How red are you?
For thousands of us, that is the truth. For perhaps many more, that may reflect their feelings in the heat of rage and despair but it will soon fade. I have no doubt that Old Trafford will continue to attract large, if not capacity, attendances and that to some extent the club’s global march will go on as ‘the brand’ extends itself to the farthest reaches of the planet’s markets. But it is not being melodramatic to say that for the majority of hard-core United fans, this is the darkest day since February 6 1958.
Of course, many are venting their spleen in the direction of Cubic Expression. Some hot heads threaten reprisals; Irish Reds contact their Mancunian friends to express their shame that they share the same passports as Messrs Magnier and McManus. Personally, I can’t get too worked up about them, and most so-called ‘leading Reds’ recognise that directing any action towards the two would be a waste of time and energy. The deal is done: it is already ancient history. Only the future matters now.
Moreover, the Machiavellian in me cannot help but wryly shake the head in perverse tribute to what the Cubic boys have pulled off. As I wrote in Arena, 48 hours ago, their choice was simple: stay as ‘long-term investors’ - how hollow that phrase now sounds - and possibly coin it in three years down the road, or cash in now, having pulled off “the double-cross of the decade.” I don’t mean that in a defamatory sense, we understand how the game is played. You keep your options open to the last minute and then you make your decision and insert the knife quickly and cleanly. It’s just business, nothing personal, as they say in ‘The Godfather’.
Cubic owed us nothing; quite the opposite in fact. Alex Ferguson treated them disgracefully, the Board for many years showed them nothing but contempt and we fans used to wear T-shirts with their faces on them, overlain with rifle-sights. We reap what we sow, I guess.
The huge irony in all this is that the key culprit, surely, is not either M or M but Ferguson himself, who at the height of his political power invited Cubic into United and who seemed to relish the discomfort it caused the United Board. That invitation led to Cubic’s increasing investment, which in turn transformed United into an ‘in-play’ takeover target, thus attracting the malign attention of Mr Glazer. I use the word irony advisedly - Alex cannot welcome this latest development and even now faces awkward demands from fans to come out and state his opposition to this takeover. Indeed, if he chooses to stay on as boss despite his previous anti-Glazer comments, he will cover himself in dishonour and will never be forgiven by many fans.
Moreover, as Glazer proved at Tampa, he has no compunction about turfing out under-performing coaches, no matter how much they are loved. The parallels are uncanny, in fact: Glazer sacked an old Tampa hero on the grounds that he had recently twice failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals in the equivalent of the Champions League. Ferguson must be fingering his new rolling contract nervously. It could be a tragic end for Fergie - he could well, shamefully, resist the calls to make a stand against Glazer and then still be sacked sometime next year. What an awful way that would be to end a largely glorious career. I daresay that would cause a chuckle or two from the Cubic boys...
Until almost the last minute, Cubic managed brilliantly to keep their temporary allies onside and showed no sign of being about to jump ship. As late as two Fridays ago, for example, spin doctors were leaking word of the Shareholders United Investment Trust rescue plan to Matthew Garraghan of the FT, a story that obviously did not please Glazer and the leaking of which seemed to indicate that Cubic were still playing ball.
Only this Monday did the vibes from Dublin begin turning gloomy, the day on which I wrote my column in this paper throwing up the dread possibility of a great double-cross. And I’ll be honest: until Monday, I was 95% certain Cubic would not sell us out. So confident were some of us that we were beginning to discuss who Glazer might have to sell to next week. Needless to say, when the knife-slipping moment came, none of those who’d sought to build relations with Cubic this past six months had an inkling. Quick, silent and deadly - the assassin’s way. And like I’ve said: fair enough. It’s nothing personal. Just business.
What is personal, however, will be United fans’ reaction to this new entity they still intend to call Manchester United. If, to you, being a fan is some kind of business proposition to do with the ‘return’ from your investment in the club via the turnstiles, then you should stick with Glazer United. There is a chance - though, I would still contend, not a good one - that his “ambitious aggressive” strategy will work. Certainly, I have no doubt he will rustle up a transfer pot of some kind this summer - €40m has been mentioned - and his PR people will be quick to point out that this would be €40m more than Gill’s Board.
Glazer’s long-term vision for the club, involving the dismantlement of the financial structure that underpins the whole of English football, might well pay off; if it doesn’t, the price will be severe, as United will collapse a la Leeds United. You can take the punt if you want; just don’t be surprised if those who refuse to join you treat you like pariahs.
For the rest of us don’t relate to United like that. It IS personal. It WAS family. And though United is not, in fact, dead, it is certainly under enemy occupation.
There will be violent protests in, no doubt. The men in balaclavas will abandon their hitherto self-restraint. There will be resistance from within. There will be those who will leave altogether - tomorrow is the first Board meeting of the breakaway club FC United, in Rusholme, Manchester at 6pm.
And sadly, there will be many thousands of others who will sit and do nothing and pretend they are watching the real Manchester United. What traitors they will be to the cause of this original rebel club, founded by outsiders in 1878 and immortalised by ‘Outcasts’ from 1908. The enemy is not Cubic, it’s Glazer, and the silent majority who will sustain him with their indolence. So don’t be one of those who will squirm one day when your kid asks you “so, what did YOU do in the United wars?”
* Richard Kurt is assistant editor at www.redissue.co.uk
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