I think that's just his normal state of arousal. It's immediately obvious to me why Woodward and Moyes didn't have a productive working relationship. Van Gaal is a much better match for his ambitious and confident persona.
Woodward (old thread)
- Thread starter smallred
- Start date
- Status
I think that's just his normal state of arousal. It's immediately obvious to me why Woodward and Moyes didn't have a productive working relationship. Van Gaal is a much better match for his ambitious and confident persona.
I do not think we have underspent, at times united have not spent the money wisely
Exactly what I thought when watching that video. He comes across as a surprisingly charismatic, cock sure chap with a winning attitude and a "let's get this shit done" mantra. Literally the polar opposite to Moyes who came across as wishywashy with the charisma of a box of bran flakes and a "let's approach this with caution and hope it doesn't feck up" mantra.
So I guess all the major news outlets are running the "Woodward to spend big" story. Either this guy is a massive WUM and has got just a gigantic pair of balls, or he genuinely believes we will spend big and spend soon.
I'd like to believe him. I really would.
I'd like to believe him. I really would.
He still looks like a pinhead, but, I seems 'real' in the things he says. But so did David Gill, although he was often more diplomatic and more veiled in his comments. On a commercial side he's been doing an amazing job, and has really improved what Gill did - on the footballing side, he's improving. We'll see at the end of this season.
First time I've seen him speak. Very impressed. Liked the stuff about Sir Bobby and how he fondly recalled the two 3-3 games v Barca from '98.
He's trading players like he's trading shares. He runs the biggest sports team in the world, question his word choice at your own risk!
I guess it fits with Moyes being doddering as shit on targets and plans, Woodward isn't that type. Give him a target or goal and he'll get it done.
Those questions would have been agreed before-hand man, so Ed could prepare his replies. Last thing any company want to do is make the boss look like a tittering gobshite..
They werent off the cuff questions or replies. Take all that with a pinch of salt mate..
Bizarre, isn't it? Woodward has no reason to lie about spending at this point, all season tickets have been sold. Whatever deficiencies existed in Woodward's game last year have been resolved, he is an asset to the club in every way.
Ah right. Guess that does make sense. Clever more than anything then. Saying what us fans like to hear.
Very good interview by Ed, thanks @Olly 
I'm not saying he didnt mean what he said - it was a great interview & what we wanted to hear, but it was most definitely geared towards getting the fans on side & that the interview was very well prepared. It would be crazy if it wasnt..
Even the casual walk & Q&A's around around the pitch, was designed to make us think it was all off the cuff. Stuart Gardner was reading his notes & asking questions (ticking them off too) from his pad most of the time.
To me, its a publicity stunt to promote United's tour; designed to ride the wave thats happening there after the WC vibe etc.. "Hey big spender.." type of shit..
Its gonna be interesting to see what we spend & what decisions Van Gaal makes this window. Missing out on Sanchez was a kick in the teeth, so we cant wait for weeks upon weeks to work out that Arsenal are already ahead of us - nevermind the rest..
Splash the cash Louie, and then promote the youth after we sort the 1st team out..
Lookin forward to seeing Will Keane on tour. I always compared that lad to Berbatov with much better pace & work-rate. He's a proper raw diamond if he's over his injury..
I like him alot more now than I did last summer that's for sure. He comes across as being a very ambitious and a great guy in the interview. The fiasco last summer most likely wasn't enitrely his fault... ahem. I'm happy to have him as our exuctive vice-chairman going forward.
Last edited:
Was interesting him saying something about the state of the club when he took over and not leaving it in that way for the next CEO. Makes me wonder if Gill was too focused on other things towards the end of his time.
I had to laugh when he was on about monitoring social media. If you read tweets about United 90% of them are absolutely retarded. Maybe the #MohesOut trend had more impact than I thought.
I had to laugh when he was on about monitoring social media. If you read tweets about United 90% of them are absolutely retarded. Maybe the #MohesOut trend had more impact than I thought.
Was interesting him saying something about the state of the club when he took over and not leaving it in that way for the next CEO. Makes me wonder if Gill was too focused on other things towards the end of his time.
I had to laugh when he was on about monitoring social media. If you read tweets about United 90% of them are absolutely retarded. Maybe the #MohesOut trend had more impact than I thought.
You absolutely got that 100% wrong, and i'm surprised few did too, he said the state of the club when he took over was astonishing but it's still his job to make sure it's even in a better shape when he leaves.
Well as long as he has no issue in spending large sums of money & making important decisions that actually benefit the club, he's A1 in my books.
You need to pay a bit more attention..He was talking about the state of the club in a positive way, that he will have to up his game, the challenge for him is to leave it in an even better state for the next guy as it was left for him.Was interesting him saying something about the state of the club when he took over and not leaving it in that way for the next CEO. Makes me wonder if Gill was too focused on other things towards the end of his time.
I had to laugh when he was on about monitoring social media. If you read tweets about United 90% of them are absolutely retarded. Maybe the #MohesOut trend had more impact than I thought.
Sorry but i have heard it all before. Let him buy players first.
His transfer record so far is quite poor so im nit getting excited.
Fellaini- well Fellaini, second 4 mil above his release pirce, and purchased at 27,5 mil
Mata-deal done via 3rd party,the player pushed for the deal
Shaw-bascially we paid the asking price, player pushed for the deal
Herrera - paid the release price, player pushed for the deal.
Im not saying he has done bad job with these but it seems he prefers easy transfers.
Last edited:
Completely agree with this.
I'm sure even Gill came out now and then and boasted about how great we were doing financially and how we had a warchest for Fergie to use and then the day after deadline day we'd all be disappointed and Fergie would be talking about no value in the market again.
I understand people getting excited, but it's not like we haven't heard this sort of stuff before, as Pogue says Woodwood seemed equally as bullish last Summer and we all know how that ended. I was hoping he'd learnt his lessons from last year and we wouldn't have any boasting until we'd actually completed our transfer business.
I believe part of Ed's mission in the publicity is to distance himself from the failures of yesteryear. He has to restore his reputation, and to his credit, he did so with actions first (Shaw, Herrera, Adidas, Chevrolet, season ticket sellout) and now we get a few words. The brakes are off and now we see what he can do. The fact that he still has a job, and is essentially the worldwide leader in his field, while Moyes is failing job interviews in Turkey, says it all.
I love the message and I love the confidence. I believe his mission, to make MUFC the most powerful team in the world, will be accomplished in time. We have the financial tools to become the most profitable, and therefore most powerful (under FFP restrictions) club in the world. The global appeal and cash value of the English league's tv product will be a major factor in that dominance. We, as the leading club of that league are well placed to maximize the exposure and revenue. This is what I think he means by the financial tools regarding the transfer market.
He truly is a captain of industry. Time to start writing a song about him.
I love the message and I love the confidence. I believe his mission, to make MUFC the most powerful team in the world, will be accomplished in time. We have the financial tools to become the most profitable, and therefore most powerful (under FFP restrictions) club in the world. The global appeal and cash value of the English league's tv product will be a major factor in that dominance. We, as the leading club of that league are well placed to maximize the exposure and revenue. This is what I think he means by the financial tools regarding the transfer market.
He truly is a captain of industry. Time to start writing a song about him.
I've branded Woodward as incomp
Yep, I have to agree. I just can't see how announcing you have lots of money and are gunning for top targets really benefits anyone?? Surely clubs would then bump up their prices? Moyes problem was that the job was too big for home and he pandered too much to the fans and told them what they wanted to hear and not what the actual truth was. He claimed we were going after the biggest names in the business, but when the season started he claimed we still needed 5-6 world class signings to compete? It made him seem weak. LVG has told us his own personal expectations, which he claims is to finish top, whilst maintaining that we need to be realistic and that he will assess the squad and decide upon further reinforcements. The difference is that this season we've already signed two top class players who should immediately improve the team.
I am no expert on footballing politics, but I still think what Woody is doing is naive. Surely the fans would prefer to hear that we're signing someone rather than hearing we have 1000bn in the bank ready to sign the best in the world? The only people I see benefitting from all this rich talk are those who have a financial investment in the club.
Feigning bravado will get you found out sooner or later, as it did with Moyes.
Yep, I have to agree. I just can't see how announcing you have lots of money and are gunning for top targets really benefits anyone?? Surely clubs would then bump up their prices? Moyes problem was that the job was too big for home and he pandered too much to the fans and told them what they wanted to hear and not what the actual truth was. He claimed we were going after the biggest names in the business, but when the season started he claimed we still needed 5-6 world class signings to compete? It made him seem weak. LVG has told us his own personal expectations, which he claims is to finish top, whilst maintaining that we need to be realistic and that he will assess the squad and decide upon further reinforcements. The difference is that this season we've already signed two top class players who should immediately improve the team.
I am no expert on footballing politics, but I still think what Woody is doing is naive. Surely the fans would prefer to hear that we're signing someone rather than hearing we have 1000bn in the bank ready to sign the best in the world? The only people I see benefitting from all this rich talk are those who have a financial investment in the club.
Feigning bravado will get you found out sooner or later, as it did with Moyes.
It was clearly said for our benefit, but if he doesn't back it up with actions then he will look like an idiot again. He wouldn't have agreed to the interview if he wasn't very confident about signings IMO.
Don't often enjoy those types of interviews but it was great to listen to him and get a sense of things from his view. Glad things have started to turn around for him.
He came across as articulate and confident.
He should be by default knowing feck all given his new position at the club, and he's an accountant ffs! You blame him for doing bad business? Moyes is the culprit. LvG will certainly (hopefully) be here trying to restore some confidence among fans, No?
He seems like he's very buoyant and happy with LvG (saying he's direct and is free to change his mind about purchase of players etc). We should be keeping watch on LvG as he's the man.
hmmm... You seemed to have forgotten that before what happened in the last 13 months, we had SAF. Woody took over the new job the same time as Moyes and he's a money man who although in charge, should be heavily relying on the manager (The Boss).
He should be by default knowing feck all given his new position at the club, and he's an accountant ffs! You blame him for doing bad business? Moyes is the culprit. LvG will certainly (hopefully) be here trying to restore some confidence among fans, No?
He seems like he's very buoyant and happy with LvG (saying he's direct and is free to change his mind about purchase of players etc). We should be keeping watch on LvG as he's the man.
To be honest, these kind of interviews are new to United. For many many years, we had Sir Alex who's the image of stability and trophies (just a matter of how many). Interviewing with the CEO was mostly for charity and fun stuff. I don't blame you for not enjoying them in the past.
And yes, it's good to hear Woody speaking from now on, since we might not be able to often hear LvG speaking eloquently what's behind the scene (being new to the club plus language barrier etc... Also it will be likely that whenever LvG speaks, he would be reminding you how amazing he is anyway
. Like Woody, "watch this space".
I suppose we will get to hear more from him.People talking about a prepped interview...why does that matter? At the end of the day if theres no success Ed gets sacked, LvG gets sacked and the club suffers. The club has to be successful so everything Woodward says is most probably accurate.
The CEO of the biggest sports team in the world sure as hell better be confident, articulate, and decisive. Expecting him to back it up now - basically asked for the axe by the fans if we don't get some big business done.
Not in regards to who they were interviewing but more in regards to in-house interviews. The standard questions with the standard response. Like when a player signs, Are you happy you have signed for United? What do you expect him to say, it's just a waste of time at the end of the day.To be honest, these kind of interviews are new to United. For many many years, we had Sir Alex who's the image of stability and trophies (just a matter of how many). Interviewing with the CEO was mostly for charity and fun stuff. I don't blame you for not enjoying them in the past.
And yes, it's good to hear Woody speaking from now on, since we might not be able to often hear LvG speaking eloquently what's behind the scene (being new to the club plus language barrier etc... Also it will be likely that whenever LvG speaks, he would be reminding you how amazing he is anyway
Like Woody, "watch this space".
This was set up nicely for Woodward but it did give a good insight.
What an utter embarrassment this club is becoming. Woody just can't keep his mouth shut can he? Here's a novel idea, rather then constantly running around telling the whole world how great we are and how much power we have in the market, how about we just, ya'know, sign some top quality players? Rather then spending the whole Summer pissing around over a few million here and there.
We're becoming akin to the former supermodel who's now in her 40's, but still dressing up in hot pants and boob tubes telling anyone who will listen that she used to be a model. Just shut up and get the job done.
We're becoming akin to the former supermodel who's now in her 40's, but still dressing up in hot pants and boob tubes telling anyone who will listen that she used to be a model. Just shut up and get the job done.
How about we wait till the transfer window ends before making claims like that... This year alone he has spent about 90 mil on players and we will still spend more on players this window. So have a bit of patience...
Napoleon complex. Small man. Bet he has a big car to boot.
Great interview - he sounds & looks intelligent and confident in his abilities. That's good. The fact he got the job means he must be smart, and the commercial stuff he's pulled off over the years attest to that. He seems to be coming to grips with the shady word of transfers, so hopefully we do get the 2 or 3 more players we need..and let go some of the ppl not pulling their weight and get back into the top 4.
He drives a free Chevrolet.
Solid interview. Heavy lifting will get done. It's still only mid July...be patient, fellow mancs.
Ah I see this word has come out of retirement this summer.
He's spent 27m on Fellaini, 37m on Mata, 30m on Shaw, 34m on Herrera (two signings already this summer), addressing two major weak positions in the process.
Locked down Rooney, said goodbye to the old legs.
Arranged a deal of £750m over ten years for Adidas to make our kit and expanded our business ventures tenfold.
He removed a manager that underperformed and didn't pick, replaced him with a man that is a born winner.
Pretty much done what most fans have asked for.
And yet according to you, we're an embarrassment because he hasn't blown money on a new signing since our last one, which was only a few weeks ago, even though the transfer window is open for another month yet.
Would you rather he told the world we were shite, not signing anyone and we'd be fine with what we've got because we have no money?
You'd probably have written a RAWK style petition calling for his head on a block.
You're the embarrassment.
What an embarrassing post.
Found it odd with Van Gaal saying he wants wait and see the current squad for 3 or 4 weeks before making decisions, only for ed to come out a few days later saying we have some signings planned for the near future. Not exactly singing from the same book, but hopefully it points to Van Gaal having already highlighted a few more key signings to be made regardless of how he finds the current players, and not just more smoke and mirrors on eds part.
Just what I was about to type.
- Status