SOCCER:MANCHESTER UNITED supporters fighting the Glazer family's ownership of the club are contemplating asking Alex Ferguson to make the ultimate sacrifice and resign in protest. The idea was put forward at a specially convened meeting of fans' groups to determine an action plan to drive out the Glazers.
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, which arranged the meeting before Saturday’s 3-0 defeat of Burnley, are also exploring the possibility of asking Eric Cantona to act as their figurehead, and plans are being put in place for a protest march before the Champions League tie against Milan on March 10th.
More than 300 supporters attended the talks and Johnny Flacks, a founding member and former chairman of the Independent Manchester United Supporters’ Association, received a round of applause after proposing that a letter should be written to Ferguson asking him to step down.
“This is not intended as an Alex Ferguson rant,” Flacks said. “But he claims to be a socialist, a former shop steward and a man of the people, so he must be horrified by what is going on. It would work only if thousands of people sent a copy of this letter to Ferguson letting him know that our fear, if the Glazers stay in control, is that his legacy is going to be destroyed. We wouldn’t want that and I don’t think he would either.”
The fans’ meeting was followed by sustained anti-Glazer chanting at Old Trafford during the Burnley game and stewards confiscated at large banner that was briefly unfurled at the Stretford End and read: “Love United, hate the Glazers.”
Ferguson has always defended the Glazers since the Florida-based family took control of the club, but he had expressed his misgivings before they moved into power and is now operating under strict financial constraints. The Glazers have raised the prospect of selling and leasing back Old Trafford and their Carrington training ground and are looking to borrow €566 million in a bond issue, as a partial replacement for the €795 million debts their 2005 takeover has loaded on to the club.
The supporters’ groups vehemently opposed the takeover in the first place and appealed for Ferguson’s help then as well, without any success. Nonetheless, the idea of asking Ferguson to resign will inevitably provoke widespread opposition and, in some cases, shock.
“This would be Ferguson’s chance of saying that something had to be done,” said Flacks. “He would be looking after the club in the longer term if it meant the Glazers would sell more quickly. And if he said he was going to resign, maybe that would also encourage potential buyers to hurry up.”
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger hailed the growing impact of an Arsenal team that will lead the Premier League if Bolton are beaten for the second time in four days at the Emirates on Wednesday.
'We are a big club and it happened last year, in October and November, that we were not fighting for the Championship,' said the manager. 'Now we have a chance so let's go.'
Arsenal have not been champions since 2004 but a hard fought 2-0 victory over Bolton at the Reebok, where Owen Coyle managed the side for the first time, was exactly the sort of occasion in which Wenger's men have floundered in the past.
The key to victory was Cesc Fabregas, who returned to action after being absent from three matches with a hamstring problem.
The opener was his 10th goal of the League campaign and the Spaniard believes that, at 22, he has the strength to go on on having such effect. Bolton struggled against him and seemed irked. 'Sometimes that is linked with gifted players,' said Wenger. 'When you are the opposing team you try to stop him from playing. Cesc is getting stronger and stronger and there is more personality on the pitch.'
