Glazers / Woodward out! (One down)

Utd for ever

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Great post, but the fact Ed Woodward has now got class A shares tell me the club will be sold soon, over $10 million, not bad eh, maybe that’s the reason he’s reluctant to spend money now, just a thought?
 

Coops73

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Bloody hell, that’s really quite scary. The idea that fans could hound out Woodward at the very least seems quite fanciful after seeing that. God it’s depressing supporting United at the minute.
 

SteveW

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Wolves, Villa, Everton, and West Ham all have bigger nets spends over the last 3 windows. Brighton spent 7 million less over that time.

This is getting a bit ridiculous.
 

Adisa

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Bloody hell, that’s really quite scary. The idea that fans could hound out Woodward at the very least seems quite fanciful after seeing that. God it’s depressing supporting United at the minute.
The honest truth is that if fans are organised, there's nothing they can't do.
 

Strelok

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Wolves, Villa, Everton, and West Ham all have bigger nets spends over the last 3 windows. Brighton spent 7 million less over that time.

This is getting a bit ridiculous.
And I still think we did spend, and a lot.

Shame on me, shame on me.

We're hopeless, honestly.
 

red thru&thru

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It is only sad supporting United at the moment because our fans allow it to be. We let Ed and the Glazer's get off with blaming the managers all the. Ole should never have been given the job in the first place, and it has worked out very well for them with Ole's start and giving him the job.
 

MoskvaRed

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I think that might be slightly misleading - my guess is Woodward’s latest award of shares in 2019 took him over the 1% threshold, meaning the number has to be reported (in the 2018 report it just says he owns less than 1%). Anyway, assuming I am right that this is a share option plan, it shows his targets as CEO have nothing to do with what happens on the pitch.
 

Johan07

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Woodward has not received any dividends now in January if he acquired (new) shares after 2 December 2019, which seems to be the case.
The shares themselves probably are some share options that fell out 31 December and took him over the reporting threshold.
The dividend payment to shareholders on January 6 was the last one.
The club/Glazers will not pay dividends to the shareholders anymore (Glazers or others) after that.
The Class A has been trading ex-dividend on NYSE since 29 November 2019, which in part explains the dip in share-price.
So Woodward will definitely not receive any dividends in June. Neither will the Glazers or any other shareholders.
The money will stay in the club from now on.
This is fake news, but why am I not surprised that its been taken as fact in this thread.
https://ir.manutd.com/~/media/Files/M/Manutd-IR/Governance Document/1q20-earnings-release.pdf
(page 4 under Dividend)
 
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Adnan

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Woodward has not received any dividends now in January if he acquired (new) shares after 2 December 2019, which seems to be the case.
The shares themselves probably are some share options that fell out 31 December and took him over the reporting threshold.
The dividend payment to shareholders on January 6 was the last one.
The club/Glazers will not pay dividends to the shareholders anymore (Glazers or others) after that.
The Class A has been trading ex-dividend on NYSE since 29 November 2019, which in part explains the dip in share-price.
So Woodward will definitely not receive any dividends in June. Neither will the Glazers or any other shareholders.
The money will stay in the club from now on.
This is fake news, but why am I not surprised that its been taken as fact in this thread.
https://ir.manutd.com/~/media/Files/M/Manutd-IR/Governance Document/1q20-earnings-release.pdf
(page 4 under Dividend)
Do you agree with the rest of the thread about the Glazers though?
 

7even

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Woodward has not received any dividends now in January if he acquired (new) shares after 2 December 2019, which seems to be the case.
The shares themselves probably are some share options that fell out 31 December and took him over the reporting threshold.
The dividend payment to shareholders on January 6 was the last one.
The club/Glazers will not pay dividends to the shareholders anymore (Glazers or others) after that.
The Class A has been trading ex-dividend on NYSE since 29 November 2019, which in part explains the dip in share-price.
So Woodward will definitely not receive any dividends in June. Neither will the Glazers or any other shareholders.
The money will stay in the club from now on.
This is fake news, but why am I not surprised that its been taken as fact in this thread.
https://ir.manutd.com/~/media/Files/M/Manutd-IR/Governance Document/1q20-earnings-release.pdf
(page 4 under Dividend)
Dividends
1% = £48 000
100% = 4 800 000

Taking out dividends or not means nothing in grand scheme of things. Glazers has totally destroyed this club from top to bottom. Woodward is the executor with Ole doing the damage control in front of the media.

Without new owners we’re going nowhere. Our only chance is if our STH protests outside OT and not attending matches until something changes.

Hate is a strong word but the owners and Ed is on my list. Ole is close. He’s getting paid millions to defend this charades.
 

arthurka

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Bring on the Saudis. Time to make United great again.
Pipe it down Trump..:lol:
Thats how bad it has become, people wanting Saudis to buy the club.

Wolves, Villa, Everton, and West Ham all have bigger nets spends over the last 3 windows. Brighton spent 7 million less over that time.

This is getting a bit ridiculous.
And it shows on the pitch.
 

Thisistheone

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Without a doubt there will be books written in years to come about the Glazer/Woodward era and how they destroyed the biggest football club in the world.
 

JPRouve

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Without a doubt there will be books written in years to come about the Glazer/Woodward era and how they destroyed the biggest football club in the world.
It will be two simple sentences. Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and United did what they did without Sir Matt Busby and SAF.
 

Coops73

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The honest truth is that if fans are organised, there's nothing they can't do.
True but it would seem to me that the match going fans don’t really have the want or the stomach for it, which is a bit of a piss take coming from someone like me who rarely goes to games these days but I honestly think there needs to be very vocal disquiet coming from the terraces, especially during televised games to at the very least grab some headlines.
 

Johan07

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Do you agree with the rest of the thread about the Glazers though?
This is a hyperbolic thread and I usually just comment on here regarding financial matters when there is obvious fake news being spread like in the twitter-post that you posted.
I dont care about who the owners of United are as long as they spend enough money to keep United up there money-wise with Real, Barcelona and other top European clubs. The Glazers have been meeting that criteria since Sir Alex left.
My issue with the Glazers-out brigade is that no-one can present a realistic alternative as of today.
There are two realistic options to the Glazers now:
The first is a new LBO, and thus additional debt which would mean less money spent on the team, not more. Probably way less.
The other is the Saudis or the Chinese. Both are definite no-gos for me.
None of these alternatives are better. They are actually way worse.
If anyone can suggest someone that will spend as much money on the team as the Glazers are doing now and not make United a sportswashing tool; fine. If not, better the devil you know for me.
Jumping of a cliff without knowing if someone will catch you is generally not a good idea.
 

Le Red

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True but it would seem to me that the match going fans don’t really have the want or the stomach for it, which is a bit of a piss take coming from someone like me who rarely goes to games these days but I honestly think there needs to be very vocal disquiet coming from the terraces, especially during televised games to at the very least grab some headlines.
The people who could make a stand for the club don't want to. For me, this is the saddest part of this tragedy.
I never expected some American fraudsters to love MUFC, but I expected our match goers to. Turns out they only want to sing and get drunk.
 

Adnan

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This is a hyperbolic thread and I usually just comment on here regarding financial matters when there is obvious fake news being spread like in the twitter-post that you posted.
I dont care about who the owners of United are as long as they spend enough money to keep United up there money-wise with Real, Barcelona and other top European clubs. The Glazers have been meeting that criteria since Sir Alex left.
My issue with the Glazers-out brigade is that no-one can present a realistic alternative as of today.
There are two realistic options to the Glazers now:
The first is a new LBO, and thus additional debt which would mean less money spent on the team, not more. Probably way less.
The other is the Saudis or the Chinese. Both are definite no-gos for me.
None of these alternatives are better. They are actually way worse.
If anyone can suggest someone that will spend as much money on the team as the Glazers are doing now and not make United a sportswashing tool; fine. If not, better the devil you know for me.
Jumping of a cliff without knowing if someone will catch you is generally not a good idea.
I'm not well versed when it comes to our financials but the reason I shared the chain of tweets was because the source was a chap called Barney who runs a fanzine and is normally well versed on the club.
 

Samid

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The people who could make a stand for the club don't want to. For me, this is the saddest part of this tragedy.
I never expected some American fraudsters to love MUFC, but I expected our match goers to. Turns out they only want to sing and get drunk.
That's so harsh and shows that you haven't understood the situation. They also eat prawn sandwiches.
 

Thisistheone

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It will be two simple sentences. Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and United did what they did without Sir Matt Busby and SAF.
But to think of the platform Fergie left behind? We were/are a behemoth. It was all set up to carry on winning (not dominating) in a game where money and wage bills usually determine the winners. The place we sat in 2013 was totally different to where we sat when Busby left.

Alas we have crashed and burnt while Liverpool went in the opposite direction. Two very different owners.
 

AneRu

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This is a hyperbolic thread and I usually just comment on here regarding financial matters when there is obvious fake news being spread like in the twitter-post that you posted.
I dont care about who the owners of United are as long as they spend enough money to keep United up there money-wise with Real, Barcelona and other top European clubs. The Glazers have been meeting that criteria since Sir Alex left.
My issue with the Glazers-out brigade is that no-one can present a realistic alternative as of today.
There are two realistic options to the Glazers now:
The first is a new LBO, and thus additional debt which would mean less money spent on the team, not more. Probably way less.
The other is the Saudis or the Chinese. Both are definite no-gos for me.
None of these alternatives are better. They are actually way worse.
If anyone can suggest someone that will spend as much money on the team as the Glazers are doing now and not make United a sportswashing tool; fine. If not, better the devil you know for me.
Jumping of a cliff without knowing if someone will catch you is generally not a good idea.
But you are ignoring genuine concerns about the structure of the club and the poor recruitment that has neutralized any investment we have made whilst Woodward appears insulated from any form of accountability despite being the constant factor in this decay. Most people would be generally fine with the Glazer ownership if they provided the needed levels of investment and more importantly brought in the required expertise on the football side to implement a realistic, effective and efficient transfer and squad management policy. Its unacceptable for a club with the biggest wage bill in the league to find itself constantly fighting for top four and failing so their reluctance to put things right makes them a legitimate target for criticism.
 

schmousi

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Is there a possibility to buy a Green & Gold shirt to demand the withdrawal of the Glazers/Woodward together?
 

JPRouve

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One thing that younger people should understand is that anyone that is currently in his 50s or 60s has already seen this story. People should have a look at what happened to United after Sir Matt Busby retired, the Edwards family can't be accused of not caring about United but the club still struggled despite being one of the richest. Manchester United is a weird entity, its structure has been antiquated for a very long time now, months ago I talked about the fact that specialization in football clubs structures isn't a new concept, it was brought by Peugeot at Sochaux 70 years ago and widely used across Europe in professional clubs for more than half a century but United is one of the big clubs that has never embraced it, the easiest transition would have been in the 80s but we didn't and still stumbled on SAF, then with a bit of foresight the transition should have happened during Gill/SAF era but today it's actually a difficult thing to do.

We all have our opinion on how it should happen and why the Glazers/Woodward haven't stripped everything down and rebuilt the clubs structure into something that is a better fit for potential new employees coming from the continent or young british executives, one of the reason is that it's a daunting task for people that have never done it. That's my problem with Woodward, unlike some people I don't think that he is malicious, I simply look at what he is done in his career and it's easy to see a big issue, Woodward has no experience building a corporate structure what we currently at United has nothing to do with Football it's about organizational structure. That's why I believe that Woodward is a bad CEO and I would say the same thing about Gill because he is even more guilty than Woodward.
 

JPRouve

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But to think of the platform Fergie left behind? We were/are a behemoth. It was all set up to carry on winning (not dominating) in a game where money and wage bills usually determine the winners. The place we sat in 2013 was totally different to where we sat when Busby left.

Alas we have crashed and burnt while Liverpool went in the opposite direction. Two very different owners.
Fergie didn't left a platform, he was the platform which is the issue. We weren't a behemoth, he was a behemoth. As for Liverpool, their owners were piss poor until Klopp arrived.
 

Johan07

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But you are ignoring genuine concerns about the structure of the club and the poor recruitment that has neutralized any investment we have made whilst Woodward appears insulated from any form of accountability despite being the constant factor in this decay. Most people would be generally fine with the Glazer ownership if they provided the needed levels of investment and more importantly brought in the required expertise on the football side to implement a realistic, effective and efficient transfer and squad management policy. Its unacceptable for a club with the biggest wage bill in the league to find itself constantly fighting for top four and failing so their reluctance to put things right makes them a legitimate target for criticism.
I am not ignoring that, I have made multiple posts in threads concerning those subjects. Those are subjects are relevant regardless of who the owners are though. No-one knows what would happen to the structure of the club with new owners either, its another shot in the dark.
The owners main function is to provide enough investment for the club to be successful and financially stable. Thats what I am going to judge them on first and foremost.
I am genuinly concerned that this would be less in both regards with a new LBO.
The structure of the footballing side of the club is down to the CEO: Woodward. To want him out is perfectly fine, but same argument: you dont know if you will get someone better in.
 

AneRu

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I am not ignoring that, I have made multiple posts in threads concerning those subjects. Those are subjects are relevant regardless of who the owners are though. No-one knows what would happen to the structure of the club with new owners either, its another shot in the dark.
The owners main function is to provide enough investment for the club to be successful and financially stable. Thats what I am going to judge them on first and foremost.
I am genuinly concerned that this would be less in both regards with a new LBO.
The structure of the footballing side of the club is down to the CEO: Woodward. To want him out is perfectly fine, but same argument: you dont know if you will get someone better in.
I'd argue that the owners' duty isn't merely to invest but also to have a duty of care wrt how their money is invested and whether we the systems in place to spend the money right. Imo they are doing a good enough job when it comes to overseeing Woodward and how is implementing duties such that the club has descended into his personal fiefdom, as for getting someone better I'd argue that whilst there is no guarantee that the next guy will be better there are ways to predict with reasonable accuracy whether a someone is suitable or not - their past history, their vision as enunciated in the selection process and their qualifications. I'd say Van Der Sar could do better as United CEO than Woodward because he has a fine balance of corporate experience and a history of playing football at the top level for a long time coupled with a steady temperate, he is not overly excitable.
 

AshRK

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With the club offering Ashley young a contract extension it is getting clear the owners are saving money. Sadly irrespective of who the manager is they will continue to be frustrated with this set of board. No planning and only fooling us people to believe everything is fine.

I have to say the matchgoing fans and even us fans who have real love for the club need to show more frustration towards the board. Just blaming the manager and wanting him to be replaced won't work. This cycle has been rinsed and repeated for almost 7 years now. Enough is enough.
 

Green Arrow

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Hi All first post

Ashley Young has played his part for the club but it's time for him to move on. There is no need to offer a contract extension to him as he's 34 already. Inter are giving him an exit route out and he should take it (Which going by the tweets he will take). The only thing is though the club should hold onto him until the end of the season and then let him leave, squad is paper thin at the moment doesn't make sense to leave now.
 

Thisistheone

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Fergie didn't left a platform, he was the platform which is the issue. We weren't a behemoth, he was a behemoth. As for Liverpool, their owners were piss poor until Klopp arrived.
But there's so much more to being a top club these days than getting the right manager. when Fergie left Utd were the biggest and richest club in the world, at the top of the pyramid. Yes stuck in the dark ages but a monster of a club. Any shrewd owners would have made more of the advantage.

Liverpool's owners didnt't have the luxury of starting at the top of the pyramid like the Glazers. They were a shambles under Hicks & Gillette. FSG had to start from scratch and slowly rebuild a club over 10 years or so. Rodgers was an excellent appointment, almost won the league in 2014 playing amazing football and then they got it right again with Klopp, who could see how well run the club was behind the scenes, something he didn't see at Man Utd/Disneyland.

When Klopp goes you can bet they won't be as good but also they won't fall away completely. They certainly won't appoint has-been managers like the Glazers did. The wheels are already in motion in terms of planning a suitable successor. They probably have a shortlist of 2 or 3 with Gerrard in the mix. Then there's player recruitment, we're a million miles worse. We're now mid January in desperate need of players but there's no sign of anyone coming in while Liverpool, sitting clear at the top of the league, Champions of Europe, on the 1st January brought in a exciting young player for the same fee they sold Ryan Kent.

Then there's Old Trafford. FSG have improved Anfield. Glazers have let OT rot.
 

JPRouve

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Yeah I get that. But there's so much more to being a top club these days than getting the right manager. when Fergie left Utd were the biggest and richest club in the world, at the top of the pyramid. Yes stuck in the dark ages but a monster of a club. Any shrewd owners would have made more of the advantage. There were (& are) so many necessary changes needed. Here we are in 2020 still without a DoF just as one example.

Liverpool's owners didnt't have the luxury of starting at the top of the pyramid like the Glazers. They were a shambles under Hicks & Gillette. FSG had to start from scratch and slowly rebuild a club over 10 years or so. Rodgers was an excellent appointment, almost won the league in 2014 playing amazing football and then they got it right again with Klopp, who could see how well run the club was behind the scenes, something he didn't see at Man Utd/Disneyland.

When Klopp goes you can bet they won't be as good but also they won't fall away completely. They certainly won't appoint has-been managers like the Glazers did. The wheels are already in motion in terms of planning a suitable successor. They probably have a shortlist of 2 or 3 with Gerrard in the mix. Then there's player recruitment, we're a million miles worse. We're now mid January in desperate need of players but there's no sign of anyone coming in while Liverpool, sitting clear at the top of the league, Champions of Europe, on the 1st January brought in a exciting young player for the same fee they sold Ryan Kent.

Then there's Old Trafford. FSG have improved Anfield. Glazers have let OT rot.
I agree with your first paragraph, I pretty much say the same thing in the longish post that I made earlier, the small difference being that I don't think that they are destroying the club, it's an overreaction based on years of unparalleled success, it's worth remembering that we won the Europa League in 2017, it's a big trophy in the football world and we are a top 6 team in the PL. It's not good enough because we justifiably have big ambitions but this isn't actually a club in shamble.
And it's a misconception that starting at the top means that you are in an easier position, the sport industry is an extremely competitive environment where success is a matter of detail, high skills level and luck, the teams that are just behind you are also pretty good and it only takes a small deep to be overtaken. Now when you consider that United had by some distance the best manager in the world and arguably the best manager in the history of the game, losing him was always going to be a massive change.

The issue with the Glazers is that they didn't force a structural change when SAF was around, that's their mistake but it's one that I understand because it was a very difficult move to impose to SAF. Now when SAF leaves who is supposed to lead the club from a football standpoint? Unlike what you are suggesting FSG failed until Klopp came, Rodgers wasn't a particular appointment at the exception of one season he maintained them between 6th and 8th, the change came with Klopp who not only was a great head coach but also has/had the humility to say that he wanted and needed help with a DOF because that's the structure he was familiar with and that change officially happened at the end of 2016. And I won't make any prediction on what they will do when Klopp leaves, that's a bit foolish to do so, particularly when far more experienced and successful owners/executives have made terrible appointments.
 

Coops73

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The people who could make a stand for the club don't want to. For me, this is the saddest part of this tragedy.
I never expected some American fraudsters to love MUFC, but I expected our match goers to. Turns out they only want to sing and get drunk.
Bit harsh maybe, turning up to sing and get drunk has been part of British football culture since the year dot, a release for the working class after a long hard working week, ok football culture certainly on the terraces almost as much as on the field, has changed immeasurably but the principles remain the same the fans need something to watch and enjoy but they also need, and in my opinion have the right to voice their displeasure if they’re not enjoying what they see or how they feel the club is being run, after all it’s their hard earned money, I guess it’s up to the individual how they express that displeasure but me personally, I’d be giving the cnuts both barrels.
 

arthurka

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Robert Tepper the great Philosopher wrote about this back in the 80´s and sadly he hit home run.

 

Yakuza_devils

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The other is the Saudis or the Chinese. Both are definite no-gos for me.
I understand people don't want Saudi takeover because it was reportedly linked to their government. Some people have perception that Saudi government is cruel and brutal.

What is wrong with Chinese takeover? There was no link to their government (BTW I think Chinese government is perfectly fine regardless what Western media trying to spin). Or all the 1.4 billion Chinese are bad?
 

BluesJr

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Fans hold a lot of power but won't do anything. And before the arguments start about real match going fans vs fans on the internet let's just stop that here because I'm sure if many of us were lucky enough to be born near or have a job near Manchester we would be season ticket holders as well. I'm from Edinburgh, I go to around 2 games a season so I'm certainly not completely detached from the real world situation. Our fans at OT have no great desire to see change or it would be happening.
 

FreakyJim

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I agree with your first paragraph, I pretty much say the same thing in the longish post that I made earlier, the small difference being that I don't think that they are destroying the club, it's an overreaction based on years of unparalleled success, it's worth remembering that we won the Europa League in 2017, it's a big trophy in the football world and we are a top 6 team in the PL. It's not good enough because we justifiably have big ambitions but this isn't actually a club in shamble.
And it's a misconception that starting at the top means that you are in an easier position, the sport industry is an extremely competitive environment where success is a matter of detail, high skills level and luck, the teams that are just behind you are also pretty good and it only takes a small deep to be overtaken. Now when you consider that United had by some distance the best manager in the world and arguably the best manager in the history of the game, losing him was always going to be a massive change.

The issue with the Glazers is that they didn't force a structural change when SAF was around, that's their mistake but it's one that I understand because it was a very difficult move to impose to SAF. Now when SAF leaves who is supposed to lead the club from a football standpoint? Unlike what you are suggesting FSG failed until Klopp came, Rodgers wasn't a particular appointment at the exception of one season he maintained them between 6th and 8th, the change came with Klopp who not only was a great head coach but also has/had the humility to say that he wanted and needed help with a DOF because that's the structure he was familiar with and that change officially happened at the end of 2016. And I won't make any prediction on what they will do when Klopp leaves, that's a bit foolish to do so, particularly when far more experienced and successful owners/executives have made terrible appointments.
That is exactly the kind of attitude that will see us remain shite for decades to come.