The Glazer family has put ManU "five to 10 years" ahead of its rivals, says the man who advised John Henry when he took over Liverpool, according to Stuart Pollitt of the BBC. Philip Hall said ManU's owners had done an "astounding" job building the club's commercial operation, which has secured record sponsorship deals with Chevrolet and adidas. The Glazers bought ManU in '05 for £790M -- it is now valued at about £2B ($3B). Hall said the Glazers "have done an amazing job in terms of building Man United into a very self-sustaining and profitable commercial enterprise that, I think, is five to 10 years ahead of their nearest competitor in the Premier League. The club is in a much stronger financial position now than it would have been if the Glazers had not been involved." Regarding the Glazers' takeover of the club, he said, "I can understand the sentiment of people being upset at the way the club was purchased but I think if you look at what they have done over the past 10 years I don't think you can argue with the results" (BBC, 1/14).
