Manchester United banter 6

01 Jun 2026 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - EHL2020 has posted a new article entitled, Rangers and the Dutch-Belgian Squad Blueprint

31 May 2026 21:22:29
We are going through a period of seismic change in terms of personnel leaving the EPL Alison, Ederson, Walker, Salah, KDB, Son, Silva, VVD, Tripper, Robertson, etc. Real household EPL names.

Also a massive reshuffle managerially is occurring this summer.

It's a real opportunity for a team, a manager, players to become the next face of the EPL, to brand themselves into the mould of the aforementioned players.

Notably, of this recent group of players leaving, you'd be hard placed to throw in a UTD player, definitely no manager.

Managerial contenders have to be Iraola, Carrick, Enzo, Arteta, you could throw a few more in there, Alonso, Hurzelar, even Lampard and McKenna just coming up.



Much larger pool of players and difficult to say from all teams who is likely to be stood side by side with the EPL greats in 10+ years time.

I will say for me Lammens has started well. If he continues, he will comfortably be there.

You have heaps of others who could be there. O'Reilly, Dowman, JJ, Anderson, Wharton, etc etc.

What does everyone's starting 11 look like for the future all EPL greats for say 10-13 yrs time. Probably looking at players 22 and under.

Just a bit of fun!

31 May 2026 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - PatrikBurgher has posted a new article entitled, Where Liverpool's Season Went Wrong Under Slot

30 May 2026 22:14:20
With literally thousands of players on professional football across the world, why is that Utd no longer seem able to sign diamonds like Schmeichel and Ole for relatively low amounts?

30 May 2026 23:56:38
Lammens. Heavens. Mazraoui.

31 May 2026 00:01:28
Lammens, I give you that, but Heaven was found by Arsenal, and I don't think he is yet, and Mazraoui is a decent player, not a diamond.

31 May 2026 00:19:57
A few reasons.

1. Every club in a top division has invested huge sums of money in their scouting network to identify a promising youth players from every corner of Europe (and in some cases further afield).
2. Every club has invested huge sums of money in developing their academies, and getting youth players into the system as early as possible.
3. Players are expected to be more technically proficient at a younger age today, and those outside the academy system are at a massive disadvantage.



In other words, if Schmeichel and Ole were around today, they would likely have been identified in their local youth leagues and brought to an academy in their teens. So much has been invested in youth scouting that there are far fewer diamonds in the rough to find.

31 May 2026 00:29:11
Schmeichel had a big name when he joined United from his time at Brondby. And saying Heaven was found by Arsenal is just silly. Unless you're saying that nobody at all knew of Ole or Schmeichel. I get what you're trying to say, but it's overblown.

It's 20/20 hindsight. Lammens could well turn out to be every bit the superstar. If Heaven becomes a 50M calibre CB, we'll hear those saying how great our scouts are to make sure we got him at that time.

31 May 2026 01:50:28
Devil's advocate...

Then why do we have hardly anybody coming through into the first team if the scouting and academy is so good?

In theory, we should never have to buy a first team player ever again, but here we are spending 100's millions on risks.

Not arguing either wat poking the usual bears for a giggle!. ?

31 May 2026 07:11:05
It's a problem, Keefy. We have prospects who go on to have solid careers elsewhere, but there are a few key points for me.

Every club has Academies, so everyone is looking, meaning the competition for young talent is fierce.

Secondly, it depends how you measure success. Most recently, Garner and McTominay have done very well elsewhere, whilst we brought through Rashford and Kobe.

How many is enough? It would be great if we could add 2 Academy players every year, a top one and a squad player.

Finally, at United, our expectations are very high. Many have already decided that the Fletcher twins are not good enough, but they're only 19, and Tyler in particular is a great prospect. We need to have patience and allow players to develop in a supportive environment.

31 May 2026 11:32:05
There are a number of examples where we were aware, or even handed them on a plate.
Haaland. Ole recommended we buy him for £4m.
Caicedo. We negotiated a £4m deal, but backed out.
Sterling. United showed interest, but Liverpool signed him for a low fee (~£450k rising to £2m).
Alvaro Fernandez. This one really frustrated me, as you all know. Got him for almost nothing. Showed potential at Preston. Sold by the idiot ETH for £6m to Benfica, then replaced by Malacia. Madrid paid over £50m for him.
You can go on. Frankie de Jong, Jamal Musiala, even Virgil van Dyke. We were apparently interested in them all, and many more.

It looks like, for the Woodward years, we weren't really interested in buying young upcoming players; it was more about sexy names. If you don't believe me, look up Woodward reaction to Bastion Schweinsteiger.

We have fallen so far behind others, particularly City, that it is hard to see us climbing back any time soon. I often look at when we buy someone from, say, Brighton, if we should be looking at who they are getting to replace them.

Go and get their scouts.

The Heaven deal has real potential, a potential bright light, the main one we can see.

I watch the youth, and JJ apart, they seem to flatter, lightweight, nice players, but lack that physical and mental edge. I would love to know what is briefed out to the scouts, what are the club looking for? Skillful players, but what else? Do we even look at positions needed that are expensive to fill. As an example, when was the last centre forward to burst through the youth? Was it Mark Hughes?

I suspect the years of Woodward didn't see any commercial benefit buying a prospect; shelling out £4m for Caicedo was £4m that was destined for dividends. However, old Bastion was good commercially. Like Bastion, so not a dig at him, but how the club has failed for years at scouting.

You can put some of it down to the aims of the club, top down, who wanted Disney, commercial success, after all that's what Woodward tried to sell Klopp, Disney.

31 May 2026 13:03:39
Red Man. ???

31 May 2026 14:20:56
It's become an inversion of what happened in the 80s and 90s, Red Man.

Back then, clubs often looked to bring physically dominant players to their academies. However, the Barca team of the 00s changed that. They looked for technical aptitude, and it was successful, so the rest of Europe tried to replicate.

The thinking, these days, seems to be to have the academies focus on technical skills, and if the player makes it to the first team, they can build muscle then.

You can see it with Manioo, who is looking far stronger this year. I suspect that it's also on the advice of medical departments, as trying to build muscle before a person is fully grown can lead to injuries.

31 May 2026 15:29:22
The difference in expectations at a club like United is in a different stratosphere than Brighton etc.

Caicedo was given a platform to grow at Brighton that he simply wouldn't be afforded at United. He could have 2 good games, 2 average games and 2 bad games and the general consensus would be "he's a smashing little player".

Not having that microscope over every performance is what helps players develop. McTominay is an interesting one to revisit, and you often see people talk about why we let him go. Well, we let him go because he wasn't at the standard required to play at United. He's done really well in Serie A, and you scroll the news and see he's scored again, you think maybe he could have had a longer spell with us. But that's not and was never the case.

Elanga did well at Forest and got a big-money move to Newcastle, but again he needed a couple of years plying his trade week in, week out, and he's still one of these players that only has 1 good game in 3.



As for getting bargains. Anyone who has played Championship Manager/Football Manager games has a finger on the pulse of the world of wonderkids/bargains around the world. Buying these players with the intention of playing them in the first team is simply not feasible. The football world is simply too small now.

Take Chelsea as an example of going out and buying every young player they could. It's been quite an unmitigated disaster. Spending tonnes of money on the next Brazilian embryo hoping you strike gold.

The margin for success is so small, that a club with aspirations of success can't spend 2 seasons blooding in a £1 million prodigy.

Many have tried to copy Brighton's transfer strategy, but Brighton are a club that will struggle to win anything of note because of how they operate. That is not the model Manchester United should look to adopt.

31 May 2026 16:10:26
Salford, Heaven was not 'found' by Arsenal, he was at the West Ham academy for 4 years prior to joining them.

Redman, every club could provide a list of players they could have signed, but did not, and who subsequently proved a success.

I have said previously that Alvaro Fernandez made it very clear he wanted to leave prior to his permanent transfer to Benfica. The club said, at that time, they would not stand in the way of a young overseas player, who expressly stated they wished to leave.

Furthermore, at that time it was felt Harry Amass, who was younger, was further along with his development and indeed had a higher potential ceiling. The issue with Amass has not really been about ability, but physicality. He could well be the type of player who does not reach the required physical level until he is a bit older, or indeed he may not make it at all.

Time will tell.

You also reference Haaland and indeed, OGS strongly urged us to buy him whilst at Molde, at that time the club said they did not wish to do so. They did, however, make strenuous attempts to buy him when he was leaving Salzburg.

You may remember his agent back then was the since departed Raiola. He insisted on a clause in the contract stating a fixed transfer fee, which if received by us, HAD to be accepted with part of the fee going to Raiola. In effect this would mean us losing control over the player, a totally unacceptable situation to be in. Thankfully we refused to comply.

You seem to be suggesting we should just go and buy every player in case some come good! Choices have to be made at the time, and just criticising with a degree in hindsight and using chosen examples does not seem helpful.

Thank God we did not sign Sterling.

31 May 2026 17:29:23
Why are you happy we didn't sign Sterling?

He was an excellent player at Liverpool and City. Even if he pushed for a transfer at us, like he did at Liverpool, we would have made a tidy profit.

31 May 2026 20:06:17
Never been a fan of Sterling. Had a few reasonable seasons, but he never seemed committed to his club.

When he was in dispute with Liverpool over wages, he supposedly contacted the BBC, telling them he wanted to do an interview about his contract situation.

I don't think you should be doing that. Also, he asked to be left out of preseason tour, again I don't think that's the right way of doing things.

01 Jun 2026 13:13:49
It is not about individualising the comment, but Sterling, I recall, was a United fan. We didn’t bother, despite that; I recall watching him as a youth, and he was excellent, outstanding. He was excellent for Liverpool, although his finishing wasn’t quite top notch, and from Liverpool's initial very small outlay we then received £50m plus when selling.

How many times have we done that? Garnacho, to a point, but not often.

30 May 2026 20:06:33
Obviously wasn’t rooting for Arsenal tonight, but I do kinda feel for Gabriel. Penalties are absolute cinema but completely heartbreaking if you lose. Top class by Marquinhos to go straight to him afterwards. That all said, I’m happy PSG won, and deservedly so I think.

30 May 2026 20:18:32.
Yeah, it's hard on anyone who misses. Arsenal executed their game plan excellently, but they were hanging on by the end, so it was a fair enough result. We've a lot to do to get to that level when you see the squads used by both sides.

30 May 2026 20:24:44
Long way Don, but they're an example of what needs to be done. Find it amusing that they've cleaned up in every competition since Mbappe left and Madrid haven't won a thing.... ??

30 May 2026 20:27:43
Delighted PSG won. Arsenal are mind numbingly boring to me. How many passes did they complete today?

30 May 2026 21:12:33
I wouldn't say Arsenal executed their game plan because they conceded.

Their plan was a carbon copy of what Jose did at Inter. They had 11 men behind the ball for most of the game. No attempt to control things, or go for a second.

Just park the bus, anti-football. The frustrating thing is they have a squad capable of playing good football.

Look, it worked this year because they won the league, but I don't think that anyone can honestly say they enjoy watching that.

30 May 2026 21:14:36
Couldn't have happened to a better player. Football won tonight.

30 May 2026 21:59:59
No matter your allegiance, you surely must feel for players missing penalties in such high profile matches, unless they are really not good people or are arrogant.

That said, I am glad PSG won because they were definitely the better team and tried to win it.

Saka and Rice had OK games, but neither gave me reassurance that they have what it takes for the World Cup ahead to help England win it.

Although Arsenal deserved the Premier League title yet again, the biggest club cup doesn't come to England. How many of Arsenal's players would get into the PSG, Barca, Bayern, or Madrid teams? I don't think many.

For me, that is quite telling.

Lastly, (and best wishes to Mal Gooner, who appears regularly on this site and seems to be a decent, level-headed bloke), I have several friends who are Arsenal friends, and throughout this season they have been really, really quick to moan about Arteta and sideways football, and then praise him as the messiah when things were going well. They would have been insufferable if they had won tonight.

31 May 2026 02:46:23
Wow Gabriel, the guy who should have had 3 reds.
Watching Rice run the pitch, arms up, and finally get a yellow was joyous.

Haha Gabriel, karma hit you.

31 May 2026 14:22:49
Couldn't give a toss about how hard it is on Gabriel. He's a piece of s*** on the pitch - his demeanor is of a multiple CL winner, but the trophy cabinet of Luke Chadwick. Arteta is Simeone in disguise. Won a PL and will never win the CL because of the mind numbing anti-football they play. Would not be surprised if Arsenal don't win the PL for a while again. They've got a good squad, much better than ours at the moment, but although they won the PL this year, it was a terrible PL in so much that even we finished in third place.

Arteta's only saving grace for the next season is City, Liverpool and Chelsea will all have new managers, and with a WC this year, pre-season will be different. United have continuity, but our squad is well below par and suspect we will do well to finish top 4 again next season.

31 May 2026 18:24:36
Reminded me of England losing to Italy after Luke Shaw gave us an early lead.
At the time, I wanted Southgate to then change things, at least by second half, and actually go for it, but he continued to sit back and paid the price.

31 May 2026 20:53:23
I have. United to win it at a canter this season, Singh.

30 May 2026 14:23:00
So on 21 May I said “One place Iraola may go is Liverpool. That would be interesting.”

Now it looks like it may indeed be Liverpool. It would answer AJH’s question a week ago on who was in the queue for him.

I would rather they had kept Slot.

30 May 2026 14:38:00
Gutting to think they'll get an exciting, up and coming manager who plays great football with an average Bournemouth team. While we're stuck with an average manager, who in all likelihood won't be here in the next couple years, and we have to start the process all over again.

30 May 2026 15:12:18
We're all doomed!

Let's see if he can step up. Time will tell.

30 May 2026 15:33:24
I rate Iraola. However, the pressure at Liverpool will be a lot more intense than at Bournemouth.

30 May 2026 15:46:49
I think he has a big job on his hands.

They need centre backs (plural), wingers (plural), and a fullback for each side.

Plus, he has to come up with a way to fit Wirtz and Szoboszlai into the starting lineup. Szoboszlai was one of their best players this year, and you can't spend over £100m on a player only to bench him.



I feel like they wasted a lot of money last summer bringing in square pegs, rather than building on what was already working. I suspect that we won't see the best Iraola can do at Liverpool for a few years.

30 May 2026 15:57:44
I think Iraola is a very good manager, and the worst case scenario is that he has a similar effect as Klopp with his style of play. However, it could as easily fall apart, and the difference between the smaller and larger teams is huge, and getting the players to buy in is not easy, so it could easily fail.

On Carrick, the negativity is crazy, and it almost feels like we just wanted the new shiny thing (I may look back with egg on my face).

I think we will see a different style and adaptability with the new players, and a pre-season to embed his style, which for large parts at Middlesborough was successful.

We need to get behind the manager and team until things change. We will know by Christmas whether it was a good or bad choice for us, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City. Until then it is all guess work.

30 May 2026 17:01:30
Isak was excellent at Newcastle. He got injured early and never got going, that was on top of losing Jota, Diaz, and Nunes, and a downturn in Salah's form. I can see things improving radically under Iraola if he has a healthy Isak and Ekitike, maybe with Diomande or Rayan as Salah's replacement.



It would not surprise me if Ratcliffe really wanted Iraola but it had simply become impossible not to give Carrick the opportunity.

30 May 2026 17:07:33
Ajh,
If Iraola does go to Liverpool, who do you think will finish higher in the league, Iraola's Liverpool or Carrick's United?
Who do you think will be sacked first?
Not trying to be clever, but wondering what you think.

30 May 2026 18:00:23
None of us know, Red Man. Most of us thought Liverpool would walk the league at the start of the season.

It's a big step up for him. He may rise to it, or it may overwhelm him. I have no idea which.

Same goes for Carrick. Sorry to sit on the fence, but. ?

30 May 2026 18:41:32
AJH

Yes, a bit of an unknown. I guess we don't know how Iraola deals with big-name players yet. Tactically excellent, mind you.

30 May 2026 18:49:28
Iraola could be great, could also be like Frank at Spurs. Time will tell.

As for Carrick, I have become more hopeful over time. My one qualm has been our style of play, but he has dealt well with what he had at his disposal, and if there was a manager who would understand controlling the midfield, it would be him.

So let's see what he can do with a good summer. Am quietly optimistic.

30 May 2026 22:09:14
Realistically, Liverpool player-wise are at the moment in a better position than us. Their defence is stronger, with a real leader in VVD.
Midfield, as things stand, they are stronger, and in attack we are probably level, although if Isak fires, he is definitely better than Sesko.

They probably need a central defender alongside VVD, possibly another defender who can cover left and right-back positions, and a replacement for Salah. Iraola has proven he can build a team at Bournemouth who play on the front foot, and so the Liverpool players will relish getting back to that Kloppesque style of playing.



Integrating Wirtz and Isak, with no distractions like they had last season, will help the manager to get them back on track quickly enough.

It's much, much harder for Carrick. He needs players right through the spine of the team, plus full-backs, and has to have a bigger squad to contend with more matches.

30 May 2026 22:14:10
I wouldn't say VVD was a leader, to be honest. He doesn't organise very well. Szobozslai seems their best leader going into the new season.

31 May 2026 00:04:31
When I saw highlights of Liverpool recently, VVD was the player shouting at players to be in their right positions, and, like Casemiro for us, it was VVD who scored some good goals when needed most.

31 May 2026 07:50:47
Salford, I'm not sure that Liverpool's defence is better than ours, as you claim.

Frimpong or Dalot? Dalot.
Konate or de Ligt? de Ligt.
van Dijk or Martinez? van Dijk.
Kerkez or Shaw? Shaw every time.
Bradley or Mazraoui? Maz.
Gomes or Maguire? Harry.
Robertson or Yoro? Robertson.

31 May 2026 11:40:07
Salford, Liverpool are defensively in at least as bad a shape as we are. They have some good players but little balance, and they lost identity last summer. Previously, they had a clear identity of hard-working players who facilitated their genuine superstar, Salah. But they've populated the squad with players who themselves are used to being the focal points. They may regain balance with Salah going, but I think our balance in attack is much better than theirs.

The problem there is that they'll need to offload some very expensive players in order to get back to the style they want. Fwiw, I said exactly this last summer. It's not hindsight. This should have been obvious to Hughes and Edwards, and I feel a bit for Slot. I don't think any manager could've made it work.

31 May 2026 11:50:12
I would take their two full backs Kerkez and Bradleyb, because both are equal or better than ours offensively, and are younger with more potential. de Ligt misses too many games.

Gomes is younger and faster than Harry.

Both Frimpong and Mazraoui are not proper full backs, but Frimpong offers more going forward.



Robertson is better defending and attacking than Yoro, but he has lost a yard of pace which will never come back. Yoro is still raw, young, and I hope will improve.

31 May 2026 15:25:28
Yoro and Robertson play completely different positions. It's an unfair comparison.

31 May 2026 21:01:02
You could definitely forge a half decent defense from the two back lines.

Frimpong and Kerkez will kick on this year and be streets ahead of Dalot and Shaw.

Van Dijk is in decline, whereas we have players like Heaven in an upwards trajectory. They also have a couple of young CBs on the rise.

31 May 2026 21:12:02
Both Robertson & Konate are also both leaving in a couple of weeks, so not really a fair comparison of the clubs' positions going forward. Could easily have included Leoni & Jacquet, although judging either would be hardly fair, as one only played a single game in the PL and the other has yet to join, but would at least make a better comparison of the strength of depth going forward.

30 May 2026 14:00:23
Anyone else not going to read Gianni Sychophantino's biography, Forward?

30 May 2026 15:50:11
I'd rather read Gary Neville's autobiography. I'm Bezzie Mates With David Beckham.

30 May 2026 20:09:45
I've read Neville's, and Scholes's, and Giggs's, and they are incredibly dull. Keane's are worth a read. He's very honest.

30 May 2026 21:14:24
Except when he was in court, AJH. Then he argued that it was Dunphy taking creative licence. ?

31 May 2026 00:05:12
Slots should make interesting reading.

31 May 2026 07:13:55
True, Danny, I preferred his second book, you could feel his pain and frustration in his words.

31 May 2026 11:42:42
In fairness AJH Roddy Doyle is a Booker prize winner. It's not a fair comparison. That being said, I enjoyed both books

30 May 2026 13:47:24
Well, damn. We were all coming round to thinking that Slot was as perfect a fit for Liverpool as Liverpool fans considered ETH was for us.

29 May 2026 21:16:14
Dear oh dear, what a shame. Garnacho has not even made the Argentines' preliminary World Cup squad.

I hope for his sake he realises what a complete and utter pig's ear he is making of his career. His choices, decisions and actions have led him to where he is now!

If he had listened to the people at O.

T. who were trying to point him in the right direction and to do the right things, and not believe his own hype and bullsquat, then who knows how things would be today.

A classic tale of letting the idiots decide!

30 May 2026 05:44:14
Not sure of the point of the post.

He was clearly not good enough to play for us regularly. We made a great profit from him, and wish him well for his future career. He's at Chelsea, who are a top club.



Not a big fan of berating young men/kids for making mistakes in their lives. That being said, he'll still earn more in a week than many on these pages earn in a year.

30 May 2026 09:36:40
Was never good enough. Another player overhyped when not really doing anything special. Common theme these days. The press are the worst, every kid is a wonder kid according to them. Too much too soon as well, doesn't help.

30 May 2026 11:05:11
Pity for him. I'm not a fan of his, but I won't delight in his demise.
Hoping he gets a good move and he knuckles down and starts doing better.
I often follow ex United players, and generally hope they do well.

30 May 2026 13:30:22
I think he was good enough, but sadly he is massively immature and full of himself. If he'd been promoted to the first team in a similar environment to when Ronaldo was, he may have had it kicked out of him by the other players. Times change.



I always thought he was massively talented; he blew hot and cold, which is unsurprising for a youngster. But then the fame and ego seemed to take over. Just my opinion from afar.

A real shame. Not the first, not the last to go that way.

30 May 2026 17:05:01
For young players, it is always about the transition, physically and mentally, to senior football. Garnacho had a brilliant youth career. However, as happens around 19, they either take the step up or shrivel. Instead of learning, it looks like he had advice and felt he was better than he was showing. At that age, youth, in all forms of life, think the world owes them a living, that they should be the top dog, not the person with experience.

Garnacho went down the wrong path. I said last summer we did extremely well to get £40m.
Looks like his career is at a crossroads. I hope he finds the skills he showed, or we will see him at a Spanish 2nd Division team. Sad for the talent he had, but it happens all the time.

30 May 2026 18:26:18
Januzaj was one who burst onto the scene only to quickly fade. We were buzzing about him, but again, for whatever reason, he didn't make it to the very top. I remember Tuanzebe keeping Mbappe quiet; seems like a one-off performance. These are good players, but we expected more than we got.

31 May 2026 07:48:01
It must be incredibly hard in today's world for young, elite-level players to even understand what a normal life outside football is. When arriving at the big clubs, they are so insulated from the outside world.

It would be unnatural for most of us to remain level-headed if we were headhunted and paid the mind-boggling sums that these kids receive at such an early age.

The money and lifestyle on offer to mainly uneducated or poorly educated kids, often with their families desperate or greedy for it too, is beyond their wildest dreams if they make it to a club like Utd.



One of Fergie's greatest strengths was bringing his own background into the club. The hard life he experienced in Govan growing up, and the family discipline and work ethic instilled in him, propelled him forwards in his career.

Today's owners and managers are maybe too soft with young players and their agents. If Garnacho had been managed by Fergie, it's impossible to know how he would have reacted to the hair-drier treatment, but overall, I think he would have been more humble and more likely to stay and succeed at Utd and fulfill his potential.

29 May 2026 13:25:08
It's been suggested that revenues next year could be close to £800m assuming a fairly deep Champions League run.

The club has a £400m revolving credit facility of which £250m is currently unused.

Given the improved financial results for the current year there should be absolutely no problems with PSR as it comes to an end.

Current squad cost is less than 50% of next year's likely revenues compared to a maximum Uefa limit of 70% So, with the departures of Casemiro, Hojlund and Sancho at a minimum there's gong to be plenty leeway for the club to improve the squad. I would not be surprised to see us spending £300m.

Longer term there is the new stadium. Part of the reason Real Madrid's revenues are now £1bn is the development of the Bernabeu into a multifunctional entertainment complex. This is one of the areas where the Glazers intend to cash in having reportedly been steadily increasing their real estate holdings around OT.

Whether we like it, or them (the Glazers and Ratcliffe - and I don't), one does get the feeling that the club is now being run by professionals with ambition both on and off the field. The LBO was an abomination which drained the clubs resources and negatively impacted the ability to buy the best players, followed by the appointment and too long endured Ed Woodward, an utterly incompetent chief exec, but If the current management can consistently deliver entertaining football and titles, why should I/we care if they make money in the process? It's surely better for the club that they make it rather than lose it.

It's going to be a transformational decade.

29 May 2026 13:53:52
I will never ever forgive the Glazers, not least for the years of SAF, when we should have dominated Europe but didn’t because of Glazernomics. The LBO & subsequent borrowing cost over £1Bn, and the debt still sits there. £1Bn plus! They will never ever get a pass from me, even when they are finally expunged from the club. Disgusting leeches.

29 May 2026 14:37:09
Red Man, whilst their saddling of debt onto the club is something I really detest, i don't think most people would care if they had appointed competent people to look after the operations. Ultimately plenty of money has been spent - it's that it was spent terribly. Ed Woodward created a toxic culture and made so many inept decisions.

The relative stability we have now, and the clearer approach towards transfers, etc and on due diligence towards the new stadium is far more important than who owns the club and whether they make profit or not. I really don't like them but I'm far happier we owned by them than a Russian oligarch, or a human rights abusing state owned regime.

29 May 2026 15:03:19
They are not allowed anymore in the EPL, as far as I understand - says it all, really. The test for fit ownership clearly failed, and now we have leaches attached to our club that we will likely never shift.

Those in the know around the club have apparently purchased as much property as possible around the proposed site for the new stadium and entertainment area.

A lot of people stand to make a lot of money over the next 10 years.

29 May 2026 15:22:55
But that's exactly the point, DonRed - the Glazers are responsible for appointing those incompetent people in the first place. You can't separate Woodward from the ownership because he was their choice, repeatedly backed by them despite years of failure. A competent ownership structure would never have allowed someone with zero football expertise to run the biggest football club in the country for nearly a decade.

Yes, money was spent, but the reason United had to operate like a commercial machine obsessed with sponsorships and marketing growth was because the club was loaded with debt from a leveraged buyout that never should have been allowed and served as no benefit to the club. Hundreds of millions that could've gone into infrastructure, recruitment, scouting, or the stadium instead went into servicing debt, dividends, and interest payments. The Glazers created an environment where commercial performance mattered more than football performance.

Opposition fans, the media will always say "they spent money," but net spend without structure means nothing.

The ownership failed to put proper football people in place, failed to modernise the club, failed to renovate Old Trafford, failed to invest in the training ground for years, and tolerated mediocrity because top-four finishes and commercial revenue were enough for them.

Liverpool and City built elite football structures while United drifted because the owners didn't prioritise football excellence.

And even now, the "relative stability" only arrived after fan pressure became impossible to ignore and after INEOS effectively had to come in and clean up the football side. The clearer strategy you're praising exists because the Glazers finally had to hand over control after years of mismanagement - not because they suddenly became good owners.

As for other ownership options, although I agree with your sentiment about preferring them to a Russian oligarch or human rights abusing state owned regime, that's a very low bar and the club and fans deserve so much better.

29 May 2026 16:32:06
Who truly cares who the owners are, deep down. Ultimately you just want your tea to win, come what may.

29 May 2026 16:39:03
I also will never forgive the Glazers for the lost decade and a half, and, yes, they are entirely responsible for appointing Woodward, then keeping him in place, and for getting rid of competent managers when they started to tell the truth about what a soulless disaster they were.

My only point is that, had we actually continued to win top trophies with regularity, and somehow found value in the market place, I, and I think the majority of us, wouldn't care much about their dividends, the level of debt, and the interest payments.

Fact is, after the company went public in 2012 - which corresponds with the exit of both SAF and Gill - we were in pretty good shape. If we had replaced them with a halfway decent executive team, we would not have wasted £1bn, we would have continued to at least be in the Champions League with regularity, and we would not now have the level of debt we have.

29 May 2026 16:40:39
Oh dear Jimbobred. ?‍♂️

29 May 2026 16:59:06
Newname, We've won 5 major trophies since Sir Alex left in 2013, and not one league title.

29 May 2026 18:28:37
They basically bought the club by saddling us with debt, using club revenues to service the debt. Clever but appalling. All the while taking large dividends and letting the staff rust and rot. Of course we care who the owners are.

They then appointed a marketing man as CEO who was inept, meaning we overpaid for players who were not good enough. Complete incompetence.

29 May 2026 19:58:45
Ports, the way I look at it is that only the Premier League and European Championship are major titles. The rest are all secondary. Certainly better than nothing, particularly if you're a club that rarely, if ever, wins anything. For example, if you support Villa, a team that realistically is unlikely to ever win the EPL, you're going to be over the moon to win the Europa League.

But if you support Man Utd, it's no more than a consolation. The same for Crystal Palace and the Conference League. It's fantastic ------ for them.

29 May 2026 22:01:22
I read somewhere that around 200 million of transfer fee installments are due to be paid out over the next 12 months.

29 May 2026 22:36:47
Ports, the point is this: clubs are being bought up by all and sundry. Some saddle them with debt; very few will be buying them with cold hard cash.

I'm not saying I agree with their ownership, I'm merely saying if it isn't them, it will be a full SJR ownership (he is no saint), or the Saudis' oil, or Qatari money, or another Hollywood actor making it into a Netflix special revolving pantomime.

It is just the way football has progressed over the last few decades, and I'm not in favour of it.

But what is the alternative? Give up your season ticket in boycott, only for it to be sold the next day (not an option for people who have held them for generations), join the in-game protests (sure, all in), don't buy the merchandise for your kids and grandkids (let them go and support the latest glory team). Any other suggestions?

30 May 2026 09:47:13
Jimbo

I only care what owners do to the club.

The Glazers are disgusting and Ratcliffe enabled them to stay. I suspect the summer aims from the owners are to buy players but also to ensure financial profitability so dividends will be paid. The Glazers have used United like a cash machine, whilst seeing the asset value rise.

Great business from them, but a disgraceful way to treat a historic football club that grew from working class Manchester people.

You said "some saddle them with debt". Which other club has been bought by a LBO?

30 May 2026 13:14:13
Liverpool 2007, Gillett and Hicks.
Burnley 2020.
Portsmouth and Hull were both LBOs.

There's a few.

I respect the Liverpool fans, they successfully chased them out.