what for?
Who is your preferred next owner of Manchester United?
- Thread starter PoTMS
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what for?
Because we won't be operated as a football club, we'll be operated as a status symbol. No club in the world could have afforded PSG's transfer spending around the time they brought in Neymar through to Mbappe. They will want their status symbols; their Messi's, their Mbappe's.
No, my initial issue was about how you interpreted the results of that poll: in response to @Mainoldo's comment which was about a comparison between Qatar and SJR, you said "it seems 50-50 at this point". I don't think you can infer that because we do not have a poll that compares Red Cafe's preference for Qatar relative to SJR.
Then I pointed out how this issue re: interpretation is a consequence of the nature of the poll currently up, which potentially allows the reader to frame the results to suit their preference, and that to gauge *relative preferences* between owners we need a poll that compares the two owners directly (in addition to other potential options).
maybe, I wouldn't say it's obvious though
the PL are all over City now, and we can spend a good few hundred mil FFP-wise I am sure
they can get their vanity players without breaking any rules, so it doesn't seem that inevitable really
First, I want to see the whole list of buyers in order to have an opinion and decide who I prefer as our owner.
In reality we have zero say about this. The leeches will sell to the highest bidder regardless it's Saudi, Qatar or British.
Irrespective of what the split between various ownership bids would be in a poll, it wouldn't affect the results of the poll we're discussing, where (whichever way you parse it) the results are pretty much 50/50 in terms of the Qatar bid. That is to say, if no other bids existed, how would fans feel about being owned by Qatar. The answer - a virtual 50/50 deadlock between yes and no.
I would have put in a bid but was insulted that some fans want Qatar.
I can agree with that interpretation. All I pointed out is that you can't use the results of that poll to gauge preferences over SJR vs. Qatar - which is, btw, the pertinent question.
By late next week, we should have a pretty good idea of possible ownership options. Would the mods allow a poll eliciting preferences over those options then? If not, I would like to ask why? If yes, wonderful.
Qatar all the way. FFP rules have changed. We do not need Neymars or Messis like PSG did to be counted as one of the biggest clubs. Most importantly, I am sure the new owners would trust ETH as the guy has proved himself to be the best manager for Utd since SAF and one of the best ones out there. Why all of a sudden would Qataris buy players that the gaffer would not want? Why on Earth would they want to replace Erik himself? I hope the mods will allow to have a direct poll to determine who the posters prefer to have as owners, once all bidders have been identified and shortlisted.
Redcafe could put in a bid
I saw The Athletic's poll and was shocked at how different it is to every other poll I've seen on Twitter. I guess the demographic of people paying for and reading The Athletic is different to the average United fan, but the difference is huge.
I want Qatar. Basically every poll I've seen on Twitter is 70/80% for Qatar as well.
I want Qatar. Basically every poll I've seen on Twitter is 70/80% for Qatar as well.
I hope the mods don't allow a poll.
Why?
They wouldn't, hopefully, but ETH easily spent £220m in summer and we clearly still need another 4-5 players for the team and squad ideally. Add that to our existing £300m transfer debts, £600-700m long-term and need for £1-1.5bn maybe of infrastructure investment and we'll also look like a sugardaddy club.
It's going to sound hollow saying we're living off our own means, we just needed someone to pump in £2bn+ to clear our debt and build/revamp the stadium.
Jimbo for me, keep Utd British.
Anyone who removes debt from club, and fixes old trafford.
If this happens, we will be better
If this happens, we will be better
Sir Jim will be a Pro Max Glazer 2.0, a totally ticking bomb.
I don't understand all these xenophobic sentiments towards the Qataris here.
They are going to be the new owners, start adjusting to the coming sweet reality.
I don't understand all these xenophobic sentiments towards the Qataris here.
They are going to be the new owners, start adjusting to the coming sweet reality.
Correct me if I'm wrong. Glazers took 1.5B out of the club and now we need new owner pump in approximately 2B. Without the leeches we can definitely living off our own means.
Why would they buy the club in the first place? They will want their stamp on the brand. They will want credit for our future successes. They won't get that unless they make high profile moves in the transfer market. Whether Ten Hag likes it or not.
The opening bid including the official statement from Qatar was crisp and clear from the first to the last word.
100% ownership. No debts. No dividends. A new stadium. Investments in the clubs infrastructure, academy and men and women’s team. A strong message that they will do their best to take United back to their former glory. This is how a serious and well thought business plan should look like. These sentences is enough and frankly no further information is needed.
If a bidder has properly done their due diligence they don’t need to complement their bid with extra statements or add further details to their initial bid and statement to try to please those who’re a little bit skeptical.
Jim Ratcliffe’s initial bid and statement was the opposite of the bid from Qatar.
Unclear in his intentions that raised more questions than answers. The bid included debts, not a 100% ownership and no exact details about their intentions about a new stadium and how they wanted the club to move forward. Is it surprising that Ratcliffe’s poorly worded bid creates a negative reaction? Not only that. Not so long ago he made a similar statement when he tried to buy Chelsea. If some of our supporters don’t understand that actions like that tarnish his credibility then they must be naive and blinded by his rhetoric.
I go back to what I said earlier that the first impression counts and set the tone. If Ratcliffe couldn’t provide a better initial bid and statement what’s coming next?
We have one bidder who presents a excellent business plan, have done their homework and are crisp and clear in their intentions compared to the local guy who’s bid and statement is full of unclear intentions and frankly give the impression of an unattractive owner. If Ratcliffe needs a new statements every time he wants to clarify his position and add extra promises to make his bid more attractive then we have all the information we need to know to choose the best candidate.
I want a professional and trustworthy owner, nothing else.
100% ownership. No debts. No dividends. A new stadium. Investments in the clubs infrastructure, academy and men and women’s team. A strong message that they will do their best to take United back to their former glory. This is how a serious and well thought business plan should look like. These sentences is enough and frankly no further information is needed.
If a bidder has properly done their due diligence they don’t need to complement their bid with extra statements or add further details to their initial bid and statement to try to please those who’re a little bit skeptical.
Jim Ratcliffe’s initial bid and statement was the opposite of the bid from Qatar.
Unclear in his intentions that raised more questions than answers. The bid included debts, not a 100% ownership and no exact details about their intentions about a new stadium and how they wanted the club to move forward. Is it surprising that Ratcliffe’s poorly worded bid creates a negative reaction? Not only that. Not so long ago he made a similar statement when he tried to buy Chelsea. If some of our supporters don’t understand that actions like that tarnish his credibility then they must be naive and blinded by his rhetoric.
I go back to what I said earlier that the first impression counts and set the tone. If Ratcliffe couldn’t provide a better initial bid and statement what’s coming next?
We have one bidder who presents a excellent business plan, have done their homework and are crisp and clear in their intentions compared to the local guy who’s bid and statement is full of unclear intentions and frankly give the impression of an unattractive owner. If Ratcliffe needs a new statements every time he wants to clarify his position and add extra promises to make his bid more attractive then we have all the information we need to know to choose the best candidate.
I want a professional and trustworthy owner, nothing else.
Not sure at all. They will want signings that will bring success to the club. It will be up to ETH and the scouts to decide who shall be bought. At least we will have funds to back them.
You must have a very loose definition of a business plan. Anyway, what is it that makes Sheik Jassim trustworthy for you? Did you even know he existed a week ago?
Will it? Can you say that with certainty?
Absolutely. First and foremost, the PL and UEFA will not allow United to spend endlessly and recklessly like City did. Secondly, Man United are a much, much bigger club than PSG playing in a much more competitive league. The trophies in the prem can not be won by signing the best players available. You need a top class manager and terrific scouts in place to compete against the best of the best. So, yes, I am sure the Qataris will support the manager for as long as he is successful, while investing heavily in facilities and the neighbourhood.
I don't have as much faith as you do. The only reason they are buying the club is for PR. If we just carry on our current trajectory without splurging on big name signings then no one is going to acknowledge their ownership or attribute anything to them. So why bother?
It might fly for a small time club you can claim you have elevated to the upper echelons but that doesn't work when the club you bought is already there. You need to stamp your name on the club somehow. They are not doing this out of benevolence.
Whoa, how on Earth can you be so sure of what Qataris will do and why? It looks like you are just posting your negative opinion of them as a fact.
Why are they buying the club?
So what was the overall outcome of the mods poll democracy? 
Is it happening or not?
It’s like being back in the Ole times, which they was wrong about but will never talk about.
Is it happening or not?
It’s like being back in the Ole times, which they was wrong about but will never talk about.
My take also. Didn't think this forum was supposed to be ran like that to be honest.
Qatar for the win. Jim is just going to load the club with debt unfortunately. If Elon was to bid, he would be my favourite possibly.
Yep, but the hole in the finances is now there so that is moot. We can't really live off our own means if we want to deal with the debt, compete and have the infrastructure upgrade.
It's kind of by the by really, given only a handful of buyers can afford us I guess.
It's a bit different. We were hampered by our greedy owners. The club is going to be sold for around 4B-6B. The debts will be included as part of the sales prices.
The new owners will then put in additional money for infrastructure and squad investment. It will improve our revenues, sponsorship and whatnot once our performance improved and we also have bigger stadium.
With proper management from the new owners, the revenue will increase tremendously and we could be back to the richest club in the world like we used to be. We used to have earnings more than RM and Barca.
The restructured payments for the money required for investment in squad and infrastructure could be very manageable if the club is managed properly on and off the field.
We are one of only a few club who could live off our own earnings while also compete for top honours. We need to get rid of Glazers and get a new owners to allow us to do that. We can't live off our own means now because we are paying Glazers debts and dividends while being mismanaged badly on the field.
Indeed it is, after many times of asking this. Ridiculous!
To own one of the biggest sports club in the world and make it a success, which will require a harmonious cooperation with the manager and the scouting team. I doubt that they are buying just to spend their money endlessly and uselessly to show how reach they are.
That's articulately put, but we're still needing dirty money to undo the damage wrought by our leech-like prior owners to be.
I do hope that we do go on to live off our own earnings very quickly, but there will always be a degree of tarnish on future trophies we win.
Football is obviously a strange business where we hope or expect owners sink hundreds of millions, if not billions, for minimal, if any, personal financial gain.
The quid pro quo with Qatar will obviously be our branding being heavily used in their marketing. We will be seen as an oil club whatever the relative strength of our organic revenue generation versus City or PSG.
Whilst I agree some opinions are based on xenophobia, there are so many other issues with the Qatari bid. We've shown we can compete with cheats numerous times over the years, starting with Blackburn. The only reason we haven't recently is ineptitude.
The club obviously needs investment so, outside of cheating, it would be naive to think some compromises won't have to be made. If a new owner can set the conditions for organic growth then there's no reason we can't win the odd title over the next 10 years while creating long term stability and maintaining the integrity of the club.
There are too many reasons to not go with the Qataris.
-We will likely run into ffp trouble, since every Qatari owned club has done that
-Bad for our reputation to be associated with repressive homophobic human trafficking scum
-Will make statement signings that Ten Hag doesn‘t want
-Will get rid of Ten Hag after statement signings don‘t get into the team
-We will likely run into ffp trouble, since every Qatari owned club has done that
-Bad for our reputation to be associated with repressive homophobic human trafficking scum
-Will make statement signings that Ten Hag doesn‘t want
-Will get rid of Ten Hag after statement signings don‘t get into the team
Ain't nothing to do with that. Just pointless creating a poll now when more options are coming out like this:
We'll put a poll up when the options are known - zero point in putting up a poll which gets 500 votes only for more bidders to be public in a couple of days and we'll end up with calls for the poll to start over again.
I'd encourage anyone to read this - Ronay makes a lot of good points about potential Qatari ownership. It's hard to think of a worse example of a club I would want us to be like than PSG.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...d-be-a-disaster-just-look-at-the-state-of-psg
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...d-be-a-disaster-just-look-at-the-state-of-psg