Man United's introduction of the "Football Club PLC" model of forming a 'global brand' as a vehicle to sell Man Utd branded replica kits, air fresheners and toilet seats to people in Asia and America is no better than Man City's 'buy a club at random, buy a squad of 26 £30m players and win the league' model. They're both crass and they're both equally bad for football, I don't think either club can claim any kind of moral high ground.
Man City styled themselves for years as a working class club for local people compared to their glory-hunting 'Franchise FC' neighbours, who didn't even play in manchester. Now they've got a 'newbies guide' for supporters on their website. Man U are now moaning about an unlevel playing field and Man City 'buying the league'. Ferguson broke the transfer record three times before he won the league, he had nine million pound players in 1993, and he didn't have to sell anybody - nobody else had more than 5. Their average spend per player was higher than 3rd placed Norwich's record signing, the gap in resources was about as big as between Newcastle and Man City now. Then they went and broke the record again by signing Keane for £3.75m. Then he broke the transfer record signing Andy Cole in 95, signing Veron in 2001 and then broke his own record by signing Rio Ferdinand for £30m in the next window. If it wasn't for having an enormous cash advantage over their rivals, Man United's league trophy collection would be rather pathetic, so they can hardly cry "no fair" if the league goes to the blue half of Manchester this year.
