20 Jun 2022 18:55:23
Lots has been made over the whole Arnold thing. As always with United it seems to be a polarising situation.
You have those who claim it unprofessional, and to an extent they have a point.
While the other side feel its refreshing to have someone with power actually engage with the fans in a open and honest way.
Personally while I appreciate it might come across slightly unprofessional I actually like the fact that he took the time to sit down and be candid with the fans. It wasn't a dressed up press event to merely "look" like the club are engaging with fans, but an actual sit down off the record chat.
It's refreshing and a million miles away from how Ed Woodward dealt with such matters.
Obviously the video leaking is less than ideal and potentially brings unwanted press attention. Yet the reality is that had Arnold done nothing then there would have been protests outside his house which would have no doubt made it into the press and would have been equally damaging.
Personally the only fault I can find here is that of the fans.
Both in attempting to protest outside a mans house. That isn't the right way to do things. Protest at the stadium by all means, or the training ground. But leave a mans family out of his work life.
Secondly, to secretly record the meeting then distribute it online shows a shocking lack of moral fibre after a top executive has been forthcoming and willing to engage with fans.
That betrayal of trust almost certainly means Arnold or anyone else at the club won't be as forthcoming and open again.
And for what, did he say anything hugely important or shocking? No, all information was fairly bland and vanilla. It seems like the individual who recorded it and posted it did so to be billy big ballacks. To try and show off, to make themselves relevant rather than bring some clarifying news to the fans.
It's stunts like this that lead our fanbase to be labelled toxic.
20 Jun 2022 19:09:34
Or did they do it to inform all fans rather than just the handful that were in the pub?
I guess we'll never know.
20 Jun 2022 19:21:31
In what way can it be construed as unprofessional.
20 Jun 2022 20:14:04
Most comparisons with other CEOs go out the window in my opinion. No one is banging on the CEO of Apple's door because they're unhappy with the last 10 years of iPhones.
The fans are the lifeblood of the club and have called for more engagement for years. Watching and listening to Arnold was a breath of fresh air. I doubt for one second he was reprimanded for his actions.
As for the clown who taped it. Those fans could have easily tweeted or made any post about what Arnold had to say and it would have went viral. There's no need to do it because the information could have been shared plenty of other ways.
Arnold went up a few notches in my book yo be honest. Seems like he cares and he knows where the club needs to go. To sit in front of fans like that can't be easy so fair play to him.
20 Jun 2022 21:01:32
Good post, Mumbles.
20 Jun 2022 21:34:37
Did Arnold say the two players leaking stories had left the club?
20 Jun 2022 21:55:00
Ken, I'd consider it unprofessional in that he could have set up a proper Q&A with fans, and discussed things openly and through the correct channels.
Meeting the guys down the pub where it can easily be filmed and what he is saying probably hasn't been "okayed" by the club.
It means we now have this situation where something that shouldn't have been in the press is.
While I appreciate that much dealing in business takes place in such places. To do so with some random guys you don't know was at best a little naïve.
All that said I really appreciate the approach and think it's a breath of fresh air. I won't condemn him for it. However, it also doesn't expunge him from any responsibility the may have had over the past 10 years.
I await to see how he handles things and if things have/ will change under his tenure at the top.
21 Jun 2022 08:12:37
It doesn't matter what you expect from. A ceo you know nothing about aceo role in a business of this size so what you echoey is irrelevant.
Nothing unprofessional about what he did.
21 Jun 2022 12:31:11
You're right Ken, I don't know much about being a CEO of a company the size of Manchester United.
Yet meeting the lads down the pub to discuss the company direction/ strategy comes across much more like something from Trotters Independent Trading than a global institution.
While the clowns who filmed it and distributed the video might be the real world equivalent of Trigger, I'd expect the CEO of Manchester United not to act like Del Boy.
21 Jun 2022 12:31:11
You're right Ken, I don't know much about being a CEO of a company the size of Manchester United.
Yet meeting the lads down the pub to discuss the company direction/ strategy comes across much more like something from Trotters Independent Trading than a global institution.
While the clowns who filmed it and distributed the video might be the real world equivalent of Trigger, I'd expect the CEO of Manchester United not to act like Del Boy.
21 Jun 2022 22:22:58
It wasn't a prearranged meeting, Shappy. He showed a bit of craft and wit, to stop them coming to his house, which wouldn't have looked good for anyone and the media would have had a field day. He thought on his feet, which I like. There would have been no dramas, if one of the clowns hadn't started recording. Even then, he dealt with it well and said nothing really controversial or embarrassing. Far better outcome than what the alternative could have been.