From The Observer:
At the Coolmore stud farm, life is good for Rock of Gibraltar. Fresh straw constantly appears in the retired champion racehorse's box, the walls are padded with leather cushions to prevent knocks or scrapes, he takes regular dips in a swimming pool complete with a jacuzzi, and closed circuit television cameras nearby monitor his every move. Nothing is left to chance when it comes to protecting an asset which could now earn its owners anything up to £200 million in stud fees as he develops a new career as one of the most sought-after stallions in the world.
That's the precise, methodical way they do things at Coolmore, the breeding operation in Co. Tipperary which has helped its owner, John Magnier, amass a fortune estimated at anything between £200m and £1 billion. Unfortunately for Manchester United and its manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, the tycoon is now applying the same attention to detail and determination to succeed in his increasingly bitter dispute with both the club and its legendary boss, with whom he was good friends until they fell out over who should get the stud fees being earned by Rock of Gibraltar.
Inquiries by The Observer have revealed that the offensive now being waged against United and Ferguson by Magnier and his business partner J.P. McManus, who between them own 25 per cent of the club through their firm Cubic Expression, is merely the first stage of a long-term plan to make the Irish duo the key powerbrokers at Old Trafford.
They want to turn United into the world's most lucrative sporting franchise in order to make themselves a huge profit on the £175m worth of shares they have bought so far. Anyone who stands in their way - Ferguson, chief executive David Gill, chairman Roy Gardner, the club's other directors - will be forced out.
A close associate of the pair said: 'Magnier and McManus aren't football people. They are serious investors who have shown their ability to grow businesses. They have spent considerable sums of money to acquire a quarter of the shareholding in a major public limited company that, as a business, is very under-developed. They think United could and should be making much more money than it currently does..'
The Irishman have already made a profit estimated at between £60m and £70m on the shares they have been buying since mid-2001, which are now worth some £175m. But that is nowhere near what they see as the potential return. To them, the club's failure to pursue a more aggressive commercial strategy to capitalise on United's unique 50m-strong global fanbase is almost as significant as the other blunders they believe they have committed.
But the pair level an even more serious charge against the board: that they are so scared of the combative Alex Ferguson that they have proved unable to check his accumulation of power.
'Fergie has terrorised the board and dominates them,' a Cubic source said. 'They are weak, they are cowed by him and they have found it difficult to resist his demands. Fergie is far too powerful, and the board lacks people with enough knowledge of football who can argue with him about, for example, which players would benefit the team and what they're worth.'
The Irishmen's disillusionment with Gardner and his colleagues suggests that Cubic do not see them taking the club forward in the direction they want. If the board do not produce satisfactory answers to the 99 questions Cubic have asked about the club's financial dealings and corporate governance, Magnier and McManus will flex their growing muscle.
The turmoil at Manchester United is about much more than a horse. It is about Magnier and McManus's main interest in the club, their desire - and intention - to make vast sums from their investment. The fans at yesterday's home match against Southampton chanted their opposition to Magnier and backing for their embattled manager, and pledged to see off Cubic just as they helped thwart Rupert Murdoch's bid to buy United in 1999.