comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 21 minutes ago
I agree about the squad. I think the management has taken a decision to prioritise performance in 2-3 years over immediate impact. We can criticise that, but the corollary of investing more in proven attacking players in their prime years would of course be doing less to address the floor of the squad. The quality player in his prime will also need replacing sooner, and perhaps we don't get to build a decent team around him before he starts to decline.

Anyway, isn't that discussion separate from the ETH in/out question? ETH isn't driving our recruitment strategy.
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Part of the problem with this is that I don’t think anyone will have the patience for it. I guess in some ways they may see ETH as a sacrificial lamb at the end of the season. But if the results and performances that people demand don’t come next season then you put another manager under pressure to achieve something that may not be that realistic. And this is also under the proviso that their recruitment is actually good enough to reach the levels everyone wants in a few years.

I largely agree with that, but I think it's pretty clear Ineos have made recruitment decisions that are more focused on longer-term value than immediate impact. If they subsequently make other decisions based on lack of short-term benefit, there will be valid questions about the clarity of their thinking and confidence in their process.

BUT there's still the big issue of whether ETH is doing the best conceivable job coaching the transitional squad he has.

That’ll keep happening until we get a squad of top players in their prime. We’ve got too many past it, not yet it or just shiiiiiit players in the squad.

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Looking at the way the market is now, I think it's going to be a difficult task to build a squad of top players.

Last week I was thinking about the depth and quality throughout Europe in terms of midfielders compared to a decade or so ago and it really is slim pickings.

I'm thinking back to 10-12 years ago when you had Gundogan, Vidal, Thiago, Fabregas, Pjanic, Rakitic, Kroos, Martinez, Pogba, Banega, Nainggolan, Dembele, Matic and I'm sure there quite a few more, all available to us at some point or other.

The same depth and quality isn't there now and I think that's true of a number of positions and the competition for players is probably even greater, even within our own league.

That's why you need to be almost flawless tactically now in your approach with and without the ball most weeks to gain an edge and not just against the top teams either and we're miles away from that and I think we always will be because the manager refuses to acknowledge issues beyond mentality, player quality, injuries, poor execution and luck when it comes to officiating.

Not saying thank you and goodbye at the end of last season is going to set us even further back I think.

I’m thinking more from the fans’ perspective. It isn’t a fanbase that has patience. I think Ineos need to strike a balance because otherwise they’ll end up sacking managers left, right and centre when fans turn.

They’ll also have short term goals that they need to achieve, and the shareholders will be putting pressure on them to achieve them.

It will be interesting to see whether fan impatience influences Ineos, either directly or via the Glazers. The Glazers themselves on one hand didn't show much interest in the fans as stakeholders, but they did deliver a number of signings that could be viewed as more populist than strategic. Was that as a sop to the supporters, or just betraying a lack of intelligence? Another dynamic we don't really know here is whether the Glazers are watching Ineos performance critically (as custodians of their asset) or whether they are content to let Ratcliffe play out his experiment as part of the process leading to the eventual full sale. Given their utter lack of curiosity into the running of a football club up till now and their overriding preoccupation with cashing out, my guess would be that they're not likely to turn out to be back-seat drivers. But again, something to watch.

The Glazers will be quite happy I suspect.

Club does badly - the heat isn't on them.

Club does well - they have a more valuable asset.

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 6 minutes ago
It will be interesting to see whether fan impatience influences Ineos, either directly or via the Glazers. The Glazers themselves on one hand didn't show much interest in the fans as stakeholders, but they did deliver a number of signings that could be viewed as more populist than strategic. Was that as a sop to the supporters, or just betraying a lack of intelligence? Another dynamic we don't really know here is whether the Glazers are watching Ineos performance critically (as custodians of their asset) or whether they are content to let Ratcliffe play out his experiment as part of the process leading to the eventual full sale. Given their utter lack of curiosity into the running of a football club up till now and their overriding preoccupation with cashing out, my guess would be that they're not likely to turn out to be back-seat drivers. But again, something to watch.
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I think the issue will be a financial one. The Glazers won’t be happy being out of the CL for a few years. It’s been clear since Fergie retired that CL qualification was the minimum expectation each year. If that isn’t achieved in the next couple of years there will be huge pressure on Ineos as they will be effectively tanking the value of the Glazer’s asset.

We’ll have to wait and see, but I suspect there’s going to be a lot of internal politics between shareholders boiling over it short term goals aren’t met.

Perhaps, Dazza. Hard to know whether the CL qualification was their stipulation or Woodward's. Hard to know whether their view of short-term revenue vs longer term asset value are the same now as they were before, given eagerness for a sale. Hard to know whether the Glazer siblings (who appear to have had different priorities over the last 18 months) are sufficiently aligned to operate as a decisive bloc.

I suspect that was still coming from the Glazers. Especially knowing the deal we had with Adidas where the sponsorship was reduced after consecutive years out of the CL. And despite their lack of interest and expertise in the football side of things, they’d have been all too aware of the commercial value of being in the CL. It’s why they were prepared to let the club spend so much money in transfer fees, despite the poor returns in terms of major trophies.

Joel and Avram seem to be the ones that were prohibitive to a full takeover. They’ll very much have a huge say on things as the major shareholders of the club. I’m pretty confident that if we aren’t achieving CL qualification that they’ll be making their voice heard.

comment by Joshua The King Of Kings Zirkzee (U10026)
posted 6 minutes ago
Joel and Avram seem to be the ones that were prohibitive to a full takeover. They’ll very much have a huge say on things as the major shareholders of the club. I’m pretty confident that if we aren’t achieving CL qualification that they’ll be making their voice heard.
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Maybe - evidently they didn't influence Ineos to sack ETH this summer, despite abject failure in that regard.

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 22 minutes ago
comment by Joshua The King Of Kings Zirkzee (U10026)
posted 6 minutes ago
Joel and Avram seem to be the ones that were prohibitive to a full takeover. They’ll very much have a huge say on things as the major shareholders of the club. I’m pretty confident that if we aren’t achieving CL qualification that they’ll be making their voice heard.
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Maybe - evidently they didn't influence Ineos to sack ETH this summer, despite abject failure in that regard.
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Indeed, but that’s hardly surprising given they’ve only just handed over the keys to footballing operations. We’ll see how things go once Ineos have had their feet under the table for a bit longer.

I think this is correct, that even if the Glazer siblings sold all their Class B shares to Ratcliffe, they way they convert to A would still leave Joel and Avram has major shareholders. Jim needs to do a deal with those two if he wants full control eventually

Berrada has come out in support of Erik which is probably a good thing really for now to save all the rumours during international break.

Let's hope Erik can come up with something during the break to get us back on track. A few nice wins wouldn't go amiss! What also wouldn't go amiss is some players being pulled out of international duty!

comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (U2462)
posted 40 seconds ago
Berrada has come out in support of Erik which is probably a good thing really for now to save all the rumours during international break.

Let's hope Erik can come up with something during the break to get us back on track. A few nice wins wouldn't go amiss! What also wouldn't go amiss is some players being pulled out of international duty!
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That was recorded before the Liverpool game tbf

Been getting hammered in the group chat in that last 24 hours. But which is your favourite?

Onana breaks United record for conceding 60 goals (just 40 game - the inverse of a Ronaldo or Messi stat).

Goal difference in last 57 matches (all comps):
Man City +93
Liverpool +79
Arsenal +78
Man Utd -1

De Gea to Onana is the downgrade of the century

comment by Robb Raygun (U22716)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (U2462)
posted 40 seconds ago
Berrada has come out in support of Erik which is probably a good thing really for now to save all the rumours during international break.

Let's hope Erik can come up with something during the break to get us back on track. A few nice wins wouldn't go amiss! What also wouldn't go amiss is some players being pulled out of international duty!
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That was recorded before the Liverpool game tbf
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I know but it's coming out now and I'm sure they'd have done something to stop it had they changed their mind. I also doubt the new structure would be as emotional as I was in my opinion after the Liverpool game!

comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (U2462)
posted 34 minutes ago
comment by Robb Raygun (U22716)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (U2462)
posted 40 seconds ago
Berrada has come out in support of Erik which is probably a good thing really for now to save all the rumours during international break.

Let's hope Erik can come up with something during the break to get us back on track. A few nice wins wouldn't go amiss! What also wouldn't go amiss is some players being pulled out of international duty!
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That was recorded before the Liverpool game tbf
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I know but it's coming out now and I'm sure they'd have done something to stop it had they changed their mind. I also doubt the new structure would be as emotional as I was in my opinion after the Liverpool game!
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I think it went out before the Liverpool game. But journalists are reeetarded and think it’s a reaction to the Liverpool game, because they are awful humans.

I admit my reaction was a bit emotional. Having said that so was my reaction after the FA Cup win stating ETH deserved a chance under a new structure.

I recognise I should have probably stuck to my guns after the league campaign finished and stated that we should say thank you and wish him good luck but that we were looking elsewhere. The only problem really is that it was slim pickings when it came to other managers really!

Manager needs to be sacked. I have no faith in him