Woodward (old thread)

[hungrywing]

Kind of funny these quotes are coming out after all the super expensive massive signing type players have found new clubs (Kroos, Suarez, Sanchez, James, Di Maria, etc).

picofwoodwardlookingpleasedwithhimself.jpg

 

[Shane88]

He needs to shut up. "We can spend £70 million on a player."

Yeah, but we won't. Why insult the fans intelligence by talking about it and bigging it up?

 

[Oneunited26]

Kind of funny these quotes are coming out after all the super expensive massive signing type players have found new clubs (Kroos, Suarez, Sanchez, James, Di Maria, etc).

We will break the transfer window yet Vidal is not on the rader, how Sanchez was not considered, how we still got so much of the garbage still on board, they resign Valencia when it's been clear since 2011 he's not been good enough

 

[Gladiator]

while Ed probably should have just stayed quiet with his words, we should probably wait before being too judgmental. Still a lot of time left to secure signings.

 

[El-Manos]

while Ed probably should have just stayed quiet with his words, we should probably wait before being too judgmental. Still a lot of time left to secure signings.

About 5 weeks.. He better get at it.

 

[Gladiator]

About 5 weeks.. He better get at it.

We confirmed two signings in 1 week. As long as the groundwork is there, i wouldn fret

 

[Oneunited26]

while Ed probably should have just stayed quiet with his words, we should probably wait before being too judgmental. Still a lot of time left to secure signings.

He reminds me with Michael bay and transformers, no matter how many films bay makes, he continued to disappoint the fans.

That is what Woodward is like, no matter how short space of time we have in the transfer window before the season starts, we all say let's wait and see, it's like we want more punishment.

He's the ultimate troll, saying we can buy this and that, yet we End up playing Ashley young and Valencia.

Yes we have signed 2 players, but if he thinks allot of the hard work has been done, he should have a long hard look in the mirror on what planet he is on. Because the work has not even hit the ground running

 

[Kag]

He reminds me with Michael bay and transformers, no matter how many films bay makes, he continued to disappoint the fans.

That is what Woodward is like, no matter how short space of time we have in the transfer window before the season starts, we all say let's wait and see, it's like we want more punishment.

He's the ultimate troll, saying we can buy this and that, yet we End up playing Ashley young and Valencia.

Yes we have signed 2 players, but if he thinks allot of the hard work has been done, he should have a long hard look in the mirror on what planet he is on. Because the work has not even hit the ground running

You idiots are incessant. One after another it seems.

 

[Gladiator]

He reminds me with Michael bay and transformers, no matter how many films bay makes, he continued to disappoint the fans.

That is what Woodward is like, no matter how short space of time we have in the transfer window before the season starts, we all say let's wait and see, it's like we want more punishment.

He's the ultimate troll, saying we can buy this and that, yet we End up playing Ashley young and Valencia.

Yes we have signed 2 players, but if he thinks allot of the hard work has been done, he should have a long hard look in the mirror on what planet he is on. Because the work has not even hit the ground running

how do you know this?

 

[Gladiator]

You idiots are incessant. One after another it seems.

werent the same ones praising him after herrera/shaw signed?

 

[Americano]

while Ed probably should have just stayed quiet with his words, we should probably wait before being too judgmental. Still a lot of time left to secure signings.

There is time, and I expect him to do some good work.

What I question is the strategy of saying we have a lot of money to spend, before we make the deals. Surely a genius banker like Ed would have watched The Godfather... "never let anyone outisde the family know what you are thinking again!"

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Woodward, I know you're reading this, take your head out of your arse and sort out MUTV.

 

[Pexbo]

He reminds me with Michael bay and transformers, no matter how many films bay makes, he continued to disappoint the fans.

That is what Woodward is like, no matter how short space of time we have in the transfer window before the season starts, we all say let's wait and see, it's like we want more punishment.

He's the ultimate troll, saying we can buy this and that, yet we End up playing Ashley young and Valencia.

Yes we have signed 2 players, but if he thinks allot of the hard work has been done, he should have a long hard look in the mirror on what planet he is on. Because the work has not even hit the ground running

I look forward to quoting this and listening to whatever whiney and ignorant excuse you come up with when the stud delivers.

 

[Gladiator]

There is time, and I expect him to do some good work.

What I question is the strategy of saying we have a lot of money to spend, before we make the deals. Surely a genius banker like Ed would have watched The Godfather... "never let anyone outisde the family know what you are thinking again!"

To say the contrary to this is absolute horseshit after the kit deal with adidas

 

[Melvyn]

You lot are ridiculous. He was clearly asked if United can spend 60-70m on a player if needed and he said yes. If he said 'no we cannot spend that much money on a player', all of you would be grabbing your pitchforks out too. Woodward didn't ring up the Guardian to specifically say that we can spend big on a player. He was replying to a question.

 

[Gladiator]

You lot are ridiculous. He was clearly asked if United can spend 60-70m on a player if needed and he said yes. If he said 'no we cannot spend that much money on a player', all of you would be grabbing your pitchforks out too. Woodward didn't ring up the Guardian to specifically say that we can spend big on a player. He was replying to a question.

Obviously doesn matter for some of these lot.

 

[Hamadovich86]

What if LvG doesnt ask for a big name player? Would Ed be blamed for that as well? I think he spoke about this saying that its the manager who dictates what he wants in the transfer window and Ed tries his best to comply.

According to Ogden we're in for Hummels, De Vrij and Blind. Lets say we miss out on Hummels simply because Dortmund have no reason to sell and we land De Vrij/Blind, would fans still be upset at Ed for not going for the top tier players?

 

[NMF]

What if LvG doesnt ask for a big name player? Would Ed be blamed for that as well? I think he spoke about this saying that its the manager who dictates what he wants in the transfer window and Ed tries his best to comply.

According to Ogden we're in for Hummels, De Vrij and Blind. Lets say we miss out on Hummels simply because Dortmund have no reason to sell and we land De Vrij/Blind, would fans still be upset at Ed for not going for the top tier players?

Of course they will. Woodward is getting up fans' hopes saying we'll be spending big on top quality players, he really shouldn't be saying stuff like that.

 

[Hamadovich86]

Of course they will. Woodward is getting up fans' hopes saying we'll be spending big on top quality players, he really shouldn't be saying stuff like that.

Did he actually say we will or we are capable of? I think it was the latter ..

 

[NMF]

Did he actually say we will or we are capable of? I think it was the latter ..

Fans are fickle especially the bunch on twitter constantly tweeting Vidal on everything the club posts. While he did say we can spend big given our financial position Van Gaal might choose not to but it won't stop fans blaming Woodward.

 

[KM]

Of course they will. Woodward is getting up fans' hopes saying we'll be spending big on top quality players, he really shouldn't be saying stuff like that.

He didn't actually we'll be spend. He said we are capable off.

I don't know why people are losing their shit over these quotes. It's not like he's telling something new, every damn club in the world knows that we're flushed with money after that Adidas deal. There's nothing wrong in saying what Woodward has said here. People need to calm down rather than dissecting every word that this man says and then trying to think of implications it'll have on our business.

 

[Hamadovich86]

Fans are fickle especially the bunch on twitter constantly tweeting Vidal on everything the club posts. While he did say we can spend big given our financial position Van Gaal might choose not to but it won't stop fans blaming Woodward.

Hah you're right about the fans just have a quick look at the Vidal thread ...

 

[tombombadil]

Come on guys. Let's be fair here. How is Woodward supposed to buy any players if LvG has already stated very clearly that he doesn't want to consider buying any players until he has personally assessed the current crop of players and seen how they perform under his instructions?

People seem to forget that Man Utd already bought 2 players. Let LvG assess the squad, decide who he wants to buy and then we'll see how it goes. So far it seems Woodward is doing better than last season.

 

[Melvyn]

He didn't actually we'll be spend. He said we are capable off.

I don't know why people are losing their shit over these quotes. It's not like he's telling something new, every damn club in the world knows that we're flushed with money after that Adidas deal. There's nothing wrong in saying what Woodward has said here. People need to calm down rather than dissecting every word that this man says and then trying to think of implications it'll have on our business.

Exactly. I bet the same people complaining about these quotes would also be complaining if Woodward had said that the club cannot spend big money.

 

[SirAF]

Come on guys. Let's be fair here. How is Woodward supposed to buy any players if LvG has already stated very clearly that he doesn't want to consider buying any players until he has personally assessed the current crop of players and seen how they perform under his instructions?

People seem to forget that Man Utd already bought 2 players. Let LvG assess the squad, decide who he wants to buy and then we'll see how it goes. So far it seems Woodward is doing better than last season.

Exactly right.

I want new signings as bad as the next muppet, but LvG's the boss.

 

[Bestie07]

He didn't actually we'll be spend. He said we are capable off.

I don't know why people are losing their shit over these quotes. It's not like he's telling something new, every damn club in the world knows that we're flushed with money after that Adidas deal. There's nothing wrong in saying what Woodward has said here. People need to calm down rather than dissecting every word that this man says and then trying to think of implications it'll have on our business.

I doubt people will give a damn what he says once the holes in the squad are filled. It was pretty much the same with how Moyes's interviews were dissected, he could have said anything but it would have still been read in a negative light because the results on the pitch were not coming (he didn't exactly help himself many a times though).

I guess what I am trying to say is that Woodward isn't obligated to do interviews in the same way that the managers are, so he would be better off saving all this bravado talk for when he has signed a player that other clubs of our size sign every summer. I was liking when there was complete silence from the club over the summer and he now comes out and puts himself in a precarious position if the supposed "watch this space" signings don't materialize.

 

[KM]

I doubt people will give a damn what he says once the holes in the squad are filled. It was pretty much the same with how Moyes's interviews were dissected, he could have said anything but it would have still been read in a negative light because the results on the pitch were not coming (he didn't exactly help himself many a times though).

I guess what I am trying to say is that Woodward isn't obligated to do interviews in the same way that the managers are, so he would be better off saving all this bravado talk for when he has signed a player that other clubs of our size sign every summer. I was liking when there was complete silence from the club over the summer and he now comes out and puts himself in a precarious position if the supposed "watch this space" signings don't materialize.

Regarding the "watch this space", he was just saying that we'll sign more players. Personally I feel 90% sure that we'll sign 3 players more right now.
Woodward can hardly do anything when Van Gaal has reiterated twice that he'll only make decisions after watching the squad. We don't want a situation where the CEO is going over the head of the manager in signing players.

This "we can spend 70m" on a player thing looks like it was a response to an question rather than a gloating statement made by Woodward.

 

[Bestie07]

Regarding the "watch this space", he was just saying that we'll sign more players. Personally I feel 90% sure that we'll sign 3 players more right now.
Woodward can hardly do anything when Van Gaal has reiterated twice that he'll only make decisions after watching the squad. We don't want a situation where the CEO is going over the head of the manager in signing players.

This "we can spend 70m" on a player thing looks like it was a response to an question rather than a gloating statement made by Woodward.

I'm not dissecting his comments, I am saying there was no need for them in the first place.

 

[KM]

I'm not dissecting his comments, I am saying there was no need for them in the first place.

He was giving an interview to the press reporters.
What do you think his answer should be to the question "If United can spend 70m on a player" or "Will there be any more signings by United"?

I can bet that he if answered Don't know or no to both the questions, then he'd have been highly criticised by the posters here accusing of penny pinching or some other ridiculous stuff.

 

[Empire]

I can't see Louis van Gaal spending too big.

 

[Pexbo]

I can't see Louis van Gaal spending too big.

I can't see transfer fees bothering Van Gaal one iota.

 

[Bestie07]

He was giving an interview to the press reporters.
What do you think his answer should be to the question "If United can spend 70m on a player" or "Will there be any more signings by United"?

I can bet that he if answered Don't know or no to both the questions, then he'd have been highly criticised by the posters here accusing of penny pinching or some other ridiculous stuff.

Again he has no obligation to be giving these interviews, and even if he had he could have made sure that transfer talk was kept out of it. I don't see what is there to be gained by saying stuff like this in the media. Would the fans be more happy if he follows this up by signing Vidal? No, we would have been delighted even otherwise. If he doesn't follow it up with good signings, he puts himself and the club in a difficult position. He should just let his actions do the talking like he did with Herrera and Shaw.

 

[stretford_oslo]

So there's 'no budget', good thing he said that. Wonder who the next player we'll pay way too much for will be. My guess is ~20m for vermaelen.

 

[Godfather]

Again he has no obligation to be giving these interviews, and even if he had he could have made sure that transfer talk was kept out of it. I don't see what is there to be gained by saying stuff like this in the media. Would the fans be more happy if he follows this up by signing Vidal? No, we would have been delighted even otherwise. If he doesn't follow it up with good signings, he puts himself and the club in a difficult position. He should just let his actions do the talking like he did with Herrera and Shaw.

I tend to agree with that. He knows very well that after that interview the expectations of fans have raised. He might look a bit like an idiot if he won't deliver now. Exactly like he did last season

 

[Escobar]

Such comments can only backfire. I prefer if we keep it low key and once we sign a big shot (if we ever do), then we just pay the 70m

 

[Nights]

This might be going against the grain of what seems to have been posted over the last page and a half in this thread, amongst all this clamoring for "world class signings" but might it not be the case that LVG doesn't want the above mentioned players? ie the Kroos, Sanchez, Suarez etc. I'm not sure, but maybe someone with LVG's experience knows how to better approach transfers than the majority of caf posters who seem to think it's like Football Manager.

Woody's job like he said, is to go after the targets that the manager gives him. The only top level player I can think of that LVG has clearly wanted was Arjen Robben, and I'm sure if he was amenable to the transfer, Woody probably would have gone out and dealt with Bayern. However, Robben came out and said it was a no go because he was happy at Bayern.

His comments about being able to spend big money was simply a response to a question, and that was that Manchester United have the financial capability to spend those amounts of money on a player.

I really feel that this thread is completely schizo, and there's no middle ground. It's like if he doesn't say anything, its: OMG WTFBBQ is Woody doing?! Shouldn't be hard at work on transfers?!?!?! And if he does say something: OMG WTFBBQ why is he talking about spending and not ACTUALLY spending!!! Why haven't we bought Neymar/Messi/Vidal/Di Maria/Hummels/Reus/Ronaldo already?!?! Doesn't he know we need another 10 world class signings to make us competitive again?!?!?!?

LVG's clearly stated that he's assessing the squad, and Woodward has said there's some work going on behind the scenes. There's still 6 weeks to go in the transfer window. If we haven't signed anyone after that time, then get the pitchforks out.

 

[Hamadovich86]

From Sky

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...and-prepared-to-spend-big-insists-ed-woodward

Manchester United still global giant and prepared to spend big insists Ed Woodward

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is looking forward to the squad’s tour of North America, as he insists the Old Trafford club remains the biggest in the world, writes Sky Sports News' James Cooper.

And while Woodward is not ruling out competing with the biggest spenders in the game, he is refusing to set any objectives for new manager Louis van Gaal.

Woodward said: “We don't have a target this year. Let’s be totally clear. We don't have a target.

“I am not sitting down giving targets to anybody. We want to strive to win. That is what we want to do. That expectation comes with the history of the club. You have to accept that. I have to accept that. Everyone has to accept that. Everyone has to have that benchmark for Manchester United. That is what all the fans want. That is what our history demands. We want to win.

"There is no budget, there is money. We are in a very strong financial position. We can make big signings. That doesn’t mean we are going to throw money around. Louis is the manager. We have a lot of scouting output through the last 12 months that is flagging various things to us.

“Louis is the one who makes the ultimate decision around who he wants in his squad. I am not going to force feed him with a player he has not selected. The reality is that we're not afraid of spending significant amounts of money in the transfer market. Whether it's a record or not doesn't really resonate with us. What resonates is a top, top elite player that the manager wants that is going to be a star for Manchester United."

Woodward has been impressed by Van Gaal’s impact since the Dutchman arrived at the club less than a week ago, and only a few days after the 62-year-old guided the Netherlands to a third place finish at the World Cup.

And Woodward concedes that finding a successor to David Moyes after a season that saw United slump to seventh in the Premier League and miss out on European football was one of the biggest decisions he’s ever made.

“Yes, by some distance it is the most important job in the club. And we didn’t take the decision lightly,” Woodward said.

“We ran a process and we thought very carefully about the characteristics we were looking for in a manager. We were looking for a manager who would sync with the Manchester United philosophy.

“If you pause and take a step back, it is attacking football, it’s giving youth a chance, and both of those things are core to Louis’s philosophy of football - and a track record. If he brings so much energy to this, we felt he was the right choice.”

While United endured difficulties on the pitch, the club’s commercial momentum has not been affected, as Woodward points to a new sponsorship deal with US car giant Cheverolet and a world-record £750m kit agreement with Adidas.

Woodward said: "What the deal shows and what we are seeing and everything we are doing from a commercial perspective, also from talking to agents and players about wanting to come to us, we are the biggest club in the world. There is no question in my mind about that.

“All I am saying is that there is a different expectation at this club. It is a different size in terms of interest level, fan base, a lot of what we tried to do. We also have a commercial arm that interacts with the football club in a way that doesn't disrupt the football club."

One factor that may have disrupted Manchester United in recent weeks is the departure of their captain Nemanja Vidic, his centre-back partner Rio Ferdinand and full-back Patrice Evra. Their exits leave Van Gaal short of defensive cover and relying on the likes of Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling to deputise. Luke Shaw's arrival from Southampton will certainly help, but Woodward is expecting his new manager to use the US tour as a fact-finding mission to decide who stays, who goes and who comes in.

"We are still assessing things and looking at options," he added. "We are not sitting on our hands and waiting for Louis. He is indicating clearly what he wants.

"All I am saying is there could be some other things that happen as a result of the time he spends with the players in the next few weeks. If you think about it, for an experienced professional like him from a football perspective, maybe he knows the first 15 players really well but the next 15 not so well. He is taking time to see."

 

[Joga Bonito]

I can't see transfer fees bothering Van Gaal one iota.

Exactly, this is the guy who approved of the signing of the world's most expensive teenager when there were safer and cheaper options out there(Ricardo Rodriguez and Ben Davies). He also approved Herrera's signing for a similar price to Fabregas as well. So LVG is not buying into the 'no value in the market' bs and is clearly not bothered by transfer fees.

 

[Drummer]

@Drummer if you dont understand how the finances work, perhaps tone it down a bit. If you're so heavily invested in the topic, why not look up the net spend of other teams? it's not that hard to do

It swings both ways Gladiator..

The main point is that the glazers didn't take a huge risk by leveraging the club more then any owners in the history of the sport but they greatly limited the clubs chances of success by putting restrictions on spending. If you have to spend £60mil on debt before anything else each year, it's limiting your options, unlike a plc that can at least decide dividends.

It is questionable how successful the club would of been com medically had SAF not gotten the success he had with a very conservative budget in comparison to his major rivals in England and Europe. Don't even have to go through city's figures cause their salary is over a third per annum of ours and they has spent over half a billion the last few years.

You need only look at uniteds most expensive player to barca or Madrids to get a basic idea of what level united are competing for players. These clubs expect to compete for cl and la primera and their spending matches these ambitions.

Spending on players has increased dramatically over the last 10 years , yet our 2nd most expensive signing was rio Ferdinand up until last January. If you factor in football inflation, which is difficult, it's fair to say that rios cost today could of easily been double. With inflation most of our expensive signings were before the glazers tenure.

They limited spending (they didn't increase budget as income/revenues increased. They limited players that could be bought- only players with resale value. Rvp was the first top player SAF was allowed to sign.

They took huge risks financially and with transfer policy and got desperately lucky. Only after success (which wasn't guaranteed) have they been able to exploit the product "Manchester United". You literally can't flog a dead horse and one can only wonder what might of happened had the squad desperately needed the kind of investment it needs now, what might of happened when the club simply didn't have the money to invest while having to prioritise the servicing of the debt.

Ah but sure everything worked out so the glazers are genius's?! No wonder the economic system of the world is so f**ked. People don't care to reflect on why its in the state it is and it's the same with the glazers and Woodward. Because they got lucky (investing in sport is not an exact science or a guarantee), people think they are extremely clever.

Does anybody on this forum think that for all our supposed transfer funds available that there is any chance the club will buy a £70mil player? If we are as big a club as any, surely we shouldn't be afraid to flex our financial muscle?! Not a f**king chance.. Of course , if we were to believe some fans, it was that SAF, moyes and now LVG don't like spending big money to sign the top players of the world!!

 

[Gladiator]

@Drummer not sure why you wrote all that or expected me to read it