Ed Woodward's house attacked by 20-30 balaclava wearing "United fans"

[Focusmate]

Unpleasant incident. Idiots being intimidating and Im glad that Ed and family don't live there. Not only unpleasant but does no favours for United either.
Reading this thread though I think some perspective is needed. This is not condoning it just being real.
A lot of people seem to think this is a crime worthy if jailtime etc. Some yobs throwing a flare and chanting abuse fir a couple of minutes is a police caution at most.
Frankly if it happened to a normal person would it even be investigated unless it became frequent? Ive seen worse intimidation go on for months not minutes and that case the poor guys family lived with him and he had no big gates or cctv ir sun reporter at the scene.
Yeah it was bad and unpleasant but sense of perspective please

 

[LInkash]

Yes I'm sure Ed will trust 20 of his PR guys most senior hoodlums to keep a secret about how an attack on his house and family was staged. Surely no one will consider talking about this to the press for a wad of money.

Anything else? Fake moonlanding? Don't let anything get in the way of a good anti-establishment story

Maybe woody killed them afterwards.

 

[red thru&thru]

What's the rush, the Police will want them to think they've got away with it.

Na, I'm patient. Intrigued like I say.

 

[matt10000]

Yeah I’m thinking this was staged. Exclusive photos and quotes from a tabloid paper known for pushing bullshit?

Of course it wasn’t staged . This just a stupid conspiracy theory

 

[Wolfmother]

Think of it this way. You are a kid. And people at your fathers job is singing about him being killed. Then there is an attack on your house.
How would you sleep at night?

If people are angry with him, or what ever, this is
not acceptable! People openly supporting it should be banned. Both at the stadium and on this board. Only way to deal with such scum.

 

[DavidDeSchmikes]

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[matt10000]

I’m not bothered by this in the least.

Nobody was home
Nobody was hurt
No major damage

It’s not behaviour I condone but I’m not appalled.

I would prefer to see these demonstrations directed at the Glazer’s moving forward (flares included).

Birmingham bags?

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

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How many years has he been saying similar things regarding United returning to prominence? It's sort of his annual default stance, surely, as CEO of the organisation? Talk is cheap, Woodward.

 

[Denis79]

I’m not bothered by this in the least.

Nobody was home
Nobody was hurt
No major damage

It’s not behaviour I condone but I’m not appalled.

I would prefer to see these demonstrations directed at the Glazer’s moving forward (flares included).

They most likely didn't know that, his wife and children should not live in fear because he's doing a bad job at a football club. In fact he shouldn't either, he should feel pressure to do better, not fear.

I have no problem with less than classy songs sung at the games, banners and protests, I'm anti Woodward as well but this is a different level.

We aren't fighting a dictator that is starving the people, violence is not appropriate nor acceptable in this case.

 

[Adisa]

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Such confidence from a man that has consistently failed for seven seasons.

 

[TrebleFan99]

They most likely didn't know that, his wife and children should not live in fear because he's doing a bad job at a football club. In fact he shouldn't either, he should feel pressure to do better, not fear.

I have no problem with less than classy songs sung at the games, banners and protests, I'm anti Woodward as well but this is a different level.

We aren't fighting a dictator that is starving the people, violence is not appropriate nor acceptable in this case.

It wasn’t a pretty scene I agree. And it’s not something I would partake in. It just seemed a bit more vandalism than violence to me as thankfully nobody was hurt and nobody was home.

As far as I’m concerned it’s the owners who should be the target of protests. They’re the ones who have been milking the club dry. I think Woodward would be fine with better owners and a DOF.

 

[Ludens the Red]

He also receives a ton of vitriol from the likes of Neville and Ferdinand each week. I don't mind criticism but I wouldn't be surprised if this adds a bit of extra fuel to the fire in terms of these fans that think they can get away with and do things like

Hmm, that’s not fair tbh, agreed with rest of your post but feel this bit is well wide of the mark. Firstly it’s definitely not been “vitriol”. In fact they only made reference to Woodward recently and that was indirectly anyway. None of them name dropped him, they actually mentioned the board so that’s a little unfair. And even if they did that shouldn’t even be referenced to the bearing on how people act. By that standard no pundit would ever be allowed to criticise anyone ever. And In fact people on the cafe would not be allowed to criticise Woodward, for all we know those hooligans could read or even post on here.

Only they and they should be blamed, nobody else’s name should be dragged into it.
If I appear a little on the offensive it’s because it’s an issue I feel strongly about. I think we live in a day and age where people more and more are not being held accountable for their actions and someone else is to blame. Like I get it if like it’s someone spreading hate but that’s not what happened here.
It was like when people on here saying Neville criticising Pogba was part of the reason Pogba got racially abused online.

Let’s not give these cnuts a reason or people to hide behind.

 

[TrebleFan99]

Violence (and this is violence, not a demonstration) is never appropriate.

It seems more like vandalism. Either way that doesn’t make it right.

And I’ll say it again, protests should be directed at the Glazers and not employees of the club.

 

[Untd55]

I find people playing this down strange because direct violence did not occur.

You are thinking of this from a perspective of distance and only knowing of it after the event has occurred.

Think about what it would be like to have 30 people in balaclavas outside of your house firing off flares and intimidating you in your home. During the incident, how the hell do you know that that is all they are going to do?

They are obviously not right in the head to even do such a thing, but you don't know that they are not going to break into your house, possibly beating you and your family or something worse.

Also, people saying that this isn't a police matter, intimidation is illegal and this is most certainly an arrestable offence.

 

[R'hllor]

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His claws are so deep, why let go.

 

[MrPooni]

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When I initially read this I thought "How fecking devoid of sense can one man be? How the feck can you pitch yourself as someone overseeing a renaissance when you're the unqualified dullard who royally fecked everything up in the first place? What gives this jumped up city boy the audacity to even consider pumping out statements like this?" but then I remembered who the ruling party of the UK was and the absurdity of all their recent general election campaigns and everything made sense.

I imagine he'll eventually get it right through sheer force of will (£££) but ultimately it could take decades to undo the damage that's been done to Manchester United as an entity over his tenure.

In fact the more I think about it, the more I realise Woodward is the perfect allegory for the ass backward ridiculousness of the ruling class. Smarmy, mediocre investment banker without an inkling of self-awareness being appointed by his parasitic billionaire mates as payment for his slimy services who keeps falling upwards despite a consistent record of failure by every metric bar how much cash he's put in their pockets. This is just the world we live in now.

 

[devilish]

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Is the renaissance for us or for Liverpool? If the latter then he had succeeded.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

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He's one of the worst things to happen to Man United, and he'll be remembered as such.

The guy is like a curse on the club -

He helped broker the Glazer takeover and saddled us with millions and millions of debt

He's then somehow ended up as unofficial DoF and overseen a reign of 7 years has been an unmitigated failure

He gets paid multiple millions every year and also owns increasing amounts of shares

Won't hire a proper DoF because he's worried of it being discovered the absolute shambles he's created at the club

He's openly hired a fecking PR guru from the Sun to try and dupe fans into liking him / sympathy / laying off him for what he's done

More and more young kids don't support United anymore because of this utter cretin's work.

Just feck off already - you're a joke and you're not wanted at United by anyone who's a genuine Utd fan.

 

[Eckers99]

When I initially read this I thought "How fecking devoid of sense can one man be? How the feck can you pitch yourself as someone overseeing a renaissance when you're the unqualified dullard who royally fecked everything up in the first place? What gives this jumped up city boy the audacity to even consider pumping out statements like this?" but then I remembered who the ruling party of the UK was and the absurdity of all their recent general election campaigns and everything made sense.

I imagine he'll eventually get it right through sheer force of will (£££) but ultimately it could take decades to undo the damage that's been done to Manchester United as an entity over his tenure.

In fact the more I think about it, the more I realise Woodward is the perfect allegory for the ass backward ridiculousness of the ruling class. Smarmy, mediocre investment banker without an inkling of self-awareness being appointed by his parasitic billionaire mates as payment for his slimy services who keeps falling upwards despite a consistent record of failure by every metric bar how much cash he's put in their pockets. This is just the world we live in now.

Great post.

 

[Dante]

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Never should have sold Rafael, then.

What does Michaelangelo Carrick actually do?

 

[MrPooni]

Great post.

I kind of hate the post now because of how much it's riled me up. I'm relatively mellow and level headed when it comes to football because my old man raised me to appreciate the glory days while they lasted because they can stop at any time. I actually went from someone who was vehemently anti-Glazer/Woodward from 2005 to around 2010 to someone who actually defended them.

I realised the majority of the figures churned out by MUST and the press about how much they've "leeched off the club" were absolute bollocks and I still stand by that. I was also a big fan of their commercial work because I'm old enough to remember how questionable we were on that front under Kenyon and the plc structure. People tend to forget how relatively tight we were with our purse strings back then too and how Fergie used to get into open war with the board in press conferences because of it but social media wasn't a thing yet so these things weren't really discussed and dissected the way they are now. Narratives like the above didn't really take hold the way they do in the modern game which was probably for the better.

But I'm beyond that now. That was Woodward in another position, one that suited his skillset. His performance as CEO over the past 7 years has been shambolic and the longer it goes on and the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Appointing that hack Ashton was the final nail in the coffin for me as silly as that sounds but that's a product of my personal politics seeping over into the football part of my brain.

 

[matt10000]

He's openly hired a fecking PR guru from the Sun to try and dupe fans into liking him / sympathy / laying off him for what he's done

The moon landing was faked

The earth is flat

Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids have taken over our leaders bodies

Adolf Hitler escaped earth in a UFO and is alive and living on the moon

It all must be true because if you google it there are thousands of responses and thousands of knobheads can’t all be wrong!

 

[Rhyme Animal]

The moon landing was faked

The earth is flat

Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids have taken over our leaders bodies

Adolf Hitler escaped earth in a UFO and is alive and living on the moon

It all must be true because if you google it there are thousands of responses and thousands of knobheads can’t all be wrong!

I'm not sure you've understood the post mate...

Ed Woodward has openly hired a PR guru from the Sun - why do you think he's done so if not to try and make the public like him / sympathize with him?

Do you deny this? If so... you are the conspiracy theorist!

Try and read things properly before wading in and making yourself look daft.

 

[DavidDeSchmikes]

Such confidence from a man that has consistently failed for seven seasons.

Neil Ashton has been one of Woodward's best signings

 

[Florida Man]

Of course it wasn’t staged . This just a stupid conspiracy theory

I wouldn’t put this sort of thing past former Sun employees

 

[the chameleon]

The moon landing was faked

The earth is flat

Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids have taken over our leaders bodies

Adolf Hitler escaped earth in a UFO and is alive and living on the moon

It all must be true because if you google it there are thousands of responses and thousands of knobheads can’t all be wrong!

Because every sane person whose not as naive / gullible as you is a conspiracy theorist.

What complete nonsense.

There is a chance this genuinely was something that happened to Woodward. But there is also a strong possibility that this has all been a publicity stunt by his PR team. If you ever had an idea of what reputation management is, you will know that these types of reputation management campaigns actually happen.

I have worked in an agency where this was a full-time role of a person to manage build and manage campaigns that build positive PR for the client to paper over their unethical behaviour.

Most CEOs in large companies have PR and reputation management people. A large part of their jobs is build positive emotions but also to get rid of or rank for negative keywords on Google with positive articles.

I would recommend you read a book called Trust me I’m lying by Ryan Holiday. It covers this whole topic.

Therefore, if I was betting man I would put a wager that this is all a PR stunt in reaction to the pressure that was mounting. I’m 75% certain. The guy has little integrity and will do such things.

How do I think this PR campaign has gone? Pretty successful based on the your reactions. But hey, who am I? Just random guy from an Internet forum. Believe what you want.It’s just some of us like to think things and question them.

 

[Dve]

I’m not bothered by this in the least.

Nobody was home
Nobody was hurt
No major damage

It’s not behaviour I condone but I’m not appalled.

I would prefer to see these demonstrations directed at the Glazer’s moving forward (flares included).

I´m not often using strong words, but If your´re not bothered with someone´s home being attacked, you are nothing but a fecking idiot.

 

[manc4red]

He's one of the worst things to happen to Man United, and he'll be remembered as such.

The guy is like a curse on the club -

He helped broker the Glazer takeover and saddled us with millions and millions of debt

He's then somehow ended up as unofficial DoF and overseen a reign of 7 years has been an unmitigated failure

He gets paid multiple millions every year and also owns increasing amounts of shares

Won't hire a proper DoF because he's worried of it being discovered the absolute shambles he's created at the club

He's openly hired a fecking PR guru from the Sun to try and dupe fans into liking him / sympathy / laying off him for what he's done

More and more young kids don't support United anymore because of this utter cretin's work.

Just feck off already - you're a joke and you're not wanted at United by anyone who's a genuine Utd fan.

Rhyme, tell us what you really think about Woodward, dont hold back now

In all seriousness, Woodward’s reign may not be very successful but it should never spill over to personal life.

Woodward from what I gather is a control freak. This means he hesitates to loosen his grip on things he believes he can control. I do not think we will have a DOF unless either he leaves or he truly has no other way. He needs to maintain power and grip on the club hence pretty much most things flow through him

However, a couple things that are outside his control that has affected his tenure with us

- rise of Mancity. Our nosy neighbours got themselves a sugar daddy and when Woodward came in, City started becoming dangerous

- Revenue splits and income generation. Transfer fees, income from PL and etc. Money started blowing up and due to the united tag, we are often over paying.

- Top 6. Other larger clubs started gaining ground as well.SAF retiring hurts us and we have been unstable ever since

hopefully Bruno’s transfer today highlights that Woodward is adapting and able to get us nicely structured deals

 

[Eckers99]

I kind of hate the post now because of how much it's riled me up. I'm relatively mellow and level headed when it comes to football because my old man raised me to appreciate the glory days while they lasted because they can stop at any time. I actually went from someone who was vehemently anti-Glazer/Woodward from 2005 to around 2010 to someone who actually defended them.

I realised the majority of the figures churned out by MUST and the press about how much they've "leeched off the club" were absolute bollocks and I still stand by that. I was also a big fan of their commercial work because I'm old enough to remember how questionable we were on that front under Kenyon and the plc structure. People tend to forget how relatively tight we were with our purse strings back then too and how Fergie used to get into open war with the board in press conferences because of it but social media wasn't a thing yet so these things weren't really discussed and dissected the way they are now. Narratives like the above didn't really take hold the way they do in the modern game which was probably for the better.

But I'm beyond that now. That was Woodward in another position, one that suited his skillset. His performance as CEO over the past 7 years has been shambolic and the longer it goes on and the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Appointing that hack Ashton was the final nail in the coffin for me as silly as that sounds but that's a product of my personal politics seeping over into the football part of my brain.

I think it just struck a chord because I'm extremely wary about the PR whitewash that's started in the wake of Ashton's appointment and, well, I'm a sucker for an eloquently worded rant. Plus, it's equally inevitable that scores of posters will put aside their fully warranted animosity as a result of both the flare incident and Fernandes' arrival. 2 quick PR wins in a few days shouldn't be enough to ignore the wider, more insidious, malaise. A few posters have already suggested calling off the dogs, which boils my piss.

I don't have an issue with the club's expenditure either, it's the failure to make that advantage work for us that rankles, and that's almost entirely down to the systemic failure that Woodward has overseen. He's basically a pampered child flying a jumbo jet full of screaming passengers with a shit-eating grin on his massive face.

There's very little new to say on the subject to be honest: the details might change depending on whatever deal is being botched, but the over arching themes of neglect and incompetence will remain until there's a broader change at the top.

 

[TrebleFan99]

I´m not often using strong words, but If your´re not bothered with someone´s home being attacked, you are nothing but a fecking idiot.

You're entitled to your opinion.

I'm not bothered by protests. Nobody was hurt and there was about 10 quid worth of spray paint damage. Grow up. I've said the issue is the Glazers, and that I don't condone the incident directed at Woodward.

With that - if you're happy with the way the club is being run you're a fecking idiot.

 

[TrebleFan99]

Yes I'm sure Ed will trust 20 of his PR guys most senior hoodlums to keep a secret about how an attack on his house and family was staged. Surely no one will consider talking about this to the press for a wad of money.

Anything else? Fake moonlanding? Don't let anything get in the way of a good anti-establishment story

Not a conspiracy (referencing a fake moon landing is hysterical)
There was a protest
There was vandalism - which is wrong
Nobody was hurt
Justice should be served to those who participated
The incident is now over, I have not heard of an ongoing siege on the Woodward residence (where thankfully no Woodwards were present during the incident)

 

[Dve]

You're entitled to your opinion.

I'm not bothered by protests. Nobody was hurt and there was about 10 quid worth of spray paint damage. Grow up. I've said the issue is the Glazers, and that I don't condone the incident directed at Woodward.

With that - if you're happy with the way the club is being run you're a fecking idiot.

You don´t get it, do you. How Woodward is doing his job at United, is absolutely irrelevant, and there was more than a little spray on his port. There are children living in that house. Children who may not sleep very well tonight, children who no longer feel safe at home. And I´m the one who need to grow up? Get a fecking grip.

 

[TrebleFan99]

You don´t get it, do you. How Woodward is doing his job at United, is absolutely irrelevant, and there was more than a little spray on his port. There are children living in that house. Children who may not sleep very well tonight, children who no longer feel safe at home. And I´m the one who need to grow up? Get a fecking grip.

Can you please get a grip?! There weren’t children there - stop making things up it’s ridiculous.

Here are the facts:

1. There was a protest
2. I don’t condone the vandalism
3. Nobody was hurt, nobody was even there!
4. The Glazers should be the target, Woodward is an employee towing the company line, leave him out of it

 

[matt10000]

I would recommend you read a book called Trust me I’m lying by Ryan Holiday. It covers this whole topic.

Therefore, if I was betting man I would put a wager that this is all a PR stunt in reaction to the pressure that was mounting. I’m 75% certain. The guy has little integrity and will do such things.

How do I think this PR campaign has gone? Pretty successful based on the your reactions. But hey, who am I? Just random guy from an Internet forum. Believe what you want.It’s just some of us like to think things and question them.

Haha you think I am the one who is naive and gullible because I don’t think it was a PR stunt.

Haha and you believe everything you read in a book that is entitled “Trust me I’m lying”.

 

[Wolfmother]

Can you please get a grip?! There weren’t children there - stop making things up it’s ridiculous.

Here are the facts:

1. There was a protest
2. I don’t condone the vandalism
3. Nobody was hurt, nobody was even there!
4. The Glazers should be the target, Woodward is an employee towing the company line, leave him out of it

Nobody said there where children there. But children live there. You don’t think it might be frightening for them? And people singing their dad will die at the stadium? You got some long way to go being human, fella..

 

[matt10000]

Can you please get a grip?! There weren’t children there - stop making things up it’s ridiculous.

Here are the facts:

1. There was a protest
2. I don’t condone the vandalism
3. Nobody was hurt, nobody was even there!
4. The Glazers should be the target, Woodward is an employee towing the company line, leave him out of it

Whether children were there or not, is not the point. The people who did this could not have possibly known who was or wasn’t in the house even if they think they did.

 

[DBT85]

Can you please get a grip?! There weren’t children there - stop making things up it’s ridiculous.

Here are the facts:

1. There was a protest
2. I don’t condone the vandalism
3. Nobody was hurt, nobody was even there!
4. The Glazers should be the target, Woodward is an employee towing the company line, leave him out of it

Do you think that your wife and kids would feel a) more or b) less secure in their own home after an event like this has happened, regardless if they weren't there at the time?

 

[TrebleFan99]

Do you think that your wife and kids would feel a) more or b) less secure in their own home after an event like this has happened, regardless if they weren't there at the time?

I would lean towards b) of course.

I’m against what happened to Woodward and I’m against the exaggerations of this incident all the same.

 

[TrebleFan99]

Nobody said there where children there. But children live there. You don’t think it might be frightening for them? And people singing their dad will die at the stadium? You got some long way to go being human, fella..

Of course they should be concerned.

I don’t condone this incident or disgusting chants at Woodward.

Glazers are the problem and everyone needs to unite against them.

Just making the point that no bodily harm was caused period and nobody was hurt. Hopefully we can move on.

 

[DBT85]

I would lean towards b) of course.

I’m against what happened to Woodward and I’m against the exaggerations of this incident all the same.

Who's exaggerating anything?

The mans family has to go back to their home and sleep in their beds knowing that this could happen again. Maybe next time some cnut lobs a brick through the window.

I get that you condone it, but hand waiving away the fact that nobody got hurt because nobody was there is daft. There can and will be lasting repercussions to events like this.