Global belt tightening brings mixed fortunes to the big four

Manchester Utd’s £14m-a-year- AIG shirt sponsorship looked to be on rocky ground earlier this week, and the future of the deal looked no more certain as the US Federal Reserve rescued the insurance behemoth with a £47bn refinancing package yesterday: rather understandably, they will no longer consider sports sponsorship a ‘core activity’.

According to this morning’s Guardian, however, the frailty of the American International Group should not concern United as much as the intentions of the Glazer family. Malcolm and co have been forced to spend $150bn on ‘PIK‘ loans in recent months, the interest on which is a hefty 14.45 per cent. A Glazer representative insists that “the investment is for the long term,” although the Guardian strongly suspects ex Football League chairman, United fan and major dealmaker Keith Harris is touting

Manchester Utd gaffer believes the refs are against him

Earlier this year, Sir Alex Ferguson (attempting his best ‘Blue Steel‘ in the picture above) tore into Professional Game Match Officials Board head honcho Keith Hackett over his side’s loss to Portsmouth in the FA Cup. This morning the red-faced United boss has vented more fury in light of John Terry’s rescinded red card:

“I understand Hackett told ref Mark Halsey to rescind the card and he wouldn’t. So now he Is refereeing in League Two this weekend.

“I do not understand how this has happened. If it had been a Manchester United player, Hackett would not have done this.”

Do referees favour Chelsea, the club that absolutely no one in the game has any empathy for? Would Manchester Utd get treated any differently (particularly as the red card decision was highly dubious)? Or is Fergie simply revealing a gigantic chip on his shoulder? Let us know what you think with a comment below.

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