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

Are we people really using the lack of success in the Americas Cup as a reason to think he can't run a football club well?, the oldest international trophy in world sport and a British team has never won it.

Use the football clubs as a reason sure the other stuff is just nonsense
 
Chairman Steve said:
I do wonder whether Gary knows more about this than he lets on. He’s a bit of a philanthropist in Manchester and you’d think any worthwhile investor would do research of the area and something gets heard in the business grapevine, about people connected with some affluent figures who have taken interest in the general area.

Not to mention his club contacts too obviously.
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Doubt it tbh mate. He's nowhere near as big a mover and shaker as he thinks he is. Plus, as others have said, United are run from London and domiciled in the Caribbean, and prospective buys are likely likely to come from the US and Middle East.
 
There's I kind of business thing in USA that's proving quite popular for sports teams, I can't remember the name of it but it's similar to a syndicate for a horse. A bunch of people invest
money in and just take the profits. I have a very bad feeling that's gonna happen to us
 
Tommy79 said:
The point being made was just because he invests doesn't mean we'll have the success people seem to think we will with a British owner over a foreign one, whether its a USA group or ME owners.

I didn't make that report up, it came from the Financial Times.
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This is true for any investor. Its about how you run it. You could get some sheik controlling a sovereign wealth fund worth hundreds of billions buying us. But if they don't appoint the right people then what difference will it make?

Someone competent who doesn't syphon money out of the club will do.
 
Bert_ said:
This is true for any investor. Its about how you run it. You could get some sheik controlling a sovereign wealth fund worth hundreds of billions buying us. But if they don't appoint the right people then what difference will it make?

Someone competent who doesn't syphon money out of the club will do.
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Well when you look across the city it shows that middle east owners are capable of appointing right people,however it didn't get better until they got rid of that Gary Cook guy and instead focus on the Barca guys.
 
Is there such a thing as a "good owner"? None of these guys are in it for the fans, the team, history of the club etc. Premier league clubs are either milked for cash (Glazers) or used to improve the PR of foreign regimes (City, Newcastle etc). The "fit and proper persons test" is a joke. All clubs should have fan representation on the board together with a stake in the club.
 
JohnnyKills said:
Doubt it tbh mate. He's nowhere near as big a mover and shaker as he thinks he is. Plus, as others have said, United are run from London and domiciled in the Caribbean, and prospective buys are likely likely to come from the US and Middle East.
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On that front I’d probably agree. That being said, if I were a potential buyer like Ratcliffe I’d want Gary on board. Whether as part of the group I’m heading or(more likely in addition to) just as a friend in the media, because these things can help a lot.
 
Tommy79 said:
Sailing . In 2018, Ratcliffe and INEOS invested well over £100million in a bid, amongst other things, to claim the America’s Cup in 2021. INEOS Team UK, led by Ben Ainslie, lost an eliminator 7-1 and did not make the final.


Cycling . In the spring of 2019, Team Sky became Team INEOS after Ratcliffe sanctioned a deal said to be worth £40million a year. A Team Sky rider had won Le Tour in each of the four previous years and Egan Bernal duly made sure INEOS got off to a winning start. Since then, they have not won it.


Formula One. INEOS bought a third of the all-conquering Mercedes team ahead of the 2021 season, which saw them win an eighth consecutive constructors’ championship. In 2022, they did not even make the top two.


Football. INEOS own Nice - mid-table in France - and Lausanne-Sport, who were relegated from the top tier of Swiss football at the end of last season.

I don't think he is the white knight people think he is, but you can understand to a degree why some would want him over ME owners.
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In INEOs defence, Lausanne Sport are a perennial yo yo club and when purchased by INEOS were in the relegation zone, yet can straight back up to then go down again. So not really a massive surprise.

The formula one issue is hindered by the fact it's budget capped and INEOs only own a third, they dont have a say in proceedings.

As for cycling, team sky were on performance enhancers for sure :lol:

It's a heavily weighted argument you've laid down.
 
Champ said:
In INEOs defence, Lausanne Sport are a perennial yo yo club and when purchased by INEOS were in the relegation zone, yet can straight back up to then go down again. So not really a massive surprise.

The formula one issue is hindered by the fact it's budget capped and INEOs only own a third, they dont have a say in proceedings.

As for cycling, team sky were on performance enhancers for sure :lol:

It's a heavily weighted argument you've laid down.
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They have still had very little success regardless
 
Cassidy said:
They have still had very little success regardless
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Whilst your correct, there's plenty of caveats to saying that further to what I've already stated.

Just a cursory check, and in its entire history of the America Cup in sailing not once has a British challenger won it. So again, doesn't seem a surprise that another British challenger didn't win.
 
Champ said:
Whilst your correct, there's plenty of caveats to saying that further to what I've already stated.

Just a cursory check, and in its entire history of the America Cup in sailing not once has a British challenger won it. So again, doesn't seem a surprise that another British challenger didn't win.
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Thats great but again in all their endeavors (even in football) they have had very little success. On top of that, Nice is not the greatest example of good football ownership either
 
Cassidy said:
Thats great but again in all their endeavors (even in football) they have had very little success. On top of that, Nice is not the greatest example of good football ownership either
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That's debatable.

Quantify success with Nice? They were a mid table team and always have been, they had two outlier seasons but then regressed to the norm.
I'd say getting to a cup final is a big deal for Nice, which happened under INEOs,
 
sglowrider said:
What souls? We slag off our managers, players/former players, club administrators at the drop of a pin, if we don't get what we want ie silverware.
Let's not pretend that there is such purity going on here.
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We're not perfect as a fan base(who is?) And we've been guilty of many problems of our own there's no denying that but surely you could make the distinction between bad and worst.

We've all made fun of the likes of city and psg and how their massive success feels hollow, how they've become playthings of oil states how they've lost their "soul" so how could we possibly keep a straight face if the same thing happens to us? could we really claim we earned our top share the way we did under Fergie and Busby? Could we claim we're anything other than a very expensive toy and a propaganda tool?

I'll always be a United fan and I'll always celebrate every game won and even the smallest possible competition conquered but a bit of that magic will be lost for me, what made United what it is.
 
Red the Bear said:
We're not perfect as a fan base(who is?) And we've been guilty of many problems of our own there's no denying that but surely you could make the distinction between bad and worst.

We've all made fun of the likes of city and psg and how their massive success feels hollow, how they've become playthings of oil states how they've lost their "soul" so how could we possibly keep a straight face if the same thing happens to us? could we really claim we earned our top share the way we did under Fergie and Busby? Could we claim we're anything other than a very expensive toy and a propaganda tool?

I'll always be a United fan and I'll always celebrate every game won and even the smallest possible competition conquered but a bit of that magic will be lost for me, what made United what it is.
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We already have a big history and major success and massive fan base, so the soul is already there and would not be lost. Think PSG is a bit soulless, but don't think City or Newcastle fans are unhappy. Think with me it is more I don't fancy an American consortium involving even one Glazer. One big mega rich American maybe.
 
Nice are run really poorly, a shambles of a team...

Swiftly beat Lille, lens and Marseille....

Maybe the Caf experts are wrong??
 
Jim still leaking like an incontinent old woman pissing through a sieve, I see.

The man who claimed the owners were not willing to sell five minutes before the owners put the club up for sale. Still think not enough attention is paid to how that piece of nonsense exposed his bullshit for what it is.

Still, his media game has ramped up. Got to give him that. There's something of the Emperor's New Clothes in the fact we're now literally reading the same story twice a week now though maybe?

Oh well, it's working for him. Unlikely he's even spoken with anyone connecting with the club yet he's the story. Relentlessly. Can't fail to be impressed with that.

When will we next read that Mr Ratcliffe is definitely bidding for the club? Wednesday? Maybe it'll be a Tweet in Spanish this time. That'll be refreshing; not sure we've had that before.
 
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Stobzilla said:
You mean like every other time about anything ever?

Surely not.
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Nice have not been well run under INEOS and their recruitment of players has been particularly poor. Galtier the former manager (before Favre) was reportedly extremely pissed off with how recruitment was being handled. He left for PSG and in arrived Favre as Head coach, and Ratcliffe put Brailsford in charge of the football side of the club and he in-turn brought in Ex Cardiff and Crystal Palace director, Ian Moody to oversee the summer transfer window as a consultant. And he was buying players that Favre didn't want according to The Guardian, and they ended up creating a unbalanced team which would eventually cost Favre his job. Moody's contract then expired at the end of the window and he left a unbalanced team for Favre, who is a coach who wants to implement a possession based play style. And he eventually got fired because someone was signing players that didn't fit his way of playing the game.

Currently they're 8th in the league, and have a DoF in charge who knows the domestic market. And as long as they don't meddle in his work, then they have a chance of challenging for the top 4 in the near future. I've watched a few of their games in the last month and you can see by the players that have been signed, that there isn't a identity to their play. But that could change if they give the young French DoF time and money.
 
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