Latest / Let's Kick It Off! / Ep 29: BONUS: United's Ownership Uncovered

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Ep 29: BONUS: United's Ownership Uncovered · Let's Kick It Off!

0:15
Been holding back on this but yeah, it's quite clearly the
0:18
ownership because this has been a problem for a number of years
0:23
even before Enios got in. Obviously the Glazes are still
0:26
there. Majority control.
0:28
Enios have a minority stake but they seem to have full control
0:32
of the club, not just sporting control, operational control.
0:36
They seem gym seems to be pulling all of the strings.
0:39
In the Laurie Whitwell article in The Athletic, there was a
0:42
funny story in there about Jim Ratcliffe being in the United
0:46
Training Ground and speaking to staff about the stretches that
0:49
he did prior to running the London Marathon.
0:52
Very good time though, Steve, Did you hear the time?
0:56
No. What was the time?
0:57
It's 4 1/2 hours for a 73 year old, which is very impressive.
1:01
That's better than Cooney could probably do.
1:03
So maybe we do need. The stretching, it's probably
1:05
hard. Yeah, I think Radcliffe will
1:06
probably pick himself, but yeah, yeah, I think, I think I just
1:10
want to say my piece on this because the glaze has obviously
1:13
been a big problem for a number of years and, you know, we all
1:16
agree on that. And you know, it's old news.
1:18
Anyos came in and there was a little bit of excitement I think
1:22
about what they could do to change things.
1:24
And I will start with the good things because they have done
1:26
some good stuff in terms of bringing in certain football
1:29
people. I was really happy when they
1:30
brought in Ashworth, they brought in other football
1:33
people. They've trimmed the staff down,
1:35
they've invested in a new training ground which I think is
1:37
going to be a refurbished Carrington right, which is going
1:40
to be ready for next season. They're looking at the new
1:43
stadium. So they've done some good stuff.
1:45
But on the other side, the stuff they've done on the negative end
1:49
for me far outweighs what they've done on the positive for
1:52
me this season. I've never been so ashamed to
1:55
support Manchester United and that's not just the league
1:57
position, that is the way that they've treated the fan base,
2:01
the staff, just everything. And it's, you could argue
2:06
they're small decisions, you know, the things like the ticket
2:08
price and the £66, you know, the £40,000 that they cut from the
2:14
charity of the ex players, you know, you could argue that
2:16
they're minute decisions. But for me that's just like
2:19
contempt for the key people that support the club that have, you
2:24
know, brought this club to where it is.
2:26
So I, I can't forgive them for the mistakes they've made.
2:29
And again with the Ashworth one as well, you know, he's paying 5
2:33
million plus on bringing him in then sacking him.
2:36
It's just like I. Can invest in class.
2:40
Yeah, I can accept mistakes, but I can't accept the way they've
2:43
treated us. So for me like that is that's
2:45
done. There's no way back from this
2:47
glazes and any of us it it was never a, you know, a good
2:51
marriage to start with. And now that we finish, finished
2:54
15th, 15th, guys, like come on, if ever you need evidence.
2:59
I think, I think the only I'm not, I'm not going to defend the
3:01
Glaziers at all on this, but what I would say is what they
3:04
did bring was the commercial aspect.
3:06
And we don't know what the alternative was or would have
3:09
been. But if you look at United's
3:11
history and when the Glaziers did take over, from a commercial
3:14
point of view, they've grown us to a position that we've we, you
3:18
know, you could argue best in class, but is it anymore?
3:22
So I think can I count? That can I count that, Scott?
3:25
Yeah, go for. It like, I've obviously heard
3:28
this argument for years, right? My argument back is that, OK, if
3:33
you're talking deals like, you know, like toilet seats from
3:38
India, yeah, maybe. But if you were to tell me that
3:43
it was down to the genius of Ed Woodward that we got like the
3:46
big kit deals and the big deals, you know, just generally that
3:50
you get as a football club, not a chance.
3:52
Because when we were APLC, we got the biggest deals, purely
3:57
the fact that we were the best club in England, we got the best
4:00
deals. So I take your point as in,
4:02
like, yeah, there's there's probably a certain amount of
4:05
revenue that we may have never got.
4:08
But then also it's then the question, the football club, is
4:12
it still a football club? And we probably still would have
4:15
been more of a football club than what we've done in sell our
4:18
asses, you know, for all these years.
4:20
But small point. So just just the pit, So just to
4:23
clarify is the peak of the PLC was 250 million, that was the
4:28
peak. So at the moment, our peak is
4:31
like closer to 7. Now when you look at you look at
4:34
broadcasting revenue, you look at majesty revenue, the
4:36
percentage of that hasn't changed much.
4:38
What's changed is commercial and that's what they've brought.
4:41
And again, I'm not, I'm not defending any, I'm just saying
4:43
what they've brought is a different.
4:45
Mindset than any other. Club in any other club in the
4:48
Premier League at the time when the commercial revenue went
4:51
through the reef and like you said, whether it's toilet seats
4:53
or whatever, that's what they have brought as a ownership.
4:57
They've brought nothing else quite frankly.
4:59
But to Steve's point is I hope Labour for do one thing right is
5:06
do not give the OK for the redevelopment because that will
5:11
force them out. It will do because they can't.
5:14
They can't afford it and we're not going.
5:17
To think Labour can afford it. We're not going to get back into
5:20
the Champions League for the next 2-3, maybe four years.
5:25
That's how. That's how bad I think it is.
5:27
You want to. You want to bleed them?
5:29
I want to absolutely bleed because every every sponsorship
5:32
deal that we've been talking about now is the penalties,
5:35
there's punishments, anything that comes up for renewal.
5:38
You're not going to get the 5060 million share sponsor each year
5:41
going forward. You're going to get these like
5:43
punishments or fines that are built in.
5:47
But if you cannot get this club into the Champions League then
5:50
it's just going to go. It's going to hurt them more
5:52
than anybody else and I think that's where you've got to hurt
5:56
them and I just hope. For the, great for the.
5:58
Great for the greater good. I just if, if Labour are
6:00
listening, do not sign up. On that basis, you'd probably
6:04
say better than Spurs won that game as well.
6:07
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because yeah, that would have
6:09
papered over the cracks. And I think I made this point
6:11
pre final, about the only possible good thing to come out
6:14
of losing is the yeah, the spotlight will turn back on the
6:18
ownership. But as I'm interested to hear
6:19
from you, I know you know, we've talked a lot about the positives
6:21
in the US have done, especially you because you're a team in the
6:24
US. But do you agree that some of
6:25
the decisions have been disgraceful this year?
6:28
Jim said that himself, hasn't he?
6:30
I mean, I don't know if he used the word disgraceful, but he's
6:32
admitted to mistakes. Do you think it's disgraceful?
6:35
I don't know if the word disgraceful is the right word,
6:38
but they've definitely made loads of mistakes.
6:40
No, but no. But the manner of the mistakes,
6:43
do you think they're disgraceful?
6:45
I would say generally if I look at society that that that the
6:48
billionaire class does a lot of things that are just are
6:52
disgraceful. But I you know, this is just
6:54
this is just a wider problem. If building a China shop come in
6:58
and make decisions without necessarily care or appreciation
7:02
of you know what's what, you know what the consequences are.
7:07
So, yeah, would that have been different under a different, you
7:11
know, I think the Glazers were looking at getting investment
7:15
from hedge funds as well, right? Would they have done anything
7:17
differently or another private equity investor would they have
7:20
done, you know, those guys, you know, the capitalists do similar
7:24
things. You know, we have Thames Water
7:26
putting shit in our seas and various, you know, like this.
7:30
This is a disgrace across all areas of our society.
7:33
So, yeah, I'm not going to defend the the billionaire
7:36
class. The only thing I'd say is, you
7:38
know, the job cuts, as bad as they've been, I do feel that
7:43
there was a necessary kind of clear up that was required, a
7:48
streamline. So we had, you know, we're
7:49
talking about the marketing part, you know, this London
7:52
office that we had and apparently, you know, was quite
7:55
costly. So, you know, I don't like
7:57
anyone losing their jobs, but it did sound like we had more
7:59
employees than the average club and where we performing at the
8:03
highest level in all these, you know, people are saying, you
8:06
know, these people have lost their jobs.
8:07
Were they high the highest performers?
8:09
Have we been really successful in what we've been doing in
8:13
different areas? Hasn't hasn't seen anything.
8:16
I'm always looking for something different and that different
8:19
could be worse than it was before.
8:21
So maybe I'm giving them too much credit because it's
8:23
different from before. But, you know, I think you've
8:26
listened to the Omar interview. Was it in KL?
8:29
And you really hate the guy and I don't think you'd be impressed
8:33
with Jason Wilcox. You hate Dave Brailsford as an
8:36
individual. So yeah, I would, I would, I
8:41
would and vehemently dislike Jim.
8:43
The only thing I'd say is of all the, you know, kind of, you
8:46
know, the owners that you hear of, the CEO's that you listen
8:49
to, you know, who are the ones you really like.
8:51
So because I don't hear it from anyone else, I don't to follow
8:54
other clubs. That's.
8:55
The key that that's the key, you don't hear from them because
8:58
they've got good people within the club running it well, so you
9:01
don't need to hear. It's typically.
9:03
It's typically just left to the manager, right, Most clubs.
9:05
It's different in Europe. So in Europe you hear more from
9:08
the presidents, from the directors of footballs.
9:11
In England, it's like the managers, the face at United,
9:14
they seem to have more voices that, you know, do talk more
9:17
openly. And maybe that's just a cultural
9:19
issue for us as fan. We don't want to hear Omar,
9:21
Brad. They don't want to hear your
9:21
voice, whatever you say. Because I listened to what he
9:24
said and I was like, he hasn't said anything bad.
9:25
Why is Steve getting so angry with this guy?
9:28
And is it just because you've heard his voice?
9:31
No, it's just you get a feeling with people and you just don't
9:35
like. I felt that I'm.
9:36
Surprised you thought he was a robot.
9:38
I thought you'd describe him like a game of frames or Lord of
9:41
the Rings type of character, but yeah.
9:43
He's just Jim's bulldog, you know he's got, he's got no
9:46
backbone, you know he's. He's a wet fart.
9:50
You go, it's funny. He is, yeah.
9:54
So. I mean, to me, I didn't like Ed
9:57
Woodward. And maybe you had a soft swap
10:00
for Ed Woodward and you think it was better in those days.
10:02
No. Richard Arnold then was he the
10:04
one that. No, that's what I mean.
10:06
They're all bad, right? And this, this goes to the point
10:10
of guys, we need new ownership. Like we can't beat around the
10:12
push here. This this this.
10:15
OK, that's a good question. Do you like who's the squash
10:17
guy? Who's the squash?
10:18
The Qatari squash player that runs PSG, Khalifi Khalifi, do
10:23
you really like him and what he has?
10:25
Because he that would be what I saw he option, right?
10:27
I saw flying out all the staff to the Champions League finals,
10:30
so for me that's a very classy thing to do.
10:32
We used to do that. So if he's, if he's going to
10:35
make moves like that. It's, it's essentially the
10:37
money, right? That's what you want.
10:38
You want the money, it's the oil and gas.
10:40
Well, no, but no, no, but no. It's the class.
10:42
It's the class as well, though for me that's a big thing about
10:45
Mattress, you know? You talk about what was it,
10:47
mistakes or disgrace? What about the human rights
10:50
record of Qatar is a straight state?
10:52
Isn't that a disgrace? And they're literally people are
10:54
dying in constructions of stadiums just to put on a a show
10:58
which was pointless. Let's be honest, isn't that a
11:00
disgrace? No, but that doesn't that.
11:02
That doesn't excuse us cutting funding to charities.
11:05
No, but I'm saying you want the the the people that have
11:07
murdered people right in charge of our club instead.
11:11
Well now take them as an alternative to get Manchester.
11:13
United exactly. That's that's all I wanted to
11:15
hear you'd prefer Yeah, yeah. And that's that's all it is
11:18
right. So when it comes to a disgrace,
11:21
it's different levels of disgrace and as long as the
11:23
disgrace wins football games, that's all that matters to you.
11:26
But you know, you get how far back do you go?
11:29
Because, you know, the British Empire was a bunch of murderers,
11:32
right? 100% so.
11:33
How how do you how far back do you go?
11:35
I just, you know, he ends a chemical company that probably
11:39
dumped shit into the sea or rivers. 100% I think.
11:42
God knows what so. You know, that's what I'm just
11:46
saying. There's disgrace is everywhere.
11:48
So which disgrace you want this? What?
11:49
I mean all these owners, all these billionaires, all these
11:51
mega wealthy people are protecting their own interests
11:54
and doing bad things. Yeah, but we got to look, we got
11:57
to we, we know all this, right. Like there's the question is
12:00
there's not, there's not other, there's a plenty of other
12:03
billionaires. Who are?
12:04
The question is, are they, do they have more of a sports
12:07
emphasis in EOS? Yes, they have a sports thing
12:09
they've got, they're into their F1.
12:11
I think it's, I think it's, I think it's bigger than that as I
12:13
think you just got to look at the decisions they've made,
12:15
right? I was, I, I backed in EOS as
12:18
well, right? But I can hold my hands up.
12:20
They've had a terrible year. We can talk about the positives,
12:22
but they've kind of been negated anyway because they got rid of
12:26
of Dan Ashworth and it's it's the manner and this the thing
12:30
it's you know, you can job cut because we are too heavy, but
12:35
have you cut the right jobs? Have you nitpicked certain jobs
12:38
that it's like, really, did you really need to go there?
12:41
Did you really need to cut funding for 40,000?
12:43
Yep, you can counter with me and say, well, Jim should fund the
12:46
40,000. But like, well, if the club have
12:49
been doing it for donkeys years, why can't they carry on?
12:51
Like why has Jim pulled it away? When you do it.
12:54
So what about scenario then, if you if you if you take take
12:57
possibility that I think he's got two years left, right of
13:02
this so-called golden ticket rule that he's got within think
13:06
let's just say in two years time, he sells nice, he sells in
13:10
ER, sells his shares and he buys Man United outright clears the
13:13
debt. What's your position then?
13:16
Because at the moment, Steve, you're saying that and I
13:19
completely agree with you. It's blazer and inning us out.
13:23
But if he comes along within two years time and says I've bought
13:27
United outright, I've cleared the debt, it's is it a, is it a
13:31
fresh start? Is that what we want?
13:32
Or is his money not good enough and actually we just need
13:35
somebody? I don't, I don't, I don't trust
13:38
the guy. You can make mistakes, but it's
13:40
the level of mistakes when you when you don't understand basic
13:43
things like increasing ticket pricing without communicating
13:45
with the fans, when that doesn't enter your mind, that tells you
13:49
the type of person you are. So even if it was just Jim and
13:53
you know, yes, he's got his sports and interests, let's call
13:55
it, I just still trust and faith in it.
13:58
And I and I did have a little bit to begin with that, you
14:00
know, if you sort out the sport inside of the club, you you can
14:03
make it work because we're so big still.
14:06
I think we're still the third biggest valued club.
14:08
Ash, you shared was it? I think it was someone else.
14:11
But yeah, it was like four 4.2 billion.
14:15
City was second at 4.24 and I think Madrid, Real Madrid were
14:19
top. Yeah.
14:22
No, but Steve, like, you know, even even from my own
14:24
perspective in terms of what any us have done, like I think I
14:28
can't remember if we talked about it in Spain or like on,
14:32
you know, once we got back. So there's certain elements I
14:35
underestimated, especially like if I was to like go back, I
14:39
would have done more research on like how Ineos staff and you
14:43
know, the inner workings of Ineos, like the chemical
14:46
company. I would have, you know, probably
14:48
done a bit more digging because if I knew some of the stuff that
14:51
they're capable of doing, then I might have swayed it towards
14:56
Qatar in the end. Question, Steve, I think it was
14:58
I think it was you maybe you actually also agreed.
15:01
I can't remember, but I think you were saying that, you know,
15:04
the Glazers actually need to be getting control back of the
15:07
club. My view of this situation is the
15:10
club was in such a shit show and and Ineos are trying to turn it
15:13
around and it would be whatever you see today.
15:15
For me it would be even worse if they hadn't come in because I
15:19
look at the things like the youth recruitment we've
15:20
mentioned, you know, in the, in the Villa game of, of an aid in
15:24
heaven. That's not There's no way the
15:26
Glazers are signing. I think my angle was like, so
15:30
Steve was obviously saying the Glazers need to sell up.
15:33
I was saying first of all the Glazers are idiots because they
15:36
obviously. Rejected Joel back instead of
15:38
Jim is my question. I didn't say that.
15:41
What I said was if you were Joel Glazer, seeing what's happened
15:45
this season, like even halfway through the season, if I was
15:49
Joel Glazer, I would be taking control back from from Jim.
15:54
That's that was my point, not me.
15:56
I don't want Joel Glaze, but I don't want any glazes.
15:58
But if I'm this kind of goes back to the heart of the
16:00
problem, right, Qatar did offer an you know, they put an offer
16:05
in right, four billion 4.5, right, depending on if you want
16:09
to include the debt. So there was a cash bid on the
16:12
table. Yep, we know proof of funds was
16:15
a problem, but Qatar still insists that, you know, that
16:18
they were there ready to do the deal.
16:19
And obviously Steve believes that because, you know, he was
16:22
big on Qatar as well. The fact that they rejected it,
16:26
OK, you can say fine, because they see some value.
16:31
But I don't know, like I, I, I look at the Glazers now and I'm
16:35
like, if Qatar or any, any entity that came in and bid it
16:39
even 5 billion, they're going to ask for six or seven.
16:43
Well, I want to ask you, do you think anything's changed now
16:46
between now and when that ownership debacle was going on,
16:49
given that we finished 15th and you know that's going to impact
16:52
revenues. Do you think if a bid comes in
16:56
similar level to what Qatar bid previously, that the Glazers and
16:59
Ineos would consider that seriously?
17:01
But firstly, Glazers is still majority, I think control in
17:05
terms of shareholder. Item rights, yeah.
17:09
I think that if I'm not mistaken there's they can't do anything
17:13
for the 1st 18 months and hasn't it been 15 months now?
17:18
I think in three months it opens up again so Qatar can come in
17:22
with a bid. And I think there is what's
17:24
known as a drag on clause in the deal, which means that if the
17:28
Glaze is accept, Jim then has to either match or sell.
17:32
So he can't say no, right? So if they're going to come in,
17:35
they can come in with the valuation.
17:37
It's long. This is the thing.
17:38
If you're saying Joel should take control or he's an idiot,
17:41
blah, blah, blah. Like you've got the opportunity
17:43
to sell. The club's there to sell, sell
17:45
it. Well, I remember you said
17:48
specifically when that strategic investment was announced that
17:51
this is the time to sell, right. So if if they stayed in then
17:55
surely now is even more of a time to sell given the position
17:58
and I. Didn't understand it until we
18:00
had the viewers haven't listened to the podcast episode with
18:04
Kieran McGuire. I was asking Kieran.
18:06
I didn't haven't listened to the cup, but I, I Kieran, I don't
18:09
understand why they're still in it.
18:11
And he made the point and that they think that there's another
18:14
jump up in revenues coming from this virtual kind of, you know,
18:17
the the metaverse essentially, and being able to view games
18:21
through the Facebook goggles for the what's the Apple one called?
18:26
You know, I'm talking about the visor thing and being able to
18:29
increase revenues through that. And that's apparently what
18:32
they're waiting for. And they think it's a 10 billion
18:34
asset. They're going to be like, well,
18:37
they're still in the Premier League, so they're still going
18:39
to get all the TV money. Commercial revenues are still
18:41
going to be decent. And then obviously they just
18:44
need a bit of an uptick in the league to make sure that the
18:46
commercial deals stay at the level that they are or even
18:50
increase. And that's the plan, as probably
18:52
Kieran's rightly pointed to wait for a few years, wait for org
18:57
reality and headsets and, you know, metaverse and everything
19:01
else and sell the club. That would be the interesting
19:03
question. Who do they sell to?
19:05
Who can afford 10 billion? But yeah, we probably know the
19:07
the region that would buy it. I am surprised that the latest
19:11
deal as well is the new TV rights deal is slight for like,
19:14
but they're getting more value for for the money they're
19:18
paying. So they're giving away more
19:19
games for exactly the same price.
19:21
I was shocked by that. It's great for us fans because
19:24
we can watch more games on telly now.
19:26
But if I look at it and kind of go from a value perspective is
19:29
the Premier League hasn't grown. It's now stale.
19:32
So I think it's. The state of the economy, I
19:34
think it's the state of the world economy though, Scott,
19:36
like just, it's just fact, right, With what happened in
19:40
2008 that, you know, you know, dispersed a lot of money out of
19:44
the system. And then COVID, same thing.
19:47
And, you know, we've had like, you know, the downturn in the,
19:50
you know, global economy with the stock markets over the last
19:53
few months with what Trump's been doing.
19:55
So inevitably, I mean, there's been rumours for at least 2-3
20:00
years anyway that like Sky are pretty top heavy in terms of
20:04
bids now. Like they can't really go any
20:06
higher. And the the pending question is
20:09
when are the streaming platforms going to come in?
20:13
And what's interesting even about the streaming platforms is
20:16
like, yes, you know, their valuations are extremely high,
20:20
you know, we're talking billions.
20:21
But other than Apple, it's like, can the Netflix actually do a
20:27
Premier League deal? Because, you know, probably
20:29
Amazon as well, They could probably do it as well based on,
20:31
you know, their like valuations and, you know, cash they got
20:34
available. But that's what I mean, it's
20:36
like there's always been this talk that Netflix could, you
20:39
know, get involved or an Apple, but there's only one way to find
20:42
out when once they actually start bidding.
20:44
There's an interesting test case coming, yeah, in Liga because
20:48
they've they had the disowned deal that's got turn up and
20:52
they're going to now sell their own package, essentially do
20:55
their own production. And that's another route that if
20:58
that succeeds, the Premier League could take is rather than
21:01
say, OK, Netflix, Amazon, you're buying the right the Premier
21:04
League themselves run the show and have their own thing.
21:09
And then you we pay a subscription to access that
21:12
directly and that would that would cause a huge revenue
21:17
boost. So you think they'll be waiting
21:21
for that step up to sell at that point rather than?
21:25
That's the talk. It's not good.
21:26
The thing is, if you think from a revenue from that
21:28
broadcasting, you know, what's it going to give us extra a
21:32
year, maybe 100 million if you if you go down the route of,
21:36
like you said, VR and whether it's a different Ave in terms of
21:40
streaming services and stuff. I just, I just, I've got this
21:43
feeling that this redevelopment is their golden ticket and they
21:48
don't want 567 billion, they want 10.
21:52
And the only way to do that is having a nice shiny new building
21:56
that can hold 100,000. They can then turn around and
21:59
say, yeah, if you want it. There's a, there's 10 billion.
22:02
And I think that's what they're waiting for new, new deals down
22:04
the line. Because we've got, we've now got
22:05
to wait three years for the, for the new TV deal to end on the
22:09
current version. So three years down the line, if
22:13
Labour have given us the approval to go ahead, you know,
22:15
the stadium's probably 2 years away from completion at that
22:18
moment, then you've got new TV deal, whatever the new services
22:22
are going to be provided, you've got new stadium on his way.
22:25
They could, they can demand 10 billion and they're going to
22:28
look at it and kind of go. But we're quite happy taking
22:30
along at this moment in time and I can make 4 billion in five
22:34
years. It's a no brand.
22:36
The only, the only question I Scott, is kind of like I, I've
22:40
just been thinking about it as I said it at the time, is that OK?
22:43
I accept that they, the Glazers probably do want 10 billion, but
22:47
given that there was only two bids, right, two serious bids
22:50
for the club of what we talk about two years ago now, who is
22:53
going to be able to bid 10 billion apart from like Apple?
22:57
No one, right? I mean, will the Saudis even
22:59
have that type of money available, You know, given that,
23:03
you know, MBS is already trying to create a service economy and
23:06
not be so reliant on oil? Well, if you, it depends if
23:10
you've got a problem with human rights records or not, because
23:12
that's what we're talking. It's your.
23:14
It's your Middle Eastern countries.
23:16
But the Middle East countries that were part of the last
23:19
bidding process only bidded up to a certain level.
23:21
They weren't prepared to go to the levels that you guys keep
23:24
talking about this magical money part.
23:27
Yeah, they weren't. They weren't, to be fair.
23:29
And that's because. But apparently they didn't want
23:31
to pay it, so it's not like they would just pay ridiculous money
23:34
it seems. The thing is, if they.
23:36
Don't think it's worth. It here's the thing, like Saudi
23:38
owned Newcastle, we've discussed Newcastle and they're doing
23:41
well. So why do you need United?
23:44
We've talked about Qatar. Well, we've got a Champions
23:47
League final coming up and who's in that?
23:50
So haven't they got enough kind of glamour from from Paris and
23:54
from PSG? Do they need Manchester and the
23:56
rain in Manchester? Yeah, they don't, and maybe
24:00
that's why they only bid to a certain level I.
24:02
Think money, money, money money comes from you know, these guys
24:06
have got it. If you I recently was 2023 new
24:12
New Jersey. I think it is the NFL football
24:14
team sold for six billion, 6.2 billion.
24:19
I think it was and it was a record, right, It was a record
24:22
and it was an American business LED consortium.
24:25
So there's the money's there. They you know, people will find
24:29
it where it comes from. I don't think it's down to one
24:33
or two individuals or state owned and things like that.
24:36
I just think were they were they weren't asking for 6-7 billion.
24:41
They wanted that magic number and no one came forward with
24:44
that magic number because the club isn't you know, that was
24:47
double the value of the club. And then you look at it and kind
24:49
of go, well, hang on a minute. If I'm going to pay you 10
24:51
billion, I'm going to have to clear two 2 1/2 billion to go
24:55
build a new stadium or redevelop the current 1.
24:58
So they're just. Unless the the Green Party have
25:02
got 20 billion that we don't know about, I think the owners
25:06
that we're going for, they're not going to be perfect, are
25:08
they? Well, as long as I mean that's a
25:11
fairpoint from Scott in terms of like, you know, outside of
25:14
Middle Eastern nations, so sovereign states, it's most
25:18
likely to be AUS consortium. But then you have the danger of
25:22
what the Glazers did. Like, you know, it's going to be
25:24
a finance pack, you know, deal like, you know, they're going to
25:27
secure loans from all sorts of different entities.
25:30
And then the question is would they put it on the club like the
25:33
Glazers did? Very unlikely that they would
25:36
because they would be idiots because the sentiment and
25:39
everything around United with the current structure.
25:42
But just one point I had on the new stadium some because, you
25:45
know, I don't disagree with the fact that the Glazers want the
25:47
10 billion and obviously to get the 10 billion valuation, they,
25:51
you know, the stadium needs to be done.
25:53
But what was interesting was that the Glazers, their
25:56
footprints were not on this at all, not even on the paperwork,
25:59
like it was all any us and even Sir Alex Ferguson, like
26:03
endorsing it. No, not not even Joel, like, you
26:06
know, was prepared to put his name on it.
26:08
But do you think that's just a smokescreen and it doesn't
26:10
matter? I think, I think it's to just
26:12
you say that because it was actually the glazes that brought
26:15
this to the conservative. I think it was the Conservative
26:19
government at the time. There is a paper that actually
26:22
shows the glazes asking the government if they were going to
26:25
redevelop the area and that was when they were kind of like the
26:28
first maybe 2 years into their around kind of thing.
26:31
So I think. They and obviously the Tory, the
26:33
Tories, weren't going to invest in the North.
26:35
Well, they well, they they weren't, but they were looking
26:37
at this and kind of going, who the hell are you guys?
26:39
You know, you're multi billionaires.
26:41
You're telling me that you can't solve a stadium out kind of
26:44
thing. So I think I think it's purely
26:46
come about because Sir James got contacts at the right levels to
26:50
get this ball rolling. I I just, I just hope the state
26:55
of the nation and the the economy is is that bad that they
27:00
say no I. Think that I think it's looking
27:05
like that because even though Jim's tried to, you know, tell
27:09
the whole world about it. We had a few glimpses from
27:12
Rachel Reeves. But since then in the culture
27:15
secretary. But it's it's all gone dead.
27:16
But if you. Don't mind.
27:18
There was another point. I wanted to make it and I think
27:20
it's the fan base. I think we're shocking awful as
27:23
a fan base. If this was any other football
27:26
club, this, this would have been dealt with.
27:30
These owners would have been dealt with.
27:32
I think we're so disconnected. We've got all of these, you
27:36
know, the 50 A we've got, you know, the mass.
27:39
Yeah, you've got all of these platforms.
27:41
And I'm not going to mention that, the YouTube platform.
27:44
But if you look at all of the platforms, I've got all of these
27:46
voices. There's not one consistent
27:49
voice. But when you look at other
27:50
protests, and again, I'm not going to name those clubs, but
27:53
when you look at those clubs and what they've been doing and how
27:55
they've reacted, they've had one clear goal, get the owners out.
28:00
We've got so many different goals and aims and voices and
28:05
kind of go, you know, we'll March before the game, we'll
28:08
have our little protest. We'll all get into the stadium
28:11
and watch game of football where I look at it and kind of go the,
28:14
the most embarrassing thing that happened to this football club
28:18
is when that Liverpool game got called off.
28:21
Not to the levels of recommitting crime, but me
28:26
personally is you can go to the stadium, scan you your pass so
28:29
that from a season ticket holder perspective that you get in the
28:32
good green tick that you actually attended the game.
28:34
As soon as that whistle blows, get out.
28:37
Have an empty stadium live on TV.
28:40
Yeah. It's the only way and you can do
28:43
your margins and protests outside the stadium.
28:45
And I tell you what, if you can hear fans outside of the stadium
28:48
while the game is going on and there's no one in the stadium at
28:51
all, then that is a bigger impact and it will become
28:55
embarrassing. They would have to do something.
28:57
But as a football club, there was just not one voice.
29:00
And I look at it and kind of go, they've all got their different
29:02
agendas, they've all got their different views and opinions.
29:05
And I look at it and kind of go, we're partly to blame here.
29:09
We've got so much power that we're just not using it
29:13
collectively enough. What we say let's let's kick it
29:16
off can fill that gap of bringing the fan base together.
29:21
Do it. I agree.
29:24
What kind of basic things, though, Scott, should we be
29:27
doing as a fan base, out of interest?
29:30
Look, I jokingly said to to Steve when he when he took us to
29:33
I can't remember what game it was just because the burger was
29:35
absolutely shocking from a van the game before he said, shall
29:39
we go and have the food at the stadium?
29:41
And it was like, yeah, OK, might as well try that.
29:43
And you're like, it's semi decent.
29:44
But the problem is it's it's it's money in the Glazer's
29:47
pockets. And I know it's peanuts, but
29:51
match day revenue, it goes into the Glazer's pockets.
29:55
It's in as well, right? Shirt sales.
29:57
And you know, you buy and merge every, you know that you go to
30:00
the stadium and you go bags and bags of your night store.
30:03
I think you've got the nice Stone Roses reversible jacket,
30:06
right, You know? What I mean?
30:08
It's hard. No, Scott.
30:09
It's hard though, right? Because they've got a heart.
30:11
That's what they've got. Well, it's like the 1991 white
30:16
shirt. I bought it because you got to
30:18
flip in. Love it.
30:19
You you bought the nut, he he spent £90 or whatever.
30:22
It was, but did you? Not no, no, I wanted to, but the
30:26
price put me up. But it's a fantastic T-shirt,
30:29
yeah. But it's, it's like you said,
30:31
they bring something out and it will pull your heartstrings and
30:34
go and Oh my God, they it's just, it's the club.
30:37
Scott, did you get the, did you get the number 71, which was
30:39
130? No, I didn't.
30:41
No beyond my budget. That's the problem there, isn't
30:43
it? Yeah, they've got us.
30:45
But I agree, I think we need more coordination as a fan base.
30:48
If there was, for example, first game of next season, an actual,
30:52
you know, protest organised where you, you essentially,
30:56
yeah, you go in the stadium or you just don't turn up.
30:58
I think there would be enough support from the season ticket
31:01
holders and the members who have bought tickets to actually get
31:04
behind it. But no one seems to be able to
31:06
organise it. It's it's the, it's the, is it
31:09
this scare mongering or the the tactics of what we can see from
31:13
Sir Jim in the closes now around your season tickets in terms of
31:16
the way they're doing things. You know, whether you scan it in
31:18
as you, how many tickets you give to other members, all of
31:21
that kind of stuff. It's almost like saying, you
31:23
know, Sir Jim has said it. You know, he wants to reward the
31:27
so-called loyal fans that turn up every single week.
31:30
Well, they do that. Go scan it in, walk into the
31:33
stadium and walk right back out again.
31:35
But she could do, yeah. Stop buying stuff, stop buying
31:39
merch, stop buying food and drink.
31:41
It doesn't help you hit them and you know, and it's not you're
31:43
not supporting the team because at the moment the team's that
31:47
shocking. Why the hell do they deserve our
31:48
support? I just look at it and kind of
31:50
go, what is the most embarrassing thing that you can
31:53
do to these owners? And it's live cameras, no one in
31:58
the stadium. I like the empty seats idea.
32:02
I've I've always been a big fan of that one.
32:05
Yeah, I mean, the merch is, is the hardest one, right?
32:08
You just said it yourself. They released the 1991 top and
32:13
you know people are going to buy it because it's not just about
32:17
principle, right? It's about the romantic side of
32:20
the club as well, right, Reliving 1991.
32:25
So that's the that's the hard part.