Club Ownership | INEOS responsible for the football side

[Baxquux]

Gentlemen, meet our new manager in charge of productivity. Felix Dzerzhinsky. Oh, and our new CEO isn't Berrada, it's Beria.

Feck Beria. Political pragmatism in the cause of developing productive forces amongst a near-feudal empire-sized landmass whilst consolidating the revolution is one thing, but he was a supremely nasty piece of work behind the scenes too. Could do with more of a Stakhanovite attitude amongst much of our midfield and front-line though...

 

[Tom Van Persie]

 

[Andy_Cole]

Don’t agree that’s their agenda.

 

[Moriarty]

Feck Beria. Political pragmatism in the cause of developing productive forces amongst a near-feudal empire-sized landmass whilst consolidating the revolution is one thing, but he was a supremely nasty piece of work behind the scenes too. Could do with more of a Stakhanovite attitude amongst much of our midfield and front-line though...

Absolutely, but our players are a privileged lot already and I have my doubts whether any of them will be here in 5 years time so we can evaluate them.

 

[black country red]

Typical Tory scum

 

[horsechoker]

Typical Tory scum

Harsh on @Sassy Colin

 

[Sassy Colin]

He's right though.

 

[Plant0x84]

This seems contrary to all the initial reports that he would be heavily involved. Weird.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Harsh on @Sassy Colin

Atypical Tory scum, then.

 

[48 hours]

but Brailsford can work from France

 

[AndySmith1990]

Increased productivity from working in an office is a load of old fashioned shite. It's probably more of ploy to get a few more IT nerds to hand in their notice so ineos can continue to cut the wage bill

 

[Rightnr]

Absolute dinosaur

 

[Revan]

but Brailsford can work from France

He ain't a United employee.

 

[Plant0x84]

I don’t get the fuss about this. Millions of other workers have gone back to workplace settings without a furore. Seems like a non story just because it’s United.

 

[STYLOISRED]

I'm not a fan of the INEOS crew and I confess that I was more on the side of the Qatari bid but I honestly don't see much issue with insisting all staff come to the premises. Evaluating the productivity of staff working from home can be tricky especially for an establishment like Man Utd where several aspects of the club have been below standard. They may feel it's more convenient from a management perspective to run a very tight ship at the very beginning to properly evaluate which departments are running optimally. In the future they may reopen the avenue for people to work from home when they have a proper understanding of the working environment.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

This seems contrary to all the initial reports that he would be heavily involved. Weird.

Makes sense though when you think about it. Brailsford isn't a football expert and with the likes of Ashworth, Wilcox and Berrada about there's not as much need for him anymore. He's helped shape up the club now he can take a backseat and trust the new people they've hired.

 

[Rightnr]

I don’t get the fuss about this. Millions of other workers have gone back to workplace settings without a furore. Seems like a non story just because it’s United.

Indeed, they should pay Sir Jimmie for the privilege of working for such a propah Brexit lad.

 

[jesperjaap]

They seem to have acted well in terms of backroom staff...but that isnt costly.Also, wedo need to remember the Glazers still retain majority owndership, so lets not get too excited yet.
Letsbe honest, to turn things around this summer is near impossible. There is amanager failing, 10/20 players we should be selling....8/10 signings actually needed....thats FM type work. But we will get avery good indication this summer...and for me they MUST

1) Replace the manager and have a replacement ready and working from the get go
This is difficult as who are the great options....plentyof wrong ones. Personally, want Nagelsmann

2) Move on at least 10 players...and thats sold not just loans
We really cantsee the likes of Martial, Williams and VDB still on the books,nor someof the big earners (yes Rashford) or some of our value playerslike Greenwood/SAncho getting loaned....we NEED to bring money in. Thinks it huge we finally clear some of the crap beenhere years andmost of the crap the current manager has signed....its paramount to progressing

3) Make a minimum of six signings
Sine Ferguson retired, I can count on one hand the signings I thought weregoing to be really good (somehavent been) and only a couple have plesantly surprised me...and Im just a fan. Not only has our recruitment been awful....we have over paid on nearly every single deal, significantly to. IfI see us spending the likes of £70m on braithwaite, £50m on Onana etc etc, will despair. There is an abundanceof quality young cb and MF in Europe and exciting young attaking playersand for me the best 3cost about £180m in total...if we spend a similar amount on Braitwaite, Onana andOlise for example....i despair and bar OnanaI rate them

 

[Amir]

I still want to keep ETH and see how it works with new management.

I can undestand the idea, but let me ask you this: How much impact do you think the new management will have on next season, considering it's not even in place yet and might not be even at the end of summer?

 

[FlawlessVictory88]

Is there a high quality breakdown of how much money we'll have available this summer? I'd like to see if possible a breakdown that shows how much is available without any player sales since this is mostly guesswork/speculation and then make a few models of my own.

Thanks

 

[Tony247]

I can undestand the idea, but let me ask you this: How much impact do you think the new management will have on next season, considering it's not even in place yet and might not be even at the end of summer?

Multiple CL winner Ancelotti was sacked by Napoli, he then joined Everton, didn't do great, left and joined Real Madrid. Now he is back to CL final. What does that tell us? Getting a star manager is not enough. How a club functions and attracts and acquires talent is very important for overall success. At this stage no matter who the manager is, failure is guaranteed I firmly believe.

I think ETH is good but the club has allowed him to fail by agreeing to all his demands. I would like to see how it turns out with the new management.

 

[Amir]

I think ETH is good but the club has allowed him to fail by agreeing to all his demands. I would like to see how it turns out with the new management.

That's fine, but again: How much impact do you think the new management will have NEXT season?

I think it will take time to really gear up. A big part of that should be bringing in the right players, but there would be a limit to what we can do over this one summer because of financial constraints and the fact that the right people are still not all in place. So really, next season might not be enough to really, really judge how ETH does with the new management. Does that mean we should be looking to actually give him two more years rather than just one?

 

[whitbyviking]

They seem to have acted well in terms of backroom staff...but that isnt costly.Also, wedo need to remember the Glazers still retain majority owndership, so lets not get too excited yet.
Letsbe honest, to turn things around this summer is near impossible. There is amanager failing, 10/20 players we should be selling....8/10 signings actually needed....thats FM type work. But we will get avery good indication this summer...and for me they MUST

1) Replace the manager and have a replacement ready and working from the get go
This is difficult as who are the great options....plentyof wrong ones. Personally, want Nagelsmann

2) Move on at least 10 players...and thats sold not just loans
We really cantsee the likes of Martial, Williams and VDB still on the books,nor someof the big earners (yes Rashford) or some of our value playerslike Greenwood/SAncho getting loaned....we NEED to bring money in. Thinks it huge we finally clear some of the crap beenhere years andmost of the crap the current manager has signed....its paramount to progressing

3) Make a minimum of six signings
Sine Ferguson retired, I can count on one hand the signings I thought weregoing to be really good (somehavent been) and only a couple have plesantly surprised me...and Im just a fan. Not only has our recruitment been awful....we have over paid on nearly every single deal, significantly to. IfI see us spending the likes of £70m on braithwaite, £50m on Onana etc etc, will despair. There is an abundanceof quality young cb and MF in Europe and exciting young attaking playersand for me the best 3cost about £180m in total...if we spend a similar amount on Braitwaite, Onana andOlise for example....i despair and bar OnanaI rate them

You just said you’d spend £180m on 3 best young talents in Europe but then say you’d despair at signing 3 premier league talents, who by your expected fees would also cost £180m?

 

[DomesticTadpole]

but Brailsford can work from France

So can SJR, maybe he should come back here and pay some income tax.

 

[Brophs]

One the one hand, it seems a wildly outdated approach to take. On the other, I did assemble several pieces of IKEA furniture the other day while working from home, so….

 

[tomaldinho1]

Is there a high quality breakdown of how much money we'll have available this summer? I'd like to see if possible a breakdown that shows how much is available without any player sales since this is mostly guesswork/speculation and then make a few models of my own.

Thanks

Think a few pages back there was a Swiss ramble post and it looked like we’d have a huge amount to spend even without player sales, with a few sales and I think it was around £300m.

 

[Pughnichi]

I can undestand the idea, but let me ask you this: How much impact do you think the new management will have on next season, considering it's not even in place yet and might not be even at the end of summer?

Firstly I think he should be removed.

But…They could have an impact by setting an expectation in playing style.

as soon as ETH walked in the door he said he couldn’t impose his Ajax style. Which is odd because it was that very same playing style that got him plaudits at the time and eventually the Utd job. Furthermore it’s what all us fans were excited about.

 

[Marcelinho87]

They seem to have acted well in terms of backroom staff...but that isnt costly.Also, wedo need to remember the Glazers still retain majority owndership, so lets not get too excited yet.
Letsbe honest, to turn things around this summer is near impossible. There is amanager failing, 10/20 players we should be selling....8/10 signings actually needed....thats FM type work. But we will get avery good indication this summer...and for me they MUST

1) Replace the manager and have a replacement ready and working from the get go
This is difficult as who are the great options....plentyof wrong ones. Personally, want Nagelsmann

2) Move on at least 10 players...and thats sold not just loans
We really cantsee the likes of Martial, Williams and VDB still on the books,nor someof the big earners (yes Rashford) or some of our value playerslike Greenwood/SAncho getting loaned....we NEED to bring money in. Thinks it huge we finally clear some of the crap beenhere years andmost of the crap the current manager has signed....its paramount to progressing

3) Make a minimum of six signings
Sine Ferguson retired, I can count on one hand the signings I thought weregoing to be really good (somehavent been) and only a couple have plesantly surprised me...and Im just a fan. Not only has our recruitment been awful....we have over paid on nearly every single deal, significantly to. IfI see us spending the likes of £70m on braithwaite, £50m on Onana etc etc, will despair. There is an abundanceof quality young cb and MF in Europe and exciting young attaking playersand for me the best 3cost about £180m in total...if we spend a similar amount on Braitwaite, Onana andOlise for example....i despair and bar OnanaI rate them

The Glazers are made up of separate entities they aren’t one and if reports are believed they don’t all view it the same - either way SJR is the clubs single biggest shareholder and legally/contractually the football side is his and nothing to do with them.

So simply stating the Glazers retain the majority isn’t strictly true.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

INEOS need to start searching for a new head coach. I’ll be shocked if they aren’t working in the background.

One month later and I’m getting worried now. They should’ve been doing background recruitment on a replacement as soon as they came in the door.

 

[Amir]

But…They could have an impact by setting an expectation in playing style.

as soon as ETH walked in the door he said he couldn’t impose his Ajax style. Which is odd because it was that very same playing style that got him plaudits at the time and eventually the Utd job. Furthermore it’s what all us fans were excited about.

Could that really be done with the current squad, saddled with ETH's own problem signings, even with a couple of additions?

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Good article

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Good article

We will take your word for it, can you summerise what it says.

 

[macheda14]

Don’t agree that’s their agenda.

Based on nothing but your feelings.

 

[Tony247]

That's fine, but again: How much impact do you think the new management will have NEXT season?

I think it will take time to really gear up. A big part of that should be bringing in the right players, but there would be a limit to what we can do over this one summer because of financial constraints and the fact that the right people are still not all in place. So really, next season might not be enough to really, really judge how ETH does with the new management. Does that mean we should be looking to actually give him two more years rather than just one?

Not expecting any immediate miracles. This will take time and we need a manager who can work through this process. I don't know for that purpose if ETH is the right guy or not, but I believe it's worth a try given how it worked at Ajax.

We are sacking managers left and right past decade without any success. I think it is time to take a pause, change strategy and work like a functioning football club for a change with a long term plan.

 

[Woziak]

I don’t get the fuss about this. Millions of other workers have gone back to workplace settings without a furore. Seems like a non story just because it’s United.

It’s more a case that there are 1100 employees at the club, I’m guessing they want to know what every employee does to contribute towards success, are they working for a living or are they stealing a living, some parents have young kids and the flexible work from home held in the modern age and their output is as good as any employee, others deliberately do not work to their full potential without office supervision?
Sir Jim is looking to cut those employed numbers from 1100 to about 750-800. He’s trying to weed out people who contribute very little!

Sports Science, Scouting, Media, Merchandising, Marketing, Player Analysis, Women’s Team, Youth Team, Ground Care, Nutrition, Catering, Matchday/Stewards, Finance, Legal Department, Carrington, Car Leasing, Transport, HR, Travel and hospitality, Laundry and Kitman, IT and Social Media are just a few of the departments which are going to get get trimmed.

Assume the average salary is £50k per employee, some will earn 15-20k and some 60-120k. Assume the expenses are average at £2k per employee, you cut 300 members of staff and potentially save £15.6m.

You then reinvest £5.6m of that into the staff you decide to keep plus you employ
Dan Ashworth, Omar Berada and Jason Wilcox and a brand new structure and Save £10m operating costs. Remember the club lost £41m in the last balance sheet with £648m turnover.

One look at Nice structure and it looks like there is far too many Directors at a club that has only won their domestic league 4 times and not won it for 65/66 years. They’ve made a lot of mistakes and only this year have some stability in the top 5 but they are still not a CL team and in all honesty, a long way from it!

The Nice ORG Chart however would potentially assist Man United’s archaic structure and hopefully modernise the club to a 21st century sporting behemoth that it should be.

 

[golden_blunder]

I don’t get the fuss about this. Millions of other workers have gone back to workplace settings without a furore. Seems like a non story just because it’s United.

I guess you don’t use LinkedIn. There’s daily battles on there regarding RTO v WFH

 

[Andy_Cole]

Based on nothing but your feelings.

Yup - same if you think their agenda is to be the hero of United?

 

[lifted]

We will take your word for it, can you summerise what it says.

Not much new information really.

- SJR is always vocal with his opinions but trusts and listens to the people he puts in charge of his businesses
- Berrada, Ashworth and Wilcox will be the key decision makers and Blanc has an important role in the interim
- Wilcox is auditing Ten Hag and his set up - Wilcox, Berrada and Blanc will make the decision on his future with potential input from Ashworth
- Wilcox and Berrada will have an important role in the transfer window

 

[Yakuza_devils]

I'm not a fan of the INEOS crew and I confess that I was more on the side of the Qatari bid but I honestly don't see much issue with insisting all staff come to the premises. Evaluating the productivity of staff working from home can be tricky especially for an establishment like Man Utd where several aspects of the club have been below standard. They may feel it's more convenient from a management perspective to run a very tight ship at the very beginning to properly evaluate which departments are running optimally. In the future they may reopen the avenue for people to work from home when they have a proper understanding of the working environment.

Good post. We have to be honest here, WFH required people to be very disciplined. Not everyone can work from home too. From my personal experience, I like to work in office set up to have better focus and discipline. It's also easier to communicate with your team face to face. Sometime you need "to feel the ground" and pressure to come out with solutions on problems and etc.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Not much new information really.

- SJR is always vocal with his opinions but trusts and listens to the people he puts in charge of his businesses
- Berrada, Ashworth and Wilcox will be the key decision makers and Blanc has an important role in the interim
- Wilcox is auditing Ten Hag and his set up - Wilcox, Berrada and Blanc will make the decision on his future with potential input from Ashworth
- Wilcox and Berrada will have an important role in the transfer window

So not really telling us anything new?