Club Sale | It’s done!

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Tom Van Persie

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PSG - the only ones actually owned by Qatar - have been an absolute shit show, and actively engaged in exactly the same stupid galactico policy as Woodward. Big whoop they’ve won the French league a lot.
This is what worries me big time. Say what you want about Arnold but at least he stays out of the football matters and leaves those decisions to the people qualified to make them.
 

AlPistacho

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The million people marching through London against the invasion happened before social media came up. It didn't need social media to gather all those people.
I’m speaking about the media. People marched against the war which is always good and always happens…. funnily enough probably even when a war would be justified (very very rarely)
 

Mockney

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Hard for them to win any other league though isn't it. Granted they should have done better in the CL but domestically they are a force. Unlike another team that's owned by a bidder for us.

Would I want all these prima donnas at United? No. But I don't think they'd handle us like they do PSG. They are pretty much a PR club which is simply not needed here.
This is what worries me big time. Say what you want about Arnold but at least he stays out of the football matters and leaves those decisions to the people qualified to make them.
Also how is ETH’s proposed salary cap going to fly with the people who negotiated the Mbappe contract?
 

united_99

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They need to or it could go pear shape very quickly. Otherwise we could be changing manager time after time, without the success you can easily get in Ligue 1.
Yep. All it takes is a few bad results and then it all depends on the new owners and the new guys they appoint.
A lot of people here are always overjoyed by the mere thought of changing managers. Because you know look at Chelsea, Madrid or Bayern. Well, Chelsea in the past mostly had an owner/board who knew what they were doing. Madrid and Bayern still have them.
If you don’t have this well working structure, then just changing managers will do more harm than good.
Also no clue what PSG have achieved. Yes they regularly win the French league by being I don’t know how much richer than any other team in that league. Impressive stuff.
 

sglowrider

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It’s changes like these that could unsettle Ten Hag.
That's why if the new owners are sensible, they can come in and have a look around and assess the situation first. If they are United fans first and foremost they will know there has been some restructuring and is starting to bear fruits.
 

Boycott

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Anyway I don't think there is an alternative. The 2000s and early 2010s saw a lot of American investment into English football that was purely PR and profits for their businesses. You never hear from the Glazers and even in their NFL franchise they aren't vocal. They don't care about the club because they don't care for the sport. The club can be relegated and they'll still have big money streams based on history and branding. I do believe Middle Eastern businessmen do have an interest in the sport as an extension of business since they don't really have a long sporting history so it goes hand in hand to make their own nations bigger and better in the football world. Doesn't make the negatives any less bad but it is what is because unfortunately they're the only ones who can afford it.
 

Godfather

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Also how is ETH’s proposed salary cap going to fly with the people who negotiated the Mbappe contract?
I guess we'll have to see but too much player power would be incredibly dangerous that's for sure. On the other hand: Would we keep that hard salary cap if e.g. Rashford decided he wants more?
 

jackal&hyde

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I think they'd have a hard time proving the club was worth 6bn in any sense, I mean it's not as if everyday people buy off them is it, they're business to business so all the good pr in the world won't make as much of a difference for them. It's almost certainly why there bid is a lot lower and I'd imagine that any interest on loans etc. Would be paid off the club, probably wouldn't take dividends, but interest rates are high and there's far more initial debt than with the Glazers, I can't see any situation where a buyout built in debt doesn't become a problem eventually
Yeah, you make good points. It's business to business like you say and the way I look at it is that good PR here makes the point for good management. Then, for that level of business, buying a football club for 5 to 6 billions make sense? I don't think so. So it must be some sort of PR thing. There are many, many ways to invest that level of money for much better profit.

To summaries, it just does not make sense to me to buy the club from purely a profit point of view given the price and future investment needed. It just doesn't; otherwise the Glazers would not sell to begin with. So it must be much more then cost vs profit/debt over a period of time. There must be other benefits. For the middle east it's sports washing (for Quatar is more then that imo) and for INEOS it must be a PR badge like the F1 Mercedes team. If that is so, then you do not get a publicly loved entity for good will just to cripple it in debt and make all emotionally involved with said entity hate your soul.
 

Suv666

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We’re going to rip everything up just when we’ve got our shit together.
Lets not forget how haphazard the transfer window was. We were twaddling our thumbs then we got spanked and went mental.

Not getting a striker, the Ronaldo circus, absurd amount for Antony. It was a weird window.

A proper footballing structure and a long term strategy is desperately needed and I’m all for it.

ETH is winning despite the folks upstairs and not because of them.
 

Rightnr

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Why? The upward trejectory isn't only due to ETH. It's a team effort
Oh, yeah, indeed. EtH coaches the players, identified the right transfers (plus a world class player every Tom, Dick and Harry knows about) and Murtough flew to Torino and Barcelona and closed jack shit.

The only distinguishable excellence at this club in the last 10 years can be traced to our new manager. The rest can jog on. This can also be seen in articles like the one at the start of last summer where EtH binned off all their scouting suggestions.
 

Godfather

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Out of interest, is there anyone over the age of thirty here welcoming the oil money with giddiness?
Qatar would be gas.

Don't think anyone is real giddy about any of the proposed new owners. Just giddy that the Glazers will (hopefully) be history
 

UnitedSofa

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Lets not forget how haphazard the transfer window was. We were twaddling our thumbs then we got spanked and went mental.

Not getting a striker, the Ronaldo circus, absurd amount for Antony. It was a weird window.

A proper footballing structure and a long term strategy is desperately needed and I’m all for it.

ETH is winning despite the folks upstairs and not because of them.
This may have been how it looked but it definitely wasn’t the case

A footballing structure has been put in place and the jigsaw pieces are coming into place quite nicely

EtH is winning as well as the people upstairs, it’s a team effort he ain’t doing it all by himself for fecks sakes
 

Mickeza

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Lets not forget how haphazard the transfer window was. We were twaddling our thumbs then we got spanked and went mental.

Not getting a striker, the Ronaldo circus, absurd amount for Antony. It was a weird window.

A proper footballing structure and a long term strategy is desperately needed and I’m all for it.

ETH is winning despite the folks upstairs and not because of them.
Because the funds weren’t available. Only after the defeat to Brentford was the budget doubled. That’s on the Glazers.
 

Godfather

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Lack of fan interaction from the new owners is something that I wouldn't welcome here. How's the relationship between the Qatari's and PSG fans?
 

calodo2003

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I wonder what the Glazers views are. There is a good chance they are Christian and very anti LGBT too. We just don’t know because they are so reclusive.
They're Jewish.

Buccaneers are very active with the LGBTQ community as well as have the first openly gay player in the NFL. If memory serves, the family has specifically endorsed the LGBTQ cause.

But they are reclusive as feck.
 

Infra-red

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Giddy over oil money, no. Giddy over the prospect of the club being run without shackles and allowed to reach its full potential, yes.
Does that mean to say you would be giddy about the club being owned by any owner that did not saddle the club with any debt or take out dividends/managements fees?

Judging by reports thus far, Ratcliffe appears to be offering exactly that.
 

Sviken

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The principle still applies to the Glazers, as despite their incompetence, they have still reacted to bad post Fergie performances by making changes, as not doing so (even for them as ignorant of football owners) would've resulted in a loss of brand value. Its much easier and profitable for them to sell an aspirational United on the way back up than one languishing in mid table mediocrity.
They have reacted... incompetently which led to this scenario right here - with them selling after saddling the club with more debt and unable to go any further without investment money don't have. How is this considered good? It's one thing to react, it's another to react accordingly. Look at City owners - they don't answer to shareholders but you can't say they've ran the club bad. I'm pretty sure that Qataris at their worst are still going to be better owners than the Glazers simply on virtue of having a shitton of money
 

Suv666

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Because the funds weren’t available. Only after the defeat to Brentford was the budget doubled. That’s on the Glazers.
That doesn’t justify spending so much on Antony, the De Jong chase, not sorting out Ronaldo’s situation, almost getting that French kid with the unpleasant mother.

The board has been mediocre at best.
If the new owners want to appoint competent people who have experience running top football clubs how can anyone not be chuffed with that?
 

Steve Bruce

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WE had so many fans who always claimed they didn't care about City, because due to their state financed doping their achievements didn't matter. The thing is, I feel the same will be true for us if Qatar buys us.
It really depends on how they conduct themselves.

If we're working on a net budget of 150m for transfers then out club will be sustaining itself. If we do a Chelsea and spend 600m in a year then your right.

Newcastle haven't been extravagant and if they get top 4 imo it wouldn't be a hollow achievement
 

Nogho

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"Bloomberg reports that Ratcliffe is working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as he prepares for some exceptionally well-heeled competition. The banks are ready to issue bonds and loans to back Ratcliffe’s bid."

So, essentially another owner who borrows money to buy the club and then lets the club pay the mortage. Jippi. Could just keep the Glazers.
 

Raoul

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They have reacted... incompetently which led to this scenario right here - with them selling after saddling the club with more debt and unable to go any further without investment money don't have. How is this considered good? It's one thing to react, it's another to react accordingly. Look at City owners - they don't answer to shareholders but you can't say they've ran the club bad. I'm pretty sure that Qataris at their worst are still going to be better owners than the Glazers simply on virtue of having a shitton of money
Its not good, but then again United's share price has generally traded in the same range from 2014 to the present. Therefore, whatever fan disdain there was for the Glazers, it never manifested itself into financial loss for them that would've compelled them to modify their strategy. That strategy appears to have always been to grow equity in the club and sell to the highest bidder, which is what we're seeing right now.
 

Ronaldo's ego

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Does that mean to say you would be giddy about the club being owned by any owner that did not saddle the club with any debt or take out dividends/managements fees?

Judging by reports thus far, Ratcliffe appears to be offering exactly that.
I’d be happy for that but I’m not so convinced about Jim. Problem is we won’t know until the new owners actually come in, by then it could be too late and we’re saddled for another decade plus.
 

Carl

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@Damien Is there a thread or anything to just see reliable news updates (a bit like we do for transfers during the windows)? It's quite hard to follow such an active thread whilst pretending to work..
 

buchansleftleg

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The media will be very anti the Qatari bid because they will be cut-off from the easy back channels they have had for the last few years and will just get positive news releases about investment etc from a better organised club structure.

Whilst the Glazers themselves were fairly reclusive we know that Woodward was always briefing to journalists and prepared to wash linen in public, hanging managers out to dry even if it suited his agenda. This media focus meant we chased "big name" signings to make statements rather than maybe the better, up and coming talent.

If Qatari investment makes the club wholly private again, with Credit Suisse accounts, then the media will be cut off from the usual title tattle we have had from board members and execs with an agenda. This combined with ETH's approach to keeping media at arms length, will mean that the media won't be getting easy clickbait stories and the revenue generated from stories about turmoil behind the scenes at Old Trafford.

I'm not suggesting all the problems will miraculously go away - but they will at least be kept behind closed doors.
 

UnitedSofa

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That doesn’t justify spending so much on Antony, the De Jong chase, not sorting out Ronaldo’s situation, almost getting that French kid with the unpleasant mother.

The board has been mediocre at best.
If the new owners want to appoint competent people who have experience running top football clubs how can anyone not be chuffed with that?
De Jong chase was down to EtH

Not getting Rabiot was down to Arnold/Murtough not bowing to demands

What are you trying to get at here?

Arnold/EtH/Murtough are working wonders
 

DOTA

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I don't really understand what this 'soft deadline' thing is.

What is this soft deadline thing?
 

MTF

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"Bloomberg reports that Ratcliffe is working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as he prepares for some exceptionally well-heeled competition. The banks are ready to issue bonds and loans to back Ratcliffe’s bid."

So, essentially another owner who borrows money to buy the club and then lets the club pay the mortage. Jippi. Could just keep the Glazers.
I'm not saying that he'll do an LBO or not, or what he'll do about the existing debt on the club's own balance sheet. But even in the case that he's just raising debt on Ineos' balance sheet, you still need investment banks to underwrite and either finance you themselves or find buyers for that debt.
 

Red the Bear

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I hoped Arnold the rest were given more time, I really liked what I saw and I thought they did quite well in their first season in charge, the way the quickly wrapped up the sabitzer deal after the extent of eriksen's injury became apparent was quite admirable i say.
 

dove

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I don't really understand what this 'soft deadline' thing is.

What is this soft deadline thing?
Every sale process should have some deadline as they won't be waiting for the bids forever. However it doesn't mean that the bids submitted tomorrow or later won't be considered.
 

Rightnr

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@Damien Is there a thread or anything to just see reliable news updates (a bit like we do for transfers during the windows)? It's quite hard to follow such an active thread whilst pretending to work..
See the stickies.
 
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