Gill: Glazers have listened to concerns

David Gill feels Malcolm Glazer’s decision to scale down his ambitious business plan is proof Manchester United’s new owner has listened to pre-takeover concerns.

As Red Devils chief executive prior to the American’s £790m (€1.1bn) buy-out last summer, Gill authorised the release of at least three statements warning Glazer his plans for the club were too aggressive.

The warnings did not put Glazer off and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner subsequently surprised many observers by opting to keep Gill in post and allowing him to control day-to-day operations at Old Trafford.

However, it now transpires Gill’s cautionary words have had a major effect, with Glazer revising the business plan most financial experts agreed was impossible to attain, a view that led to fears among supporters about the club’s owner’s ability to pay off the massive debt required to complete the takeover.

“We did have concerns and we now have in place the business plan which was in place when they took over,” Gill told BBC Radio Five Live.

“They (the Glazer family) have demonstrated a willingness to listen to us. We had concerns and we articulated them publicly, as we had to do.

“We are going to do a new, long-term business plan. The debt is serviceable and, with the stadium expansion and the sponsorship deals, we believe we are in good shape.”

Privately, sources close to the Glazer camp insist the business plan was always a ‘moveable feast’, while a refinancing of the £275m (€395.4m) borrowed from hedge funds to complete the deal is ‘conceivable’.

Having not been allowed by Gill to conduct a full examination of United’s accounts prior to the takeover, there were bound to be some assumptions made, while the unexpected loss of the Vodafone shirt deal forced a hasty rethink of their plans to overhaul the club’s sponsorship plans.

“Assumptions have to be changed and modified all the time,” added the source.

“What has happened at Wembley is a prime example of that, and that situation has a knock-on effect at Manchester United.”

The two most recent delays to the Wembley construction project means that Old Trafford will now host five England games it would not normally have expected to: the pre-World Cup friendlies against Hungary and Jamaica, two autumn Euro 2008 qualifiers against Andorra and Macedonia, and a friendly in the middle of August.

While the details of Glazer’s running of the club continue to be debated, they have pointed out that on the issue which matters most to United fans, funding Alex Ferguson’s squad, they have delivered.

The purchases of Edwin van der Sar, Park Ji-sung, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra have all been sanctioned and, while the search goes on for a key midfielder to replace departed skipper Roy Keane, the Glazer camp insists the cash for a reinforcement is there, as it has been since the start of the current campaign.

“The Glazers’ business plan clearly allows for investment in the product, the team,” said Gill.

“They share the vision we have as a club and want to be the best football club in the world, on and off the field.

“Manchester United has a very rosy future.”