, one may have been forgiven in thinking that a sizable amount of the Ronaldo £80 million transfer fee would have been available to strengthen the squad. It appears that is not the case.
So given the debt that is on the club's books, the fact that we are impotent in the transfer market and the fact that this side is in dire need of investment it would appear that our friend David Gill is telling fibs. There is no money to buy players - certainly not at the level needed to bring genuine class to the side. If that is the case, then I am baffled as to why Fergie would tolerate this.
At this stage of his career, why the hell should he be protecting those who are purposefully making his life more difficult? Why does he not just call it a day and blow the whistle on just what is the real state of play at the club? After all, he would be doing the fans a service for finally putting to bed any doubt about the state of the clubs finances and ability to compete at the highest level to buy players.
Now I am all for youth coming through. However it has to be there at the club already and clearly that is not the case at the moment. If we continue to ignore the issue then decline is inevitable and the more we slide the harder it will be to stop the rot. For those who think that it is not possible, wake up and look around. In 1990 did Liverpool fans honestly believe that would be their last league championship win for 21 years? Did Nottingham Forest fans truly think that their side would end up relegated and out of the top flight under Brian Clough? Back in 1968 did the United fans that night at Wembley consider that in 6 years they would have crashed out of the top flight in English football?
No of course not. Now I am not suggesting that United will be relegated or anything like that, but decline is sudden and very difficult to stop. In 1995 Blackburn Rovers won the league, but their cash dried up and look what happened to them. Success has to be maintained at all times. The moment you cut corners or rest on your laurels it's over.
The cracks in this side have been getting ever wider since the 2009 Champions League final and they will only get worse. Already three ideal candidates have been snapped up by other clubs. Ozil, Van Der Vaart and Sneijder. How many more are going to be allowed to go elsewhere?
If the money isn't there, Fergie should just call it a day in the summer and not allow his legacy to be tainted by these lying Glazer's and their stooge Gill. He should rise above it and let them boil in their own pot of lies because blowing the lid on how bad things are will put intolerable pressure on the Glazer's to consider selling. Falling attendances and a dip in merchandise would hammer their revenue streams screwing up their fragile business plans. A decline in the teams fortunes would further dent their ability to service their debt especially if they don't have the revenue from the Champions League.
In walking out on United, Fergie could actually end up doing one final act greater than any trophy he has ever won at the club. He could rid them of the Glazer ownership and that would garner him more praise and cement his legacy in the eyes of the fans.
The Glazer ownership is coming home to roost. I fear the reality of this is yet to truly hit home.
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