Recent content by sphagnum

  1. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    Yep. I don’t believe there was ever any genuine interest from the Middle East. The whole shoddy process was always about getting the best price from Jim who had made his overtures apparent well before. The Glazers were happy for him to front up the club, so they could disappear into the...

  2. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    That’s another way of looking at it. Do you think they actually decided Vivell was the way to go and they preferred him to Ashworth - or was he only promoted after they fell out and had to reposition?

  3. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    I think you’ve nailed it. I think that’s the fundamentals of the club now. I nearly believed it for a minute, when Sir Jim was professing himself as a fan. I couldn’t imagine that a fan would sell our club down the river. But he’s not a fan, is he? Not like we are, at least. For him, profit...

  4. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    Indeed. And if you go back a couple of posts, that was my point! That’s not a strategy. There’s no planning, foresight or risk management there. To “hire someone else in the future” if it doesn’t work as your management strategy would get you sacked in my industry and just about everywhere else...

  5. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    You make it sound so simple. Who did they replace Ashworth with? And how does that fit into a long-term plan?

  6. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    Cut their losses? The glazers aren’t making any losses yet. But I get your point… they’ve milked the club dry and you’d hope we must be coming close to the endgame where they sell the club while it’s still worth something. If they leave it much longer then it’s too broken to sell, so there must...

  7. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    Fair enough, and businesses do gamble. But that's where risk management comes in again - you don't gamble without having a backup plan if it goes wrong. What is the backup plan for Ashworth not working out? Oh, we'll just absorb his position into the board and it'll be like he never existed...

  8. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    Yep. Hard to believe Jim considers himself a fan of the club given the way it's being run at the moment. I can't imagine how any fan would allow this to happen, if they had any say in the matter . Not just on the pitch but the decisions they've taken off it too, hurting the community and the...

  9. Club ownership | Senior management team talk

    INEOS get criticised for running the club like a business, but the crux of the matter is that they can't even do that well. Anyone who has worked in a corporate environment is familiar with risk analysis and disaster management. It's a necessary evil. Be prepared for the worst. INEOS have left...

  10. Scott McTominay | Napoli | Scudetto Winner | Serie A's MVP!!

    As a half-English/half-Neapolitan United fan, I accept it’s the right time for Scott to move on. I don’t really see that he could have had a role beyond a useful bench player for us, going forward. But I’m delighted he’s got himself an opportunity to fit in at Napoli and I hope he thrives...

  11. Was this our best Post-Ferguson victory?

    Yes, because it wasn't just a snatch and grab win either. We really were the better team for at least 45 minutes. I can't remember the last time I felt so fecking proud of the players - this is what we hoped they had in them, and they pulled it out of the bag today.

  12. Alejandro Garnacho | 2023/24 Performances

    Whether Rashford passes or not, it’s Garnacho’s responsibility to stay onside. That he didn’t is IMO purely down to his age and inexperience - he’s keen and he’s excited and that’s great, but he does need the discipline and ability to manage his game. And that will come. That’s not the kind of...

  13. Post match vs Aston Villa

    I’m cautiously excited about Garnacho. Not making any predictions yet, but he’s the most exciting thing about our team right now. He’s the only player who seems to have the ability to pull something out of the bag that the oppo can’t predict or handle. I think he’s got all the potential to be...

  14. Post match vs Aston Villa

    I had no problem with that. He went for the ball, got the ball and Rashford followed into it - it wasn’t dangerous or reckless or against the rules in any way. He did his job. I’d be very happy with our keeper if he made the same challenge.

  15. Post match vs Aston Villa

    Best we played since I can’t even remember when. I didn’t even know these players had that performance in them - and that does change something. Doesn’t mean we’ll see it from them every week (or ever again even) but we know for sure now that they’re capable of it. So that’s the level we/they...
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