Very true!
In addition, one of the problems at United that’s frequently been reported in recent times has been the length of time it takes to get decisions made as absolutely everything has to be cleared with Joel Glazer in Florida, which of course is in a time zone hours behind the UK.
Now in the early days of their ownership, and into the early Woodward years, the Glazers were known for their hands-off approach. The stuff that’s being leaked about their micromanagement has only been from the last four or so years; the first time I got wind of it was when they wouldn’t let Martial be sold in Jose’s last summer.
So why had they shifted from hands-off to wanting everything run past them? Presumably because they no longer trusted the decisions that were being made on their behalf. And because of their remoteness and lack of knowledge, maybe they were scared to go all the way and actually replace the people making the bad decisions; better the devil you know etc. Woodward’s resignation has changed all that, and to our great fortune the person selected as his replacement, despite being yet another cronyist internal appointment, seems to be in possession of two vital qualities: a recognition that others might be better qualified to make footballing decisions than him and the confidence and tact to be able to persuade the Glazers that change is good.