Transfer Speculation - “Drives high level of interaction..”

[Erictheking7]

We are getting linked to some mega money deals these last few days. Antony, Casemiro, Joao Felix, SMS. Could it be that Jim Ratcliffe's bid to invest in the club is further down the track than we know about and he's insisting on money being spent on premium players?

 

[Ted Lasso]

Woodward i think was not as bad as we think. Probably fell for the glamour side of the job, but when you look at the commercial deals and signings he got done he was actually competent at his job.

Woodward was awful. Any tom, dick or harry could have signed the deals he did. It's Manchester bloody United. And frankly it's shambolic given the clubs status that the likes of Liverpool and City revenue caught up in comparison.

There's absolutely zero nice things to say about Woodward

 

[dave2528]

Woodward i think was not as bad as we think. Probably fell for the glamour side of the job, but when you look at the commercial deals and signings he got done he was actually competent at his job.

The Glazers are calling all of the shots with people like Woodward and Arnold simply acting as a buffer to absorb abuse from the media and supporters.

The only concern of ownership is to maximize the amount of profits they can generate from brand interests. Profits they then use to line their own pockets instead of investing back into the club.

 

[Member 125352]

Lets just hold a funeral, we're never gonna come good again.

 

[::sonny::]

Every hour 10 new names

Casemiro it’s now an old news

The new one is Milinkovic Savic

 

[DeGea’sFeet]

Woodward was awful. Any tom, dick or harry could have signed the deals he did. It's Manchester bloody United. And frankly it's shambolic given the clubs status that the likes of Liverpool and City revenue caught up in comparison.

There's absolutely zero nice things to say about Woodward

Revenue started to decline once he started to take a hands off role and let Arnold (I think) start to handle more commercial deals, also it’s natural as years without winning a tittle go by, and champions league spot no longer a cert companies have more negotiating power over us.

But no. 8 years ago United were the envy of the world on the commercial side. Real Madrid started to base their model on us. Woodward was the guy at the helm to say “anyone could have done it” shows an utter lack of respect for business , negotiation and profit making.

You don’t have to like the man, can even hate him for his part in the take over, but credit where credit is due.

 

[Ted Lasso]

Revenue started to decline once he started to take a hands off role and let Arnold (I think) start to handle more commercial deals, also it’s natural as years without winning a tittle go by, and champions league spot no longer a cert companies have more negotiating power over us.

But no. 8 years ago United were the envy of the world on the commercial side. Real Madrid started to base their model on us. Woodward was the guy at the helm to say “anyone could have done it” shows an utter lack of respect for business , negotiation and profit making.

You don’t have to like the man, can even hate him for his part in the take over, but credit where credit is due.

I highly recommend going through something like Deloitte's analysis of commercial success across club football from the last several years. When you consider that against the increases in broadcast revenue and general connectivity across the globe - the internet era has dramatically changed things - what you'll see is the huge head start Manchester United had and how significantly it has faltered. It takes a self adulating moron to lose the race from where we started and in the time frame given...almost a decade...losing out to team that can't even fill it's stadium.

There absolutely nothing to credit Woodward for. He is a glorified accountant that helped the Glazers swindle millions. Like many men in finance, arrogant, brazen and stupid. If the tea lady or kitman had the job Manchester United would be in a better place.


For your reference a great read:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/d.../sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-dfml22.pdf

 

[Loon]

I wanted new players to gut the squad. Now I just want Sept 1st to stop this farce.

 

[Peter van der Gea]

I highly recommend going through something like Deloitte's analysis of commercial success across club football from the last several years. When you consider that against the increases in broadcast revenue and general connectivity across the globe - the internet era has dramatically changed things - what you'll see is the huge head start Manchester United had and how significantly it has faltered. It takes a self adulating moron to lose the race from where we started and in the time frame given...almost a decade...losing out to team that can't even fill it's stadium.

There absolutely nothing to credit Woodward for. He is a glorified accountant that helped the Glazers swindle millions. Like many men in finance, arrogant, brazen and stupid. If the tea lady or kitman had the job Manchester United would be in a better place.


For your reference a great read:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/d.../sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-dfml22.pdf

Great post

 

[Big Ben Foster]

I highly recommend going through something like Deloitte's analysis of commercial success across club football from the last several years. When you consider that against the increases in broadcast revenue and general connectivity across the globe - the internet era has dramatically changed things - what you'll see is the huge head start Manchester United had and how significantly it has faltered. It takes a self adulating moron to lose the race from where we started and in the time frame given...almost a decade...losing out to team that can't even fill it's stadium.

There absolutely nothing to credit Woodward for. He is a glorified accountant that helped the Glazers swindle millions. Like many men in finance, arrogant, brazen and stupid. If the tea lady or kitman had the job Manchester United would be in a better place.


For your reference a great read:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/d.../sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-dfml22.pdf

Agreed. Also hard to credit him for signings, as all he really did was throw stupid money at overrated mercenaries. We never had an actual transfer strategy in place.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I highly recommend going through something like Deloitte's analysis of commercial success across club football from the last several years. When you consider that against the increases in broadcast revenue and general connectivity across the globe - the internet era has dramatically changed things - what you'll see is the huge head start Manchester United had and how significantly it has faltered. It takes a self adulating moron to lose the race from where we started and in the time frame given...almost a decade...losing out to team that can't even fill it's stadium.

There absolutely nothing to credit Woodward for. He is a glorified accountant that helped the Glazers swindle millions. Like many men in finance, arrogant, brazen and stupid. If the tea lady or kitman had the job Manchester United would be in a better place.


For your reference a great read:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/d.../sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-dfml22.pdf

The bold part is what annoys me the most. Yes the oil clubs would have come in and created some issues but look at where the club was when they took over to now & it’s stagnation at best. We were at the forefront in many things whereas now we lag behind.

I genuinely don’t think this situation could have gone worse for them, they’ve all made a terrible job of it.

 

[Ted Lasso]

The bold part is what annoys me the most. Yes the oil clubs would have come in and created some issues but look at where the club was when they took over to now & it’s stagnation at best. We were at the forefront in many things whereas now we lag behind.

I genuinely don’t think this situation could have gone worse for them, they’ve all made a terrible job of it.

Same for me. I probably could have phrased it nicer about Woodward and less partial but none of the Glazer people will get that from me anymore.

We just needed someone with an ounce of love for the club and even half a sense of vision that wasn't driven by dollar signs for their and the owners bank accounts

 

[FrantikChicken]

Same for me. I probably could have phrased it nicer about Woodward and less partial but none of the Glazer people will get that from me anymore.

We just needed someone with an ounce of love for the club and even half a sense of vision that wasn't driven by dollar signs for their and the owners bank accounts

The most infuriating part is that they’d be richer today if they ensured success on the pitch.

it’s mind boggling because it’s very simple business. People in top positions need lots of deep knowledge on the exact business they’re working in. Companies thrive when their staff, from top to bottom, is very knowledgable in the business and continues to learn during their career.

the fact that we’ve continuously hired people who know feck all about football and put them in positions of power is just insane and just screams poor business sense.

 

[FrantikChicken]

We are getting linked to some mega money deals these last few days. Antony, Casemiro, Joao Felix, SMS. Could it be that Jim Ratcliffe's bid to invest in the club is further down the track than we know about and he's insisting on money being spent on premium players?

It’s because they need their annual mega signing in order to keep the stock price up. Our stock price would drop sept 1st if we don’t make a marquee signing

 

[tomaldinho1]

Maybe this was always our strategy for monetising as much as possible the 'interaction levels' - link us with every player, get everyone talking about us (I mean we aren't even title challengers or a CL club but we're dwarfing all teams re coverage) and then when teams don't have time to play games/negotiate (if they want to sell) we come flying in with big bids, snapping up Casemiro + De Jong + Antony. Arnold + Murtough masterclass is about to happen...

 

[Trequarista10]

Woodward i think was not as bad as we think. Probably fell for the glamour side of the job, but when you look at the commercial deals and signings he got done he was actually competent at his job.

Maybe. I always got the impression he was a United fan and was overjoyed to be the one making deals, like playing a game of Football Manager in real life. But, structurally, he should have realised sooner than a DoF was required. I also suspect that a lot of the signings were compromises with the managers rather than their preferences, and certainly the allocation of funds didn't always make sense, like signing off on a deal to sign Sanchez when at time LW was probably the last position we needed upgrading, Mata who didn't really fit into our formation and we were stocked with attackers. Di Maria and Lukaku who were marquee signings but both revealed being unhappy moving here. Signing of Lindelof was weird too, especially given the style of play under Jose. I actually sort of like Lindelof in a certain setup but he's the most un-Mourinho like CB you could imagine. Plenty more examples, but essentially, Woodward was taking on the DoF role, which is supposed to have broader strategical oversight over these things.

I think you make an important point though, I don't think any individual is really to blame, or we can say they were competent or not, because it's been a structural failing. Woodward will probably point to the scouting team and say well they recommended them, or point to the manager and say they OK'd them, or point to the commercial benefits of certain signings and say it was good for the growth of revenues, or he may say that other signings were vetoed by the Glazers. Likewise, I suspect the scouting team would say they were ignored over players X,Y and Z, and the manager may say he wasn't happy with the signings but when it's a choice between a player or nobody there's no option but to OK it. Individually, they may all have been competent, but ultimately as a structure it has failed, and the results have been as haphazard as the structure.

 

[VorZakone]

How does online engagement make the club money though? Let's say journalists post many Utd-related tweets, celebs jump in etc. Then what? How does the club make money off it? More followers means bigger commercial deals?

 

[Lee565]

It's a terrible plan if true because it does more harm than good, it makes the recruitment team look like complete inept idiots and the club a laughing stock across social media by coming across as a unorganised mess that has no idea what it is doing with no long term which will drive away fans not make new ones and also further infuriates current fans even more when the club is seen going backwards on the pitch

 

[lex talionis]

Can someone explain to me how clicking through media reports on The Sun or going through tweets or FB posts or even participating in forums like the caf results in more cash being stuffed into the pockets of the Glazers?

 

[clarkydaz]

How does online engagement make the club money though? Let's say journalists post many Utd-related tweets, celebs jump in etc. Then what? How does the club make money off it? More followers means bigger commercial deals?

thats what their focus is. Sponsors are their trophies. You get more money for a shitty little sponsor than winning the FA cup

 

[SouthMancRed]

Of course Woodward met with Klopp to try to get him in and managed to piss him off with United's commerce first, football second approach. For that alone there should never be a good word said about the guy.

 

[DeGea’sFeet]

Maybe. I always got the impression he was a United fan and was overjoyed to be the one making deals, like playing a game of Football Manager in real life. But, structurally, he should have realised sooner than a DoF was required. I also suspect that a lot of the signings were compromises with the managers rather than their preferences, and certainly the allocation of funds didn't always make sense, like signing off on a deal to sign Sanchez when at time LW was probably the last position we needed upgrading, Mata who didn't really fit into our formation and we were stocked with attackers. Di Maria and Lukaku who were marquee signings but both revealed being unhappy moving here. Signing of Lindelof was weird too, especially given the style of play under Jose. I actually sort of like Lindelof in a certain setup but he's the most un-Mourinho like CB you could imagine. Plenty more examples, but essentially, Woodward was taking on the DoF role, which is supposed to have broader strategical oversight over these things.

I think you make an important point though, I don't think any individual is really to blame, or we can say they were competent or not, because it's been a structural failing. Woodward will probably point to the scouting team and say well they recommended them, or point to the manager and say they OK'd them, or point to the commercial benefits of certain signings and say it was good for the growth of revenues, or he may say that other signings were vetoed by the Glazers. Likewise, I suspect the scouting team would say they were ignored over players X,Y and Z, and the manager may say he wasn't happy with the signings but when it's a choice between a player or nobody there's no option but to OK it. Individually, they may all have been competent, but ultimately as a structure it has failed, and the results have been as haphazard as the structure.

I like and agree with your nuanced view. I think near the beginning ED wanted to follow the Galatico model (he pretty much said that), this both improves the team and increases revenue. But in regards to improving the team it didn’t really work.

After that he really should have developed a better scouting / transfer committee to assess signings along with the manager and focused simply on the negotiation part once targets were put to him.

 

[Morpheus 7]

Great thread, the Glazers are so transparent now. Good to see fans recognizing the frauds and there cheap tactics to make a quick buck.

 

[Ricardo de la Vega]

thats what their focus is. Sponsors are their trophies. You get more money for a shitty little sponsor than winning the FA cup

Yeah but you get more money from sponsors if you win stuff compared to being a laughing stock no one wants to be associated with