I generally agree with you. The Glazer children did nothing but live off of Malcolm’s wealth. All they care about is the valuation of United and therefore the cash out.
Ratcliffe is a pragmatist and he built a very large company. He bought a stake in United because that’s what they were offering. I think he has every intention to continue to build the asset, and part of that is by winning trophies again. He will eventually make money from his stake in United, but he’s not naive enough to think that he won’t be investing major amounts of money to return United to at least some semblance of what it was during SAF’s reign.
I don't disagree with that, but there are caveats with it. Namely:
1) Ratcliffe being a pragmatist and knowing how to make a business profitable/successful is one thing, but it doesn't justify treating employees like gabage (which is another Ratcliffe trademark), ripping off pensioners and children, etc. These things are not going to be the difference between whether United become a succesful football team or not. They are just Ratcliffe applying his values as a human being to the latest scenario he has chosen to involve himself into. He has lost vastly more money on the mistakes he/INEOS have made sense taking the reigns at United, than he will ever gain back through actions like this. He just doesn't like giving money to people with less money than him.
2) While I don't disagree the intention would be to increase the stake in the club and eventually own it outright, there is in no way a guarantee that this will happen. Most people who I was debating Ratcliffe with at the time and since have sighted the fact he will eventually buy the club from the Glazers as to why he was the right option, but it isn't a fact that this will happen and there isn't really any logical reason why the Glazers would want to let him do this...an the process of doing it if it did happen could do an awful lot of damage...and then at the end we are still left with a man who's primary intention will always be that he cannot lose money. Yes he will invest as he has already proven, but investment will be with the intention of getting the money back, which brings me to the third point
3) There is nothing to indicate that Ineos/Ratcliffe actually know how to build a succesful football club, or know all the ins nd outs of how it even works. I have absolutely zero doubt that the intention from them is to make the club succesful, because even points 1 and 2 above require it to be, but Ratcliffe's success in his other business ventures don't really transfer over to running a football club...and the people he has brought in with him who supposedly do now how to do that, haven't done an especially great job of showing it. The Ineos reign so far has been a series of very big mistakes, some of which were clearly mistakes long before Ineos seemed to realise it. I also don't think relentlessly demoralising your staff is helpful when you are a competitive sports team. It might work in your factory, but that's because you just need people to turn up and do the minimum for the minimum in return, not perform at their peak ability constantly. I don't take much comfort/confidence from instances like Ratcliffe throwing his tos out of the pram because he didn't realise the rules don't let him "buy" playes from his own clubs. Or did but is just used to getting his own way anyway. Plenty of people have bought football clubs with the intention of making them succesul and effectively ruined them in the process.
I think what we needed ideally was a clean break from the Glazers so someone could come in, and even if they did make mistakes or didn't really know what they were doing, weren't then operating with one hand tied behind their back while trying to rectify things.
I also would have preferred someone who didn't see the fans/their own staff as something they can just bully and take the club's management issues out on. I don't see where that is going to stop and it really winds me up more than anything when people on here are dismissive about it. To me it is as important that I like the football club I support as it is where they are in the table. The Glazers already did a fair bit to alienate the club from the fans and community. We don't need someone else taking it 3 steps further..
