Wayne Rooney situation exposes shame of Glazers' reign at Manchester United

One ball, in fact more a hand grenade from Ferguson, is in Rooney's court. Another has landed in the Glazers' court.

If Rooney looks intent on leaving, believing United lack ambition, worrying about what life at Old Trafford holds with Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs winding down, and with Ferguson's own long-term plans in doubt, the Glazers must act quickly to prove to Ferguson they can still compete. Don't hold your breath.

Anyone with an ounce of understanding of Ferguson's DNA knows he is a fighter and so any talk of empires crumbling remains premature. We have been down this road before with United and Ferguson, predictions of eras ending proving ill-founded but this is undoubtedly the greatest crisis the Scot has faced since 1990.

What was remarkable on Tuesday was Ferguson's frankness as he juggled demolishing Rooney's character with a verbal baseball bat and holding out an olive branch. This was Ferguson unplugged, sounding ready for war as well as peace.

He also looked betrayed and bemused, his usually prickly mask dropping as he mused soulfully on how much United had done for Rooney. He listed the trophies, the atmosphere, the pastoral care, stopping only short of requesting Rooney to consider "what have the Romans ever done for us''.

Another ankle injury precludes the striker's involvement against Bursaspor tonight when Ferguson will hope for a strong reaction from his dressing-room. The reaction from the Old Trafford faithful is guaranteed: there will be a wall of sound for Ferguson almost visceral in its intensity.

Once again, he's holding the club together. Once again, he's trying to build a trophy-winning side in an age of debt brought on by the unloved Glazers.

Rooney's contract saga has become an unintentional part of the green-and-gold movement.

The point was made succinctly by concerned Stretford Enders last night. "We back Sir Alex's judgment as ever but our concern lies with the owners,'' said a spokesman for the anti-Glazer Manchester United Supporters' Trust.

"They have saddled us with a huge debt and they are taking more and more money out of the club every season and the lack of net investment in the squad since they arrived is clear to all.

"The question being asked by many fans is does the ambition of the owners match that of Rooney or indeed Manchester United supporters? On the evidence so far, it would appear the answer is clearly not.

"The contrast could hardly be starker between the owners at Manchester City who are pumping millions into their club while the Glazers are leaching huge amounts out of ours.

"People talk about players being greedy with multi-million pounds contracts but those figures pale into insignificance compared with the hundreds of millions the Glazers have extracted from Manchester United through their takeover.''

The Glazers will dispute the allegation they are "leeching'' United but the recent annual accounts, with interest repayments gorging on profits, make grim reading for United fans.

The Americans could point out that clever manoeuvring remains possible in the transfer market; Ferguson bought the raw prospect Bebe for £7.6 million while Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp brought in the ready-made creator, Rafael van der Vaart, for £400,000 more. Bargains exist.

To lose one star like Cristiano Ronaldo could be considered a misfortune. To lose another in Rooney looks more than carelessness; it looks like the dread hand of debt holding United and Ferguson back.

The shame of the Glazers' regime is now fully exposed.

It is not known how familiar Rooney is with Uefa's plans for financial fair play but now is the moment to make huge wage claims.

Michel Platini's rules will encourage clubs to temper their largesse to players or risk expulsion from Europe. Rooney wants to ensure his ticket to ride on what could be the last gravy-train.

Unless the Glazers respond like responsible owners, United risk being left on the platform.