Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag made a lot of supporters very happy on Sunday after he grabbed a Glazers Out scarf on the way out of Old Trafford following their win over Aston Villa.
United‘s 1-0 win victory over Villa was a tense affair throughout, not least because it was largely the backdrop to a day about sending a message as thousands of fans paraded through Manchester to protest the Glazer ownership.
Although it had been a while since the last raft of large-scale ‘Glazers Out‘ protests, the deadline for the third and possibly final round of bidding to take over the club officially passed on Friday, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim both said to have entered increased offers.
With that being said — not to mention crucial points dropped on Thursday and having crashed out of the Europa League earlier this month — United fans are desperate for the long drawn out process to come to an end finally, and they were delighted to see a bit of acknowledgement from their manager too.
As you can see, the full-time whistle had already been blown when a nearby fan threw him the iconic green and gold scarf — synonymous with the club in its previous iteration as Newton Heath and the Glazers Out movement ever since 2005 — and ten Hag picked up and waved it back at the crowd.
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While some have suggested that he was gesturing to receive it, ten Hag has been pretty much silent when it comes to United’s potential sale bar and although picking up a fan’s scarf from the pitch isn’t outright giving the seal of approval, Reds are naturally running with it and saying “he gets it”.
We particularly enjoyed the person who simply tweeted “Baldy knows”, but we also wonder whether it’s something that will be raised as an issue in the coming days, with the manager essentially playing into the narrative that the Glazers are unfit to run the club and should finally sell up.
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That was certainly the consensus outside Old Trafford and indeed throughout the city on the day:
It might be United fans getting carried away and interpreting things, but the Dutchman has said he believes a change of ownership and new investment “would be a good thing” in the past.
Regardless, the 53-year-old has won himself even more faith from the Stretford End by simply bending down to pick up a bit of fabric.
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The only question that’s left is when will the Americans finally accept one of the multiple bids on the table, or will they still somehow find a way to hang on and keep cashing in?
Either way, the message is the same as it’s always been: ‘Green and gold until the club is sold’.
Featured Image — MufcWonItAll/Man United (via Twitter)/The Manc Group
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
30th April 2023 
