carlyluvsunited
30-11-2007, 04:03 AM
THE GLAZERS HAVE NO LOVE OF FOOTBALL...
I FEAR FOR UNITED
When Keith Harris talks, he’s worth listening to. Here is a man right inside the
game.
The chairman of stockbrokers Seymour Pierce is also football’s Mr Fix-It who has
brokered the buy-outs at Chelsea, Manchester City, West Ham, Aston Villa, Hull
and Cardiff.
He is currently involved with Bimingham, Spurs, Millwall, Celtic, Derby and Charlton.
Add a passion for the game and his life-long support of Manchester United and
Harris is someone who cares.
As the FA look for a new England manager and everyone asks ‘Why has it all
gone wrong again?’, Harris provides some of the answers. From buy-outs to
boards, he’s been there.
The Glazer family have no love for American football, let alone English football,
and their motives are entirely business Keith Harris
He says: Don’t blame England’s failure on the foreign invasion, but go right back
to schools for the answer. He is worried about some clubs falling into foreign
ownership. “I’m not concerned unless they are borrowing hugely to do it,” says
Harris.
“Manchester United worry me greatly, especially as a fan who cares passionately
about football.
“We all saw what happened with Leeds and excessive debt. The club went to
their knees and had to sell assets, the players.
“The Glazer family have no love for American football, let alone English football,
and their motives are entirely business.
“We act in this sector when there is a love of the game from the investors. None
of our deals have involved heavy leverage.
“How can Roman Abramovich be in it for the money? He paid £140m to buy
Chelsea and has since put another £300m in. If he was only about making
money then that is a negative start. He has grown to love Chelsea.
“Randy Lerner paid £62m for Villa and has invested £30m on players. He is also
improving the ground.
“Villa have a manager who can take them to a higher level (Martin O’Neill) and an
owner who wants to encourage that. He does not want to lose him to England.
“Thaksin Shinawatra at City has already invested £45m in players and will re
-invest in January.
“West Ham spent heavily on players and are looking at a new ground.
“If these men make money over seven years, that’s business. If these clubs had
not been bought, what would have happened to them?
“What worries me about United is the Glazers used them to borrow money.
“That is the same model as Leeds. Glazers have already put up the price of
attendance. They have changed the terms of the season tickets and that could
be the tip of the iceberg.
“Liverpool are different because they have not used assets for their debt.
“If Liverpool get into trouble, it wouldn’t be pretty but it doesn’t threaten them in
the same way as United.
“If the Glazers have problems, they have United to satisfy the banks. They paid
seven times the turnover of United, around £800m. The deals typically done in
football are one or two times the sales.
“They bought United because it is the strongest brand in the world and they
thought they could get more from a fan base that is tens of millions of people.
More out of those pockets.
“I advised United for five years and would have told them not to do the deal with
the Glazers.”
On England and the FA he says: “The England job is not an easy sell. It is a
house you check into and a house you are checked out of.
“It is a job for someone who is supremely confident in their ability. You have also
got to
handle the conflict with the clubs who pay the players huge amounts of money.
“There is more pressure today, but is the structure of the FA good enough to
support the England manager?
“There is the composition of the FA board ... does it compare well with other
federations?
“The FA should be torn apart and started again so it is treated like a business.
Football is the content that drives the media and commercial business. Are the FA
equipped to live in that world? There is not a winning culture. Is winning getting
to the quarter-finals of a major tournament? No.
“It is almost as if they thought it was OK. Now we are not even qualifying. If you
said to Sir Alex Ferguson you win by coming third, he would go potty. So too
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho.
“It troubles me the way things are done at the FA. Steve McClaren’s £2.5m pay
-off made no sense. An England manager should get a basic salary and then a
huge amount for winning.
“If you don’t win or qualify, you leave with nothing.” Harris warns the FA not to
hide behind the foreign invasion of players.
“There are 55 per cent players registered who are not English,” he adds.
“When the Premier League started, there were just 37 non-English players. It is a
concern because you only have to look at what happened to Scottish football.
“Rangers and Celtic had a lot of top European players and the national side went
into steep decline. You can see that happening here.
“If you are a European national, you have freedom of labour, so the only way to
have a quota is for clubs and managers to agree. That is not going to happen.
Clubs wants success and pay the manager well to achieve targets.
“Wenger at Arsenal says his job is to win, but as a fan surely you would rather
have seven home-grown players?
“The Manchester United side that did so well had a core, yet the guy that sparked
the difference was a foreigner, Eric Cantona. What is happening in England is a
natural evolution of the way the world is going. It is not going to reverse.
“If you blame England’s demise on the foreign invasion, you shut your eyes to
something that has been a recurring trend. Go back to 1974 and 78 when
England didn’t qualify, to the 80s when we struggled and the only foreigners
playing in England then were the Irish, Scots and the Welsh.
“This starts at the schools where there is no longer team sport as a priority.
“They don’t even have winning – it is the taking part and that is a nonsense. In
my business of investment banking and trading, there is no second. You either
win or you come nowhere. No-one remembers losers.
“The school directive comes from the Government. It is like most things – we wait
until it is at breaking point and then there is a panic. When I was a kid, I played
football when I came home from school.
“We were encouraged to win. Now the maths or geography teacher takes a bit of
sport when he can.
“He or she may not even like football. There is no qualified, dedicated sporting
master.
“The kids who get on the conveyor belt are not skilled enough. There are not the
masses emerging.
“Look at last Wednesday when Croatia were technically better than England and
two of their players ran the game.
“A few years ago England losing to Croatia would not have been entertained.
“The Government has to reverse this. The kid coming through from school is vital.
“Jonny who makes it today is not as good as Thierry or Cristiano. Wenger rightly
says he picks his team on ability and in the future that ability has to be English.”
So, where will the game be in 10 years time? “There are not enough people
drilling down,” he says.
“Financially the game is sound provided the management is responsible.
“The England team is in the FA’s hands because the money is there to do it.
“In their hands to get it right and in their hands to get it wrong. All I want, what
everyone wants, is a winner.
“Decisions have to be made and problems solved. It is not difficult.”
Only a fool would ignore what Harris has to say. It’s inside knowledge.
www.dailystar.co.uk
Click below to join manutdtalk.com forums to read and
discuss all breaking news on all things United !!! Come talk to us….
http://manutdtalk.com/forums/register.php
I FEAR FOR UNITED
When Keith Harris talks, he’s worth listening to. Here is a man right inside the
game.
The chairman of stockbrokers Seymour Pierce is also football’s Mr Fix-It who has
brokered the buy-outs at Chelsea, Manchester City, West Ham, Aston Villa, Hull
and Cardiff.
He is currently involved with Bimingham, Spurs, Millwall, Celtic, Derby and Charlton.
Add a passion for the game and his life-long support of Manchester United and
Harris is someone who cares.
As the FA look for a new England manager and everyone asks ‘Why has it all
gone wrong again?’, Harris provides some of the answers. From buy-outs to
boards, he’s been there.
The Glazer family have no love for American football, let alone English football,
and their motives are entirely business Keith Harris
He says: Don’t blame England’s failure on the foreign invasion, but go right back
to schools for the answer. He is worried about some clubs falling into foreign
ownership. “I’m not concerned unless they are borrowing hugely to do it,” says
Harris.
“Manchester United worry me greatly, especially as a fan who cares passionately
about football.
“We all saw what happened with Leeds and excessive debt. The club went to
their knees and had to sell assets, the players.
“The Glazer family have no love for American football, let alone English football,
and their motives are entirely business.
“We act in this sector when there is a love of the game from the investors. None
of our deals have involved heavy leverage.
“How can Roman Abramovich be in it for the money? He paid £140m to buy
Chelsea and has since put another £300m in. If he was only about making
money then that is a negative start. He has grown to love Chelsea.
“Randy Lerner paid £62m for Villa and has invested £30m on players. He is also
improving the ground.
“Villa have a manager who can take them to a higher level (Martin O’Neill) and an
owner who wants to encourage that. He does not want to lose him to England.
“Thaksin Shinawatra at City has already invested £45m in players and will re
-invest in January.
“West Ham spent heavily on players and are looking at a new ground.
“If these men make money over seven years, that’s business. If these clubs had
not been bought, what would have happened to them?
“What worries me about United is the Glazers used them to borrow money.
“That is the same model as Leeds. Glazers have already put up the price of
attendance. They have changed the terms of the season tickets and that could
be the tip of the iceberg.
“Liverpool are different because they have not used assets for their debt.
“If Liverpool get into trouble, it wouldn’t be pretty but it doesn’t threaten them in
the same way as United.
“If the Glazers have problems, they have United to satisfy the banks. They paid
seven times the turnover of United, around £800m. The deals typically done in
football are one or two times the sales.
“They bought United because it is the strongest brand in the world and they
thought they could get more from a fan base that is tens of millions of people.
More out of those pockets.
“I advised United for five years and would have told them not to do the deal with
the Glazers.”
On England and the FA he says: “The England job is not an easy sell. It is a
house you check into and a house you are checked out of.
“It is a job for someone who is supremely confident in their ability. You have also
got to
handle the conflict with the clubs who pay the players huge amounts of money.
“There is more pressure today, but is the structure of the FA good enough to
support the England manager?
“There is the composition of the FA board ... does it compare well with other
federations?
“The FA should be torn apart and started again so it is treated like a business.
Football is the content that drives the media and commercial business. Are the FA
equipped to live in that world? There is not a winning culture. Is winning getting
to the quarter-finals of a major tournament? No.
“It is almost as if they thought it was OK. Now we are not even qualifying. If you
said to Sir Alex Ferguson you win by coming third, he would go potty. So too
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho.
“It troubles me the way things are done at the FA. Steve McClaren’s £2.5m pay
-off made no sense. An England manager should get a basic salary and then a
huge amount for winning.
“If you don’t win or qualify, you leave with nothing.” Harris warns the FA not to
hide behind the foreign invasion of players.
“There are 55 per cent players registered who are not English,” he adds.
“When the Premier League started, there were just 37 non-English players. It is a
concern because you only have to look at what happened to Scottish football.
“Rangers and Celtic had a lot of top European players and the national side went
into steep decline. You can see that happening here.
“If you are a European national, you have freedom of labour, so the only way to
have a quota is for clubs and managers to agree. That is not going to happen.
Clubs wants success and pay the manager well to achieve targets.
“Wenger at Arsenal says his job is to win, but as a fan surely you would rather
have seven home-grown players?
“The Manchester United side that did so well had a core, yet the guy that sparked
the difference was a foreigner, Eric Cantona. What is happening in England is a
natural evolution of the way the world is going. It is not going to reverse.
“If you blame England’s demise on the foreign invasion, you shut your eyes to
something that has been a recurring trend. Go back to 1974 and 78 when
England didn’t qualify, to the 80s when we struggled and the only foreigners
playing in England then were the Irish, Scots and the Welsh.
“This starts at the schools where there is no longer team sport as a priority.
“They don’t even have winning – it is the taking part and that is a nonsense. In
my business of investment banking and trading, there is no second. You either
win or you come nowhere. No-one remembers losers.
“The school directive comes from the Government. It is like most things – we wait
until it is at breaking point and then there is a panic. When I was a kid, I played
football when I came home from school.
“We were encouraged to win. Now the maths or geography teacher takes a bit of
sport when he can.
“He or she may not even like football. There is no qualified, dedicated sporting
master.
“The kids who get on the conveyor belt are not skilled enough. There are not the
masses emerging.
“Look at last Wednesday when Croatia were technically better than England and
two of their players ran the game.
“A few years ago England losing to Croatia would not have been entertained.
“The Government has to reverse this. The kid coming through from school is vital.
“Jonny who makes it today is not as good as Thierry or Cristiano. Wenger rightly
says he picks his team on ability and in the future that ability has to be English.”
So, where will the game be in 10 years time? “There are not enough people
drilling down,” he says.
“Financially the game is sound provided the management is responsible.
“The England team is in the FA’s hands because the money is there to do it.
“In their hands to get it right and in their hands to get it wrong. All I want, what
everyone wants, is a winner.
“Decisions have to be made and problems solved. It is not difficult.”
Only a fool would ignore what Harris has to say. It’s inside knowledge.
www.dailystar.co.uk
Click below to join manutdtalk.com forums to read and
discuss all breaking news on all things United !!! Come talk to us….
http://manutdtalk.com/forums/register.php