What do they mean 'old fashioned buffet'? Cheese and pineapple on sticks, sausage rolls, quiche?
The Athletic: Man Utd - what the rest of football thinks about a club in crisis
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
This is exactly like how I would criticise my school or college all day to one of my friends from there but if someone else from outside did it we would be offended & stand up for the school.
Nice of the Athletic to find a new way of jumping in on the Utd click bait train.
Enjoy it while it lasts
Why would these so called executives and agents they asked not want to be named?No they aren’t- it’s no secret we are a shambles, it’s pretty fecking obvious given this transfer window alone.
Seems strange they are willing to give their two cents on the matter but not willing to put their name to it.
I think your missing the point here. If United had won a game this article probably wouldn't have been written, yet the issues would still remain.
The Athletic need to seel subscriptions, they do that by courting controversy alongside some good articles, this is a controversial article, as it's trying to claim that every other 'executive' (who all go nameless for some reason) think United are being run poorly.
Certainly there's an element of truth to it, for sure, but does it need this kind of trashy article to pinpoint it, not really. It's pandering to the bile spewing masses and is quite frankly low hanging fruit journalism.
Mediocre analysis and an agend against United pretty much sums up the Atheltic.
I just frankly don't care. Why do they need to be going to competitors to dog pile on us? it's not interesting.
They don't need to be sophisticated when the problems that began 10 years ago still do not change.
I mean i think it's pretty funny to be fair, couldn't help but giggle during the brentford game.
So, the main complaints from directors, managers, coaches, agents etc at rivals clubs seems to be:
- Crap food for directors of other clubs
- United staff around the club seem unhappy and downtrodden
- OT looks "tired"
- Perception that the club is arrogant, living in the past and resting on their laurels. A sense of malaise.
- Murtough is 'competent' but lacks vision and doesn't have the required connections in the transfer market
- Confusing football structure - who is actually in charge?
- No sense of planning - scattergun approach to recruitment at all levels of playing and non-playing staff
- Have been left behind commercially
- As one director put it, United "has the sense of a big ship that hasn't been modernised for a long time and is going to take a long time to turn around"
I still think it’s pointless judging a transfer window before it’s closed. The entire thing is a song and a dance between agents and journalists and we don’t really know half of what is happening and half of what we do know is what agents and journalists want us to think.
The football side of it is a bit of a farce at the moment. As for signing players, it’s always been in the selling club’s interest to eek things out until the final moments of the window to force a desperate hand.
The sad fact is that we need quality players to lift us but quality players aren’t cheap and aren’t let go easily by the selling club - we are now in the Europa League off the back of a poor season so players also aren’t begging their club to let them leave for us.
The football side of it is a bit of a farce at the moment. As for signing players, it’s always been in the selling club’s interest to eek things out until the final moments of the window to force a desperate hand.
The sad fact is that we need quality players to lift us but quality players aren’t cheap and aren’t let go easily by the selling club - we are now in the Europa League off the back of a poor season so players also aren’t begging their club to let them leave for us.
Yes true, I go further than that, they are spot on!
You get the sense from these comments not of 'rubbing hands and a laughing out loud' (although that could be going on off the record), but one of absolute incredulity, that one of the biggest clubs in the world could get it so wrong...keep getting it wrong...... and still be making money!
Agree. They have put all the things fans complain about and put it in one article but coming from other clubs chairman and officials.
Highlighted bit - That's Harry isn't it.
This article will age like milk if we get some good players in now, which seems likely. There’s definitely some truth in United loving the coverage, it’s probably our biggest our come stream right now 
That's exactly the point I'm not missing. And my point to that is that it seems to me irrelevant why The Athletic publish this article. Also, I think an assortment of views from professional competitors is actually one of the most useful things I've read on this issue. To call that "bile" and "trashy" is absurd.
As if we used to invite visiting directors to take a photograph with our previous season's trophies. That's quality.
The main take out from me is the disastrous position the ESL was. Eroded all trust from within the game. That saga is the one that clearly demonstrates the callous nature of the Glazer ownership of United and how little fecks they give. On one hand they have total apathy towards the club - never attending, not making any effort to build bridges within football, not improving the infrastructure of the club, their unwillingness to create a footballing structure etc etc - and on the other they literally spearheaded (alongside FSG lets not forget) a criminal attempt to break away and pull up the drawbridge.
I.e. the only thing that gets them out of bed for "soccer" is dividends and increasing their personal earning potential. Zero love, zero care, zero ambition because all of those things cost money and run the risk of diminished returns.
There can be nothing but utter contempt and disgust for the Glazers after that episode. I would love to hear their candid opinions on Manchester United behind closed doors.
Edit: I had only utter contempt and disgust for the Glazers before the ESL, but that should have been the final straw for anyone looking at them and thinking "they've actually spent loads of money to be fair, we've just not spent it wisely. Ipso facto, the Glazers are fine".
The main take out from me is the disastrous position the ESL was. Eroded all trust from within the game. That saga is the one that clearly demonstrates the callous nature of the Glazer ownership of United and how little fecks they give. On one hand they have total apathy towards the club - never attending, not making any effort to build bridges within football, not improving the infrastructure of the club, their unwillingness to create a footballing structure etc etc - and on the other they literally spearheaded (alongside FSG lets not forget) a criminal attempt to break away and pull up the drawbridge.
I.e. the only thing that gets them out of bed for "soccer" is dividends and increasing their personal earning potential. Zero love, zero care, zero ambition because all of those things cost money and run the risk of diminished returns.
There can be nothing but utter contempt and disgust for the Glazers after that episode. I would love to hear their candid opinions on Manchester United behind closed doors.
Edit: I had only utter contempt and disgust for the Glazers before the ESL, but that should have been the final straw for anyone looking at them and thinking "they've actually spent loads of money to be fair, we've just not spent it wisely. Ipso facto, the Glazers are fine".
Move it, football head!
There are points in this article that i agree with and some i do not.
The bits i agree with were the fact we are seemingly ceding all the power for transfers to the manager.
Odd they picked Man City signing an unheralded full back as way to beat United up with when United also signed an unheralded full back for similar money
The bits i agree with were the fact we are seemingly ceding all the power for transfers to the manager.
Odd they picked Man City signing an unheralded full back as way to beat United up with when United also signed an unheralded full back for similar money
The club will be aware that things need a lot of updating, including the catering, stadium, recruitment etc. That however will only happen if the you know whose release the funds to do it.
The point there was that signing Gomez fits into a clear and well-understood club philosophy about what traits and characteristics they are looking for in a player in a given position. Everyone understands why they signed him. Whereas we, what exactly are we looking for in a full back?
Think ETH understands what he wants in a fullback which is why he has signed a LB and wants a RB, what previous managers wanted goodness only knows.
Hopefully yes, but the point is that United has failed to do what other clubs have, namely evolve a coherent vision of how the team plays and what qualities they're looking for in which positions. Without which recruitment becomes haphazard and disjointed, and so in the long run does the squad.
Exactly this.
Up until the OgS reign we were actually winning more trophies in our slump than certain clubs have won in their histories post Fergie.
We all get it, the club is in a bad way but the constant soap box pieces from ‘sources’ & faceless ‘club officials’ is laughable considering most of those clubs win feck all themselves anyway.
I don't think that has done anything but compound the preexisting problem(s), tbh.
That it's been so catastrophically bad has simply accelerated the 1000 cuts.
I see what you did there
the immediate problem is getting back into the top 4 ... which I will be shocked if we manage this season
All unsurprising stuff. Funny to see people on here getting upset about the Athletic basically saying what everyone regularly says here.
Side note, https://12ft.io is a favourite site of mine.
Side note, https://12ft.io is a favourite site of mine.
Very difficult to see us getting in this year, which would mean missing out for two consecutive years for the first time since the inception of the UCL. I expect the top 5 will remain the same this season as last season (probably in the same order, too). With the impending changes to UCL qualification meaning it is likely we will soon have five UCL places in the Premier League, I can actually foresee a 'big 5' developing in future, with United unfortunately outside of it.
Vol au vents
They don't say "old fashioned buffet". Someone just mentioned that while many clubs have moved to buffets of modern food in the directors box, United is still serving an old-fashioned three-course meal. I don't think anyone imagines this is a big deal, it's just mentioned as an example of how things great and small generally give the appearance of being unchanging at Trafford.
Aren't the prawn sandwiches ordered "a la carte"??? Standards and all that??!!!'Old fashioned buffet'
Meh.
fair enough to point out our archaic structure, but when they start salivating over City's "modern approach" they lose me. The Athletic never loses a chance to exalt Manchester City while always skirting around the issue of their way off the market price "sponsorships" which make the whole thing possible.
fair enough to point out our archaic structure, but when they start salivating over City's "modern approach" they lose me. The Athletic never loses a chance to exalt Manchester City while always skirting around the issue of their way off the market price "sponsorships" which make the whole thing possible.
Ask em what they think of casemiro
Well, they should. As far as I can tell, they seem a model organisation. And as the case of United proves, that doesn't happen automatically just because you have money.
Forgot about them.
It's very easy to "guess" what the atmosphere in the club must be (based on the public incompetence we've seen) and then make up "anonymous" sources to confirm what is already thought. I'm almost certain majority of reporting around United since the LVG era at least has followed this format.
You really think this is what's happened here? They just pretend that they've spoken to people and made up all the quotes? A publication that makes a living off subscriptions, as opposed to clicks? When they could instead just take the time to talk to people?