I am going to have to choose my words carefully on this issue. And that is perhaps why I have taken some time to settle done before beginning this piece. Although having said that I can still feel the blood beginning to boil again just thinking about what David Gill said today. My feelings on the Glazers are pretty clear and I know you don't all agree with my stance. I have no problem with that. It annoys me a little that more people can't be bothered to research the Glazers and their ownership of the club. But those of you who have and have decided you don't have a problem with them I can't complain about too much. But what David Gill said today is agregious on so many levels. I have always respected Gill for the way he has run United and the way he seemingly found a balance between the owners desire for money and at least some of the wishes of the fans. But that respect went out the window today.
So let's start with what Gill actually said. This is a link to the full article. First of all I have a real problem with calling the protesters hostile. I know there have been isolated incidents of violence but they have been few and far between. For the most part the protests against the Glazers have been non-violent and peaceful. This isn't an issue with David Gill though. This is an issue I have with "jounalism" in England. Now for the issues I do have with David Gill.
The Green and Gold campaign and the momentum behind that can get a bit tiring
The protests can get a bit tiring? First of all protests are supposed to be "get a bit tiring" for those people who stand against the protesters. If it's getting "tiring" then they are doing their job. And you just have to live with it. Also, I like how later in the article he says that, "I think the Green and Gold minority will go away" So which is it there David? Is it building "momentum" or is it going to "go away"? The fans have every right to protest. The fans are what makes the club. This shows me a complete lack of respect for the supporters who go to the matches and who pay money to watch this team. Are they more important than fans from other parts of the world? I think they are. I don't think they are better fans I just think they are more important. I pay a lot of money to watch United every year on TV. But no where near the amount of money that a match going fan has to pay. To just dismiss their concerns like this is flat out deplorable. This is the man leading my club? I have never been so angry at a United staff member in my life. It's making me long for the days of Peter Kenyon FFS.
"Would we prefer not to have green and gold scarves? Yes. Would we prefer to have the stands full of red and white? Of course. Are the chants at every game unfortunate? 'Yes, they are unfortunate. They have a right to protest. But a lot of the other fans want to know that the team is playing attractive football, exciting Manchester United-style football, winning football."
I actually don't have too much of a problem with this passage. I am sure Gill would prefer that he didn't have to answer awkward questions about the scarves and chants at Old Trafford and in the away ends at road games when the Glazers call to ask how much money they are making. I am sure he would prefer not to have to hear anything bad said about the men who make him rich for making them rich. There are a portion of fans that don't care who owns the club. As I said above I am OK with those fans. But then Gill also said this, "It’s a visible minority in the stadium and also if you look at our fans around the world where we have many." Yes, United do have many fans around the world. Millions and millions of them. But I would hazard a guess it isn't a minority that are concerned about the Glazers ownership of the club. There are well over 100,000 members of the MUST who all agree the Glazers need to go. And that number grows by the day. The people who care about this club may be divided on this issue but it isn't as large of a divide as Mr Gill seems to think.
They want to come to a safe stadium with modern amenities and enjoy it. Who owns it is a bit irrelevent to them. I think the Green and Gold minority will go away. I see people from Asia walking out of the megastore with a red and white scarf on and they just assume they [green and gold] are official scarves and go and buy one. I think there is an element of that. A lot of people understand what it means but a lot of them don’t.
This is the bulk of where my anger comes from. I live in Canada and I am fully aware of what the green and gold scarves mean. I am sure the majority of United fans in other parts of the world know what they mean too. David Gill, the man in charge of United and it's global branding, basically just called Asian United fans stupid. Or at the very least ignorant. How outrageous is it that the CEO of Manchester United thinks that Asian fans, one of the largest portion of United's global fan base, don't know what is going on with the club they love? It is actually making me shake with rage at this point. The image he is painting here is of idiotic fans buying Green and Gold scarves by accident. They don't know any better? Ridiculous. Asian supporters are just as plugged into this club as supporters from any other corner of the globe. The suggestion that they aren't is absolutely ludicrous and it borders on the racist. Why single out one part of the world like that? I am not sure I can get my true feelings on this out in a coherent manner as anger is clouding my brain at this point so I will wrap this up now.
Before this article and the quotes from David Gill I have actually respected the way Gill and Fergie have avoided talking about the protests. They have no reason to comment on them. And I thought that they were going out of their way to not get involved. I liked it that way. I liked it when all I had to do hate was the way my club was owned and the way debt influenced everything at United. Now I have to dislike David Gill and wish he wasn't the figure head at
Manchester United.
David Gill you should be ashamed.
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