Club ownership | Senior management team talk

JediSith said:
Makes sense. Watching a few a Ashworth interviews from his time at Newcastle, Brighton and just in general. It struck me how he always emphasised his duty involved with men’s & women’s team, amongst all the other things he did.

At the same time I kind of understand Ratcliffe. The men’s team are the ones struggling, it’s the men’s team that brings in the majority of the revenue. That’s not to say you ignore the women’s team. But clearly as a business and a sports club it’s the men’s side that needs fixing.
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It shouldn't be beyond a competent management team to make a decent fist of improving both the men's and womens teams
 
Club needs to stop leaking like a sieve, dial the noise down and get on with its business.

About time all these ‘sources’ were stopped. Cut off the supply to the chimps.
 
Herschel Krustofsky said:
Club needs to stop leaking like a sieve, dial the noise down and get on with its business.

About time all these ‘sources’ were stopped. Cut off the supply to the chimps.
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Happy employees are loyal employees are silent employees.

Frustrated employees will go and vent where ever they are listened to.

These leaks won't stop soon.
 
Herschel Krustofsky said:
Club needs to stop leaking like a sieve, dial the noise down and get on with its business.

About time all these ‘sources’ were stopped. Cut off the supply to the chimps.
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Impossible.

Our football operations have been kept incredibly quiet over this past year and INEOS clearly control what information to give the journalists and when, because only a select few deal with it.

But when you cancel christmas parties or take away bonuses, that involves hunderds of workers. You can't shut them all up.
 
Herschel Krustofsky said:
Club needs to stop leaking like a sieve, dial the noise down and get on with its business.

About time all these ‘sources’ were stopped. Cut off the supply to the chimps.
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That would involve firing pretty much every single member of staff...

Though at this point I wouldn't put it past them.
 
I cant get my head around Radcliffe's comment about United shouldn't have lower ticket prices than Fulham.

An absolutely mad out of touch comment to make. It kind of shows when your that rich you just dont get it when it comes to the struggles of the everyday working joe.

The majority of fans are from working to middle class families. Which makes paying mad prices for tickets simply unsustainable for the majority of us.

And picking Fulham of all places, not the best example Jim... One of the most expensive areas in London. Whilst some of the areas around Manchester are what they are, extremely working class. expecting fans from the two comparing areas to be paying the same prices, like i said , completely out of touch.
 
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stefan92 said:
Happy employees are loyal employees are silent employees.

Frustrated employees will go and vent where ever they are listened to.

These leaks won't stop soon.
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They would have to fix the roof for that to happen.
 
What did we expect from Ratcliffe. He went out & bought many firms & then cut pensions, banned unions and ruthlessly cut costs in any department. His company isn't succesful because he is such a great scientist, it's a success because he is a businessman who buys companies with value who are underperforming in profits. He restructures and the profits gain again. That's his main trick. That's what he does now at United as well.
 
WouterWeghorst said:
What did we expect from Ratcliffe. He went out & bought many firms & then cut pensions, banned unions and ruthlessly cut costs in any department. His company isn't succesful because he is such a great scientist, it's a success because he is a businessman who buys companies with value who are underperforming in profits. He restructures and the profits gain again. That's his main trick. That's what he does now at United as well.
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So are you saying he bought United to make money?
 
EireRed_GS said:
I cant get my head around Radcliffe's comment about United shouldn't have lower ticket prices than Fulham.

An absolutely mad out of touch comment to make. It kind of shows when your that rich you just dont get it when it comes to the struggles of the everyday working joe.

The majority of fans are from working to middle class families. Which makes paying mad prices for tickets simply unsustainable for the majority of us.

And picking Fulham of all places, not the best example Jim... One of the most expensive areas in London. Whilst some of the areas around Manchester are what they are, extremely working class. expecting fans from the two comparing areas to be paying the same prices, like i said , completely out of touch.
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I hate to say this. United is a global brand, regardless of area, its a much bigger team than Fulham and pulls in tourists each week. The reality is, our ticket prices should be higher than Fulham's.

We're in a weird place now where we're trying to run like a family club despite being a global brand. Ratcliffe said when he came in, that he wanted us to run as operationally as possible and was disappointed at what he saw both in the football and other sides of the business, making a point to stress more about the other side of the business. It seems like certain areas of the club are still stick in the 90s and aren't as corporate or run as efficiently as a business owner would like. So, like he said, strong hard decisions are being made to make the club run as operationally as possible, which includes seeing where efficiencies lie and cutting unnecessary costs.

My feeling with Ashworth was that after working without him, then seeing his lack of impact or influence, his position was deemed unnecessary. If that's their approach, as much as fans want to complain about anything United at the moment, this is what will prevent us from falling as far as we did after SAF left. Not passive agreement, but being able to recognize weaknesses and cutting them out immediately regardless of optics.
 
loftyscott said:
I am not a UTD fan, but am coming here in peace. You can be rivals on the pitch, but these clubs are also businesses with employees and I dont think anyone rational hates the other ¨company¨if that makes sense??

It's really bizarre - most (elderly) owners getting into football do it as some sort of vanity project or leaving your mark. You have all this money, now you want to be loved/known/respected/relevant....
You look at the Thai guy who bought City earlier - was skint but did it for ego
Michael Knighton and his keepy uppies
The Middle Eastern owners more recently buy clubs and then throw money at them, and promise fans all sorts of new toys. They dont want confrontation, they want that new owner glow

SJR seems to have said fck that, and gone to war. You could make a legitimate argument that he has attacked every single group:
match going fans, honorary club guests, club employees, senior management and also players.

The guy is 73 now - this (very) tough love approach might work, but it would be a 5 yr plan at least. So he will be the bad guy for 5 yrs, approaching his 80s?
I just dont get it
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Maybe buying football club is like getting a new toy for these elderly owners to play with before they die?
 
Matt851 said:
It shouldn't be beyond a competent management team to make a decent fist of improving both the men's and womens teams
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I think his language was old fashioned. But the point he made was the fact. Funnily enough the most disrespectful thing INEOS have done was when they made the women’s team leave or move out so the men’s team could move in some where. That I thought was very disrespectful. But right now what he is saying is true both on a footballing & business sense. I remember at the time thinking and saying that they didn’t get called out enough for it. But now it seems to be hunting season on INEOS. Don’t if it’s to do with getting rid of Ashworth, disgruntled ex employees, players doing what they used to do with managers.

Simple test is think of the fan and business ramifications If the women’s team won the CL and the men’s team got relegated.
 
Herschel Krustofsky said:
Club needs to stop leaking like a sieve, dial the noise down and get on with its business.

About time all these ‘sources’ were stopped. Cut off the supply to the chimps.
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You would be surprised as to how many players leak out info not just normal staff... You wont ever stop leaks , its always happened and always will do.
 
vanderpants said:
You would be surprised as to how many players leak out info not just normal staff... You wont ever stop leaks , its always happened and always will do.
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It’s endemic, across the board staff-wise. And worse at Utd than other clubs.

This is why it needs sorting out
 
tjb said:
I hate to say this. United is a global brand, regardless of area, its a much bigger team than Fulham and pulls in tourists each week. The reality is, our ticket prices should be higher than Fulham's.

We're in a weird place now where we're trying to run like a family club despite being a global brand. Ratcliffe said when he came in, that he wanted us to run as operationally as possible and was disappointed at what he saw both in the football and other sides of the business, making a point to stress more about the other side of the business. It seems like certain areas of the club are still stick in the 90s and aren't as corporate or run as efficiently as a business owner would like. So, like he said, strong hard decisions are being made to make the club run as operationally as possible, which includes seeing where efficiencies lie and cutting unnecessary costs.

My feeling with Ashworth was that after working without him, then seeing his lack of impact or influence, his position was deemed unnecessary. If that's their approach, as much as fans want to complain about anything United at the moment, this is what will prevent us from falling as far as we did after SAF left. Not passive agreement, but being able to recognize weaknesses and cutting them out immediately regardless of optics.
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No one wants high ticket prices but they see the demand, the waiting lists for season tickets, number of people wanting to get tickets. Its standard economics, high demand low supply = higher prices.

The poster mentioned Fulham, I bet you that no fan would be happy if we kept ticket prices low and we had a budget of £50m per season and had highest wages at 200k. The demand for Manutd tickets would decrease and prices would drop.

We cried for years about not being operated in a modern way, well now we are and tough decisions have to be made in order to get there. Fans cant pick and chose only the good bits.

I also read fans saying its only saving 50k... for some areas, well now add that 50k to all the other savings, you are looking into the millions.
 
romufc said:
No one wants high ticket prices but they see the demand, the waiting lists for season tickets, number of people wanting to get tickets. Its standard economics, high demand low supply = higher prices.

The poster mentioned Fulham, I bet you that no fan would be happy if we kept ticket prices low and we had a budget of £50m per season and had highest wages at 200k. The demand for Manutd tickets would decrease and prices would drop.

We cried for years about not being operated in a modern way, well now we are and tough decisions have to be made in order to get there. Fans cant pick and chose only the good bits.

I also read fans saying its only saving 50k... for some areas, well now add that 50k to all the other savings, you are looking into the millions.
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That's just silly. Just because there's high demand for a limited product, doesn't mean the product must become extra expensive. It's not like the price goes up automatically, it is raised by people who want to squeeze the customer.
Apart from that, the idea that fans and stadium supporters of a football club are just like any consumer is bafflingly idiotic. If my favourite toothpaste raises prices, I can switch to another. Not with my club I can't.
 
FortunaUtd said:
That's just silly. Just because there's high demand for a limited product, doesn't mean the product must become extra expensive. It's not like the price goes up automatically, it is raised by people who want to squeeze the customer.
Apart from that, the idea that fans and stadium supporters of a football club are just like any consumer is bafflingly idiotic. If my favourite toothpaste raises prices, I can switch to another. Not with my club I can't.
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Unfortunately that is how it works, do I agree with it ? No. This is how it works, they see us as consumers they can profit from.

Just look at watching football on TV, the costs... Having to have 3 different subscriptions if you want to watch live football. Its a joke.

You may find it silly because you are speaking from a fan bias, these guys have to run the club, make sure it sustains itself.

We cant cry over how badly we have been run, the debt the club has and then cry when hard decisions are made to fix it.
 
JediSith said:
Can’t help but think this is Ashworth leaking it. People said he looked angry as he left after the Forest game. Realistically if this is true, who would know? INEOS, Berrada, Wilcox, Amorim and Ashworth. Who is most likely to leak it ?
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This was briefed at least twice last season while the team's morale was down the toilet, so I suspect it's the modus operandi of those already at the helm.
 
romufc said:
Unfortunately that is how it works, do I agree with it ? No. This is how it works, they see us as consumers they can profit from.

Just look at watching football on TV, the costs... Having to have 3 different subscriptions if you want to watch live football. Its a joke.

You may find it silly because you are speaking from a fan bias, these guys have to run the club, make sure it sustains itself.

We cant cry over how badly we have been run, the debt the club has and then cry when hard decisions are made to fix it.
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Well that is because a lack of regulation and political oversight engenders a development of greed and destruction, just like elsewhere. But it's not the laws of physics.
 
tjb said:
I hate to say this. United is a global brand, regardless of area, its a much bigger team than Fulham and pulls in tourists each week. The reality is, our ticket prices should be higher than Fulham's.
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So the fact that Fulham price themselves to rip off tourists in London fancying a game means that we should have to pay more because United are a bigger club? What a ridiculous tone deaf argument.
 
Berbaclass said:
Wonder if they ever come back in?

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There’s more to this. The media are really going after Ratcliffe. I wanted Qatar. But over the past few days I’ve seen a sudden shift in the media. It’s not purely footballing, it’s almost like a campaign.
 
But we already knew they were the preferred bidders but wasn't the issue, they couldn't show proof of funds or something like that so Glazers had to move on?
 
Werd. said:
But we already knew they were the preferred bidders but wasn't the issue, they couldn't show proof of funds or something like that so Glazers had to move on?
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Correct, well that's what was reported at the time.

The narrative in the above tweets is completely irrelevant, they didn't takeover and they have seen our recent further downturn and sticking the knife in.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Maybe it would be better if SJR let Berrada and Wilcox do the public talking? He doesn’t seem to have the necessary diplomacy.
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Ya think? But an employee telling a billionaire boss, a self made one at that, to keep his opinions to himself is an impossible task.
 
JB7 said:
So the fact that Fulham price themselves to rip off tourists in London fancying a game means that we should have to pay more because United are a bigger club? What a ridiculous tone deaf argument.
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What's tone deaf about it? We are a business, with tickets in more demand than Fulham's. The same fans crying about this, are the same ones who want a refurbished Old Trafford/ new stadium, that laugh about how the club's facilities are run down and that want impactful new signings every summer. In order to do these things, we need to generate revenue and keep costs low. If we're being told that other teams at a similar stature are operating with less employees or have higher ticket prices; a smart club, who has debt and are struggling on the pitch would try to ensure that they are at least in the same vicinity of operational efficiency as their competitors, in this case that would mean letting go of unneccesary positions or hiking ticket prices.
 
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