Source: Telegraph
Manchester United chief David Gill reassures fans - but he is not the enemy within
Old Trafford celebrates its centenary on Tuesday night's game with West Ham United yet never before have terrace and boardroom been so apart. The increasing numbers of green and gold anti-Glazer scarves reflect this sense of rebellion. Gill was responding to a letter from a season-ticket holder, Jim Nutter, articulating the anxiety of thousands of fans who feel "exploited by the avarice'' of the Glazers. "The main thing I would like to reassure you on is that the club especially the football side is run by people who have a deep understanding of the club's history,'' wrote Gill. Related ArticlesSport on televisionMan United players rooting for Newcastle promotionFerguson dismisses 'hare-brained' play-off planUnited and Arsenal will not win Champions League without improvementFerguson reveals Scholes wishRooney 'ready for greatness'"The team is controlled by Sir Alex, who is rightly seen as the architect of the modern Manchester United, while I and many of my senior executive team are lifelong supporters and feel the highs and lows of team performance as keenly as any of the fans. The club has substantial transfer resources available. But that money will be spent on players who are available for purchase and who the manager thinks can improve the squad not to prove to pundits that it exists.'' For all the fans' concerns, Gill is not the problem. Better to have at the helm somebody who understands United, who feels for the club and whose son actually plays for it (as a half-decent centre-half in the reserves) than a clueless, soulless Glazer apparatchik parachuted in from Florida. United's loathed owners are considering making a rare visit to England for Sunday's Carling Cup final, when more protests are planned. United fans must ensure these are peaceful. Their entirely legitimate campaign to rid the club of the Glazers would lose its moral authority if the protests turned nasty. Ashley Cole mess gives Chelsea PR guru sleepless nights If Steve Atkins, Chelsea's highly-respected director of communications, has been looking tired of late it is because he has been up looking after a baby. But enough about Ashley Cole. Atkins does have a newborn and probably gets more sense out of the infant than out of Cole, a high-class left-back but low-life human being. When Atkins arrived from his job at the British Embassy in Washington, I greeted him with a gentle 'welcome to the madhouse''. Far too civilised for the world of Cole, Atkins was acting 'in good faith'' when asked to advise the defender's alleged paramours on how to deal with the media. As Chelsea seek a suitable punishment for their errant, embarrassing full-back, they must know that fining a multi-millionaire is pointless. They should order Cole, currently out of action following an ankle injury, to spend his three-month rehabilitation period working on Chelsea's many community and charity projects. An apology to Atkins might also help.