codders78

Something the Guardian wrote thats accurate? I must go see

Agree with all those who say we dont need a centre back. Striker and a wide left player. With Distin and Heitinga, Yobo waiting in the wings another CB could stifle the development of Duffy or Mustafi. Duffy was tweeting about a loan move for 1st team experience but we could build in the option to recall if we had an injury crisis. Rodwell could even revert back to CB in the event of injuries.

If we could start a season the way we tend to finish then a top 4 spot is a distinct possibility. Playing catch up all the time is a nightmare. All of our hopes and aspirations fall on the physios table. With a threadbare squad, albeit with some youngsters with potential any injuries tend to hit us hard.

I dont think it could happen could it? Insofar as Man City most likely need him to comply with squad rules, he is English and homegrown.Hence why Mancini said he is going nowhere

This is true, I wrote as much a few pages back. However building a stadium we can ill afford in the hope it attracts a rich Arab investor is not the answer to our problems. My point is that if we invested in players rather than a stadium it could push into the CL spots in the league and generate additional revenue streams. To my mind the other way around is putting the cart before the horse.

Maybe we do have a better side now but since our CL qualification our investment has been outstripped by Spurs and Man City, both of which have qualified for the CL since us. Players are the only route to success though, you dont get champions league because you have shiny new stadium.

Interesting though it was

Anyhoo, I don't want to get bogged down in a economics discussion, particularly one about Man Utd finances as I couldn't give a flying fuck about them. I care about one club's finances and that is ours.

2017 would appear to be the D-Day for Man Utd. That is when they must repay the bonds that purchased Man Utd. The whole deal is highly complex, Red Football Ltd is a company set up by Glazer to buy Utd. It has 2 parent companies in the UK and above those companies is Red Football LLC (based in Delaware), its is believed this company is owned by the Nevada based Red Football Limited Partnership which is owned by a variety of Glazer family trusts The current debt is somewhere in the region of £550million. £250 million in outstanding bonds and £300million of bonds secured against the clubs assets. Whilst the debt remains manageable it does negatively affect the business. Without the debt they may never have sold Ronaldo, they would have more money for new players. Yeah they keep buying but they could buy more if not saddled with debt. For sure the experts now nothing, if they did we wouldnt be in a global financial whirlwind. However where Utd are concerned the facts are the facts and the debt is having a detrimental affect. There is the issue late last year of of the clubs PIK (payment in kind) loans being cleared to the tune of £250million with not a word as to where this money came from.

The point is that money is spent on servicing debt. Goldman Sachs believe United are over leveraged, Glazer financed the purchase through hedge funds, funds that bear no relation to Bank of England base rate. So if Man U operating profits are £250million but interest payments are £200million then thats only £50million left for players etc, granted still more than we have but leaves them trailing in the wake of their oil rich neighbours The bond sales they have had have been over subscribed but there is the suspicion this money is taken by the Glazers and not used to alleviate the debt burden they utilised to purchase the club. All in all its an exercise in futility to compare personal mortgages with finance raised upon global markets. Its apples and oranges. Whilst your own personal experience is one of sound investment and making finance work for you, businesses work in different ways. Macroeconomics and household budgets are 2 different things

Playing a bit fast and loose with the word interesting

7th I reckon. I dont think anyone is likely to finish above us who finished below us last year. And what with all the strengthening of the squad, no, oh wait hang on Still 7th though

It isnt pretty granted. I did a lot of things when I was younger, thinking I was a big shot. Times change, people change when given the chance and a few years to grow. If he is a reformed character and I believe he is then he would be an asset to any side. If Moyes feels the same then I wouldn't throw away my ticket because he wears the shirt, provided he respects it and understands what is expected of him

For me, rather than splashing cash on a stadium I would rather see players coming in. To use your restaurant analogy would I build premises before I knew I had some recipes the customers would like? The stadium as you say is a long way away, in fact a mere pipe dream so players to advance our current cause and create additional revenue streams, european football, cup runs, commercial ops around new players etc etc is a more realistic and worthwhile cause to work to

From your point of view debt isn't a bad thing. Thing is you are working to something - owning your own home, which should increase in value. Debt within an established Football club is different, all it does is take money to service that debt, money that must come from operating profits. This of course then cuts into bottom line and as such something must give..........

Im a forgive and forget kind of a bloke and wouldnt hold his past against him. There are few footballers that are angels, and at 21 with the world at his feet and earning silly money he made some mistakes, knocked about with the wrong people and it did take him a long time to grow up after a succession of misdemeanours It does seem as if he has grown up and has started focusing on his football. I have always thought he was a big talent but a knobhead, seems he is trying to stop being a knobhead and the talent remains. If DM reckons he can make it work then good for him, go for him. If we dont get him I would suggest DM doesnt want him

I think Man U are in a sticky situation, the majority of their operating profit goes in paying down interest on the loans Glazer took out to purchase the club. Unlikely as it may seem if they were to miss out on Champions League it could expose it for the house of cards I reckon it is. Arsenal are a different kettle of fish, and are a well run club, the money is there for Wenger but he wont spend it due to his obsession with creating a team of greats from kids - or at least thats what my gooner mates say. Chelsea inch closer to being a going concern, whilst Abramovich has poured vast amounts into the club he has also brought in the right people to manage the commercial side of the business and increase revenue streams, despite the rumours of his dodgy deals and palm greasing he undoubtedly has business savvy. Man City are however a basket case and the new sponsorship deal needs the fine tooth comb treatment I take your figures for Stadiums on trust (I have no reason to dispute them and they seem perfectly plausible) which merely adds weight to our theory about our commercial viability. Like you I also believe there is little value or even possibility of redeveloping Goodison, times move on and sadly to prosper we will have to look at other places.

That is what put him off buying us (apparently/allegedly) as it wouldn't just be players he would have to fork out for, and as such was why he went for City. He was looking for a club with history and pedigree which we certainly have but as you rightly point out, how commercially viable are we at present. Mansour has invested what £400-500 million thus far? How much does a new state of the art stadium cost these days? Im guessing you could add another £100mill+ All of this amounts to us being an unattractive proposition to any potential buyers and there just arent lots of Mansours out there looking to invest. Invest is the wrong word to an extent as invest would suggest you are seeking a return and there are no returns in football these days given the wages, transfer and agents fees. I would rather be where we are and accept mediocrity than massively over leveraged and staring into the financial abyss. Football cannot continue in its current format forever, the vast majority of football clubs (not us though) are technically insolvent. To harp back to Mansour, what happens of he pulls out tomorrow and lets the club go for £1? They dont have the commecial activity to cover half their wage bill and would be in administration before the end of the season, relegation, asset fire sale and a long way back to the big time - look at Leeds

Knowing the price of the club should make no difference really. If not privy to the inner workings of the clubs finances. What would it tell us, nothing I would suggest. The club is crying out for a new stadium - As an aside I was told Sheikh Mansour was toying with buying us or Man City, plumped for Man City as they had the stadium already and only needed investment in players. What Im getting at is that anybody wanting to buy the club would need serious investment if they want to break into the top 4. The fair play rules will undermine investment given the relatively poor commercial deals we are involved in. Any potential owner will have to be in it for the long haul. Bottom line - We are a fantastic club, with a great tradition and proud history. No bias at all but the best fans in the world. Im not happy with the status quo but I would rather that than have our finances splashed all over the tabloids whether they are good or most likely piss poor

for me Howard Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines Fellaini Arteta Rodwell Osman Bily Saha

Sadly never going to happen. It would be fantastic for us and also for the national side. Johnson and Baines could be exceptional together and would give Capello something to ponder

Totally agree. He is no better than Yobo, given both their games are about physicality not finnesse. Nobody seems interested in Yobo so we may as well keep him and use the money to strengthen where we are weak. A winger and striker are surely the priority

I think it relates more to the players status as an international footballer and is not specific to individual countries. Some countries more than others I would suggest as its tougher to break into the Spanish side than the Welsh side, insofar as the Spanish side will be full of players from the top flight clubs across europe, the welsh side will have prem, championship and even league 1 players

Absolutely derisory. If Manure are paying 16.5million for Phil Jones then Jags is worth at least that How would we replace him with 10 mill? Jog on Wenger

Point taken. However I was more talking about transfer activity. We announce we have say £20million (lol) suddenly Shane Long is worth £12million, N'Zog £20million