Club Sale | It’s done!

[Messier1994]

Buddy i am Indian so i think i know my Ambanis and adanis. It is in fact the adani group which is leveraged to the hilt. Mukesh ambanis Reliance industries is quite comfortable on the debt front and will be net debt free by 2025 if all goes to plan.

OK thanks! And sorry if I came across as arrogant, I am totally ignorant about these guys!

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Laurens might not have the experience of running a football club, but he like many other football fans has a mind of his own and can assess and evaluate the football strategy that is taking shape at a football club in France. And you've still not countered what he said, and you've also quite conveniently not answered my earlier question asking what experience Brailsford has at elite level in football.

What experience did FSG have?
What experience did Roman have?
What experience did City’s sheikh have?
What experience does Yasir Al-Rumayyan have?

It’s still an absolute bizarre thing to focus on, he’s the bloody sporting director of INEOS, Nice have their own football director. Time & time again you & devilish love to pretend he’s the DoF at Nice.

As for Nice, well they made their first final last season in 2 decades, yet you speak as though they are in an absolute state, a shambles of a club or something.

• In 2017-18 Nice finished 8th with 54 points
• In 2018-19 Nice finished 7th with 56 points

INEOS took charge in August 2019.

• In 2019-20 the season was cut short with Nice in 5th
• In 2020-21 Nice finished 9th with 52 points

Brailsford was appointed INEOS director of Sports in December 2021.

• In 2021-22 Nice finished 5th with 66 points & made their first Coupe de France final in over 20 years, knocking out PSG & Marseille on the way & losing the final 1-0 to a dodgy as feck handball penalty decision.

 

[Adnan]

What experience did FSG have?

What experience did Roman have?

What experience did City’s sheikh have?

What experience does Yasir Al-Rumayyan have?

It’s still an absolute bizarre thing to focus on, he’s the bloody sporting director of INEOS, Nice have their own football director. Time & time again you love to pretend he’s the DoF at Nice.
Nice made their first final last season in 2 decades, yet you speak as though they are in an absolute state, a shambles of a club or something.

It's actually bizarre that you would even ask such a silly question.


FSG had the experience of footballing people like Michael Edwards who led their footballing structure.

Roman had the experience of a number of football people who led the football operations at the club.

City had the experience of Brian Marwood who led and oversaw the footballing structure at the club and he is someone from a footballing background.

Yasir Al-Rumaayan has the experience of Dan Ashworth who oversees the football structure at Newcastle.

I don't care about Nice, but one thing is clear at all top level football clubs, they have people at their clubs with a footballing background who oversee the football side of the club. Nice only installed a Sporting Director in the last few months.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

It's actually bizarre that you would even ask such a silly question.

FSG had the experience of footballing people like Michael Edwards who led their footballing structure.

Roman had the experience of a number of football people who led the football operations at the club.

City had the experience of Brian Marwood who led and oversaw the footballing structure at the club and he is someone from a footballing background.

Yasir Al-Rumaayan has the experience of Dan Ashworth who oversees the football structure at Newcastle.

I don't care about Nice, but one thing is clear at all top level football clubs, they have people at their clubs with a footballing background who oversee the football side of the club. Nice only installed a Sporting Director in the last few months.

feck me, all these guys were already employed at their clubs in various roles at the times of these takeovers, are we pretending that Nice had and have no football people all over the club structure now? In the case of Ashworth, he came in 4 months after the takeover and 3 months after Howe was employed… so who made the Howe decision @Adnan and who made the decision to employ Ashworth?
And why was that person better placed than say Brailsford to make such decisions?

Are we also pretending Marwood was the mastermind behind the footballing structure at City, including bringing in Pep & Txiki now? fecking hell man

Brailsford has been INEOS sporting director for less than a year, and he’s already installed a director of football, a highly rated one it appears.

Since Brailsford came in they had their best points league finish in 6 years and made their first cup final in over 20.

So remind me again what is so wrong with having Brailsford employing a football director rather than say, none football people at FSG promoting someone? Or a shiekh promoting a guy? Or Roman employing Peter Kenyon to do it and deciding himself on players and managers.

 

[Adnan]

feck me, all these guys were already employed at their clubs in various roles at the times of these takeovers, are we pretending that Nice had and have no football people all over the club structure now?

No these guys weren't already employed at those clubs, but were actually brought to the clubs when the clubs in question changed ownership.

No we aren't pretending Nice didn't have football people already at the club. But we can question why someone from a non footballing background was given free reign to preside over people from a footballing background.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

No these guys weren't already employed at those clubs, but were actually brought to the clubs when the clubs in question changed ownership.

No we aren't pretending Nice didn't have football people already at the club. But we can question why someone from a non footballing background was given free reign to preside over people from a footballing background.

Edwards was there, and Marwood was there, wait, he wasn’t, he was employed as a fecking admin guy in 2009, because Hughes wouldn’t accept him as a director of football, so how was he creating the structure of the club man? In the case of Ashworth, he came in 4 months after the takeover and 3 months after Howe was employed… so who made the Howe decision @Adnan and who made the decision to employ Ashworth?

Who made the decision to promote Edwards?

And why was that person better placed than say Brailsford to make such decisions, a guy who has employed a new highly rated director of football?

Seems to me yourself and dev would prefer owners to place people in the top jobs, rather than people with background in sporting success.

Either that or you’re failing to comprehend that all the names you mentioned above, were employed by a none-football person to help with the structure of the club, which exactly what Brailsford has just fecking done himself when employing Florent Ghisolfi.

 

[phelans shorts]

I’d be fascinated to know how many major clubs actually have people with a football background right at the top of the tree. Think there’s only the German clubs and even then there’s exceptions. Ajax maybe too, I’m not sure on their actual structure.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

But we can question why someone from a non footballing background was given free reign to preside over people from a footballing background.

Every single owner of a club has free reign to preside over people from a footballing background. They often replace them, fire them, promote them etc.
No director of football has “free reign” over any club, there’s always someone above them.
You’d prefer that someone to be a rich owner,
I’d prefer it be a sporting person. As Phelan’s shorts mentions above, it tends only to be fan owned, or 50% owned clubs that have “football people” in the positions above the DoF.
Even in Spain it tends to be politicians deciding, Begiristain left due to that political bullshit at Barcelona with politicians like Laporta deciding over footballing people.

 

[Adnan]

Edwards was there, and Marwood was there, wait, he wasn’t, he was employed as a fecking admin guy in 2009, so how was he creating the structure of the club man? In the case of Ashworth, he came in 4 months after the takeover and 3 months after Howe was employed… so who made the Howe decision @Adnan and who made the decision to employ Ashworth?

Who made the decision to promote Edwards?

And why was that person better placed than say Brailsford to make such decisions, a guy who has employed a new highly rated director of football?

Seems to me yourself and dev would prefer owners to place people in the top jobs, rather than people with background in sporting success.

Edwards was brought to the club by Damien Commoli who was the Sporting Director under FSG. And Klopp made the decision to promote him.

And believe or not this might come as a surprise to you, but Marwood who joined in 2009, a year after the takeover, was a football administrator.



Ashworth only joined later due to Brighton sending him on gardening leave.

Who made the decision to employ Ashworth? That would probably be down to Lee Charnley who was Newcastle's managing director.

Why were those people better placed than Brailsford to make decisions on the football side of the club? Because they have a along history of being involved on the structural side of a football club.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd like the club to employ the best in class football people to oversee the football side of the club and not someone from a cycling background.

 

[Adnan]

Every single owner of a club has free reign to preside over people from a footballing background. They often replace them, fire them, promote them etc.
No director of football has “free reign” over any club, there’s always someone above them.
You’d prefer that someone to be a rich owner,
I’d prefer it be a sporting person. As Phelan’s shorts mentions above, it tends only to be fan owned, or 50% owned clubs that have “football people” in the positions above the DoF.
Even in Spain it tends to be politicians deciding, Begiristain left due to that political bullshit at Barcelona with politicians like Laporta deciding over footballing people.

We're not talking about owners here but rather the people they put in charge of the football side of the club. And those people they put in charge of the football side of the club, should be people from a footballing background who understand the footballing structure and strategies to create a setup which will benefit the playing and coaching staff at the highest level if we're talking about a big club.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

We're not talking about owners here but rather the people they put in charge of the football side of the club. And those people they put in charge of the football side of the club, should be people from a footballing background who understand the footballing structure and strategies to create a setup which will benefit the playing and coaching staff at the highest level if we're talking about a big club.

Brailsford just put a new director of football in charge, he changed out the old one, just as all these owners did you mention. That person, Florent Ghisolfi, is in charge of the footballing structure at Nice. How the feck is that any different to Newcastle’s owners employing a DoF, or FSG appointing a DoF?

We’re talking about who is above the DoF, at FSG it’s the owners, at Newcastle it’s the owners, at INEOS it’s Brailsford.
Why is this so hard for you to understand? You are absolutely stuck on Brailsford being some kind of DoF, he isn’t, he’s above them as sports director for the entire INEOS group. Tell me how many football clubs have a “football” person above the DoF?

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

.

Who made the decision to employ Ashworth? That would probably be down to Lee Charnley who was Newcastle's managing director.

We’re getting there finally on who usually sits above a DoF.
So Lee Charnley you say, who was sacked in November was trusted with such a massive decision after being absolutely shite with Mike Ashley for a decade? Sure.
But let’s pretend that’s true, and that they let him choose a DoF and a new manager and then instantly fired him, how the feck is Charnley a “football man”?
He was detested at Newcastle, and that’s like calling Woodward a football man.
So either Charnley, an Ed Woodward like character did it, or Yasir Al-Rumayyan did it.

But I’m glad we’re finally here. You’d prefer Charnley, a Sheikh, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Ed Woodward, Laporta, FSG’s owners to put people in charge of the footballing structure, I’d prefer someone with a background in sports to set that up.
INEOS could have let Jim choose a DoF mind, just as all these other clubs did, and why on Earth you and Dev think that’s preferable I don’t know.

You both also like pretending Brailsford has been a disaster for Nice, when he’s not even been in the role a year and in his first half year he actually saw Nice finish with their highest points total in over half a decade, and in their first cup final for over 2 decades.
It’s all a bit odd, it’s like you’re both stuck on him being a cycling guy and don’t want him anywhere near a football club, so you’d actually prefer an Ed Woodward type to have the Brailsford role of employing people to head the football structure of a club.

It’s clear to me when a group like INEOS is involved in sailing, running, motor racing, rugby, cycling & football that they need to have a sporting director in place for the entire group. It’s also clear that each discipline should then have their own specialist structure beneath that sporting director, and that’s exactly what INEOS have with Florent Ghisolfi.

Who should be the sporting director of INEOS? Would you feel better if that was a football person? But then how would motor racing, rugby, sailing, cycling feel?
That person doesn’t need to be a specialist, he needs to have a sporting background and to ensure he helps put the right structure in place to control/run each discipline. He’s been in the job not even a year and is clearly putting a highly rated football people in those positions at Nice.

Is it because of those cnuty cycling groups that don’t move over down country lanes and just make you want to mow the feckers over? Do you have an issue with cyclists in general?

 

[Adnan]

Brailsford just put a new director of football in charge, he changed out the old one, just as all these owners did you mention. That person, Florent Ghisolfi, is in charge of the footballing structure at Nice. How the feck is that any different to Newcastle’s owners employing a DoF, or FSG appointing a DoF?

We’re talking about who is above the DoF, at FSG it’s the owners, at Newcastle it’s the owners, at INEOS it’s Brailsford.
Why is this so hard for you to understand? You are absolutely stuck on Brailsford being some kind of DoF, he isn’t, he’s above them as sports director for the entire INEOS group. Tell me how many football clubs have a “football” person above the DoF?

Who was the old DoF at Nice? You say he changed the old one, who was the old one?

At every club there's a owner and a CEO above the DoF, which is normal. And no, I'm not talking about who is above the DoF but rather who is in charge of the football side of the club and hence makes the footballing decisions in a head of football capacity. Finding that person isn't difficult and headhunting firms can be utilised to narrow down the search if required. But that person should be from a footballing background, which is the norm.

Lee Charnley spent 22 years working at Newcastle United, and has more than enough experience in football to make footballing decisions. It's not difficult to put in place a person from a footballing background to lead the football side of the club. You can complicate matters by putting someone in charge who is from a non footballing background, though. But most non footballing men can even manage that. But Brailsford's remit at INEOS is of someone on the structural side of the club as either a GM or director of sport, which is a role that is easily fulfilled by a sporting director from a football background at a football club.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

At every club there's a owner and a CEO above the DoF, which is normal. And no, I'm not talking about who is above the DoF but rather who is in charge of the football side of the club and hence makes the footballing decisions in a head of football capacity. Finding that person isn't difficult and headhunting firms can be utilised to narrow down the search if required. But that person should be from a footballing background, which is the norm.

Lee Charnley spent 22 years working at Newcastle United, and has more than enough experience in football to make footballing decisions.

Lee Charnley was a detested figure at Newcastle for being utterly shite at his job.

Ed Wooward has been in football for 15 years, making him more than experienced enough.

That’s the level of the debate here, you have a bizarre default negative view of anyone from another discipline having anything to do with football, so much so you believe people like Charnley and Woodward are better placed to make those decisions.

I can’t debate that, I think it’s a bizarre stance to take, but each to their own, if I had to choose between the past decade of Ed, or Brailsford, I know which I’d choose. I know what a Newcastle fans would choose also.
For a start it’s taken the latter just 10 months to replace a DoF with a young & extremely highly rated DoF, it took Ed almost 10 years. Charnley had Steve Bruce as manager ffs.

 

[phelans shorts]

Didn’t INEOS walk into Mercedes F1 team with a giant dossier on what not to do if you want to stay at the top that was almost entirely based on how United have been run

 

[VorZakone]

Didn’t INEOS walk into Mercedes F1 team with a giant dossier on what not to do if you want to stay at the top that was almost entirely based on how United have been run

I think I recall Toto saying they studied Man Utd's failures.

 

[Adnan]

Lee Charnley was a detested figure at Newcastle for being utterly shite at his job.

Ed Wooward has been in football for 15 years, making him more than experienced enough.

That’s the level of the debate here, you have a bizarre default negative view of anyone from another discipline having anything to do with football, so much so you believe people like Charnley and Woodward are better placed to make those decisions.

I can’t debate that, I think it’s a bizarre stance to take, but each to their own, if I had to choose between the past decade of Ed, or Brailsford, I know which I’d choose. I know what a Newcastle fans would choose also.
For a start it’s taken the latter just 10 months to replace a DoF with a young & extremely highly rated DoF, it took Ed almost 10 years. Charnley had Steve Bruce as manager ffs.

What on earth are you talking about?

You asked me a question on who appointed Dan Ashworth at Newcastle, and my response was that it was probably Lee Charnley. It might not have been Lee Charnley, and it may have been Steve Nickson who has been at the club for over a decade, and was recently promoted in a head of recruitment capacity. And he's in charge of recruitment.

But what you seem to have a problem understanding is how the top clubs are structured on the football side of the club and conflate the role of the owner, the CEO and the Director of football. It's not difficult for owners and a CEO to appoint a director of football.

Brailsford's role with INEOS, isn't one where he's involved on the board but one where he's directly involved on the sporting side. That's not a issue if it involves the Cycling teams, but can and has become a issue at a football club.

I asked you who was the Sporting director at Nice, before the recent new appointment was made in October. I think the answer to that question is it was Brailsford. And if it wasn't for their head coach Lucien Favre, who demanded a Sporting director to help him, INEOS would've carried on with Brailsford running the football side of the club. Favre went on to say that he was extremely relieved to finally get help in the form of the young Sporting director from RC Lens. Hopefully INEOS have learnt their lesson.

 

[JohnnyKills]

OK thanks! And sorry if I came across as arrogant, I am totally ignorant about these guys!

Ambani would probably be my perfect owner. Private individual, hugely wealthy and has experience of winning at sports. Plus it seems a great fit given the synergies you could create with the two brands (rename the cricket team Mumbai United etc)

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I asked you who was the Sporting director at Nice, before the recent new appointment was made in October. I think the answer to that question is it was Brailsford.

Well they only parted ways with Julien Fournier in July and had a new DoF fully in place 3 months later so….

Lucien Favre only came back at the end of June. So yeah, was obvious they always planned on having a DoF, but a new appointment can’t be fixed in a day, now they have one who as you say, has also got the new managers backing. Sounds like good swift work to me.

It took Newcastle 4 months. Took City a few years before they got Txiki etc etc.

Once again, you’re pretending Brailsford is something he isn’t. After a rather short spell he has his man in place, an extremely highly rated young DoF to see over the footballing structure of the club.

 

[Tarrou]

it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to focus on the new owners credentials to run football clubs

basically none of them will have much, if any, experience, that relates to a major sporting club like United

they are all just gonna be rich people who appoint some football people under them, and we just need to hope they appoint the right ones

 

[Adnan]

Well they only parted ways with Julien Fournier in July and had a new DoF fully in place 3 months later so….

Lucien Favre only came back at the end of June. So yeah, was obvious they always planned on having a DoF, but a new appointment can’t be fixed in a day, now they have one who as you say, has also got the new managers backing. Sounds like good swift work to me.

It took Newcastle 4 months. Took City a few years before they got Txiki etc etc.

Once again, you’re pretending Brailsford is something he isn’t. After a rather short spell he has his man in place, an extremely highly rated young DoF to see over the footballing structure of the club.

So it took them until October to fill the void and Brailsford filled the gap by overseeing the summer transfer window.

it took Newcastle months because Ashworth couldn't join straight away. They had Steve Nickson heading the recruitment in the meantime and he did a good job by all accounts.

It took City a year to bring in Brian Marwood to oversee the football side of the club and he had overseen a title win 3 years later.

 

[Champ]

Who you want as the owner of the club is your business and you won't get kick back from me regarding that. But you will get kick back if you're blind in your support of someone like Brailsford who doesn't have experience at the elite level on the football side of the club.

Laurens might not have the experience of running a football club, but he like many other football fans has a mind of his own and can assess and evaluate the football strategy that is taking shape at a football club in France. And you've still not countered what he said, and you've also quite conveniently not answered my earlier question asking what experience Brailsford has at elite level in football.


And regarding Dan Ashworth, he invited Brailsford to talk to the Newcastle players whilst they were in preseason training. So again you've failed to point out exactly why Brailsford would benefit us instead of someone from a footballing background.

And you've also brought up the ECB, which I presume is the English Cricket Board. Again you can't compare elite level football to the game of Cricket.

Brailsford has elite sporting level experience, that translates at any level.

Heres what Howe had to say about it: 'He has overseen so much success in specific disciplines, but his principles are transferrable to any competitive sporting environment'

That speaks volumes, alot louder than a journalist trying to sell his wares.

Nice have restructured the footballing side at board room level, Brailsfords lack of footballing Knowledge doesn't matter so much when they have so many other person's with footballing Knowledge around him. What Brailsford can offer is elite sporting level knowledge and success, the kind that Ashworth wants at Newcastle.

It seems pretty simple to understand to me?

And again, I don't have blind support of anyone, I am defending a good option against people who don't seem to comprehend what the potential bid would offer United.
If a better option presents itself then that's even better.

 

[Adnan]

Brailsford has elite sporting level experience, that translates at any level.

Heres what Howe had to say about it: 'He has overseen so much success in specific disciplines, but his principles are transferrable to any competitive sporting environment'

That speaks volumes, alot louder than a journalist trying to sell his wares.

Nice have restructured the footballing side at board room level, Brailsfords lack of footballing Knowledge doesn't matter so much when they have so many other person's with footballing Knowledge around him. What Brailsford can offer is elite sporting level knowledge and success, the kind that Ashworth wants at Newcastle.

It seems pretty simple to understand to me?

And again, I don't have blind support of anyone, I am defending a good option against people who don't seem to comprehend what the potential bid would offer United.
If a better option presents itself then that's even better.

If he has elite sporting experience that translates to any sport, then there must be some examples of his work in football at the highest level?

If what Howe and Ashworth say makes you feel better about Brailsford, then goodluck to you. But none of the three men have achieved anything at the highest level in football. Howe and Ashworth may well achieve big things with Saudi owners, but I doubt it'll be with Brailsford.

 

[Coops73]

I think I recall Toto saying they studied Man Utd's failures.

I only recall Toto saying “There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do, I bless the rains down in Africa” but why an 80’s prog rock band would be studying Manchester United god only knows.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

So it took them until October to fill the void and Brailsford filled the gap by overseeing the summer transfer window.

We had Ed Woodward. Before that we had Sir Alex. Plenty of clubs still don’t even have a DoF and mainly allow their manager to run recruitment.

Nice had their manager, and plenty of other footballing people around to help with the two months of the Summer window.

You’ve no problem having it that Howe & Nickson saw over it at Newcastle, but don’t believe that possible at Nice. At Nice you’ve obviously decided the cycling guy did it all himself.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

If he has elite sporting experience that translates to any sport, then there must be some examples of his work in football at the highest level?

He’s been the director of sports for INEOS for less than a year. In that timeframe he’s seen Nice reach their first final in 2 decades, have their best points return in over half a decade and appointed an extremely highly rated young DoF to revolutionise the club.

What more do you want in 11 months? A Champions League trophy?

 

[red thru&thru]

it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to focus on the new owners credentials to run football clubs

basically none of them will have much, if any, experience, that relates to a major sporting club like United

they are all just gonna be rich people who appoint some football people under them, and we just need to hope they appoint the right ones

Agreed. Whoever does come will make plenty of mistakes. There will be a lot of trial and error.

My only hope is that the new owners can get Edwin and a great DoF, who will work well with him and EtH. But even then, Manchester United is completely another kind of beast to any other club, so things will take time.

 

[Adnan]

We had Ed Woodward.

Nice had their manager, and plenty of other footballing people around to help with the two months of the Summer window.

You’ve no problem having it that Howe & Nickson saw over it at Newcastle, but don’t believe that possible at Nice. At Nice you’ve obviously decided the cycling guy did it all himself.

Yes we had Woodward hence there's a heightened focus on the structural side of the club due to his failures.

Nickson is actually commended for his work in the summer window for Newcastle and Nice's summer window looks a failure with their head coach quoted as saying he needed help in the form of a proper Sporting director.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Yes we had Woodward hence there's a heightened focus on the structural side of the club due to his failures.

Nickson is actually commended for his work in the summer window for Newcastle and Nice's summer window looks a failure with their head coach quoted as saying he needed help in the form of a proper Sporting director.

It took them 3 months to get a new guy in, are you calling that some massive failure?

There’s nothing odd at all with a coach who’s used to working with a DoF excusing his average start to the season by claiming he needs more help, help he knew he was getting as the plan was always to replace the old DoF.

Was 3 months for such a huge decision too much for you? Would it have been better if they rushed possibly the most important appointment to build the footballing structure of the club? Cause I mean, that to me seems pretty swift work.

Once again, why are you happy to commend other none DoF footballing people at Newcastle with good transfer business yet almost desperate to pretend Brailsford was the mastermind behind all of Nice summer business? Isn’t it surely the case but just like with Newcastle Nice likely had the manager working with other football people in the club on the recruitment during the summer?

 

[Adnan]

It took them 3 months to get a new guy in, are you calling that some massive failure?

There’s nothing odd at all with a coach who’s used to working with a DoF excusing his average start to the season by claiming he needs more help, help he knew he was getting as the plan was always to replace the old DoF.

Was 3 months for such a huge decision too much for you? Would it have been better if they rushed possibly the most important appointment to build the footballing structure of the club? Cause I mean, that to me seems pretty swift work.

You're the one who made the comparison with Newcastle. I'm just pointing it out to you that Newcastle managed the transfer window well and Nice didn't, hence Favre was relieved once the new Sporting director was appointed. Howe at Newcastle was happy with Nickson's work.

 

[crossy1686]

I had a dream last night that a consortium of Middle Eastern and American backers, 7 in total, bought the club for £7b under the umbrella of a company called FreeSport ltd.

You heard it here first.

 

[Champ]

If he has elite sporting experience that translates to any sport, then there must be some examples of his work in football at the highest level?

If what Howe and Ashworth say makes you feel better about Brailsford, then goodluck to you. But none of the three men have achieved anything at the highest level in football. Howe and Ashworth may well achieve big things with Saudi owners, but I doubt it'll be with Brailsford.

It won't be with Brailsford, he works for INEOS, so that obvious, but the fact stands the club, Ashworth and Howe all stated they could learn from Brailsford and his expertise.

He has never worked in football explicitly before, but as I keep saying, as has Eddie Howe, as has Ashworth, as has the ECB, as has many other sporting disciplines that Brailsford has been involved in, his expertise and experience translates to multiple disciplines and areas, and with all due respect I take their word over the minority on the Caf.

Nice have plenty of 'footballing' people upstairs, Brailsford brings his own benefits.

 

[Adnan]

It won't be with Brailsford, he works for INEOS, so that obvious, but the fact stands the club, Ashworth and Howe all stated they could learn from Brailsford and his expertise.

He has never worked in football explicitly before, but as I keep saying, as has Eddie Howe, as has Ashworth, as has the ECB, as has many other sporting disciplines that Brailsford has been involved in, his expertise and experience translates to multiple disciplines and areas, and with all due respect I take their word over the minority on the Caf.

Nice have plenty of 'footballing' people upstairs, Brailsford brings his own benefits.

That's fair enough, I have no issue with that. Good post.

 

[bludsucker]

OK thanks! And sorry if I came across as arrogant, I am totally ignorant about these guys!

Naah. I am actually appreciative that someone took time to explain. No worries.

 

[Champ]

That's fair enough, I have no issue with that. Good post.

It's a moot point really anyhow, as I don't think INEOS are now really that interested by all accounts

Whatever happens, as long as the club benefit from it both on the pitch and off it then it's great news all round. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Adnan]

It's a moot point really anyhow, as I don't think INEOS are now really that interested by all accounts

Whatever happens, as long as the club benefit from it both on the pitch and off it then it's great news all round. We'll just have to wait and see.

Agreed.

 

[TheReligion]

Has this been posted?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63846334

More than 50 Manchester United supporters groups have listed their demands of potential buyers of the club - including a commitment to not joining the European Super League and continued development of the women's team.

The Glazer family, who bought United in 2005, revealed in November they were exploring "strategic alternatives" for the club - one of which was selling it.
In an open letter, fan groups said they want any new owner to "nurture and invest" in the club, and recognise it as "more than just a commercial asset".

The demands of any potential bidders include:

• A commitment to clearing the club's existing debt and funding future capital expenditure through new share issues
• Investment in the men's, women's and youth teams as well as investment into the club's infrastructure to modernise Old Trafford and the training ground
• Shared ownership with the fans as partners, plus fan representation on the main company board
• The words 'Football Club' being restored to the club's badge on the shirt
• Continued development, support and promotion of the women's team
• Commitment to never again seeking to enter a competition like the European Super League without the definitive consent of fans
• Maintaining the affordability of match tickets for fans

The open letter has been co-signed by official United supporters groups such as the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) and the MUFC Women's Supporters Club, as well as branches around the UK and abroad.

It said it would be "helpful" for potential bidders to "understand what supporters want from any new owner, in order to secure the support of the fans".

BBC Sport understands if the Glazers sell - which is not certain - a deal is likely to be done by the spring.

The Glazers purchased United in a controversial £790m leveraged buyout in May 2005.

The club has since spent more than £1bn on interest and loan payments, plus share dividends - the majority of which have gone to the American family.

Widespread supporter protests accompanied the sale and have returned in recent seasons, particularly since the failed attempt to launch the European Super League.

 

[red thru&thru]

A part of me believes that the Glazers know who they are selling to. I just hope it doesn't drag on for too long, so we can plan for the summer.

Seeing someone like Bellingham potentially available in the summer, we need to start selling our projects to them very early on.

 

[mitchmouse]

I do hope this isn't going to go the same why as appointing a DoF...

 

[downxandxout]

Hope I'm being daft but I can't help but feel that the Glazers would be more inclined to sell to owner potentially worse than them.

Firstly, they have been hugely embarrassed on a world stage and selling to competent owners would only further highlight how bad they've ran their business. Secondly, with all the protests and hate (rightly so) from the fans, it would be a final F you to us all.