Matt Judge resigns from role as Manchester United’s Head of Corporate Development

r3idy

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That is pretty terrible.
Considering Woodward is supposed to be some amazing hot shot financier, it does make you wonder why he never saw footballers as depreciating assets. Remarkable
 

gorky_utd

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Considering Woodward is supposed to be some amazing hot shot financier, it does make you wonder why he never saw footballers as depreciating assets. Remarkable
He probably thought players are like gold.
 

Leftback99

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It doesn't even make sense. Players out of contract are worth nothing on the balance sheet and still are with an extension. Renewal is just cheaper than buying replacements.
 

Andy_Cole

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Not sure where to put this. But I’ve heard that we’ve offered AWB a new contract of a salary cut. He’s looking to move on now either this or next summer. I wonder how many more we’ve offered a salary cut to. Rashford, Shaw?
 

Grande

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Getting Rangnick as temporary manager was a mistake. Temporary managers are hired to stir the ship to some sort of safety. You simply don't go for someone whose football style is completely different to what the team is used to and is built upon our weaknesses especially mid way throughout the season. Having said Rangnick is one of the finest and most experienced sporting directors in the world. If he can't figure out what Fletcher does then who can?
‘To stir the ship’ nails it. Not to steer the ship into port, but to stir everything up and see what happens when the players are asked to play a press aggressive, highly detailistic system, so A) they’ll be more used to it when Ten Hag comes in with similar demands, and so the consulent and the Football director can make a more qualified review of who needs to go this summer so Ten Hag doesn’t have to run everyone through preseason to get an idea.

He was brought in to stir the ship, that’s exactly it. But by now they’re shaken, not stirred.
 

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The nepotism in this club is fecking embarassing.

judge was never qualified for the role. feck him and woodward.
 

darioterios

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How does that value maintenance stuff actually work in financial terms? Extend the contracts to decrease annual amortisation and hopefully turn over for more than the remaining book value, something like that, not sure if it is the way it works? What about the wages though, keep paying them when the manager does not bother to play them in matches?
 

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Dumbest idea, the pair of morons.

Although it's not clear who will be in charge of transfers and negotiations? Hopefully not a void of inexperience.
From the sounds of it, the club will be sold to players and larger outlines by Murtough and Fletcher (AKA the football guys) and let the finite details sorted by the lawyers, rather than letting the lawyer do all of it.
 

amolbhatia50k

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From the sounds of it, the club will be sold to players and larger outlines by Murtough and Fletcher (AKA the football guys) and let the finite details sorted by the lawyers, rather than letting the lawyer do all of it.
That's a frightening prospect.
 

PoTMS

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Dumbest idea, the pair of morons.

Although it's not clear who will be in charge of transfers and negotiations? Hopefully not a void of inexperience.
It's not really a dumb idea in principle. What's dumb though is giving streaky unfit players like Jones, Bailly and Martial bumper 5 year contracts and has beens like Mata and Matic 2/3 year contracts when there's absolutely no need.
 

amolbhatia50k

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How on earth do you work that out? You need to sell the club because look at us right now.

Let’s just go back to Judge and Ed Woodward throwing 300k at everyone I guess. That’ll motivate them.
Imagine being owned by Maguire and Rashford.
 

amolbhatia50k

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It's not really a dumb idea in principle. What's dumb though is giving streaky unfit players like Jones, Bailly and Martial bumper 5 year contracts and has beens like Mata and Matic 2/3 year contracts when there's absolutely no need.
Well then it is dumb isn't it given it hasn't made sense for 5 players.
 

PoTMS

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Well then it is dumb isn't it given it hasn't made sense for 5 players.
Yeah, but extending contracts to retain asset value isn't in any way a dumb idea when done correctly. It's not exactly as if it's a novel concept that Woodward/Judge have come up with either. Clubs have been doing it for yonks since the Bosman ruling came in. It's just United are ran by incompetent idiots and have given unnecessary long well paid contracts to players who would otherwise have very little demand.
 

roseguy64

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Head of Corporate Development? Job titles are pretty vague to begin with and rarely justify what people do, but he was in charge of negotiations.

Either way, this guy from what has been said about his role in transfers...he was not good.

It's a clear out...Woodward, gone. Judge, he's been served. The chief scouts, gone.
"Corporate Development" is quite vague, does anyone know exactly what his role was & how does it sit in our hierarchy?
Why was Head of Corporate Development negotiating players transfers? Doesn't he have other important stuff to do?
Corporate Development was his old role. His role he's resigning from is Director of Negotiations. Ornstein corrected himself in a reply to the original tweet.
 

mazhar13

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what on earth are you going on about
He's trying to make a joke on the literal "club will be sold to players" phrase i.e. the players will literally have some ownership of the club. It's not that funny to me, but to each their own.

Well then it is dumb isn't it given it hasn't made sense for 5 players.
The idea itself isn't dumb just because we didn't do a good job of it, especially when other clubs (such as Dortmund and Chelsea) have made a good amount of money by extending the contracts of in-demand players. This is where I'm hoping our new structure can improve upon these contract renewals.
 

roseguy64

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If no roomm for Mitchell then i would suggest getting rid of Fletcher,i like the guy but he has no experience but Mitchell has loads.
Why are you conflating what Mitchell would do and what Fletcher actually does? They can co-exist.
 

Rolaholic

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That's a frightening prospect.
I mean that's simply the reality in 2022 mate :lol:

Coming on 10 years since last winning the league and the same amount of time since we advanced deep in the CL.

We're at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting the highest bracket of talents compared to our rivals but that doesn't make it impossible.

Liverpool were in the same positions at the time Klopp arrived and they still managed to sell players towards their project.
 

ti vu

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The question is who made these assessment of playing well. Some extension like Bailly for example doesn't fit the narrative. The player himself wanted to leave, not rated to play, and not really playing well enough.

Only to protect book value makes (financial) sense d fit the narrative, but a total disaster in how to run a football club.
 

mu4c_20le

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This is what we expected all along, no surprises there. Just a business decision. Unable to sell? extend.
 

Adnan

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The question is who made these assessment of playing well. Some extension like Bailly for example doesn't fit the narrative. The player himself wanted to leave, not rated to play, and not really playing well enough.

Only to protect book value makes (financial) sense d fit the narrative, but a total disaster in how to run a football club.
It was a complete and utter failure of the board/manager approach to running a football club.
 

ti vu

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Absolute bullshit. "Playing well" doesn't hold water. Bailly and Jones were extended.
TBF, Jones did well during the first half of Ole's interim period, prior to his contract extension.

Total backward logic in football management though. Need vision for future. Playing for contract motivating approach, and protect book value are recipe for disaster.
 

MikeUpNorth

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Tail wagging the dog in “protecting book value”. Sometimes you have to write down the value of overinflated assets.
 

edcunited1878

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It was a complete and utter failure of the board/manager approach to running a football club.
Would say this is much more on the upper management than manager.

Sure preserve financial value through extension, but we know financial approaches don't equate to player asset usage. If the player has no actual use, then their value is low, especially to other clubs when looking at said player's wages and output.

On top of that, the club has had difficulty off loading average players due to the initial contracts they have in the first place.

It's been a clusterfeck and glad that Woodward and Judge are out.
 

Adnan

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Would say this is much more on the upper management than manager.

Sure preserve financial value through extension, but we know financial approaches don't equate to player asset usage. If the player has no actual use, then their value is low, especially to other clubs when looking at said player's wages and output.

On top of that, the club has had difficulty off loading average players due to the initial contracts they have in the first place.

It's been a clusterfeck and glad that Woodward and Judge are out.
Tbh with you if Mourinho and Ole had asked for a DoF type figure then we likely wouldn't be seeing Woodward and Judge making footballing decisions. We know Mourinho has a history of not being happy working under a DoF type figure. So it's extremely naive for a club to appoint a manager in the modern game and allow him to bring his own recruitment staff. The problem arises when the manager loses his job and responsibility then falls on the board rather than the DoF.

Klopp at Liverpool was brought in as the manager but understood his role as the head coach and hence embraced Liverpool's football structure (which was widely criticised). And Michael Edwards became the de facto DoF who oversaw the football departments and followed the guiding principle of Jurgen Klopp to align the whole football structure towards a common idea to cater for Klopp's needs. Mourinho and Solskjaer didn't do what Klopp did and instead followed a similar approach to Brendan Rodgers who wanted to work independently from Liverpool's footballing structure. It's not a surprise at all to see them fail.
 
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edcunited1878

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Tbh with you if Mourinho and Ole had asked for a DoF type figure then we likely wouldn't be seeing Woodward and Judge making footballing decisions. We know Mourinho has a history of not being happy working under a DoF type figure. So it's extremely naive for a club to appoint a manager in the modern game and allow him to bring his own recruitment staff. The problem arises when the manager loses his job and responsibility then falls on the board rather than the DoF.

Klopp at Liverpool was brought in as the manager but understood his role as the head coach and hence embraced Liverpool's football structure (which was widely criticised). And Michael Edwards became the de facto DoF who oversaw the football departments and followed the guiding principle of Jurgen Klopp to align the whole football structure towards a common idea to cater for Klopp's needs. Mourinho and Solskjaer didn't do what Klopp did and instead followed a similar approach to Brendan Rodgers who wanted to work independently from t Liverpool's footballing structure. It's not a surprise at all to see them fail.
Agree with you totally. And appreciate your insights and contributions here. Very level headed and fair, well prepared context like this.

Joel Glazer doesn't know how to run a football enterprise, however the way Woodward and Judge ran the club is slowly coming out and it is worse than many thought.

We've seen some small, but significant changes under Murtough so far and with Rangnick’s input during the full transition to ten Hag, I believe we'll see marked improvement next season and then kick on. But everybody has to do their part and not be sentimental about it. Winning takes a lot of work, sacrifice, and truth.
 

Roboc7

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Agree with you totally. And appreciate your insights and contributions here. Very level headed and fair, well prepared context like this.

Joel Glazer doesn't know how to run a football enterprise, however the way Woodward and Judge ran the club is slowly coming out and it is worse than many thought.

We've seen some small, but significant changes under Murtough so far and with Rangnick’s input during the full transition to ten Hag, I believe we'll see marked improvement next season and then kick on. But everybody has to do their part and not be sentimental about it. Winning takes a lot of work, sacrifice, and truth.
Woodward ran the club how the owners wanted it to be run, he was highly rewarded and left of his own accord, if it was up to the owners he’d probably still be here.

When push comes to shove Arnold and Murtough will do the same, that’s why they’ve got the jobs. Ultimately a lot of the core issues will remain but maybe some better decisions will be made.
 

edcunited1878

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Woodward ran the club how the owners wanted it to be run, he was highly rewarded and left of his own accord, if it was up to the owners he’d probably still be here.

When push comes to shove Arnold and Murtough will do the same, that’s why they’ve got the jobs. Ultimately a lot of the core issues will remain but maybe some better decisions will be made.
Then Judge wouldn't have left or been given a mutal decision to leave. Woodward had a lot of pull as CEO. Owners allowed the club under him to spend money, but that money wasn't obviously spent well or with a coherent plan with the type of manager in mind.

Those top two scouts or player recruitment heads have also left. At least the youth and academy coaches all left for what seems to be bigger opportunities.
 

Roboc7

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Then Judge wouldn't have left or been given a mutal decision to leave. Woodward had a lot of pull as CEO. Owners allowed the club under him to spend money, but that money wasn't obviously spent well or with a coherent plan with the type of manager in mind.

Those top two scouts or player recruitment heads have also left. At least the youth and academy coaches all left for what seems to be bigger opportunities.
Woodward and Judge didn’t pick the players, the owners run a business not a football club. Contracts get renewed for financial reasons not footballing ones. If the owners don’t want that to change it won’t, Murtough and Arnold know that and will work within the parameters the owners set.

Arnold once said something like Utd were a team of George Clooney’s, he’s cut from same cloth as Woodward. Maybe he’ll convince the owners to change their ways to an extent but won’t hold my breath.