ManU owners the Glazer family want 15% cuts at the club "in most departments," according to John Richardson of the London EXPRESS. Despite the club’s value spiraling to around the £3B ($4.3B) "mark and sponsorship deals flooding in the axe has been sharpened by the controversial Florida based family." While they continue to take money out of the club -- it is estimated that £15M ($21M) a year is transferred into the various family banks -- the Glazers are "insisting on their employees cutting back, ordering that budgets be trimmed." The "only area to survive the cut backs is Louis van Gaal’s first team squad who have their own problems." Surprisingly for a club which has "enjoyed a tradition of producing a conveyor belt of young talent, the youth academy hasn't escaped the red pen of the Old Trafford bean counters." The academy is "being asked to reduce their costs" by 15%. That "has caused consternation and instability" with ManU yet to replace Academy Dir Brian McClair, who left to take a job with the Scottish FA last May. The decision to cut costs throughout Old Trafford has "undermined the spirit in many departments and contributed to the sense of a crisis gripping the famous club." A source said, "Few people can understand why this is happening with so much money now coming into the game, particularly at Manchester United. It hasn't been good for morale" (EXPRESS, 1/31).
