McLAREN AND MANCHESTER DISUNITED …

THE STIRRER'S BRUMMIE BLOG FOR THURSDAY

17-08-2006

It's a big day for The Stirrer - I'm taking my latest movie Manchester Disunited And Other Football Feuds to Bournemouth tonight for a “pre-premiere” screening at Elements nightclub - always assuming their ebay auction bid wasn't a hoax of course.

The film's been a year in the making and typically, just as it's about to be released, it's already in danger of going out of date - though not necessarily in a bad way.

Our first lapse is to under-estimate the scale of the entirely legitimate scam the Glazer family have pulled off on Manchester United fans.

When these American shysters first took over, they landed debts to the tune of £290 million on the club's balance sheet.

That money will have to be paid off by the fans simply for the privilege of allowing the Glazers to hike their up season ticket pricesway above the price of inflation.

That was bad enough - but now it emerges that supporters will have to hand over even more cash to help their billionaire owners.

Thanks to a debt re-financing scheme - hailed as brilliant in the financial press - United fans are now saddled with debts worth more than double thosethe had originally anticipated - a £290 million deficit has been transformed into £660 million.

Remember, this isn't so that they can have heated seats with table service.

Nor is it to ensure they can watch the finest players in the world.

This is money that has to be repaid purely to enable the Glazers to own the club and stay in control.

It's a bit like squatting in someone's house while they're on holiday, changing the locks so they can't come home, and then demanding that they pay the mortgage.

The Americans have a word for it …it's chutzpah.

We British have a word for it too …it's libellous.

The film also risks becoming out of date if Aston Villa's expected takeover goes through - although the points we make about the plummeting value of shares and lack of democracy in B6 are unlikely to change if Randy Lerner takes the helm.

"Slow Lerner" we're calling him at The Stirrer, because in four years as the main man at Cleveland Browns American Football team, he's still failed to bring success on the field.

We're frankly gob-smacked at the hero's welcome he's been afforded both by Villa fans and the local media.

If he's here to invest serious money over a long-term and restore the pride of West Midlands football then good on him.

But his record in the NFL hardly inspires confidence.

There were at least good spirits aplenty at Old Trafford last night when England thrashed Greece 4-0 in Steve McClaren's first match in charge.

Friendlies are, of course, merely training sessions held in front of an audience, but it's always better to win than lose.

The Stirrer only hopes his movie's debut is half as impressive as Mclaren's.