Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

IvySlayer

Sort that CM out Fergie

Lost Pogba, relying on a 37 and 38 year old is not on. Park will never be suited to the position...fact he got games there is shocking. Rafael too...

kryogen

Sacramento wrote: »

I'm really sad to see Pogba go, anytime I saw him on the pitch I could see his potential, he'll be a star IMO.

Also, while we're being all disappointed about stuff, I'll mention we will eventually feel aggrieved that the Keane twins chose to play for England and not Ireland.

And now for something upbeat, Robbie Brady looks like the real deal, fantastic potential. He'll become a regular in the Irish set up no doubt too at some point.

Don't think Brady will ever be a first teamer at United, he should go on to have a good career though if he keeps working hard and I have no doubt he will be an International player.

The Keanes are English why would they play for Ireland! Unless they had to of course!

Michael has represented Ireland at underage level but I expect him to declare for England also

kryogen

Focusing purely on central players primarily for midfield we are relying on

Carrick, Scholes, Cleverley and Anderson. That is not good enough, it was not enough with Fletcher available and now with him out of the picture it is even more important to strengthen that area for obvious reasons, Carrick is actually the only one who can be relied upon!!

J. Marston

RasTa wrote: »

We are going to be facebook rich

Haven't a clue what all that stock flotation sillyness is about but if it helps clear the debt then huzzah!

IvySlayer

kryogen wrote: »

Focusing purely on central players primarily for midfield we are relying on

Carrick, Scholes, Cleverley and Anderson. That is not good enough, it was not enough with Fletcher available and now with him out of the picture it is even more important to strengthen that area for obvious reasons, Carrick is actually the only one who can be relied upon!!

Almost everyone is banging on about it, I just want to scream in Fergies face :pac:

Long shot, does anyone have his number? MSN addy? Skype?

kryogen

IvySlayer wrote: »

Almost everyone is banging on about it, I just want to scream in Fergies face :pac:

Long shot, does anyone have his number? MSN addy? Skype?

I keep calling him but he just keeps telling me he about his achievements and how I have no right to doubt his master plan

It is inbelievable to think that he does not see the weakness there so there has got to be something else going on to be honest

Kylo Ren

IvySlayer wrote: »

Almost everyone is banging on about it, I just want to scream in Fergies face :pac:

Long shot, does anyone have his number? MSN addy? Skype?

0800 W-I-N-G-E-R-S

pinkdoubleeagle

Pogba will be another Forlan, Rossi & Pique. Sold for peanuts and will go on to be a fantastic player. Sickens me to see the progress of Pique and the fact that we got only £6 million for him

doc_17

What's the story with Fletcher? Will he be back?

Mitch Connor

doc_17 wrote: »

What's the story with Fletcher? Will he be back?

Fletcher at Wimbledon this week

Going from that image, he is still WAY under weight and would need to put on a lot of muscle before he was ready for top level football again. Looks like a drug addict.

I really don't see him coming back. I think he will be given every chance to come back, we won't cut him loose, but I just don't see him being able to do it.

daveyboy_1ie

pinkdoubleeagle wrote: »

Pogba will be another Forlan, Rossi & Pique. Sold for peanuts and will go on to be a fantastic player. Sickens me to see the progress of Pique and the fact that we got only £6 million for him

I honestly think we did well out of Pique, imo he plays for Barca purely because he is from the City and is a local hero. He is certainly not a bad footballer but he would never be considered one of the best in his position. Evans was, is and always will be a better CB between the two and that was the choice that Fergie had.

Rossi, again we could not give him game time so £6.6M was a decent return on someone who costs nowt and for once United had the foresight of including a clause with Villarreal of a first refusal if they were to sell him which was obviously declined.

Forlan is the one that annoys me, I loved his enthusiasm and just wanted him to do well when he left. However nobody could have predicted just how good he would become. Considering the transfer fee was something like £1.5M, surely a clause could have been inserted here too? United made some bad mistakes around this period transfer wise (Kenyon's time in particular always annoys me) and for me this is the one that irks me the most. That and maybe the Beckham one, £25M for a marketing teams wet dream was a steal and so obviously done in a hurry just to get rid of him.

pinkdoubleeagle

Midfield is a huge concern. Fletcher unlikely to play again according to reports. Cannot rely on Cleverley & Anderson to put a run of games together. Giggs & Scholes with their age and the Nani contract negotiations breaking down.

Business needs to be done sharpish

Giggsy11

daveyboy_1ie wrote: »

Rossi, again we could not give him game time so £6.6M was a decent return on someone who costs nowt and for once United had the foresight of including a clause with Villarreal of a first refusal if they were to sell him which was obviously declined.
.

IMO losing Rossi was a mistake. Pique's was understandable as he wanted to return to his home club and was on last year contract. To add to that we had Vidic and Rio as the best CB pair that season with Evans playing well at Sunderland.

But Rossi's could have been avoided. Had we kept Rossi then we could have avoided Tevez and Berbatov deals. We had Rooney, Tevez and half fit Saha as strikers in 2007-08 (And also Ronaldo) so Rossi would have got lot of chances had we avoided signing Tevez on loan.

bullvine

Giggsy11 wrote: »

IMO losing Rossi was a mistake. Pique's was understandable as he wanted to return to his home club and was on last year contract. To add to that we had Vidic and Rio as the best CB pair that season with Evans playing well at Sunderland.

But Rossi's could have been avoided. Had we kept Rossi then we could have avoided Tevez and Berbatov deals. We had Rooney, Tevez and half fit Saha as strikers in 2007-08 (And also Ronaldo) so Rossi would have got lot of chances had we avoided signing Tevez on loan.

Say what you want about Tevez but if we hadnt of had him we might not of won some of the trophies we did in the 2 years he was there.

Ashbourne hoop

daveyboy_1ie wrote: »

I honestly think we did well out of Pique, imo he plays for Barca purely because he is from the City and is a local hero. He is certainly not a bad footballer but he would never be considered one of the best in his position. Evans was, is and always will be a better CB between the two and that was the choice that Fergie had.

Rossi, again we could not give him game time so £6.6M was a decent return on someone who costs nowt and for once United had the foresight of including a clause with Villarreal of a first refusal if they were to sell him which was obviously declined.

Forlan is the one that annoys me, I loved his enthusiasm and just wanted him to do well when he left. However nobody could have predicted just how good he would become. Considering the transfer fee was something like £1.5M, surely a clause could have been inserted here too? United made some bad mistakes around this period transfer wise (Kenyon's time in particular always annoys me) and for me this is the one that irks me the most. That and maybe the Beckham one, £25M for a marketing teams wet dream was a steal and so obviously done in a hurry just to get rid of him.

Sorry, but no. Pique is a far better player than Evans.

Giggsy11

bullvine wrote: »

Say what you want about Tevez but if we hadnt of had him we might not of won some of the trophies we did in the 2 years he was there.

Probably we wouldn't have won CL I think. But that was not the point I was making, in the long run Rossi would have been better choice. (Yes hindsight is a bitch, when we signed Tevez everyone was so happy with the signing).

daveyboy_1ie

Ashbourne hoop wrote: »

Sorry, but no. Pique is a far better player than Evans.

That is your opinion of course, and you are entitled to it. I just happen to disagree with it, strongly.

Interesting quotes yesterday regarding potential new signings from Fergie. He is rarely as candid as he was yesterday. I genuinely feel a lot more confidant now that the midfield area is being addressed and hopefully soon. Also there were hints that the Kagawa signing took a lot more time to put to bed than was expected, maybe it was reassurances on his playing position next season. Anyway hopefully things will be clearer before the start of the tour in 12 days time.

Necronomicon

Any transcripts of Fergie's press conference floating around? I've only seen the Pogba quotes.

DM_7

Raw 19 year old involved in contract dispute with no first team experience or a proven in big games, undisruptive, experienced player with 200 games for the club.

I think I would have picked Park myself.

Pogba is/was unproven at the highest level (he wasn't even proven at a low level in professional game). The manager is always going to pick his experienced players for important games. In this scenario I think he was right.

As I said recently this was Pogba's first season involved with the first team so i'm not sure he could have expected to play many more games.

From United point of view you don't play a guy just because he demands it. That would be stupid. You don't allow any player to hold the club to ransom either (play me or i'm off - from a 19 year old!)

If Pogba thinks he will get what he wants somewhere else then good luck to him. I hope it works out for him.

homerjay2005

THFC wrote: »

I'm a bit confused. You're saying that you assume Pogba not getting game time was as issue for him, but you're also saying that he left for money? It seems to me he left because he wasn't being treated right at OT, whatever the reasons. Fergie said at the start of last season that Pogba would feature throughout the season, yet a RB and Park were consistently chosen ahead of him. I don't blame him for leaving, and tbh I don't think money was the reason, it may have been the reason he went to Juve, but it doesn't seem like it was the reason for leaving.

apologies, thats a type error on my behalf, i was meant to say that gametime was not an issue and money was.

I genuinely think the agent has tormented him here and ruined him. i also think its very strange that Fergie is saying this, yet noting from Juve or the players. very very strange indeed and it would be some laugh if Fergie was playing him (or more appropriate the agent) in the media and there is actually no deal signed with Juve.

wouldnt be the first time Fergie has pulled a stunt like this and won.

bullvine

Goin by the "if we hadnt of let him go, we might not have got him" angle, whose to say if Pogba had stayed, we would have got Powell.

v3ttel

George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo....

Say hello to the latest legend to wear the number 7 shirt: Antonio Valencia

Also, Powell is 25. Kagawa is 26.

As confirmed here: http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2012/Jul/new-squad-numbers-for-valencia-and-new-signings.aspx

Copper_pipe

Daily mail are saying Nani has 2 weeks to sort out his future

Mitch Connor

Really hope this IPO goes through sharpish, and rakes in a good amount. Hoping for 450million... enough to wipe out the debt and get United back to funding the football club and not interest and debt repayments.

Going to be an interesting couple of months, could be absolutely massive for United.

Ashbourne hoop

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Really hope this IPO goes through sharpish, and rakes in a good amount. Hoping for 450million... enough to wipe out the debt and get United back to funding the football club and not interest and debt repayments.

Going to be an interesting couple of months, could be absolutely massive for United.

You'd have to wonder what the demand for shares that have no dividend and no voting rights would be. Could be hard to sell them.

Fall_Guy

Any word on Tunnicliffe for the coming season? Is he expected to be a part of the first team or will he be loaned out again. Was anyone following his progress closely last year? I wonder will he have any part to play in the first team. He looks to have a lot of ability, along with some of the intangible attributes that we have been lacking in midfield for quite a while (steel, bite, drive, whatever you want to call it).

Mitch Connor

Ashbourne hoop wrote: »

You'd have to wonder what the demand for shares that have no dividend and no voting rights would be. Could be hard to sell them.

That is my issue with this. What makes the shares attractive if the only way of making any money is through selling them?

Though Google shares are sold the same way (A/B and the same voting rights as the United deal) so there obviously is appetite for this type of deal in america, where it is not uncommon.

We'll see how it goes, obviously the Glazers reckon it is a goer.

Mitch Connor

Fall_Guy wrote: »

Any word on Tunnicliffe for the coming season? Is he expected to be a part of the first team or will he be loaned out again. Was anyone following his progress closely last year? I wonder will he have any part to play in the first team. He looks to have a lot of ability, along with some of the intangible attributes that we have been lacking in midfield for quite a while (steel, bite, drive, whatever you want to call it).

Read a week or so back that Michael Keane is certain to be going out on loan, but there is a good chance Tunnicliffe will be part of the first team squad. Don't know though. Think it was Warren Joyce saying it.

Fenix

Is there any risk involved with the floatation? Like what if they don't sell as well as the Glazers think they will?

Oh and the last time I "said what I liked about Tevez" I got a 2 week ban. So no, no I can't say what I like about him...

kryogen

I reckon Tunnicliffe will be around till Christmas and go on loan in January if nobody is signed before the summer window ends, we will need bodies. If someone comes in it would be better fro him to head out on loan again.

Regarding the IPO, I do not now think the club will be able to raise enough to clear the debt, but I think if 250-350 million is paid off them it will be good thing and that is what I estimate conservatively to be brought in, it really depends on how much they value the shares at I guess and afaik no word has been given on that yet.

They have 90 days now to do this don't they? So we will know sooner rather then later anyway, either way it is a good thing.

Re Pogba, what experience did the likes of Butt, Scholes et al have when they were thrown in at a young age? Fergie has thrown players in in the past without big game experience on a few occasion, I side more so with Homer regarding the agent being the biggest issue between the two parties.

It is a shame, and I think both parties come out losing tbh, but probably Pogba more so, because if he does not adapt to the Italian league and have a good loan spell this season he may find himself in trouble for the future, if he does not get a loan, Im sure he will, but if he does not, then he will spend a year at least languishing in the reserves at Juve which will do his development no good either.

He has to shoulder blame too of course, he agreed to have the parasite he has as agent, this is the agent who has Wilhelmsson basically semi retired by getting him signing short term contracts with the likes of Al Hilal and Al Ahli for the last 4 or 5 years! He also brokered the deal for Kerlon (remember him?)

DM_7

How relevant is the mid 90's youth team policy? It is a differant league now.

the current established policy is a slow introduction normally involving a loan move to get experience. Pogba probably wasn't ready to move last August and come January his contract status probably ruled out a loan move.

My posts on this topic clearly show I think United didn't much wrong here. I don't think the player did anything wrong either. Pogba wanted more than United could offer in 2012, i.e game time and a contract that backs up that he will get game time.

kryogen

DM-ICE wrote: »

How relevant is the mid 90's youth team policy? It is a differant league now.

the current established policy is a slow introduction normally involving a loan move to get experience. Pogba probably wasn't ready to move last August and come January his contract status probably ruled out a loan move.

Fergie has not changed much over the years regarding how he deals with players, I know that the best way for players now is to go on loan first, but it is not a vital thing to him.

The fact that his contract was left to get so low looks bad on the club considering how well they spoke of him, Fergie clearly had intended to use him with the first team last season, he said as much himself at the beginning of the season.

If he had in his head to follow the slow introduciton policy with a loan as you say why was his contract not sorted out last summer and/or Pogba sent on loan?

kryogen

An example of a player (past the mid 90's) they wanted to give a debut to at 16 but were not allowed, but for the injury he had he would have been in the first team at a very young age, he did not go on loan and was brought straight through asap

Jimmy Iovine

Copper_pipe wrote: »

Daily mail are saying Nani has 2 weeks to sort out his future

The Daily Mail are also calling Selena Gomez a rocker and a rebel. All because she wore "a provocative t-shirt" which featured a top hat wearing skull smoking a cigarette and promoted Russian Vodka.

Kerrydude1981

Just reading there on the MU site that Joe Coll from Donegal has decided to leave the club

Keeper Joe Coll has revealed he asked to leave United despite having a year left on his contract. The Irish youngster is seeking a new club in England. "I had a frustrating season at United’s Academy with the lack of opportunities so spoke to the management there and decided to consider my options," he told the Donegal Democrat. "A loan was more or less out of the question as I’m still relatively inexperienced and there’s a lot of hassle as a youth player if you’re trying to get back to the Airtricity League. I weighed up the pros and cons of everything and took the decision to move on. At United they look after you well but they have so many options. I’m going to England next week looking to find a club. All I want is a chance to show what I can do and it takes a week at a trial for a club to see that. I know I’ve taken a gamble but hopefully everything will work out."

Bit more here about it

http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/sport/local-sport/coll-looks-to-the-future-after-parting-company-with-manchester-united-1-4016875

Best of luck to him

titan18

kryogen wrote: »

An example of a player (past the mid 90's) they wanted to give a debut to at 16 but were not allowed, but for the injury he had he would have been in the first team at a very young age, he did not go on loan and was brought straight through asap

Fletcher

TheTownie

Mitch Connor wrote: »

That is my issue with this. What makes the shares attractive if the only way of making any money is through selling them?

Though Google shares are sold the same way (A/B and the same voting rights as the United deal) so there obviously is appetite for this type of deal in america, where it is not uncommon.

We'll see how it goes, obviously the Glazers reckon it is a goer.

Mitch is right. Most big IPO's in the US these days are structured like this.

I think its definitely attractive to investors. You've got a currently profitable company with a 600M+ 'fans' and revenues going only one way and that is up.

Utd will inevitably become more valuable than the price investors pay in this IPO.

Jimmy Iovine

kryogen wrote: »

I reckon Tunnicliffe will be around till Christmas and go on loan in January if nobody is signed before the summer window ends, we will need bodies. If someone comes in it would be better fro him to head out on loan again.

Regarding the IPO, I do not now think the club will be able to raise enough to clear the debt, but I think if 250-350 million is paid off them it will be good thing and that is what I estimate conservatively to be brought in, it really depends on how much they value the shares at I guess and afaik no word has been given on that yet.

They have 90 days now to do this don't they? So we will know sooner rather then later anyway, either way it is a good thing.

Re Pogba, what experience did the likes of Butt, Scholes et al have when they were thrown in at a young age? Fergie has thrown players in in the past without big game experience on a few occasion, I side more so with Homer regarding the agent being the biggest issue between the two parties.

It is a shame, and I think both parties come out losing tbh, but probably Pogba more so, because if he does not adapt to the Italian league and have a good loan spell this season he may find himself in trouble for the future, if he does not get a loan, Im sure he will, but if he does not, then he will spend a year at least languishing in the reserves at Juve which will do his development no good either.

He has to shoulder blame too of course, he agreed to have the parasite he has as agent, this is the agent who has Wilhelmsson basically semi retired by getting him signing short term contracts with the likes of Al Hilal and Al Ahli for the last 4 or 5 years! He also brokered the deal for Kerlon (remember him?)

Could never forget him. We first saw the video of him on that Ebaums website back in TY. I was convinced he was going to be the next big star in football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYlqql38XkY

kryogen

TheTownie wrote: »

Mitch is right. Most big IPO's in the US these days are structured like this.

I think its definitely attractive to investors. You've got a currently profitable company with a 600M+ 'fans' and revenues going only one way and that is up.

Utd will inevitably become more valuable than the price investors pay in this IPO.

It is not ideal though, it is plan b if not c after the Singapore floatation was abandoned, this alone shows that it is not the ideal course of action to take to the US market.

The fact that most of the bigger IPO's are structured like that now there is not relevant, the move to becoming Manchester United Ltd in the Caymans is a direct consequence of the decision also, the club say they are looking to raise 64miliion this way. I think they will get a lot more, but could get much much more if they were to use some of the B shares, which they may have to do if this does not go as well as hoped.

homerjay2005

just speaking to a work colleague of mine who is from Turin and is a Juve fan and he says the whole Pogba thing is now really difficult to understand.

Juve have announced nothing about this he has confirmed, which is weird considering if he was signed, surely they would announce it? he also says that there never has been one concrete sign of interest from the club, just all in the media in England which then has transpired to some media in Italy.

i have a feeling another small twist is due yet in this saga.

DM_7

I don't want to go around in circles trying to talk out the pogba situation. Fletchers development could well be similar to what was in mind for Pogba as he was deemed a certain type of talent that United needed to nurture at the club.

pogba is a special talent. Required special treatment and nurturing as he was young, growing physically and from another country. He may not have adapted to a loan move as easily as some of the local players.

The contract situation was the main reason for the (apparent) failure of Pogba to stay at the club. It looks like both Agents and club played hard ball and that the Agent won. I don't think the club could have played him an awful lot in the second half of the season regardless of the contract situation.

I really believe he would have featured a lot next season so its a shame.

kryogen

homerjay2005 wrote: »

just speaking to a work colleague of mine who is from Turin and is a Juve fan and he says the whole Pogba thing is now really difficult to understand.

Juve have announced nothing about this he has confirmed, which is weird considering if he was signed, surely they would announce it? he also says that there never has been one concrete sign of interest from the club, just all in the media in England which then has transpired to some media in Italy.

i have a feeling another small twist is due yet in this saga.

It would be both epic and hilarious if there was!

kryogen

DM-ICE wrote: »

I don't want to go around in circles trying to talk out the pogba situation. Fletchers development could well be similar to what was in mind for Pogba as he was deemed a certain type of talent that United needed to nurture at the club.

pogba is a special talent. Required special treatment and nurturing as he was young, growing physically and from another country. He may not have adapted to a loan move as easily as some of the local players.

The contract situation was the main reason for the failure of Pogba to stay at the club. It looks like both Agents and club played hard ball and the Agent won. I don't think the club could have played him an awful lot in the second half of the season regardless of the contract situation.

Pique was sent on loan in similar circumstance to Pogba, he adapted.

The agent Pogba has now he has only been with since Feb or March iirc so he would not have been a problem last summer.

---

happy to draw the line also

DM_7

Did Pique not go home to spain though?

I do have one question rather than a point re Pogba, was he ready physically last autumn? He looked awkward and like he was still growing to me.

SK1979

First post in the new thread, yahoo....

Re Pobga, I'm hoping against hope that Homer is right about him, it does seem a little strange that Juve have confirmed nothing and Fergies quote from the interview seems almost like a too quick answer. But of course I'm only reading a quote and haven't seen the interview live so it might be some sort of liberty taken with the wording.

Anyway, I completely understand most peoples reaction being "f*ck him, no one is bigger than the club" and of course no one is bigger. But what p*sses me off the most is that imo he has the potential to be exactly the type of player I feel we miss. He is rangey, can play box to box but also has the technique to take passes in tight spaces. Plus he has a rocket of a shot. I've said before that with him and Morrison gone, there's a massive gap back to the next youth team player who might make the step up. And people dismissing Morrison might be a bit premature, he wasn't released by West Ham at the end of the season as had been reported so if he starts performing in the EPL next season we'll all be sorry.

In relation to signings, its hard to see who we might potentially sign. Obviously, I hope its a CM at least but who? There's no concrete links to anyone. I dont think we'll go for Moutinho for the reasons others have pointed out (mainly available last season for much less) and even Strootman seems fairly similar (move to PSV last season, why didn't we pounce). Who else is there that realistically we might sign? Martinez? Maybe, involved in the Olympics though too so this might turn Fergie off.

I dont know, I just hope SAF surprises me and pulls a rabbit from a hat somewhere.

KH25

Id like to see Pogba with United next season. He has great potential and could very well become the answer to our midfield problems in seasons to come. He should have been given a run in the team. Obviously Fergie had reasons not to play him but it seems a bit weird. I doubt we'll see him in a United shirt next year but who knows.

I have a horrible feeling that we aren't going to buy a CM this year again. If thats the case then I hope we actually give the younger players a chance. If Anderson can play the way he did at the start of the season then I'd happily have him in the team alongside Carrick. But as for cover for both of them if we aren't going to buy anyone then Id much rather see players like Tunnicliffe or Petrucci given a chance instead of playing someone else out of position.

kryogen

DM-ICE wrote: »

Did Pique not go home to spain though?

I do have one question rather than a point re Pogba, was he ready physically last autumn? He looked awkward and like he was still growing to me.

Yes, but sure Pogba could have gone back to France, I see no reason why he would have been physically unready, Fergie didn't say anything of the sort, he in fact said that buying a cm was not a huge priority due to the emergence of Paul Pogba and that he had to start playing him, as if he didnt he would surely leave.

wheres me jumpa

What ever came of the 'paching' claims from the time we signed Pogba? Im trying to confirm whether I should get the feeling of irony in Fergie complaining about Juve having signed him months ago.

KH25

SK1979 wrote: »

In relation to signings, its hard to see who we might potentially sign. Obviously, I hope its a CM at least but who? There's no concrete links to anyone. I dont think we'll go for Moutinho for the reasons others have pointed out (mainly available last season for much less) and even Strootman seems fairly similar (move to PSV last season, why didn't we pounce). Who else is there that realistically we might sign? Martinez? Maybe, involved in the Olympics though too so this might turn Fergie off.

I dont know, I just hope SAF surprises me and pulls a rabbit from a hat somewhere.

Id kill to see Martinez in a United shirt. Fantastic player. I don't think it will happen though. Fellaini maybe? I've seen his name mentioned a few times in the old thread.

TheTownie

kryogen wrote: »

It is not ideal though, it is plan b if not c after the Singapore floatation was abandoned, this alone shows that it is not the ideal course of action to take to the US market.

The fact that most of the bigger IPO's are structured like that now there is not relevant, the move to becoming Manchester United Ltd in the Caymans is a direct consequence of the decision also, the club say they are looking to raise 64miliion this way. I think they will get a lot more, but could get much much more if they were to use some of the B shares, which they may have to do if this does not go as well as hoped.

Singapore was abandoned because their stock exchange went into turmoil (More so than the others are currently in). F1's IPO is currently delayed because of it. Apparently 5 other big IPO's are on hold too (Probably not including Utd). Made sense for Utd to look elsewhere.

Hong Kong was never an option because of their strict rules on company structure.

London wasn't a viable option either as the IPO structure the Glazers are pursuing isn't popular in the UK. Others reason too that I can't think of right now.

I think its a bit simplistic to say the US is plan B/C as external forces dictate a lot of this.

The $100M figure is just to allow for the filing of the IPO. Their target will be much higher. How good/bad they do will obviously depend on the share price their looking for i.e. their valuation of Utd.

How is the fact that this kind of IPO is commonplace in the US not relevent? Thats like saying the fact that this kind of IPO is uncommon in London is irrelevant. Of course B shares are more attractive but the this kind of IPO has proven in the past to be successful. If you were to launch an IPO like this in London it would die on its arse. That doesn't guarantee it will be a success in the US but at least their is a history of success with such a structure.