[Sprucegoose]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Well, the PIK loans have been paid for! Heres the BBC link for the same

BBC News - Manchester United's Glazer family to pay off PIK loans

And in a hypothetical scenario if Man Utd start going down, Glazers can always find willing buyers. There will be a posse of rich businessmen outside OT the day Glazers put Utd for sale! Already they have turned down an offer of GBP 1.5B from Qatar (this would have given them a cool 800m profit on their "investment" in Man Utd). As I said, United are too big, they have a global fanbase (estimated at about 300+million) and a very strong business model. Their liabilities at present are only about 45% level (about 500m of debt while their worth is more than 1.2B in GBP terms) and that is a very comfortable level in most businesses. Add to that the kind of profits they make (purely as a business, it was more than 100m last year and is only going to increase when that 400m deal with Nike is done), their debt is hardly a headache for the owners anymore.

On the other hand, from supporters point of view, it has been a problem because most supporters feel united are not so aggressive at pursuing big-name signings because of debt problems and Fergie's hand tied by the owners. How much of a truth in there, nobody knows, but still fact remains that during Glazer ownership Man Utd have had one of their most successful time on the pitch - 4 PL wins and 3 CL finals (inc a win). Not many clubs can match that right now (except maybe Barca and Inter.)

Oops.. didn't know they had paid off their loans.

But imagine this scenario: Mike Ashley buys Man U...

Bro, how can you even mention Inter...
You do know that they have been charged with sporting fraud by the FIGC.
The charges that got Juve relegated, inspite of being proved false. one of those charges has been proven against Inter, but they cannot get relegated because of the 5 year Statutes that exist in Italy.

They are most likely going to get their 2006 Scudetto revoked.

[Panko]

Originally Posted by GearOn

SAF never won European Cup with Aberdeen. But do you know that he won the 1983 UEFA Super Cup which was contested between European Cup Champions and European Cup Winners?

UEFA Super Cup is just a single match which is held at the beginning of the season; which is not taken very seriously and teams just try to measure the strength of promising reserves and few players from regulars.

Originally Posted by Sprucegoose

PS: I'm not an Arsenal fan.
I just think Arsene is going the right way about things.
Making a sustainable model that all clubs should follow.

I agree with that. Arsene is good at spotting the talent at early age and nurturing it. It's commendable that team of youngsters doing so good in EPL, where other teams are spending millions on mercenaries.

Originally Posted by JVH

Panko - Looking at your points, am not able to understand your POV. Is there a personal grudge against SAF or United? If yes, then its understandable otherwise its puzzling.

It's other way round. Being a fan of ManU, people should not show disrespect to other clubs or managers or leagues.

Originally Posted by Latheesh

No one interested in Copa America 2011? :-)

I am very disappointed with (yet another) disappointing performance by Argentina. Hope they recover the form and reach the knock-out stage in style. Somehow they are not able to live up to the expectations in Post-Maradona (as a player) Era.

[GearOn]

Originally Posted by Panko

UEFA Super Cup is just a single match which is held at the beginning of the season; which is not taken very seriously and teams just try to measure the strength of promising reserves and few players from regulars.

European Super Cup in those days was a two legged affair and the team with which Hamburg contested Aberdeen in the final, had 8 starters from the European Cup Final.

So you can be sure they were damn serious in winning it but lost to a better team and an even better manager.

[Panko]

Originally Posted by GearOn

So you can be sure they were damn serious in winning it but lost to a better team and an even better manager.

I would have been very happy if it were true!

[nkapoor777]

Anybody going to the Argentina-Venezuela friendly in Kolkata on 2nd Sep? Well it happens to be my marriage anniversary so I'm planning to throw in a 3-4 day trip to the City of Joy. Got the tickets booked to the VIP enclosure (it better be worth it). Now hunting for flights and hotels.

FA Community Shield today. Which channel is showing that?

[mithunkb]

Originally Posted by nkapoor777

FA Community Shield today. Which channel is showing that?

It is shown on the Sony Pix channel at 6.30pm.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by nkapoor777

Anybody going to the Argentina-Venezuela friendly in Kolkata on 2nd Sep? Well it happens to be my marriage anniversary so I'm planning to throw in a 3-4 day trip to the City of Joy. Got the tickets booked to the VIP enclosure (it better be worth it). Now hunting for flights and hotels.

FA Community Shield today. Which channel is showing that?

A couple of my friends are travelling from bangalore.
I wasnt too keen as there is no red devil playing

Can't wait for the EPL to kick off again! Bring it on

[nkapoor777]

@figo_united: well if the cry baby Tevez is playing, at least you could boo him and put him back in his place. Also Aguero should see the number of United fans in the stadium and realize there is only one football club in Manchester and he's playing at the wrong one.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by nkapoor777

@figo_united: well if the cry baby Tevez is playing, at least you could boo him and put him back in his place. Also Aguero should see the number of United fans in the stadium and realize there is only one football club in Manchester and he's playing at the wrong one.

I think even the blue half of manchester will boo tevez! He deserves it too.
And aguero might at most make the bench.
Mental mario will start and come up with another of his trademark acts to piss mancini off
In the midst of all this, vidic will lift the community shield to kick off our trophy collection for this season

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by nkapoor777

@figo_united: well if the cry baby Tevez is playing, at least you could boo him and put him back in his place. Also Aguero should see the number of United fans in the stadium and realize there is only one football club in Manchester and he's playing at the wrong one.

Cry baby Tevez is not in the substitute bench as well. But the baddy Mario is there in the 1st eleven, and Aguero is starting on the bench.

[figo_united]

Manchester Will Always Be RED
Trademark comeback victory by United!
Heartening to see the youngster make a great impact at the highest level!

[mithunkb]

Manchester united now have a pretty strong squad to challenge for all the trophies next year. If the central midfield is reinforced ( read Sneijder) , ManU will get even better. But by the looks of cleverly's game , man u will fare well even without the big money transfer.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by mithunkb

But by the looks of cleverly's game , man u will fare well even without the big money transfer.

Indeed. He was so impressive today! A great prospect.
Loved seeing the youngsters perform.
Welbeck, Smalling, Cleverly, Jones, Evans...Amazing

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Indeed. He was so impressive today! A great prospect.
Loved seeing the youngsters perform.
Welbeck, Smalling, Cleverly, Jones, Evans...Amazing

The average age of the team in the second half (till berba's introduction in 89th min) was 22 years!!! Talk about youth revolution!

2-0 down at half time and Fergie had the balls to take off Rio, Vidic and Carrick!! And still people doubt him!!! How many more times will he have to make people eat their hats. Recession ka time hai bhai... save your money!

Looking at Cleverly's performance, we might take that offer off Schnjder's table. That would though mean Tevez would still remain city player! That would be really tasty scenario - so many world class players rotting on the bench!!!

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by joslicx

The average age of the team in the second half (till berba's introduction in 89th min) was 22 years!!! Talk about youth revolution!

Yeah, and all of the youngsters lived up to the occasion too.
The ages of our XI in the second half was : 20 - 21 - 23 - 19 - 21 - 26 - 25 - 20 - 22 - 24 - 23!

Originally Posted by joslicx

Looking at Cleverly's performance, we might take that offer off Schnjder's table. That would though mean Tevez would still remain city player! That would be really tasty scenario - so many world class players rotting on the bench!!!

I was very impressed with cleverly as well. Great impact since he came on. Rooney drifting back into midfeild and controlling was crucial as well. Smalling made some super runs down the right wing as well.