Sir Jim Ratcliffe: I want to buy Manchester United | Will make a bid for the club [Telegraph]

UnitedSofa said:
.....& yet we've spent the last 17 years berating the Glazers for not putting money into the club when they were doing well and getting Top 4 and having the money trickle over and do well and not pump more money in because it makes good business sense. Rather than pump money into the club because they're passionate about the club.

I don't see how running the club as a "business" and not as a "Football Club" has a happy ending. We've seen how the club run as a business works and it's got us to where we are today. Largely shite for the last 17 years.
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I don't think it's about putting money into the club. With United's size and global reach, we'd have done super fine this past decade if we had just had a structure in place with competent people who know what they're doing. With the kind of revenues this club has generated, you don't need a sugar daddy who pumps money into the club ... you just need someone who doesn't burden it with debt, who doesn't leech off it through dividends and who puts competent people in the right positions. This club has spent more than enough money on the transfer market, it's just that the people in charge had no clue what they were doing.

I don't think "passion" defines a good owner. One who makes smart decisions will do.
 
Ratcliffe being a fan counts for a lot with me. He is rich enough to keep this club on equal footing financially as a big six team into the future. And he's the best option for the fan base to get behind.

But we'll see if he's got the balls to play with the big boys. That will sort itself out and if not then either way we'll end up with an owner who has said balls and the money to back it up. I think this club stands alone in terms of how special it is. I think it is worth considerably more than Chelsea and Liverpool. And I think the brand deserves the best of everything from stadium to training grounds to top young talent won in international bids. So whatever happens try to enjoy the moment because it looks to me like the stars are aligning for us.
 
As this is my last post today I just want to say the thought of people I consider part of a special group, devoid of even the most basic elements of humanity, owning something as close to my own heart genuinely disgusts me. Many of us despise the Glazers but didn't walk away like the FCUM lot because there was always the possibility that one day, they would be gone.

A ruthless oil state would most likely own us for the rest of time but perhaps worse, come to define us as a club.

When you think of City, Newcastle or PSG what comes to mind? Their owners. The clubs have become little more than an afterthought in some sick PR campaign. Their fans might've been so desperate for success that they'll accept it but are we?

It's not just the oil states, but the Chinese state, Russian oligarchy and others fall into this category. It's honestly sickening to think any of these could use United as a platform to sanitise their actions.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Ratcliffe is holier than thou. In fact I don't know a whole lot about him but if the worst things you can say about him are that Nice aren't very good then that's a plus point compared to "tortures people they don't like"
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Ditto mate.


For example, plenty of people think City getting Pep & Haaland is somehow impressive or a “coup” even, a sign of good ownership, when I see it as simply inevitable, nothing about it is even slightly impressive.
Make people rich beyond their wildest imaginations and they will dance monkey dance for as long as you want them to.
Do that, and like City & PSG, you’ll buy pure dominance…. And?
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Yeah, it’s death by a thousand paper cuts in many ways. They can throw good money after bad and it’s all totally meaningless. We’ve become numb to the damage these state clubs (I’m including Romans Chelsea) have done to the game. Nothing they do is impressive in the slightest, because when you can bend the world around you to your will then what’s the point in anything?
 
Infestissumam said:
I don't think it's about putting money into the club. With United's size and global reach, we'd have done super fine this past decade if we had just had a structure in place with competent people who know what they're doing. With the kind of revenues this club has generated, you don't need a sugar daddy who pumps money into the club ... you just need someone who doesn't burden it with debt, who doesn't leech off it through dividends and who puts competent people in the right positions. This club has spent more than enough money on the transfer market, it's just that the people in charge had no clue what they were doing.

I don't think "passion" defines a good owner. One who makes smart decisions will do.
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Let’s not forget for all the wanking people do over City, the most successful European club by far in the last decade (and all time), have been making smart logical business decisions like selling heroes for big money (Ronaldo, Varane, Casemiro) whilst they were still at the top of their game. A passionate owner would likely be daft as feck and keep them around, cause “legends”.

Making logical decisions like having a proper sporting director rather than a finance guy, is exactly what we need.
 
UnitedSofa said:
.....& yet we've spent the last 17 years berating the Glazers for not putting money into the club when they were doing well and getting Top 4 and having the money trickle over and do well and not pump more money in because it makes good business sense. Rather than pump money into the club because they're passionate about the club.

I don't see how running the club as a "business" and not as a "Football Club" has a happy ending. We've seen how the club run as a business works and it's got us to where we are today. Largely shite for the last 17 years.
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Elon Musk would run it that way (only he’d be terrible at it), Jeff Bezos would run it that way, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim, Zhang Yiming, Gautam Adani. You name it.
 
Godfather said:
Hm I mean it's great that he's a fan but not sure he has the wealth we need to compete again
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INEOS is worth 60bn and a debt free United should generate anything between 60-100m a year in profits.

How much do we need? Or are we talking here about competing long term with oil states? Because no-one, oil state aside has that kind of money. Maybe the likes of Amazon.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
There’s posts all over the internet calling Laporta a genius, I’d take internet posts with a pinch of salt.
Nice aren’t saddled with debt and aren’t much different to when they took control of it.
The Swiss team have spent much of the past two decades in the second flight, not sure how that reflects so badly on INEOS.

Manchester United simply aren’t Nice, we are in some aspects the biggest club in the World, we make a lot of money & have a shit tonne more potential than Nice.
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Absolutely. This is an important bit if context which many posters are missing. It’s very unlikely INEOS would run us the same way they run Nice if they are the preferred bidder.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Absolutely. This is an important bit if context which many posters are missing. It’s very unlikely INEOS would run us the same way they run Nice if they are the preferred bidder.
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Aye. Manchester United can for example attract, and more importantly pay with it’s own money for the best CEO in the business, and the best sporting directors etc.
Nice can neither attract them, nor afford to pay them.

Same goes for players/managers/coaches.

Manchester United has massive untapped potential in stadium & match day revenue, not least with hospitality which is miles off it’s competitors. Nice doesn’t.

Manchester United see amongst the largest revenues in World football, Nice doesn’t.

Manchester United sell out a 75,000 seater stadium even when they’re shite, in fact, it’s hasn’t been this hard to get tickets since we had a capacity of closer to 50,000. Nice don’t.

Manchester United have the most fans of any club around the World to tap in to, Nice don’t.

etc etc. INEOS would be absolute morons to even consider running United like Nice, and they clearly are not morons.
 
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Wasn't it mentioned the last time Radcliffe were rumoured to be interested in the club that he would see this as more of a legacy move than a business move considering his age and affection for United?
 
BarstoolProphet said:
Wasn't it mentioned the last time Radcliffe were rumoured to be interested in the club that he would see this as more of a legacy move than a business move considering his age and affection for United?
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Yes absolutely. I don’t get the impression he would run us solely for profit, though no doubt he wouldn’t be wasteful or stupid with his investment either.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
INEOS is worth 60bn and a debt free United should generate anything between 60-100m a year in profits.

How much do we need? Or are we talking here about competing long term with oil states? Because no-one, oil state aside has that kind of money. Maybe the likes of Amazon.
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Would Ratcliffe be someone to keep that profit in the club? I'm not sure. Also 60-100 mill pa might not be enough anyway if we consider revamping the stadium and Investing in the squad to compete with the oil clubs. I actually wouldn't mind Dubai for that reason.
 
I'm not advocating for Elon Musk to buy the club, but I do think if he did buy the club then he would run it properly. The only reason I think so is because he is very self aware and seems very reactive to public opinion, I don’t think he would want the bad press from being seen to be inept when it came to managing a football club. He’d therefore appoint the right people in the right positions in my opinion.

He would obviously run it as a business too, but I think he would be the type to give the right people impossible targets rather than letting the wrong people waste time and resources
 
UnitedSofa said:
.....& yet we've spent the last 17 years berating the Glazers for not putting money into the club when they were doing well and getting Top 4 and having the money trickle over and do well and not pump more money in because it makes good business sense. Rather than pump money into the club because they're passionate about the club.

I don't see how running the club as a "business" and not as a "Football Club" has a happy ending. We've seen how the club run as a business works and it's got us to where we are today. Largely shite for the last 17 years.
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That’s not what people were complaining about in the main though is it?

They’ve been berated for taking money out repeatedly, operating the club in debt it didn’t used to have and failing to reinvest the clubs own money.
 
whitbyviking said:
I'm not advocating for Elon Musk to buy the club, but I do think if he did buy the club then he would run it properly. The only reason I think so is because he is very self aware and seems very reactive to public opinion, I don’t think he would want the bad press from being seen to be inept when it came to managing a football club. He’d therefore appoint the right people in the right positions in my opinion.

He would obviously run it as a business too, but I think he would be the type to give the right people impossible targets rather than letting the wrong people waste time and resources
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Twitter sure is going great, huh
 
whitbyviking said:
I'm not advocating for Elon Musk to buy the club, but I do think if he did buy the club then he would run it properly. The only reason I think so is because he is very self aware and seems very reactive to public opinion, I don’t think he would want the bad press from being seen to be inept when it came to managing a football club. He’d therefore appoint the right people in the right positions in my opinion.

He would obviously run it as a business too, but I think he would be the type to give the right people impossible targets rather than letting the wrong people waste time and resources
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Cue him calling an opposition manager a paedo after a loss:D
 
sullydnl said:
I have no idea whether he'd be the best option, as I have no idea what his plans for the club would be as compared to those of god knows what other potential buyers are interested.

But in a context where I fear us being owned by a state directly involved in human right violations, he at least passes the very low morality threshold I have in mind.

Until we hear the actual plans for the club any potential buyers have in mind, that morality issue is central and the more interested parties we have who pass it the better.
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This is where I’m at, too. If it comes down to a straight choice, I’ll go with the guy who doesn’t use the club’s own money to pay for his purchase of the club.

BUT, I do find it odd how much people have actually bought into him and are arguing his merits as opposed to simply seeing him as a more palatable alternative to the Glazers. We know very little about how he’d run the football club but what we do know suggests that there’s plenty of room for improvement. There can be some intersection on the Venn diagram between “not the Glazers” and “doesn’t go around getting his foot trapped in a bucket all day”.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Yes absolutely. I don’t get the impression he would run us solely for profit, though no doubt he wouldn’t be wasteful or stupid with his investment either.
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Nobody who spends 6bn on us will be running the club for operational profits in the short term. They’ll all be trying to grow the asset value - which will involve serious investment in terms of infrastructure and trying to achieve success on the pitch. I actually think the value of the club being so high puts us in a good spot - anyone buying us is going to mean business.
 
Brophs said:
This is where I’m at, too. If it comes down to a straight choice, I’ll go with the guy who doesn’t use the club’s own money to pay for his purchase of the club.

BUT, I do find it odd how much people have actually bought into him and are arguing his merits as opposed to simply seeing him as a more palatable alternative to the Glazers. We know very little about how he’d run the football club but what we do know suggests that there’s plenty of room for improvement. There can be some intersection on the Venn diagram between “not the Glazers” and “doesn’t go around getting his foot trapped in a bucket all day”.
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Yeah, at this stage my only real opinion beyond being against the method Glazer sr used is “not a state” and after that, let’s see what’s what. On the face of it he looks a positive but it’s a very surface level opinion.
 
Sheesh.

I want to catch up with the lowdown on Jim, but opinion in here flips from one day to the next.

For god's sake, answer me this: Do I want Ratcliffe's fellas to buy United?
 
JagUTD said:
When you think of City, Newcastle or PSG what comes to mind? Their owners. The clubs have become little more than an afterthought in some sick PR campaign. Their fans might've been so desperate for success that they'll accept it but are we?
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When I think of City I think of Pep and the annual spanking they seem to give us these days. May be PTSD

When I think of PSG I think of Neymar and Mbappe

When I think of Newcastle I think of how well they’re doing now.

Their owners doesn’t really come to mind - certainly not first thought. I don’t think City or PSG as clubs have become afterthoughts at all.
 
whitbyviking said:
I'm not advocating for Elon Musk to buy the club, but I do think if he did buy the club then he would run it properly. The only reason I think so is because he is very self aware and seems very reactive to public opinion, I don’t think he would want the bad press from being seen to be inept when it came to managing a football club. He’d therefore appoint the right people in the right positions in my opinion.

He would obviously run it as a business too, but I think he would be the type to give the right people impossible targets rather than letting the wrong people waste time and resources
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Great trolling man nearly had me
 
TsuWave said:
When I think of City I think of Pep and the annual spanking they seem to give us these days. May be PTSD

When I think of PSG I think of Neymar and Mbappe

When I think of Newcastle I think of how well they’re doing now.

Their owners doesn’t really come to mind - certainly not first thought. I don’t think City or PSG as clubs have become afterthoughts at all.
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I agree. Much ado about nothing
 
JagUTD said:
As this is my last post today I just want to say the thought of people I consider part of a special group, devoid of even the most basic elements of humanity, owning something as close to my own heart genuinely disgusts me. Many of us despise the Glazers but didn't walk away like the FCUM lot because there was always the possibility that one day, they would be gone.

A ruthless oil state would most likely own us for the rest of time but perhaps worse, come to define us as a club.

When you think of City, Newcastle or PSG what comes to mind? Their owners. The clubs have become little more than an afterthought in some sick PR campaign. Their fans might've been so desperate for success that they'll accept it but are we?

It's not just the oil states, but the Chinese state, Russian oligarchy and others fall into this category. It's honestly sickening to think any of these could use United as a platform to sanitise their actions.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Ratcliffe is holier than thou. In fact I don't know a whole lot about him but if the worst things you can say about him are that Nice aren't very good then that's a plus point compared to "tortures people they don't like"
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Money. Lots and lots of it. The ability to compete for the best talent in the world.

Oil state or ratcliffe? Couldnt care less personally. As long as they arent leeches like the glazers.
 
ROFLUTION said:
who else is better? I mean lets be realistic, a fan ownership model will have a hard time competing with oligarchs for bidding for the club
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But we have no idea of who’s better. We know who’s better at being a public face, that’s for sure.
 
Godfather said:
Hm I mean it's great that he's a fan but not sure he has the wealth we need to compete again
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Doesn't he have much more money than the Glazers? And INEOS have many times more. He won't be a sugardaddy but we sort of compete now.
 
Godfather said:
Hm I mean it's great that he's a fan but not sure he has the wealth we need to compete again
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Is he a fan? He has a season ticket at Chelsea and has gone to watch them for decades. All this talk of split loyalties between the two is nonsense. Don’t believe the propaganda
 
Shakesey said:
Sheesh.

I want to catch up with the lowdown on Jim, but opinion in here flips from one day to the next.

For god's sake, answer me this: Do I want Ratcliffe's fellas to buy United?
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Kind of complicated. Initially I thought he was ideal when this was discussed a couple of months back but since then I have looked into him a little deeper and there is a fair amount of negativity from the fans of the clubs he already owns which is a red flag. It is also hard to get to the bottom of whether he is a fan or not due to the heavy Chelsea links, he may have liked United growing up but frankly I can't imagine an actual fan being a season ticket holder of a rival club.

With all of that being said he may actually be an ideal owner if it comes to pass, it is hard to know for sure until a serious offer is made and we get an idea of what his vision for the club is and how he plans to finance both the purchase and any investment. Ineos and Sir Jim are going to approach this as running a business so they will not pump a single penny into the club that they don't get back. This is not necassarily a bad thing, it can be done sustainably and the club can be placed on a solid financial footing where it is self sustaining with its own revenue but the intital cash injection has to come from somewhere and the devil will be in the details.

I will hope for the best if he comes in with a real offer provided it addresses the issue of clearing the debt and investing in much needed improvements to the club infrastructure. I doubt though that a bid will actually materialize. The stunt with the bid for Chelsea in the summer throws his credibility into serious doubt because it was literally a stunt, a bid made outside of the process and after the deadline designed to grab headlines. Sir Jim himself has stated he wants to buy United and has also categorically on the record said he has no interest in buying United in the space of a few months and is now interested again. I think he is a fraud and until proven otherwise I will hope for another bidder.
 
Gandalf said:
Kind of complicated. Initially I thought he was ideal when this was discussed a couple of months back but since then I have looked into him a little deeper and there is a fair amount of negativity from the fans of the clubs he already owns which is a red flag. It is also hard to get to the bottom of whether he is a fan or not due to the heavy Chelsea links, he may have liked United growing up but frankly I can't imagine an actual fan being a season ticket holder of a rival club.

With all of that being said he may actually be an ideal owner if it comes to pass, it is hard to know for sure until a serious offer is made and we get an idea of what his vision for the club is and how he plans to finance both the purchase and any investment. Ineos and Sir Jim are going to approach this as running a business so they will not pump a single penny into the club that they don't get back. This is not necassarily a bad thing, it can be done sustainably and the club can be placed on a solid financial footing where it is self sustaining with its own revenue but the intital cash injection has to come from somewhere and the devil will be in the details.

I will hope for the best if he comes in with a real offer provided it addresses the issue of clearing the debt and investing in much needed improvements to the club infrastructure. I doubt though that a bid will actually materialize. The stunt with the bid for Chelsea in the summer throws his credibility into serious doubt because it was literally a stunt, a bid made outside of the process and after the deadline designed to grab headlines. Sir Jim himself has stated he wants to buy United and has also categorically on the record said he has no interest in buying United in the space of a few months and is now interested again. I think he is a fraud and until proven otherwise I will hope for another bidder.
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Then I too will hope for another bidder! Thanks!
 
why would the Chelsea ticket holder thing even matter? Like, who gives a shite. People on here have speculated about people like Musk or Bezos making a play, these people probably don't care one bit about football. But Jim was a ticket holder in London? How dare he.
 
This is all too much to take in! I really hope it’s sir jim Ratcliffe because he is a lifelong fan and has great pedigree in sport.
All we need is someone to remove the debt and invest a relatively modest amount. The club’s pulling power will take care of the rest.
 
Gandalf said:
Kind of complicated. Initially I thought he was ideal when this was discussed a couple of months back but since then I have looked into him a little deeper and there is a fair amount of negativity from the fans of the clubs he already owns which is a red flag. It is also hard to get to the bottom of whether he is a fan or not due to the heavy Chelsea links, he may have liked United growing up but frankly I can't imagine an actual fan being a season ticket holder of a rival club.

With all of that being said he may actually be an ideal owner if it comes to pass, it is hard to know for sure until a serious offer is made and we get an idea of what his vision for the club is and how he plans to finance both the purchase and any investment. Ineos and Sir Jim are going to approach this as running a business so they will not pump a single penny into the club that they don't get back. This is not necassarily a bad thing, it can be done sustainably and the club can be placed on a solid financial footing where it is self sustaining with its own revenue but the intital cash injection has to come from somewhere and the devil will be in the details.

I will hope for the best if he comes in with a real offer provided it addresses the issue of clearing the debt and investing in much needed improvements to the club infrastructure. I doubt though that a bid will actually materialize. The stunt with the bid for Chelsea in the summer throws his credibility into serious doubt because it was literally a stunt, a bid made outside of the process and after the deadline designed to grab headlines. Sir Jim himself has stated he wants to buy United and has also categorically on the record said he has no interest in buying United in the space of a few months and is now interested again. I think he is a fraud and until proven otherwise I will hope for another bidder.
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I think he put that late bid in intentionally to smoke the glazers out.
 
The Irish Connection said:
This is all too much to take in! I really hope it’s sir jim Ratcliffe because he is a lifelong fan and has great pedigree in sport.
All we need is someone to remove the debt and invest a relatively modest amount. The club’s pulling power will take care of the rest.
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The Emir of Dubai is a lifelong fan and richer
 
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