da mrbet： If reports are to be believed and admittedly that’s a massive ‘if’ then Sir Alex Ferguson will be handed a transfer war chest large enough to buy Joleon Lescott, Emmanuel Adebayor, James Milner and Mario Balotelli.
da fezbet： However, while you’d arguably be better off torching £100 million than spending it on that quartet of overrated donkeys, there are a lot of players out there who could improve United’s squad.
Ashley Young, Jack Rodwell, Jordan Henderson and Luka Modric have all been touted as possible United targets and if Sir Alex were to decide to buy all four he’d probably end up forking out the same amount that City ‘invested’ in their glorious aforementioned foursome.
I’ve argued in previous articles that I, unlike many of my friends and fellow Reds, do not feel United need to spend any money in the Summer on new players- well certainly not to the degree that’s been suggested. For Ashley Young, see Ravel Morrison, for Jack Rodwell see Paul Pogba, for Jordan Henderson see Darron Gibson for Luka Modric see Tom Cleverley.
I genuinely believe United already have the players on our books to challenge for honours next season- and yes I did say Darron Gibson earlier, amazing at it may sound that someone who’s watched Gibson regularly could actually advocate a policy of keeping him, but believe me given a chance I think he may still have a future- or at least be as worthwhile as Henderson would be if he were signed.
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Yes I know that none of the players I’ve mentioned are anywhere near as experienced or proven as the ones touted to be signed, but then again David Beckham wasn’t as experienced as Darren Anderton- who Fergie considered signing in 1995, Nicky Butt was seen as a somewhat lesser replacement to Paul Ince, Paul Scholes wouldn’t be able to replicate the goals and influence of a Mark Hughes.
My faith in United’s youngsters may sound slightly deluded but I’ve watched United’s academy sides since the early nineties when you could go to Old Trafford for a quid as a youngster and see the likes of Ryan Giggs and Mark Bosnich learning their craft- to varying levels of success admittedly. I’ve not been as excited about a group of young players since we had the class of ’92 and I’m sure that if Fergie were to stick his neck out somewhat he could save the club a fortune it doesn’t need to spend, at least not on players.
The point I’m making is that if Sir Alex doesn’t need to spend the money on players, rather than give it back to those kind deserving benevolent chaps that go by the name of the Glazer brothers why not give it back to the fans in the best possible way. Increase Old Trafford’s capacity.
Before you start screaming a list of reasons Old Trafford cannot be expanded allow me to give you a counter argument for every one.
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£100 million. That’s the point I’m making, if United could invest £100 million in expanding the stadium then surely that would be enough to bump the capacity up by at least 8000. Would that be worth it? Well if each seat was worth say £800 a season then it would probably take around 15 years for the full £100 million to be paid back. That’s of course saying the club could get rid of all those tickets which is by no means a guarantee. However even if it took that long or longer, it could be worth it in the long run and that’s what United is all about sustaining our place at the top of the food chain, or even raising it slightly.
Even Sir Alex had advocated stadium expansion in the past, stating:
“I’m on to David all the time about expanding the stadium. I know what we could do with the main stand at both ends; we could build a structure up and across. We could do one corner at least and maybe get another 6,500 seats to take the total capacity to 83,000.”
The extra seats shouldn’t be sold as season tickets they should be used for one simple reason. Pay on the gate. This may sound like a recipe for disaster but I remember vividly in the early nineties when my Dad finally allowed me to got to games on my own- or more to the point just with my mates, saving up ticket stubbs, adding them to the token sheet then queuing for over an hour at the ticket office.
The fact is local youngsters who want to watch United the way I did from the age of 12 onwards just cannot either afford or obtain tickets. This may sound like an outdated, irrelevant point, after all we don’t need just local people to attend Old Trafford, but the way things are going I genuinely worry how many of Manchester’s kids will be United fans in the next few years. To ignore the importance of Mancunian support when it comes to United would be short-sighted and somewhat foolish yet allowing a ‘pay on the gate section’ could also help the atmosphere improve.
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‘Pay on the gate’ may also encourage a few more die hard fans to come back to Old Trafford as more than a few have simply grown disillusioned not just with the Glazers but also the lack of atmosphere and difficulty in obtaining tickets.
I know you wouldn’t need to expand the capacity at United to implement a ‘pay on the gate’ policy but it would make it a lot more feasible and a lot easier to put into practice. You wouldn’t be taking tickets away from anyone as they’d be coming from the additional seating.
The idea of having a ‘standing section’ seems to be less and less likely with the powers that be reluctant to risk letting football fans actually enjoy themselves at games nowadays so something else is surely needed.
The more I sit lamenting the atmosphere, while listening to my mates tell me how they can’t afford to take their kids to Old Trafford, or can only get tickets for ‘lesser’ games, the more I see people leaving in droves with 20 minutes left to go and the more I see the club losing touch with the fans that made it what it is today, the more I believe drastic action is required.
Manchester United once went 26 years without winning the league, we once suffered the indignity of relegation a mere six years after we’d been kings of Europe, Liverpool were practically perennial champions while we had to settle for the occasional distant second place and I do mean occasional.
The idea that United could ever return to such dark times seems laughable, but with Sir Alex Ferguson one day retiring what better shape to leave the club in, than with the biggest stadium in the land and a crowd capable of raising the sort of atmosphere that used to be the envy of Europe.
£100 million on expanding the stadium may seem like a waste when you can buy at least four top class players, but it may turn out to be a bargain, if it keeps the club at the very top for many years to come.
Have I gone in off the deep end yet again with absurd flights of fancy masquerading as insightful suggestions or is there a modicum of truth to the rantings I’ve subjected you to? Feel free to comment abuse and discuss below.
Read more of Justin’s articles at Red Flag Flying High
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