Tag Archives: ineos

Round & Round

Although Amorim’s sacking didn’t exactly come as a shock (formerly seismic events like managerial changes are relatively commonplace at United these days), until his mini meltdown following the draw at Leeds I honestly thought there were tentative signs he was finally getting somewhere. Although punctuated by several demoralising home draws against PL strugglers, we’ve only actually lost twice in the 14 league games since the start of October. So no, I didn’t really see this one coming.

One can only assume that despite unease behind the scenes at the perceived lack of progress, things only escalated once he started throwing out thinly-veiled digs in front of the media. I can sort-of see the rationale since both performances and results still left a lot to be desired, I just don’t quite understand the timing or what we’re gaining by dismissing him now. Fletcher taking charge prior to another caretaker before a full time appointment at the end of the season, is it? Months of mindless speculation as to the identity of the new leading man for the never-ending Man United soap opera. Marvellous – that’s just what we need.

I can’t really accept the idea that making a change now improves the chances of European football either. I never felt confident that Amorim was the man long-term but giving him until the end of the season rather than messing about with further interim appointments would have made more sense. By all means, privately decide he’s toast and seek out a successor now but making another mid-season change strikes me as bafflingly ill-advised. We’ve been here before and it only piles on the pressure and invites further media scrutiny.

You can’t appoint a man to undertake a 4 year job on a limited budget and then sack him after 14 months. Rightly or wrongly, he was stubbornly bound to his 3-4-3 but surely that was part of his appeal to start with? He was supposedly the Ineos candidate, the best in class and would receive unwavering support from the club hierarchy. Are they that thin-skinned that all it took to change that was a couple of mildly inflammatory remarks in a press conference? I thought adopting a definitive system was part of the plan as opposed to pursuing vague notions like ‘club DNA’ and ‘the United way’.

Which brings us to the potential appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as interim manager from now until the end of the season. Honestly, I’m speechless that the idea is even being contemplated given his previous stint as vibes controller from 2018 to 2021. The malignant influences in the dressing room were given free rein to run riot during that time as Ole set out to “put a smile back on peoples’ faces” following the tumultuous last few months of Mourinho’s tenure. Certain people must have very short memories if they can’t recall how bad that period was.

After Ten Hag left I can recall saying here it was imperative we ended the cycle of hiring and firing managers every 18 months. Even with unlimited funds it’s almost an impossible task to dismantle and re-build a squad capable of challenging for the title within such a period. If it’s true the likes of Wilcox and Ratcliffe were trying to impose their own ideas on formations and tactics then Amorim had every right to start kicking off. He was unequivocal about the way he was going to play from day one so I’d suggest any fault lies with the Ineos crew for appointing him in the first place.

Amorim’s reign will rightly be remembered for the poor football and abysmal win ratio but I’ll maintain he did some sterling work in weeding out the dickhead contingent. He binned Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho as well jettisoning expensive Ten Hag flops like Onana and Antony. Both the wage bill and the player’s sense of entitlement was reset completely within a few months of him taking over and despite not getting results, at least we’ve re-gained the sense of being a semi-serious football team. I can’t recall any instances of the players wandering round and appearing not to give a shit over the last few months.

Whoever does come in needs to impose themselves quickly or there’s a risk of the freshly-installed sense of discipline evaporating. Mainoo recovering from injury at the precise moment Amorim departed could have been mere coincidence but looked highly suspicious. His brother and sister could do with winding their necks in too – courting likes and attention from fawning idiots on social media. Your brother hasn’t been imprisoned here, he’s a 20 year old kid on the fringes of the Man United team. If you think such a ‘plight’ is somehow unjust then he’s welcome to try his luck at another club – see how that affects your follower count.

Even Bruno was at it just before Christmas, grizzling to Canal 11, a Portuguese Football Federation-owned channel that the club “wanted me to leave” during the summer. Quite why he chose to go public with this now is a mystery, but even more astonishing is the level of self-delusion on display. Bruno mate, of course they wanted you to leave when your Saudi suitors were promising a £100M cheque in return. You were the club’s most sellable asset in transfer window where they desperately needed to recoup funds and were a billion pounds in debt.

I’m not sure why he’s harbouring any resentment because it looks like they simply put the offer on the table and said “it’s entirely up to you”. He’s lucky he was even consulted as I’m certain any other club in United’s position would have ushered him out of the door irrespective of his own thoughts on the matter. Bruno has put in a great shift as a United player and will be remembered fondly once he’s left, but let’s have it right – he’s also been highly remunerated too. Don’t be banging on about loyalty when your employers have just made 400+ redundancies whilst you’re still trousering £15M a year.

What’s now certain is that any lingering hopes of the Ineos management team proving themselves more capable than Woodward and Arnold have now been extinguished. Indeed, the current bunch seems more dysfunctional than ever given that Berrada, Wilcox and Ratcliffe still require ultimate sign-off from the Glazer lair in Florida. Given that both Ashworth and Brailsford have left the club since the last time they were recruiting a manager, I suppose there’s a slightly improved chance of everyone being in full agreement this time out. They have to get this next decision right. (Spoiler alert: they probably won’t.)

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Dizzy Heights

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Even in this (putting it mildly) testing season, we’re still fortunate enough to experience days that many other football clubs would dine out on for decades. Another trip to San Sebastián was guaranteed to provide some respite from our domestic travails, only tempered by the suspicion it might turn out to be the final European trip for a good while. A couple of days of wine and pinchos bookending a moderately important game of football would be a more than satisfactory way to bow out if this was to be our last hurrah.

As it was, any fears were unfounded as the team came away with a credible draw – lucky perhaps to have encountered a Sociedad side who looked even more toothless than United. The tie was then settled at OT a week later where for the first time, we got a glimpse of what Amorim ball might look like in the future. I remarked to a mate as we walked out of the ground how weird it was to see the entire crowd smiling and happy. We’ve been so bad at home for so long that such occasions now feel like rarities.

Assuming relegation is successfully avoided, the entire season now rests on the Europa League and I can’t help believing that we’re gonna win it now. I know this flies in the face of common sense, but it just strikes me as a very United way of concluding what has been the worst campaign in decades. We’ll beat Lyon in a couple of weeks and then providing we get at least a draw in Bilbao we’ll do them at OT, no problem. Then it’ll be back to Bilbao for the final where we’ll face perennial bottlers, Spurs. I’m telling you, it’s happening.

The slight upturn in form that preceded the international break signalled the moment for the club to finally send ST renewal emails. A general 5% increase is probably lower than most were expecting given the rumours that had suggested a hike of 20% or more. Nevertheless, the pattern is now set for year on year rises until we’re paying the kind of prices billionaire Sir Jim probably sees as fair and reasonable. Freezing prices for under-16s was a blatant attempt to manipulate the narrative but the continued erosion of the OAP discount signals exactly what the club’s long term intentions are.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the rumours suggesting hefty price increases were started with the intention of making a 5% rise more palatable. Credit to the FAB for engaging with the club and arguing vociferously against any rises at all – but they’re ultimately fighting a losing battle when the club’s entire operating strategy is based on generating as much revenue as possible from any source they can think of. Long-term ST holders are an inconvenience blocking the club’s ability to welcome further hoards of free-spending day trippers. It’s the same story at virtually all PL clubs now.

Obviously, we’re being manipulated in the same way we have been for years. The laughable explanation that the rises are necessary due the club’s financial woes could almost be described as gaslighting. So we’re supposed to believe that we’re in this mess because we’ve not been paying enough at the turnstiles? Do me a favour. The club is financially screwed because the Glazers saddled it with unsustainable debts that have grown exponentially despite a cumulative income of around £8.5 billion since 2005. They’ve pocketed £166M in dividend payments whilst employing utter buffoons to oversee what’s basically been a managed decline over the last couple of decades.

Prior the price rise reveal we were treated to our first look at ‘New Trafford’, with the proposed plans for the new stadium being thrust into the media spotlight. Some would describe the design choice as ‘bold’, others might use the word ‘ridiculous’. It just left me shaking my head as it looks even more deranged than anticipated. I mean, of course they’ve come up with a concept featuring 3 massive towers visible from Liverpool. I mean, what billion pound in debt already-business wouldn’t think of that as an entirely sensible proposal? Honestly, what a club.

Tellingly, once again there was zero information provided on how the club intends to fund this monstrosity. Which, as you may recall, was the most glaring omission from the plans presented at the OT Regeneration public meetings held back in December. With the continued absence of such crucial detail, speculation is only going to intensify as to exactly what their plan entails. JP O’Neill, the esteemed former editor of Red Issue published a Substack piece that provided some insight on a potential worst-case scenario.

Given their reluctance to entertain the prospect of renovating the existing ground, it’s looking increasingly possible that any new stadium could ultimately be owned by a 3rd party entertainment behemoth with the club merely holding a long term lease. Meanwhile, all current assets will be demolished with the land sold off to property developers – which would explain precisely why Gary Neville has been involved from the start. In short, a potential sale and leaseback that would mean another insane payday for the Glazers and leave the club as tenants in the shiny new OT megadome.

It’s a vomit inducing prospect, but a very real one. Although nothing is confirmed, I don’t see how else this project becomes viable without such a doomsday scenario being presented as a fait accompli. The e-reds won’t mind in the slightest as most don’t have the attention span to understand the implications of the club surrendering their core assets and signing off on a rental home. That would be quite some legacy for an alleged ‘life-long red’ to leave behind. If this is just scaremongering and doesn’t reflect Ratcliffe and the Glazers’ intentions, then let’s hear some denials.

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Two Steps Back

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The January window passed off without major incident but again cast the spotlight on the precarious state of the club’s finances. The fact we brought in Patrick Dorgu was a minor surprise given the focus (rightly) was on trimming the wage bill to avoid future PSR breaches. Clearly, we’re in dodgy position right now. I’m sure Marcus Rashford didn’t expect to end up in Birmingham when Milan and Barcelona had been touted as potential destinations, but I guess we all have to make certain sacrifices during times of austerity, right?

I’ve been very critical of Rashford, but I hope this gives him a wake-up call and the motivation to kick on and resurrect his career. Ditto Antony, who now finds himself in Seville where I expect he’ll encounter a more forgiving environment in which to practice his pirouettes and ponder using his right foot one day. Sacrificing this pair and not even making a loan signing did appear to be a gamble though, one that backfired almost immediately now Amad has been ruled out for the rest of the season. I’m not sure what the plan is if Garnacho is unavailable for any length of time.

It’s long been suspected that the training levels aren’t what they should be at Carrington. You only have to look at the pre-match warm up routines to confirm that most players are simply going through the motions and there’s a noticeable lack of intensity. I suspect Amorim has clocked this and set about fixing things but he might need to re-adjust his methods. 9 days in-between games to spend on the training ground pre- Spurs resulted in 4 fresh injuries – and that’s coming off the back of the news that Martinez has undergone surgery and is likely out until Christmas. I strongly suspect the club could genuinely be cursed.

With Rashford and Antony joining Sancho out on loan, that now makes around £200M worth of wingers plying their trade elsewhere whilst remaining on the books. The silver lining in Sancho’s case is that at least he was shipped out with a clause obligating Chelsea to stump up a transfer fee in the summer. This move being a rare example of United doing something right with regard to player dealings – you’d be hard pressed to recall many other instances of the club doing something sensible in the transfer market in recent years.

The fact that both Rashford and Antony will be back in June is probably helping fuel speculation that both Garnacho and Mainoo might be sold in the summer. It’s a grim prospect that would have been inconceivable in previous years, but indicative of the gravity of the situation in which the club finds itself. Nobody wants to see our brightest prospects sold, but I suppose this is the natural consequence of years of ridiculous spending and kamikaze financial management. If it needs to happen to get the club back on a secure footing then so be it.

A lack of signings meant the e-reds had a difficult month, especially now the penny has dropped that Sancho is delivering the same turgid performance level at Chelsea as he did during his time at United. Amusingly, they’ve now pivoted from demanding his immediate recall to another familiar face, our old friend Paul Pogba! Yes, such unparalleled lunacy is alive and well on the internet. I mean, can you imagine being that thick you’d actually think that re-signing that clown would be a smart move at this point? Unsurprisingly, Rio Ferdinand was touting the same idea too.

Sad news came last month via the announcement of Denis Law’s passing – the original King of The Stretford End and my Dad’s favourite player of all time. I was fortunate enough to meet the man a couple of times and what a lovely, down-to-earth bloke he was. It was a pity then, that the ceremony held prior to the Fulham game days later was ragged mess in comparison to how the club have managed similar events in the past. The TRA drowning out the lone piper followed by Alan Keegan’s foghorn-voiced reading of a tribute poem brought little subtlety or solemnity to proceedings. It’s a shame because United used to get these things spot on.

In such circumstances, less can mean more. The contrast to the scenes inside the ground in January 1994 prior to the Everton game following Sir Matt’s death was stark. Back then there was a simple minute’s silence after a piper had led both teams out. There was no need for anyone on the mic giving a running commentary and to this day, the scene stands out as one of the most moving things I’ve ever witnessed in life. The club needs to reassess how these occasions are handled in future to ensure they don’t become some ill-conceived form of pre-match entertainment.

We went from Scotland’s finest to the absolute dregs in the space of a few days, as Rangers rocked up at OT for one of those “invasions” that occur every time a side from Glasgow ventures south of Newcastle. I managed to avoid them pre-match and wondered if the rumours about the numbers travelling were accurate, but then it was hard to miss them once they’d equalised. It all made for a highly entertaining last 10 minutes with skirmishes occurring all over the ground. I’ve no problem with any away fan getting in the home end as I’ve done it often enough. The rule as always is if you loudly make yourself known, be prepared for some potential consequences.

It didn’t take long for United to activate damage limitation mode, predictably blaming ST holders for selling on tickets rather than admitting that scores of hospitality seats had (also predictably) been snapped up by the Scots. The club used similarly disingenuous tactics after Galatasaray at home last season, another high-demand game that saw large numbers of away fans infiltrating home sections. Rather than learn any lessons from what happened that night and limiting the sale of hospitality seats for a potentially volatile fixture, they’ve just doubled down on attempts to pin the blame on regular ST holders.

After allegedly reviewing CCTV footage from the night, the club have contacted dozens of fans threatening to revoke their tickets unless they can prove their attendance at the game. The fact the club sees the value in targeting individuals and demanding photo ID to prove they were sat in their seats rather than acknowledging Rangers fans were freely allowed to congregate next to the away section is extraordinarily deceitful even by their own standards. Just own it and admit that despite the obvious risks, you allowed the sale of hundreds of home end tickets to away supporters. It’s that simple no matter how much they try to shift the blame onto United fans.

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