16vmarc

Ive received a letter and an e-mail stating that theyre selling all shareholders shares to Glazier and that the following options are available:

- Sell shares and have proceeds put into a Phoenix Fund that they hope to use to buy back the club.

- Sell shares and receive money back.

- Do not accept offer and have shares transferred into my name as soon as can be arranged.

- Transfer some shares and sell rest and put into Phoenix Fund

- Transfer some and sell the rest.

Ive opted to transfer mine into my name just to be awkward Just so he cant have 100% of the club, although i only managed to buy 4 shares before this happened!!!

Nick Wadeson

Until Glazer gets his hands on 90% then you will be forced into selling your shares.....

Only way to win this is to boycott all United products (including match tickets, replica shirts etc).

Nick.

16vmarc

So what about the transfer into my name option then???

Nick Wadeson

I have transferred mine into my own name in the hope that at least 10% of United fans do the same, then Galzer will never own 100% of the club.

Nick.

16vmarc

Yeah thats what i selected. 4 shares is nothing, but its 4 shares he doesnt own!!!

King Eric

Marc, I have done the same as I own A LOT more than 4 shares

16vmarc

I bought 4 to see what i was gonna get through the post lol, with a view to buying more. So much for that plan!

Nick Wadeson

In addition to owning the shares, will you also be boycotting games and merchandise?

Nick.

Jonathan Davies

Out of interest, does anybody know how much of the club Shareholders United own now? Is it more than 10%? If it isn't, what's the point in keeping any of them? They'll be swept up under the compulsory acquisition procedure after Glazer hits 90%.

Edited to add that buying the club in future seems a tall order, surely? Unless it's really really gone **** up...

Nick Wadeson

I thought SHU controlled approx 16% of shares, which is why I thought it very strange that they are recommending everyone to sell them......

JD - It wouldn't take much to make United go brankrupt, what with £520 million debt hanging around the club's neck (something I never thought I'd say!).

Does anyone know if they will be allowed to compete in the Champions league with that level of debt? I thought UEFA had changed the rules to stop clubs with huge debt levels competing in the CL.

Nick.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

The figure was approx 18% in the hands of people who have vowed not to sell.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

I think the debt level is proportional to the clubs income. so if they can effectively service the debt they can play. If not then they can be barred. As I understand it.

I think they should retain the cash and when he fails.... and he will fail. The club will end up a shell of what it is now. at that point the shares will be worth nothing. That's when they should buy and it is then time for the true fans to rebuild the club.

paul-s

why is everyone so bothered about him owning the club gloryhunters

Nick Wadeson

Because he has bought the club purely for profit, which means that as a fan of the club I will have to pay vastly inflated ticket prices (which really adds up when you take a family of five).

The easiest way to get rid of him is to ensure the club can't service the debt.

Nick.

paul-s

is he absolutely guaranteed going to put up prices ?

Even if he is, its a business, and therefore entitled to do such things

Jap2Scrap

They've still got enough money to waste on a dodgy keeper from a team who finished 6th from bottom of the Prem.

Who cares anyway? United have had it so good for so long it's nice to see their supporters unhappy for a change. We all know that their worldwide merchandising sales will service the debt just fine so what are you panicking for? Give the guy a chance, not that there's a lot else you can do anyway, and get behind the club again.

Christ, you want a miserable season? Which would you prefer, a new owner or relegated bottom of the league after 28yrs in the top flight. Don't expect sympathy from me

Scooby-Doo

With the annual turnover of United the profit and loss is terrible for a PLC. Mr Glazier could have purchased a far more profitable company for much less than he has paid.

Jonathan Davies

Cheers for the info. I guess SU is suggesting sales then because it takes the view that Glazer will run the club as he pleases whether he owns 80% or 100% - seems fair to me tbh. 75% is enough really, although owning 100% would definitely be a lot more convenient. And if it's just annoyance, one share each does the trick.

I'm still not convincde the club will ever be affordable for the supporters though. Plenty of debt, yes, but assets too.

I'm a palace fan, and we had experience of trying to buy the club out of administration - much smaller numbers involved, obviously! But they were still too big - Palace fans raised over £1m fairly quickly and got organised... but the truth is, that's peanuts in the world of modern football. It's insignificant to anyone with the resources to operate the club.

With MU, the task would be, say, 30-50 times bigger. I know the fan base is bigger too, but I really don't think fan ownership works outside smaller community clubs (c.f. Bournemouth). Maybe it will, who knows...

Good luck to you anyway.

Ian_S

Is anyone going to Blackpool this weekend to see united?

I heard Fergies taking them as its the only chance they'll get to go in an open top bus this year

Redkop

On the news tonight, it said Glazier had made his three sons members on the Utd board

leonpoole

Isnt it united own fault though for becoming a PLC in the first place because it means you are technically always up for sale

AndiThompson

It's not when he owns 90% of all shares, it's when he owns 90% of the shares he didn't already own when he made the most recent offer, so he actually needs to own much more of the club before they can force the sale of shares.

Boycotts are a stupid idea, all it does is damage the club your supposed to love so much. It's over, he got what he wanted, its time to give in and hope he's successful and the stupid 'fans' don't kill the club off with pathetic boycotts.

Abdabz

I joined SHU a short while ago - really as a futile objection to the guy taking over the club. I was one of 10000 who joined the week he made his move.
Being a member has given me a real insight into this organisation and I am now quite embarassed to have joined.
I got my letter yesterday - I have a whopping 4 shares also But not being prepared to pay £10 to transfer into my name means that I've binned the letter which moves the shares into the Phoenix Fund I think...
The aim of the Phoenix Fund is to oust the nasty man (who under his reign we've signed a world class keeper and are about to sign a world class PSV midfielder) and have the club run 'by the fans for the fans'.
What on earth makes the almost anonymous heads of SHU more qualified to run a company the size of MUFC than a guy who's family run companies across america on a blue chip scale?
So far there are apparantly ~32000 members of SHU and the joining fee is £10. Youa re then asked to make a further donation (minimum of £5) - but I guess most will offer £10+... So likely there's over a million quid in the kitty... What have I seen thus far? A few banners, a burning effergy or two and the hiring of a hall for a rally...
Ultimately those organising SHU are set to do quite nicely out of this IMO and TBH I'm stepping back from supporting them on the grounds that they're pis55ing into the wind (probably champagne) and not benefiting the club in anyway...
P

Redkop

Those figures are pretty alarming somebody is going to be making a tidy sum, as tbh I can't ever see anyone ousting Glazer.

The Telegraph latest

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure you are wrong about the 90%

This bloke will take United down of that I'm certain. Worst thing to happen to the club since 1958.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Ha ha ha ha ha... I think you know very little about what this bloke will do to the club. Every city annalist who has looked at this figures has been negative about glazer making a success of this. He is taking a massive gamble IMHO and when he fails.... and he will. It is the club that will have to carry the burden of debt. Then you will see Leeds MKII x 1000! Look at the figure for yourself and work out where he is going to make all the extra cash he will need to service the debt let alone invest in the club and team.

As for the two players. One has signed for a couple of mil... and the other is yet to sign. They are both relatively cheap. It not as though he gone out and enabled us to sign somebody like Kaka, Shevchenko or Ronaldinho is it

Abdabz

Sorry Even if Glazer fails (I havent said I support him), what are SHU going to do with my money? That's the point here... Nothing constructive is my belief.
Even the emails we get are poorly put together and unprofessional - the whole organisation stinks IMO and that's my point - having lost the war they're now trying to fight a battle with our money that they cant and wont win. Therefore membership is futile and I'm dissapointed I didnt see it before I handed over a few quid of mine...
Having appointed his 3 sons to the board - all of which have a welath of experience in board membership of billion dollar companies - suggests the club will continue to be run like a business (the same way it has been for ther last 20 years). Ths being the case we will continue to sign players for a million or two (a la Irwin, The great dane, Cantona, Ole etc), continue to bring through youth (a la Beckham, Giggs, Nevilles) and buy the occasional massive name when needed (a la Rooney, Ruud)...
Before Glazer came we tried and failed to get Goofy (ronaldhino) and if Shevchenko was going anywhere it would be to his pal in London. Kaka is world class but Park (if we get him) has an almost equivalent raw talent that needs tweaking...
So in summary someone is going to get very rich from SHU and it wont be us the fans...

Redkop

Yeah great wealth of experience...

Joel Glazer is expected to handle the day-to-day business at Old Trafford, though given the strength of feeling against him in Manchester it is hard to see how he could operate effectively without having considerable security protection. Bryan Glazer, who at 40 is two years older, is likely to take responsibility for the marketing of the United brand. The oldest brother, Avi, will also be involved, though his reputation has suffered following the colossal failure of the Zap.com internet venture.

You reckon? Not according to this...

Given the enormous level of debt needed to underpin the takeover, it was found impossible for United's new owners to make a commitment to fund the promised £20 million a year for new players in their offer document.
Instead, Joel Glazer is expected to outline plans informally for United's transfer spending to be limited to a net £25 million over the next four seasons.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

I was using those player as an example of a top class player who we previously may have struggled to afford. Please don't compare Park to anything like Kaka. He's not even close to being the player Kaka is!

The sentiment of SHU was sound IMHO. The problem was many of the so called fans couldn't see what was happening or maybe just didn't care enough. I agree though now the group is pretty much useless now the deal is done. I think your insinuation though that somebody will be taking money from the SHU fund is offensive. I'm sure the people involved have given a lot of their own time and money trying to saves their club from Glazer or any other takeover.

As for running the club like a business. Well to some extent you can but football is like no other business in that sense. Look at what United made last year post tax. 12 million. for a company worth almost 1 billion that is a terrible return. Now add in the fact that the club has interest on a very large loan to pay and that 12 mil has gone already. A football club has to continually re-invest any profit into the team. So what has to happen then for Glazer to make money out of the club? Lets not forget that is his only reason for buying United. Does he stop buying players? No because he knows the club has to be successful to generate money. He ensures the club wins the Premiership and Champions League..... a big ask on both counts! he looks at the clubs assets and see what he can make from them? the ground? Does he sell OT and then arrange a lease deal for it?

The two main areas he will look to generate cash is merchandise and TV rights. United are already very good at making money out of the brand 'Manchester United'. he will see the USA as one market that united have not yet fully tapped into. The problem is though that the Americans just don't really want 'Soccer'. TV rights. Well for this to happen he would have to break the current collective deal that the club have when they agree TV rights. It would be difficult for him to do but I'm sure he could do it. So if he does this United will arrange their own TV deal which would certainly net them more cash than from the current collective premiership deal.....providing the club is successful! if this happens though then you will see Ar5enal, Chelsea and Liverpool do the same. This leaves the other clubs to sort a TV deal minus the big names. What happens? They will get far less money than currently thus meaning they get weaker as the big 4 get stronger. That's not good for the game!

Ultimately I believe the success of Glazers takeover comes down to one man. Alex Ferguson

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Redkop, it's sad that a Liverpool fan knows more about the situation of the club than he does. A lot of people have not opened their eyes to what this means for Manchester United.