The old saying hard work never goes unrewarded is perfectly embodied in Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Not only has he won multiple titles with United, but he is now the most successful manager in English football history since taking over United in November 1986.

It in light of this that the Glazer family are in talks with Ferguson and plan to reward him with a new contract that will make him the best paid manager in the English Premier League.

Manchester United chief executive David Gill is to lead an immediate financial review at Old Trafford as the club's owners, the Glazer family, take steps to assess the ramifications of a potential £20million shortfall in prize-money following the club's group stage elimination from the Champions League.

Most likely, fans around the world who don't have any connection with Manchester either football wise or any other wise, are sick and tired of all the talk and banter surrounding the surprising exits of both Man Utd and Man City from the knockout stages of this year's UEFA Champions League tournament.

An investigation into how the Man Utd has transformed itself into a £1.2billion franchise shows why the much-maligned Glazer family, who bought the club in 2005 and saddled it with huge debts, have hung on.

Did you know it has been 25 years for Sir Alex Ferguson with Manchester United? Fergie became manager of Manchester United on November 6th, 1986 so last Sunday marked 25 years with the team. It has been quite a ride for Manchester United in the last quarter century underFerguson's leadership.

WhenFergusonfirst took over Manchester United in 1986 he had to change the culture from losing into winning and the playing style from one that was haphazard to one that was more disciplined.

Warning: Man United fans who don't want to know the score please look away now! :-P
After what has been surely already been nothing short of an incredible week in the life of all the Manchester City fans out there following your superb 1-6 win at Old Trafford on Sunday, as we move towards day 3 of the working week you may now sadly be running short of new and exciting ways of ribbing all your United supporting work colleagues - now that all the viral email jokes have already done the rounds.

According to League Managers Association (LMA) chief Richard Bevan, several of the foreign-owned Premier League clubs want to do away with relegation.

"We're very keen that the report is successful in helping the Football Association introduce a licensing programme for clubs," Bevan said.

According to League Managers Association (LMA) chief Richard Bevan, several of the foreign-owned Premier League clubs want to do away with relegation.

"We're very keen that the report is successful in helping the Football Association introduce a licensing programme for clubs," Bevan said.

The Glazer family discussed the possibility of individual selling of overseas television rights with John W Henry and his colleagues at Liverpool before club chief executive Ian Ayre floated the subject this week, The Daily Telegraph understands.
Ayre's suggestion that the biggest clubs in the league abandon the Premier League's collective selling model and exploit their overseas rights individually has met with opposition from the league and clubs concerned that it would ultimately weaken the competition.

Manchester United and Chelsea refuse to back Liverpool breakaway plan

• Rivals clubs distance themselves from TV rights proposal • Liverpool want overseas rights sold on club-by-club basis Manchester United and Chelsea are among several clubs who have moved to distance themselves from Liverpool's proposal to break from the Premier League's collective selling model.

Carlos Tevez is finished at Manchester City, says Roberto Mancini | Football | The Guardian.

In one of the most bizarre moments on any soccer field that I can remember, Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez urinated all over himself again by refusing, yes refusing, to come on as a substitute in the second half of City's Champions League Group game against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena today.

Manchester United has been ranked as the most valuable sporting team in the world, according to the findings of a new report.

Analysis from advisory firm Brand Finance shows that United's brand value has more than doubled since the Glazers bought the club.

According to the report, published in The Times, United's brand value has risen from £197 million in 2005 to £412 million.

Manchester United is now ranked as the "most valuable sporting team in the world" as its brand value has more than doubled under the Glazer family's ownership

Premier League football club Manchester United has received permission from the Singapore Exchange for a planned £634m listing in a deal that would include non-voting preference shares, two sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters on Friday.

Although precise details of United's plans are yet to be confirmed, it is thought the Glazer family are looking to sell 25% of the club, which they hope will net them £600m.

Glazer family was asked by The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) to use the income from their proposed Singapore Stock Market flotation to remove the club's huge debt. Although MUST...
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Glazer family was asked by The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) to use the income from their proposed Singapore Stock Market flotation to remove the club's huge debt. Although MUST...
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Manchester United's owners, the Glazer family, are considering a share sale in Singapore to help raise money to reduce some of their debts.

According to the News of the World, United are in discussion with Nike over a world record £400 million kit deal. Nike currently pay United £23.5m per year, and with their existing 10-year deal expiring in 2015, it makes sense to open discussions now on a new deal.

When United moved from Umbro to Nike in 2002, their new deal with Nike set the standard for kit deals in football.

According to the News of the World, United are in discussion with Nike over a world record £400 million kit deal. Nike currently pay United £23.5m per year, and with their existing 10-year deal expiring in 2015, it makes sense to open discussions now on a new deal.

When United moved from Umbro to Nike in 2002, their new deal with Nike set the standard for kit deals in football.

The Glazer family, the American owners of Manchester United FC, have held talks with several investment banks on a scheme to list the English Premier League champions on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Bankers have reportedly advised that the listing could value the club at £1.7 billion ($2.6 billion), more than double what the Glazers paid for the club in 2005.

Sir Alex Ferguson has gone from strength to strength after being written off as not being able to keep up with the changing nature of the game only a few seasons ago, but now he has finally won that 19th record-breaking league title and stands a chance of lifting the European Cup for the third time, he must surely be thinking about following the advice he has given Edwin van der Sar by quitting the game while he is still on top form.

Another American Owner in the EPL
by Thomas Atzenhoffer on The Bleacher Report
April 11, 2011
Doug Pensinger/Getty ImagesLondon based Arsenal have become the latest English Premier League club to come under the control of American Owners. Long-time shareholder Stan Kroenke, Owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, secured a deal with the Gunners board of Directors to take majority control of the side.

The excellent Andersred blog has been detailing in depressing detail the truth about Manchester United finances.Today's news that the club has been used by the Glazer family taking around £400m in interest payments and charges since the Americans took control in 2005. The figures released yesterday show Manchester United lost, yes lost!

The immediate thought to reports that the Glazer family has lost millions from Manchester United was - Good, I hope they go broke and be forced to sell.
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Manchester United's owners made a £108.9 million loss last year, according to their accounts.
The loss by Red Football Joint Venture, the Glazer family's parent company that owns United, include some one-off costs from setting up the £526m bond scheme last year to replace their bank loans, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

A respected sports-business analyst, Sport+Markt, has claimed that the green and gold campaign has made a significant impact on the revenue of the Glazers'.

"Our data show the club has lost retail revenue from the year 2009 to 2010 by around 10%," said Dr Peter Rohlmann, the report's author.

This blogger had an early morning call today from a long-time red asking if I'd heard the news about an Arab consortium who were going to buy-out the Glazer family. According to Bill Bradshaw, this weekend's Manchester derby could be the last under ownership of the Glazer regime. However, my hopes were soon dashed when I learnt that the source of the story was the quite dreadful Daily Express -

The Qatari Royal Family are nearing a £1.6bn takeover of Manchester United according to media reports.

However the Glazer Family who bought the club for £790m in 2005 are looking for £2bn.

One well placed source at the club said: "The deal is pretty much done and they are only haggling over the details".

There will be those who are bound to blame the hated Glazer family for the controversial decision which will see the super successful Manchester United commercial operations move to swank offices in...
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Much has been said and written about Ferguson's transfer dealings following the Glazer family takeover, here we present you with the names, reported transfer fees, and dates of the deals which have taken place since 2005. The contents of this post cannot be viewed as definitive, because we can only go off the information which is in the public domain.

One of the most important developments within British football over the last ten years or so has been the growth of the understanding that football supporters can be empowered to control their own destinies. The notion that football clubs could only be run as the personal fiefdoms of the self-appointed "great and the good" has become more and more discredited as the first decade of the new century wore on and, and the relative success and stability of clubs that are run by supporters trusts has been obvious to anybody that takes the time to stop and examine them.

With the title race looking to be anything up to a five-horse race, the January transfer window comes at a crucial part of the season and the deals done here could be the difference between winning and losing.

Teams around United have struggled to pick up points while the red half of Manchester has been able to pick up the points without performing particularly well, and it seems Sir Alex Ferguson is happy enough with his squad not to add to it during the January transfer window.