Comment: Gill-biters should cut boos

18 March 2010 11:28
Any right-thinking Red, pro or anti the Glazers, should condemn the treatment of oliver Gill on Sunday - and hope it was an isolated incident. The son of chief executive, David Gill, and a United academy graduate, was treated to jeers as his name was announced as a substitute against Fulham. His crime? To be the son of the chief executive, David Gill. United's CEO is emerging as a pantomime villain as the campaign to force the Glazers out of Old Trafford gathers pace. His failure to side with supporters, rather than those who pay his wages, has made him a figure of hate among those desperate to wrest control of their beloved club. Impartial eyes have sympathy with both. Fans are understandably disillusioned by ticket price hikes and financial results, which showed that only the £80m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo prevented a near unique moneymaking machine from posting a £40m loss for the last financial year. On the other hand, as chief executive, Gill could hardly be expected to bite the hand that feeds him, while his comments that United are continuing to compete at the very top of club football are beyond question. But there can be no argument for the minority of fans inside Old Trafford who saw fit to boo when Gill Jr's name was announced. You can only hope it was a harmless piece of pantomime but whatever it was, it should end there. Regardless of your feelings about his father, Gill is a United player and one deserving of support. For any onlookers who may have felt sympathy towards United fans trying force a regime change, the echoes of jeers towards a 19-year-old trying to make his way in the game will have had them thinking twice. It is difficult to argue that you have the club's best interests at heart when you are willing to boo one of your own for no other reason than his name. Gill, a promising centre back who was named in United's Champions League squad this season, has taken a year out from university to see if he can make it in football. The jury is out as to whether he has the talent to follow in the footsteps of United's most celebrated graduates but can you imagine what would have become of a Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or David Beckham had they been afforded the same treatment? What do you think? Have your say. [LNB]

Source: Manchester_EveningNews