Bloomberg: Jim Ratcliffe on plans for Man Utd

Erictheking7 said:
I quite enjoyed that interview. SJR comes across as an experienced, straight talking businessman who knows exactly how to achieve his goals. He's not going to be phased by making unpopular decisions, if it fits into his long term vision for the club.
After reading the initial reaction to the clips that surfaced on social media I was worried about his motives but when the full interview is taken into context he comes across a lot better. I'm happy to give him the time to rebuild the sporting side of the club back to where we belong and that's challenging the likes of Real Madrid. He has a huge job on his hands.
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Absolutely. I watched the full interview and am very comfortable with his views on how to take the club forward. As a Billionaire, he could contribute to United's facilities like Stadium and Carrington using his wealth and connections. However, because of FFP, he can't help blow other clubs out of the water in terms of transfer fees and salaries like Abramovich did. At worst he wants to build a legacy for himself associated with United. That's ok because he would want to be remembered as someone who turned United around and that would only be achieved by sporting success.
 
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ArbeitervonWien said:
Oh how I love this argument: "How can you be far left, when you still have a smartphone, hmm? How ironic? I mean, how can you participate in society when you want this global system of exploitation to change?? You should live in the woods and hunt your own food."
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Hypocrite.

All you should care about is your favourite football club winning all the time.

It's what proper fans do.
 
devilish said:
I like the looks of Guehi. He's smart, he's fast and he has good positioning. However he's 6ft tall. That's ok if he was the shorter CB in a 2 CB pairing. Unfortunately our other CB option is shorter then Gary Neville. So unless you want to see midfielders being tucked in not because they are talented but because they are tall :cough: McT :cough: then we need a giant at the back.

Braintwaithe is 6ft5. He is also astonishingly fast. He's even faster then Guehi (35.1km/h vs 33.92km/h) and he's way faster then Stones and Maguire. Guehi is a superior passer of the ball (87 percent vs 80 percent) and that's a concern considering that most ball playing CBs has that between 88% - 94% (Saliba, Martinez, Stones etc). For the rest though Jarrad was a better CB to Guehi last season. He won more then three times more aerial duels (95 vs 29), more interceptions (50 vs 18) and successful tackles (32 vs 19).
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I’d buy them both for £120m, Sell Maguire £20m, Sell Lindelof £10m and invest that’s the CB fixed for next 8-10 years with Lysandro and Kambawla, but we don’t have the cash to do that?
 
Woziak said:
I’d buy them both for £120m, Sell Maguire £20m, Sell Lindelof £10m and invest that’s the CB fixed for next 8-10 years with Lysandro and Kambawla, but we don’t have the cash to do that?
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We don't have the money and quite frankly I don't think either of them deserve the bench.

In my opinion there are lessons to be learnt though. Jarrad was a kid from carlisle while guehi was a product of Chelsea's academy. Instead of buying experienced players who lack the physical characteristics to play then maybe we can try and check these alternative routes instead. I'd rather have an extremely promising kid on the bench with the risk of him making mistakes then a consistent 6/10 like Lindelof

It might look extreme but that kid from city youths (cole palmer) hasn't done that badly hasn't he?
 
devilish said:
We don't have the money and quite frankly I don't think either of them deserve the bench.

In my opinion there are lessons to be learnt though. Jarrad was a kid from carlisle while guehi was a product of Chelsea's academy. Instead of buying experienced players who lack the physical characteristics to play then maybe we can try and check these alternative routes instead. I'd rather have an extremely promising kid on the bench with the risk of him making mistakes then a consistent 6/10 like Lindelof

It might look extreme but that kid from city youths (cole palmer) hasn't done that badly hasn't he?
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I think we'd all like that mate, but I guess at the moment we need to get the base level of the squad high enough to accomodate that kind of pipeline. One informs the other, being successful on the pitch helps attract those young talents. Also, even if we started identifying those kind of players now, we'd still have to wait for them. The squad needs some overhaul for next season first.

Also, how far do you go with that? Look at Chelsea, they took Brighton's south American recruitment guys and are basically signing any player who looks like they might have a whiff of being good enough to play in the EPL one day. Farming them all to their French team. Do we go all in on that too?

SJR has already spoken about trying to sign Mbappe before he becomes Mbappe, which is all well and good, but your not the only shark swimming in that pool. Chances are Madrid are out there getting these kids to sign precontract agreements before they've left the womb!
 
Cassidy said:
And as if people not in position to do so that have to pay UK taxes would not dislike them

by the way I could go and work in Bahrain and pay no tax with my job, I have not

You are free to make your choices in life and people are free to like/dislike
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Your last sentence is stupid. Why this constant need to dislike or judge someone? Mind your own business
 
Sandikan said:
You can be certain that many on this forum already do tax advantageous things already, be it paying more into pensions, using ISAs etc.
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Of course. Except for some naive judgemental people who take themselves and their opinion too seriously
 
Stig said:
The business he is now a Shareholder in will pay substantial taxes, so will the people whose wages he pays.
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Whats is your point? United was doing that before his involvement
 
Escobar said:
Your last sentence is stupid. Why this constant need to dislike or judge someone? Mind your own business
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People are free like/dislike people thats life maybe you should mind your own business?
You have no right to tell people who they can like or dislike
 
Cassidy said:
People are free like/dislike people thats life maybe you should mind your own business?
You have no right to tell people who they can like or dislike
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Yeah, go on and keep hating others that you dont know personally.
 
I just saw that Ratcliffe is stating our next 3 windows will be fecked because Newcastle won’t budge on wanting 20 mill for Ashworth. If he thinks Ashworth can find the talent and save the club millions, then surely you would pay the release clause for him. Am I missing something here?
 
wolvored said:
I just saw that Ratcliffe is stating our next 3 windows will be fecked because Newcastle won’t budge on wanting 20 mill for Ashworth. If he thinks Ashworth can find the talent and save the club millions, then surely you would pay the release clause for him. Am I missing something here?
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I think the same way you do, and wonder the same thing. It just seems to be stupid.
 
Escobar said:
Yeah, go on and keep hating others that you dont know personally.
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I didnt say I hated him I said people are free to like/dislike. Keep policing people's ability to like/dislike someone even though you don’t know them personally…

If you read up far enough my like/dislike of him will be based on his performance at United but maybe I am not allowed to dislike him if he turns out to be as bad as the Glazers because I don’t know him personally right?
 
stefan92 said:
I think the same way you do, and wonder the same thing. It just seems to be stupid.
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Why? Ashworth doesn't run the transfer window and January windows are dead anyway. He's missing one big window, which is this one.
 
Marcelinho87 said:
Because 20m on a suit sets an incredible precedent where there is no going back from.
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The real question is Ashworth waiting for, from what I have seen Im not convinced. Secondly the fact we can’t negotiate for a suit does not bode well for negotiating for players
 
wolvored said:
I just saw that Ratcliffe is stating our next 3 windows will be fecked because Newcastle won’t budge on wanting 20 mill for Ashworth. If he thinks Ashworth can find the talent and save the club millions, then surely you would pay the release clause for him. Am I missing something here?
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Except he didn't say that. You can see what he said in post number one of this thread.
 
Cassidy said:
I didnt say I hated him I said people are free to like/dislike. Keep policing people's ability to like/dislike someone even though you don’t know them personally…

If you read up far enough my like/dislike of him will be based on his performance at United but maybe I am not allowed to dislike him if he turns out to be as bad as the Glazers because I don’t know him personally right?
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There is an obvious difference between hating him as the owner (where he will be judged by the fans) and his wealth or political views. If anyone judges him on a United forum on the 2nd part, then it’s idiotic
 
Escobar said:
There is an obvious difference between hating him as the owner (where he will be judged by the fans) and his wealth or political views. If anyone judges him on a United forum on the 2nd part, then it’s idiotic
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Should judge him on both wherever his name appears.
 
devilish said:
I like the looks of Guehi. He's smart, he's fast and he has good positioning. However he's 6ft tall. That's ok if he was the shorter CB in a 2 CB pairing. Unfortunately our other CB option is shorter then Gary Neville. So unless you want to see midfielders being tucked in not because they are talented but because they are tall :cough: McT :cough: then we need a giant at the back.

Braintwaithe is 6ft5. He is also astonishingly fast. He's even faster then Guehi (35.1km/h vs 33.92km/h) and he's way faster then Stones and Maguire. Guehi is a superior passer of the ball (87 percent vs 80 percent) and that's a concern considering that most ball playing CBs has that between 88% - 94% (Saliba, Martinez, Stones etc). For the rest though Jarrad was a better CB to Guehi last season. He won more then three times more aerial duels (95 vs 29), more interceptions (50 vs 18) and successful tackles (32 vs 19).
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Agree with this and is why I would take JB. Aerial ability is still a big part of British football
 
Cassidy said:
The real question is Ashworth waiting for, from what I have seen I'm not convinced. Secondly the fact we can’t negotiate for a suit does not bode well for negotiating for players
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No it doesn't, no team would be as petty as Newcastle is being now regarding a player transfer. Newcastle are the issue here not United's negotiating prowess. Even Harvey Specter would find it difficult cutting a deal with a small time petty team like Newcastle Divided. We should sit it out and he'll join in 9 months or sooner once Newcastle realise they won't see a penny more and we are actually sitting it out. Wilcox and Berrada will hold the fort till then.
 
Pickle85 said:
Why? Would you judge a surgeon by their political views? How about a bus driver?
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Depends on whether or not their political views had any relevance to the job.

I would not want a bus driver who didn't want black people on the bus but I wouldn't care if he thought inheritance tax was too low.

If someone is running a huge and complicated business, a lot of their political views are very relevant to the job.
 
duffer said:
Depends on whether or not their political views had any relevance to the job.

I would not want a bus driver who didn't want black people on the bus but I wouldn't care if he thought inheritance tax was too low.

If someone is running a huge and complicated business, a lot of their political views are very relevant to the job.
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How would Ratcliffe's political views materially impact the way he runs the club?

Also, surely not wanting black people on the bus isn't a political position, is it? It's just prejudice.
 
Pickle85 said:
How would Ratcliffe's political views materially impact the way he runs the club?

Also, surely not wanting black people on the bus isn't a political position, is it? It's just prejudice.
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A lot of political positions are just prejudice.

As for how Sir Jim's political views could impact the way he runs the club, well, it could impact recruitment, tax issues, charity work, working conditions for employees, staff Union issues, etc, etc.

Its crazy to me that anyone would think someone's political leanings wouldn't have an impact in how they run a business.
 
I've always been on the left, but hearing Ratcliffe speak...it does make me question some of my beliefs. Will pay close attention to his interviews in the future
 
wolvored said:
I just saw that Ratcliffe is stating our next 3 windows will be fecked because Newcastle won’t budge on wanting 20 mill for Ashworth. If he thinks Ashworth can find the talent and save the club millions, then surely you would pay the release clause for him. Am I missing something here?
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We’ve torn our hair out for overspending on players (Maguire, Antony) and/or wages for years.

And now we want Ratcliffe to massively overspend… and we don’t think that sets a precedent in negotiations for every player we’re interested in?
 
duffer said:
A lot of political positions are just prejudice.

As for how Sir Jim's political views could impact the way he runs the club, well, it could impact recruitment, tax issues, charity work, working conditions for employees, staff Union issues, etc, etc.

Its crazy to me that anyone would think someone's political leanings wouldn't have an impact in how the run a business.
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You're taking a pretty wide view of what constitutes a political position here. Racism isn't a political position, even if the national front etc try to dress it up as such.

I genuinely don't think that one's political ideology would materially impact how they ran a football club. Sure, the political climate would dictate certain things (like you mention, around tax and employment conditions) but I don't see how an individual's political ideology would make a difference. Tax laws and employment law are what they are, regardless of where a person may be on the political spectrum.
 
Pickle85 said:
You're taking a pretty wide view of what constitutes a political position here. Racism isn't a political position, even if the national front etc try to dress it up as such.
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I'd argue it's one of the most important political positions but that's a discussion for a different thread!

Regarding whether or not Sir Jim being a Tory and a Brexiteer will impact how he runs the show, of course we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully for the people who work at Man United, he's not the cnut a lot of people think he is.
 
duffer said:
I'd argue it's one of the most important political positions but that's a discussion for a different thread!

Regarding whether or not Sir Jim being a Tory and a Brexiteer will impact how he runs the show, of course we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully for the people who work at Man United, he's not the cnut a lot of people think he is.
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Fair enough. Like you say, guess we'll find out!
 
BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
We’ve torn our hair out for overspending on players (Maguire, Antony) and/or wages for years.

And now we want Ratcliffe to massively overspend… and we don’t think that sets a precedent in negotiations for every player we’re interested in?
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Having a competent DoF can easily make a difference of 100-200m per year in created squad value (and following that better squad more success).

The biggest problem for United in recent transfer negotiations has been (in my opinion) that everybody always knew United doesn't have a plan B, so they will overspend to get their only choice.

We see the same with Ashworth... no Plan B, but this time not even overspending but instead leaving a crucial position open.

That's not better at all.

Even a slightly worse DoF in office now could make a huge difference.
 
golden_blunder said:
Agree with this and is why I would take JB. Aerial ability is still a big part of British football
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I believe that one of SAF's biggest qualities was his ability to balance the force so to speak. For example we had Keane, Ince and Hughes (who was a work rate monster) to hold the fort for Kanchelskis, Giggs and Eric to annihilate opposition. A generation or two later we had Park, Tevez and Rooney aiding Carrick to balance a team built around Ronaldo. Then in the end SAF kept the most promising midfielder in the world (Pogba) on the bench to play a workhorse (Cleverley) in midfield. That was the only way he could squeeze the last bit of juice out of the likes of Scholes, Giggs and co.

When we signed Martinez I was genuinely concerned. Old farts like myself had always seen 'shorter' CBs struggle aerially whether it was makeshift CBs like Keane and Gaz or natural CBs such as Silvestre (6ft) or Wes (6ft1). Sure football had changed and thanks to the high line most of defending is done further up the pitch. However corners are a regular thing, they need to be defended against and there's no way that Martinez at 5ft9 can defend a corner against some 6ft4 opponent. Thus balance was needed hence why we've seen McT being played more and more.

United seem to have finally come to terms to that. We were first linked with Tosin and now JB both 6ft5 tall.
 
Crimson King said:
I think we'd all like that mate, but I guess at the moment we need to get the base level of the squad high enough to accomodate that kind of pipeline. One informs the other, being successful on the pitch helps attract those young talents. Also, even if we started identifying those kind of players now, we'd still have to wait for them. The squad needs some overhaul for next season first.

Also, how far do you go with that? Look at Chelsea, they took Brighton's south American recruitment guys and are basically signing any player who looks like they might have a whiff of being good enough to play in the EPL one day. Farming them all to their French team. Do we go all in on that too?

SJR has already spoken about trying to sign Mbappe before he becomes Mbappe, which is all well and good, but your not the only shark swimming in that pool. Chances are Madrid are out there getting these kids to sign precontract agreements before they've left the womb!
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To have that we need to completely change United from top to bottom.

A- Our scouting department, sporting directors etc need to have a great eye to talent and the guts to push for such transfers
B- Our owners need to put football first, trust the people they hired and stop pursuing the marketing/instagram followers agenda
C- Our recruitment people need to fight for every penny as if they are the one paying for it else some deals will simply not happen.
D- Fans needs to trust the process. SAF made some uncomfortable signings himself. Some worked (Johnsen from Besiktas, Ole from Molde, Schmeichel from Bronby), some simply didn't (Kleberson, Djemba Djemba, Bebe etc)

And yes we have to exploit the multi club model. Some people hate it but its the future. TBH INEOS were already doing it before officially buying us. Simone Pafundi is one of the hottest young talents in Italy had already joined Lausanne
 
BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
We’ve torn our hair out for overspending on players (Maguire, Antony) and/or wages for years.

And now we want Ratcliffe to massively overspend… and we don’t think that sets a precedent in negotiations for every player we’re interested in?
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Ashworth isnt a player and if hes going to save more than 20 mill over the next 3 windows, surely its money well spent?
 
wolvored said:
Ashworth isnt a player and if hes going to save more than 20 mill over the next 3 windows, surely its money well spent?
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It’s the principle (United are/aren’t pushovers in negotiations). Whatever the club MIGHT save by him being there sooner, they MIGHT lose by clubs knowing we cave… it’s two way and I’m comfortable we’re patient.

Ashworth isn’t choosing players, he’s overseeing Wilcox (and others). Wilcox is here.
 
stefan92 said:
I think the same way you do, and wonder the same thing. It just seems to be stupid.
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I'm starting to get that feeling that rather than revolution of United it's going to be a slooooooooow evolution (if that)
 
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