Fergie backs the Glazer family

I know people get fed up that I write about England all the time but you’ll be pleased to hear that I am so nervous about our game against Germany tomorrow that I can’t bring myself to even think about it let alone write about it!

In order to take my mind off the World Cup and our likely exit on penalties, I had another look around the other football news of the moment. I found an interesting story regarding an interview given by Sir Alex Ferguson on Riviera Radio.

Health

Sir Alex talked about his health and the fact that he wants to go on for a while yet as the manager of Manchester United, but more importantly, he also spoke out in support of the Glazer family, the beleaguered owners of the club.

The Glazer family’s ownership of United led to a ferocious and sustained protest from United supporters last season which was apparently supported by David Beckham when he donned a green and gold scarf, the symbol of the protest, after playing at Old Trafford for Milan.

Debts

The protest relates to the huge debts that they believe the Glazer family have inflicted on the club. The Green and Gold protest gathered momentum during the season and is unlikely to be reduced at all following the financial reports that have come out of the club during the close season.

Treading a very careful line between upsetting his employers and the club’s fans, Fergie said that whilst he understands the protest, he is fully supportive of the Glazers.

“There’s nothing wrong with protest. The supporters have shown their unhappiness about who owns the club. That’s always been there since I’ve come to the club, first with the Edwards family, then when we went plc, now the Glazers. There’s always an element of supporters who feel they own the club; that’s understandable because they have fantastic loyalty to the club. I can understand where they are coming from. My take is that the Glazers have supported the team very, very well. They don’t interfere, they let us get one with the job and when we’ve asked for a player, we’ve got it. What more can we ask?”

This may have been an attempt by Sir Alex to ask the fans to concentrate more on supporting the team on the field of play than turning their attentions to attacking the owners. I doubt it will work as the fans have never swerved in their loyalty to the club under the catchphrase of ‘Love United, hate Glazers’.

Fierce

Sir Alex is sixty-nine years old this year and is about to go into his thirty-sixth season of management, the twenty-fourth at Old Trafford. He did make noises about retiring a few seasons back but the love of the game and the fierce desire and determination to achieve even more success have kept him going.

In his interview Fergie made it clear that he has no current plans to step down.

“It’s a marvellous club to be involved in. The motivation is easy because I’ve had great players for twenty-five years and great support. Every morning I go into training and watch these players perform. They do it with great commitment and concentration. It’s a joy to see that. Age is always a thing you have to be guarded against because with age there are penalties. Health is definitely one. Health determines how long you go on in the club. Touch wood, I’m okay.”

He had to mention bloody penalties didn’t he?!!