Indeed mate. The more I roll it around in my head the more sense it makes.
People say sportswashers prefer small clubs with desperate fan bases that they can pick up on the cheap. But these guys DO have billions. Just because we've never seen them spend that kind of money on a club doesn't mean it can't ever happen.
And you won't get a more desperate fan base than Man Utd's right now. They've seen us win the title, and have had to bend over for local rivals City because rather them than us. By this point they must be terrified of becoming a footballing irrelevance.
As will a section of our fanbase, to an extent. I mentioned this when the news of our club being put up for sale first broke. Back under G&H, we had nothing to lose. Now we do. People don't want to see the club drift back into the wilderness, where it might not come back from next time. People confuse success with the club's very existence. The old adage "LFC exists to win trophies" has been twisted into something very different from what was intended.
Still, if one or both of United and LFC gets bought up by sportswashers and I will laugh in bitter humour if City is immediately put up for sale afterwards.
I think that was definitely true, but rather than the end game it could have just been the beginning. They have the time and the money to play the long game.
It could be that the waters were tested with the also-ran clubs and they saw that opposition was minimal and easily quashed, and over time the sportswashing not only became normalised but also widely welcomed.
They've watched while fans of most clubs have cut football's throat by cheering on the sportswash vehicles against the traditionally run clubs. They've probably sat back pissing themselves at how all the useful idiots have become propaganda mouthpieces for them and excused their ruination of the game.
Maybe acquiring the City's and Newcastle's was more about getting a foot in the door. Now, they've not only got a foot in the door, but they've been welcomed in, offered refreshments and have their feet firmly under the table. Maybe now it's time to make a move on your wife/husband, leaving you wondering why the hell you let them in in the first place.
City and Newcastle may have just been tea and biscuits. Maybe now they want the full cake.
It could be said that big swathes of the big clubs' fanbases have also been softened up to sportswashing over recent years by feeling their clubs have been left behind or soon will be. We all know the Mancs are begging for it, but I've also seen too many of ours also hoping for a despot to roll up Anfield Road.
