Manchester United are Lost in the Woods
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has finally opened up to the media about the Manchester United he inherited. Months of fan protests and constant criticism from the media has prompted United’s minority owner to set the record straight.
As things have gone from bad to worse this season, public opinion for Ratcliffe and the new front office has had a similar trajectory. Now that the honeymoon period for Sir Jim and United fans is well and truly over, questions are beginning to arise regarding his ability to course correct our club.
In an attempt to show transparency and quell fan unrest, the United owner has recently given several informative interviews. In those accounts he attempts to justify the recent controversial decisions Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox have made. He also directs blame for the state of the club towards the Glazers and former CEO Ed Woodward.
Ratcliffe further elected to share first hand insight into just how deep of a hole Manchester United are in financially. And while managing to show some humility, he even attempted to justify the Dan Ashworth and Erik ten Hag decisions.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe on the Glazers, Woodward, Arnold and Murtaugh
In these recent interviews, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has not been subtle about pointing the finger.
He has been careful to not overly criticize the Glazers, as they are still majority owners of the club. However, he has suggest the Glazers made several mistakes in how they ran the club and delegated power at Old Trafford.
Sir Jim even went as far as to say, he would have never hired Woodward, Arnold or Murtaugh. He called out the former executive team for poor player recruitment, overspending and not embracing the Manchester United community. And he went so far as to label the Glazers as complacent without actually using the word.
Ratcliffe took another dig at the Glazers for hiring bankers instead of people familiar with the sport to run the club. And cited the Woodward era as the primary contributing factor to the current state of the club.
While he never said specifically that the Glazers are at fault, he used versions of the same phrase over and over. The club has made a lot of mistakes in the past.
I believe that he wants his candidness to endear him to the United fans. I also couldn’t tell you whether he believes what he is saying or he is merely saying it because it is what he thinks fans want to hear. But, actions speak louder than words, so let his actions be the judge.
Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth
Sir Jim was asked point blank about their decisions to let Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth go.
Ratcliffe went on to explained how they thought they were doing the right thing by backing Erik. INEOS’s goal when first taking over sporting operations was to not change too much all at once. And they wanted to genuinely see what the Dutchman could do under new ownership. When it was clear it wasn’t the right fit they severed ties immediately.
Given that I backed Erik ten Hag in the summer, I don’t see much wrong with this decision.
Ratcliffe’s answer regarding Dan Ashworth was much more vague. All he would say is that Dan came to United with a stellar reputation. However, after a few months of working together it was clear to Ratcliffe and Berrada that they were on different pages. Once it was obvious that Dan was not the right fit they parted ways immediately.
This one bothers me and a lot of fans. Im calling bullshit. Rumors are Ratcliffe and Berrada wanted someone more proactive. But, Ashworth is an ideas guy who likes to delegate. Not to mention it was Ashworth that pressed to keep ten Hag, and apparently he wasn’t on board with hiring Ruben Amorim.
They spent so much time chasing this guy, how did they not know how Ashworth operates? This one goes down as a major fuck up for me.
Either Ratcliffe and his team were stupid enough to vigorously pursue him and not vet him well enough. Or they are stupid enough to let go one of the best football executives in the world. Either way it was a naive and expensive mistake.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Road to Redemption for Manchester United
Since the regime change at Old Trafford, fans and pundits have had plenty of criticism for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new Old Trafford front office, and the decisions they have made.
However, the main philosophy that seems transcendent through decision now being made at Old Trafford has been ‘ripping off the band-aid.’
When Ratcliffe, Brailsford, Berrada and WIlcox all arrived at the club, their collective assessment was clear. Manchester United is an over bloated organization, with a team producing mid table league performances at an operational cost of a team that should be competing for Champions and Premier League trophies.
They also know that the operational cost of a club needs to be proportionate to its success. Both in revenue and trophies. And at the moment Manchester United are so disproportionate in that sense, that it has put them close to being in violation of FFP.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team clearly now believe that ripping off the band-aid is the best course. The club need to dramatically trim the wage bill. They need to reduce operating cost. And they need to increase revenue to be able to afford a rebuild.
Ratcliffe to Trim the Fat at Old Trafford
In their extreme efforts to reduce the clubs operating cost Radcliffe and the United front office have been unadulterated in trimming the fat where they can.
The highest earning and most valuable academy developed players have been put into the shop window, regardless of their value to the team. The clubs operating staff has been cut by more than 30%, leaving close to 500 blue collar workers jobless. And multi-decade long perks like free lunches for daily staff members was discontinued.
What’s more, the United front office have also raised ticket prices for season ticket holders, seniors, youth and the disabled. Prices for kits and Manchester United merchandise have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, access to tickets for fans based globally requires either forfeiting one’s life savings and a spouse, or an annual income way beyond the average person.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the unpopular decisions being made at Old Trafford.
How exactly do Ratcliffe and Co. intend to revitalize the club if they price supporters out of spending money on tickets and merchandise, cant produce a team that attracts fans, and they roll out several policy initiatives and cutbacks that aren’t just unpopular they are downright petty?…
Ratcliffe Violates an Infallible Rule
As a Manchester United fan for more than 30 years, to me cutting off funding to the Association of Former Manchester United Players is about as unforgivable as it gets. The fund acts as a kind of social security assistance for former players that come from a generation where being a footballer was not a lucrative career.
Many of its beneficiaries rely on the fund for things like medical services and funeral costs. What’s more, Manchester United only donate about $45,000 annually to the fund. Yet the club are happy to shell out more than $500,000 per week in wages on players like Rashford, Antony and Sancho to play for other teams.
For further perspective, last month Alejandro Garnacho was disciplined by Ruben Amorim for walking off the field after being substituted. Amorim revealed that the punishment for his disrespect was that he had to buy dinner for the whole team. That dinner cost close to $10,000 according to reports.
If a player can afford to spend that kind of money on a team dinner, why is it unreasonable to ask that the 22 first team players pool together and donate that money to support the men that paved the way for their success? Between our first team players, the manager, the executive staff, and the host of uber wealthy club alumni United can scrape up $45,000!
Even Gary Neville called out Ratcliff in a recent interview, suggesting exactly that.
But what is truly disheartening is that Ratcliffe even admitted to Neville that no one had made any alternate suggestions to keep the fund going. It was simply deemed as superfluous and scrapped.
Manchester United are Tone Deaf
How is it, that an idea even I can come up with, an idea Gary Neville can come up with, not an idea that an amalgamation of elite football executives can muster? Was the dollar amount simply so insignificant to them they thought no one would care, let alone notice? Is this really what ripping off the band-aid has to be like?
As Manchester United fans, we covet our teams legacy and history. Our respect for our club’s journey is one of the things that unites all Red Devils. And it is one of the qualities that makes Manchester United fans the best in the world.
Sadly, according to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, we are meant to believe the club is very much at a juncture where they must cut off a limb…or two… to save the body. According to Sir Jim, being able to resurrect United requires making even more unpopular decisions and more mistakes.
But at what cost? What is considered a reasonable learning curve for football executives? I don’t think that the average United fan wants the club making financial sacrifices that compromise the integrity and core values of Manchester United and its fans.
Furthermore, when plans are announced to build a new $2 billion stadium, tens of millions are being paid out to Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth for INEOS’s poor decision making, and United are hemorrhaging money on underperforming and overpaid players (some who aren’t even playing for United) the optics are not good when the club decide to withhold $45,000 and free lunches to help support the people who sacrificed so much for the club?
If sacrificing the soul of Manchester Untied is Ratcliffe’s road to glory then I for one want nothing to do with it.
Glory, Glory Man United!
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