Are United in Financial Trouble?

RoyH1 · Jan 23, 2020

Volumiza said:
Something definitely isn’t right. I’m no more in the know than anyone in here but there has to be a reason why:

a) we’ve gone from being arguably the best team in the world with a strong and committed squad to this. I mean, our squad is a disgrace for a club of our size and supposed wealth.

Key positions have been neglected, we’ve made do with players that anyone of us can see isn’t the quality we should have on the field if we have aspirations of winning anything. No other top team would dream of being in a situation where playing Lingard, Mata, Perreira, so regularly is a real option.

b) Why haven’t we replaced Rashford? We sold Lukaku and now Rashford, the source of the bulk of our goals this season, is injured long term. We should have identified a replacement the moment that happened. The window is open. Anyone of us can clearly see that without him we are going to struggle to score. If we don’t replace his goals then it is going to be a long season.

c) Look at Liverpool’s, City’s and Spurs bench. Look at ours. Our squad is so thin. Someone has let it go that way. Ed? Ole? Jose? Whoever it is, the fact is we haven’t invested in our squad properly and no one is taking charge and sorting it out.

We hear we’re rebuilding but at the pace it is happening it will never be enough.

It’s a shambles and last night was an embarrassment. I don’t like savaging our club but we clearly have negligent, apathetic and profit driven owners that are unconcerned that we aren’t winning. But we also have a manager who is so far out of his depth I feel sorry for him.

Anyone can see that we need to do some serious shopping and players who would improve our squad could be found easily, we don’t even have to look at the ‘World Class’ players.

You make some very valid points, but I don't think it has to do with lack of funds. We have just been historically bad since SAF left at buying talent and nurturing it. It all stems from the lack of coordination and knowledge at the top of our football ladder. There is no one overseeing a coherent transfer policy so we swing wildly from one manager to another who have different philosophies and different player needs.
Think of Barcelona which is the most obvious example, regardless of manager, they have a certain style of player they covet and this makes it much easier for them to build upon what they already have.

Until we sort that out, be it a director of football or whatever solution we choose, we're going to be a Europa League level club-.

Skills · Jan 23, 2020

Adisa said:
The club cannot spend what it does not have.

Our fanbase is a bit mental. They think once you get a new manager, it's a blank slate and the money we've spent before is wiped off.

It's why our strategy of getting a manager and then letting him 'rebuild' is mental. It's completely the wrong way to go about it. The club should hire a coach which is best suited to achieve the most with the group of players already at the club. Then as the club reinforces and changes the makeup of the squad, you then re-evaluate whether your coach is suitable for the players you have now. It might just mean you're changing managers every 18 months, but you should always be looking to get maximum value out of the assets at the club.

Nou_Camp99 · Jan 23, 2020

If nobody renews their season tickets in summer they will have no choice but sell the club. People who have them will get them back once they go. They will get first refusal for sure under any new owners. Singing songs won't do anything. Its been done before and they are still here.

ghaliboy · Jan 23, 2020

We're not sitting on a pile of disposable cash. We're built on forward investments, revenue and the rhythm of the stock price. We have to lock in all of our financials over time. We can't just throw cash around willy nilly because most of it is tied up in liquidity.

AneRu · Jan 23, 2020

msra5kg2 said:
A timely thread. From a financial standpoint we made a loss in 2018 and only managed to break even of c£10m net profit, in 2019. Whilst we did spend £145m on signings we did reduce our wage bill and recouped £75m from Lukaku. Our revenue used to be powered by champions league progression and lucrative PL rights and both those are diminishing.

So from a transfer perspective, the issues are that we do need to get rid of the deadwood. However we don’t have the financial muscle, or even the pull factor, to replace them with high quality players. Instead we have enough money to sign young talent that may benefit us in a few years time. Can we do that savvily? I don’t believe we have the right infrastructure in place at old Trafford to get it done so unfortunately the verdict is for us to get used to top 6 battles for the next few years. We’d be better of consolidating our scouting network and recruit a quality DOF to make this strategy work.

Without investment into this club, infrastructure and let alone the first team, we’ll not only be used to a top 6 battle but lose every bit of prestige we built pre glazers. Be interesting what we do (or don’t do) this summer.

This is the elephant in the room, it's imperative for us to get that aspect of the club right and that will ensure that we spend our money effectively. I think the Woodward strategy of spending £130m on two players was ever going to be sustainable nor that of consigning ourselves to expensive average British talent that Ole brought in.

The money we spent last summer would have gotten us three good players from France, Germany etc. Similarly it doesn't make sense to target the likes of Maddison, Sancho etc when you only have £80m net to spend. We need to be smarter unfortunately it seems we have learnt nothing from the mistakes of the past six seasons.

Leftback99 · Jan 23, 2020

Lentwood said:
I’m not saying the club aren’t rich but we don’t have anywhere near as much money to spend on transfers as 95% of this forum seem to think we do

We’ve spent £715m net since 2013. Only City have spent more with £735m.

Chelsea have spent £188m net, Liverpool £140m and Spurs around £60m

This forum seems to believe clubs have endless cash they can just pour into buying players and it’s just not true of any club in the world. We’ve wasted it, simple as that. Until we can get players out and reduce the wage bill i certainly can’t see a big spending spree

Pretty much this. We're not 'in trouble' but anyone thinking we're going to be able to spend our way out of this mess is dreaming. The days of us having a big financial advantage over our rivals are gone. We blew it all between LVG and Mourinho on dross.

Sacking Solskjaer would be another £15m+ hit to profits. We haggle over £5m fees and send useful players on loan to reduce the wage bill. Alarm bells.

Tel074 · Jan 23, 2020

We might as a club have massive riches but the past 2 years it has shown in the transfer market that we have pulled back from spending huge sums unless we are selling. I'm not 100% sure but I heard someone say in the last 4 windows we have a net spend of 30 million . If that's true then to me it shows the owners while having vast revenues have pulled the plug on us spending big and tbh spending big is the only way we will get back near the top

Adisa · Jan 23, 2020

DomesticTadpole said:
Then in the future we will have even less money to spend until those sponsorship deals kick , shirt maker and shirt sponsor.

One of the consequences of mismanaging funds in the last three years. Our financial advantage has evaporated.
We have to be smart with our money going forward and ensure we are better at our rivals at recruiting players.

Eleven-Eighteen · Jan 23, 2020

No financial mess. United owners and Woody are just sick of paying huge transfer fees and footing big wage bills, which has been the model over the past 5 years.

Ole isn't going anywhere and United are trying to tell other teams they won''t be overpaying anymore. That's it

arthurka · Jan 23, 2020

Lentwood said:
I’m not saying the club aren’t rich but we don’t have anywhere near as much money to spend on transfers as 95% of this forum seem to think we do

We’ve spent £715m net since 2013. Only City have spent more with £735m.

Chelsea have spent £188m net, Liverpool £140m and Spurs around £60m

This forum seems to believe clubs have endless cash they can just pour into buying players and it’s just not true of any club in the world. We’ve wasted it, simple as that. Until we can get players out and reduce the wage bill i certainly can’t see a big spending spree

Agree with this, there in lies our problem. United have used the money they had and generated on duds so the next spending spree needs to come from somewhere else. It's shocking to see how bad we have been in the market, really shocking. Also why doesn't any player who comes through here improve? They all seem to regress. Another problem is our lack of identity and direction.

DomesticTadpole · Jan 23, 2020

Adisa said:
One of the consequences of mismanaging funds in the last three years. Our financial advantage has evaporated.
We have to be smart with our money going forward and ensure we are better at our rivals at recruiting players.

That is so true. Let's hope they now get recruitment right or it could set us back 30 years.

RoyH1 · Jan 23, 2020

AneRu said:
This is the elephant in the room, it's imperative for us to get that aspect of the club right and that will ensure that we spend our money effectively. I think the Woodward strategy of spending £130m on two players was ever going to be sustainable nor that of consigning ourselves to expensive average British talent that Ole brought in.

The money we spent last summer would have gotten us three good players from France, Germany etc. Similarly it doesn't make sense to target the likes of Maddison, Sancho etc when you only have £80m net to spend. We need to be smarter unfortunately it seems we have learnt nothing from the mistakes of the past six seasons.

I agree. The amount of money spent on Maguire is absolutely mental. Do not buy English players from PL rivals, you'll pay triple of what they're worth.

Adisa · Jan 23, 2020

Skills said:
Our fanbase is a bit mental. They think once you get a new manager, it's a blank slate and the money we've spent before is wiped off.

It's why our strategy of getting a manager and then letting him 'rebuild' is mental. It's completely the wrong way to go about it. The club should hire a coach which is best suited to achieve the most with the group of players already at the club. Then as the club reinforces and changes the makeup of the squad, you then re-evaluate whether your coach is suitable for the players you have now. It might just mean you're changing managers every 18 months, but you should always be looking to get maximum value out of the assets at the club.

I wholeheartedly agree.
We sacked LVG, hired Mourinho and the first thing he said was that he wanted a team of "specialists". We have tried to rebuild the squad like 3/4 times in the last 7 years. It simply cannot work.
It's a terrible football startegy and also a terrible economic strategy. I scratch my head each time someone says Ed is a financial guru. Apart from the 1bn used in financing the takeover, this man alone has cost the club a billion as well.

MoskvaRed · Jan 23, 2020

MaxiPaxi said:
Could they not float all of their shares on stock exchange and receive the money that way. That means they wouldn't have to have find a buyer who's going to fork out 4bn all by themselves?

It would be a big ask to flog off all that volume of shares in a football club to general stockmarket investors. The valuation has increased 5 fold since 2005. And it’s hard to sell United as either a growth story (that was 20 years ago) or a sustainable, reliable income generating investment (management has a 7 year track record of overseeing failure and at some point revenue levels must start to adjust to reflect the car crash on the pitch). So, even if doable, the Glazers would need to offer a big discount. I am afraid I can only see United being sold to a buyer who is driven by motives other than making a profit, e.g. helping to improve the reputation of a regime or individual.

DomesticTadpole · Jan 23, 2020

Adisa said:
I wholeheartedly agree.
We sacked LVG, hired Mourinho and the first thing he said was that he wanted a team of "specialists". We have tried to rebuild the squad like 3/4 times in the last 7 years. It simply cannot work.
It's a terrible football startegy and also a terrible economic strategy. I scratch my head each time someone says Ed is a financial guru. Apart from the 1bn used in financing the takeover, this man alone has cost the club a billion as well.

So do we have to let Ole get on with his rebuild and hope for the best?

Ikon · Jan 23, 2020

Ali Dia said:
1: they sell up and don’t spend much more before they go.They cash out super rich.

2: this is some kind of genius plan to totally strip the club back and come back stronger and with a different ethos to the adult Disneyland nightmare. I can’t see Woodward not fecking that up so that’s a massive worry about where we are headed.

3: they’ve rolled the dice and threw so much bad money around and realised they didn’t really need to spend as much for the next few years to keep pumping money out of the club while they decide what to do next and this is that in action. In that sense I think we are in financial trouble. Our owners aren’t but the club from the supporters view most certainly is. The owners just won’t want to spend what it takes after wasting so much and seeing no return. I also saw somewhere that we still owe a lot of money for past transfer fees too. Like hundreds of millions. It’s a disaster!

Yeah I'm inclined to agree with each of the above points.
Looking at it from the Glazer's non-footballing point of view, they will feel that they have released nigh on a Billion pounds on player recruitment post SAF, but they are not seeing any positive outcomes.
So they will question the "football experts" at the club, why do we release even more huge sums of money, with no guarantees of success, and in all probability, that money will also be wasted...
In short, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Dan_F · Jan 23, 2020

It’s the strategy. There’s no need to go out and blow everyone else out of the water with fees and wages if the scouting is right. Liverpool built a very good team for less money than ours, but then added world class players that fitted their team plan and manager, over the space of a couple of years.
Allison and VVD for example. We went out and bought Maguire and AWB for a similar price this year, so it’s not like we can’t afford the best players in the league. We need a system that works and to only buy players that fit into that, instead of just looking at who has played well in that position last year. ie AWB playing in a massively defensive team, compared to being expected to attack here.

AneRu · Jan 23, 2020

Skills said:
Our fanbase is a bit mental. They think once you get a new manager, it's a blank slate and the money we've spent before is wiped off.

It's why our strategy of getting a manager and then letting him 'rebuild' is mental. It's completely the wrong way to go about it. The club should hire a coach which is best suited to achieve the most with the group of players already at the club. Then as the club reinforces and changes the makeup of the squad, you then re-evaluate whether your coach is suitable for the players you have now. It might just mean you're changing managers every 18 months, but you should always be looking to get maximum value out of the assets at the club.

Agreed but I think the problem stems from identifying ill suited coaches and then giving them the power to drive football strategy whilst you don't have the patience to tolerate poor seasons.

It means you are always restarting, I am certain that the next manager who comes in won't want anything to do with one of Maguire or AWB because they have significant weaknesses to their game that a modern coach simply won't tolerate. Add that to Mata, Matic, Lindelof, Martial etc. You realize you need to ship out and replace five or six players before even improving on what you needed.

romufc · Jan 23, 2020

Ikon said:
Yeah I'm inclined to agree with each of the above points.
Looking at it from the Glazer's non-footballing point of view, they will feel that they have released nigh on a Billion pounds on player recruitment post SAF, but they are not seeing any positive outcomes.
So they will question the "football experts" at the club, why do we release even more huge sums of money, with no guarantees of success, and in all probability, that money will also be wasted...
In short, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They can question those people, but they also need to take action and sack them people. If the manager is sacked for lack of results shouldn't the so called "footballing people" at the club be sacked too?

Skills · Jan 23, 2020

DomesticTadpole said:
So do we have to let Ole get on with his rebuild and hope for the best?

No because that's stupid. You should sack him, get a DOF in and task him to hire a coach who will give us the best shot of getting top 4 with the players at the club.

Literally the first question other clubs ask
coaches in their hiring process is - what can you achieve with the players at the club? If his answer is - well nothing unless I can spend £300m, then he's clearly not the right guy.

Then the second part of the DOFs job should be adding quality to the first XI and as the team evolves, he should be asked to ensure that we have the 'right coach' for the group of players at the club then.

Skills · Jan 23, 2020

AneRu said:
Agreed but I think the problem stems from identifying ill suited coaches and then giving them the power to drive football strategy whilst you don't have the patience to tolerate poor seasons.

It means you are always restarting, I am certain that the next manager who comes in won't want anything to do with one of Maguire or AWB because they have significant weaknesses to their game that a modern coach simply won't tolerate. Add that to Mata, Matic, Lindelof, Martial etc. You realize you need to ship out and replace five or six players before even improving on what you needed.

Then he's quite obviously the wrong guy then isn't he? If he's unhappy with half the squad (about £200m+ investment) why are even giving him the job then? He might be the right coach sometime down the line when we have a more suitable group of players, but you can't just keep writing off the money you've already invested.

DomesticTadpole · Jan 23, 2020

Skills said:
No because that's stupid. You should sack him, get a DOF in and task him to hire a coach who will give us the best shot of getting top 4 with the players at the club.

Literally the first question other clubs ask
coaches in their hiring process is - what can you achieve with the players at the club? If his answer is - well nothing unless I can spend £300m, then he's clearly not the right guy.

Then the second part of the DOFs job should be adding quality to the first XI and as the team evolves, he should be asked to ensure that we have the 'right coach' for the group of players at the club then.

We have been wanting a DOF for years and for some reason they do not want to do it. They might actually get forced to do it.

Infra-red · Jan 23, 2020

The club is financially stable, but we have essentially flatlined, while everyone else has gained on us.

The enormous financial advantage we enjoyed (and squandered) in the 2013-18 period is now more-or-less gone and rather than being able to buy our way out of trouble (relative to our rivals), our success/failure in the coming years will instead depend on how intelligently we recruit players and managers.

Catt · Jan 23, 2020

Tarrou said:
I can think of a few reasons why we're not investing atm

- they are intent on giving someone else the job in the summer and are reserving the budget
- they are ready to sell and don't want to invest significantly until they do
- Ed or whoever is so incompetent in making deals they haven't managed to sign anyone yet

The two first are the most likely ones. If the have someone coming in then that's fine.

AneRu · Jan 23, 2020

Skills said:
Then he's quite obviously the wrong guy then isn't he? If he's unhappy with half the squad (about £200m+ investment) why are even giving him the job then? He might be the right coach sometime down the line when we have a more suitable group of players, but you can't just keep writing off the money you've already invested.

But this is what we have been doing since we sacked Moyes. Moyes is the only guy who didn't conduct a massive clear out and we have gone downhill because of that stupid strategy.

In this era of huge money and short termism the manager shouldn't be the sole architect of football strategy. He should just coach the team and get results whilst the DOF runs point on long term strategy.

Look at Rodgers he is taking them into the CL despite just spending little money on a couple of players and losing his defender to us. He has actually revitalized Vardy where someone like Van Gaal or Mourinho would have sold him.

Ikon · Jan 23, 2020

romufc said:
They can question those people, but they also need to take action and sack them people. If the manager is sacked for lack of results shouldn't the so called "footballing people" at the club be sacked too?

Yeah I'd agree completely, and this is where the whole situation is a vicious circle.
I don't blame the Glazer's for our piss poor recruitment. The Glazer's are not footballing people, this squad has been assembled by the clubs "football experts" be that managers, scouts, coaches whatever.
These "football experts" are squarely to blame for this squad full of mediocre players and the weak mentality.

But then, the Glazer's must recognise that these "football experts" have, and are, failing miserably, at their task, and the Glazer's should have removed the incompentents and replaced with Best in Class appointments.

But we just go around in the same circle, and that will continue, until there is a huge shake up of our management structure.

groovyalbert · Jan 23, 2020

Turns out sucking out over a billion in just over a decade, then deploying an expensive scatter-gun approach to transfers and wages has its consequences. Who knew.

Adam-Utd · Jan 23, 2020

It does make you wonder why we want to stick to this British philosophy, when you're basically paying 20% extra on all players.

Maddison, Sancho, Grealish all are fantastic talents, but with good scouting we could find foreign talents for a pittance - and don't tell me they care less or don't work as hard.

We clearly do have a budget of about 100m on average at the moment - which is good but not enough to make the massive jumps we need ASAP.

The owners/club really should be trying to take out a big loan to close the gap, but they'll never do it.

Adisa · Jan 23, 2020

DomesticTadpole said:
So do we have to let Ole get on with his rebuild and hope for the best?

No. Ole shouldn't be in charge of any rebuild. It should be an independent role.

GazTheLegend · Jan 23, 2020

Feels to me like th Glazers are doing a Southampton with our club now.

I remember when Southampton sold prettt much all their best players - but ended up doing really well anyway thanks to a great youth system + Poch

They’re trying to invest minimal amounts in a long term gain plan while selling our current assets

The Glazers were sold on Solskjær and Woodward’s new strategy of youth courage success - basically try to play a load of youth players who had a minimal training cost and turn them into assets, while maintaining a net spend of zero every summer and basically just “avoid relegation”.

That actually might bear fruit long term but they really don’t give a flying feck about Manchester or Manchester United so as soon as they get an offer that is reasonable I’m sure they’ll sell - there is no point holding on to a super risky investment like our club when the competition does not care about losing money in order to out perform you in the short term

The United share price went up, presumably because they WANT to sell at this point. The unrest of hundreds of millions of people that hate you and are literally chanting for you to die might be a sobering reminder that a football club isn’t like other businesses too - another reason to sell

We will be owned by the Saudi royal family sooner rather than later, I’m pretty sure of that

Bilbo · Jan 23, 2020

groovyalbert said:
Turns out sucking out over a billion in just over a decade, then deploying an expensive scatter-gun approach to transfers and wages has its consequences. Who knew.

Exactly. I said to the guy next to me last night 'if you were ever wondering what years of bad investments and poor decision making looks like, its right there in front of us'

AneRu · Jan 23, 2020

Ikon said:
Yeah I'd agree completely, and this is where the whole situation is a vicious circle.
I don't blame the Glazer's for our piss poor recruitment. The Glazer's are not footballing people, this squad has been assembled by the clubs "football experts" be that managers, scouts, coaches whatever.
These "football experts" are squarely to blame for this squad full of mediocre players and the weak mentality.

But then, the Glazer's must recognise that these "football experts" have, and are, failing miserably, at their task, and the Glazer's should have removed the incompentents and replaced with Best in Class appointments.

But we just go around in the same circle, and that will continue, until there is a huge shake up of our management structure.

The solution is clear for all to see but they are allowing their puppet's ego to scupper the progress. The simple thing is just get Campos in, instruct him to source a suitable manager and build the squad.

The players we have have taken us to 5th despite the injuries and had enough last season to knock PSG. I don't think we need 10 signings to improve on where we are, I think four good signings plus a solid manager are enough to see us improve enough to get top four.

Tom Cato · Jan 23, 2020

KingCantona87 said:
Does anybody else feel that United have some serious financial/cashflow problems that we aren't aware of? The constant and somewhat silly fretting over player's prices? The ever-growing amount of debt that the club (not the Glazers) are saddled with?

That's the only logical reason I can think of (not signing anyone) when it is so patently obvious that we need fresh players in the squad. I just don't buy the guff about there not being any players available because it is January. If United wanted a player, they sure as feck could go out and buy that player (or at least so I once thought).

This whole schtick about them changing transfer policy doesn't sit well with me and I am greatly concerned that we could go the way of Leeds if things continue on as they are....

No. We do not have financial trouble.

The MUFC financial statements and obligations are publicly available and they show no signs of a struggling enterprise. The club is managing its debt just fine and has a healthy overhead.

Fox_Chrys · Jan 23, 2020

Skills said:
Our fanbase is a bit mental. They think once you get a new manager, it's a blank slate and the money we've spent before is wiped off.

It's why our strategy of getting a manager and then letting him 'rebuild' is mental. It's completely the wrong way to go about it. The club should hire a coach which is best suited to achieve the most with the group of players already at the club. Then as the club reinforces and changes the makeup of the squad, you then re-evaluate whether your coach is suitable for the players you have now. It might just mean you're changing managers every 18 months, but you should always be looking to get maximum value out of the assets at the club.

That is how we work.

We have a DoF who is in charge of footballing operations at the club. Including scouting, transfers.
When we employ managers, we employ a manager to suit the ethos of the club, and the squad we have, which is why we employed Brendan as he had similar ethos as Puel the previous manager.

Whilst looking at you guys, you have no DoF, and seem to have no ethos. Because of this you go from one type of manager to another, the players learn how to play one way under manager A, then have to change for manager B.

Also at our club all levels learn to play the same way, so it would mean players from youth team are more likely to migrate to first team, no idea how that pans out at your club.

I think in the modern era, where every EPL club is rich, and also is multiple super rich clubs competing for honours, the old strategy of buying the best players from clubs lower in the league is dated, you guys need to adapt to the modern era, because you not going to get much of a rebuild done, if you paying circa 50-80m for each first team player you sign.

For a club of your size, with its history, turnover levels, fan base, wage structure to end up signing Maguire as your marquee signing in the summer shows a serious problem within your scouting network and transfer policy.

I do feel for Manchester United, the problem is more than the manager.

Clubs like Manchester City, its not just been about the money, the clubs are actually run in a better manner as well.

Castia · Jan 23, 2020

It just boils down to not wanting to spend by the board. It’s a messy situation we’ve just spent £130m on 2 new defenders yet have conceded more goals in 24 games than Jose did in a full season playing Valencia Bailey Smalling Young in the back 4, they must be wondering what the feck is going on.

JPRouve · Jan 23, 2020

Tel074 said:
We might as a club have massive riches but the past 2 years it has shown in the transfer market that we have pulled back from spending huge sums unless we are selling. I'm not 100% sure but I heard someone say in the last 4 windows we have a net spend of 30 million . If that's true then to me it shows the owners while having vast revenues have pulled the plug on us spending big and tbh spending big is the only way we will get back near the top

That's not the case, we spend the same proportion every year. The difference is where we spend it, our wage bill has massively increased between 2015 and 2019 which means that we have less money for transfer fees.

romufc · Jan 23, 2020

Ikon said:
Yeah I'd agree completely, and this is where the whole situation is a vicious circle.
I don't blame the Glazer's for our piss poor recruitment. The Glazer's are not footballing people, this squad has been assembled by the clubs "football experts" be that managers, scouts, coaches whatever.
These "football experts" are squarely to blame for this squad full of mediocre players and the weak mentality.

But then, the Glazer's must recognise that these "football experts" have, and are, failing miserably, at their task, and the Glazer's should have removed the incompentents and replaced with Best in Class appointments.

But we just go around in the same circle, and that will continue, until there is a huge shake up of our management structure.

We can shout, scream, chant at OT but nothing will change. Ed Woodward is the highest paid Chief Exec in the PL. He helped the Glazers secure the takeover so he has their loyalty.

They are not going to sack him and hire someone who will stand up to them. It is a very easy ride at the moment, Ed makes them money, they spend the money, Ed gets a hefty pay cheque and he deals with the protests. Simple as.

If someone paid me millions and I had to hear chants against me for 5 games a season at home, I wouldn't care so long the the 0's in my bank keep coming.

Ed is a money man, he does not care about the football, trophies etc..

If people think I am wrong then look at what the club is trying to do to get back on top? nothing.

Inigo Montoya · Jan 23, 2020

We’re not the attractive proposition that we should be. That much is obvious

Not as bad as the 70s where we were everyone’s favourite second team and still selling merchandise but wallowing in mid table mediocrity behind Liverpool and the like.

stubie · Jan 23, 2020

Whilst not in any financial trouble I strongly believe the cut backs on spending are to do with the club been sold

Before money was thrown at the problem, that's not the case anymore

JPRouve · Jan 23, 2020

stubie said:
Whilst not in any financial trouble I strongly believe the cut backs on spending are to do with the club been sold

Before money was thrown at the problem, that's not the case anymore

There has been no cut backs on spendings though.

Are United in Financial Trouble?

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what would Souness do?

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Might have a bedwetting fetish.

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likes to take afvanadva wothowi doubt

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Doom-monger obsessed with Herrera & the M.E.N.

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likes to take afvanadva wothowi doubt

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Ole's at the wheel!

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Correctly predicted France to win World Cup 2018

it's a mute point

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid

likes to take afvanadva wothowi doubt

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TeaBaggins

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Godt nyttår!

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can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate

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Leave Wayne Rooney alone!!

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can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate