Manchester United

[Bryan+]

Maybe, or maybe it's a reflection of how Ratcliffe and Ineos run as a business model, which isn't always great for the staff who work there.

Their root and branch review, led by a scouse RS, was done in a way that is typical with their modus operandi of reshaping failing or fledgling industries.

It wasn't run in a way that you'd normally attribute with a football club, so the shorter contract length would suggest they want quick changes with lower risk to them.

This is about improving their top line - nothing more, nothing less. Upsetting people along the way, including the fans, won't be something they'll worry about.

It’s a sensible approach and one we have taken, I’m just saying they laid nearly £10m to release him from his contract - madness.

 

[PhilM]

It’s a sensible approach and one we have taken, I’m just saying they laid nearly £10m to release him from his contract - madness.

I agree that, on a business level, the contract is a sensible approach as these long-term inflated contracts probably don't help incentivise managers or players.

I hope that we as a club are prudent with new acquisitions and where we spend money, and this includes not offering these inflated contracts on dross.

However, the point I was trying to make is that Ineos are there purely to maximise profits, and they'll have no issue upsetting the apple cart along the way.

If Amorim doesn't cut the mustard soon, they'll kick him into touch like they have done so many non-footballing managers, execs or stuff in their group.

It's about finding a balance, surely? The new owners aren't helping themselves with how they're kicking up prices, lowering incentives and laying people off.

Owning a football club isn't akin to owning a chemical company.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Just watched a video on BBC football about them building a new stadium. Some of their fans genuinely seem to believe they are on a par with Real Madrid. Staggering levels of delusion.

Hope they slide even further away from the pinnacle of English football, and spend a prolonged period there. Will do their fan base some good.

Unrelated, but these new stadiums look universally awful. I was in Madrid recently and went to see the Bernabeau. It looks like a modern multi-story carpark.

 

[Nymzee]

Still find it mad that Ratcliffe is like the man but he only owns 25% of a club.

 

[Woolverhampton_Blue]

Unrelated, but these new stadiums look universally awful. I was in Madrid recently and went to see the Bernabeau. It looks like a modern multi-story carpark.

The two stadiums mentioned as a benchmark were the Bernabeau and the SoFi in Los Angeles. I’ve only seen pictures of both, but agree the Bernabeau looks dull from the outside.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The two stadiums mentioned as a benchmark were the Bernabeau and the SoFi in Los Angeles. I’ve only seen pictures of both, but agree the Bernabeau looks dull from the outside.

I didn't have time to wander around but there was no visible sign that this was either a football stadium or a Real Madrid football stadium. It just looked like an unfinished beige city-centre office building or something.

Utterly awful.

 

[Zatara]

He’s only got an 2.5 year contract- which shows even UTD are not sure about the fella.

I think laying down £10mil to buy him out but only giving him a 2.5 year contract shows that they dont want the additional risk of him failing -- and being stuck with paying off another manager.

The management already sacked ETH and Ashworth after giving them contracts 6months odd ago.

They seem to be a mess of a club but are relying on the prestige of Man Utd to attract the best...not worked so far to get success.

 

[mahermi1]

I didn't have time to wander around but there was no visible sign that this was either a football stadium or a Real Madrid football stadium. It just looked like an unfinished beige city-centre office building or something.

Utterly awful.

all's it needs is wheels and it looks like he could be hitched to a car and drove off....

 

[StreetEndBlue]

Deserve all they get as a club for doing away with consessions and now charging youngsters a ludicrous £66 for the cheapest seat to watch the worst United team since the late 80s.

Talk about short termism and not thinking about the next generation of fans. They do have an enormous support but the core of it is in the Greater Manchester/North West area which isn't exactly swimming in money.

I've been hugely critical of the hierarchy at Everton for decades but to be fair to them they've never priced out the young local fans and they've not done it for the new stadium either.

 

[Zatara]

all's it needs is wheels and it looks like he could be hitched to a car and drove off....

Should have SAMSONITE sponsoring

 

[Ring master]

 

[Timbucktoo]

I didn't have time to wander around but there was no visible sign that this was either a football stadium or a Real Madrid football stadium. It just looked like an unfinished beige city-centre office building or something.

Utterly awful.

Another example of an architect allowed to go and lose the run of themselves. The brief seems to be to disguise the football stadium as a massive sculpture.
It now seems to be each big club spending more and more just to say they have the most expensive stadium. I went to see Real in CL the year Beckham signed and they were in the middle of a big renovation then. Went again about 10 years ago and they were doing more work, and that was before they went on the latest upgrade. I think this reincarnation has been compared to a photocopier, Spurs looks like a toilet seat from the air too.

 

[Rita_Poon]

I didn't have time to wander around but there was no visible sign that this was either a football stadium or a Real Madrid football stadium. It just looked like an unfinished beige city-centre office building or something.

Utterly awful.

Could swear I've seen Adam Richman eat a burger in one of these 50's diner throwbacks.

 

[Bryan+]

Could swear I've seen Adam Richman eat a burger in one of these 50's diner throwbacks.

The inside is incredible though. Have you seen the moving pitch?

 

[PhilM]

Deserve all they get as a club for doing away with consessions and now charging youngsters a ludicrous £66 for the cheapest seat to watch the worst United team since the late 80s.

Talk about short termism and not thinking about the next generation of fans. They do have an enormous support but the core of it is in the Greater Manchester/North West area which isn't exactly swimming in money.

I've been hugely critical of the hierarchy at Everton for decades but to be fair to them they've never priced out the young local fans and they've not done it for the new stadium either.

They don't care about local fans because all they see is the top-line, and if they're able to still sell-out under their (Ineos's) tenure, it will seem dandy.

United will still get young fans going from their wider-fan base who can afford it, even if it is detrimental to the fans who live in relative close-proximity to Old Trafford.

I read that their rationale, from Ratcliffe's himself, was due to a comparison with certain other PL clubs' prices:

‘I don't think it makes sense for a Manchester United ticket to cost less than a ticket to see Fulham,’ Ratcliffe told the United We Stand fanzine.

‘I don’t want to end up in a position where the genuine local fans can't afford to come, but I do want to optimise the ticketing,’ he said.

While they may compare the size of United and Fulham, in the short-term one is 9th and one is 13th, but worse it ignores the demographics of each location.

Fulham is in west-London, where the mean wage is £51.6k (male) and £42.1k (female) with many people have a large disposable income.

Trafford's mean wage is £46.3k and £35.6k respectively, with many neighbouring boroughs have a net household income of less than £25k - e.g. poverty.

But as I said, as long as they keep selling out and people buy the tops and whatnot, they aren't arsed!