The next CEO is more important than the next manager

[Someone]

Bankers shouldn't be running football clubs. We spent a lot of money, hired different managers, and haven't been able to challenge for anything since fergie's retirement.

I feel it's naive at this point to expect everything to go well by hiring a top manager. If you look back at the past 8 years, you'll see that woodward spent most of it refusing to bring football people to take care of the football operations at the club, and when he finally realized he needed help, he opted for familiar faces like John Murtough and Fletcher.

If it's true that Richard Arnold is going to succeed Woodward, then we're probably looking for more of the same. I do hope he's smart enough to know that he can't do it on his own, but I have my doubts.

We've seen with Liverpool how poor management from the top can set a club back for decades while spending a lot of money in the process. I would've never thought we'd go 8 years without challenging, but her we are. It has to change from the top.

 

[Mainoldo]

The fans going to demand we get a better CEO?

Didn’t think so.

 

[Someone]

The fans going to demand we get a better CEO?

Didn’t think so.

Don't know what the fans can or can't do, but the current one is leaving soon, and his era has been terrible.

 

[lsd]

It's obviously going to be Richard Arnold who by all accounts has little interest in football and prefers Rugby.

 

[dove]

Bankers shouldn't be running football clubs. We spent a lot of money, hired different managers, and haven't been able to challenge for anything since fergie's retirement.

I feel it's naive at this point to expect everything to go well by hiring a top manager. If you look back at the past 8 years, you'll see that woodward spent most of it refusing to bring football people to take care of the football operations at the club, and when he finally realized he needed help, he opted for familiar faces like John Murtough and Fletcher.

If it's true that Richard Arnold is going to succeed Woodward, then we're probably looking for more of the same. I do hope he's smart enough to know that he can't do it on his own, but I have my doubts.

We've seen with Liverpool how poor management from the top can set a club back for decades while spending a lot of money in the process. I would've never thought we'd go 8 years without challenging, but her we are. It has to change from the top.

I don't know where this idea that CEO must be a football person came from but it's ridiculous. CEO's of other top successful clubs like Real are businessmen, the only difference between them and Ed is that they don't tolerate mediocrity and will pull the trigger as soon as things start going south. Meanwhile we are completely fine being a laughing stock (decent portion of our fanbase is fine with it too) and we make the manager bigger than the club which is some weird obsession. CEO doesn't have to be a football person, he just needs to have standards that reflect the status of the club. If we call ourselves the biggest club in the world, we should act like one because we clearly don't.

 

[pascell]

It's going to be Richard Arnold, I'm sure we've basically announced it already too

 

[Chairman Steve]

I will be amazed if it doesn’t go to Woodward’s old uni chum, Arnold.

We can only hope the Dick of our infamous DickEd partnership has the brains to reinforce our footballing board.

 

[talking robot]

Would love to see the Ajax trio brought into united in one fell swoop: Van der Sar (CEO), Overmars (technical director), Ten Hag (manager). Make Richard Arnold (or even Woodward for all I care) the "commercial director" so that you divide labor sensibly between footballing people and non footballing people. A football person needs to sit at the top though.

 

[Red Shorts]

It's going to be Richard Arnold, I'm sure we've basically announced it already too

I thought we did as well? Is it not set in stone then? Leaving it a bit late if so

 

[tomaldinho1]

I don't know where this idea that CEO must be a football person came from but it's ridiculous. CEO's of other top successful clubs like Real are businessmen, the only difference between them and Ed is that they don't tolerate mediocrity and will pull the trigger as soon as things start going south. Meanwhile we are completely fine being a laughing stock (decent portion of our fanbase is fine with it too) and we make the manager bigger than the club which is some weird obsession. CEO doesn't have to be a football person, he just needs to have standards that reflect the status of the club. If we call ourselves the biggest club in the world, we should act like one because we clearly don't.

Exactly this. The sole reason people keep saying we need a 'football person' is essentially because Edwin is now CEO at Ajax but 1) he's an anomaly and 2) he had to do a Masters to get into a marketing director role before getting an internal promotion 4 years later. If an ex player comes in they have to be qualified (an issue when we appoint unqualified managers and coaches I guess) and then they have to prove themselves for years before being trust with being an f'ing CEO. Edwin has also gone on record saying the Ajax business model is less pressured because of the league dynamics & their model is the opposite of hat United would want anyway (developing and selling academy products whilst being dominant in Eredivisie).

 

[Dan_F]

The fans going to demand we get a better CEO?

Didn’t think so.

Yeah if only the fans could get together and protest the way the club is being run? Maybe, I don’t know, getting a really high profile game called off.

The same people that were wetting the bed back then are more than likely the people accusing the match going fans of not protesting enough about the results now.

 

[tenpoless]

Sneaky Familiar Bellendman is the next CEO aka another Glaziers right hand.

 

[Garethw]

This is just my opinion but I reckon that Solskjaer would have been sacked after the Liverpool game had he not signed the contract extension a couple of months prior.

I may be totally wrong but I get the feeling that Woodward would rather bury his head in the sand than face the embarrassment of sacking a manager he had offered a contract extension to only weeks ago.

 

[Bastian]

I don't think so. We need a separation of duties. A CEO shouldn't be anywhere near the footballing side of things, but delegate that all to a DoF and his team.

 

[pascell]

I thought we did as well? Is it not set in stone then? Leaving it a bit late if so

Woodward has extended his notice period until the end of the season instead of the end of the year

 

[Yakuza_devils]

The new CEO will be appointed within the organization. The reason why Ed is only leaving end of the year is because of the transition period to the new CEO.
Based on report, he is handing over to Arnold.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

It's like Woodward handing over the reigns to his closest friend from Uni. Nothing is going to change.

 

[charlenefan]

It's obviously going to be Richard Arnold who by all accounts has little interest in football and prefers Rugby.

I guess even being interested in a sport is a step up from Woodward, he was probably the kid who got picked last in PE and preferred being in the library at break time rather than outside

 

[golden_blunder]

Hmmm if only we had a similar thread to discuss this

 

[Mainoldo]

Don't know what the fans can or can't do, but the current one is leaving soon, and his era has been terrible.

You might not be up to date on what happens at this club. But his job is being taken up by his best mate.

 

[Rood]

As I understand there will be no new CEO - no one will replace Woodward

Arnold will be head of commercial and Murtough/Fletcher are in charge of football matters

 

[Mainoldo]

Yeah if only the fans could get together and protest the way the club is being run? Maybe, I don’t know, getting a really high profile game called off.

The same people that were wetting the bed back then are more than likely the people accusing the match going fans of not protesting enough about the results now.

Did they not provide the fans with Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo. You think they did that because they felt it would make us the best club in England and Europe? Or maybe to just shut us up.

 

[Mainoldo]

As I understand there will be no new CEO - no one will replace Woodward

Arnold will be head of commercial and Murtough/Fletcher are in charge of football matters

Sureeeeeeeee. Fletcher the guy playing pig in the middle on match days.

 

[romufc]

Sureeeeeeeee. Fletcher the guy playing pig in the middle on match days.

Who brought Fletcher to the club? Ole. Last season Fletcher brought him in as part of the coaching set up, then he got moved into another role.

Which is why Ole is still at the job, he has mates protecting him.

SAF is protecting him,
Fletcher is protecting him

Woodward, Arnold and all the other bankers who have no idea about football probably look at the table and think oh he is doing a very good job, we are in contention for top 4 = money. They gave him a new contract so prob dont want to look like incompetent people sacking him 3 months later like they did with Jose.

 

[Adisa]

How many football clubs are run by football men? Very very few. I can only think of Ajax and Bayern.

 

[Mainoldo]

Who brought Fletcher to the club? Ole. Last season Fletcher brought him in as part of the coaching set up, then he got moved into another role.

Which is why Ole is still at the job, he has mates protecting him.

SAF is protecting him,
Fletcher is protecting him

Woodward, Arnold and all the other bankers who have no idea about football probably look at the table and think oh he is doing a very good job, we are in contention for top 4 = money. They gave him a new contract so prob dont want to look like incompetent people sacking him 3 months later like they did with Jose.

Yep. We could lose 10-0 on Saturday and they’ll try brush it under the carpet.

 

[Mainoldo]

How many football clubs are run by football men? Very very few. I can only think of Ajax and Bayern.

Not many but there’s normally a few people who understand what winning looks like.

 

[Flytan]

It's obviously going to be Richard Arnold who by all accounts has little interest in football and prefers Rugby.

Not sure why people think it isnt him. Haven't like all reporters said he's already in the job? Just learning it while Ed is still here.

 

[Wilt]

It's like Woodward handing over the reigns to his closest friend from Uni. Nothing is going to change.

Nothing wrong with nepotism ….ask Ole.

 

[Dan_F]

Did they not provide the fans with Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo. You think they did that because they felt it would make us the best club in England and Europe? Or maybe to just shut us up.

They very generously allowed the club to spend a portion of what it earns. But ultimately if the team is under performing the Glazers are culpable. They decide the direction of the club, they decide the CEO. The budget they give for transfers is well above what is needed to compete.

Personally I have the view that them taking £20 million a season, or whatever it is, is nothing compared to how badly they’ve allowed the club to stagnate in other areas. It’s not about transfer fees or wage costs, if anything that just shows how bad the decision making has been at the top of the club.

From my point of view anyway, I felt like that’s what most of the protests were about. No one stormed that ground with the belief that we should be given another £50 million to spend on a player.

Anyway, I’ve gone on a tangent, but in answer to your first post, the fans have protested against the CEO plenty.

 

[Rozay]

No it isn’t.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

I'd say : the next manager is more important than sacking the current manager

 

[Mainoldo]

They very generously allowed the club to spend a portion of what it earns. But ultimately if the team is under performing the Glazers are culpable. They decide the direction of the club, they decide the CEO. The budget they give for transfers is well above what is needed to compete.

Personally I have the view that them taking £20 million a season, or whatever it is, is nothing compared to how badly they’ve allowed the club to stagnate in other areas. It’s not about transfer fees or wage costs, if anything that just shows how bad the decision making has been at the top of the club.

From my point of view anyway, I felt like that’s what most of the protests were about. No one stormed that ground with the belief that we should be given another £50 million to spend on a player.

Anyway, I’ve gone on a tangent, but in answer to your first post, the fans have protested against the CEO plenty.

You went off topic. The main point is they gave us new shiny toys and we was content.

They give us a rubbish manager. We are content. What do you feel the pressure is for them to do anything except what they continue to do and is making United profitable.

We moan about what they take out. They can take out what they want it’s their club. At the end of the day if we was successful on the pitch no one but a small 5% wouldnt Care if Eddie Murphy was the CEO

 

[RedDevil@84]

No chance. Our owners are not emotionally invested into football and hence do not have any interest in trying to become the best club, football wise in the world. Their plan is to maximize profits and find new avenues to generate money. So bankers and salesmen it is.

 

[McGrathsipan]

Bankers shouldn't be running football clubs. We spent a lot of money, hired different managers, and haven't been able to challenge for anything since fergie's retirement.

I feel it's naive at this point to expect everything to go well by hiring a top manager. If you look back at the past 8 years, you'll see that woodward spent most of it refusing to bring football people to take care of the football operations at the club, and when he finally realized he needed help, he opted for familiar faces like John Murtough and Fletcher.

If it's true that Richard Arnold is going to succeed Woodward, then we're probably looking for more of the same. I do hope he's smart enough to know that he can't do it on his own, but I have my doubts.

We've seen with Liverpool how poor management from the top can set a club back for decades while spending a lot of money in the process. I would've never thought we'd go 8 years without challenging, but her we are. It has to change from the top.

Its a business not a football club. the sooner people realise that the better.

the only naivety is that football supporters expect that everything is about the team and the trophies when the bankers only care about the performance of the business

Its all about the Net income.

 

[Someone]

Its a business not a football club. the sooner people realise that the better.

the only naivety is that football supporters expect that everything is about the team and the trophies when the bankers only care about the performance of the business

Its all about the Net income.

But they do invest enough money to be successful on the pitch. The only reason we haven't been challenging is the mismanagement from Woody. Surely they should expect a return on their investment.

 

[Someone]

How many football clubs are run by football men? Very very few. I can only think of Ajax and Bayern.

But they do at least have people around who know what they're doing, or at least are invested enough in football to have a good understanding of how it works. Don't think that's the case for united at the moment.

 

[RedDevil@84]

But they do invest enough money to be successful on the pitch. The only reason we haven't been challenging is the mismanagement from Woody. Surely they should expect a return on their investment.

They invest large amounts because they have taken out way larger amounts. It is not all on Woody. If the Glazers had some interest about the squad and results, they would have invested in getting a proper footballing structure by employing best in business. They would not have let their investment simply become a money minting machine.

 

[wattsy7]

Not necessarily the ceo but there is certainly a need for a leading football director to come to the club and take leadership of the football side of things. Leave the accountant to the accounting.

 

[McGrathsipan]

But they do invest enough money to be successful on the pitch. The only reason we haven't been challenging is the mismanagement from Woody. Surely they should expect a return on their investment.

I agree they do invest and the surely do expect returns on their investments - which they are getting - in cash - not in trophies.
the cash position is healthy and shite football doesn't really effect the profitability. This is the problem.


See it for what it is - the football is like a pseudo product for the company. It really should in theory matter what happens on the pitch but the United brand is that strong it doesnt.

Until the profitability is in real danger then the board don't need to act. When the cash keeps coming then all is well and its just a bonus when/if a trophy is won.