Gary Neville has spoken out about the dividends expected to be issued to shareholders this Friday, with approximately £11 million set to be distributed among those who own Manchester United shares, the majority of which are held by six members of the Glazer family.
If there's one individual whose opinion you can always count on finding, for better or worse, it's ex-Manchester United captain Gary Neville.
The former England great turned Sky Sports pundit is a fiery figure – and few are more fiery than him when it comes to politics or Manchester United.
Gary Neville, in particular, has been publicly critical of United's owners in recent years. Only a few weeks earlier, Neville was quoted as stating, "I blame the Glazers, they've left him (Woodward) in the shop, behind the counter." You can't spend ten years trying to master Football Manager. You can have three, possibly four.
Gary Neville has never shied away from expressing his thoughts in public. (Alamy) "If you haven't experienced success, you need to change." You cannot just alter the management or the recruitment style. You must transform yourself.
The Glazers' ownership has seen the Manchester United Gary Neville knew, loved, and led disintegrate, with the club utterly overshadowed by archrivals Liverpool.
Not only that, but Liverpool has reached three Champions League finals and Manchester City once, with repeated semi-final appearances.
When compared to United's recent (lack of) success, reaching the quarter-finals of the hallowed competition only once and failing to qualify for the competition five times in the last nine seasons, it reads depressingly.
It's not that the club lacks funds - a billion pounds have been spent under Glazer's ownership – but, in the words of Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold, "what's occurred is that we've f**king burnt through cash.
"You can't go to our training facility and say, 'by the way, show me where that billion pound is,' because I don't think we've done well with the money we've spent historically," he told a group of fans in a pub on Saturday 18 June.
"I'm not here to defend Joel (Glazer) or the stockholders; they can speak for themselves," the CEO remarked, and Gary Neville isn't here either.
Neville declared on Twitter on Monday evening, "The Glazer Family should NOT be receiving £11 million in dividends on Friday." It's not appropriate with the investment required on the team, stadium, and training facility.
The dividend payouts come just days after the team was alleged to have lost approximately £11m.
With the club apparently needing another £10-15 million to match Barcelona's asking price for Frenkie de Jong, taking £11 million out of the club just a couple of weeks into the transfer season appears entirely counter-productive, and reckless, given the current fan backlash.
Manchester United are the only club of its sort to pay out dividends to shareholders, and the system has sucked nearly £130 million out of a club that is dangerously close to a half-billion-pound debt; debt that has not been paid off in years.
The colors green and gold have frequently been utilized as a symbol against the Glazer family. (Alamy) Neville does not rage for the sake of ranting.
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