- Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov, Macheda. Even assuming the likely departure of 1 of the last 2 of those names, United have a strikeforce as strong as any in Europe. Also factor in the likes of Kagawa, Young, Powell and Giggs who could all operate in the 10 position (plus talented youngsters like Will Keane & Josh King), and you have to come to the conclusion that United simply don't need another centre-forward. If van Persie is to be believed when he says his main motivation is to win trophies, then one could argue that Juventus, another of the teams in the running for his signature, give him at least as good, if not better, a chance of winning the Champions League in the near future
- There are, however, other areas of United's squad that need reinforcing. The central midfield issue needs no explaining (as earlier mentioned, Kagawa is more likely to be used as a 10, rather than as part of a Doppelsechs setup), while there is no senior cover for Patrice Evra at left-back- rookies Robbie Brady (a jinking left-winger by trade) and Tyler Blackett will be deployed there during pre-season, and possibly during the season should Evra be unavailable. A move for Everton's Leighton Baines seems to be on the back-burner for now- it's likely to stay there, and definitely will if the van Persie deal goes through
- As alluded to at the end of the last point, there is the issue of finances. The bid lodged by United announced today was rumoured to be in the region of £15 million, which Arsenal rejected, holding out as they are for £25million-£30 million. The signing of van Persie would also go against United's stringent transfer policy of signing young players with high sell-on value at relatively low wages. At 28 and injury prone, van Persie is the very antithesis of this policy
- More on the financial side now. United recently launched an IPO on the New Your Stock Exchange in an attempt to raise capital and also to relieve the club of some of the indebtedness it has taken on with the ownership of the Glazers, a tacit admission that the sheer size of the debt (well into the hundreds of millions) is now holding the club back. To put it simply, if United could meet Arsenal's asking price at the drop of a hat (the way, say, citeh, Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea could), then they surely would. In the context of this IPO, we also have to consider a financial industry concept known as "signalling". This is where an institution, wishing to drum up positive investor interest (or downplay negative stories) in itself publicly releases positive information about itself that it would normally have kept confidential that may be exaggerated or not entirely truthful. To sum that point up, FERGIE'S LYING!!!
Friday 20 July 2012
When Your Car Needs a New Engine, Don't Buy Alloy Wheels Instead
This morning's paper talk of Manchester United being interested in signing Robin van Persie was rather surprising to this writer for a number of reasons. An even bigger surprise came this evening when Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed on MUTV that a bid had indeed been made. Here's a few reasons why, to me, this potential deal makes no sense and will not happen:
Friday 6 July 2012
Ideological Blowback
So we now, at last, have confirmation of what most of us have known for a number of weeks now, after 7 SPL clubs declared their voting intentions: Newco Rangers will not play in the SPL in 2012/13.
But what is emerging this summer in Scottish football is something bigger, something far, far more powerful than the mere deciding of the fate of 1 tax-avoiding, soon-to-be-liquidated "establishment" club. The SPL clubs' No votes were, as has been admitted by the clubs and SPL Chief Executive (whose position is surely now close to untenable) Neil Doncaster, driven by the wishes and demands of supporters, who not only voiced their discontent, but also backed them up through refusing to purchase season tickets. It should also be noted that Scotland national team supporters' club memberships are selling much more slowly than normal this summer.
Classic consumer activism, or fan power if you like. But now we're at the stage where it's up to the SFL (Scottish Football League) member clubs to decide if Newco start 2012/13 in the SFL Division 1, Division 3 or if they are to be denied entry altogether, and it goes further than simple fan power. The vast majority (and we are talking vast- opinion polls have Division 3 as the favoured option of 95-98% of voters, including Rangers fans) of fans want Newco to be treated like any other new applicant to the SFL, and made to start from the bottom. However, Doncaster and his partner-in-crime Stewart Regan of the SFA (Scottish Football Association. Don't worry if you're new to the blog- even the most seasoned Scottish football fans get confused by the different governing bodies) are intent on forcing the will of the SFL member clubs into accepting Newco into Division 1. Unfortunately, their scare tactics look set to work on a few clubs, namely Stenhousemuir, but many clubs (and supporters of all clubs, SPL, SFL and Rangers) are standing firm, despite the bullying tactics (which represent at best a dereliction of duty, at worst borderline criminality) of the SPL and SFA.
This will take a bit of explaining, but there is a fascinating parallel between this current state of affairs in Scottish football and post-invasion Iraq.
Some people may look at that statement and think along the lines of: "Evil tyrant knocked off their perch and destroyed, the previously suppressed commoners rejoice!". However, to go with this viewpoint is to misread the current state of Scottish football and to misunderstand post-invasion Iraq.
The common timeline actually goes more like this: "Power vacuum created by the termination of a controlling influence leads to outside authority figures attempting to impose their preferred ideology, only to meet strong resistance from the masses". In post-invasion Iraq, the outside authority figures are represented by the USA, with their free-market ideology which they tried to impose on the Iraqi people, only for the Iraqi citizens to revolt against it, leaving the US government to gradually withdraw, the private contractors it had brought to Iraq having long since departed with billions of dollars of US taxpayer dollars in subsidies, their free-market experiment having crashed and burned.
The authority figures in Scotland (namely, exclusively even, Regan & Doncaster) in the absence of Rangers wish to force upon the rest of Scottish football a model which, ultimately, aims to have Newco Rangers parachuted back into the previously dominant position of the now-defunct Rangers. However, Regan & Doncaster's sole motivation for this seems to be maintenance of the status quo and the perceived level of income, which the footballing masses can see straight through. The rules & regulations governing the game make it quite clear that the procedure in an insolvency event such as the impending liquidation of Rangers that any new entry must apply to the SFL for admittance to Division 3- the masses simply want to see standard procedure followed. (Although, in a rather embarassing revelation for the SFL, it does not specify in their regulations that a new applicant MUST start in Division 3- the best explanation I can offer for this is that the SFL assumed no-one would have the bare-faced cheek to ask to start in a position more privileged than anyone else)
And hence we have ideological blowback, where the ideas preached by the authorities are thrown back at them with a vengeance. The sweetener that Doncaster threw into all his commercial deals of guaranteeing 4 Rangers v Celtic games per season has come back to haunt him, and haunt him loud, while Regan's frankly bizarre comments about potential "social unrest" should Newco be playing at a level below Division 1 surely now leave his position at least as untenable as Doncaster's, and also do a disservice to the significant proportion of Rangers fans who have conducted themselves with dignity and contrition during this sorry saga.
If we do not learn the lessons of history then we will end up repeating the same mistakes. Regan & Doncaster would do well to have Paul Bremer on speed-dial over the coming weeks
But what is emerging this summer in Scottish football is something bigger, something far, far more powerful than the mere deciding of the fate of 1 tax-avoiding, soon-to-be-liquidated "establishment" club. The SPL clubs' No votes were, as has been admitted by the clubs and SPL Chief Executive (whose position is surely now close to untenable) Neil Doncaster, driven by the wishes and demands of supporters, who not only voiced their discontent, but also backed them up through refusing to purchase season tickets. It should also be noted that Scotland national team supporters' club memberships are selling much more slowly than normal this summer.
Classic consumer activism, or fan power if you like. But now we're at the stage where it's up to the SFL (Scottish Football League) member clubs to decide if Newco start 2012/13 in the SFL Division 1, Division 3 or if they are to be denied entry altogether, and it goes further than simple fan power. The vast majority (and we are talking vast- opinion polls have Division 3 as the favoured option of 95-98% of voters, including Rangers fans) of fans want Newco to be treated like any other new applicant to the SFL, and made to start from the bottom. However, Doncaster and his partner-in-crime Stewart Regan of the SFA (Scottish Football Association. Don't worry if you're new to the blog- even the most seasoned Scottish football fans get confused by the different governing bodies) are intent on forcing the will of the SFL member clubs into accepting Newco into Division 1. Unfortunately, their scare tactics look set to work on a few clubs, namely Stenhousemuir, but many clubs (and supporters of all clubs, SPL, SFL and Rangers) are standing firm, despite the bullying tactics (which represent at best a dereliction of duty, at worst borderline criminality) of the SPL and SFA.
This will take a bit of explaining, but there is a fascinating parallel between this current state of affairs in Scottish football and post-invasion Iraq.
Some people may look at that statement and think along the lines of: "Evil tyrant knocked off their perch and destroyed, the previously suppressed commoners rejoice!". However, to go with this viewpoint is to misread the current state of Scottish football and to misunderstand post-invasion Iraq.
The common timeline actually goes more like this: "Power vacuum created by the termination of a controlling influence leads to outside authority figures attempting to impose their preferred ideology, only to meet strong resistance from the masses". In post-invasion Iraq, the outside authority figures are represented by the USA, with their free-market ideology which they tried to impose on the Iraqi people, only for the Iraqi citizens to revolt against it, leaving the US government to gradually withdraw, the private contractors it had brought to Iraq having long since departed with billions of dollars of US taxpayer dollars in subsidies, their free-market experiment having crashed and burned.
The authority figures in Scotland (namely, exclusively even, Regan & Doncaster) in the absence of Rangers wish to force upon the rest of Scottish football a model which, ultimately, aims to have Newco Rangers parachuted back into the previously dominant position of the now-defunct Rangers. However, Regan & Doncaster's sole motivation for this seems to be maintenance of the status quo and the perceived level of income, which the footballing masses can see straight through. The rules & regulations governing the game make it quite clear that the procedure in an insolvency event such as the impending liquidation of Rangers that any new entry must apply to the SFL for admittance to Division 3- the masses simply want to see standard procedure followed. (Although, in a rather embarassing revelation for the SFL, it does not specify in their regulations that a new applicant MUST start in Division 3- the best explanation I can offer for this is that the SFL assumed no-one would have the bare-faced cheek to ask to start in a position more privileged than anyone else)
And hence we have ideological blowback, where the ideas preached by the authorities are thrown back at them with a vengeance. The sweetener that Doncaster threw into all his commercial deals of guaranteeing 4 Rangers v Celtic games per season has come back to haunt him, and haunt him loud, while Regan's frankly bizarre comments about potential "social unrest" should Newco be playing at a level below Division 1 surely now leave his position at least as untenable as Doncaster's, and also do a disservice to the significant proportion of Rangers fans who have conducted themselves with dignity and contrition during this sorry saga.
If we do not learn the lessons of history then we will end up repeating the same mistakes. Regan & Doncaster would do well to have Paul Bremer on speed-dial over the coming weeks
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