The summer of our discontent

It has certainly been a strange summer for Manchester United. On the back of watching my team lift the league at Wigan and the European Cup (I refuse to give it any other name) in Moscow a summer of bliss should have followed. Winding up scousers, basking in City's ridiculous dismissal of Sven and enjoying the footage of Kenyon being booed as he led 'his' team to their losers medal could all have been a priority. However, Evra's Stamford Bridge scuffle, Spurs' claims against us regarding Berbatov and of course the Ronaldo saga have all got in the way.

As far as I am concerned, Ronaldo should pack his bags and be shipped off. Yes, he is a great player and probably one of the best I have seen. But no player is bigger than United and the quicker he realises that the better. We rebuilt a team without Duncan Edwards, won the European Cup with Law injured, picked up the treble after Cantona had gone and even won the league the season after Roy Keane left. No one is irreplaceable. I'd like to see United cash in on, buy a goalscorer who could compensate for losing all the goals Ronaldo would get us, but then refuse to let him go to Madrid on pure principle. I'd thank him for all the wonderful moments, wish him well in his future career, applaud him if he ever came back to Old Trafford and get on with supporting my club. Sure, part of me would be worried about how well the team would do without him, but I'd be willing to take that risk. Should he stay it will only be for one season anyway and how much will his heart really be in it? Will the dressing room harmony be the same?

Aside from the Ronaldo saga, United fans remain seriously unhappy with the Glazers. Ticket prices flew up again this summer, the debt repayments swallowed up all our profits, and the four big name players we purchased last year are not yet paid for. Success on the pitch means the debt can be ignored for another six months or so, but one season without some big trophies and the money men will be starting to sweat. Many will wonder what the problem is - after all, United are flourishing on the pitch under the new owners - but club insiders and those in the know are fully aware this is despite them not because of them. A club with no debt is now in heavy debt, profits are swallowed by huge debt repayments even more worrying in light of the credit crunch, and supporters are being fleeced by mad ticket prices and policies such as the Automatic Cup Scheme that forces all season ticket holders to purchase home cup games on direct debit whether they want to or not.

Despite all this, the new season promises to be exciting. A young team with great team spirit are on top of the world and full of confidence. Scolari will be an interesting character and will surely be involved in a title race, and there will be some great new away games at Stoke and Hull to go to. The scousers will no doubt be getting giddy again as they always do at this time of year and if City are in the top 6 by October no doubt the council will organise a bus parade for them even if the Red half of the city is never allowed one. I have missed going on the South Africa tour as I have taken far too much time off work for United already this year doing all the European aways, but it is still only a couple of weeks until my first game of the season - Ole Solskjaer's testimonial on August 2nd. That will be followed by the Community Shield a week later and after that the real fun begins all over again. I can't wait.

Oli Winton