David Gill, comedy genius

[Epic Swindle]

Manchester United chief executive David Gill claims the Football Association singled out the club for "harsh" punishments which would not have been imposed on their Barclays Premier League rivals.

 

United found themselves involved in two high-profile disciplinary hearings last season.

 

Striker Wayne Rooney was banned for two matches for swearing into a television camera during the team's victory at West Ham in April while manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who has had his fair share of run-ins with the authorities, was handed a five-game touchline ban for comments made about referee Martin Atkinson.

 

However, Gill believes similar punishments would probably not have been meted out to other clubs.

 

"I do genuinely believe there have been some poor-ish decisions that, in my opinion, wouldn't necessarily have hit other clubs," United's chief executive said in Champ19ns, a book about the club's record title-winning season.

 

"That's not to say I'm condoning Wayne's comments, because I don't think they were correct, or what Sir Alex said, because it wasn't helpful.

 

"But at the same time, the actual punishments were harsh.

 

"We're possibly being caught up in being one of the biggest clubs and the (FA's) Respect agenda being there.

 

"What better way to demonstrate the authorities are being tough than by hitting one of the biggest clubs the hardest?"

 

Gill believes the FA's treatment of Rooney for his swearing episode has set a precedent but questioned whether the governing body would apply the same sanction to other players in the future.

 

"The club doesn't condone it but Wayne recognised it was wrong and apologised almost immediately,' he added.

 

"We have various issues with the ban - one being consistency. What's going to happen now? Is the referee under pressure to send everyone off?

 

"It's a dangerous course the FA has gone down, because consistent application is what's required and I'm not sure that will necessarily happen.

 

"There are certain things you should wait until the start of the season to change."

 

http://www.independe...nt-2304839.html

Edited June 30, 2011 by Epic Swindle

[Billy Dane]

Putting down their marker for next season.

[MarkD]

Don't you dare punish us next year or we'll take our ball home!

 

Another thunder c***

[doug_mac]

what a cvnt that gill fella is

 

rooney gets away with giving dogs abuse to refs every week, dirty tackles, off the ball incidents.

 

the fella can do what he likes on a pitch with little or no fear of punishment just because he is england's golden boy and the f.a. dont want to upset the little fat thug

 

his off the ball forearm smash into james mac carthy's jaw was the nastiest and most cowardly assault i saw in a match last season. the lad was lucky not to end up with a broken jaw and rooney gets away with it.

 

if joey barton had made this challenge he would have got a big ban but not rooney

 

and dont even get me started on that tramp ferguson and his bullying of referees and linesmen. the fella is a complete ar sehole

[Earl Hafler]

Yeah, the punishment for that Rooney elbow was horrific.

[Falconhoof]

Putting down their marker for next season.

 

this is exactly whats happening.

 

someone like that Timbosgoals or the other ones who make the highlight videos need to start making compilations of their dodgy refereeing. Get the videos out their and make a mockery of officials in a way that balances out the fear factor they have coming from the other direction.

[Elephant Stone]

Quite right too.

 

rooney gets away with giving dogs abuse to refs every week, dirty tackles, off the ball incidents.

 

 

As do most players in the premiership.

 

If you want to clean up player behaviour it goes across the board.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Elephant Stone

[The Hitman]

With Rooney and Ferguson's track records,do you not see how ridiculous this makes Gill look?

[muleskinner]

Quite right too.

 

 

 

As do most players in the premiership.

 

If you want to clean up player behaviour it goes across the board.

 

Rooney gets away with more bad behaviour/abuse on the pitch than just about any player I've ever seen. He should be getting 5 red cards a season.

[doug_mac]

Rooney gets away with more bad behaviour/abuse on the pitch than just about any player I've ever seen. He should be getting 5 red cards a season.

 

bang on the money

[Jiggy Hates Jazz]

Yeah, the punishment for that Rooney elbow was horrific.

 

Care to respond Elephant Man?

[Falconhoof]

Quite right too.

 

 

 

As do most players in the premiership.

 

If you want to clean up player behaviour it goes across the board.

 

if we were as succesful as you had been in recent years and we'd won a significant number of games through dodgy refereeing decisions i'd want our players to get away with it just as much as yours. Hounding the refs, absolutely hounding them and the refs running scared. i'd love it and i'd probably like to pretend we won everything with fair play.

Rooney is far far and away the worst for swearing at referees and getting away with violent incidents i've ever seen. I'm convinced, because there is no reasonable other explanation, that the word has been put around the refs that Rooney is a special case.

[Raj]

 

As do most players in the premiership.

 

If you want to clean up player behaviour it goes across the board.

 

He's the worse for obvious vocal abuse of officials. You'd have to be an idiot to not see it

 

Remember when they introduced the last respect campaign? Mascherano got sent off for asking why Torres had been booked.

Rooney was abusing Bennett in that game and didnt even get a yellow.

Double standards.

 

Oh and Gill can get to f***, the lying prick.

[kenny7]

Quite right too.

 

 

 

As do most players in the premiership.

 

If you want to clean up player behaviour it goes across the board.

 

Starting with your lot first and foremost and this includes your manager.

[Stevie H]

what match was it last season where gill went off on one at mike riley in the director's box?

[Eiler99]

Sums up that dirty, vile club.

 

Cheating, f***ing c****.

[Elephant Stone]

Starting with your lot first and foremost and this includes your manager.

 

Wenger, Benitez, Mourinho...blah blah blah.

 

Sums up that dirty, vile club.

 

Cheating, f***ing c****.

 

This just makes you sound bitter...

[Epic Swindle]

what match was it last season where gill went off on one at mike riley in the director's box?

 

When we beat them 3-1 at home.

[Elephant Stone]

Did he? never knew that.

 

I have no real intention on stickign up for him anyway. I don't much like the bloke either.

[Eiler99]

This just makes you sound bitter...

 

Sorry, the "f***ing" was a bit much.

 

Sums up that dirty, vile club.

 

Cheating c****.

 

Edited July 5, 2011 by Eiler99

[Elephant Stone]

Sorry, the "f***ing" was a bit much.

 

 

 

 

Much better.

[ali]

Manchester United mull $1bn Singapore float

 

Dominic Walsh

Last updated August 16 2011 2:35PM

 

Manchester United are reported to be considering a US$1 billion (£610 million) stock market flotation in Singapore to cash in on the football club’s popularity in Asia.

 

According to International Financing Review, an initial public offering (IPO) of the reigning Barclays Premier League champions could be launched by the end of the year, depending on market conditions.

 

There are rumours that Morgan Stanley and at least one other investment bank are close to being given a formal mandate to handle the process.

 

The report is being greeted with caution given reports only two months ago that the club were mulling a flotation on the Hong Kong stock market, valuing them at £1.7 billion.

 

Last week, another report claimed that the club’s owners, the Florida-based Glazer family, had hired UBS to examine an IPO that would allow them to retain control through the retention of a 75 per cent stake.

 

The $1 billion valuation this time appears to be the value of the shares that might be offered for sale. The overall value, including shares retained by the Glazers and the club’s debt, is likely to be well over double that figure.

 

The rationale for a listing in Asia — be it Singapore or Hong Kong — is that it would be more likely to secure a premium valuation for the club than an IPO in London.

 

Manchester United were previously listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1991 to 2005 when they were taken private by the Glazers in a controversial £790 million leveraged buyout, partly funded by high-interest payment-in-kind (PIK) loans.

 

The proceeds of the mooted IPO could be used to pay down their debt. Although the PIK loans have been repaid, even after last year’s refinancing the club are weighed down with more than £500 million of debt.

 

Although they made a loss of £79.6 million last year after interest repayments, United remain one of the world’s richest football clubs, helped by huge merchandise sales in Asia.

 

A few years ago, the club conducted some research into their fan base that suggested that they have 333 million fans, of whom 190 million were in Asia.

 

While the club’s fans, whether based in Manchester or Macau, are devoted followers of the team, a significant number have been less than enamoured of the contribution of the Glazers.

 

Last year, a group of wealthy fans, dubbed the Red Knights, teamed up with the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust to look at the possibility of buying out the Glazers.

 

However, the Red Knights’ interest fell away when its valuation of the club fell well short of the £1.5 billion the Glazers are said to have valued them at.

 

A spokesman for Manchester United said: “We don’t comment on speculation.”

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/clubs/manchesterunited/article3136093.ece

[Cheesecake]

Hicks & Gillett will be all over that hopefully.

[ali]

August 19, 2011 7:01 pm

Man Utd taps up Peter Lim for IPO

 

By Kevin Brown in Singapore

 

Peter Lim, the Singaporean billionaire who tried to buy Liverpool Football Club last year, has been approached to act as a cornerstone investor in a $1bn initial public offering by Manchester United , but has doubts about the valuation, according to people with knowledge of the transaction.

 

Temasek, the Singapore state investment agency, has also been approached to invest in the IPO, expected to take place in Singapore in the fourth quarter of the year, but has made no decision. Manchester United is expected to offer 25-30 per cent of its shares, valuing the English Premier League champions at more than $3bn.

 

Mr Lim, who held talks in Singapore last month with David Gill, Manchester United’s chief executive, is understood to have left open a decision on whether to invest. However, he has told associates that “it all depends on the valuation”, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking.

 

Others involved with Mr Lim have said the price looks “rich”, compared with independent valuations. Forbes said earlier this year that Manchester United was worth $1.86bn, while the Red Knights – a group of supporters who tried to buy the club last year – say it is worth not much more than £1bn ($1.6bn).

 

Mr Lim is thought to have talked to the Red Knights last year about latching on to their take­over attempt, but this came to nothing and the Red Knights’ approach was rejected.

 

Mr Lim’s hesitation this time around suggests that Manchester United may not find it easy to realise the high valuation placed on the club by the Glazer family, its US-based owners, who bought it in 2005 in a £790m leveraged buy-out. Manchester United made an operating loss of £79m last year, and has gross debt of £515m.

 

However, the club boasts a fanbase of more than 190m people in Asia, out of nearly 300m globally, and have been touring Asia for decades, building up a strong position in football merchandising in the region.

 

Mr Lim is known in Singapore as the “Remisier King”, reflecting his accumulation of an initial fortune as an intermediary between stockbrokers and clients.

 

He has a reputation as a savvy investor, and has commercial links with Manchester United through an interest in a chain of themed restaurants and bars in Asia that are based on the club. He is well known in Singapore, but rarely speaks to the media.

 

On Friday UK-based sports car maker McLaren Automotive said Mr Lim had joined its board with immediate effect after making a “significant investment” in the company, which also runs the McLaren Formula One team.

 

Manchester United is understood to have submitted its listing application to the Singapore Exchange in preliminary form, although further papers have yet to be delivered. The club said on Friday it did not comment on ownership issues, adding that the meeting between Mr Gill and Mr Lim was exclusively about licensing issues.

 

The SGX declined to comment, as did Temasek. Mr Lim could not be reached. The full list of banks involved in the IPO emerged on Friday, with Credit Suisse Group as a global co-ordinator, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley as bookrunners. China’s BOC International, Hong Kong’s CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, Malaysia’s CIMB and Singapore’s DBS will be co-lead arrangers.

 

Additional reporting by Roger Blitz in London

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c2e047d2-ca6d-11e0-a0dc-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1VW8LivHh

[aka Dus]

Good f***ing stroke they pulled getting their training kit sponsored for 10 million a year.