HEIRARCHY BOSSING FOOTBALL
"Leadership is influence" as a famous writer put it. As expected, organisations come fully equipped with leadership structures of one kind or another. Football clubs as organisations,thus follow this pattern. As the game of football continues to spread all the world like an irrepressible virus, investors keep coming in to take over clubs in need of cash injection and totally transform them. Well, let me add that apart from the love for the development football, the investors also look to reap huge financial gains. So we have clubs like PSG,Manchester City,Chelsea,Newcastle United,even Manchester United(recently) that have these billionaire investors their bosses. Ofcourse,this brings with it, a current of influence as to how the club is run. For example,the current Mbappe saga, the show of influence that Mbappe is demonstrating now at PSG was created by the heirarchy. It was once [Neymar lording over everyone](https://peakd.com/hive-101690/@ogeewitty/psgs-in-fighting-some-history),insisting that Cavani submits. Well Cavani had to submit,but it's also a key reason why he left the club. Who gave Neymar that effrontery? Yeah,you probably guessed right, it's the heirarchy! Mbappe was presented with a project that didn't have Neymar in it, a project that said a striker will be signed and a world class defender too( that the monies for these are available) amongst other promises. None was brought to come to pass by the heirarchy. [I brought *us the news first on Hive*, please [MBAPPE WANTS OUT.. AND WOULD LAND MADRID TOMORROW](https://peakd.com/@ogeewitty/mbappe-wants-out-of-psg-by-jan-and-would-land-madrid-tomorrow)] So the primary tool for survival in PSG,as a coach,is aligning with the hierarchy's thinking. Once Zidane and Madrid's President couldn't agree on transfers, Zidane resigned, before his "second coming". Ancelloti was ejected by the dressing room of Bayern, they accused him of being a lazy trainer,etc. Listen please, there is no way(absolutely NO WAY) Ancelloti had lost his midace touch with regards creating ambiance in any dressing room. The real issue was that he wasn't playing Muller and the hierarchy was loyal to Muller,infact you hurt Muller and you've hurt Bayern. That crack between the hierarchy and a manager will normally be explored by the dressing room(accusing him of all sorts) and make the manager feel like a poor manager of men. Ancelloti and the club heirarchy were not on thesame page with Muller.That was the reality. At Napoli,once again it was the heirarchy against Ancelloti,but with a different story-line. Here, the players loved Ancelloti AS ALWAYS. He has been and still is the best at managing a dressing room. In Napoli the players disobeyed the order of their President,who unilaterally summoned them for an emergency training as a disciplinary measure for losing a match horribly. The boys didn't show up from their homes. The President confronted Ancelloti privately, wondering why Ancelloti was quiet about the disobedience of his boys.[I don't like club interferences in coaching. You summon a squad for training without discussing with the coach? Who does that?] Ancelloti took the neutral stance and pleaded with the leadership to cut the boys some slack, that the boys are also sad by the loss, that the boys didn't mean to disrespect him. The President couldn't stomach that disobedience by the squad, he felt do embarrassed and that the coach took a neutral stance made it hurt him even more,so he sacked Ancelloti eventhough the dressing room was fine and results had improved. So a coach's know-how in controlling the dressing room and even good results is not always primary for a long stay in a club. The heirarchy can choose to interfere and if the coach opposes he is out. Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea’s new owner Mr. Todd Boehly, much to the distaste of football followers worldwide,including much of the Chelsea fan base. Yet the truth is,the heirarchy wanted something Tuchel didn't want. Tuchel didn't buy into the pathway they craved for the club, so they had to part ways. Enter Napoli and get bewildered at their "senseless" clear-out in the last two windows. You've managed to work your socks off to qualify for the Champions League and you are pushing out important players,who got you there. All their 3 captains were moved out, that they had to select a new captain this July. Dries Mertens,35,one of their assistant captains and Napoli's all-time highest goal scorer with 148 goals,had a year left on his contract and begged to finish the contract.He had spent 9 seasons with them,he even speaks Neapolitan and prides himself in their customs and christened his son with the nickname given him(Mertens) by fans,"Ciro". He wanted to see out his professional career in Napoli,as a mark of honour. Why not? The fans absolutely loved him and he's still playing well(he'll be at the World Cup). What's wrong with,granting him his wish,but smartly signing an understudy? The club certainly had enough finances and marketability to do this, but the President bluntly refused and sent him packing. He's now moved to a huge project in Turkey. I think the biggest in all Europe. What am I saying? 1.)The heirarchy is the source of things. They can crush or create player-power if they decide. 2.) There had since been an agreement(not the heirarchy doing something unilaterally) between the heirarchy and Napoli's coach on a new direction for the club(AND THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE) that occasioned this seemingly senseless clear out,that is making sense now.
HEIRARCHY BOSSING FOOTBALL
"Leadership is influence" as a famous writer put it. As expected, organisations come fully equipped with leadership structures of one kind or another. Football clubs as organisations,thus follow this pattern. As the game of football continues to spread all the world like an irrepressible virus, investors keep coming in to take over clubs in need of cash injection and totally transform them. Well, let me add that apart from the love for the development football, the investors also look to reap huge financial gains. So we have clubs like PSG,Manchester City,Chelsea,Newcastle United,even Manchester United(recently) that have these billionaire investors their bosses. Ofcourse,this brings with it, a current of influence as to how the club is run. For example,the current Mbappe saga, the show of influence that Mbappe is demonstrating now at PSG was created by the heirarchy. It was once [Neymar lording over everyone](https://peakd.com/hive-101690/@ogeewitty/psgs-in-fighting-some-history),insisting that Cavani submits. Well Cavani had to submit,but it's also a key reason why he left the club. Who gave Neymar that effrontery? Yeah,you probably guessed right, it's the heirarchy! Mbappe was presented with a project that didn't have Neymar in it, a project that said a striker will be signed and a world class defender too( that the monies for these are available) amongst other promises. None was brought to come to pass by the heirarchy. [I brought *us the news first on Hive*, please [MBAPPE WANTS OUT.. AND WOULD LAND MADRID TOMORROW](https://peakd.com/@ogeewitty/mbappe-wants-out-of-psg-by-jan-and-would-land-madrid-tomorrow)] So the primary tool for survival in PSG,as a coach,is aligning with the hierarchy's thinking. Once Zidane and Madrid's President couldn't agree on transfers, Zidane resigned, before his "second coming". Ancelloti was ejected by the dressing room of Bayern, they accused him of being a lazy trainer,etc. Listen please, there is no way(absolutely NO WAY) Ancelloti had lost his midace touch with regards creating ambiance in any dressing room. The real issue was that he wasn't playing Muller and the hierarchy was loyal to Muller,infact you hurt Muller and you've hurt Bayern. That crack between the hierarchy and a manager will normally be explored by the dressing room(accusing him of all sorts) and make the manager feel like a poor manager of men. Ancelloti and the club heirarchy were not on thesame page with Muller.That was the reality. At Napoli,once again it was the heirarchy against Ancelloti,but with a different story-line. Here, the players loved Ancelloti AS ALWAYS. He has been and still is the best at managing a dressing room. In Napoli the players disobeyed the order of their President,who unilaterally summoned them for an emergency training as a disciplinary measure for losing a match horribly. The boys didn't show up from their homes. The President confronted Ancelloti privately, wondering why Ancelloti was quiet about the disobedience of his boys.[I don't like club interferences in coaching. You summon a squad for training without discussing with the coach? Who does that?] Ancelloti took the neutral stance and pleaded with the leadership to cut the boys some slack, that the boys are also sad by the loss, that the boys didn't mean to disrespect him. The President couldn't stomach that disobedience by the squad, he felt do embarrassed and that the coach took a neutral stance made it hurt him even more,so he sacked Ancelloti eventhough the dressing room was fine and results had improved. So a coach's know-how in controlling the dressing room and even good results is not always primary for a long stay in a club. The heirarchy can choose to interfere and if the coach opposes he is out. Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea’s new owner Mr. Todd Boehly, much to the distaste of football followers worldwide,including much of the Chelsea fan base. Yet the truth is,the heirarchy wanted something Tuchel didn't want. Tuchel didn't buy into the pathway they craved for the club, so they had to part ways. Enter Napoli and get bewildered at their "senseless" clear-out in the last two windows. You've managed to work your socks off to qualify for the Champions League and you are pushing out important players,who got you there. All their 3 captains were moved out, that they had to select a new captain this July. Dries Mertens,35,one of their assistant captains and Napoli's all-time highest goal scorer with 148 goals,had a year left on his contract and begged to finish the contract.He had spent 9 seasons with them,he even speaks Neapolitan and prides himself in their customs and christened his son with the nickname given him(Mertens) by fans,"Ciro". He wanted to see out his professional career in Napoli,as a mark of honour. Why not? The fans absolutely loved him and he's still playing well(he'll be at the World Cup). What's wrong with,granting him his wish,but smartly signing an understudy? The club certainly had enough finances and marketability to do this, but the President bluntly refused and sent him packing. He's now moved to a huge project in Turkey. I think the biggest in all Europe. What am I saying? 1.)The heirarchy is the source of things. They can crush or create player-power if they decide. 2.) There had since been an agreement(not the heirarchy doing something unilaterally) between the heirarchy and Napoli's coach on a new direction for the club(AND THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE) that occasioned this seemingly senseless clear out,that is making sense now.
HEIRARCHY BOSSING FOOTBALL
"Leadership is influence" as a famous writer put it. As expected, organisations come fully equipped with leadership structures of one kind or another. Football clubs as organisations,thus follow this pattern. As the game of football continues to spread all the world like an irrepressible virus, investors keep coming in to take over clubs in need of cash injection and totally transform them. Well, let me add that apart from the love for the development football, the investors also look to reap huge financial gains. So we have clubs like PSG,Manchester City,Chelsea,Newcastle United,even Manchester United(recently) that have these billionaire investors their bosses. Ofcourse,this brings with it, a current of influence as to how the club is run. For example,the current Mbappe saga, the show of influence that Mbappe is demonstrating now at PSG was created by the heirarchy. It was once [Neymar lording over everyone](https://peakd.com/hive-101690/@ogeewitty/psgs-in-fighting-some-history),insisting that Cavani submits. Well Cavani had to submit,but it's also a key reason why he left the club. Who gave Neymar that effrontery? Yeah,you probably guessed right, it's the heirarchy! Mbappe was presented with a project that didn't have Neymar in it, a project that said a striker will be signed and a world class defender too( that the monies for these are available) amongst other promises. None was brought to come to pass by the heirarchy. [I brought *us the news first on Hive*, please [MBAPPE WANTS OUT.. AND WOULD LAND MADRID TOMORROW](https://peakd.com/@ogeewitty/mbappe-wants-out-of-psg-by-jan-and-would-land-madrid-tomorrow)] So the primary tool for survival in PSG,as a coach,is aligning with the hierarchy's thinking. Once Zidane and Madrid's President couldn't agree on transfers, Zidane resigned, before his "second coming". Ancelloti was ejected by the dressing room of Bayern, they accused him of being a lazy trainer,etc. Listen please, there is no way(absolutely NO WAY) Ancelloti had lost his midace touch with regards creating ambiance in any dressing room. The real issue was that he wasn't playing Muller and the hierarchy was loyal to Muller,infact you hurt Muller and you've hurt Bayern. That crack between the hierarchy and a manager will normally be explored by the dressing room(accusing him of all sorts) and make the manager feel like a poor manager of men. Ancelloti and the club heirarchy were not on thesame page with Muller.That was the reality. At Napoli,once again it was the heirarchy against Ancelloti,but with a different story-line. Here, the players loved Ancelloti AS ALWAYS. He has been and still is the best at managing a dressing room. In Napoli the players disobeyed the order of their President,who unilaterally summoned them for an emergency training as a disciplinary measure for losing a match horribly. The boys didn't show up from their homes. The President confronted Ancelloti privately, wondering why Ancelloti was quiet about the disobedience of his boys.[I don't like club interferences in coaching. You summon a squad for training without discussing with the coach? Who does that?] Ancelloti took the neutral stance and pleaded with the leadership to cut the boys some slack, that the boys are also sad by the loss, that the boys didn't mean to disrespect him. The President couldn't stomach that disobedience by the squad, he felt do embarrassed and that the coach took a neutral stance made it hurt him even more,so he sacked Ancelloti eventhough the dressing room was fine and results had improved. So a coach's know-how in controlling the dressing room and even good results is not always primary for a long stay in a club. The heirarchy can choose to interfere and if the coach opposes he is out. Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea’s new owner Mr. Todd Boehly, much to the distaste of football followers worldwide,including much of the Chelsea fan base. Yet the truth is,the heirarchy wanted something Tuchel didn't want. Tuchel didn't buy into the pathway they craved for the club, so they had to part ways. Enter Napoli and get bewildered at their "senseless" clear-out in the last two windows. You've managed to work your socks off to qualify for the Champions League and you are pushing out important players,who got you there. All their 3 captains were moved out, that they had to select a new captain this July. Dries Mertens,35,one of their assistant captains and Napoli's all-time highest goal scorer with 148 goals,had a year left on his contract and begged to finish the contract.He had spent 9 seasons with them,he even speaks Neapolitan and prides himself in their customs and christened his son with the nickname given him(Mertens) by fans,"Ciro". He wanted to see out his professional career in Napoli,as a mark of honour. Why not? The fans absolutely loved him and he's still playing well(he'll be at the World Cup). What's wrong with,granting him his wish,but smartly signing an understudy? The club certainly had enough finances and marketability to do this, but the President bluntly refused and sent him packing. He's now moved to a huge project in Turkey. I think the biggest in all Europe. What am I saying? 1.)The heirarchy is the source of things. They can crush or create player-power if they decide. 2.) There had since been an agreement(not the heirarchy doing something unilaterally) between the heirarchy and Napoli's coach on a new direction for the club(AND THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE) that occasioned this seemingly senseless clear out,that is making sense now.
The Truth about Man United spending under the Glazers.
I will start by saying that I have created this thread and carried out the analysis within in reaction to the sheer volume of nonsense out there supporting the view that various Utd managers have been adequately backed by the Glazer family. Every time I turn on the TV, tune in to the Radio or have a click around on the Web, I am bombarded by terribly unscientific analysis of the various investment Utd and our rivals have had in playing staff over the years. I want to try and set the record straight I will also be clear, if you haven't already guessed, that I have long held the view that the Glazers have not invested adequately in the squad and this is almost exclusively the reason for our recent troubles. Before I get into the Data, I wanted to outline what I have done and why. What does the Data below show? A list of every significant transfer in at Manchester Utd, Manchester City and Chelsea and the associated fee. I have started with 04/05 in Chelsea's case as this marked the arrival of Abrahomovich. For Utd, I have started in 2006 as the Glazers completed their takeover in June 2006. For City, the obvious starting point is the arrival of Sheikh Mansour in 2008. All fees have been taken from https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/data/ and appear accurate to the best of my knowledge. Rumours abound about significant differences between advertised fees and 'actual' fees at both Chelsea and City, since they are privately owned, however we'll assume the figures are there or thereabouts as it's the best we'll ever get So, what's different about this list? The Data below has been adjusted for inflation. Each yearly investment has been adjusted to represent the figure that the same outlay would represent in today's market. Why adjust for inflation? Economists do this to represent the buying power in real terms of consumers and the cost of goods and services from one year to the next. The reason they do this should be obvious - the price of goods/services increases over time but so does consumer spending power. It is the relationship between the two which is important. To use a very high-level example, the price your parents paid for a house in 1990 would have been a fraction of the cost of the same house today. That doesn't mean one deal was necessarily better than the other, it's simply a reflection of the respective values at the time Why is this important in football? In 2016, a record-breaking new 3-yr TV deal was signed totalling £5.14BN to be distributed between the 20 Premier League clubs. This was an increase of 71% on the previous deal. The impact of this deal was to make PL clubs very wealthy and meant that even the smaller clubs no longer relied on selling players to make ends meet. You often hear that certain clubs or managers have 'ruined the market' which is absolute nonsense. It's simply a result of clubs in general being far wealthier. As a result of all this, transfer fees rocketed and in 2018, even an average CB from a mid-table club will set a club back £50m+. No longer can the big boys pick off their rivals best players, as SAF did so effectively many times (Cantona, Keane, Yorke, Berbatov, Carrick, Ferdinand etc...etc...) So....what's the point then? The point is to enable fans to be able to quantify and compare transfers across seasons. Simply saying "City's squad cost XXXX and Utd's cost XXXX" is not enough because it doesn't take into account inflation. City, for example, regularly field the likes of Aguero and Silva who commanded big fee's once upon a time but who now look like bargain buys. United, on the other hand, have done the majority of their spending at a time when fees are much higher, which artificially enhances the lazy view that we have invested a tonne of money. Why choose City and Chelsea? Simply because Utd, Chelsea and City have dominated the PL since 2004. People will rightly point towards the progress Liverpool and Spurs have made on what I assume are much 'lighter' budgets, however they haven't won anything and until they do.....it's kind of a moot point! So what about Leicester? I'm not saying it's impossible to win the league without spending billions, there will always be anomalies. I'm saying it's unlikely and I'm also saying it's not fair to hammer our managers constantly because nobody is hammering any of the other 17 who also win nowt! Is this a defence of Jose? Yes and also no, it's a defence of all of our managers, including to a certain extent SAF, all of whom have been boxing with one-arm behind their back whilst being expected to win every game! The Data 2003/04 Wayne Bridge, Geremi, Glen Johnson, Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu, Damien Duff, Juan Veron, Claude Makelele, Scott Parker, Joe Cole, Alexei Smertin £116.6m (£507.7m) 2004/05 Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Jiri Jarosik, Alex, Didier Drogba, Mateja Kezman, Petr Cech, Tiago, Arjen Robben £112.5m (£488.9m) 2005/06 Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Edwin van der Sar, Ben Foster, Park Ji-Sung £21.4m (£93.3m) Asier del Horno, Slobodon Rajkovic, Michael Essien, Lassana Diarra, Shaun Wright-Phillips £62.1m (£276.7m) 2006/07 Michael Carrick £18.5m (£90.2m) Khalid Boulahrouz, Ashley Cole, Andriy Shevchenko, Ben Sahar, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel £59.7m (£288.7m) 2007/2008 Branislav Ivanovic, Juliano Belletti, Nicholas Anelka, Franco Di Santo, Florent Malouda £40m (£137.7m) Manucho, Tomasz Kuszczak, Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves, Rodrigo Possebon £61.5 (£215.7m) 2008/2009 Ritchie De Laet, Dimitar Berbatov, Zoran Tosic £35.8m (£94.2m) Bosingwa, Deco £24.4m (£63m) Wayne Bridge, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Tal Ben Haim, Jo, Shay Given, Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong, Shaun Wright-Phillips £125.5m (£326.5m) 2009/2010 Daniel Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov, Nemanja Matic £23.7m (£59.7m) Antonio Valencia, Mame Diouf, Gabriel Obertan £24.3m (£54.1m) Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Adam Johnson £131.1m (£294m) 2010/2011 Chris Smalling, Chicharito, Anders Lindegaard, Bebe £25.4m (56.2m) David Luiz, Tomas Kalas, Fernando Torres, Matej Delac, Ramires, Yossi Benayoun £104.1m (£236.9m) Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Yaya Toure, David Silva, James Milner £158.1m (£357.5m) 2011/2012 David De Gea, Ashley Young, Phil Jones £54.3m (150.8m) Gary Cahill, Romelu Lukaku, Patrick Bamford, Thibaut Courtois, Lucas Piazon, Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Kevin de Bruyne, Oriol Romeu, Ulises Davila £83.8m (£229.8m) Stefan Savic, Gael Clichy, Sergio Aguero, Costel Pantilimon, Samir Nasri £78.8m (£220.8m) 2012/2013 Alex Buttner, RvP, Angelo Henriquez, Shinji Kagawa, Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha £61.9m (£151.8) Cezar Azpilicueta, Wallace Oliveira, Demba Ba, Eden Hazard, Marko Marin, Thorgan Hazard, Oscar, Victor Moses £88.8m (£214.49) Matija Nastasic, Maicon, Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair £50.2m (£123.4m) 2013/2014 Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini £65.5 (£115.4) Kurt Zouma, Cristian Cuevas, Stipe Perica, Andre Schurrle, Christian Atsu, Nemanja Matic, Marco van Ginkel, Willian, Mo Salah £110.7m (£194.5) Martin Demichelis, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Fernandinho, Jesus Navas £98.6m (£174.2m) 2014/2015 Felipe Luis, Diego Costa, Loic Remy, Cesc Fabregas, Mario Pasalic, Juan Cuadrado £111.7m (£178.6m) Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Ander Herrera, Angel Di Maria* £152m (£244.4) Elaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony, Willy Caballero, Fernando, Bruno Zuculini £71.6m (£114.1m) 2015/2016 Matteo Darmian, Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger £114.1m (£198.8m) Abdul Baba, Michael Hector, Matt Miazga, Papy Djilobodji, Nathan, Asmir Begovic, Pedro, Kenedy £60.7m (£105.5m) Nicolas Otamendi, Florian Lejeune, Enes Unal, Ruben Sobrino, KdB, Patrick Roberts, Fabian Delph, Anthony Caceres, Raheem Sterling £158.2m (£276.3m) 2016/2017 Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan £151m (£205.1) David Luiz, Marcos Alonso, Michy Batshuayi, N’Golo Kante £109m (£144.9) John Stones, Pablo Mari, Gabriel Jesus, Claudio Bravo, Geronimo Rulli, Leroy Sane, Nolito, Marlos Moreno, Ilkay Gundogan, Oleksandr £174.9m (£234.6m) 2017/2018 Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zapacosta, Emerson, Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley £226.5m (£202.5m) Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic £145m (£127.8m) Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Kayode, Ederson, Douglas Luiz, Luka Ilic, Bernardo Silva, Jack Harrison £279m (£247.5m) 2018/2019 Fred, Lee Grant, Diego Dalot £74.1m (£72.5m) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Jorginho £122m (£116.8m) Phillipe Sandler, Daniel Arzani, Riyad Mahrez £63m (£62m) What are the results? The Data shows the following; Chelsea total adjusted spend under Roman = £3,466BN an AVG of £215.37m per season Utd total adjusted spend under Glazers = £1.91BN an AVG of £136.4m per season City total adjusted spend under Mansour = £2.43BN an AVG of £220.1m per season Observations City have the highest adjusted average under Mansour with £220.1m Chelsea follow closely behind with an average of £215.37m under Roman United lag some way off the pace under the Glazers with an average of £136.4m That means that City and Chelsea are signing, broadly speaking, two additional high-level players EVERY single season What about Net? I haven't done net for two reasons; 1. I couldn't find the Data on Totally Money for Transfers Out 2. 'Net' can be misleading when dealing with the artificial money clubs. They can spend more and therefore take more gambles, increasing the likelihood of finding a superstar to sell on at a large profit Incidentally, Point 2 hasn't happened. I certainly don't believe the net figures would look any less damning for the Glazers. In fact, when you bear in mind that we sold Ronaldo for the equivalent of £200m and Angel Di Maria after one season for an equivalent £61m, their 'investment' looks even more pitiful So am I saying we've spent well? Yes and no. We could certainly have spent better but just look at that list of in's at City and Chelsea. For every Kompany there have been several Mangala's, Stones' and Demichellis'. For every Diego Costa there has been several Torres', Shevchenko's and Crespo's. Utd are operating with a relatively poor budget whilst trying to replace most of our outfield players and it is totally unreasonable to expect ANY manager to get every signing correct. I would say 50% is an exceptional strike rate and even then with £134.6m at our disposal every year, it's going to take a serious amount of time to get the team where we all want it to be So why can't we beat Brighton, West Ham and Derby then? We've outspent them! In truth, Jose has taken the lack of investment exceptionally badly. He has criticised just about every player individually and who knows what's going on behind closed doors. This has obviously destroyed morale and his relationship with the players. But consider this, Jose is a winner. We finished 2nd last year and Jose would have expected to kick-on and go after City. What have we done? Spent £65m! We've basically given up! My opinion is that the Glazers/Woodward have settled for spending just enough to guarantee top-4 and Jose has seen his arse massively. At times, I wish Jose would just get on with making the best of what he has. Other times I think 'hang on, the man's right....were Man Utd! Why are we settling for 2nd/3rd/4th best?!" Conclusion Facts are, we haven't invested anywhere near enough in the squad under the Glazers. The likes of Keane, Ferdinand, Vidic, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, RVP, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, Gary Neville, and Ole Solskjaer have all left under the Glazer's ownership. They either haven't been replaced at all or we've shopped around for bargain replacements not worthy of their shirts. We are the richest club in the world and we're operating on a comparative shoe-string. There's nothing we as fans can do about it but the point of this thread is that if we are to blame anyone it certainly should not be the managers but the people in the Boardroom! They are solely responsible for leaving us in this position. The manager's job is a poisoned chalice. You've got £136.4m a year to invest in a crumbling squad and oh, by the way, you have to win every single game whilst you do it or get crucified publicly Make of it what you all will, but please don't fall for the lazy narrative put out there by journalists who should be doing the above!!!
The Truth about Man United spending under the Glazers.
I will start by saying that I have created this thread and carried out the analysis within in reaction to the sheer volume of nonsense out there supporting the view that various Utd managers have been adequately backed by the Glazer family. Every time I turn on the TV, tune in to the Radio or have a click around on the Web, I am bombarded by terribly unscientific analysis of the various investment Utd and our rivals have had in playing staff over the years. I want to try and set the record straight I will also be clear, if you haven't already guessed, that I have long held the view that the Glazers have not invested adequately in the squad and this is almost exclusively the reason for our recent troubles. Before I get into the Data, I wanted to outline what I have done and why. What does the Data below show? A list of every significant transfer in at Manchester Utd, Manchester City and Chelsea and the associated fee. I have started with 04/05 in Chelsea's case as this marked the arrival of Abrahomovich. For Utd, I have started in 2006 as the Glazers completed their takeover in June 2006. For City, the obvious starting point is the arrival of Sheikh Mansour in 2008. All fees have been taken from https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/data/ and appear accurate to the best of my knowledge. Rumours abound about significant differences between advertised fees and 'actual' fees at both Chelsea and City, since they are privately owned, however we'll assume the figures are there or thereabouts as it's the best we'll ever get So, what's different about this list? The Data below has been adjusted for inflation. Each yearly investment has been adjusted to represent the figure that the same outlay would represent in today's market. Why adjust for inflation? Economists do this to represent the buying power in real terms of consumers and the cost of goods and services from one year to the next. The reason they do this should be obvious - the price of goods/services increases over time but so does consumer spending power. It is the relationship between the two which is important. To use a very high-level example, the price your parents paid for a house in 1990 would have been a fraction of the cost of the same house today. That doesn't mean one deal was necessarily better than the other, it's simply a reflection of the respective values at the time Why is this important in football? In 2016, a record-breaking new 3-yr TV deal was signed totalling £5.14BN to be distributed between the 20 Premier League clubs. This was an increase of 71% on the previous deal. The impact of this deal was to make PL clubs very wealthy and meant that even the smaller clubs no longer relied on selling players to make ends meet. You often hear that certain clubs or managers have 'ruined the market' which is absolute nonsense. It's simply a result of clubs in general being far wealthier. As a result of all this, transfer fees rocketed and in 2018, even an average CB from a mid-table club will set a club back £50m+. No longer can the big boys pick off their rivals best players, as SAF did so effectively many times (Cantona, Keane, Yorke, Berbatov, Carrick, Ferdinand etc...etc...) So....what's the point then? The point is to enable fans to be able to quantify and compare transfers across seasons. Simply saying "City's squad cost XXXX and Utd's cost XXXX" is not enough because it doesn't take into account inflation. City, for example, regularly field the likes of Aguero and Silva who commanded big fee's once upon a time but who now look like bargain buys. United, on the other hand, have done the majority of their spending at a time when fees are much higher, which artificially enhances the lazy view that we have invested a tonne of money. Why choose City and Chelsea? Simply because Utd, Chelsea and City have dominated the PL since 2004. People will rightly point towards the progress Liverpool and Spurs have made on what I assume are much 'lighter' budgets, however they haven't won anything and until they do.....it's kind of a moot point! So what about Leicester? I'm not saying it's impossible to win the league without spending billions, there will always be anomalies. I'm saying it's unlikely and I'm also saying it's not fair to hammer our managers constantly because nobody is hammering any of the other 17 who also win nowt! Is this a defence of Jose? Yes and also no, it's a defence of all of our managers, including to a certain extent SAF, all of whom have been boxing with one-arm behind their back whilst being expected to win every game! The Data 2003/04 Wayne Bridge, Geremi, Glen Johnson, Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu, Damien Duff, Juan Veron, Claude Makelele, Scott Parker, Joe Cole, Alexei Smertin £116.6m (£507.7m) 2004/05 Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Jiri Jarosik, Alex, Didier Drogba, Mateja Kezman, Petr Cech, Tiago, Arjen Robben £112.5m (£488.9m) 2005/06 Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Edwin van der Sar, Ben Foster, Park Ji-Sung £21.4m (£93.3m) Asier del Horno, Slobodon Rajkovic, Michael Essien, Lassana Diarra, Shaun Wright-Phillips £62.1m (£276.7m) 2006/07 Michael Carrick £18.5m (£90.2m) Khalid Boulahrouz, Ashley Cole, Andriy Shevchenko, Ben Sahar, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel £59.7m (£288.7m) 2007/2008 Branislav Ivanovic, Juliano Belletti, Nicholas Anelka, Franco Di Santo, Florent Malouda £40m (£137.7m) Manucho, Tomasz Kuszczak, Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves, Rodrigo Possebon £61.5 (£215.7m) 2008/2009 Ritchie De Laet, Dimitar Berbatov, Zoran Tosic £35.8m (£94.2m) Bosingwa, Deco £24.4m (£63m) Wayne Bridge, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Tal Ben Haim, Jo, Shay Given, Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong, Shaun Wright-Phillips £125.5m (£326.5m) 2009/2010 Daniel Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov, Nemanja Matic £23.7m (£59.7m) Antonio Valencia, Mame Diouf, Gabriel Obertan £24.3m (£54.1m) Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Adam Johnson £131.1m (£294m) 2010/2011 Chris Smalling, Chicharito, Anders Lindegaard, Bebe £25.4m (56.2m) David Luiz, Tomas Kalas, Fernando Torres, Matej Delac, Ramires, Yossi Benayoun £104.1m (£236.9m) Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Yaya Toure, David Silva, James Milner £158.1m (£357.5m) 2011/2012 David De Gea, Ashley Young, Phil Jones £54.3m (150.8m) Gary Cahill, Romelu Lukaku, Patrick Bamford, Thibaut Courtois, Lucas Piazon, Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Kevin de Bruyne, Oriol Romeu, Ulises Davila £83.8m (£229.8m) Stefan Savic, Gael Clichy, Sergio Aguero, Costel Pantilimon, Samir Nasri £78.8m (£220.8m) 2012/2013 Alex Buttner, RvP, Angelo Henriquez, Shinji Kagawa, Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha £61.9m (£151.8) Cezar Azpilicueta, Wallace Oliveira, Demba Ba, Eden Hazard, Marko Marin, Thorgan Hazard, Oscar, Victor Moses £88.8m (£214.49) Matija Nastasic, Maicon, Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair £50.2m (£123.4m) 2013/2014 Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini £65.5 (£115.4) Kurt Zouma, Cristian Cuevas, Stipe Perica, Andre Schurrle, Christian Atsu, Nemanja Matic, Marco van Ginkel, Willian, Mo Salah £110.7m (£194.5) Martin Demichelis, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Fernandinho, Jesus Navas £98.6m (£174.2m) 2014/2015 Felipe Luis, Diego Costa, Loic Remy, Cesc Fabregas, Mario Pasalic, Juan Cuadrado £111.7m (£178.6m) Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Ander Herrera, Angel Di Maria* £152m (£244.4) Elaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony, Willy Caballero, Fernando, Bruno Zuculini £71.6m (£114.1m) 2015/2016 Matteo Darmian, Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger £114.1m (£198.8m) Abdul Baba, Michael Hector, Matt Miazga, Papy Djilobodji, Nathan, Asmir Begovic, Pedro, Kenedy £60.7m (£105.5m) Nicolas Otamendi, Florian Lejeune, Enes Unal, Ruben Sobrino, KdB, Patrick Roberts, Fabian Delph, Anthony Caceres, Raheem Sterling £158.2m (£276.3m) 2016/2017 Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan £151m (£205.1) David Luiz, Marcos Alonso, Michy Batshuayi, N’Golo Kante £109m (£144.9) John Stones, Pablo Mari, Gabriel Jesus, Claudio Bravo, Geronimo Rulli, Leroy Sane, Nolito, Marlos Moreno, Ilkay Gundogan, Oleksandr £174.9m (£234.6m) 2017/2018 Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zapacosta, Emerson, Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley £226.5m (£202.5m) Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic £145m (£127.8m) Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Kayode, Ederson, Douglas Luiz, Luka Ilic, Bernardo Silva, Jack Harrison £279m (£247.5m) 2018/2019 Fred, Lee Grant, Diego Dalot £74.1m (£72.5m) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Jorginho £122m (£116.8m) Phillipe Sandler, Daniel Arzani, Riyad Mahrez £63m (£62m) What are the results? The Data shows the following; Chelsea total adjusted spend under Roman = £3,466BN an AVG of £215.37m per season Utd total adjusted spend under Glazers = £1.91BN an AVG of £136.4m per season City total adjusted spend under Mansour = £2.43BN an AVG of £220.1m per season Observations City have the highest adjusted average under Mansour with £220.1m Chelsea follow closely behind with an average of £215.37m under Roman United lag some way off the pace under the Glazers with an average of £136.4m That means that City and Chelsea are signing, broadly speaking, two additional high-level players EVERY single season What about Net? I haven't done net for two reasons; 1. I couldn't find the Data on Totally Money for Transfers Out 2. 'Net' can be misleading when dealing with the artificial money clubs. They can spend more and therefore take more gambles, increasing the likelihood of finding a superstar to sell on at a large profit Incidentally, Point 2 hasn't happened. I certainly don't believe the net figures would look any less damning for the Glazers. In fact, when you bear in mind that we sold Ronaldo for the equivalent of £200m and Angel Di Maria after one season for an equivalent £61m, their 'investment' looks even more pitiful So am I saying we've spent well? Yes and no. We could certainly have spent better but just look at that list of in's at City and Chelsea. For every Kompany there have been several Mangala's, Stones' and Demichellis'. For every Diego Costa there has been several Torres', Shevchenko's and Crespo's. Utd are operating with a relatively poor budget whilst trying to replace most of our outfield players and it is totally unreasonable to expect ANY manager to get every signing correct. I would say 50% is an exceptional strike rate and even then with £134.6m at our disposal every year, it's going to take a serious amount of time to get the team where we all want it to be So why can't we beat Brighton, West Ham and Derby then? We've outspent them! In truth, Jose has taken the lack of investment exceptionally badly. He has criticised just about every player individually and who knows what's going on behind closed doors. This has obviously destroyed morale and his relationship with the players. But consider this, Jose is a winner. We finished 2nd last year and Jose would have expected to kick-on and go after City. What have we done? Spent £65m! We've basically given up! My opinion is that the Glazers/Woodward have settled for spending just enough to guarantee top-4 and Jose has seen his arse massively. At times, I wish Jose would just get on with making the best of what he has. Other times I think 'hang on, the man's right....were Man Utd! Why are we settling for 2nd/3rd/4th best?!" Conclusion Facts are, we haven't invested anywhere near enough in the squad under the Glazers. The likes of Keane, Ferdinand, Vidic, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, RVP, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, Gary Neville, and Ole Solskjaer have all left under the Glazer's ownership. They either haven't been replaced at all or we've shopped around for bargain replacements not worthy of their shirts. We are the richest club in the world and we're operating on a comparative shoe-string. There's nothing we as fans can do about it but the point of this thread is that if we are to blame anyone it certainly should not be the managers but the people in the Boardroom! They are solely responsible for leaving us in this position. The manager's job is a poisoned chalice. You've got £136.4m a year to invest in a crumbling squad and oh, by the way, you have to win every single game whilst you do it or get crucified publicly Make of it what you all will, but please don't fall for the lazy narrative put out there by journalists who should be doing the above!!!
The Truth about Man United spending under the Glazers.
I will start by saying that I have created this thread and carried out the analysis within in reaction to the sheer volume of nonsense out there supporting the view that various Utd managers have been adequately backed by the Glazer family. Every time I turn on the TV, tune in to the Radio or have a click around on the Web, I am bombarded by terribly unscientific analysis of the various investment Utd and our rivals have had in playing staff over the years. I want to try and set the record straight I will also be clear, if you haven't already guessed, that I have long held the view that the Glazers have not invested adequately in the squad and this is almost exclusively the reason for our recent troubles. Before I get into the Data, I wanted to outline what I have done and why. What does the Data below show? A list of every significant transfer in at Manchester Utd, Manchester City and Chelsea and the associated fee. I have started with 04/05 in Chelsea's case as this marked the arrival of Abrahomovich. For Utd, I have started in 2006 as the Glazers completed their takeover in June 2006. For City, the obvious starting point is the arrival of Sheikh Mansour in 2008. All fees have been taken from https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/data/ and appear accurate to the best of my knowledge. Rumours abound about significant differences between advertised fees and 'actual' fees at both Chelsea and City, since they are privately owned, however we'll assume the figures are there or thereabouts as it's the best we'll ever get So, what's different about this list? The Data below has been adjusted for inflation. Each yearly investment has been adjusted to represent the figure that the same outlay would represent in today's market. Why adjust for inflation? Economists do this to represent the buying power in real terms of consumers and the cost of goods and services from one year to the next. The reason they do this should be obvious - the price of goods/services increases over time but so does consumer spending power. It is the relationship between the two which is important. To use a very high-level example, the price your parents paid for a house in 1990 would have been a fraction of the cost of the same house today. That doesn't mean one deal was necessarily better than the other, it's simply a reflection of the respective values at the time Why is this important in football? In 2016, a record-breaking new 3-yr TV deal was signed totalling £5.14BN to be distributed between the 20 Premier League clubs. This was an increase of 71% on the previous deal. The impact of this deal was to make PL clubs very wealthy and meant that even the smaller clubs no longer relied on selling players to make ends meet. You often hear that certain clubs or managers have 'ruined the market' which is absolute nonsense. It's simply a result of clubs in general being far wealthier. As a result of all this, transfer fees rocketed and in 2018, even an average CB from a mid-table club will set a club back £50m+. No longer can the big boys pick off their rivals best players, as SAF did so effectively many times (Cantona, Keane, Yorke, Berbatov, Carrick, Ferdinand etc...etc...) So....what's the point then? The point is to enable fans to be able to quantify and compare transfers across seasons. Simply saying "City's squad cost XXXX and Utd's cost XXXX" is not enough because it doesn't take into account inflation. City, for example, regularly field the likes of Aguero and Silva who commanded big fee's once upon a time but who now look like bargain buys. United, on the other hand, have done the majority of their spending at a time when fees are much higher, which artificially enhances the lazy view that we have invested a tonne of money. Why choose City and Chelsea? Simply because Utd, Chelsea and City have dominated the PL since 2004. People will rightly point towards the progress Liverpool and Spurs have made on what I assume are much 'lighter' budgets, however they haven't won anything and until they do.....it's kind of a moot point! So what about Leicester? I'm not saying it's impossible to win the league without spending billions, there will always be anomalies. I'm saying it's unlikely and I'm also saying it's not fair to hammer our managers constantly because nobody is hammering any of the other 17 who also win nowt! Is this a defence of Jose? Yes and also no, it's a defence of all of our managers, including to a certain extent SAF, all of whom have been boxing with one-arm behind their back whilst being expected to win every game! The Data 2003/04 Wayne Bridge, Geremi, Glen Johnson, Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu, Damien Duff, Juan Veron, Claude Makelele, Scott Parker, Joe Cole, Alexei Smertin £116.6m (£507.7m) 2004/05 Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Jiri Jarosik, Alex, Didier Drogba, Mateja Kezman, Petr Cech, Tiago, Arjen Robben £112.5m (£488.9m) 2005/06 Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Edwin van der Sar, Ben Foster, Park Ji-Sung £21.4m (£93.3m) Asier del Horno, Slobodon Rajkovic, Michael Essien, Lassana Diarra, Shaun Wright-Phillips £62.1m (£276.7m) 2006/07 Michael Carrick £18.5m (£90.2m) Khalid Boulahrouz, Ashley Cole, Andriy Shevchenko, Ben Sahar, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel £59.7m (£288.7m) 2007/2008 Branislav Ivanovic, Juliano Belletti, Nicholas Anelka, Franco Di Santo, Florent Malouda £40m (£137.7m) Manucho, Tomasz Kuszczak, Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves, Rodrigo Possebon £61.5 (£215.7m) 2008/2009 Ritchie De Laet, Dimitar Berbatov, Zoran Tosic £35.8m (£94.2m) Bosingwa, Deco £24.4m (£63m) Wayne Bridge, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Tal Ben Haim, Jo, Shay Given, Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong, Shaun Wright-Phillips £125.5m (£326.5m) 2009/2010 Daniel Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov, Nemanja Matic £23.7m (£59.7m) Antonio Valencia, Mame Diouf, Gabriel Obertan £24.3m (£54.1m) Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Adam Johnson £131.1m (£294m) 2010/2011 Chris Smalling, Chicharito, Anders Lindegaard, Bebe £25.4m (56.2m) David Luiz, Tomas Kalas, Fernando Torres, Matej Delac, Ramires, Yossi Benayoun £104.1m (£236.9m) Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Yaya Toure, David Silva, James Milner £158.1m (£357.5m) 2011/2012 David De Gea, Ashley Young, Phil Jones £54.3m (150.8m) Gary Cahill, Romelu Lukaku, Patrick Bamford, Thibaut Courtois, Lucas Piazon, Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Kevin de Bruyne, Oriol Romeu, Ulises Davila £83.8m (£229.8m) Stefan Savic, Gael Clichy, Sergio Aguero, Costel Pantilimon, Samir Nasri £78.8m (£220.8m) 2012/2013 Alex Buttner, RvP, Angelo Henriquez, Shinji Kagawa, Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha £61.9m (£151.8) Cezar Azpilicueta, Wallace Oliveira, Demba Ba, Eden Hazard, Marko Marin, Thorgan Hazard, Oscar, Victor Moses £88.8m (£214.49) Matija Nastasic, Maicon, Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair £50.2m (£123.4m) 2013/2014 Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini £65.5 (£115.4) Kurt Zouma, Cristian Cuevas, Stipe Perica, Andre Schurrle, Christian Atsu, Nemanja Matic, Marco van Ginkel, Willian, Mo Salah £110.7m (£194.5) Martin Demichelis, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Fernandinho, Jesus Navas £98.6m (£174.2m) 2014/2015 Felipe Luis, Diego Costa, Loic Remy, Cesc Fabregas, Mario Pasalic, Juan Cuadrado £111.7m (£178.6m) Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Ander Herrera, Angel Di Maria* £152m (£244.4) Elaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony, Willy Caballero, Fernando, Bruno Zuculini £71.6m (£114.1m) 2015/2016 Matteo Darmian, Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger £114.1m (£198.8m) Abdul Baba, Michael Hector, Matt Miazga, Papy Djilobodji, Nathan, Asmir Begovic, Pedro, Kenedy £60.7m (£105.5m) Nicolas Otamendi, Florian Lejeune, Enes Unal, Ruben Sobrino, KdB, Patrick Roberts, Fabian Delph, Anthony Caceres, Raheem Sterling £158.2m (£276.3m) 2016/2017 Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan £151m (£205.1) David Luiz, Marcos Alonso, Michy Batshuayi, N’Golo Kante £109m (£144.9) John Stones, Pablo Mari, Gabriel Jesus, Claudio Bravo, Geronimo Rulli, Leroy Sane, Nolito, Marlos Moreno, Ilkay Gundogan, Oleksandr £174.9m (£234.6m) 2017/2018 Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zapacosta, Emerson, Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley £226.5m (£202.5m) Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic £145m (£127.8m) Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Danilo, Kayode, Ederson, Douglas Luiz, Luka Ilic, Bernardo Silva, Jack Harrison £279m (£247.5m) 2018/2019 Fred, Lee Grant, Diego Dalot £74.1m (£72.5m) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Jorginho £122m (£116.8m) Phillipe Sandler, Daniel Arzani, Riyad Mahrez £63m (£62m) What are the results? The Data shows the following; Chelsea total adjusted spend under Roman = £3,466BN an AVG of £215.37m per season Utd total adjusted spend under Glazers = £1.91BN an AVG of £136.4m per season City total adjusted spend under Mansour = £2.43BN an AVG of £220.1m per season Observations City have the highest adjusted average under Mansour with £220.1m Chelsea follow closely behind with an average of £215.37m under Roman United lag some way off the pace under the Glazers with an average of £136.4m That means that City and Chelsea are signing, broadly speaking, two additional high-level players EVERY single season What about Net? I haven't done net for two reasons; 1. I couldn't find the Data on Totally Money for Transfers Out 2. 'Net' can be misleading when dealing with the artificial money clubs. They can spend more and therefore take more gambles, increasing the likelihood of finding a superstar to sell on at a large profit Incidentally, Point 2 hasn't happened. I certainly don't believe the net figures would look any less damning for the Glazers. In fact, when you bear in mind that we sold Ronaldo for the equivalent of £200m and Angel Di Maria after one season for an equivalent £61m, their 'investment' looks even more pitiful So am I saying we've spent well? Yes and no. We could certainly have spent better but just look at that list of in's at City and Chelsea. For every Kompany there have been several Mangala's, Stones' and Demichellis'. For every Diego Costa there has been several Torres', Shevchenko's and Crespo's. Utd are operating with a relatively poor budget whilst trying to replace most of our outfield players and it is totally unreasonable to expect ANY manager to get every signing correct. I would say 50% is an exceptional strike rate and even then with £134.6m at our disposal every year, it's going to take a serious amount of time to get the team where we all want it to be So why can't we beat Brighton, West Ham and Derby then? We've outspent them! In truth, Jose has taken the lack of investment exceptionally badly. He has criticised just about every player individually and who knows what's going on behind closed doors. This has obviously destroyed morale and his relationship with the players. But consider this, Jose is a winner. We finished 2nd last year and Jose would have expected to kick-on and go after City. What have we done? Spent £65m! We've basically given up! My opinion is that the Glazers/Woodward have settled for spending just enough to guarantee top-4 and Jose has seen his arse massively. At times, I wish Jose would just get on with making the best of what he has. Other times I think 'hang on, the man's right....were Man Utd! Why are we settling for 2nd/3rd/4th best?!" Conclusion Facts are, we haven't invested anywhere near enough in the squad under the Glazers. The likes of Keane, Ferdinand, Vidic, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, RVP, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, Gary Neville, and Ole Solskjaer have all left under the Glazer's ownership. They either haven't been replaced at all or we've shopped around for bargain replacements not worthy of their shirts. We are the richest club in the world and we're operating on a comparative shoe-string. There's nothing we as fans can do about it but the point of this thread is that if we are to blame anyone it certainly should not be the managers but the people in the Boardroom! They are solely responsible for leaving us in this position. The manager's job is a poisoned chalice. You've got £136.4m a year to invest in a crumbling squad and oh, by the way, you have to win every single game whilst you do it or get crucified publicly Make of it what you all will, but please don't fall for the lazy narrative put out there by journalists who should be doing the above!!!
More posts are coming soon. Write your own!