Ed Woodward - Same medicine for the patient, no new structure?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Fail miserably?
He was obvious referring to the flea market. In that, he is truly dominant.
Not what I mean at all. My point is about our signings as a PR exercise, to get the backing of the fans.
If we're recruiting a DoF from within, it seems weird we haven't just made it official. Why the wait?
The last 3 years our signing isnt just pr exercise. Pogba di maria etc. Event if they failed at the end but the money and intention is there.
This is one point that I’ve really never understood. I can understand people saying they don’t like briefings because it sets up expectations that can be disappointed, that’s fair enough, but all too often you see ‘He’s talking big, now we’re gonna get taken to the cleaners because other clubs know we’ve got money’ as if the club’s revenue is hidden in a box under Joel Glazer’s bed.
Every club knows how much money every other club makes. If we go in for Sancho, Dortmund aren’t gonna suddenly say “Oh damn, these guys are rich!” Because they’ve seen a briefing about the club being willing to spend.
Ed always comes out with shit st Season ticket renewal time. He is a glorified salesman when all is said and done.
Problem is every club knows we're desperate, we prove it by paying high fees and ridiculous wages.
I’m pretty sure that clubs knowing we’re desperate aren’t linked to public statements like this. They’re more linked to clubs being aware of the performance of our team and our needs for certain players. The prices we pay were going to be quoted to us, regardless of briefings or not, that’s my point. I just find it a strange thing to be upset about.
I think a lot of the dislike for these briefings comes from plenty of us finding it a bit embarrassing and cringeworthy that we talk this talk every summer, only to end up looking utterly inept. Rather we just shut up and did the business.
I don't believe whatever briefing his team has given to the press. Think it will be another underwhelming summer with us making a few signings that don't have much competitors.
And at best some big name, who is old and wants to make ridiculous money
And at best some big name, who is old and wants to make ridiculous money
Not really. At the end of the day we too can say no if they're asking 100m for fellaini even if we can afford it. We ended up buying fellaini for 30m, probably overpaid by 5m due to last minute.
You're making it as if we're gonna kneel down and pay whatever price they're asking.
Put it this way, if bill gates wanted a house he will probably pay a rich man premium, but it aint going to be double or triple the market rate
The fact that he would brief it so publicly is a terrible sign. No other top tier club does that, they first sign the player then publicize it.
He is either doing it for season tickets/share prices, or he is just really really bad at this part of the job.
Full house.
I hope this DoF really does have this magic wand that everyone seems to think he will.
I’ve never seen a club exec blamed so much for a club’s performance on the pitch. Ever. Typically, fans accept that they don’t know anywhere near enough to make definitive statements about how well an exec is or isn’t doing his job. The only times I’ve seen fans want a change at board level is when the board refuses to spend money. Arsenal, Newcastle etc. We don’t fall into that category. I can’t see how people are so convinced that a different person signing the cheques will make our fortunes much better. Especially as that person will need approval from Woodward anyway for anything that costs more than a tenner.
I’ve never seen a club exec blamed so much for a club’s performance on the pitch. Ever. Typically, fans accept that they don’t know anywhere near enough to make definitive statements about how well an exec is or isn’t doing his job. The only times I’ve seen fans want a change at board level is when the board refuses to spend money. Arsenal, Newcastle etc. We don’t fall into that category. I can’t see how people are so convinced that a different person signing the cheques will make our fortunes much better. Especially as that person will need approval from Woodward anyway for anything that costs more than a tenner.
He will actually still be signing the cheques. The difference is it will be a DoF asking him to sign them as opposed to his manager.
So, aye, I completely agree with you.
Exactly.
If we sign players for Ole this summer and they fail, or at the request of Ole we extend Matic’ contract, that isn’t Woodward’s fault.
After all, as we love to point out, he shouldn’t be accountable for the football decisions, as he’s apparently Job Snow when it comes to the game itself.
The DOF wouldn't be able to solve all the higher level issues of the club but if he can handle the job of player acquisition and the negotiation that is involved, then already we'll be in a much better position and maybe he will be able to advise Ed that talking about players he wants to sign and how much he is willing to sign them for (Eg: Varane for 100m) is a terrible idea.
He did refuse to sign a number of players for Mourinho, so actually he does have an influence on who we're signing. He also picks managers, so far complete failure in that department. He doesn't seem to have a plan on how this club will go forward or to put it in LVG words, what kind of philosophy should be followed. He let the academy run on autopilot for a few years until it became embarrassing and something had to be done. He boasted that we now have 1000s of new scouts and then goes and signs Fred. Appointed Ribalta and the let him go. "We can do things in the transfer market no other club can" or something..
Need I go on?
The man is a virus.
I believe the rot goes all the way to the top but as long as Ed makes the Glazer's money then he isnt going anywhere.
So that’s the sum total of the concerns you have with the exec? That he seemingly briefs the press that he’s willing to spend a lot of money? That’s a weird and obsessive fixation to have. Like, what do you care? Why does that bother you so much?
Why would a DoF be an better at player acquisition anyway? What exactly do you know about our negotiation techniques when it comes to signing players? Do you even know what role Woodward plays in it? Apparently Richard Arnold leads on that anyway. Maybe you think if we had a DoF, he will strike ‘secret deals’ for all your favourite players like De Ligt or Rodri. Unless this DoF is going to take the identifying of players away from the manager and his staff, what difference does it make?
To me, it sounds like you don’t really know why you think Woodward is so terrible. Him briefing the press is the only tangible thing, and that in itself is a weird reason to want someone replaced. Perhaps he should keep it a secret that United have a lot of money? It’s a weird and again, mildly obsessive issue to have, as I cannot recall many deals we have really wanted to complete but we could not afford them. The market for talent will be just as competitive whoever is in charge. We still will not sign De Ligt, because he’ll go elsewhere, for example.
If anything, the wanting of a DoF on this forum so much, should more be a slight on the manager, not the exec. What it suggests is that we think the managers who have identified our recent signings have identified poor players, and they need someone else to do so. I don’t get the obsession with Woodward. I’m sure if Mourinho has asked him to go and buy Salah instead of Mkhitaryan, he would have gone after Salah instead. The failing of Mkhitaryan, for example, is the fault of the manager, not the man who paid for him! Clueless about football as Woodward apparently is, I doubt he even knew who Eric Bailly was. He just got who his manager asked him to.
Dont see the obsession with a DoF. Why do people want some random guy to make United his plaything and go for random targets whether it's what Solskjaer wants or not. That person will change just like managers so doesnt that change the type of targets you go for? Arent you still at the whims of one person's will in the end?
We just have to be more focused and go for targets that suit our club more, stop being something we arent. We arent Barcelona, real Madrid, we've never really gone for a galactico approach successfully, though we also arent a small club either so we shouldnt settle for mediocrity. Stop going for dumb targets in positions that arent an issue, fix problem positions. Look at CB. Rio and Vidic declined and were part it by Fergie's last year in 2013. Since then, we signed, Rojo, Bailly and Lindelof. Some mediocrity and average or potentially good players, but nothing more than potential at any point. How does nobody just look at that and see that an easy fix would've been to just fix that massive issue years ago.
The structure needs improving, sure, but just getting someone else to focus on the transfers isnt really the right thing for that. Theres plenty of scenarios that can work, just need the right people making the decisions.
We just have to be more focused and go for targets that suit our club more, stop being something we arent. We arent Barcelona, real Madrid, we've never really gone for a galactico approach successfully, though we also arent a small club either so we shouldnt settle for mediocrity. Stop going for dumb targets in positions that arent an issue, fix problem positions. Look at CB. Rio and Vidic declined and were part it by Fergie's last year in 2013. Since then, we signed, Rojo, Bailly and Lindelof. Some mediocrity and average or potentially good players, but nothing more than potential at any point. How does nobody just look at that and see that an easy fix would've been to just fix that massive issue years ago.
The structure needs improving, sure, but just getting someone else to focus on the transfers isnt really the right thing for that. Theres plenty of scenarios that can work, just need the right people making the decisions.
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I havent seen this. Have you a link so I can have a look?
I have no problem with Woodward. I think he's done a good job and has backed the manager's with a crazy amount of money. He's actually a doing a better job than David Gill.
Woodward hired LVG and Mourinho who were proven winners and backed them. It's not Woodward's fault that both managers wasted alot of that money. Alot of you don't have a clue what you're talking about, and come on here talking rubbish about Woodward after getting brainwashed by the daily rags.
Woodward hired LVG and Mourinho who were proven winners and backed them. It's not Woodward's fault that both managers wasted alot of that money. Alot of you don't have a clue what you're talking about, and come on here talking rubbish about Woodward after getting brainwashed by the daily rags.
The rot goes indeed all the way to the top. But when the top is the Glazers what hope is there? We expect people that don't have even the tiniest bit of emotional connection to the sport they've invested in, to make decisions. To appoint the right people, to listen to the right people or to have a vision of the sport - current and future state of it.
They'll never replace Woodward and Woodward will continue to play director of everything until either he stumbles upon the next SAF by some miracle or the club loses so much value it gets sold.
He, the people around him and the owners already undid what SAF build, in just 6 years. And that from the most powerful position of any club in the world.
It takes some doing, I'll give them that.
Yeah you are right, Woodward is great and we'll be challenging for titles next season no doubt.
Pogba is 2 years plus one year option.
Oh, how last summer really gave some ammunition finally. All the ‘evidence’ I keep seeing is from last summer, although I’ve been hearing this song on here for years. Him not signing a player Jose wants doesn’t mean he ‘has influence on who we’re signing’. I mean, not beyond the bleeding obvious of not allowing his manager to spend whatever he wants. The players he DID sign in the summer, the same summer we keep talking about, are players Mourinho wanted, unless we are saying he scouted Fred and Dalot and signed them due to their Instagram followers (noodle partners and all that).
I agree that he picks the managers. Or so we believe he does anyway. I have no idea of the process behind selecting our managers, but I would probably bet my house that it’s far from Ed Woodward deciding that x is the best manager around. He probably has a committee of people involved in that decision. And in any case, tell me a time where an executive is sacked because managers don’t perform? It’s a ridiculous theory. He hires managers, and if they don’t deliver, he fires them. That’s how football works everywhere. Especially when the managers he has hired are proven successful managers.
You are clutching with mentioning Ribalta. A scout left us. Wow. And he left us, Ed didn’t ‘get rid of him’. ‘He has thousands of scouts and then signs Fred’. Yes because Fred is who his scouts (and his manager!) recommended. Unless again, you are suggesting that Woodward himself identified Fred and signed him because he feels he knows best about football.
‘We can do things in the transfer market no other club can’. Yea, what’s your point? We don’t like that statement, we think it’s a bit cringeworthy, so can we sack him? For the record, since he made that statement, we have broken the world record once and the PL record twice. And the world record for a teenager. Was hardly fabrication.
Brilliant response. To which I’ll play along and say ‘nah, YOU are right, just get a DoF in and we’ll be challenging for titles next season no doubt’.
Ed, is that you?
Is that you Mr Castles?
DDG has been a great servant to the club over the years so if he decides it’s time for a change then no one can blame him.
Pogba hasn’t done much in the red shirt so if a 100 million offer comes in then you could look at it like breaking even.
Lukaku can do whatever he likes, and Sanchez is a pain in the butt that might be harder to shift!
But all said and done, if the club decided to take it’s time and get a long term plan in place I would accept it.
What would really piss me off would be, another tonne of departures, replaced with swap deals (including players that don’t want to be at the club) plus random so called marque names that don’t fit into the team.
It’s on Woody...Ole has a free pass!
Don’t feck it up (again) Ed!
Pogba hasn’t done much in the red shirt so if a 100 million offer comes in then you could look at it like breaking even.
Lukaku can do whatever he likes, and Sanchez is a pain in the butt that might be harder to shift!
But all said and done, if the club decided to take it’s time and get a long term plan in place I would accept it.
What would really piss me off would be, another tonne of departures, replaced with swap deals (including players that don’t want to be at the club) plus random so called marque names that don’t fit into the team.
It’s on Woody...Ole has a free pass!
Don’t feck it up (again) Ed!
Tbh mate, I get the frustration, and I think we feel there’s a need to blame someone. I just think fans are lashing out, and in this case, doing so a bit blindly. I doubt anyone knows nearly enough about what he does to be directing so much at him. Ultimately, on the whole, I don’t think we have refused to spend fair money under him, and I don’t think we have appointed managers who haven’t proven successful elsewhere. I’m praying like the next man for success, but I just don’t think Ed is the problem. I also think that even if we do get a DoF, Woodward would still have the exact same job he has now anyway. The DoF will be taking duties away from the manager, not the exec.
De Gea was long gone until the fax machine fecked up. De Gea wanted to go to Real Madrid and would've been a Madrid player today if Real Madrid didn't delay their bid until the end of the window. To say he's been loyal is quite simply not true. He would jump ship to Real Madrid if Perez wants him.
That's a bit of a relief. So I guess Woodward will sit down for contract talks with him in about 35 months.
There definitely seems to be a prevailing revised opinion that Woodward picked the signings.
If that’s the argument I think it can be disregarded.
If that’s the argument I think it can be disregarded.
In the modern game, I’m happy with his contribution to the team. But each to there own.
My main point was, it should be Ed’d neck on the line. If DDG and Pogba leave it can still be a good summer if the “team” as a whole improves.
I personally couldn't care less if De Gea left. Pogba going would be a setback, but if he does go then I hope we spend the incoming transfer money on a couple of top class cm's.
