Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s achievements dwarf mine so maybe I shouldn’t be questioning him, but it’s beyond me how he squares the circle for all his bold statements regarding Manchester United to come true.
I’ll always listen to a man who has made billions. Even so, predicting United will become the most profitable football club in the world inside three years at the same time as taking on the building and financing of a £2billion stadium is some trick, particularly given the club’s current finances.
As I suspected, this week’s glossy ‘unveiling’ of a 100,000-seat New Trafford was what the stadium would look like, rather than someone putting up their hand up to explain the funding.
That said, CEO Omar Berrada selling it as a good investment project and Ratcliffe positioning New Trafford as the centre of regeneration with the Government gives you some clues.
Cut it however you want, but the likelihood is of more significant debt being loaded onto United before they can monetise the stadium when it opens.
This debt – compared to the Glazers’ takeover – is a little more ‘eyes wide open’ for United fans. It’s the building of a shiny new cathedral, even if that were to have a Formula One track around the side (just a rumination on my part) and every nook and cranny designed to bring in money.
As I suspected, this week’s glossy ‘unveiling’ of a 100,000-seat New Trafford was what the stadium would look like, rather than someone putting up their hand up to explain funding
Cut it however you want, the likelihood is of more significant debt being loaded onto Manchester United before they can monetise the stadium when it opens
It’s the building of a shiny new cathedral and every nook and cranny will be designed to bring in money
Any proper United needs a great team to match the bricks, mortar and ‘umbrella’ of a world-class arena
Sir Jim knows United have a slick commercial engine – one Glazer success! – and he is attacking cost levels. But while any club needs economic viability to build success on the pitch, the reverse is also true.
If you haven’t got a team to match the surroundings, you’ll never maximise the investment, let alone satisfy demanding and expectant fans. As such, any proper United needs a great team to match the bricks, mortar and ‘umbrella’ of a world-class arena.
How Ratcliffe helps Ruben Amorim turn things around quickly isn’t easy to figure. United have to buy players if winning silverware is as important as Sir Jim claims it is for him.
They currently sit 14th in the Premier League and are relying on winning the Europa League for back-door entry into the Champions League. Surely the project will not work if United finish mid-table every year until the stadium is completed.
I found Ratcliffe’s interviews curious this week. He perhaps took some medicine on Erik ten Hag because they made such a pig’s ear of his exit, but nobody asked why the Dutchman was given a contract extension.
I didn’t hear anything from Sir Jim that made me think ‘Wow, that’s impressive’. He let others take responsibility on issues like ticket prices, redundancies and ambassadorial roles, but showed his teeth about sacking Dan Ashworth. ‘We’ suddenly became ‘I’.
Nobody addressed the elephant in the room, the circa £50million a year United pay to service Glazer debt. Ratcliffe stayed away from criticising them and preferred to infer blame onto Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold for overpaying players.
It’s surprised me that Ratcliffe has been taken aback that everything at United is amplified. Some relatively minor things on his watch, like 500 concession tickets being increased to £66 and the removal of free lunches, have been allowed to become hand grenades.
I’ll always listen to a man who has made billions. But predicting United will be the world’s most profitable football club in three years, while building a £2billion stadium, is some trick
United have been burning cash, but Ratcliffe opted to name check bad signings rather than reference the huge slug of cash used to pay interest and dividends!
Ratcliffe would have known the commercial projections and forecasts for the season, yet still invested in Joshua Zirkzee and others
I’d have thought his management team would have dealt with these better. They should be an extension of his thought process. If not, why have they been recruited?
I’ve defended many of Sir Jim’s rationalisations. No other business bar football would expect Alex Ferguson to be paid an annual £2m in perpetuity, or allow continued bloated staff levels.
His complaint that United are still paying for Jadon Sancho and Antony was silly. Every club buys players on the drip. You can´t have it both ways, it’s less cash 12 months ago or less cash now. That is the nature of paying for assets with payment terms common in any industry.
He wanted to illustrate that United have been burning cash, but opted to name check bad signings rather than reference the huge slug of cash used to pay interest and dividends!
Neither was he asked why United spent £180m on players last summer when he was in situ, given he claimed they were in danger of running out of money by the end of November.
Ratcliffe would have known the commercial projections and forecasts for the season, yet still invested in Joshua Zirkzee and others. United had big liabilities when Sir Jim came in, but have also added new liabilities on his watch.
Ratcliffe hopes ‘New Trafford’ is a game-changer. I’ll put it down to excitement that he’s comparing it to the Bernabeu. Tottenham fans will claim their stadium, while smaller, is already better than that.
How is the stadium to be financed? Unless you put up the cash or fund aspects of it with debentures and enabling, you’ll take on significant debt.
Ratcliffe hopes ‘New Trafford’ is a game-changer. I’ll put it down to excitement that he’s comparing it to the Bernabeu
The new stadium is key to United’s long-term prognosis. Ratcliffe is a man of great substance but how he engineers a turnaround in fortunes in the next three years is unclear
Addressing the Glazer-invoked debt situation would be a good initiative, perhaps that will find its way into an overall refinancing package with the stadium
I assume United will seek some preferential debt borrowing, perhaps cheap Government money indexed to the aforementioned regeneration initiative, as United are apparently so pivotal to that! But even preferential borrowing has to be paid for while revenues from the new ground are years away.
Ratcliffe may well have wanted to buy United outright, but either didn’t have the money or was unable to pay the asking price. So he has entered into a Faustian pact with the Glazers.
He has inherited a very difficult beast. Remarkably, United still generate £600m when they are achieving comparatively nothing on the field and the brand is being diminished.
Fans will have noted he spent more time talking about profit than sporting glory, sounding very much like the Daniel Levy of the north. He would likely say the two are inextricably linked and it’s true economic success is paramount to playing success.
The new stadium is key to United’s long-term prognosis. Ratcliffe is a man of great substance, but how he engineers a turnaround in fortunes in the next three years is unclear.
He will reduce waste and make potential savings of £15-20m a year that will help cover interest payments. More revenue streams may be found. But United need to do more than rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic if they are going to fulfil his bet that they are Britain’s wealthiest club by 2028.
Addressing the Glazer-invoked debt situation would be a good initiative and perhaps that will find its way into an overall refinancing package with the stadium. For on-field success, players are needed. It requires Amorim breaking up his existing squad and replacing them with better.
How Sir Jim plans to make that happen is an important detail he missed out during this recent burst of preferred accessibility. If he pulls it off, he will be the Harry Houdini of football club ownership.
United need to do more than rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic if they are going to fulfil Ratcliffe’s bet that they are Britain’s wealthiest club by 2028
Remarkably, United still generate £600m when they are achieving comparatively nothing on the field and the brand is being diminished
How Sir Jim plans to make this all happen is an important detail he missed out during this recent burst of preferred accessibility
We can’t have people like Stuart Pearce unwell – what chance have the rest of us got!
We’re all pulling for you, Stuart
I thought Stuart Pearce was cold and impassive when I met him as Crystal Palace chairman. How wrong could I be?
We know each other better now through talkSPORT and he is one of the most honest, decent and passionate men I’ve ever come across – with integrity to burn.
It was a shock to hear he’d been taken ill on a flight coming back from Las Vegas, but I also had the utmost faith because he has an indomitable spirit. The first text I received from him after the health scare was ‘I am all fine fella’.
It was great to have him with us on the airwaves again this week as he recuperates. We can’t have people like Stuart Pearce unwell – what chance have the rest of us got!
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