Tag Archives: jim ratcliffe

Stinkin’ Thinkin’

The summer is supposed to provide a window of respite from any United-related stresses. As well as giving your liver and bank balance a chance to recover, it usually means a quiet 8 weeks with no ballot deadlines to remember, no tickets to sort and no transport to organise. It’s all quite enjoyable switching off and not thinking about it for a couple of months – something the dopamine-addicted, transfer virgins on social media should try to experience at least once.

For a large number of reds the last couple of months have been anything but stress-free if they happened to receive ‘the email’ – the club’s latest attack on ST holders and members with the usual justification of it being part of their ongoing effort to ‘combat touting’. Yeah right, of course it is. For the hundreds affected it was a case of guilty until proven innocent, with the club threatening to revoke tickets yet at the same time, choosing not to disclose what individual supporters were actually being accused of.

It’s further evidence that the club now sees legacy supporters as a target and this latest move is proof that they’re escalating attempts to take us down. United aren’t unique in this, it’s a scenario being played out across the Premier League with mandatory digital tickets now in place across the board. In reality it just gives clubs more tools to pry into into peoples’ habits (ie how we use the ticket portals they’ve insisted on) and impose threats and sanctions under the guise of caring about supporters’ safety. What a crock of bullshit.

The club insists that a robust appeals process is in place but given it’s now a few days from the first home game and many people are still on tenterhooks, I’m not sure it’s as solid as they claim. If supporters are logging in on multiple devices, what business is it of the club? It’s really not uncommon for people to have a desktop computer, a laptop, tablet, a couple of phones and various work devices accessible – what gives the club the right to demand explanations of how people choose to use these? It’s not just overstepping the mark, it’s completely absurd.

In the carefully-worded, non-apology posted on the official website, the club highlighted the fact they’d uncovered an instance of a single device accessing over 1000 different accounts. Fantastic, so they’ve likely stumbled on an actual tout there – mission accomplished, you’d presume. Clearly there’s something dodgy going on in that particular case, so focus efforts there and do something about it. Using such an extreme example as justification for them accusing hundreds of others was just plain disingenuous, however.

I’m convinced the purpose of this exercise was simply to cull a few hundred more tickets in the hope that people would react to the email by saying, “I can’t be arsed with this anymore so I’m not gonna appeal”. I’m sure they knew full well that the overwhelming number of recipients weren’t touts, but despite that they chose to send it anyway. It increases resentment, it causes upset, it creates divide. This as exactly what they want as they know full well the traditional support has no desire to embrace whatever ticketing bullshit they’re planning to introduce at their crap new stadium.

The club has set a precedent that means this level of intrusive snooping will only continue. “You can keep your ticket for now, but be warned that we’re watching you.” Again, I simply refuse to believe that this anything to do with combatting touting – that’s just a sideshow. This is all part of a wider initiative aimed at maximising revenue from match day tickets. My ticket works out at £45 a game and the club are acutely aware that in their hands they could get 3-4 times that price if they threw in a free programme and sold it as part of a hospitality package.

ST holders might have served a purpose in previous eras providing a guaranteed steady income stream, now they’re just a nuisance with clubs looking to attract high spending football tourists instead. Like the World Cup in the summer, the Premier League has moved to a place that’s beyond commercial – it’s cynical, greedy and exploitative. They might try and spin the narrative that they’re concerned with fan safety and ticket touting (ie trying to help us), but ultimately this is about weeding us out so they can fleece bigger idiots with deeper pockets.

With all this dominating the summer discourse there wasn’t much pre-season optimism floating about this year – which seems entirely prescient given the absolute shitshow served up at Hull. I was hoping we might avoid being 7 points behind in September for once, but based on Saturday’s evidence that might be wishful thinking. Honestly, I don’t know where to start. Sloth-like movement, players not looking fit, complete failure to press and once again, an entire team seemingly shocked and stunned by the intensity of the PL.

I was quite enthused by the Tielemans signing but the guy looks woefully out of shape and even slower than Casemiro. Santos was slightly better but I still can’t help thinking we’ve not really plugged any of the holes that were evident last season. Baleba is an apparent done dealio and is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting over the coming months. A lot of the conversation has been about needing a new LB this summer, but Mazraoui had another terrible game on the opposite flank. It demonstrates just how bad United were when I’m stood there pining for Dalot to be brought on after half an hour.

To cap it all, there’re still no takers for Marcus Rashford. I’m praying something happens over the next week or so otherwise this current marriage of inconvenience will likely end in disaster. The club doesn’t want him and he doesn’t want to be here either. It says everything about him that he’s literally putting money ahead of his career by insisting on seeing out this contract. There’s been lots of good work done in weeding out corrosive figures in United’s dressing room, this shouldn’t be jeopardised by giving a fresh opportunity to someone who burnt his bridges a long time ago.

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Don’t Stop

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Well that was pretty good, wasn’t it? I don’t think even the most ardent optimist could have predicted that set of results during Michael Carrick’s first month in charge. I mean, we could all see that Amorim’s favoured 5-3-2 wasn’t exactly working but I didn’t quite grasp the extent to which it was actively holding us back. I know it’s early days and I’m not getting carried away yadda yadda but basically everything is sorted now. Even if we don’t win the league this year we’re definitely winning it next season.

Obviously I’m not being entirely serious here but credit where credit’s due, given the absolute dross served up in recent times it’s been quite the turnaround. We’ve played some lovely stuff over the last few games featuring some scarcely believable passages of play from the same group of players who’ve been unable to string 3 passes together for much of the last 18 months. Whereas previously they looked tentative and passive, they now appear hungry and confident. This is more like it, lads.

There’s been a few parallels drawn with the similarly feelgood start to Solskjaer’s time in charge during the winter of 2018/19. United won 8 on the bounce and 14 of his first 19 games in charge prompting Woodward to hand him a 3 year contract. Form then nosedived completely and we won 2 of the next 10, missing out on a CL spot that should have been achieved comfortably. Needless to say, it is vital that the club avoids making a similar judgement on Carrick now. Yes, it’s all very encouraging but let’s see how the season plays out before making any kind of decision.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t want to see him given the job full-time. If this kind of form continues for the remainder of the season he’ll rightly be seen as a very strong candidate. Out of all the names mentioned there’s only Ancelotti who I’d feel confident in and he’s already kiboshed the idea saying he’d only consider Real Madrid after his stint in Brazil comes to an end. If the other contenders are limited to the bloke from Crystal Palace and the bloke just sacked by Spurs then I expect Carrick has a great chance irrespective of what happens from now until May.

Football punditry continues to get worse year by year, mainly due to the need to fill hour after hour of non-stop coverage on multiple platforms. I thought we’d reached saturation point when Sky Sports News became a thing, but it’s even worse now due to the fan cam crowd and already over-exposed faces like Neville and Keane now having their own YouTube channel or whatever it is. I don’t actively seek out any of this content but it’s still everywhere because even if you don’t watch it you’re force-fed clips on social media or their latest nonsense makes the next day’s headlines. It’s exhausting.

Arsenal are currently getting it from all angles just because the media decided to crown them PL champions back in October. This wasn’t based on anything other than City had a bad start and Liverpool’s form dropped off a cliff. Now to clarify, I don’t like Arsenal but compared to City and Liverpool I really don’t mind them that much. I don’t like their manager, their knobhead internet fans (same as every other club) and I don’t like them fouling goalkeepers at corners. I do find the reaction to their current sticky patch to be pretty pathetic, however.

The PL is a genuine test of endurance and given the level of competition, winning it is incredibly difficult. Truth be told, Arsenal don’t look anything like the team they were a couple of years ago. Literally everyone in my circle has agreed for months that they still expect City to win it – it didn’t take a genius to predict they would improve after Christmas and Arsenal’s nerves would kick in as the run-in approached. Nevertheless, the media consensus was that it was basically a one-horse race and they were going to walk it.

So now there’s a tedious pile-on since the cracks are starting to show and their lead has been reduced to 2 points. You expect this level of discourse from Goldbridge-level bantz merchants but now it’s all over the mainstream media too. I’m honestly sick of it and it genuinely impedes on my enjoyment of the sport. I get more nuance and perspective talking to mates in the pub than I do from any talking head on Sky Sports filling another 30 mins of mind-numbingly banal content. I’ve honestly reached the stage where I don’t wish to hear Gary Neville utter a single word on any subject for the rest of my life.

Another one who needs to stop talking is Jim Ratcliffe, who continues to show he’s a genuinely terrible person each time he opens his mouth. It’s not exactly a shock to learn that a 73 year old billionaire holds some Enoch Powell-esque political opinions, but most of those operating in the public eye at least have the good grace to keep them under wraps. Monaco-dwelling Jim is proving himself a massive hypocrite and is in a major strop because his business is struggling and UK industry isn’t thriving post-Brexit as he predicted.

Ratcliffe may well have valid grievances with the government about Net Zero and its effect on the chemicals sector, but using talk of colonialism as a stick to strike back at them is incredibly snide and disingenuous. The Britain First march in Manchester last weekend serves as a reminder how the far right are quick to capitalise whenever the subject of immigration hits the headlines. Whether that was his intention or not, public figures like Ratcliffe espousing broadly similar views plays directly into their hands and provides further oxygen for their narrative.

If any other club representative had expressed similar sentiments it would likely have resulted in a reprimand and disciplinary action given the current climate of football club’s promoting diversity and inclusivity at every opportunity. It’s easy to scoff at ‘wokeist’ initiatives and how they’ve become almost obligatory for pretty much every organisation existing in modern Britain. Ratcliffe’s comments give a clue as to precisely why they’re necessary.

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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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