TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| United to press Roar defence Gold Coast United plan to expose the defensive frailties of Brisbane Roar's winger-turned-fullback Michael Zullo in Saturday night's M1 derby at Skilled Park. foxsports.com.au |
McLeish vows to spend responsibly • Manager keen not to squander Carson Yeung's £40m• Kenwyne Jones a target and Michel is all but signedAlex McLeish last night said he will not risk Birmingham City's long-term future by breaking the club's wage structure and paying excessive transfer fees during the January transfer window. McLeish has been told he has up to £40m at his disposal and is currently pursuing a number of high-profile targets but, in comments that should resonate at Fratton Park in particular, the Birmingham manager has vowed to spend responsibly.McLeish did not name Portsmouth but he talked about avoiding the kind of scenario that has unfolded on the south coast, where the Premier League club have faced financial meltdown following an era of excessive spending. Managers, generally, are too busy thinking about today to worry about tomorrow but McLeish, who was training to be an accountant when he first joined Aberdeen as a player, offered a refreshing take on the need for fiscal prudence."The fans have to trust me. I'm going to do it for the good of Birmingham," said the Scot, who has stepped up his interest in Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones. "I want Birmingham to be around in the next 100 years. It's not a question in the next two or three years of the media writing about Birmingham's financial troubles and having a fire sale because there's too many players on too high wages and players we can't get rid of because we've paid too much for them. I'm responsible."McLeish is fiercely ambitious and keen to strengthen Birmingham's squad to enable him to set objectives that stretch beyond Premier League survival but he is also aware of the need to protect the team spirit that has developed within the current group of players. He sees retaining a wage structure as one way of doing that and, although Birmingham are understood to be prepared to pay Jones around £55,000 a week, McLeish would not countenance meeting the demands of Kevin Kuranyi."I know that the players would appreciate some help and some back-up," said the Birmingham manager who last night completed the midfielder Michel's transfer from Sporting Gijón subject to a medical. "But I do want to maintain that spirit and the harmony in the dressing room and I think any player coming in would recognise the harmony and want to be a part of that. Everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and we've got fantastic camaraderie throughout the club."McLeish also pointed out that he would not need to waste any time wondering how best to deal with any inflated egos, with the Birmingham manager confident his senior players are more than capable of policing the dressing room. "There's big-time experience in there and I know that they wouldn't allow a prima donna or Billy big-time to influence and take over the dressing room," he said.Transfer windowBirmingham CityPremier LeagueStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Glazers take £20m from United's kitty • Six members of family revealed to have borrowed from club• David Conn: How the Glazers have milked United for millionsManchester United's owners, who loaded the club with more than £700m in borrowings to fund their purchase, have taken £10m out of the club in "management and administration fees" and have personally borrowed a further £10m in the past year, it has emerged.The club's financial results, released yesterday, revealed that six members of the Glazer family on the Red Football board had borrowed a total of £10m, which does not have to be repaid for five years.Manchester United also released an offer document yesterday for the £500m bond it says will be used to re-finance the £509m debt secured on the club.The offer document reveals that on 30 June last year the club entered into a £2.9m-per-year agreement with SLP Partners, a company related to the Glazers. Since 1 July 2006 a further total of £10m has been paid in "management and administration fees"."During the period from 1 July 2006 to the date of this offering memorandum, management and administration fees of approximately £0.6m, £1.8m, £1.4m, £3.1m and £3.1m were paid to our affiliates," it said.• David Conn: How the Glazers have milked United• Nils Pratley: United to raise £500m through bond issue• Kevin McCarra: Ferguson in conservative mood• The latest news on Manchester United in one handy placeUnder the terms of the bond issue it promises to terminate the agreement with SLP Partners but reserves the right to pay up to £6m per year to "one or more entities related to our ultimate shareholders for administration and management services".The 322-page offer document for those bonds, circulated in the City yesterday, also makes provision for £70m to be redistributed to the ultimate parent company for "general corporate purposes, including repaying existing indebtedness". This is thought to refer to the high-interest hedge fund loans secured against the Glazers' own shareholding in Manchester United. Those Payment In Kind loans, which accrue interest at a rate of 14.25% a year and "roll up" on an annual basis, are now believed to be worth almost £200m, as compared with £175m the previous year.The document also reveals that the club has received a large slice, £35.9m, of its new £80m sponsorship deal with AON. It also reveals plans for a new £75m "revolving credit line".City insiders expect the refinancing, put on hold when the markets collapsed in 2008, to succeed. The bond's yield, which could be around 9%, will be set only after an international roadshow. The offer document also reveals that Red Football recently lost £35m when attempting to hedge against a rise in interest rates last year.In its financial results the club revealed that it was only the £80m sale of Ronaldo and other transfer dealings that lifted Manchester United out of the red last season. Results for the Red Football Ltd subsidiary revealed a pre-tax profit of £48.2m but also indicated the overall amount owed by the club and its owners broke the £700m barrier for the first time since Malcolm Glazer acquired the club in 2005.Despite increased revenues, interest payments and write downs meant that, without the £80.7m realised in transfer profits in the year to June 2009, the club would have made a loss of £32.5m.According to yesterday's results, bank loans secured on the club now stand at £509.5m, compared with £518.7m the previous year. Interest payments on that debt totalled £41.9m.Representatives of the Glazers have repeatedly pointed to the cash flow generated by the club, once the interest on the loans had been serviced and before write-offs, as proof that money is available to Sir Alex Ferguson for team strengthening purposes.The Glazers have been keen to emphasise that the PIK loans, advanced by hedge funds at a high rate of interest when the family last restructured the debt in 2006, are not secured on the club but on their shareholding in it. If they were to default, the hedge funds would not have any say over the operational side of the business.The £500m bond issue, if fully subscribed, is unlikely to reduce the club's interest burden in the short term. It will be used to repay four secured loans, with interest rates of between 2.125% and 5% above the Libor rate at which banks lend to one another. Those rates were swapped for a fixed rate of 5.08% last year.According to the offer document, those hedging arrangements had cost Red ÂFootball around £35m to 6 January this year. It has promised to use some of the proceeds of the bond issue to reduce the liability by £8m. City sources said that the seven-year bond would give the Glazers greater certainty and no longer leave them at the mercy of the market. The release of yesterday's figures will have partly been designed to prove to potential investors the health of Manchester United's cashflow position despite its heavy debt burden.The club's results showed an increase in turnover for the year to June 2009 to £278.6m from £256.2m as matchday revenues, media income and commercial revenues all continued to rise.Matchday revenue increased from £101.5m to £108.8m, largely thanks to increased season-ticket prices, while media revenues rose from £90.7m to £99.7m and commercial income rose from £64m to £70m. The club will also point to a wages to turnover ratio of 44%, which compares favourably with most other Premier League clubs.Manchester UnitedPremier LeagueOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
West Bromwich Albion 4 Newcastle United 2: match report Newcastle manager Chris Hughton left livid as his side were knocked out of the FA Cup in highly controversial circumstances. telegraph.co.uk |
County given four-week stay of execution • Taxman asks that period of grace be marked as 'final'• Other creditors did not want adjournmentNotts County were given 28 days to pay off their creditors in the high court today.HM Revenue and Customs presented a winding-up petition this afternoon over a £324,206 outstanding debt but the taxman accepted that a 28-day adjournment would be in order for the club to settle the debt in full. However, HMRC pointedly applied for that period of grace to be marked "final".If the funds do not arrive in the next four weeks HMRC will seek immediate liquidation proceedings.Marston's plc appeared alongside HMRC seeking repayment of the club's £95,000 debt to it, with a third creditor also represented commanding a debt of £3,791.Neither of the supplementary applicants was willing to apply for an adjournment, however the registrar found that because this was the first hearing in the matter, the four-week deferment would be appropriate.Chief among the concerns of Marston's was that any fresh funds received at Meadow Lane would be consumed by ongoing operating expenses. Marston's dismissed Notts executive chairman Peter Trembling's talk last night of fresh investment as mere "rumour".Notts CountyMatt Scottguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |