comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by The Gentleman Entrepreneur (U13709)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by (U23173)
posted 1 minute ago
Club will never be gone while we have supporters like you.
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What exactly are we supporting? A billionaire's play thing? It stopped being our club in 2005.
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I think that’s part and parcel of the fact the games gone, tbh - at the top level anyway.
Crazy money, constant cheating, VAR, cost of kits.
I love United and always will, but I gave up properly caring a long time ago.
Non league football is where it’s at for live entertainment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes Winston.
Been away on stag do and we were having a discussion about the PL. There was a mixture of United, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool fans. No one really cares about the football that much any more and the Leeds fans don't even want to be in the PL.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To be fair a lot of us really enjoyed the Championship. It seemed much more honest and certainly more exciting without bloody VAR!
Having said that we were usually near the top and that makes a huge difference.
Looking forward to next season and hopefully we stay up. Not sure why but I guess it’s pride or something.
comment by The Gentleman Entrepreneur (U13709)
posted 50 minutes ago
comment by HB Fash (U21935)
posted 11 minutes ago
Ideally you would be getting signings in asap but the club have spent so poorly over the last decade they’re operating with one hand tied behind their back.
It’s not a quick fix and it’s a positive that United aren’t going for filler signings, they’ve identified players and aren’t moving on while they’re still available.
It’s clear outs are needed to allow a bigger revamp. Players that have no obvious move and are on big money, hard to shift. Some probably not all will be sold, I think United will act quicker then.
They aren’t putting the cart before the horse again. They’ve been burnt by the approach many times. Yes they will miss out on players but that’s the position you’re in. I still think you end the window with 4/5 signings and a number of failures, bad eggs moved on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That's all well and good but why go for a manager that requires such a big squad overhall then, where is the long-term planning? We should have gone for a manager that can can get the best out of the squad, not one that requires a squad overall in one window. We finished 15th and absolutely nobody has taken accountability for it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tried that with OGS. 'getting the best out of the players we have' doesnt work if the players aren't good enough.
comment by The Gentleman Entrepreneur (U13709)
posted 44 minutes ago
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 2 minutes ago
We always knew it was going to be very hard to shift a lot of these players, there’s sadly little we can do about it and our previous mistakes are causing us these problems that aren’t Amorims fault.
Like you I care far less about United and football in general these days which sounds odd because I write on here regularly. Maybe a part of me hopes football and the club can return to a more simple time but I know that ain’t gonna happen. It’s a weird feeling but deep down I guess I know the games gone, at the top end anyway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Many of us feel that way. I've not been invested for a long time but apparently I'm a plastic fan for pointing it out and saying enough is enough?
I would rather support a local working class institution like FC United than a billionaire ego project. This isn't just about football anymore. I'm sick of these people ruining society with their greed and exploiting the institutions we built and depend on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You should watch FC United going forwards
This club is absolutely ruined. Not because we lack money, but because of sheer incompetence and awful leadership. The Glazers and Ratcliffe are a disgrace. We’d have been better off with the Qataris, at least they’d have cleared the debt.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
They did not want the brown men. They told us chemical Jim the one to take us back to the glory days.
This man is going to seal the deal in sending us to the wilderness as a club.
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 59 minutes ago
This club is absolutely ruined. Not because we lack money, but because of sheer incompetence and awful leadership. The Glazers and Ratcliffe are a disgrace. We’d have been better off with the Qataris, at least they’d have cleared the debt.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
They did not want the brown men. They told us chemical Jim the one to take us back to the glory days.
This man is going to seal the deal in sending us to the wilderness as a club.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing to do with the colour of their skin and everything to do with their actions. And I don't recall that many being convinced that Jim was the answer either.
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 5 hours, 17 minutes ago
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 59 minutes ago
This club is absolutely ruined. Not because we lack money, but because of sheer incompetence and awful leadership. The Glazers and Ratcliffe are a disgrace. We’d have been better off with the Qataris, at least they’d have cleared the debt.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
They did not want the brown men. They told us chemical Jim the one to take us back to the glory days.
This man is going to seal the deal in sending us to the wilderness as a club.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing to do with the colour of their skin and everything to do with their actions. And I don't recall that many being convinced that Jim was the answer either.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This. Get back in your box scholay
There was some correlation between forum members being more likely to take a hard line against racism in other topics of discussion and being opposed to takeover by the Qatari state. That's despicable slander on Scholay's part. But it's also revealing that he sees the world in a way that's so centred on his football forum enmities. Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
As to the OP, every one has their final straw, I guess. For some it was the ruthless commercialisation of the 90s. For some it was the club essentially becoming a debt repayment vehicle under the Glazers. For you, it's the onset of INEOS leadership. Personally, I've long felt ambivalent about the soul of football and the custodianship of the club, but I don't see the present moment as particularly worse. We have a new leadership that is trying to grapple with the crippling legacy of years of complacency and incompetence. Maybe they'll fail, maybe they'll succeed. But they ckearly have their hands tied, so it will be a while before we can judge. Ratcliffe is a ruthless сunt, quite clearly. But feeling ambivalent about United isn't a new thing. I like Amorim. I like a lot of our players, especially the younger ones, and I look at the academy as the heart of the club. I'm still invested.
There is always the what if scenario coupled with the grass is always greener when it comes to football matters. E.g. the Qataris would have done this and that or a different manager would have done this and that.
We all say that we need to be patient etc, but in reality that isn't often shown.
I am not saying Ineos are perfect, but for some of our problems, it doesn't really matter who is in charge, because from a footballing point of view, the hands are somewhere tied.
We all know the list of players we have that we are tying to get rid of, and how that affects our ability to bring in players etc. That would be the case whoever is in charge, but we just got to make the best of it and hope we can get those sales done.
From a footballing point of view, Amorim underperformed last season, regardless of the circumstances. As bad as we are, we should not be anywhere near the bottom of the table - I support him but accept he is lucky to still be here. The whole 3-4-3 issue and having the right players in overplayed in my head. Don't get me wrong, of course we need the right players, but part of management is also being flexible and getting the sticking to my principals and winning football matches balance right.
This is of course new to Amorim at a club this size, and he probably got that balance wrong, but he is also learning. Next season has become very big in terms of what he has learnt.
But when fans are spending so much time on boards like these having to constantly talk about 'background' issues (and rightly so that we are talking about them), it shows everything that is wrong at the club.
Football owners have always been a law onto themselves. Sadly fan power rarely exists, it would take a whole new reboot (the German model?) before anything truly changes in the way clubs are run.
I don't know enough about this as to whether most German fans are happy with how their clubs are run etc, perhaps something that the EPL needs to look at if they are really about looking after fans.
Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
.......................
I would say it is much more likely that the Glazer's went with Jim because they remained as owners of the club.
I very much doubt they ever had any intention of selling the club unless really stupid money was offered.
Once you choose a club, or a club chooses you, that's it, you are with them through thick and thin. As frustrating as today's United is, we have had it far better than most others clubs in England over the last 30 years. Of course, fans are entitled to have a moan and air their frustrations, but to hear 'fans' complaining about our
current situation and talking of turning away from United, frankly, come across as immature, spoilt and entitled.
We still have the biggest stadium, some of the biggest revenues, a very well thought of young manager and have just signed a £60m Brazil international.
comment by Little Steve (U23271)
posted 7 minutes ago
Once you choose a club, or a club chooses you, that's it, you are with them through thick and thin. As frustrating as today's United is, we have had it far better than most others clubs in England over the last 30 years. Of course, fans are entitled to have a moan and air their frustrations, but to hear 'fans' complaining about our
current situation and talking of turning away from United, frankly, come across as immature, spoilt and entitled.
We still have the biggest stadium, some of the biggest revenues, a very well thought of young manager and have just signed a £60m Brazil international.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with a lot of this post. You could argue we have 'first world football' problems and I can appreciate why we are disliked by so many other clubs' fans.
What disappoints me most is that the club didn't seem to learn after what happened after Sir Matt Busby. The same thing is happening, some of the circumstances are different, but generally we were ill-prepared after SAF, especially in terms of players being brought in for Moyes first season. Moyes probably would have never succeeded anyway, but it was just the start.
No-one doubts how great SAF was, but just like Busby, his shadow, especially in the early days, loomed large at OT - not SAF's fault as such, but it makes it tough for incoming managers to be their own man, no matter how much they appreciate talking to SAF etc.
But we are where we are now, and to simplify it, if we have the right manager and most of the right players, things will get better - always easier on paper
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 10 hours, 41 minutes ago
Been away on stag do and we were having a discussion about the PL. There was a mixture of United, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool fans. No one really cares about the football that much any more and the Leeds fans don't even want to be in the PL.
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They'll be very happy in about 9 months time then
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 50 minutes ago
Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
.......................
I would say it is much more likely that the Glazer's went with Jim because they remained as owners of the club.
I very much doubt they ever had any intention of selling the club unless really stupid money was offered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They may have preferred Ratcliffe's bid anyway, but it's established fact, recorded in legal filings, that the Qatari bid did not materialise when it reached the point where both sides were invited to show proof of funds. It's massive wishful thinking on the part of disgruntled fans that "we should have gone with the sheikh". And for me quite revealing that some people project our current struggles as if anonymous forum members who didn't warm to the sportswashing pathway are to blame: "you got what you wanted!"
The Glazers are opportunists, who bought themselves a great investment. They might claim to have a soft spot for the club, but first and foremost, its an asset, that for maybe 10 years, ticked along nicely whilst appreciating in value.
I dont have an issue with SAF hanging around while the club tried to replace some of his influence throughout the club, and to bring the footballing structure into line with other elite clubs. Unfortunately, the SAF magic dust wore off before the club were able to het the football structure right, and it became misstep after misstep on managerial appointments, and transfer business.
Personally, I welcome the INEOS investment, and think their efforts so far, have largely been good (although the ETH extension, and Ashworth business are questionable)
The Glazers own less of the club.
The Glazers have less influence over the clubs future.
INEOS aren't afraid to make tough decisions.
INEOS are thinking long term (new stadium, new football structure, refusal to overpay)
As a fanbase, I think we need to we accept we are where we are right now, back INEOS whilst they try and get us out of the Glazer/SAF/Woodward hangover, and back Amorim and whoever he ends up with as his squad.
"I like Amorim"
He seems like a nice bloke and he is strong in his convinctions which I think is essential to succeed here, but sadly I'm yet to see any signs that he's good enough for us. Of course it's early days and he has a philosophy that will need time and lots of changes in order for it to flourish but still, week in week out all I'm seeing is an absolute sh-t show (if you actually step back and try and look at our season objectively it was so unbelievably bad it's untrue). That's not to say I think he should be sacked which sounds strange as I hope with time we should see improvements, however gradual and I'm at a point now where I don't need another sacking and am intrigued to see what he can do with time and support from the board where he can utilise our youth players more and get everyone on board with his ideas.
But yeah, it's an odd one because I too do like the bloke even though he's been terrible, lol.
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 30 minutes ago
"I like Amorim"
He seems like a nice bloke and he is strong in his convinctions which I think is essential to succeed here, but sadly I'm yet to see any signs that he's good enough for us. Of course it's early days and he has a philosophy that will need time and lots of changes in order for it to flourish but still, week in week out all I'm seeing is an absolute sh-t show (if you actually step back and try and look at our season objectively it was so unbelievably bad it's untrue). That's not to say I think he should be sacked which sounds strange as I hope with time we should see improvements, however gradual and I'm at a point now where I don't need another sacking and am intrigued to see what he can do with time and support from the board where he can utilise our youth players more and get everyone on board with his ideas.
But yeah, it's an odd one because I too do like the bloke even though he's been terrible, lol.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Onana and a lack of goals give us no plavce to hide.
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 48 minutes ago
"I like Amorim"
He seems like a nice bloke and he is strong in his convinctions which I think is essential to succeed here, but sadly I'm yet to see any signs that he's good enough for us. Of course it's early days and he has a philosophy that will need time and lots of changes in order for it to flourish but still, week in week out all I'm seeing is an absolute sh-t show (if you actually step back and try and look at our season objectively it was so unbelievably bad it's untrue). That's not to say I think he should be sacked which sounds strange as I hope with time we should see improvements, however gradual and I'm at a point now where I don't need another sacking and am intrigued to see what he can do with time and support from the board where he can utilise our youth players more and get everyone on board with his ideas.
But yeah, it's an odd one because I too do like the bloke even though he's been terrible, lol.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I mean, I find him likeable, but I'm also really impressed with everything he has done before United. I think he has the balls and charisma to not crumble in the job. And while there were some abject performances last season, there were also several games where we lost not because we were outplayed, but because of familiar frailties in the squad (couldn't finish any of our chances, that vulnerability to collective panic, the odd Onana howler). To my eyes, we played increasingly coherent football as the season went on, became more solid at the back, worked the ball forward more consistently and fluently. More often than not it didn't translate into wins. But I give every United manager the benefit of the doubt, and I think he inherited a particularly poisoned chalice (low ebb, timing, unsuitable squad, morale affected by redundancies) while having more about him than most of his predecessors.
The people who run this club are so thick, if you're going to hire a manager that plays a completely different system to the previous 3, then have a plan in place to sign the players he needs, if you knew you don't have the money, hire a manager that requires the least amount of tweaking.
Its not even the first time they've done that, previously with LVG to Jose. The club is finished till there's new owners, I think its going to be a very long time before we're back in the CL.
Russian
I dunno, I agree we saw more coherent football (not that it seemed to be that effective) but I'd say we were still losing games by generally being outplayed as well as the individual errors. I think maybe you easily gloss over these frailties as if they'll iron themselves out over time under Amorim when I still don't see it. I see a squad that are generally quite poor technically who crumble under pressure and struggle to start games with any real conviction and mentally zone out far too easily, these are issues that Amorim has struggled to change.
I hope Amorim can fix things and I know a lot of problems are out of his control but I must admit I'm not that confident.
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 3 hours, 19 minutes ago
Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
.......................
I would say it is much more likely that the Glazer's went with Jim because they remained as owners of the club.
I very much doubt they ever had any intention of selling the club unless really stupid money was offered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Simple really. Billionaires are billionaires for a reason. Whatever happened is for a reason. I kind of feel sad for Ineos and Jim. They just walked into a hornets nest.
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 28 minutes ago
Russian
I dunno, I agree we saw more coherent football (not that it seemed to be that effective) but I'd say we were still losing games by generally being outplayed as well as the individual errors. I think maybe you easily gloss over these frailties as if they'll iron themselves out over time under Amorim when I still don't see it. I see a squad that are generally quite poor technically who crumble under pressure and struggle to start games with any real conviction and mentally zone out far too easily, these are issues that Amorim has struggled to change.
I hope Amorim can fix things and I know a lot of problems are out of his control but I must admit I'm not that confident.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sure, we were outplayed by several teams. Some teams are just packed full of better players and already tactically drilled for years within their systems. Some teams (e.g. Brentford, Palace) simply dominate us physically because they are faster, stronger, bigger. But there were a few games where we dominated possession and chances, and still lost. The Wolves game to take one example.
But more broadly, I think you misunderstand my 'optimism' a bit. I have some optimism that we have a more qualified front office with much more clarity about sporting objectives (not saying they are amazing but the fact that they are trying to achieve these things is already a huge break from the Glazer-Woodward era, and it's way too early to judge the quality or impact of their decision making). I have some optimism about the abilities of Amorim himself. Maybe we see these things slightly differently.
But I think the bigger difference which informs our contrasting moods is that I don't massively care how quickly we improve or how many games we win next season. At this point I'm more invested in seeing a plan take shape, and see a tactically advanced brand of football finally emerge at United. I'm under no illusions. It's going to take ages to become a really good team again. The financial legacy of past complacency will take years to overcome. We have a technically and physically limited squad. Belief is gone. Who thinks it should be quick and painless to transform this picture? It won't. I think it's because I already accept this that I'm now quite positive, because I'm invested in the long journey we need to take to get back, and in a strange way think it will be a lot more satisfying if we can build a new club from the ground up than if we could wave a wand with Genius Manager and a chequebook in the other hand.
So if we finish 11th next season but we can see progress and feel momentum and, just as importantly, there's a clearer pathway to finishing 8th the following season and building from that, I'll be fine with that.
Of course, things can always get worse as well as better. It's not a given that my modest aspirations are met. But I don't feel inclined to grieve in advance when there are so many unknowns.
One related comment. I'd have a very different attitude to the future if it seemed that the club were mainly focused on avoiding short term pain. In the Woodward era we continually failed to take steps that could make us competitive in 4-5 years because that was too long to wait. Kept buying 'last piece of the jigsaw' players when the whole structure of the team was disjointed. ETH abandoned the idea of instilling a possession based football for relying on counterattacking, because he would lose too many points while re-educating and retooling the team. We continually procrastinated about setting up a proper sporting executive structure and sophisticated data operations, the fruits of which would only come years later.
If we were seeing more of the same, I'd feel quite despairing about the future. I have slight concerns about targeting Cunha and Mbeumo as players who cost a lot for short-term productivity rather than making sense holistically as long-term investments, but it's definitely not in Ronaldo-Casemiro territory.
Red Russian - I'm hoping Cunha and (eventually!) Mbeumo will be with us a long time and that their productivity now will help push us up the league quicker than if we didn't have them. I don't think we can wholly rely on younger players and punts and getting two proven PL players at a good age is a good thing IMO.
I'm still pretty hopefully we'll make a few signings before the window shuts that'll make our first XI much better. I'm also hoping/expecting a lot of our players that underperformed last season to be better too. I really do think it's fine margins at times with us. A move breaking down at one end because our wide mine can't beat a man and then lose the ball. Then a few minutes later we concede.
Call me mad but with a good tail wind I can see us challenging for the CL spots. I really can.
Sign in if you want to comment
It's Over. Club's Gone.
Page 2 of 3
posted on 10/7/25
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by The Gentleman Entrepreneur (U13709)
posted 20 minutes ago
comment by (U23173)
posted 1 minute ago
Club will never be gone while we have supporters like you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What exactly are we supporting? A billionaire's play thing? It stopped being our club in 2005.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that’s part and parcel of the fact the games gone, tbh - at the top level anyway.
Crazy money, constant cheating, VAR, cost of kits.
I love United and always will, but I gave up properly caring a long time ago.
Non league football is where it’s at for live entertainment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes Winston.
Been away on stag do and we were having a discussion about the PL. There was a mixture of United, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool fans. No one really cares about the football that much any more and the Leeds fans don't even want to be in the PL.
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To be fair a lot of us really enjoyed the Championship. It seemed much more honest and certainly more exciting without bloody VAR!
Having said that we were usually near the top and that makes a huge difference.
Looking forward to next season and hopefully we stay up. Not sure why but I guess it’s pride or something.
posted on 10/7/25
comment by The Gentleman Entrepreneur (U13709)
posted 50 minutes ago
comment by HB Fash (U21935)
posted 11 minutes ago
Ideally you would be getting signings in asap but the club have spent so poorly over the last decade they’re operating with one hand tied behind their back.
It’s not a quick fix and it’s a positive that United aren’t going for filler signings, they’ve identified players and aren’t moving on while they’re still available.
It’s clear outs are needed to allow a bigger revamp. Players that have no obvious move and are on big money, hard to shift. Some probably not all will be sold, I think United will act quicker then.
They aren’t putting the cart before the horse again. They’ve been burnt by the approach many times. Yes they will miss out on players but that’s the position you’re in. I still think you end the window with 4/5 signings and a number of failures, bad eggs moved on.
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That's all well and good but why go for a manager that requires such a big squad overhall then, where is the long-term planning? We should have gone for a manager that can can get the best out of the squad, not one that requires a squad overall in one window. We finished 15th and absolutely nobody has taken accountability for it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tried that with OGS. 'getting the best out of the players we have' doesnt work if the players aren't good enough.
posted on 10/7/25
comment by The Gentleman Entrepreneur (U13709)
posted 44 minutes ago
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 2 minutes ago
We always knew it was going to be very hard to shift a lot of these players, there’s sadly little we can do about it and our previous mistakes are causing us these problems that aren’t Amorims fault.
Like you I care far less about United and football in general these days which sounds odd because I write on here regularly. Maybe a part of me hopes football and the club can return to a more simple time but I know that ain’t gonna happen. It’s a weird feeling but deep down I guess I know the games gone, at the top end anyway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Many of us feel that way. I've not been invested for a long time but apparently I'm a plastic fan for pointing it out and saying enough is enough?
I would rather support a local working class institution like FC United than a billionaire ego project. This isn't just about football anymore. I'm sick of these people ruining society with their greed and exploiting the institutions we built and depend on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You should watch FC United going forwards
posted on 11/7/25
This club is absolutely ruined. Not because we lack money, but because of sheer incompetence and awful leadership. The Glazers and Ratcliffe are a disgrace. We’d have been better off with the Qataris, at least they’d have cleared the debt.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
They did not want the brown men. They told us chemical Jim the one to take us back to the glory days.
This man is going to seal the deal in sending us to the wilderness as a club.
posted on 11/7/25
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 59 minutes ago
This club is absolutely ruined. Not because we lack money, but because of sheer incompetence and awful leadership. The Glazers and Ratcliffe are a disgrace. We’d have been better off with the Qataris, at least they’d have cleared the debt.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
They did not want the brown men. They told us chemical Jim the one to take us back to the glory days.
This man is going to seal the deal in sending us to the wilderness as a club.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing to do with the colour of their skin and everything to do with their actions. And I don't recall that many being convinced that Jim was the answer either.
posted on 11/7/25
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 5 hours, 17 minutes ago
comment by scholayScholes (U13961)
posted 59 minutes ago
This club is absolutely ruined. Not because we lack money, but because of sheer incompetence and awful leadership. The Glazers and Ratcliffe are a disgrace. We’d have been better off with the Qataris, at least they’d have cleared the debt.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
They did not want the brown men. They told us chemical Jim the one to take us back to the glory days.
This man is going to seal the deal in sending us to the wilderness as a club.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing to do with the colour of their skin and everything to do with their actions. And I don't recall that many being convinced that Jim was the answer either.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This. Get back in your box scholay
posted on 11/7/25
There was some correlation between forum members being more likely to take a hard line against racism in other topics of discussion and being opposed to takeover by the Qatari state. That's despicable slander on Scholay's part. But it's also revealing that he sees the world in a way that's so centred on his football forum enmities. Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
posted on 11/7/25
As to the OP, every one has their final straw, I guess. For some it was the ruthless commercialisation of the 90s. For some it was the club essentially becoming a debt repayment vehicle under the Glazers. For you, it's the onset of INEOS leadership. Personally, I've long felt ambivalent about the soul of football and the custodianship of the club, but I don't see the present moment as particularly worse. We have a new leadership that is trying to grapple with the crippling legacy of years of complacency and incompetence. Maybe they'll fail, maybe they'll succeed. But they ckearly have their hands tied, so it will be a while before we can judge. Ratcliffe is a ruthless сunt, quite clearly. But feeling ambivalent about United isn't a new thing. I like Amorim. I like a lot of our players, especially the younger ones, and I look at the academy as the heart of the club. I'm still invested.
posted on 11/7/25
There is always the what if scenario coupled with the grass is always greener when it comes to football matters. E.g. the Qataris would have done this and that or a different manager would have done this and that.
We all say that we need to be patient etc, but in reality that isn't often shown.
I am not saying Ineos are perfect, but for some of our problems, it doesn't really matter who is in charge, because from a footballing point of view, the hands are somewhere tied.
We all know the list of players we have that we are tying to get rid of, and how that affects our ability to bring in players etc. That would be the case whoever is in charge, but we just got to make the best of it and hope we can get those sales done.
From a footballing point of view, Amorim underperformed last season, regardless of the circumstances. As bad as we are, we should not be anywhere near the bottom of the table - I support him but accept he is lucky to still be here. The whole 3-4-3 issue and having the right players in overplayed in my head. Don't get me wrong, of course we need the right players, but part of management is also being flexible and getting the sticking to my principals and winning football matches balance right.
This is of course new to Amorim at a club this size, and he probably got that balance wrong, but he is also learning. Next season has become very big in terms of what he has learnt.
But when fans are spending so much time on boards like these having to constantly talk about 'background' issues (and rightly so that we are talking about them), it shows everything that is wrong at the club.
Football owners have always been a law onto themselves. Sadly fan power rarely exists, it would take a whole new reboot (the German model?) before anything truly changes in the way clubs are run.
I don't know enough about this as to whether most German fans are happy with how their clubs are run etc, perhaps something that the EPL needs to look at if they are really about looking after fans.
posted on 11/7/25
Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
.......................
I would say it is much more likely that the Glazer's went with Jim because they remained as owners of the club.
I very much doubt they ever had any intention of selling the club unless really stupid money was offered.
posted on 11/7/25
Once you choose a club, or a club chooses you, that's it, you are with them through thick and thin. As frustrating as today's United is, we have had it far better than most others clubs in England over the last 30 years. Of course, fans are entitled to have a moan and air their frustrations, but to hear 'fans' complaining about our
current situation and talking of turning away from United, frankly, come across as immature, spoilt and entitled.
We still have the biggest stadium, some of the biggest revenues, a very well thought of young manager and have just signed a £60m Brazil international.
posted on 11/7/25
comment by Little Steve (U23271)
posted 7 minutes ago
Once you choose a club, or a club chooses you, that's it, you are with them through thick and thin. As frustrating as today's United is, we have had it far better than most others clubs in England over the last 30 years. Of course, fans are entitled to have a moan and air their frustrations, but to hear 'fans' complaining about our
current situation and talking of turning away from United, frankly, come across as immature, spoilt and entitled.
We still have the biggest stadium, some of the biggest revenues, a very well thought of young manager and have just signed a £60m Brazil international.
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I agree with a lot of this post. You could argue we have 'first world football' problems and I can appreciate why we are disliked by so many other clubs' fans.
What disappoints me most is that the club didn't seem to learn after what happened after Sir Matt Busby. The same thing is happening, some of the circumstances are different, but generally we were ill-prepared after SAF, especially in terms of players being brought in for Moyes first season. Moyes probably would have never succeeded anyway, but it was just the start.
No-one doubts how great SAF was, but just like Busby, his shadow, especially in the early days, loomed large at OT - not SAF's fault as such, but it makes it tough for incoming managers to be their own man, no matter how much they appreciate talking to SAF etc.
But we are where we are now, and to simplify it, if we have the right manager and most of the right players, things will get better - always easier on paper
posted on 11/7/25
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 10 hours, 41 minutes ago
Been away on stag do and we were having a discussion about the PL. There was a mixture of United, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool fans. No one really cares about the football that much any more and the Leeds fans don't even want to be in the PL.
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They'll be very happy in about 9 months time then
posted on 11/7/25
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 50 minutes ago
Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
.......................
I would say it is much more likely that the Glazer's went with Jim because they remained as owners of the club.
I very much doubt they ever had any intention of selling the club unless really stupid money was offered.
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They may have preferred Ratcliffe's bid anyway, but it's established fact, recorded in legal filings, that the Qatari bid did not materialise when it reached the point where both sides were invited to show proof of funds. It's massive wishful thinking on the part of disgruntled fans that "we should have gone with the sheikh". And for me quite revealing that some people project our current struggles as if anonymous forum members who didn't warm to the sportswashing pathway are to blame: "you got what you wanted!"
posted on 11/7/25
The Glazers are opportunists, who bought themselves a great investment. They might claim to have a soft spot for the club, but first and foremost, its an asset, that for maybe 10 years, ticked along nicely whilst appreciating in value.
I dont have an issue with SAF hanging around while the club tried to replace some of his influence throughout the club, and to bring the footballing structure into line with other elite clubs. Unfortunately, the SAF magic dust wore off before the club were able to het the football structure right, and it became misstep after misstep on managerial appointments, and transfer business.
Personally, I welcome the INEOS investment, and think their efforts so far, have largely been good (although the ETH extension, and Ashworth business are questionable)
The Glazers own less of the club.
The Glazers have less influence over the clubs future.
INEOS aren't afraid to make tough decisions.
INEOS are thinking long term (new stadium, new football structure, refusal to overpay)
As a fanbase, I think we need to we accept we are where we are right now, back INEOS whilst they try and get us out of the Glazer/SAF/Woodward hangover, and back Amorim and whoever he ends up with as his squad.
posted on 11/7/25
"I like Amorim"
He seems like a nice bloke and he is strong in his convinctions which I think is essential to succeed here, but sadly I'm yet to see any signs that he's good enough for us. Of course it's early days and he has a philosophy that will need time and lots of changes in order for it to flourish but still, week in week out all I'm seeing is an absolute sh-t show (if you actually step back and try and look at our season objectively it was so unbelievably bad it's untrue). That's not to say I think he should be sacked which sounds strange as I hope with time we should see improvements, however gradual and I'm at a point now where I don't need another sacking and am intrigued to see what he can do with time and support from the board where he can utilise our youth players more and get everyone on board with his ideas.
But yeah, it's an odd one because I too do like the bloke even though he's been terrible, lol.
posted on 11/7/25
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 30 minutes ago
"I like Amorim"
He seems like a nice bloke and he is strong in his convinctions which I think is essential to succeed here, but sadly I'm yet to see any signs that he's good enough for us. Of course it's early days and he has a philosophy that will need time and lots of changes in order for it to flourish but still, week in week out all I'm seeing is an absolute sh-t show (if you actually step back and try and look at our season objectively it was so unbelievably bad it's untrue). That's not to say I think he should be sacked which sounds strange as I hope with time we should see improvements, however gradual and I'm at a point now where I don't need another sacking and am intrigued to see what he can do with time and support from the board where he can utilise our youth players more and get everyone on board with his ideas.
But yeah, it's an odd one because I too do like the bloke even though he's been terrible, lol.
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Onana and a lack of goals give us no plavce to hide.
posted on 11/7/25
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 48 minutes ago
"I like Amorim"
He seems like a nice bloke and he is strong in his convinctions which I think is essential to succeed here, but sadly I'm yet to see any signs that he's good enough for us. Of course it's early days and he has a philosophy that will need time and lots of changes in order for it to flourish but still, week in week out all I'm seeing is an absolute sh-t show (if you actually step back and try and look at our season objectively it was so unbelievably bad it's untrue). That's not to say I think he should be sacked which sounds strange as I hope with time we should see improvements, however gradual and I'm at a point now where I don't need another sacking and am intrigued to see what he can do with time and support from the board where he can utilise our youth players more and get everyone on board with his ideas.
But yeah, it's an odd one because I too do like the bloke even though he's been terrible, lol.
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I mean, I find him likeable, but I'm also really impressed with everything he has done before United. I think he has the balls and charisma to not crumble in the job. And while there were some abject performances last season, there were also several games where we lost not because we were outplayed, but because of familiar frailties in the squad (couldn't finish any of our chances, that vulnerability to collective panic, the odd Onana howler). To my eyes, we played increasingly coherent football as the season went on, became more solid at the back, worked the ball forward more consistently and fluently. More often than not it didn't translate into wins. But I give every United manager the benefit of the doubt, and I think he inherited a particularly poisoned chalice (low ebb, timing, unsuitable squad, morale affected by redundancies) while having more about him than most of his predecessors.
posted on 11/7/25
The people who run this club are so thick, if you're going to hire a manager that plays a completely different system to the previous 3, then have a plan in place to sign the players he needs, if you knew you don't have the money, hire a manager that requires the least amount of tweaking.
Its not even the first time they've done that, previously with LVG to Jose. The club is finished till there's new owners, I think its going to be a very long time before we're back in the CL.
posted on 11/7/25
Russian
I dunno, I agree we saw more coherent football (not that it seemed to be that effective) but I'd say we were still losing games by generally being outplayed as well as the individual errors. I think maybe you easily gloss over these frailties as if they'll iron themselves out over time under Amorim when I still don't see it. I see a squad that are generally quite poor technically who crumble under pressure and struggle to start games with any real conviction and mentally zone out far too easily, these are issues that Amorim has struggled to change.
I hope Amorim can fix things and I know a lot of problems are out of his control but I must admit I'm not that confident.
posted on 11/7/25
Glory hunter
posted on 11/7/25
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 3 hours, 19 minutes ago
Ratcliffe's bid was successful not because of fans who didn't want our club to become the plaything of an authoritarian state. It succeeded because the Glazers chose it. And one of the big reasons for that was the indisputable fact that the Qatari bid simply didn't come to fruition. It consisted in a group of people claiming to represent a sheikh, who ultimately declined to show proof of funds at the relevant moment.
.......................
I would say it is much more likely that the Glazer's went with Jim because they remained as owners of the club.
I very much doubt they ever had any intention of selling the club unless really stupid money was offered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Simple really. Billionaires are billionaires for a reason. Whatever happened is for a reason. I kind of feel sad for Ineos and Jim. They just walked into a hornets nest.
posted on 11/7/25
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 28 minutes ago
Russian
I dunno, I agree we saw more coherent football (not that it seemed to be that effective) but I'd say we were still losing games by generally being outplayed as well as the individual errors. I think maybe you easily gloss over these frailties as if they'll iron themselves out over time under Amorim when I still don't see it. I see a squad that are generally quite poor technically who crumble under pressure and struggle to start games with any real conviction and mentally zone out far too easily, these are issues that Amorim has struggled to change.
I hope Amorim can fix things and I know a lot of problems are out of his control but I must admit I'm not that confident.
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Sure, we were outplayed by several teams. Some teams are just packed full of better players and already tactically drilled for years within their systems. Some teams (e.g. Brentford, Palace) simply dominate us physically because they are faster, stronger, bigger. But there were a few games where we dominated possession and chances, and still lost. The Wolves game to take one example.
But more broadly, I think you misunderstand my 'optimism' a bit. I have some optimism that we have a more qualified front office with much more clarity about sporting objectives (not saying they are amazing but the fact that they are trying to achieve these things is already a huge break from the Glazer-Woodward era, and it's way too early to judge the quality or impact of their decision making). I have some optimism about the abilities of Amorim himself. Maybe we see these things slightly differently.
But I think the bigger difference which informs our contrasting moods is that I don't massively care how quickly we improve or how many games we win next season. At this point I'm more invested in seeing a plan take shape, and see a tactically advanced brand of football finally emerge at United. I'm under no illusions. It's going to take ages to become a really good team again. The financial legacy of past complacency will take years to overcome. We have a technically and physically limited squad. Belief is gone. Who thinks it should be quick and painless to transform this picture? It won't. I think it's because I already accept this that I'm now quite positive, because I'm invested in the long journey we need to take to get back, and in a strange way think it will be a lot more satisfying if we can build a new club from the ground up than if we could wave a wand with Genius Manager and a chequebook in the other hand.
So if we finish 11th next season but we can see progress and feel momentum and, just as importantly, there's a clearer pathway to finishing 8th the following season and building from that, I'll be fine with that.
Of course, things can always get worse as well as better. It's not a given that my modest aspirations are met. But I don't feel inclined to grieve in advance when there are so many unknowns.
posted on 11/7/25
One related comment. I'd have a very different attitude to the future if it seemed that the club were mainly focused on avoiding short term pain. In the Woodward era we continually failed to take steps that could make us competitive in 4-5 years because that was too long to wait. Kept buying 'last piece of the jigsaw' players when the whole structure of the team was disjointed. ETH abandoned the idea of instilling a possession based football for relying on counterattacking, because he would lose too many points while re-educating and retooling the team. We continually procrastinated about setting up a proper sporting executive structure and sophisticated data operations, the fruits of which would only come years later.
If we were seeing more of the same, I'd feel quite despairing about the future. I have slight concerns about targeting Cunha and Mbeumo as players who cost a lot for short-term productivity rather than making sense holistically as long-term investments, but it's definitely not in Ronaldo-Casemiro territory.
posted on 11/7/25
Red Russian - I'm hoping Cunha and (eventually!) Mbeumo will be with us a long time and that their productivity now will help push us up the league quicker than if we didn't have them. I don't think we can wholly rely on younger players and punts and getting two proven PL players at a good age is a good thing IMO.
I'm still pretty hopefully we'll make a few signings before the window shuts that'll make our first XI much better. I'm also hoping/expecting a lot of our players that underperformed last season to be better too. I really do think it's fine margins at times with us. A move breaking down at one end because our wide mine can't beat a man and then lose the ball. Then a few minutes later we concede.
Call me mad but with a good tail wind I can see us challenging for the CL spots. I really can.
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