There are 72 million reasons why Louis van Gaal’s fate as ManU manager may "ultimately have nothing to do with the outcome" of Wednesday’s FA Cup quarterfinal replay against West Ham United, according to Mark Ogden of the London INDEPENDENT. Mathematically, Van Gaal can still "comfortably steer his team into the top four" over the final six games of the Premier League season and secure Champions League qualification, but "in the real world, that prospect is becoming increasingly unlikely and the trip to Upton Park is one that threatens to end with the curtain falling" on ManU’s season. ManU vice-Chair Ed Woodward has afforded his manager "admirable backing and support both publicly and privately this season, but in the final reckoning," it is those 72 million reasons which will "make all the difference." If ManU fails to qualify for the Champions League this season, the terms of its £75M ($103M)-a-year, 10-year kit deal with adidas ensure that another failure to finish in the top four at the end of the '16-17 season "would see that deal cut by 30 percent" -- an annual drop from £75M to £52.5M ($75M) until the club plays in the competition again. Last season’s absence from the Champions League, following the "disastrous" campaign under Moyes, cost ManU just short of £50M ($71M) in lost prize money, so "the numbers are already stacking up against Van Gaal." And the problem for the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach is that "money talks loudest" at Old Trafford and club owners the Glazer family can "ill afford to write off" more than £70M ($100M) in lost earnings "simply because their manager’s philosophy might work somewhere down the line." Commercially, ManU is "still pretty much able" to print its own money, but "prolonged failure" and the diminishing of its brand alongside the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will "quickly see the Glazers get much less bang for their buck" (INDEPENDENT, 4/12).
