Glazers / Woodward out! (One down)

Cassidy

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Actions speak louder than words. And his actions were to become a Glazer lackey.
What about Fergie?
You are basically saying he should have quit the club then? (Which he eventually did anyway?

Once the deal was done that was his only option
 

jackal&hyde

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Woodward was involved in the selection of 3 managers (LVG, Mou and Ole). I've yet to find any of those managers praising Woodward the way Sir Alex did with Gill. Actually most of them think that he was a bit of a moron. That feeling is shared by most United fans (lets say all bar some people like you)

Reputation wise the United Woodward will be leaving behind is far weaker then the one left by Gill. I've seen many changes in the club (Edwards, Kenyon, Gill etc) and fans had never celebrated the end of a CEO's career like we're doing with Woodward.
In fairness, they were massive failures and it's rather natural to redirect blame.

Woodys biggest issue was not having a proper structure regarding the football side and thinking that all top coaches can handle the same power as SAF.
 

Adnan

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According to Sir Alex the Glazers are

" I am comfortable with the Glazer situation. They have been great," he said. "They have always backed me whenever I have asked them. I have never faced any opposition. They have always been as sensible as they can be in terms of financing the club. They have to invest in the team to maintain the value of their asset. I think there are a whole lot of factions at United that think they own the club. They will always be contentious about whoever owns the club, and that's the way it's always been.

When the Glazers took over here there was dissatisfaction, so there have always been pockets of supporters who have their views. But I think the majority of real fans will look at it realistically and say it's not affecting the team. We've won four championships since they've been there, one European Cup."

Meanwhile he said the following about Gill

"David has been a magnificent chief executive. Of course we have had a million arguments, but I have always enjoyed them because I know that David has two great qualities – he is straight and he always puts Manchester United first. No disagreement is ever personal with him. He always wants the best for United, whether it’s the players, the training ground or the staff.

“Him stepping down is a big loss to me but the fact he is staying on the board encourages me that the reason for his departure is heartfelt – that he believes it is time for the club to move on.

“If I could have found a way of persuading him to stay I would love to have done that. But he has made his decision and I respect him for it. He has been and will continue to be a fantastic success for Manchester United. He has all the qualities of successful people engrained in him: energy, honesty, integrity, personality and decision-making ability. I wish him well in whatever new challenges he will tackle in the future.”


I am not suggesting that Gill was perfect. His 'value signing policy' crippled us and in terms of sponsorships I think Woodward is better then this guy. However we had 4 managers in 8 years after Woodward, two of which were given contract extensions few months before getting sacked. The club's reputation is in tatters, OT is a mess, our salary bill was allowed to spiral out of control and United spent 900m with so little to show for. We're talking about a guy who compared United to an adult version of disney land, who couldn't bother treating the likes of Rio and Evra with respect and he took ages to discover that agents/clubs were taking him on a ride only to hire someone with a similar CV to his to negotiate with clubs/agents on his behalf. This all happened under his watch. No wonder why everyone from fans right to former players are celebrating his departure.
Guardian: An unrepentant Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that he had no regrets about upsetting Manchester United fans with his public praise of the Glazer family. Ferguson, only a year away from normal retirement age, then shrugged off concerns about the club's newly acquired long-term debts by making it clear that when he leaves it will be someone else's problem. "Why should I worry about that?" he asked.

"The United manager, who is on a one-year rolling contract, had described Malcolm Glazer as "excellent" for the club"

https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2006/jan/14/newsstory.sport7
 

Lynty

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I just don’t see how you can do it.

Look at other owners, and they’ve invested in the playing squad and the stadium. FSG, spurs, City (massively developed the area) and Chelsea.

someone had to own the club. Some owners are shit, look at Mike Ashley at Newcastle. A % of owners businesses have poor owners - it will always be this way.

I suppose what I’m saying is, on what bases would it be justified to have prevented them buying the club in the first place? What criteria didn’t they meet?

these aren’t questions I expect someone to answer by the way - just my musings.
I agree, there was nothing to prevent them from purchasing a club and they've done nothing that would prevent them buying one again in the future.

But I'm talking about 50+1 fan ownership via government legislation.

It's obviously attainable as Corbyn wanted to nationalize clubs and now sitting MP's have threw around the idea. Government loans the money, fans pay back by leveraging the debt on the club. It would cripple the Premier Leagues spending power for a while, but lets face it - collectively we were so far ahead of Europe that there's room to move (even more so now that Italian and Spanish biggest clubs are in financial ruin).

It would reduce owners power and devalue the Glazers stake in the club so new (part) owners become viable.

Last chance to take back control of English football.
 

devilish

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In fairness, they were massive failures and it's rather natural to redirect blame.

Woodys biggest issue was not having a proper structure regarding the football side and thinking that all top coaches can handle the same power as SAF.
Two of which were signed by him. He also gave them contract extensions only to then fire them. Woodward is a money man and he's good on that regard. His failure was to insist controlling the football side of the club despite clear lack of knowledge on this matter.
 

Adnan

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What about Fergie?
You are basically saying he should have quit the club then? (Which he eventually did anyway?

Once the deal was done that was his only option
Fergie was far more important than Gill, who was basically doing a job that any half competent person with the required qualifications could do. Fergie never lied but stayed consistent by defending the Glazer's.
 

Cassidy

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Fergie was far more important than Gill, who was basically doing a job that any half competent person with the required qualifications could do. Fergie never lied but stayed consistent by defending the Glazer's.
You didnt answer the question because you already know. There isnt anything else Gill could have done as an employee if those were his views except quit
 

devilish

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Guardian: An unrepentant Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that he had no regrets about upsetting Manchester United fans with his public praise of the Glazer family. Ferguson, only a year away from normal retirement age, then shrugged off concerns about the club's newly acquired long-term debts by making it clear that when he leaves it will be someone else's problem. "Why should I worry about that?" he asked.

"The United manager, who is on a one-year rolling contract, had described Malcolm Glazer as "excellent" for the club"

https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2006/jan/14/newsstory.sport7
You do notice that Malcolm is dead right and had been so for quite some time?

SAF's stance really makes you wonder. Are the Glazers as bad as they sound? Could it be that their biggest mistake was to stick to Woodward out of loyalty for so long? I mean this guy had been throwing hundreds of millions of their money in the bin. Their reputation is in tatters because of him as well. Surely they wouldn't like that.
 
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I agree, there was nothing to prevent them from purchasing a club and they've done nothing that would prevent them buying one again in the future.

But I'm talking about 50+1 fan ownership via government legislation.

It's obviously attainable as Corbyn wanted to nationalize clubs and now sitting MP's have threw around the idea. Government loans the money, fans pay back by leveraging the debt on the club. It would cripple the Premier Leagues spending power for a while, but lets face it - collectively we were so far ahead of Europe that there's room to move (even more so now that Italian and Spanish biggest clubs are in financial ruin).

It would reduce owners power and devalue the Glazers stake in the club so new (part) owners become viable.

Last chance to take back control of English football.
interesting.

I wouldn’t have thought the govt. would want to get involved in this fight though. They threw around some threats like everyone else, and will be happy to see the return of the ‘status quo’ - but we know that status quo is what’s wrong. I expect this to calm down very quickly, esp from the govt. everyone can claim a win, and move on.

over the past week lots of people have been saying, the game is gone, not my club anymore - but that’s been the case for a long long time.

perhaps the glazers will now look to exit. It would appear now that there’s going to be little growth over the next 5 years. I’m not sure whether the 50+1 is the solution.
 

Cassidy

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interesting.

I wouldn’t have thought the govt. would want to get involved in this fight though. They threw around some threats like everyone else, and will be happy to see the return of the ‘status quo’ - but we know that status quo is what’s wrong. I expect this to calm down very quickly, esp from the govt. everyone can claim a win, and move on.

over the past week lots of people have been saying, the game is gone, not my club anymore - but that’s been the case for a long long time.

perhaps the glazers will now look to exit. It would appear now that there’s going to be little growth over the next 5 years. I’m not sure whether the 50+1 is the solution.
Full private ownership is certainly not the solution and we have seen the issues with it up and down the leagues
 

Adnan

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You do notice that Malcolm is dead right and had been so for quite some time?

SAF's stance really makes you wonder. Are the Glazers as bad as they sound? Could it be that their biggest mistake was to stick to Woodward out of loyalty for so long? I mean this guy had been throwing hundreds of millions of their money in the bin. Their reputation is in tatters because of him as well. Surely they wouldn't like that.
You do know that it was his kids that were running the club after their father suffered a stroke not long after the takeover? As reported by Daniel Taylor and the Manchester press pack.

All Woodward did was back the managers with funds. But sadly for us he didn't have the advantage of backing a manager like Fergie hence the likes of Moyes, LVG and Mourinho wasted the money. I don't blame Woodward for that, because we had a recruitment model which traditionally gave power to the manager when it came to making calls on the football side of the club.
 

Cassidy

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If it was an American prepared to clear the debt, invest in the stadium, and allow the club to spend its money on the squad, etc, I don't see why not?
They won’t, doesnt make business sense.
Infact I dont want another 100% outright owner
 

vidic blood & sand

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Shouldn't the owners of Redcafe now put a anti glazer thread in the sticky?
I think the time has come for us to be united in condemnation towards the glazers for crippling the club and showing no regard. We need to be driven with intent to see them gone.
 

Tincanalley

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John Henry apologizing on the radio just now. The fuxxers are on the run.
 

UnitedSofa

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But we dont want another American
Don’t tar everyone with the same brush.
I’ve seen people clamour for the Saudi’s to take over but personally I don’t think the rumoured buyer would be much better, allegedly he requested a dead wrestler to wrestle the Undertaker at the Greatest Royal Rumble, they may be just as out of touch as the Glazers!

Who’s to say a different American Businessman may not run it differently or may even be a huge PL fan?

I for one would want the billionaire who is a massive fan of Man Utd, though IIRC he owns part of Chelsea now? I forgot his name

Saudi Arabia Prince Wanted Dead WWF Legends At Greatest Royal Rumble
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the Saudi Arabia Prince who wanted the Greatest Royal Rumble event asked for 3 specific names on the show – The Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior & Yokozuna.

While The Undertaker worked the event, the prince didn’t know that Warrior & Yokozuna are no longer with us.


https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/wwfo...ead-wwf-legends-at-greatest-royal-rumble/amp/
 

Cassidy

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Don’t tar everyone with the same brush.
I’ve seen people clamour for the Saudi’s to take over but personally I don’t think the rumoured buyer would be much better, allegedly he requested a dead wrestler to wrestle the Undertaker at the Greatest Royal Rumble, they may be just as out of touch as the Glazers!


Saudi Arabia Prince Wanted Dead WWF Legends At Greatest Royal Rumble
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the Saudi Arabia Prince who wanted the Greatest Royal Rumble event asked for 3 specific names on the show – The Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior & Yokozuna.

While The Undertaker worked the event, the prince didn’t know that Warrior & Yokozuna are no longer with us.


https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/wwfo...ead-wwf-legends-at-greatest-royal-rumble/amp/
I dont want another 100% private owner. The club cannot be held to the whims of one rich individual. It can always go wrong. American, Saudi whatever. We dont even need the private investment we generate enough revenue.
 

Ronaldo's Love Child

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But Woodward hasn't actually resigned has he?

Look past what the spin doctors at Old Trafford are spoon feeding us and read the small print.

Woodward has "resigned" and will leave his post at the end of 2021. That's another 8 months of this clown we have to put up with and another summer transfer window.

The spin doctors are making it look with the timing of the announcement that this is a direct result of the ESL debacle. We are being played fellas
 

UnitedSofa

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But Woodward hasn't actually resigned has he?

Look past what the spin doctors at Old Trafford are spoon feeding us and read the small print.

Woodward has "resigned" and will leave his post at the end of 2021. That's another 8 months of this clown we have to put up with and another summer transfer window.

The spin doctors are making it look with the timing of the announcement that this is a direct result of the ESL debacle. We are being played fellas
No we are not.

Exec Vice Chairman isn’t a job you just “leave” there is a period if transition between the parting party and the the one who js replacing him.

Plus who would chair the selling of the club if not Woodward.

Not everything is a PR Spin, he’s gone but it will take time.
 

TrueRed1999

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This is Our Time Reds This is Our Time! We have the ex-players majority of them that want them out and we have to push this through to the end now. UNITED
 

Lynty

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But Woodward hasn't actually resigned has he?

Look past what the spin doctors at Old Trafford are spoon feeding us and read the small print.

Woodward has "resigned" and will leave his post at the end of 2021. That's another 8 months of this clown we have to put up with and another summer transfer window.

The spin doctors are making it look with the timing of the announcement that this is a direct result of the ESL debacle. We are being played fellas
You can't just give 3 months notice and leave an executive position :lol:

In my current job I have to notify the company a minimum of 6 months before I leave to allow for transition. In reality I'd probably state my intents closer to a year in advance.
 

VivaRonaldo85

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What are the chances Joel Glazer does a similar PR stunt to John Henry with his public apology? I don’t think the Glazers have it in them and will hide till they this all goes away in their minds. I’m not so sure it will this time.
 

Desert Eagle

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My fear is that united is now so expensive it can’t be bought as a plaything or a trophy purchase for rich Arabs ( city for eg was a fraction of the cost ) therefore it will need to be investors again and with a multi billion purchase cost they will be looking for a massive return on their money . Please tell me I’m wrong
The price is definitely a limiting factor especially towards fan ownership if the likes of beckham ( rich fans) etc are not involved. It's about what kind of return they would be looking for; large short term or steady long term. It is a tricky issue but we should all come together for the basic minimum which is no taking out dividends until you clear the debt that you fecking put on this club.
 

Desert Eagle

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I hope the fans capitalize on the glazers showing a glimpse of vulnerability for once and really ramp up the pressure and go for their throats and get them out. Forget all this tripe we have heard before from the supposed true reds and ole saying we shouldn't bring a bad atmosphere to the club that might affect the players performances in the odd game here and there, no screw that, the glazers are the ones that have created a bad atmosphere at this club for years, not the fans that are seeing their club and it's great history milked to death by a group of greedy bastards that only care about one thing at the club and that is the money it can make them.
Exactly we are too nicey nicey. They loaded the club with debt and are taking out dividends every year. Now they have shit on the fans and our history. They add zero value to us and should be removed as the blood sucking leeches they are.
 

blythy

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We have to maintain momentum with this campaign this time, every time it's reactive and soon blows over. We have a chance to really put them under pressure to sell. #GlazersOut
 

devilish

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You do know that it was his kids that were running the club after their father suffered a stroke not long after the takeover? As reported by Daniel Taylor and the Manchester press pack.

All Woodward did was back the managers with funds. But sadly for us he didn't have the advantage of backing a manager like Fergie hence the likes of Moyes, LVG and Mourinho wasted the money. I don't blame Woodward for that, because we had a recruitment model which traditionally gave power to the manager when it came to making calls on the football side of the club.
Woodward hired these managers. He gave 2 of them contract extensions prior firing them. He overpaid on salaries and fees. When he messed up he hired yet another banker (Matt Judge) and he allowed him to keep messing up. Everyone from DOFs right to football experts and club legends supported the idea of a DOF. Woodward resisted such move up until few months ago.
 

Adcuth

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Knowing the glazers, they'll appoint Peter Kenyon to replace Woodward.
 

Striker10

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The glazers could never compete financially so they loaned money with the ideas of this from the get go. So clubs would spend money probably believing that once the money run out, they would create this breakaway league to 'protect' the sport but ethically speaking these mega rich owners perhaps conspired to break the market to use the market as an excuse to create this. And I think it was the plan all along and we cannot dismiss citys owners. They all paid out crazy money and attempted to make for themselves crazy money (at the expense of these clubs).. I have to make this simple to read so we just have to keep pushing. We're legacy fans after all. Which means...no longer supported :)
 

Adisa

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This is bollocks and disingenuous. Why would anyone include share sales, the Ronaldo sale and director fees even the debt should not be included. I also don't understand why anyone would have a problem with dividends. If you own shares, you should expect dividends.
 

Adnan

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Woodward hired these managers. He gave 2 of them contract extensions prior firing them. He overpaid on salaries and fees. When he messed up he hired yet another banker (Matt Judge) and he allowed him to keep messing up. Everyone from DOFs right to football experts and club legends supported the idea of a DOF. Woodward resisted such move up until few months ago.
He hired managers that fans wanted like Mourinho and backed them with significant funds which were wasted due their poor choice of targets.. It's easy to blame him now with the benefit of hindsight. And experts like Arsene Wenger, Brendan Rodgers were against the idea of a Sporting director. Even the much coveted Mauricio Pocettino preferred working without one as witnessed at Spurs. The experts you refer to were the ones who work as pundits and have little to no experience as head coaches. I was probably the most vocal when it comes to wanting a Sporting director on this forum.

If he had the benefit of working with Fergie, the results would've been very different because Fergie as I've demonstrated in my earlier posts, was someone who was heavily involved when it came to contract renewals.
 

devilish

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.

He hired managers that fans wanted like Mourinho and backed them with significant funds which were wasted due their poor choice of targets.. It's easy to blame him now with the benefit of hindsight. And experts like Arsene Wenger, Brendan Rodgers were against the idea of a Sporting director. Even the much coveted Mauricio Pocettino preferred working without one as witnessed at Spurs. The experts you refer to were the ones who work as pundits and have little to no experience as head coaches. I was probably the most vocal when it comes to wanting a Sporting director on this forum.

If he had the benefit of working with Fergie, the results would've been very different because Fergie as I've demonstrated in my earlier posts, was someone who was heavily involved when it came to contract renewals.
Fans lack the inside information the club should have in their own industry. They wouldn't know the extent of the toxicity the likes of Mourinho brings to the club. As a CEO who think he needs no help whatsoever then Woodward should have known that. Ultimately football is a very close knit business. Managers, agents and clubs often work close with one another to get things done. The SL is a clear example of that. You had 14 clubs stretching throughout three countries who were able to cook this mess right behind everyone's back.

The DOF model is a tried and tested system that had largely proved itself successful at many many clubs. Why did Woodward ignored such successful model that clubs like Juventus, Manchester City, Liverpool and Dortmund. Who gives a feck what Wenger or Rodgers say?

Sir Alex left his job but he didn't die. Same can be said about the many many people who showed interest at the club from legends right to experienced people like Campos who were shocked by the absence of a DOF at United and went to large lengths to describe why it was needed. It was evident that Woodward was out of depth on football matters and he needed help. Why hasn't he brought that help in? What kept him from hiring experienced football people at board level especially since he kept messing again and again?

Ultimately Woodward will be remembered as the worst CEO the club had ever had, a symbol of what went wrong at the club throughout these past decade or so.
 

Adnan

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Fans lack the inside information the club should have in their own industry. They wouldn't know the extent of the toxicity the likes of Mourinho brings to the club. As a CEO who think he needs no help whatsoever then Woodward should have known that. Ultimately football is a very close knit business. Managers, agents and clubs often work close with one another to get things done. The SL is a clear example of that. You had 14 clubs stretching throughout three countries who were able to cook this mess right behind everyone's back.

The DOF model is a tried and tested system that had largely proved itself successful at many many clubs. Why did Woodward ignored such successful model that clubs like Juventus, Manchester City, Liverpool and Dortmund. Who gives a feck what Wenger or Rodgers say?

Sir Alex left his job but he didn't die. Same can be said about the many many people who showed interest at the club from legends right to experienced people like Campos who were shocked by the absence of a DOF at United and went to large lengths to describe why it was needed. It was evident that Woodward was out of depth on football matters and he needed help. Why hasn't he brought that help in? What kept him from hiring experienced football people at board level especially since he kept messing again and again?

Ultimately Woodward will be remembered as the worst CEO the club had ever had, a symbol of what went wrong at the club throughout these past decade or so.
I've answered all this before in earlier posts in weeks gone by.

And of course Campos would try and sell his services as a Sporting director which is natural. But you don't want a Sporting director who jumps from club to club like Campos has been doing over the last 8 years. A candidate like him provides no stability at a huge club like United. That's why the big clubs hire from within for the role.
 

Desert Eagle

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Compared to the other 5 owners of the top 6:

They take the most money out of the our club .

They've stuck us with the most debt.

They haven't invested in our infrastructure.

They have the worst PR and fan relations.

They've overseen the highest fall in footballing terms of a big club since Liverpool in the 90s


We need them out asap and we need the fans to unite in this as the number one goal for the future of our club.
 

bsCallout

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You can't just give 3 months notice and leave an executive position :lol:

In my current job I have to notify the company a minimum of 6 months before I leave to allow for transition. In reality I'd probably state my intents closer to a year in advance.
Well aren't you Mr. Important!
 

Godfather

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Compared to the other 5 owners of the top 6:

They take the most money out of the our club .

They've stuck us with the most debt.

They haven't invested in our infrastructure.

They have the worst PR and fan relations.

They've overseen the highest fall in footballing terms of a big club since Liverpool in the 90s


We need them out asap and we need the fans to unite in this as the number one goal for the future of our club.
Good summary