But this is exactly what Woodward has been telling the investors for years!
If, indeed, he is now wrong about that (as you suggest) then I presume we'll start to hear a different message from him in his forthcoming Investor updates (or whatever the feck they're called)?
I was going to take time out from this thread for a while but I just have to respond to this. Its such a classic example of taking something out of context, then reading it e contrario and coming to a conclusion that you pretty much made up yourself.
Woodward has said at investor briefings that our results are not dependent on success on the pitch every year. The club is financially stable. This is a completely correct statement and something that you would say to investors/shareholders to assure them that their investment is safe even if we are going to have some or many down years on the pitch. Status quo more or less. Share value wont go down.
What you are doing is reading this e contrario and interpreting that as meaning that Woodward and the Glazers would be happy with that.
That is where you go logically wrong to start with.
United today is valued at over 4bn USD. The Glazers has taken out 20-25m in dividends from the club the last three years. I might be wrong here, but I think its the first three years they have taken dividends from the club even.
What does this tell you? An asset worth 4bn with almost no debt (in relation) that generates dividends of 25m per year. Not really a cash cow is it?
What does that tell you further? Well, its a fair assumption that the Glazers dont care that much about how much dividends they can take out of the club.
So what do they care about? Because I am under no illusion that they care about anything else but the mighty dollar. That I think we can all agree on. I just believe that this actually aligns their interests with us fans. Not the other way around,
The Glazers wont make any serious money by taking out 25m from United every year. They could place that 4bn elsewhere and make much more money just on interest alone. So why? Easy answer, their real profit lies in increasing the total share value of United. To maybe 6bn over the next couple of years, maybe even more. Thats profit, 2bn, not 25m in dividends per year.
So how to do that? Go to 6bn? INCREASE income to DRIVE share value. From prize money, from sponsorships, from TV-money, from partnerships. How do you do that with a club that is already top-three in the world financially. You dont do it by finishing 4th-5th or being happy with a CL-spots. You do it by constantly challenging for the PL and the CL to drive brand recognition and to push share value.
You are not doing it by playing status quo what is what Woodward was discussing.
That is why the Glazers have put so much money into the club for transfers and wages when it started to be needed after Sir Alex left. You might not like them but they are not fecking idiots financially. And thats why I am pretty confident that they will keep on doing it until they get the share value to where they want it. And then they will sell.
You can think that they are morally corrupt for being capitalists but fact is that that capitalism actually aligns their interest with us as fans. For the reasons I stated above. For now at least.
Now I am out of this thread for awhile.