Manchester United Board

[red thru&thru]

Years of mismanagement is showing up more than ever. Many people keep blaming the players or the manager...when this shouldn't be the case.

We've had many managers and many player post SAF, but ever present has been the board. Really wish people would realise this.

 

[TwoSheds]

Yep. Their succession "plan" for Solskjaer has been utterly ludicrous. Much like all the previous "plans" really. But it's alright because we're going to replace Woodward with his best mate from uni and it will all obviously be totally different.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Years of mismanagement is showing up more than ever. Many people keep blaming the players or the manager...when this shouldn't be the case.

We've had many managers and many player post SAF, but ever present has been the board. Really wish people would realise this.

Do you think people don’t know this.

We’re never getting rid of the Glazers until they die. It’s far too hard to change owners who don’t want out especially at this level.

 

[pedgon]

the glazers are here to stay long term. mufc wether successful or not on the picth has massive off field appeal for many reasons and is in reality a licence to print money. the glazers while putting the club under the kosh with loans etc have put up many many millions for the purchase of player. the problem lies with the people who have sanctioned the buying of very average players for ridiculous money. maguire £80million is farcical. ronaldo on £485,000 per week is ridiculous as well as are the ludicrous salaries paid to all the players.

 

[red thru&thru]

Do you think people don’t know this.

We’re never getting rid of the Glazers until they die. It’s far too hard to change owners who don’t want out especially at this level.

Who said getting the Glazers out would be easy? But the likes of Ed and he mates are a lot easier to get out.

Plus, why do people waste their energy on blaming the players and management if the real source of the problem isn't being addressed? Suppose it's easy for the fans to show their discontent to the players and management...which means the fans are just as much to blame for toxic atmosphere around the club.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Who said getting the Glazers out would be easy? But the likes of Ed and he mates are a lot easier to get out.

Plus, why do people waste their energy on blaming the players and management if the real source of the problem isn't being addressed? Suppose it's easy for the fans to show their discontent to the players and management...which means the fans are just as much to blame for toxic atmosphere around the club.

As you said because they are something that have a genuine chance of been changed, the Glazers aren't going, and Woodward is only ever going to leave on his terms, it's just black hole of dispair when it comes to the board and ownership change, but a manager change or new players offer hope of better times to fans, so you can't blame them for asking for it everytime things get really grim, most fans know the real problem though.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Yep. Their succession "plan" for Solskjaer has been utterly ludicrous. Much like all the previous "plans" really. But it's alright because we're going to replace Woodward with his best mate from uni and it will all obviously be totally different.

How? It's at least a better idea than any of the other ones since SAF left.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

A father and his sons lived in a forest. It was a beautiful forest which the father tendered for very well. They made their money from chopping down trees. The father would always make sure to plant seeds for new trees to grow and ensure that the beautiful forest which provides them with money, shelter and food, never dies.

They all grew older and the father passed away, he had left his sons the flourishing forest. However, the sons were not like their father. They wanted the short term gain of chopping down all the trees, even the baby ones! They had made a lot of money and could now enjoy the good life.

Years passed and the sons were old now and needed to pass the forest onto their own children. They all returned to the forest to chop more trees down but to their surprise, there were no more trees. They cursed and blamed each other for being too lazy to plant new trees. Their money maker was gone and their children had no forest to enjoy anymore.

 

[Coops73]

Who said getting the Glazers out would be easy? But the likes of Ed and he mates are a lot easier to get out.

Plus, why do people waste their energy on blaming the players and management if the real source of the problem isn't being addressed? Suppose it's easy for the fans to show their discontent to the players and management...which means the fans are just as much to blame for toxic atmosphere around the club.

I’ve been saying the same thing for years and I get stupid shit like “They’ve been here since 2005, we’ve won a bit since then” failing to mention only 4 trophies since Ferguson left in 2013.

Don’t get me wrong some of these players are poisonous and they need moving on, but until the Glazers are gone or at the very least they get footballing people to run the club and not some slap head accountant and his pal then shit will not change.

My only hope out of what is looking to be another farcical season is that Rangnick has been brought in to do just that and the fact that players are reportedly upset means he’s lighting fires up some of their arses…..But it’s the hope that kills you.

 

[The Dane]

I find that what the board has done with the appointment of Ralf is a step in the right direction. It’s the first sign of some long term thinking and an actual strategy for how United should play.
You also cannot blame the Glazers for not investing enough money into this team. You can blame the ones who choose to spent the money on the likes of Maguire and AWB, the one who choose to make Maguire captain when he clearly does not tick any of the boxes for a leader, and the ones who choose to extend contracts with squad players at salaries which makes them impossible to sell afterwards, and last but not least the ones who allows for a player like VDB to be bought only for him to sit on the bench for 2 years without ever being given a chance to really prove his worth.

 

[TwoSheds]

How? It's at least a better idea than any of the other ones since SAF left.

How is it a good idea? We assembled an expensive but slightly ageing/lethargic squad, full of quality but difficult to manage. We then acted all surprised when Solskjaer turned out to not be good enough to manage it. Conte seemed to make clear his interest in the job a few weeks after it had become pretty obvious Solskjaer had completely lost his way, and instead we turned our noses up at him and gave Solskjaer a few more games and in doing so more or less gave up on the season there and then. After that we brought in an interim interim who actually surprisingly looked like he might have the right idea of how to play with this squad and maybe the season wouldn't be a total write off, but it was also announced that he'd only be there for a short time while we brought in a different interim coach with a totally different high energy style and a not particularly impressive track record. We've now definitely written the season off and January has barely started. And then we haven't even announced what manager we want in the summer so all the highly unsettled players don't even know whether they might fit in with the next managerial flip flop.

It's totally unsurprising the players are unsettled, and it's totally unacceptable that we gave up on yet another season before it was even half over. Particularly when we've assembled one of the most expensive squads in the world.

 

[JebelSherif]

Years of mismanagement is showing up more than ever. Many people keep blaming the players or the manager...when this shouldn't be the case.

We've had many managers and many player post SAF, but ever present has been the board. Really wish people would realise this.

And ever present has been SAF who I believe is also on the board and still making key decisions in the running of the club. Most recently convincing Ronaldo to return, and then making him virtually the first name on the team sheet (when fit) by criticising Ole after the Everton game.

Oh he was also complicit in the Glazer takeover and allowed the squad to age as his retirement approached, leaving Moyes in an impossible situation. The club are still playing catch-up as a result....

Really wish people would realise this.

 

[red thru&thru]

And ever present has been SAF who I believe is also on the board and still making key decisions in the running of the club. Most recently convincing Ronaldo to return, and then making him virtually the first name on the team sheet (when fit) by criticising Ole after the Everton game.

Oh he was also complicit in the Glazer takeover and allowed the squad to age as his retirement approached, leaving Moyes in an impossible situation. The club are still playing catch-up as a result....

Really wish people would realise this.

As you say, you "believe" it to be true about Sir Alex. Many conflicting reports out there about how much power and sway he holds. And yes, of course he would have spoken to CR7 about a return, he still has a role at the club...to what extent, nobody really knows. In any case, even as the manager at the club he made some bad decisions, but ultimately, made the club successful.

However, what we DO know is, Ed is in charge of the day to day operations, and Joel has the ultimate say in everything. So if we go on what is actually true, these two men are more responsible than any.

Heck, they can't even decide to as when Ed will leave, and in what capacity he will still be at the club...shows the sheer incompetence of the decisions that get made at this club.

 

[Bestietom]

Should be dismantled and people with knowledge of football should be the majority on this board.

 

[AndySmith1990]

We're all aware of the boards failings. But that doesn't excuse the players for being lazy egotistical self-absorbed wankers.

 

[Sky1981]

Ed and the board biggest mistake was trusting SAF (god bless him, who'd have thought) with succession plan

If they follow analytical business school method they'd fare much better.

The irony

 

[Bebestation]

We never had a good manager post SAF.

• Moyes (incompetent)
• Van Gaal (a 90's manager)
• Mourinho (would have been successful earlier as the Moyes replacement but was too old by the time he got the job, as seen at his other clubs)
• Ole (an ex player)
• Rangnick (never a great manager even in Germany, just an influential one due to style implemented. Arguably gave up on conte for him, who could win a title in 2 years).

Our next manager is very important.

My only hope is that we went for a intermin manager like Rangnick due to some sort of continuity of a style seen by the next manager.

 

[red thru&thru]

We're all aware of the boards failings. But that doesn't excuse the players for being lazy egotistical self-absorbed wankers.

We've been saying this about all the players post SAF. Granted players are to blame, but so are the board. They should taken just as much flack.

 

[red thru&thru]

We never had a good manager post SAF.

• Moyes (incompetent)
• Van Gaal (a 90's manager)
• Mourinho (would have been successful earlier as the Moyes replacement but was too old by the time he got the job, as seen at his other clubs)
• Ole (an ex player)
• Rangnick (never a great manager even in Germany, just an influential one due to style implemented. Arguably gave up on conte for him, who could win a title in 2 years).

Our next manager is very important.

My only hope is that we went for a intermin manager like Rangnick due to some sort of continuity of a style seen by the next manager.

And who makes the decisions to hire all these people?

 

[Solius]

Years of mismanagement is showing up more than ever. Many people keep blaming the players or the manager...when this shouldn't be the case.

We've had many managers and many player post SAF, but ever present has been the board. Really wish people would realise this.

Agreed. Nobody in the history of this forum has ever suggested the board is a problem. Good spot.

 

[red thru&thru]

Agreed. Nobody in the history of this forum has ever suggested the board is a problem. Good spot.

Thanks.

 

[groovyalbert]

We never had a good manager post SAF.

• Moyes (incompetent)
• Van Gaal (a 90's manager)
• Mourinho (would have been successful earlier as the Moyes replacement but was too old by the time he got the job, as seen at his other clubs)
• Ole (an ex player)
• Rangnick (never a great manager even in Germany, just an influential one due to style implemented. Arguably gave up on conte for him, who could win a title in 2 years).

Our next manager is very important.

My only hope is that we went for a intermin manager like Rangnick due to some sort of continuity of a style seen by the next manager.

I think we're getting to the point where the "big name pull" of the club is going to start to wane.

It's so abundantly obvious that we're a nightmare to run that a new manager will just find themselves between a hard place and a rock trying to appease a profit-focused board and a self-entitled squad who won't put in where needed.

If reports are to be believed - which given the sheer number of reports is likely the case - then we have probably sunk to our lowest point since SAF left. I struggle to see how we finish top 6 at this point in time.

 

[red thru&thru]

I think we're getting to the point where the "big name pull" of the club is going to start to wane.

It's so abundantly obvious that we're a nightmare to run that a new manager will just find themselves between a hard place and a rock trying to appease a profit-focused board and a self-entitled squad who won't put in where needed.

If reports are to be believed - which given the sheer number of reports is likely the case - then we have probably sunk to our lowest point since SAF left. I struggle to see how we finish top 6 at this point in time.

Yeah, it seems this way. However, if Richard Arnold keeps his nerve and keeps Ralf to oversee the mess we're in. Hopefully he can try and convince Paul Mitchell to come in from Monaco.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

And ever present has been SAF who I believe is also on the board and still making key decisions in the running of the club. Most recently convincing Ronaldo to return, and then making him virtually the first name on the team sheet (when fit) by criticising Ole after the Everton game.

Oh he was also complicit in the Glazer takeover and allowed the squad to age as his retirement approached, leaving Moyes in an impossible situation. The club are still playing catch-up as a result....

Really wish people would realise this.

Nope.

Ferguson remains on the football board, which is largely figurative, alongside figures such as Sir Bobby Charlton, former chief executive David Gill and non-executive director Michael Edelson. The club board — including the six Glazer siblings, Woodward, managing director Richard Arnold and chief financial officer Cliff Baty — retains the power.

 

[marktan]

And ever present has been SAF who I believe is also on the board and still making key decisions in the running of the club. Most recently convincing Ronaldo to return, and then making him virtually the first name on the team sheet (when fit) by criticising Ole after the Everton game.

Oh he was also complicit in the Glazer takeover and allowed the squad to age as his retirement approached, leaving Moyes in an impossible situation. The club are still playing catch-up as a result....

Really wish people would realise this.

Man you must really hate SAF, you've been posting a lot of nonsense in loads of threads. Complicit in the takeover ffs, give your head a wobble.

 

[marktan]

There was a good article in the athletic recently - about Brentford and Brighton and their owners Mathew Bentham and Tony Bloom. In that in mentioned how their boards both had members of each others betting companies on them. These are guys who look at huge amounts of data daily, to try and again an edge. And then they can take that footballing expertise and bring it to the club, and it shows. Both those clubs have been run really well and sign players very shrewdly.

What does our board consist of? 6 Glazers and one or two money men. They have no expertise nor interest in football, and it shows with the poor recruitment in managers and players. It's not going to change either, there's very little incentive for them to change, the money keep coming in regardless of footballing success. It's why it's a fools game to get bothered when United lose, we're going to be crap for a very very long time. I don't see us winning anything of note in the next 10 years.

 

[red thru&thru]

There was a good article in the athletic recently - about Brentford and Brighton and their owners Mathew Bentham and Tony Bloom. In that in mentioned how their boards both had members of each others betting companies on them. These are guys who look at huge amounts of data daily, to try and again an edge. And then they can take that footballing expertise and bring it to the club, and it shows. Both those clubs have been run really well and sign players very shrewdly.

What does our board consist of? 6 Glazers and one or two money men. They have no expertise nor interest in football, and it shows with the poor recruitment in managers and players. It's not going to change either, there's very little incentive for them to change, the money keep coming in regardless of footballing success. It's why it's a fools game to get bothered when United lose, we're going to be crap for a very very long time. I don't see us winning anything of note in the next 10 years.

Agree with all the above.

And this is where my frustration comes from, that basically, we, as the fans, keep talking about the players and managers but the biggest problem is the board. The fans should spend their energy of trying to get rid of the root of the problem first. People will keep saying that you can't get rid of the board but you can. Just in the same way fans bemoan the players and managers and create an atmosphere of discontent around them, the same thing can be done with the executive board. Heck, we managed it with Ed Woodward.

 

[crossy1686]

We're all aware of the boards failings. But that doesn't excuse the players for being lazy egotistical self-absorbed wankers.

100% this. The players all of a sudden feel oppressed because they can't go on holiday when they're injured, let's deal with that entitled bunch of nob's first

 

[crossy1686]

There was a good article in the athletic recently - about Brentford and Brighton and their owners Mathew Bentham and Tony Bloom. In that in mentioned how their boards both had members of each others betting companies on them. These are guys who look at huge amounts of data daily, to try and again an edge. And then they can take that footballing expertise and bring it to the club, and it shows. Both those clubs have been run really well and sign players very shrewdly.

What does our board consist of? 6 Glazers and one or two money men. They have no expertise nor interest in football, and it shows with the poor recruitment in managers and players. It's not going to change either, there's very little incentive for them to change, the money keep coming in regardless of footballing success. It's why it's a fools game to get bothered when United lose, we're going to be crap for a very very long time. I don't see us winning anything of note in the next 10 years.

The United board's only issue when it comes to recruitment is backing the manager too much.

Should they not have sanctioned the purchase of Pogba, Lukaku, Bailly and Lindelöf under Mourinho? Fellani under Moyes? Wan-Bissaka and Maguire under Solskjaer? At what point is it meddling and not supporting the manager?

We need a DOF who can oversee this moving forward, and apparently that's what Ralf will be moving upstairs to do at the end of the season. We will have much more success (hopefully) with recruitment moving forward once we have proper structure in place.

 

[red thru&thru]

100% this. The players all of a sudden feel oppressed because they can't go on holiday when they're injured, let's deal with that entitled bunch of nob's first

Have we not been saying this about the players post SAF?

 

[crossy1686]

Have we not been saying this about the players post SAF?

We have but we keep sacking managers instead of facing the problem

 

[red thru&thru]

The United board's only issue when it comes to recruitment is backing the manager too much.

Should they not have sanctioned the purchase of Pogba, Lukaku, Bailly and Lindelöf under Mourinho? Fellani under Moyes? Wan-Bissaka and Maguire under Solskjaer? At what point is it meddling and not supporting the manager?

We need a DOF who can oversee this moving forward, and apparently that's what Ralf will be moving upstairs to do at the end of the season. We will have much more success (hopefully) with recruitment moving forward once we have proper structure in place.

I agree, the board back their manager horribly, however, there has been no direction on the kind of player we want, which has been a MASSIVE issue. Most of us could tell you right now, what type of player Manchester City, LFC, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, RB etc would pick. With us, there is no such clarity.

 

[red thru&thru]

We have but we keep sacking managers instead of facing the problem

The problem being?

 

[marktan]

The United board's only issue when it comes to recruitment is backing the manager too much.

Should they not have sanctioned the purchase of Pogba, Lukaku, Bailly and Lindelöf under Mourinho? Fellani under Moyes? Wan-Bissaka and Maguire under Solskjaer? At what point is it meddling and not supporting the manager?

We need a DOF who can oversee this moving forward, and apparently that's what Ralf will be moving upstairs to do at the end of the season. We will have much more success (hopefully) with recruitment moving forward once we have proper structure in place.

It's not even just a DOF, it's footballing expertise on the board, analysts within the club, analysts within the recruitment team. Football moved away from one or two people making big decisions based on their ideas a long time ago.

For example - the players you've listed, a good scouting team and footballing analyst team would question, is Maguire for £80m really the best available deal? Would a player like Joachim Andersen, who can pass as well as Maguire but may not be as defensively strong, be a better deal at £20m? Is Wan Bissaka, whose only real quality is being strong in the tackle in 1 v 1s (and probably the best in the world as a fullback at that), is that what a modern, attacking teams needs at a £50m spend?

 

[Gordon Godot]

The United board's only issue when it comes to recruitment is backing the manager too much.

Should they not have sanctioned the purchase of Pogba, Lukaku, Bailly and Lindelöf under Mourinho? Fellani under Moyes? Wan-Bissaka and Maguire under Solskjaer? At what point is it meddling and not supporting the manager?

We need a DOF who can oversee this moving forward, and apparently that's what Ralf will be moving upstairs to do at the end of the season. We will have much more success (hopefully) with recruitment moving forward once we have proper structure in place.

No the failure of the board is complete across many areas. Firstly from replacing Fergie to all teh subsequent appointments, there has been no plan in place or coherence around choices. Reactive and jumping from different styles of play, coaching methods etc. Then there is no player recruitment strategy, at all. Players are signed in areas that we dont have problems, on truly ludicrous wages, while problem areas are ignored. We claim to have lots of data and huge scouting network, then our exhaustive review of defenders came up with Maguire and AWB. One average and the otehr frankly so technically lacking as to be a joke. Pogba, VDB, and then Ronaldo. Who is making these decisions? The board run the club and are THE problem and reason for the complete mess we are in. Managers, players etc are a result of their choices. I dont understand why the fans cannot see this and are not taking their frustration out on them

 

[Ludens the Red]

Agree with all the above.

And this is where my frustration comes from, that basically, we, as the fans, keep talking about the players and managers but the biggest problem is the board. The fans should spend their energy of trying to get rid of the root of the problem first. People will keep saying that you can't get rid of the board but you can. Just in the same way fans bemoan the players and managers and create an atmosphere of discontent around them, the same thing can be done with the executive board. Heck, we managed it with Ed Woodward.

In that case let’s close redcafe then and not bother turning up to games either since the players and manager don’t matter.

We’ll just make one big Glazer out thread and think of ways we can get rid of them.

I don’t really know what you want or expect to happen or why you think United fans should seize all discussion on players/managers etc until the Glazers leave.

They are not going anywhere, ever. Unless a Middle Eastern consortium buys them out the Glazers are here till death.
You say the fans should create an atmosphere of discontent. United fans literally chant about Ed Woodward and the Glazers dying. They’ve protested, they’ve gone and started an entirely new club. They’ve ransacked the ground. What more do you think needs to be done??

I’m also not sure how you think people who moan on the cafe somehow creates discontent at the club or ground. United fans are actually very good with players and managers at the ground where their voices can be heard. Which is probably one of the reasons why our players are shameless cnuts.

 

[Gordon Godot]

It's not even just a DOF, it's footballing expertise on the board, analysts within the club, analysts within the recruitment team. Football moved away from one or two people making big decisions based on their ideas a long time ago.

For example - the players you've listed, a good scouting team and footballing analyst team would question, is Maguire for £80m really the best available deal? Would a player like Joachim Andersen, who can pass as well as Maguire but may not be as defensively strong, be a better deal at £20m? Is Wan Bissaka, whose only real quality is being strong in the tackle in 1 v 1s (and probably the best in the world as a fullback at that), is that what a modern, attacking teams needs at a £50m spend?

Agreed. I dont understand why more people cannot see the obvious. The buck stops with the board, and mainly Woodward. The mess we have now is his legacy. The guy is a clown, but the joke is on us fans. Appalling recruitment decsions reflect the lack of a proper framework, or any framework, or proper data analysis.

 

[Bilbo]

Its easy to look back with hindsight and be super critical. Woodward and the rest of the decision makers are responsible for the football club and its hard to claim that on that level they haven't failed.

I think though, if we are being fair, none of the managerial appointments they have made seemed ridiculous or doomed to failure at the time of the appointment. Fans were mainly supportive of these decisions when they were made. Similarly everybody got carried away with the gushing articles about Rangnick, and was described by so many as the club finally getting its act together, but you can be sure that if he fails those same people will express their concerns about his CV and completely rewrite the wisdom of this decision. Hindsight makes everything easy.

For me, the main area where the board have consistently failed has been in squad management. How long has it been since we've had a squad that wasn't bloated with expensive players not contributing? When did we last sell a player at just the right time? How many renewal mistakes have been made? These errors are extremely expensive for the club, and probably undermine most of the financial benefits that this board have delivered on the commercial side.

 

[red thru&thru]

It's not even just a DOF, it's footballing expertise on the board, analysts within the club, analysts within the recruitment team. Football moved away from one or two people making big decisions based on their ideas a long time ago.

For example - the players you've listed, a good scouting team and footballing analyst team would question, is Maguire for £80m really the best available deal? Would a player like Joachim Andersen, who can pass as well as Maguire but may not be as defensively strong, be a better deal at £20m? Is Wan Bissaka, whose only real quality is being strong in the tackle in 1 v 1s (and probably the best in the world as a fullback at that), is that what a modern, attacking teams needs at a £50m spend?

Great points made.

 

[Gordon Godot]

In that case let’s close redcafe then and not bother turning up to games either since the players and manager don’t matter.

We’ll just make one big Glazer out thread and think of ways we can get rid of them.

I don’t really know what you want or expect to happen or why you think United fans should seize all discussion on players/managers etc until the Glazers leave.

They are not going anywhere, ever. Unless a Middle Eastern consortium buys them out the Glazers are here till death.
You say the fans should create an atmosphere of discontent. United fans literally chant about Ed Woodward and the Glazers dying. They’ve protested, they’ve gone and started an entirely new club. They’ve ransacked the ground. What more do you think needs to be done??

I’m also not sure how you think people who moan on the cafe somehow creates discontent at the club or ground. United fans are actually very good with players and managers at the ground where their voices can be beards. Which is probably one of the reasons why are players are shameless cnuts.

We can discuss whatever we want. But yes we should have discontent with the board. The super league reaction made the Glazers take notice, The fans have the power to demand a proper board driven by football decisions with football people at the healm. Its actually not that hard given the money we have, City built a club structure from scratch. Chelsea have one of the best youth systems that survives all changes of manager.