The Man Utd Thread

[JPL]

Thinking about it, the fact that Ronaldo has decided to speak to Piers fucking Morgan, of all people, on GB News or whatever right wing channel he now works for should be the main reason he never plays for United again. No wonder Bruno refused to shake his hand.

[5R7]

Whilst making this interview was clearly not the best idea, part of me wonders how much of this may have been brought on by stress and greif to lash out like this.

I mean, he lost a kid not very long ago, that does not go away.

[teddymeow]

Manchester United look to begin legal proceedings against Ronaldo

[feltmonkey]

What a mess. What a shame.

[Gabzy]

On 16/11/2022 at 11:03, JPL said:

Thinking about it, the fact that Ronaldo has decided to speak to Piers fucking Morgan, of all people, on GB News or whatever right wing channel he now works for should be the main reason he never plays for United again. No wonder Bruno refused to shake his hand.

Bruno didn’t, just for clarity. The audio from that interaction was released by the Portuguese FA and they were all in on a joke about Bruno turning up late (Ronaldo: “Did you come by boat?!”). 

[JPL]

6 minutes ago, Gabzy said:

Bruno didn’t, just for clarity. The audio from that interaction was released by the Portuguese FA and they were all in on a joke about Bruno turning up late (Ronaldo: “Did you come by boat?!”). 

Have you got a link to it? The video I saw makes it look completely different, and to be honest I wish it was. Ronaldo knew what he was doing with that interview; making it all about him as usual. His ego knows no bounds. As much as I think his first stint at the club made him a legend, I honestly think the way he’s handled his return has been nothing short of pathetic and he deserves to have his contract terminated and his legacy tarnished. He could and should have handled it with a lot more maturity and humility.

[Gabzy]

30 minutes ago, JPL said:

Have you got a link to it? The video I saw makes it look completely different, and to be honest I wish it was. Ronaldo knew what he was doing with that interview; making it all about him as usual. His ego knows no bounds. As much as I think his first stint at the club made him a legend, I honestly think the way he’s handled his return has been nothing short of pathetic and he deserves to have his contract terminated and his legacy tarnished. He could and should have handled it with a lot more maturity and humility.

Here’s Bruno explaining it.

[JPL]

11 hours ago, Gabzy said:

Here’s Bruno explaining it.

Thanks, but that’s not convincing in any way. If anything he came across as though he was put on the spot and was struggling to find an excuse to get off the subject.

[Gabzy]

9 minutes ago, JPL said:

Thanks, but that’s not convincing in any way. If anything he came across as though he was put on the spot and was struggling to find an excuse to get off the subject.

Okay. Well there are other accounts out there from Portugal players eg. João Mário who say the same thing (because they heard the exchange) if you want to Google it.

The situation is shitty and disappointing enough I believe, without the need for fake news.

[JPL]

Just now, Gabzy said:

Okay. Well there are other accounts out there from Portugal players eg. João Mário who say the same thing (because they heard the exchange) if you want to Google it.

The situation is shitty and disappointing enough I believe, without the need for fake news.

I’ll have a proper look into it today, but I agree it’s a bad situation and I don’t think Ronaldo could have made himself look any worse. I wonder who advised him to to a public interview, rather than discussing all his issues directly with the club.

[Gabzy]

4 minutes ago, JPL said:

I’ll have a proper look into it today, but I agree it’s a bad situation and I don’t think Ronaldo could have made himself look any worse. I wonder who advised him to to a public interview, rather than discussing all his issues directly with the club.

Yeah he’s certainly taken bad advice, that’s for sure. We did see him invite Jordan Peterson to his house…

Such a disappointing end to an admirable career. I know he believes the fans are always by his side but I’m not so sure that’ll be the case once he leaves. And that’s the biggest sadness of it all, his whole legacy at the club undone in 90 mins (off pitch).

[Fry Crayola]

49 minutes ago, JPL said:

 I wonder who advised him to to a public interview, rather than discussing all his issues directly with the club.

 

Roy Keane.

 

Ronaldo's clearly angling for a move to Celtic.

[fatbob]

 

👋

[teddymeow]

7 minutes ago, fatbob said:

 

👋

 

"Across two spells" is stretching it a bit. "One and a smidge" would be more accurate.

 

Ah, well. It's a shame, but, also good riddance.

[Mr Do 71]

Sad, but no one player is bigger than the club.

[Mr Do 71]

The future.

 

 

[5R7]

the should have posted those tweets the other way round...

[spork]

Wonder whether we’ll bring anyone in as a replacement.

[Gabzy]

More importantly… 🤯

 

 

[feltmonkey]

I really want that to mean that the Glazers will sell the club, but I think it's just a clickbait headline from Sky. Selling is just one of the "reinvestment" options on the table. It's probably only been dangled in front of the world by the Glazers in order to manipulate the share price in the wake of Ronaldo leaving.

 

Talking of Ronaldo, for anyone who, like me, is a bit sad or conflicted about Ronaldo leaving here's something to cheer you up. He'll be taking all those weirdos who just support Ronaldo rather than the club, the ones who criticise the manager for "disrespecting" their hero by leaving him out of matches he's not suited for or post "no Ronaldo no party" under team announcements, with him.

 

Spoiler

 

Edit - I can't make the image appear in the spoiler tag on my phone, and I can't delete the empty spoiler either.  

 

 

 

 

[fatbob]

I think they’re selling (I hope), as purely an investment United doesn’t make a lot of sense under the Glazers.. as you have to let them manage your money. But they’re still a good project to take over and run if you can afford to.

 

I went into this a bit a few months back, about growth stagnated years ago and sponsors aren’t re upping. With no Super League pay day, it makes sense for them to cash out.  

Fingers crossed! 🤞 

[fatbob]

https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/man-utd-announces-process-to-explore-strategic-alternatives-to-enhance-club-growth

 

🤞

[fatbob]

It'll be interesting to see who comes in next. Ratcliffe aside, the other options seem to be sovereign wealth sports-washers (although fewer of them remain) and more likely US venture capitalist consortiums, in it to make a buck. Neither of those are ideal from a fan perspective for different reasons. 

 

I think it's going to be pretty difficult to feel good about the owners of a club of this size to be honest.

 

But whoever it is, they need to clear the dept, fix and upgrade a crumbling stadium and update the facilities (especially for the women's team). Anything less than that would be very worrying.

[Mr Do 71]

MUST - the Manchester United Supporters Trust
www.imust.org.uk
 

Quote

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GLAZER FAMILY

Last night you made a statement that most Manchester United fans have wanted to hear for the last 17 years. Manchester United, it is perfectly clear, is up for sale. 

You, more than anyone, can see we are in desperate need of new investment, and that can only come with new ownership. 

The last 17 years has been characterised by debt and decline - on-the-field and off it. The vast majority of United fans will agree with the conclusion you appear to have also reached - it's time for change.

Fans will want to carefully scrutinise any new prospective owner - most of all we implore them not to repeat the mistakes you did - of alienating the fans that represent the greatest asset of Manchester United. 

You have made huge amounts of money from Manchester United. Hundreds of millions of pounds out, without a single penny of investment in. Whatever commercial objective you had in 2005, we suspect you have met it. 

So now you can do two things for your legacy - the first is to prioritise the best interests of Manchester United Football Club over the financial interests of the selling shareholders. Our club, at this moment in time more than ever, needs the right ownership and that should be the priority rather than simply the highest bidders and highest return for you. 

Second, we implore you to move with speed. In football, any sort of hiatus or uncertainty is disastrous. If you have decided to sell, we urge you to do it quickly to allow the club to move on without any delay.

We have a terrific new manager, and we see can all see recent progress on the field. So, conclude your review process as quickly as possible, identify the best new ownership for the Football Club, and get the sale done so Erik Ten Hag has the certainty he needs to invest in the playing squad and we bring in the much needed investment for the stadium to restore Manchester United to its proper position.

Now is the time for change in the best interests of Manchester United.

 

[Rorschach]

They always saw the club as little more than a cash machine, and what with the weak pound and rising interest rates (I knew there had to be a silver lining), the circumstances have finally aligned to make it more expensive for them to remain as owners than to sell.

[JPL]

In that MUST statement, what do they mean by not a single penny invested? Don’t the crazy amount of players we’ve bought over the years since their arrival count?

 

I’m no fan of the Glazers, but that bit doesn’t seem right to me.

[5R7]

7 minutes ago, JPL said:

In that MUST statement, what do they mean by not a single penny invested? Don’t the crazy amount of players we’ve bought over the years since their arrival count?

 

I’m no fan of the Glazers, but that bit doesn’t seem right to me.

 

No, they don't, as the players have been bought with the cash the club generates.

 

Same as everything else. 

 

Before the glazers we had zero debt. Since them, paying £40mil a year in interest alone.

 

They have only taken money out.

 

If it wasn't for the debt, we wouldn't have issues paying top price for players.

 

 

[feltmonkey]

2 hours ago, JPL said:

In that MUST statement, what do they mean by not a single penny invested? Don’t the crazy amount of players we’ve bought over the years since their arrival count?

 

I’m no fan of the Glazers, but that bit doesn’t seem right to me.

 

The Glazers have never put a penny of their own money into the club. They didn't even use their own money to buy United in the first place! They took out loans to buy the club, then transferred that debt onto the club.

 

Since then, they haven't put any money in. The club generates a huge amount of money due to various TV deals, sponsorships, noodle partners and such like. This money is what is spent on players and wages. They take dividends out of the club (around £166m so far) and the club has to pay the interest on their loans, which were taken out at quite bad interest rates. Overall, dividends and interest have cost the club £1.6b. Add that to the £1b the club has spent on transfers, and the no doubt eye-watering amount on player wages, and you can see how United is a money-making machine on a level above any other in world football. 

 

However, it has become increasingly obvious in the last few years that part of the reason we can afford to spend so much on transfers is because the club has been spending money on that rather than maintaining the stadium and improving the facilities. For all his obvious bullshit, the perspective of Ronaldo is enlightening - he left over a decade ago, continued playing at top clubs in Europe and so was able to see what facilities those clubs have, then returned to find that United had stood still in that time and been left behind. I believe that when he said that the club had not moved forward at all since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, that's what he was referring to, and that in that moment he was being honest. 

 

TLDR - spending the club's own money on transfers and wages is not the same as investing money into the club. Misspending that money while ignoring other vital parts of running a football club is negligent.

[JPL]

All fair points. All we can hope for now is that they do sell and they sell to the right buyer, who’s willing to put things right.

[fatbob]

They will sell to the biggest bidder, whoever it is.

 

They've no regard for what's best for the club going forward.