Club Sale | It’s done!

[fallengt]

Has Sir Ratcliffe published a statement yet?
He's a potential buyer, fans should know how much is he willing to invest in the club. A revamped stadium, football structure and clear of debt would be good starter.

 

[DevilRed]

I just hope the glazers accept the best offer, which is from the Qataris. Everything about their statement is what someone would like to hear. Not just for our club but for the surrounding areas and infrastructure around it.

But I wouldn't put it past them to feck over the fans and help their banker buddies at GS and JPM. Alot of people could be disappointed.

 

[Nicolarra90]

Are you American? With that level of understanding of Geography where you mix Qatar and the Taliban, you have to be American.

Don't insult us Americans, we are a continent. I think you mean asking if he's from the country that has no real name.

 

[DevilRed]

I’m surprised that no US consortium/PE bids have been reported yet. If that’s really the case then it could be indicative that the glazers have already done a deal, with either Qatar or the Investment Banks/Jim.

 

[Nights]

I’m surprised that no US consortium/PE bids have been reported yet. If that’s really the case then it could be indicative that the glazers have already done a deal, with either Qatar or the Investment Banks/Jim.

Priced out by the Qatari bid imo.

 

[croadyman]

Looking at both confirmed bids I like what INEOS have said about fan centred ownership (need to explain how it would work in future),however worry about them not being able to fully invest and how it's being funded. They also need to make bigger statements in the coming days than putting the Manchester back into Manchester United too.

Then looking at Qatar I like what I hear about their vision for the club going forward,however still need to hear they want to keep Erik and are fully accepting of everyone no matter gender or serial orientation.

I also might have warmed to Ratcliffe's bid if the scousers weren't on the market too and wasn't shit scared about Qatar buying them instead.

Wish there was some guarantee they wouldn't go and invest somewhere else in Premier League but sadly that's not the case.

 

[caid]

Let's also look at PSG before the Qataris. Why does no one ever talk about that ?

They had Ronaldinho playing for them. They won a european trophy in 96. They finished second in 03/04, 3 points behind the winners.
French teams making champions league QF's and later isn't new. Making your striker the director of football is, thats what qatar brought to PSG

 

[BrianLy]

Remember ETH under Glazer, in summer because originally we have to work on a budget, we are actually missing out on Haaland, Osimhen, Tchouameni, Enzo etc because we need to reserve money for De Jong pursue all summer? Not to mention January window we are missing out on Felix, Enzo and go for loanees like Weghorst, Sabitzer instead. With Qatar this won;t be an issue at all. This is the main difference.

I don't think you have the capacity to understand this, but one of the things that made United exciting to watch in the good times was the set of constraints that surrounded them. There was never a time when the team was completely constructed of flavour of the month players brought together like a bunch of mercenaries. Many times you would look down the list and realise that a player wasn't considered the best in the world in their position. Those players knew that too. They knew they needed to bring their best to every game and it showed in the passion and teamwork. United ran away with so many games, won so much silverware, but there was always a tension because you knew that everyone had to perform.

Your argument is that we can use unlimited wealth to bring together a set of personalities that are fundamentally incompatible with winning teams. You can look at PSG for an example of how this works out. I'd argue that you can look back on the post-Fergie to ETH times as a time when executive management was trying to emulate the big spending model with an inept scouting and transfer team in place.

 

[Strelok]

Let's also look at PSG before the Qataris. Why does no one ever talk about that ?

Do you really think we can be PSG in the PL? Or we're like PSG before the Qataries bought them?

We were discussing the possibility of how we'd do under the Qataries and imo there's nothing sure about looking at PSG atm. Do you agree with that?

 

[croadyman]

Has Sir Ratcliffe published a statement yet?
He's a potential buyer, fans should know how much is he willing to invest in the club. A revamped stadium, football structure and clear of debt would be good starter.

Has said nothing official on any of those key things so far which won't do him any favours

 

[croadyman]

I don't think you have the capacity to understand this, but one of the things that made United exciting to watch in the good times was the set of constraints that surrounded them. There was never a time when the team was completely constructed of flavour of the month players brought together like a bunch of mercenaries. Many times you would look down the list and realise that a player wasn't considered the best in the world in their position. Those players knew that too. They knew they needed to bring their best to every game and it showed in the passion and teamwork. United ran away with so many games, won so much silverware, but there was always a tension because you knew that everyone had to perform.

Your argument is that we can use unlimited wealth to bring together a set of personalities that are fundamentally incompatible with winning teams. You can look at PSG for an example of how this works out. I'd argue that you can look back on the post-Fergie to ETH times as a time when executive management was trying to emulate the big spending model with an inept scouting and transfer team in place.

You make some very valid points but only need to look at City not really becoming that league powerhouse until Guardiola arrived.

Yes they won leagues under Mancini and Pellegrini but that was down to Utd blowing up in 2012 and Moyes dragging us down in 2014.

My point is we will still have to compete with the other top teams in this league no matter how much wealth we have behind us.

 

[Josh 76]

I just hope the glazers accept the best offer, which is from the Qataris. Everything about their statement is what someone would like to hear. Not just for our club but for the surrounding areas and infrastructure around it.

But I wouldn't put it past them to feck over the fans and help their banker buddies at GS and JPM. Alot of people could be disappointed.

Glazers won’t make it easy.

 

[Nicolarra90]

My united dies the moment it's taken over by murderers

So it died 18 years ago.

 

[UDontMessWith24]

They had Ronaldinho playing for them. They won a european trophy in 96. They finished second in 03/04, 3 points behind the winners.
French teams making champions league QF's and later isn't new. Making your striker the director of football is, thats what qatar brought to PSG

This in a no refutes the cold hard fact that PSG as a club weren't in the same stratosphere pre takeover as they are now. This is painfully disingenuous, and anyone that was following European football in the 90s and early 2000s call this out in a second. Ronaldinho at PSG was like Ronaldo at PSV. PSG as the giant global club they are today, did not exist pre takeover, and that's not an opinion but a fact.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

All humans are fickle and tbf most of them will revert back, very few people are of that ethical or moral standing that they will stand by their beliefs and not follow utd.

When you love or follow something so passionately it becomes an addiction, just like smoking or masturbation, it's very difficult to try to get rid of that habit.

Fair play to all those who will stop supporting utd because of their beliefs and views. For me even if somebody from Israel is taking over who has committed atrocities against Palestines, which I am very vocal about normally even that may not be enough for me to stop watching or supporting utd. It's sad but my moral compass is very low.

Quite odd and painful reading this one as an Israeli who hasn't chosen to be born here and to the specific parents who made me.
But I agree with both your moral stance about my country and also your bottom line regarding United (as an aside and not wanting this thread to be about me, I don't ever protest about the atrocities you mentioned or even more neutral things like climatic change, because of mental health issues that make the world's injustices too much for me to seriously get involved with).

I'll even go further than that and write that feelings-wise,
a state buying United will be one of the worst days of my life.
Imagining such owners forcing someone like Neymar on ETH (for what he symbolizes) or paying 500m for Mbappe is just unbearable.

And I know I won't be able to fully detach myself from the Caf. There have been periods during Mourinho's time where I could bring myself to watch our games because of the atmosphere he created,
but I'll always be on the Caf for hours.
Even writing this very post makes me feel somewhat less lonely and engage in something.
Hate the thought of losing it. Will have to stay on board and watch the United circus shamefully unfold.

 

[caid]

This in a no refutes the cold hard fact that PSG as a club weren't in the same stratosphere pre takeover as they are now. This is painfully disingenuous, and anyone that was following European football in the 90s and early 2000s call this out in a second. Ronaldinho at PSG was like Ronaldo at PSV. PSG as the giant global club they are today, did not exist pre takeover, and that's not an opinion but a fact.

PSG are a big joke today and having more twitter followers wont change it. I'd rather be an ajax / PSV supporter than a PSG supporter.
I followed football in the 90's and early 2000's. I watched Marseille win the Champions League. I saw Monaco in a final the year Abramovich showed up. Whats changed so drastically in your view?

 

[croadyman]

Radcliffe is the least worst option for me of the realistic bidders (if he can be classed as realistic). We have a better chance of him staying out of the footballing side of things and letting Ten Hag do his thing without interference.

And, if it all goes belly up then at least he will be more likely to sell up. If Qatar get us then we are theirs forever more, regardless of how it's working out.

Yeah I will give you it would be easier for him to sell up whereas being state owned no one could ever afford to take it off them

 

[croadyman]

Are people still thinking that the Qataris are spending upwards of 5bn just to listen to everything ETH says.

So he's on his bike under Qatari's then in your eyes

 

[tenpoless]

Then looking at Qatar I like what I hear about their vision for the club going forward,however still need to hear they want to keep Erik and are fully accepting of everyone no matter gender or serial orientation.

They will not spend 5 billion just to get the pitchforks out. Whether they say it or not, Qatar will remain Qatar and United remain United. I dont find it easy to support a club owned by a state that has questionable record with human rights though, doesnt matter what they say

 

[Kag]

Owned by a state or owned by somebody who could well be fairly skint? Spoiled for choice, aren’t we?

 

[Dannn411]

My united dies the moment it's taken over by murderers

Must have died many many years ago then.

 

[Dannn411]

I do not care if Ratcliffe is going to solve global warming all by himself. If he isn't committing to major investments in the club immediately and zeroing out the existing debt, he is a worse option than the Qatari bid. Simple as.

 

[croadyman]

Quite odd and painful reading this one as an Israeli who hasn't chosen to be born here and to the specific parents who made me.
But I agree with both your moral stance about my country and also your bottom line regarding United (as an aside and not wanting this thread to be about me, I don't ever protest about the atrocities you mentioned or even more neutral things like climatic change, because of mental health issues that make the world's injustices too much for me to seriously get involved with).

I'll even go further than that and write that feelings-wise,
a state buying United will be one of the worst days of my life.
Imagining such owners forcing someone like Neymar on ETH (for what he symbolizes) or paying 500m for Mbappe is just unbearable.

And I know I won't be able to fully detach myself from the Caf. There have been periods during Mourinho's time where I could bring myself to watch our games because of the atmosphere he created,
but I'll always be on the Caf for hours.
Even writing this very post makes me feel somewhat less lonely and engage in something.
Hate the thought of losing it. Will have to stay on board and watch the United circus shamefully unfold.

I would be lying if I said being state owned didn't leave me feeling uncomfortable but remaining a beacon of morality could still leave Erik unable to make that final step to winning leagues and champions leagues.

 

[redNATION]

I do not care if Ratcliffe is going to solve global warming all by himself. If he isn't committing to major investments in the club immediately and zeroing out the existing debt, he is a worse option than the Qatari bid. Simple as.

He’s a worse option as he has Goldman Sachs involved. Trust me, if they’re involved the club is not in safe hands, they’re called the vampire squid for a reason.

 

[NoPace]

How's this money washing or laundering only concerning when it comes to sports and not anything else ? I mean half of the items we use on our daily life has middle eastern money involved directly or indirectly.

I rarely do a little fist pump when an analyst for Credit Suisse rises to the occasion in a quarterly earnings call.

 

[17 Van der Gouw]

Must have died many many years ago then.

Could you elaborate on that?

 

[Dannn411]

Could you elaborate on that?

You can trace at least more than one murder to the fortunes of every billionaire on earth. We've been owned by one for close to 20 years.

 

[Marcelinho87]

Umpteen times it's been said now. SJR will not be borrowing 5bn, INEOS would pay that fee via whatever means but the only debt taken on would be via GS to the tune of 800m to pay off our remaining debt... So INEOS would be taking on 800m not 5bn - it's pocket change to a company like them.

 

[Tarrou]

Umpteen times it's been said now. SJR will not be borrowing 5bn, INEOS would pay that fee via whatever means but the only debt taken on would be via GS to the tune of 800m to pay off our remaining debt... So INEOS would be taking on 800m not 5bn - it's pocket change to a company like them.

I don't think I've seen it said once. Where are you getting this information?

 

[NotThatSoph]

FairSquare can go *#^*^##. Where were they when City and Newcastle got taken over?

Loudly and publicly against it, of course. What did you think, that a human rights organization doesn't really care but just wants to attack United?

Here's them saying that the Newcastle bid should be rejected: https://fairsq.org/2020/04/23/saudi-arabia-newcastle-takeover/

They weren't an org when City got taken over, so obviously they can't have said anything at the time, but there's been plenty of criticism afterwards.

 

[gaffs]

Honestly. Im sad about this.

Im Manchester born and bread and season ticket holder for over a decade before moving abroad. I honestly feel the club is a part of me and my identity.

Don’t get me wrong, The Glazer era has been a nightmare, but from a on field perspective I never felt we were doing in an illegitimate way. I almost felt more proud of the team because we were competing despite being weighed down by Glazer debt.

I always felt when Abramovic came into Chelsea that their success was completely hollow. Same for City.

I can’t help but feel that if Qatar come in, clear out debt, buy us a stadium and pump crazy money, then I feel that our success will feel hollow.

Ten Hag has made me feel great about the team in the last few months. If he gets absolutely crazy money and spends it, I think it will feel artificial.

United have developed their success and popularity organically via legendary players, teams and managers. I just don’t wanna feel our success is gonna be down to one man/nations wealth.

It’s been heading in this direction since we floated in 1991, so what can we do?

 

[Adnan]

If the Qatari group do end up buying the club then that doesn't mean we will be run like how QSI have operated at PSG. This is a different group to the one involved at PSG according to reports. And even if they're linked via the Royal Family, that doesn't mean they will run the club exactly the same way. We have to wait and see how things develop, but I do believe there will be a concerted effort to bring in some of the best young prospects in the world.

And if any prospective group ends up spending £5bn to buy the club, then it's a good idea to listen to ten Hag and the people who have been working all season to identify players for ten Hag's blueprint. INEOS in particular have fired Vieira and Favre and upset Galtier who left for PSG but was likely going to be sacked according to reports, before he left for PSG due to Luis Campos being in a senior recruitment role at the club.

With the transfer window on the horizon it would be wise not to destabilise things. And according to Mike Keegan, the Qatari group will allow people already at the club the opportunity to impress. But Ratcliffe at Nice sacked the DoF and brought in Iain Moody to oversee the recruitment for the summer window of 2022 and he made a bit of a mess, which ultimately cost Favre his job as the head coach. Iain Moody is also the same person that was implicated in the homophopic and racist texts involving Malky Mackay where they both made disgusting racist comments about people of black and oriental backgrounds.

And if they then want to make changes, then do it after the transfer window and not just before. I would be surprised to see any changes to the football structure on the eve of the summer transfer window.

 

[redNATION]

I think it’s obvious Al Thani is a front for QIA to satisfy the PSG issue. In the Gulf there’s no distinction between state wealth and royal wealth, he’s been given a huge pot into some ‘foundation’ to buy the club . The foundation is no doubt owned by Qatar in some way. Wouldn’t surprise me in future if they dump PSG and United is transferred to QSI.

That said I’m completely in favour of his bid

 

[croadyman]

If the Qatari group do end up buying the club then that doesn't mean we will be run like how QSI have operated at PSG. This is a different group to the one involved at PSG according to reports. And even if they're linked via the Royal Family, that doesn't mean they will run the club exactly the same way. We have to wait and see how things develop, but I do believe there will be a concerted effort to bring in some of the best young prospects in the world.

And if any prospective group ends up spending £5bn to buy the club, then it's a good idea to listen to ten Hag and the people who have been working all season to identify players for ten Hag's blueprint. INEOS in particular have fired Vieira and Favre and upset Galtier who left for PSG but was likely going to be sacked according to reports, before he left for PSG due to Luis Campos being in a senior recruitment role at the club.

With the transfer window on the horizon it would be wise not to destabilise things. And according to Mike Keegan, the Qatari group will allow people already at the club the opportunity to impress. But Ratcliffe at Nice sacked the DoF and brought in Iain Moody to oversee the recruitment for the summer window of 2022 and he made a bit of a mess, which ultimately cost Favre his job as the head coach. Iain Moody is also the same person that was implicated in the homophopic and racist texts involving Malky Mackay where they both made disgusting racist comments about people of black and oriental backgrounds.

And if they then want to make changes, then do it after the transfer window and not just before. I would be surprised to see any changes to the football structure on the eve of the summer transfer window.

Funny how Athletic don't seem very keen to highlight some of the things Ratcliffe got wrong whilst running OGS Nice

 

[DevilRed]

Honestly. Im sad about this.

Im Manchester born and bread and season ticket holder for over a decade before moving abroad. I honestly feel the club is a part of me and my identity.

Don’t get me wrong, The Glazer era has been a nightmare, but from a on field perspective I never felt we were doing in an illegitimate way. I almost felt more proud of the team because we were competing despite being weighed down by Glazer debt.

I always felt when Abramovic came into Chelsea that their success was completely hollow. Same for City.

I can’t help but feel that if Qatar come in, clear out debt, buy us a stadium and pump crazy money, then I feel that our success will feel hollow.

Ten Hag has made me feel great about the team in the last few months. If he gets absolutely crazy money and spends it, I think it will feel artificial.

United have developed their success and popularity organically via legendary players, teams and managers. I just don’t wanna feel our success is gonna be down to one man/nations wealth.

It’s been heading in this direction since we floated in 1991, so what can we do?

I'm on much the same boat.

But I've come to the realisation that hollow success is better than no success at all.

Or in our case the severe deterioration of the heart and soul of Manchester. Just watching it die a slow death has been incredibly difficult.

Now we have the opportunity to finally get back to where we were. Or at least a chance to.

 

[pratyush_utd]

Umpteen times it's been said now. SJR will not be borrowing 5bn, INEOS would pay that fee via whatever means but the only debt taken on would be via GS to the tune of 800m to pay off our remaining debt... So INEOS would be taking on 800m not 5bn - it's pocket change to a company like them.

Structure of deal is not announced. Not sure why you are making sound like you have some sort of official document. Right now structure of both deal is just speculation

 

[devilish]

Why would anyone want some loser whose leading a 7th place Nice when they can get the serial winners at PSG?

 

[DevilRed]

Why would anyone want some loser whose leading a 7th place Nice when they can get the serial winners at PSG?

Morality and all that.

 

[devilish]

If the Qatari group do end up buying the club then that doesn't mean we will be run like how QSI have operated at PSG. This is a different group to the one involved at PSG according to reports. And even if they're linked via the Royal Family, that doesn't mean they will run the club exactly the same way. We have to wait and see how things develop, but I do believe there will be a concerted effort to bring in some of the best young prospects in the world.

And if any prospective group ends up spending £5bn to buy the club, then it's a good idea to listen to ten Hag and the people who have been working all season to identify players for ten Hag's blueprint. INEOS in particular have fired Vieira and Favre and upset Galtier who left for PSG but was likely going to be sacked according to reports, before he left for PSG due to Luis Campos being in a senior recruitment role at the club.

With the transfer window on the horizon it would be wise not to destabilise things. And according to Mike Keegan, the Qatari group will allow people already at the club the opportunity to impress. But Ratcliffe at Nice sacked the DoF and brought in Iain Moody to oversee the recruitment for the summer window of 2022 and he made a bit of a mess, which ultimately cost Favre his job as the head coach. Iain Moody is also the same person that was implicated in the homophopic and racist texts involving Malky Mackay where they both made disgusting racist comments about people of black and oriental backgrounds.

And if they then want to make changes, then do it after the transfer window and not just before. I would be surprised to see any changes to the football structure on the eve of the summer transfer window.

that's a great post indeed.

 

[devilish]

Morality and all that.

I think it more about Ratcliffe being local. The rest is mostly noise