Ed Woodward 2019 - Until all Arctic ice melts edition

Judas

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Pretty much every quote and story makes Woody out to be an egotistical cocky bullshit merchant. I think it works ok in the business world, but the football world he just keeps getting found out for what he really is.
 

red thru&thru

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Only a friggin eejit would think what I suggested wasn't a positive.
A bit full of yourself, aren't you Billy Big bollocks?! :lol::lol:

If you have nothing constructive to say in the thread, don't repl . If you want to start calling names like you're in the playground, dm me, we can continue it in there!
 

red thru&thru

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Pretty much every quote and story makes Woody out to be an egotistical cocky bullshit merchant. I think it works ok in the business world, but the football world he just keeps getting found out for what he really is.
Exactly. And the guys in here who defend him and his reigeme cannot come up with anything remotely constructive, to keep backing him up.
 

UncleBob

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I know Bale was set for Real Madrid, but other than him why were players such as Fabregas, Kroos, Thiago so unrealistic? We were the top dogs in England if not the world at the time, these players could have been closed.
The reported interest in Kroos came later, so i'm not sure why he's mentioned.

Thiago, it's claimed, was lined up but Moyes didn't know much about him, hadn't had the chance to scout him properly. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise, Fergie was a big fan of Thiago, we tried to bring him in before he signed his professional contract with Barcelona and we were heavily linked when it looked like he was leaving again, while Moyes is well known for his need to scout players to the extreme.

That leaves Bale and Fabregas.

Bale was never on the market for anyone else, Moyes just didn't understand it and thought that it was worth it to keep trying. Fabregas didn't want to leave Barcelona, the only issue was what the higher ups at the club wanted, but all the signals from the player and his agent was that the player would be staying, again you have Moyes talking about how close it was. To me it's fairly obvious that Moyes was the one pushing hard to pursue Bale and Fabregas, two players we didn't really stand much of a chance of getting.
 

Thisistheone

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I would have thought that him getting the Glazers to spend like drunken sailors for the last 5/6 years is a positive.
The drunken sailors part is true. Lets spend loads of money with no long term plan in action, and change our plans every 12 months or so and see how it works... Talk about pissing a shit ton of money up the wall.

As for the article, we knew Woodward is crap but the shocking part was the Bristol University old boys network. Not one of the feckers has a clue about football. What a mess.
 

UncleBob

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Can't make this shit up
"An early story reveals the gap that required bridging. When Everton wanted to sign Tom Cleverley, their manager Roberto Martinez told his board to offer no more than £5.5 million as the midfielder’s contract was up at the end of the season. Woodward confidently turned down the advances, arguing he could get up to £10 million elsewhere. As it turned out, Aston Villa took him on loan, very late on deadline day, United paid the majority of his wages and then Everton signed him for nothing when his contract was up."

But it's not really what happened, is it, nor are the fees accurate either.

Everton approached the club and wanted to sign Cleverley, they kept lowballing us while we had higher bids from other clubs, Cleverly wanted the Everton move, suddenly Everton come back and say "Nah, we'd prefer just to loan Cleverley for the upcoming season". So we rightly told them to feck off.
 

red thru&thru

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Ed and the Bristol boys are shocking example of being out of their depth when running football matters. I'm glad the report has come out and it exposes them for what they do.
 

Suedesi

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"An early story reveals the gap that required bridging. When Everton wanted to sign Tom Cleverley, their manager Roberto Martinez told his board to offer no more than £5.5 million as the midfielder’s contract was up at the end of the season. Woodward confidently turned down the advances, arguing he could get up to £10 million elsewhere. As it turned out, Aston Villa took him on loan, very late on deadline day, United paid the majority of his wages and then Everton signed him for nothing when his contract was up."

But it's not really what happened, is it, nor are the fees accurate either.

Everton approached the club and wanted to sign Cleverley, they kept lowballing us while we had higher bids from other clubs, Cleverly wanted the Everton move, suddenly Everton come back and say "Nah, we'd prefer just to loan Cleverley for the upcoming season". So we rightly told them to feck off.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ees-moves-Everton-Aston-Villa-break-down.html
 

Suedesi

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The reported interest in Kroos came later, so i'm not sure why he's mentioned.

Thiago, it's claimed, was lined up but Moyes didn't know much about him, hadn't had the chance to scout him properly. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise, Fergie was a big fan of Thiago, we tried to bring him in before he signed his professional contract with Barcelona and we were heavily linked when it looked like he was leaving again, while Moyes is well known for his need to scout players to the extreme.

That leaves Bale and Fabregas.

Bale was never on the market for anyone else, Moyes just didn't understand it and thought that it was worth it to keep trying. Fabregas didn't want to leave Barcelona, the only issue was what the higher ups at the club wanted, but all the signals from the player and his agent was that the player would be staying, again you have Moyes talking about how close it was. To me it's fairly obvious that Moyes was the one pushing hard to pursue Bale and Fabregas, two players we didn't really stand much of a chance of getting.
Thiago could have been closed before Guardiola popped up in Munchen and snapped up the player.
I don't know what Fabregas' angle was in 2013 - genuine interest in moving or getting a bump at Barca? Either way, United couldn't close the deal and he moved to Chelsea the following year for a pretty reasonable fee.
Kroos was supposedly agreed to move to United, but once Moyes was fired, he decided to move to Madrid.
Bale wanted Real. Despite that, Man Utd offered Levy a higher price than Real did, and still got told to do one.

United failed to get Herrera done because we decided to negotiate with Bilbao. :lol:
The club also wasted time going after Fellaini and Baines when Everton were already salty with us

Managers come and go, our transfers are still a shambles and Ed Woodward is the constant.
 

kaiser00

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The rot set in well before Ed arrived. He just continued the incompetence. To me Fergie should of had a understudy in the club ready to take over and that would of made the transition smoother. Wouldn’t have seen Moyes on the scene or Van Gaal even. A football clued up CEO certainly would of chosen better fit managers.
 

UncleBob

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Thiago could have been closed before Guardiola popped up in Munchen and snapped up the player.
I don't know what Fabregas' angle was in 2013 - genuine interest in moving or getting a bump at Barca? Either way, United couldn't close the deal and he moved to Chelsea the following year for a pretty reasonable fee.
Kroos was supposedly agreed to move to United, but once Moyes was fired, he decided to move to Madrid.
Bale wanted Real. Despite that, Man Utd offered Levy a higher price than Real did, and still got told to do one.

United failed to get Herrera done because we decided to negotiate with Bilbao. :lol:
The club also wasted time going after Fellaini and Baines when Everton were already salty with us

Managers come and go, our transfers are still a shambles and Ed Woodward is the constant.
Moyes didn't fancy Thiago: while Moyes rejected the one signing lined up, Thiago, because he was not personally familiar with the player.

So how was Woodwards supposed to close the deal ?

Ref Fabregas there wasn't a deal to close, but Moyes believed there was, just like he believed it was possible to get Bale. The next year Barcelona wanted to sell and Fabregas wanted to leave, easy to close a deal, at that stage we weren't interested.

We didn't really waste time, Moyes wanted both Fellaini and Baines. Everton were open to selling Fellaini while they wanted to keep Baines, while Baines wasn't interested in pushing hard to leave, so we dropped Baines and, on the account of Moyes not wanting Fellaini to be the first signing, we waited as long as possible before signing Fellaini.
 

Leftback99

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I've read stories before that Kroos was all but signed after being lined up by Moyes before LVG decided he didn't want him. A year after Moyes did the same thing with Thiago.

To end up with this squad our recruitment decisions over the last 6 years could barely have been any worse.
 

red thru&thru

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The rot set in well before Ed arrived. He just continued the incompetence. To me Fergie should of had a understudy in the club ready to take over and that would of made the transition smoother. Wouldn’t have seen Moyes on the scene or Van Gaal even. A football clued up CEO certainly would of chosen better fit managers.
I agree with this somewhat. But I've given Ed enough time. Whether he was dealt a bad hand or not, there was enough resources at his disposal, to have turned it around by now. As each year goes by, shows his incompetence!
 

Sterling Archer

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I would have thought that him getting the Glazers to spend like drunken sailors for the last 5/6 years is a positive.
Just for comparison sake, any quick pitch and half an idea gets money thrown at it by investors these days. To have a football giant and invest in them? That's a task one of those fist pumping Chinese cat toys could hype up and do.

The execution with that money is, however, being shown to be quite important. And our very own bobo, Ed, is being found out for arrogance and incompetence.
 

Sterling Archer

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I've read stories before that Kroos was all but signed after being lined up by Moyes before LVG decided he didn't want him. A year after Moyes did the same thing with Thiago.

To end up with this squad our recruitment decisions over the last 6 years could barely have been any worse.
That's just bad luck. But we landed Di Maria and Pogba, which hasn't done much for us because the rest of the club and recruitment is wrong. Not missing a few major signings would have made only a marginal difference.
 

Alabaster Codify7

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Best CEO in world football.

Name one other CEO that consistently feeds a huge club's fanbase such bullshit every single year, but faces no backlash? And still those same fans keep the money flooding into him.

Best in the business.
 

ravi2

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Thiago could have been closed before Guardiola popped up in Munchen and snapped up the player.
I don't know what Fabregas' angle was in 2013 - genuine interest in moving or getting a bump at Barca? Either way, United couldn't close the deal and he moved to Chelsea the following year for a pretty reasonable fee.
Kroos was supposedly agreed to move to United, but once Moyes was fired, he decided to move to Madrid.
Bale wanted Real. Despite that, Man Utd offered Levy a higher price than Real did, and still got told to do one.

United failed to get Herrera done because we decided to negotiate with Bilbao. :lol:
The club also wasted time going after Fellaini and Baines when Everton were already salty with us

Managers come and go, our transfers are still a shambles and Ed Woodward is the constant.

Everyone needs to realize this, it's a pity some still don't.
 

Class of 63

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A bit full of yourself, aren't you Billy Big bollocks?! :lol::lol:

If you have nothing constructive to say in the thread, don't repl . If you want to start calling names like you're in the playground, dm me, we can continue it in there!
My my we are ubber sensitive aren't we?

And as for DM/PM nah thanks, i've got better things to do with my time. x
 

Class of 63

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The drunken sailors part is true. Lets spend loads of money with no long term plan in action, and change our plans every 12 months or so and see how it works... Talk about pissing a shit ton of money up the wall.

As for the article, we knew Woodward is crap but the shocking part was the Bristol University old boys network. Not one of the feckers has a clue about football. What a mess.
Which ever way you dress it up, LvG and Mourinho had more money to spend on transfer fees/wages than any Manager in the history of the club and by quite so distance, how they spent it, and how the players performed isn't on the CEO.

As for the article I wouldn't know, there's only so many Ed is shit and this is why articles it's healthy to read.
 

Class of 63

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Just for comparison sake, any quick pitch and half an idea gets money thrown at it by investors these days. To have a football giant and invest in them? That's a task one of those fist pumping Chinese cat toys could hype up and do.

The execution with that money is, however, being shown to be quite important. And our very own bobo, Ed, is being found out for arrogance and incompetence.
If you want to believe every insider/reliable source yes at time he does.
 

red thru&thru

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My my we are ubber sensitive aren't we?

And as for DM/PM nah thanks, i've got better things to do with my time. x
Uber sensitive? Na pal, just don't like people like you who resort to saying things about people on a personal level, just because they have nothing constructive to say!

Got better things to do, or you just scared? Diddums! :lol::lol:
 

Cloud7

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I'll never understand LVG not wanting Kroos, he'd have made such a difference, truly baffling.
Especially since he’s such an LVG type of player. He can do pretty much anything in the midfield. It’s staggering that Vangle didn’t want him.
 

Class of 63

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Uber sensitive? Na pal, just don't like people like you who resort to saying things about people on a personal level, just because they have nothing constructive to say!

Got better things to do, or you just scared? Diddums! :lol::lol:
Oh, oh, oh, oh, can I borrow a reply I received from another simpleton the other day:

I'M NOT YOUR PAL

Right i'm off to hide.
 

JPRouve

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No, somebody that knows football, a scout or something, that recommends players. It's not as outrageous as you try to make out and would be low on the list of stupidity when it comes to Woodward.
It's supposed to be Murtough. We all forgot about his appointment, I only remembered his existence last week.
 

Irwin99

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I'd love to know how many signings were in fact the choice of LVG or Jose and not bought as an alternative to having no player at all. I'm not excusing either managers failings but there are a few instances where you think to yourself 'that player surely can't have been the manager's choice'. Mkhitaryan for example was never a Jose player in a million years, I can't believe he'd want him as a priority signing.
 

Jim Beam

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I'd love to know how many signings were in fact the choice of LVG or Jose and not bought as an alternative to having no player at all. I'm not excusing either managers failings but there are a few instances where you think to yourself 'that player surely can't have been the manager's choice'. Mkhitaryan for example was never a Jose player in a million years, I can't believe he'd want him as a priority signing.
Mkhi supposed to be a very good counter-attacking player, especially dangerous with a lot of space available. He was played pretty often until Jose gave up on him.

On the other hand, Fred is a different story and I thought Falcao transfer was a weird one.
 

JPRouve

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Doesn't he work for us? I read that it was a third party not employed by the club.
He does work for us and is supposed to do the job that you described. Don't freak out, but if I'm not mistaken Comolli has been consulted by Woodward.
 

Johan07

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Doesn't he work for us? I read that it was a third party not employed by the club.
You should not believe everything you read, Murtough is the HOD at the club. If Woodward or anyone else puts trust in his advice so be it. Its his role. It would be weird if it was not so, If I remember correctly it was even Moyes who recommended him once upon a time and he has been at the club since then. Your original post indicated that Woodward takes advice from someone like Mendes or even Raiola; and thats just internet stupidity being thrown around. Quite frankly.
 

Johan07

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Mkhi supposed to be a very good counter-attacking player, especially dangerous with a lot of space available. He was played pretty often until Jose gave up on him.

On the other hand, Fred is a different story and I thought Falcao transfer was a weird one.
Mkhy was the ultimate Mourinho player. Until he could not handle the pressure at United and folded. As so many other have. One has to be extremely mentally strong to survive at this club. The Caf in itself is proof of that. There is so many talented players that have not made it here because of their mindset. Zaha. Depay. Di Maria. To take some current examples.
 

pocco

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You should not believe everything you read, Murtough is the HOD at the club. If Woodward or anyone else puts trust in his advice so be it. Its his role. It would be weird if it was not so, If I remember correctly it was even Moyes who recommended him once upon a time and he has been at the club since then. Your original post indicated that Woodward takes advice from someone like Mendes or even Raiola; and thats just internet stupidity being thrown around. Quite frankly.
You keep trying to move the goal posts here, where did I say it was Murtough? You honestly think I'm trying to criticise him for taking advice for somebody employed to give advice? What are you on about? You're either acting dumb here, or...

Did you even read that post? I said I'd heard there is somebody "not employed by the club" that is advising him, or was at one point. Murtough is employed by the club. Therefore its not Murtough that I'm talking about.
 

red thru&thru

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Oh, oh, oh, oh, can I borrow a reply I received from another simpleton the other day:

I'M NOT YOUR PAL

Right i'm off to hide.
We're all part of the same brother/sisterhood in here! You could dm me, rather than just keep replying to my posts! :smirk:
 

Johan07

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You keep trying to move the goal posts here, where did I say it was Murtough? You honestly think I'm trying to criticise him for taking advice for somebody employed to give advice? What are you on about? You're either acting dumb here, or...

Did you even read that post? I said I'd heard there is somebody "not employed by the club" that is advising him, or was at one point. Murtough is employed by the club. Therefore its not Murtough that I'm talking about.
Naw; JPRouve did and he is one of the top5 posters on here so I tend to believe him when he says its Murtough the article is referring to. And again: who is it then if not him?
Its like completely illogical for Woodward/Glazers to invest I dont know how much money on our youth and scouting system (which we have done) and then turn to his own "Dom" for advice on player recruitment.
It does not make sense, so yeah: read your original post.
 

JPRouve

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Naw; JPRouve did and he is one of the top5 posters on here so I tend to believe him when he says its Murtough the article is referring to. And again: who is it then if not him?
Its like completely illogical for Woodward/Glazers to invest I dont know how much money on our youth and scouting system (which we have done) and then turn to his own "Dom" for advice on player recruitment.
It does not make sense, so yeah: read your original post.
First I'm a nobody and to be fair to @pocco while the role that he described is supposed to be held by Murtough, there has been talks about the board using external football consultants. For example while Judge is supposed to be the negotiator, the club uses intermediaries too, it wouldn't be crazy to think that one of these intermediaries gained some influence, if I was to speculate it would be Pina Zahavi because he has been around the club in the last years.
 

Sterling Archer

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A source told the Athletic: "Nobody who knows Woodward hates him. Rather what grates is the impression that he is learning on the job."

Colleagues describe a "charming and affable" boss, and more than one agent says he is "very personable". He is said to be a good conversationalist - showing genuine interest in those in his company - particularly if fuelled by his favorite coffee: a double espresso...

...But another intermediary who experienced tense negotiations is less complimentary. "Woodward can be arrogant", he claims. "If you ever say something that pushes his buttons he will be like, 'Do you know who I am?' His job is impossible really isn't it, but I don't think he covers himself in glory."
@MackRobinson @JPRouve So this new piece gives me a bit of perspective that I didn't have, one that you both pushed - that maybe Woodward isn't as dislikable as I imagined, especially amongst agents and employees. It does indeed seem I'm mistaken there...the guy has friends. That second latter opinion is the type of thing I've been seeing mostly up until now. And it is still a concern - the other portions of the report cover less than stellar communication during transfers and with players. Between that and what's straight from the horse's mouth perhaps I can soften my stance: instead of egomaniacal d*ckhead that's unfit for the United CEO role, I will just go with egomaniacal novice that's unfit for the role :)