Ratcliffe can bring knowledge the Glazers lack with Man Utd continuing to spend
I don't blame Manchester United fans for being angry, frustrated and upset at the circus surrounding the sale of the club…and a bit baffled too.
To be honest, I don’t completely understand the ins and outs of why the Glazers selling a minority stake will help in any way - because as far as the fans are concerned it doesn’t resolve the biggest issue of the owners themselves!
I’m a bit out of my comfort zone here, I know more about team sheets than balance sheets. But I do believe that Jim Ratcliffe, who owns a multi-billion pound company in Ineos and also has a sports empire, can be the difference United desperately need. What has gone wrong at Old Trafford? Well plenty. Yet the bottom line is, it’s always about money. And now, after years of everyone else desperately trying to play catch-up with United’s millions, now they’re doing the same with countries owning football clubs.
It’s hard to compete when you are up against the wealth of a nation, especially an oil rich one. Maybe the United fans just want the Glazers to sell to Qatar now, because at least they could compete on level terms with City, Newcastle and PSG then.
But is that the way forward for football as a global entity? I’m not so sure. You’d have three or four teams dominating the entire world (or however many clubs are owned by the oil nations) and the rest miles behind. What do a majority of fans actually want? They want money spent on players, basically. They don’t want to know about balance sheets, they just want to know how much they spend on this striker, or that defender.
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Well guess what, I’ve looked at United, and in fact, for all the criticism of the Glazers, they have spent serious money on transfers, even if they haven’t dipped too much in their own pockets to actually finance the purchase of the club.
Since they arrived, the net spend has been close to £1.5bn. That’s NET, after sales of players no longer wanted by the club. Those figures are even more incredible when you consider the club has spent over £1bn on interest payments, debt repayments, and dividends in financing their ownership.
So the money is there, even if the decision making process isn’t. That’s where Sir Jim comes in. He has financial interests in many different sports, including the successful Ineos cycling team, and he’s had a trial run in football at Nice in France’s Ligue 1.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will bring his expertise to Old Trafford (PA)He’s also got two people within his organisation in Dave Brasilford and Jean Claude Blanc who have a real track record in successful operation of huge sporting ventures.
Brasilford was head of UK cycling, and played a huge role in making them the most dominant in the world, and Blanc was CEO at Juventus and PSG, and even had a big role in making the Tour de France the world’s biggest sporting event.
If you look at United and say the money has been there, but it’s been spent badly, then what do they need? Well more money will help, and by all accounts Ratcliffe’s company Ineos will inject capital into strengthening the sporting side, and not just buying shares.
On top of that, they clearly need better organisation. They’ve had a series of bad calls as manager, and that has seen so much wasted on players bought by one coach, and then jettisoned soon after by the next. It’s a vicious cycle, but you can see from Liverpool that if you get the right appointments at the top, then sensible, future proof decisions follow. And you can see that it’s possible to compete even with the oil-rich clubs.
United can definitely compete - theoretically they could have spent £2bn on players since the Glazers took over and STILL turned a profit. But quite possibly the owners didn’t understand football, so didn’t appoint the right people.
If Sir Jim Ratcliffe can sort out the sporting side - and it is clear he wants direct control of football operations - then the rest will follow. Success on the field delivers success off it, and the income to rebuild the stadium, the training ground and all the other facilities.
So even with 25 per cent, the fans can hope that it will transform the club, even if it doesn’t quite yet get rid of the owners they love to hate.
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The Glazers are set to retain a majority share (Catherine Ivill/AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)I fear that in having a go at England fans, Harry Maguire has opened a can of worms that he is going to regret.
I actually have a bit of sympathy with his view about real fans not booing, but even if I do, I’m not sure I’d ever say it out loud! Yep, you want supporters to back you, you want everyone in it together. But at the same time, they are entitled to their opinions, because they pay good money, and it is THEIR club.
I have to say, I found it dubious - to say the least - that England fans booed Jordan Henderson when he went off, but cheered Keiron Trippier who replaced him…when they’re both getting their wages paid by the SAME people!! I mean, you couldn’t make that up. But even though Maguire was probably trying to defend an England team-mate he’s come through a lot with, it’s definitely not very wise.
Harry Maguire's comments in midweek have not been well received (Getty Images)For a start, it puts pressure on himself in every game he plays from now on, because one mistake, one slip from the top level, and he’s going to get it from the fans. And Harry doesn’t need that. He’s under pressure enough, because a lot of fans are quite rightly asking why he is still a regular when he’s not been a regular in the United side.
I don’t really agree with that. Playing for your country is the pinnacle of your football achievement, and you achieve it - and deserve it - with your performances that show you’re better than the rest. If you’re not playing, then you’ve not shown you deserve it.
That’s the one thing that lets Gareth Southgate down, and I can’t really understand it. I know he’s got a group that he’s loyal to, but honestly, is that right? Surely you want the players who are proving they are the best?
Harry would be better now keeping his head down, and proving he is the best by getting back into the United side on a regular basis. If he does that, then fair play, he deserves his England place…and the full backing of the fans.
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