Panarama last Night, Premier League Debt, especially Man Utd

[john e]

dont know how one sided it was against Man Utd,
 but they basically said that the Glaziers raised the part of the money to buy Utd by mortgaging there American property portfolio,
 which is now in negative equity, and the rest they borrowed from the markets.

so the whole thing was bought with borrowed money.

[Concrete John]

dont know how one sided it was against Man Utd,
 but they basically said that the Glaziers raised the part of the money to buy Utd by mortgaging there American property portfolio,
 which is now in negative equity, and the rest they borrowed from the markets.

so the whole thing was bought with borrowed money.

Was that the one that was scheduled for Monday, but postponed as they did a programme on the Cumbria shootings instead?

I wanted to see that - BBC iplayer for me tonight!

[john e]

dont know how one sided it was against Man Utd,
 but they basically said that the Glaziers raised the part of the money to buy Utd by mortgaging there American property portfolio,
 which is now in negative equity, and the rest they borrowed from the markets.

so the whole thing was bought with borrowed money.

Was that the one that was scheduled for Monday, but postponed as they did a programme on the Cumbria shootings instead?

I wanted to see that - BBC iplayer for me tonight!

i dont know mate, i just happened to be channel hopping and it came on,
if i'm honest i dont understand an awfull lot about the inner workings of the fianance markets,
 but by the end you were nearly feeling sorry for the Utd fans, nearly

[Des Little]

Sorry for them lot?  Never!

[john e]

Sorry for them lot?  Never!

we are all brothers in arms, and part of the greater footballing family ?

[cdward]

For me the Glazers are just the 2010 version of Deadly Doug.
Not interested in the Football, not supporters of the club, just in it to make money, and couldn't really care less about what the supporters think.
They will milk it all the way, until they eventually walk away with a profit.
The Golds and Sullivan did the same, Shepherd at Newcastle, Gaydamak at Portsmouth, Gillette and Hicks at Liverplop, etc', etc'.

These businessmen have realised that the average football fan can be exploited time and again and will still come back for more, and if they don't there is a ready made supply of new supporters willing to part with their hard earned.
It is every business owners dream. Plus they get free advertising from Sky, which just makes the consumer pool larger and larger.

I know i am probably being exploited, but i pay my money and i take my choice, i love the Villa, it is part of me, and i believe we got lucky with Randy, but i'm not sure where it will all end.

As for sympathy for United fans, nah never!

[duncan]

For me the Glazers are just the 2010 version of Deadly Doug.

I'm no Ellis lover, but that is rather a harsh statement in my opinion. Self obsessed to the point of megalomania maybe, but he always seemed to have a genuine fondness for Aston Villa the football club, even if he didn't share that same fondness for the average fan............

[bob]

Comparing the Glazers to Doug is just crazy talk.

[john e]

if Doug wasnt interested in football, or Aston Villa, now he has cashed in,

why does he still attend most games, even in ill health ?

[UK Redsox]

I tend to think that North American's such as the Glazers, Hicks & Gillette don't really appreciate the way that clubs/leagues in the rest of the world are run.

They're used to the security of not having to worry about relegation, having some form of salary cap or revenue sharing, having a draft system to even out competition etc.

Leagues such as the NFL, NBA and MLB are cash cows, where its virtually impossible not to make money (especially the NFL).

Randy seems to be one of the exceptions to this. Maybe due to the time that he spent in this country when he was younger.

[Concrete John]

I tend to think that North American's such as the Glazers, Hicks & Gillette don't really appreciate the way that clubs/leagues in the rest of the world are run.

They're used to the security of not having to worry about relegation, having some form of salary cap or revenue sharing, having a draft system to even out competition etc.

Leagues such as the NFL, NBA and MLB are cash cows, where its virtually impossible not to make money (especially the NFL).

Randy seems to be one of the exceptions to this. Maybe due to the time that he spent in this country when he was younger.

I can agree with that from a 'daft Yanks' point of view, but should that apply to expereinced businessmen such as them?  Surely they do their home work before committing to deals worth hundreds of millions, so should know the differences between their sports and European football?

[spaf]

They're skint.

Guardian article on the Glazers

and a blogpost.

[cdward]

if Doug wasnt interested in football, or Aston Villa, now he has cashed in,

why does he still attend most games, even in ill health ?

Deadly used to be on the Board of directors at Wolves and the Blose, before he landed at Villa. That doesn't strike me as someone particularly interested in Aston Villa. OK i admit he has probably nurtured an interest in football over the years, but only in the same way that we all have about the job we do.

He only attends most games because he gets in for free, and he loves looking at his own name in big letters.

What great deeds did HDE do for Aston Villa? About the same as the Glazers have done.

[Hookeysmith]

if Doug wasnt interested in football, or Aston Villa, now he has cashed in,

why does he still attend most games, even in ill health ?

Deadly used to be on the Board of directors at Wolves and the Blose, before he landed at Villa. That doesn't strike me as someone particularly interested in Aston Villa. OK i admit he has probably nurtured an interest in football over the years, but only in the same way that we all have about the job we do.

He only attends most games because he gets in for free, and he loves looking at his own name in big letters.

What great deeds did HDE do for Aston Villa? About the same as the Glazers have done.

I could name a few but i think the greatest legacy of old Dougie was that he could have sold for more money to the likes of Gillete / Hicks and the Glaziers - but he sold to someone who he thought was honest and had integrity

And for that i will be forever grateful

[Concrete John]

Deadly used to be on the Board of directors at Wolves and the Blose, before he landed at Villa. That doesn't strike me as someone particularly interested in Aston Villa. OK i admit he has probably nurtured an interest in football over the years, but only in the same way that we all have about the job we do.

He only attends most games because he gets in for free, and he loves looking at his own name in big letters.

What great deeds did HDE do for Aston Villa? About the same as the Glazers have done.

You won't catch me saying anything nice about Doug, but do you seriously think that??