Glazer family - under the spotlight.
Manchester United and Liverpool may always be divided on the
pitch - but according to worried anti-Glazer Red Devils fans the
north-west giants are welded together off it.
After watching their great rivals get plunged into turmoil by
financial strife encountered under American owners, United appear
to be in a worryingly similar position themselves.
While sources close to the Malcolm Glazer family continue to
insist there is no cause for alarm, the mere mention of United's
Carrington training complex, or the iconic Old Trafford having to
be sold off and leased back, as highlighted in the documents
championing the launch of a £500million bond issue, has been enough
to set alarm bells ringing.
The perceived ring leaders of an anti-Glazer demonstration
inside Old Trafford were ruthlessly ejected by stewards towards the
end of a 3-0 win over Burnley.
Massive security gates across the tunnel area, erected following
the mass protests against the Glazer family in 2005 as their
controversial takeover reached completion, were also closed to
prevent any irate supporters getting near to the directors'
entrance in a growing sign of wariness, even though none of the
Glazer family were present.
It is the sign preparations for a winter of discontent amid the
United faithful are under way, in much the same manner as Liverpool
have experienced.
"All these years we wanted to get that 18th title to move level
with Liverpool," said Mark Longden, chairman of the Independent
Manchester United Supporters' Association.
"Now I wonder what the chances are of either of us getting to 19
in my lifetime, given the level of debt that is saddled around the
club.
"Manchester United and Liverpool are the two most successful
clubs this country has ever had.
"But they are both being driven to oblivion - and the football
authorities and the government have allowed it to happen."
And, while the Glazer family at Old Trafford and Tom Hicks and
George Gillett at Anfield bear the brunt of the ire among
supporters, Longden feels England's biggest clubs, and some of
those underneath, have been let down by the authorities.
"When he was Sports Minister, Richard Carbon had the Glazers in
his office," said Longden.
"He gave them tea and biscuits and said he was happy with their
assurances. They weren't going to put the ticket prices up. They
weren't going to put the club in financial jeopardy.
"What is he saying now? The people who have the power could have
done something - and they didn't."
Those words will strike a chord, not just at Anfield, but also
at Portsmouth and West Ham, the other obvious troubled cases in a
league former Birmingham owner David Sullivan fears will see
someone eventually go to the wall.
The more militant members of United's massive fan-base, the ones
who filtered into O'Briens pub in Stretford on Saturday lunchtime
to make their opinions known, have always been aware of that.
But the rank and file are getting their hackles raised as well,
judging by the "We want the Glazers out" chant that emerged from
the Stretford End.
"A lot of people have been in the wait-and-see camp," said
Longden.
"On the pitch, United have done well. Three titles on the trot
and two Champions Leagues. Sir Alex Ferguson deserves a huge amount
of credit for that.
"But the figures are now there in black and white.
"Those people have waited and now they can see. And they are
desperate for a solution."