DAVID GILL CURBS MAN UTD FINANCE FEARS
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Milan's David Beckham puts on a green and yellow scarf, a symbol of the anti-Glazer protests at Old Trafford. Photograph: Jon Super/AP
Manchester United are so concerned about the increasing success of the green-and-gold protests that the club have effectively forbidden Sir Alex Ferguson's players from speaking about it publicly and imposed a series of other measures aimed at counteracting the kind of publicity generated by David Beckham's endorsement of the campaign.
Beckham's parting statement after United's 4-0 defeat of Milan on Wednesday, leaving the pitch with a protest scarf around his neck, is being described as "an iconic moment" by the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (Must), and senior figures at Old Trafford are worried about the significance of the most famous sportsman on the planet attaching himself to a movement aimed at deposing the ruling Glazer family.
In response the club have already:
• Banned players from discussing the campaign in the media.
• Forbidden the in-house TV station, MUTV, from referring to the rebellion and edited questions about it from broadcasts of Ferguson's press conferences.
• Ejected a supporter from the audience of an MUTV show after he refused to remove a green-and-gold scarf.
• Sacked a steward after 19 years' service for attempting to return a confiscated anti-Glazer banner to its owners.
The club has reluctantly accepted the protests will continue for as long as the Glazers are in power. David Gill, the chief executive, predicted yesterday that would be "many more" than five years.
While Beckham's latest fashion statement has been shown around the world, attracting headlines from the Boston Herald to the Times of India, MUTV has chosen to ignore what happened. Similarly Ferguson's remarks about the protests in recent weeks have been edited out when the rest of his press conferences have been aired in full. One supporter was ejected from the audience of the MUTV show, Red Cafe, when he refused to remove his green and gold scarf, security staff telling him that the colours were not allowed inside the studio, and a steward was dismissed by CES, the security firm employed by United, after attempting to return a confiscated anti-Glazer banner during the home game against Burnley.
The initial hope inside the Old Trafford boardroom was that the protests would eventually fade out but the club's attempts to quell the uprising have been unsuccessful. Protests were so widespread during the Milan game that CES had to abandon its usual policy of trying to remove the many banners criticising the Glazers and Gill.
Avram Glazer was at the game, smuggled into the stadium in a car with blacked-out windows and shadowed by a personal bodyguard, and United employees noted how calm and unmoved he seemed.
"Everyone has the right to protest and there was certainly a lot of green and gold there," Gill said at the announcement of a five-year sponsorship deal with Telekom Malaysia. "But this partnership demonstrates the strength of the club. We will be around for the length of this five-year deal and many more in addition to that."
Beckham produced the perfect publicity coup for Must and an organisation whose membership has now passed 130,000 has also been buoyed by the appointment of the Japanese investment bank Nomura to advise the alliance of wealthy United followers who are planning a takeover bid. Nomura will "coordinate and formulate the proposal to be put to the Glazer family" and Must's spokesman, Duncan Drasdo, described the appointment as "hugely significant because it will start to crystallise the offer. We've seen a lot of interest from the so-called Red Knights and Nomura's job will be to organise it."
In the meantime Must has written an open letter asking for other "United legends" to follow Beckham's lead and attach themselves to the cause. "David courageously showed his true colours," the letter says. "The movement for change is becoming unstoppable and we know that David is not alone. From Eric Cantona to Andrew Cole, former players are making their feelings known."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club's reserve coach, is a patron of the organisation and has spoken out against the Glazers in the past but the only current player to sympathise has been Patrice Evra, in response to a French journalist who asked why the United end at Wembley was decked out in green and gold. "They are the original colours of Manchester United [as Newton Heath] and the fans wear them because they love this club," Evra said. "They have their reasons for doing it and we don't think that they're crazy."
Otherwise the players have been warned to say nothing. The captain, Gary Neville, was twice asked after Wednesday's match and kept to the party line, saying only: "I'm not getting involved in that."
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MUTV and Manchester United players have been banned from discussing the 'green and gold' anti-Glazer protests. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images
A student working part-time in an Old Trafford catering kiosk has become the latest individual connected with Manchester United to claim he has felt the strength of the club's backlash against protests targeting the Glazers.
Jerry Vyse, a first-year anthropology student at Manchester University, said he bought a green and gold scarf outside the ground and wore it during his half-time shift at last week's Champions League match against Milan only to be sacked when he refused to remove it.
He said that supporters stocking up on half-time pies and Bovril cheered his stance and booed when his supervisor put the queue on hold and asked him to leave the kiosk, marching him to the office of the catering manager.
"I turned to the supervisor and asked him why I could not continue doing my job," Vyse told Student Direct, the Manchester University newspaper and website. "He said it was not because I was wearing a scarf because, if it had been a different colour, he would not have minded.
"MUFC will no doubt state that the decision was based on uniform policy – what he told me surely refutes that. He said it was because it was 'anti-Glazer'. Does it not sniff a little bit like a dictatorship if not even the smallest of dissents can be made about an incredibly rich man who has more or less taken over the club?"
The Champions League tie was largely seen as a triumph for the protesters targeting the Glazers and supporting a potential takeover bid from the self-styled Red Knights, with David Beckham donning a green and gold scarf as he left the pitch following loud protests during the game.
In an attempt to quell the dissent United have banned players from discussing the campaign, forbidden the inhouse TV channel MUTV from mentioning it and sacked a steward after 19 years' service for attempting to return an anti-Glazer banner to its owners.
A spokesman for United said that Vyse did not comply with the club's uniform policy and refused to remove the scarf when asked.
United's chief executive, David Gill, today again defended the club's business model as he unveiled its latest overseas sponsorship deal, with Turkish Airlines. "People presuppose we have financial problems," he said. "We do not believe that is the correct situation. We are very comfortable and we have a sensible business strategy that will continue for many years to come." The Glazers have hugely increased the club's commercial revenues and plan to agressively target further expansion in overseas markets."We have 333 million followers and yesterday we celebrated 100 years at this great stadium," said Gill.
"Our history and heritage means we can bring a lot to the table. There is also a professionalism about us, so, whilst we are in an economic downturn, there are still many successful companies in the world who are investing in the future. We are one of the quality partners big entities can still associate with."
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Manchester United chief executive David Gill has rejected claims the club are financially unstable.
United's owners, the Glazer family, have been criticised for plunging the Premier League giants into massive debt, with pressure mounting on the American moguls.
The Red Knights, a group of wealthy investors hoping to take over the club, had suggested that United were now working to an unsustainable business model and faced financial meltdown if they continued to operate in such a manner.
However, Gill insists that is not the case and has sought to reassure supporters that the club are in safe hands.
"People presuppose we have financial problems," he said in The Independent.
"We do not believe that is the correct situation. We are very comfortable and we have a sensible business strategy that will continue for many years to come."
Gill has also denied that the debts incurred by the Glazers will impact on the playing side of the club, promising that any money generated from continued success on the field will be ploughed back into Sir Alex Ferguson's first-team plans.
"We fully understand what happens on the pitch has a real effect on what happens off it," he added.
"Over the years, since the Premier League came into existence in 1992, we have had sustained success under Sir Alex Ferguson, with the great players he has coached and managed.
"It has produced significant financial returns that have been reinvested back into the team, the ground, the training ground and also the players; both in terms of new ones and new contracts for existing ones.
"We are lucky to operate in a sport that produces those results. Our history and heritage means we can bring a lot to the table."
He added: "There is also a professionalism about us, so, while we are in an economic downturn, we are one of the quality partners big entities can still associate with."