"INEOS Are Cost Cutting!" Andy Mitten Discusses Manchester United's Ownership & Recruitment!

[@sj1773]

Man U is the microcosm of England itself: Austerity for the people while the people at the top reap all the rewards.

[@devanman7920]

modern capitalism

[@Crumpy87]

@@devanman7920and the burden of illegal immigration and the threat of islamification

[@TBO2488]

Spot on

[@jonathankennedy1715]

Very true

[@thomassmith9371]

Nailed it

[@vincentbrady318]

According to the club the 250 staff cuts will save £10m a year while Rashford alone is on £17m a year. That’s 250 families affected by the loss of a job. Players wages are a big part of the problem.

[@bojan1999]

United can afford it. The glazers want to take out most money possible out of united.

[@saffy4352]

Every penny counts! Rashford will be gone soon!

[@maximumpotential3796]

its typical corporate greed, take away the benefits and spend lavish for specific individuals.

[@TBO2488]

Exactly,

[@turbo9321]

​@@saffy4352wow you still don't get it . Ineos glazers 2.0 want to make money , not win leagues .. hence cutting costs and buying cheaper players . Wake up FFS

[@DonFury-pi3dy]

Another master stroke by Sir Jim. By cutting that £40k per year for veteran players he is saving the club just over £120 per day.........£120 per day are you kidding me. He has paid £18 million to sack a manger, hes paid £3 Million to recruit and sack Dan Ashworth, hes paid £3 Million to bring in the new manager.

[@Cooki3Munster]

he is an idiot

[@LudiCrust.]

Genius businessmen are notorious for being incompetent club/franchise owners. Why it happens I’ll never know bc it doesn’t make sense no matter how you look at it. The NFL has had several and those guys didn’t just luck into their lot in life. They were/are legitimate geniuses. Jerry Jones is a prime example.

[@zolimbika]

Its even greater than £18m to sack the manager because there are technical managers that go with the sacked manager as well.

[@yoshuaduyols]

@@LudiCrust. It's actually pretty easy to understand for most part they really did luck in to their money but because they have money they think it's because they are the smartest guys in every room and they think they know everything better.

[@MrSpoonage]

Is this including Ruben's £9.2m buy out clause?

[@donal5148]

Jim bailed out the Glazers and kept the debt at the club, that was the worst possible scenario for Manchester United!

[@stevenlannister184]

He didn't bail out the Glazers. They didn't have to go anywhere and didn't need a bailout

[@lalrinpuia_tlau]

​@@stevenlannister184 Are you serious?? There's no way in hell the Galzers would sell their shares if the business was thriving. They needed the money badly. They exhausted all their options hence they put the club for sale.

[@georgekapambwe5696]

The Debt isn't part of SJRs partial buyout. That's the Glazers debt. Unless it is pit in writing that INEOS clearing that debt will be directly converted into controlling shares, it isn't on them.

[@Rob-b-C.F.C]

You fool Jimmy is partners with the glaziers😂😂😂😂 they both sponging the club

[@jamieh4357]

£30m a year in interest payments in perpetuity from the debt being there

[@Wethepeopless]

Can you imagine if the Middle East came in and cut Christmas bonuses the English media would be going crazy

[@93lornamae]

Lol true but that natural human behavior.

[@norm3769]

The English media would'nt report it​

[@hair6789]

@@norm3769 uh yeah they would lmao

[@eccles8118]

There would just be the endless reports of human rights abuses instead.

[@thewelshrocker101]

Don't know why anyone thought Jim would be successful since he bought his stake, considering the other clubs that he owns haven't exactly thrived under his watch.

[@kevinwalton4538]

He’s on an ego trip isn’t he?

[@thewelshrocker101]

@kevinwalton4538 you don't keep annoying the hard working low level staff that help keep the place running the best they can, when overpaid average players cannot perform on the pitch.

[@adrianbennett3761]

Actually Nice and Lausanne are 6th and 3rd respectively now, but they’re partly owned by INEOS rather than SJR himself. But I do think SJR is making a pig’s ear of running the club

[@MRAPEXPREDATOR1]

Nobody did, the media wanted him as if Qatar would have bought the club they would have dominated again (eventually) the media won’t have anything to Wright.

[@Stick1983z]

regurgitated comment.

[@familyread7889]

I remember gary Neville waxing lyrical about this man.

[@ashleyburns6752]

He also supports Starmer, no friend of the English working class

[@jeanlundi2141]

Neville is a spokesperson for the "establishment". That is clear to see for many years now.

[@upon-fe2720]

​@@ashleyburns6752yeah but you probably think Farage is for "the man". Id have starmer over a conman

[@BennyEggs...]

@@upon-fe2720good point, at least starmer isn't a conman 😂🙄

[@robertmansell3667]

Gary Neville the Manchester Property Developer supports Labour so his Pal Andy Burnham looks favourably on his planning permissions.🤮

[@josephfee1033]

Andy Mitten - only United journalist that talks sense about the club

[@ThePADRAIG9]

Taking money from talksport for interviews is cringey though for any united fan

[@ianscully6652]

All the problems the club has is simply down to the millions the club loses each year because of its final position in the league come the end of the season. When we fix the problem on the field. That fixes all the problems off the field

[@T90337]

@@ianscully6652I have to agree with you here, we never heard such problems during the fergie era under the glazer ownership. But the club is oozing money, sir Jim is trying to plug the gaps.

[@hair6789]

@@ianscully6652 you cant fix the problems on the field when the club is rotten from top to bottom lmfao

[@ruairio5764]

He won't bite the hand that feeds.. sticking up for ratty, absolute sell out

[@NoxiousRob]

Imagine stopping a £40k annual charitable donation, how mean can you get? There are players earning more than that in a day.

[@mrjones1696]

It's worse than that when you know that charitable donations are tax deductable so it won't even save 40k a year.

[@davidwebster5946]

It's an ex players charity. The players union or the players themselves should pay for it

[@NoxiousRob]

@@mrjones1696 They don't pay corporation tax, they make losses year after year.

[@Massondave]

Mean? The club is in a total mess, Radcliffe has just invested billions of his own money and another almost £100 million a few weeks ago towards club improvements. I think once they start balancing the books and see improvements on and off the field these donations will come back, until then I’m afraid charity starts at home!

[@mrjones1696]

@@Massondave buying a stake and investing aren't the same, the fans will pay for the new stadium, new players and all of the apartments and commercial buildings surrounding it. If football "is just a business" then it should be treated like any other business where the owner has to invest from their own pocket rather than forcing it from the fans and I don't want to hear about FFP because value added investments aren't calculated the same as transfers etc, Ineos are finishing the job the Glazers started.

[@andyc302]

I'm a fulham fan have been 43 years but I know loads of fans none of us are rich and live near the ground it's to expensive. The prices at the cottage are ridiculous so we don't want to pay these prices no fans of any club do its a working man's game being stole off us by the big wigs

[@gmatthews7632]

I’m a rich guy living nearby, I’ll pay £100 to sit in riverside to watch big games but don’t really support fulham

[@kallekofot7240]

Funny ​@@gmatthews7632

[@chucky7826]

​@@gmatthews7632spastic 😂

[@BIGcahones]

Its Mike Ashley the second! Love watching the drama unfold.

[@Tricky181]

Excellent comment!!

[@alenton81]

Sir Jim won't be skulling a pint... shame 😂

[@ATierney85]

Manchester United fans should just spend their money to buy their club back 😉

[@petershortland478]

​@ATierney85 that has been tried before. In 2010 apparently group called Red Knights a group of lawyers and bankers who tried getting the money together but nothing was heard from it since was disappeared chances are they ran out of money themselves

[@dazzuluwilliams3150]

Cynicism such a cowards way to live

[@JonWilde2105]

I have to say Andy Mitten is the best source for Man United news. Genuine, level headed, no drama but honest too. I was struck by how down he was after the Wolves game.

[@drewpeacock7426]

he's a fan that decided to play the journalism game. wolf in sheeps clothing. a proper glazer shill.

[@samlee86421]

Cancelling the Christmas party the pettiest thing I've ever heard.

[@plopplop1984]

fergie done it before … jose done it …. if the team isn’t performing they don’t celebrate… so what

[@Patrick4Gooner]

​@@plopplop1984 Jose and Fergie cancelled the players Christmas party and not for the Manchester United staff. Jim Radcliffe is penny wise pound foolish.

[@angelotroseboom1186]

​@@plopplop1984for the players no problem cancelling their joy, but for the working class it is extremely petty behaviour to cancel it this year

[@ShaquilleOatmeal730]

Ok fk off. Is it forever is it? We need cash for players. You muppets want it both ways. You can thank the glazers. Entitled knobs

[@clonliffepanther]

Apparently he was watching the Office Christmas Party, fancies Jennifer Aniston and likes her style

[@MRAPEXPREDATOR1]

So basically in a nutshell, if “Jim Bob” wouldn’t have come along with his greedy vanity project. The Glazers would have had to sell in full, debt gone, new stadium, and people wouldn’t have lost there jobs. Never mind hey, they got £1.3billion and the club will never compete again. But Jim’s happy and he can tell his mates he’s owns a bit of Utd. Funny how Barca and Chelsea wouldn’t entertain him.

[@WillJoy-cs1km]

No cos the Glazers were never going to look at a full sale. They wanted like £6/7/8b for the club and no one was paying that. They were always looking for minority investment

[@MaximusMeridius-d8w]

Lol you know nothing

[@creepingbrain]

The Glazers wanted to sell, they didn't need to sell. There's a difference. We didn't get a full sale because not one person on the planet was willing to pay $35 for the A shares. If the Glazers were desperate they would have dropped the price and we might have got a full sale. And if you're suggesting that if the fake sheik had got the club he wouldn't have sorted out the clubs' finances by doing things like making job cuts, and we would have just carried on hemorrhaging cash all over the place, then that's yet another reason to be thankful he didn't get the club.

[@OSEsean]

@@creepingbrain you're thankful that Ratcliffe got the club? Are you addicted to failure?

[@truevanpencil5403]

With performance and global viewership taken into account, united are plummeting. Revenues will also start to plummet quickly. Lots of over paid players they can’t shift and no success any time soon, Uniteds value will start to follow suit soon. Then it’ll implode. Need a new stadium, new players and ffp means they will struggle to sign anyone. Trust me, random global, casual fans will switch teams so fast it’s crazy. Them fans that make up the majority are also the most fickle. Hard to see how united even recover from this atm unless a billionaire comes in soon.

[@liamhemmings9039]

I saw Jim Ratcliffe in March, in the south of France. He was jogging. He had about 8 women jogging with him, forming a box around him. They were clearly his entourage, whether security or trainers. It was a really odd sight. Clearly that's where the money goes.

[@JackPaul-vs3bq]

😂😂

[@DX_2_words_4_ya]

At least he's got his priorities right lol

[@theesorkinc44]

If it were America he might have been chastised for having so many women around. CNN would call it female abuse.

[@manchesterreds7853]

Must of been wearing lynx

[@MikeD-r2c]

Money can by you love

[@Paul-m2s5i]

Karma is real... Treat your loyal staff with having a Merry Christmas... Disgusting and the players know it too

[@davesmith4804]

@Paul-m2s5i Well said chap

[@truevanpencil5403]

Players should’ve had a whip around for them. They’re the reason the staff party has been cancelled.

[@alenton81]

Can't see how it's not working... especially when you have Sir Dave Brailsford with a bike pump in one hand & a cocktail of 'stuff' in the other 😂

[@harrydestaffano565]

The comments from Andy Mitten are spot on!

[@barrypower6822]

andy as always is very good

[@richyclubsport5155]

From a man who promotes heat pumps in his videos, the most inefficient form of heating ever

[@SqualidBear]

Sounds like Andy sympathies with Jim as he gets the interviews. Why is he not asking Jim, you did a deal with the devil to keep the debt, if you are a lifelong fan why not step aside and get a full sale and clear the debt and reset this club

[@barrypower6822]

@@SqualidBear the glaziers wanted way too much for the club , this was the best deal he could get

[@Rivelino824]

Crazy still to this day how Manchester United can be in debt. Also dont blame people like Rashford, blame the people who signed a bang average player on them wages.

[@NavaneethMapiniyethVilangeri]

hype and PR, the average player in other teams becomes world class fluke at manutd everyone is average and still the hype they get

[@mesicek7]

How can you not blame the player? It's basically your job to give it your all every game especially when you're considered one of the best players in the team.

[@johng9973]

Forcing rashford out???? The bloke came out and said he wanted to leave after being dropped.

[@bareknuckles2u]

EXACTLY!

[@Kspat2]

Don’t forget we gave an Ancient Eriksen 150k/week and Casemiro 300k+

[@ianscully6652]

They are next on the bullet list, with every other player in the club who earns close to 200k

[@k12rmy]

​@@ianscully6652good luck with removing players who have 2+3+ years on their contacts. They won't be going any place any time soon .

[@cathaldowdall7467]

What Rathcliff did to Stewards is disgrace. He's a Muppet.

[@albertbrammer9263]

Evil billionaire tax avoider.

[@williamwillis5729]

This is the real legacy of Sir Alex Ferguson: the fans now have the highest expectations and no patience to support a club going through a difficult period. A season in the Championship would do them a world of good.

[@theesorkinc44]

Biggest club in the world??? 40k per year cut from past players yet increased tickets bring more than 40k per game.

[@user-um1pc8ry8v]

Who said they are biggest club in the world 😂😂😂😂

[@FreeEagle-zh7js]

When i used to say i don't trust ineos and that them and the the Glazer's are two wings of the same bird, no one was interested to listen to me.. Have you ever cogitated on the fact that ineos knew that they didn't have the financial strength to fix and maintain a club like United, yet they still bidded for us?? So, how do they really mean the club any good? But most of all, they are comfortable with the Glazer's still being at the club, even when being aware that the club is in ruins because of them?? Yes, they appointed Amorim, who seems to be an outstanding manager, but that was what the Glazer's used to do to befriend most of the fans, pretend to give them what they need, by making a big signing, in other words, to sweet-talk them.. Let me say this, all these issues were always there even with Fergie was around, it's just that Fergie was a genius, but as soon as he departed, the glory left also, which made the cracks visible, that was always there, which gave worsened over the years.. It was like sweeping rubbish under a beautiful carpet, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the rubbish is no longer there, which will eventually rot as the time goes by, and the Glazer's were and have always been that rubbish.. We would have been in a better position if we were under the ownership of Qatar, because most importantly, the Glazer's would no longer be around, the club is just unlucky..

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

They bid £5 billion for United, but the Glazers are so effing greedy that they wouldn’t accept it for a sale, nor the £5.5 billion bid from Qatar, even though both are considered to be considerably over the odds. Ineos have also wiped off over £120 million of the club debt, albeit in exchange for equity. This would never have happened under the Glazers, who have been quoted on several occasions, as being “comfortable” with the club’s eye-watering debt. I get why people are not happy with what’s going on, and I deplore the reduction in basic pay and conditions for ordinary United staff: obviously it’s the wage bill, transfer fees, agents fees etc. which need tackling, as the largest outgoing. But it’s just not correct to suggest that Ineos have been just the same as the Glazers: they aren’t. Selling the club to Qatar would have meant becoming the plaything of a repressive petro-state. That is beneath Manchester United: it’s for the Manchester City’s of this world.

[@robertboar9514]

Rory quoting Andy's comments from a previous interview with Jim Ratcliffe back at him, as those they were Rory's own original insights

[@wd2918]

Rory once again showing how much of a dosser he is 😂 an actual moron

[@jamesquirke3637]

it's ridiculous to start the cost cutting at the bottom the relative savings are basically inconsequential and it just makes the club look cheap and mean....start at the top and work down instead.

[@paul-soundaffected]

That's the problem though, those at the very top rarely if ever take a reduction in their wage, the only time I've seen players take a wage reduction is relegation or to literally help save a club from going bankrupt.

[@user-s1o3nr532]

British management all over - no wonder nothing works.

[@T90337]

Unfortunately to release a player from their contract would cost the club more money. They can’t just reduce their wages as it’s signed as part of their contracts. Players are sellable assets, staff members are not.

[@Jabraham9]

They’re tryna balance the books, if they could sell players right now they would or the last few months awhen they realised united are not gonna be qualifying for even conference league so they’re about to lose a lot of money and they need to maintain with PSSR, so why tread the line when you can rebuild now you’ve seen enough and clean up the entire books and the squad, they’ve still gotta pay ten hag 15 million remaining contract, they over the years have bought so many players and been stuck with their contracts Sanchez, Lakaku, Sancho, Maguire, Donny Van Beek, Pogbas mishandling having him then buying him for 100 mill, Antony, can count Verane, Casemiro has borderline cause age and what’s left in the tank, yes united is a rich club but even paying Mourinho 24 mill to leave, ole 12 mill, ragnick 18 mill, van Gaal 10 mill, haven’t gone far in Europe or been in champions league like that club is used to for how much they spending and looks like they’re a few years away so better to start the rebuild now fanatically and a culture reset, united owe 1 billion in debt, they’re cutting all cost to make the club profitable look at man city even though they’ve cooked the books at the start or maybe more over years but they make money on sales of players but even though they have less debt they’re accruing it at a higher rate than united but it’s still 3 times less than what united has even down to recruitment think they’re taking Ragnick and Cristianos advice they even had a rat problem and leaking roof problem again the last few weeks so even down to the stadium then probably the facilities look at what happened with Barca when they mismanaged their debt

[@averageaimer8533]

@@Jabraham9is your full stop button broken?

[@WhatInTheDeepestShadeOfFeck]

Who would ever have thought that the head of a giant multinational conglomerate might not be a great guy and is only concerned with money...? 🤔

[@karlm641]

The hiring and sacking of Dan Ashworth in isolation is fundamentally more concerning than any inefficiencies with staff who earn minimum wage and a £40k charity donation. Not sure what Andy Mitten is on about (or been told to say) but the cost cutting Ratcliffe's people have done so far is a joke.

[@Discombobulate453]

It is, but the vision was different. Ashworth wanted Southgate, and when he failed to get him, instead of looking for other options, he extended Ten Hag’s contract because he wanted to wait for Howe, or Potter.

[@AlienTenno]

INEOS Out , Qatar In

[@upon-fe2720]

Yeah... Id rather not have murderous dictators running any club in football never mind our own.

[@Evemeister12]

And that's how much football has driven its fans mad. They don't mind shady owners, as long as their football club wins trophies. The only reason Jim Radcliffe is being condemned so hard is because of the team performances. If Manchester United were back to winning ways, the redundant staff would be forgotten already.

[@folanstephen]

This is way too nuanced and thoughtful for a Talksport discussion.

[@ryannoble4789]

Do your own podcast then.

[@Michael-xy1wl]

Just waiting for Sir Jim to rename the stadium INEOS Arena and cerment his legacy as the BTEC Mike Ashley 🤣🤣🤣

[@ianscully6652]

That’s what is next from him. Guaranteed 👍

[@upon-fe2720]

Cement...

[@caynehampton1878]

Never thought that we would have our own Mike Ashley at Man United. He should focus on cutting wages of the players and selling the deadwood.

[@erichawthorne-c9v]

They always say cuts are needed Radcliffe has 22Bill ffs

[@kengordon134]

Ffp

[@JWHarris........]

You don't get rich by giving it away

[@barrypower6822]

man utd has to be able live within its means ie income . the ownner has to make cuts the bigs cuts will come in the summer with players being sold.

[@peterwatt5688]

I assuming talking to you is like talking to brick wall ,did you even listen to the clip

[@erichawthorne-c9v]

@@peterwatt5688 Yes I did , Mitten is a sycophant

[@kylehadfield1762]

Andy mitten united through and through but sounds a little bit like a ratcliffe sympathiser because he’s got a relationship with him sad.

[@AaronMartin7193]

💯%

[@bingbong4848]

He's actually allowed to have an opinion brother. Just because he seems to understand Ratcliffe's actions doesn't make him a suck up and doesn't make it sad. There will be many other fans who will agree that he has to do what needs to be done. It's a sad state of a club he's bought into and most fans won't understand the financial situation and what's required to fix it. Sometimes the head has to rule the heart. I'm not a fan but I wish man u to be stable and competitive again.

[@Stick1983z]

I’d say it’s good to see he’s not stirring up the drama for the masses to feed off. 👍🏼

[@stannats2637]

INEOS the dream that turns into a nightmare

[@nikeelmangaroo2844]

💯 percent!... lol and he just keeps going on and on and.... lol if Rory didn't jump in with his point about how far removed Ratcliff is by ticket prices, wich is remarkable by the way because Rory is a Chelsea supporter yet he makes the 100 💯 percent sense and Mitten is a actual united supporter yet he trying 2 cover up Ratcliffs horrible decisions!!!😂

[@sallahudinmehuddin8046]

Makes no sense to loan Rashford out and pay a big chunk of his wages in the name of cost cutting. He's not being forced out, it's his attitude.

[@ianscully6652]

If he does well when on loan. His transfer fee might be higher in the summer

[@BSR9797]

Robbing the poor to give to the rich… I think Radcliffe got the legend back to front. So taking £40k per annum away from the needy is essential to the club finances but give a new £325k per week contract to a below average employee who is so bad he is now suspended from work makes total economic sense. To think I once had an interview to join one of his companies (which abruptly ended when I was offered half the salary I was on). Disgraceful.

[@HBS444]

he inherited the stupid contracts everyone is on whats he meant to do rip them up and get sued? not defending him but all these stupidly massive contracts pre date his arrival.

[@OSEsean]

@@HBS444 He gave 16 year old Obi Martin a £30k p/w contract....

[@trevorstorey9741]

Excellent interview with Andy Mitten. Well done to all

[@scottlouis4076]

Perspective. A millionin seconds is 12 days. A billion is 32 years. Buddy has 22billion. Disgusting ....

[@michaelgreen5857]

11 day's

[@MrMozzo]

Semantics 😂​@@michaelgreen5857

[@DestinationDynamo]

How is Cundy a pundit? Rashford isn’t being forced out, he’s under performed for two seasons now and finally someone’s called him out.

[@seanknapton7449]

Imagine if Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton finished above Man City,Man Utd and Rottenham,that would make my day 😂

[@AaronMartin7193]

And this guy is supposed to be a United fan? To me he just sounds more like a mouth peace for SJR imo

[@Stick1983z]

he is pretty balanced tbh. A good representative for a fan base compared to the youtubers ffs

[@ThePADRAIG9]

Taking talksport money, no respected united fan should be doing this lads

[@OSEsean]

@@ThePADRAIG9 "they said mean things about my daddy Ole" 😢😢😢😢

[@NathanBradley-w1z]

Nah, he's just acknowledging what is real.

[@ThePADRAIG9]

@@OSEsean sorry what does that mean ?

[@Dillon81]

85 mill for Antony you absolute jokes🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jamescunningham1973]

I find all of this incredibly funny

[@crayontom9687]

Poor people losing their jobs isn’t that funny though

[@jamescunningham1973]

@crayontom9687 youre run by greed and cruel people,i suggest you stop paying ticket prices and find another well run team

[@g0320]

That ex Chelsea nobody, basically visibly ignoring Andy Mitten - his guest - the whole way through after he said his bit, shows what an unprofessional outfit they have at TalkShit

[@Wrighty62]

Best 14 minutes of rory I've ever seen!!

[@bingbong4848]

Cundy, they may save 100k a week, but his replacement will cost at least £200k a week

[@barrypower6822]

exactly , unless they have a ready made replacement in the youth teams

[@bingbong4848]

@barrypower6822 Yeah. Doubt it though...if they had someone we would probably already be seeing him, given the current desperate situation

[@davesmith4804]

@bingbong4848 all true that , haha

[@barrypower6822]

@@bingbong4848 theres a few but too young at this stage

[@joekavanagh7171]

United are the Titanic of football. Sunk without trace. It's the fans' fault for tolerating it.

[@esclad]

IENOS haven't even bothered to fix the leaking roof(s) in 12 months. Lot's of cuts, sackings, penny-pinching, mistakes but nothing has changed for the better. Literally nothing. If Sir Jim didn't have the money to invest AFTER buying-in, then he should have just let the Qatari's buy the club. He's made things worse and is prolonging the agony.

[@bangrojai]

What your club need. USA born stock holding master ( Liverpool ). USA born insurance master ( Chelsea ). Heir of a dynasty ( Arsenal ). Arab Syeikh ( City ). Arab king ( Newcastle ). USA pension money management ( Inter Milan ). Or, fans owned club like Bayern, Madrid and Barca.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

They are in charge of the sporting operations (which hasn’t been brilliant, admittedly) rather than physical infrastructure, which the Glazers have a veto on. In short: that hole isn’t being fixed until someone else stumps up for it.

[@SDCLFC1]

For everyone criticising Liverpool for not having secured Trent, Virgil and Mo, the state of Utd is why. It's not that I think Salah shouldn't be offered a 3-year deal with a saly among the very top in the league, and Virgil and Trent should similarly get competitive, lucrative deals. But it's about a process to make sure the deal is right to avoid situations that Utd is in. The wrong deal can cripple a club. I can't believe Rashford was offered the deals he was. But Fernandes too. He might be your best player but there is no one else who would pay him the money Utd are. Those contracts were offered as knee-jerk reactions to believing they desperately needed these guys. If they had held their nerve and let them leave the club would be in a much better position. Virgil and Salah will stay - and I hope Trent does. But the offer needs to be right for everyone and that means following processes that limit the risks of getting it wron.

[@bareknuckles2u]

Good comment

[@JC10..]

The contracts were offered to inflate the book price of players in order to leverage more debt against "Valuable" assist of the club. The Glazers have single handedly destroyed Man United.

[@SeaAyDee]

Agreed, we saw it with Rashford and Ozil at Arsenal, they play well when they are negotiating the contract, they sign the contract on huge wages then the form drops off. Liverpool stood firm on Gini and he left for the money and his form dropped off massively. Salah and VVD should get two years max, but I think Trent will leave.

[@MattMajcan]

yeah, over the years ive come to trust fsg. so many others clubs have run into so many problems clearly caused by poor decisions behind the scenes and we just never have that problem at liverpool.

[@SDCLFC1]

@@SeaAyDee I'd like them to get 3 years, because I think they've earnt it. But these contracts must be incredibly complex in terms of what's involved in them - and the details of that third year, as well as signalling what happens after that, will need to be very fine-tuned.

[@borrowedtune]

Spot on from Andy, as always. Too many people live in fantasy land. It’s a business, not a charity. Cuts are necessary. The Glazers employed a bloated workforce, and there was a lot of people who simply didn’t need to be there. INEOS are one of the biggest and most successful companies in the world - they know what they’re doing. The sensible fans among us are well aware it was always going to get worse before it gets better.

[@mikedarcy8314]

God help you , the bosses are so good, letting all of the small people like you admire them while they rob you

[@borrowedtune]

@ I’m sure that made sense in your head.

[@kevinbarker7915]

When was the last time INEOS really challenged for a cycling major tour? Not as great a sporting force as they like to think.

[@CHIPorange]

Take your nose out their backsides mate

[@MattMajcan]

you've been duped, the glazers are maximizing profit while neglecting on-field performance, while using ineos as a scapegoat. how long are you guys going to accept your club being milked and run into the ground?

[@lesmarsden2058]

No point saving pennies whilst squandering many millions! Simply appalling management!

[@jumpa654]

Saving pennies while squandering millions.....sounds familiar that.....oh yeh, it's what the government has been doing in the last 15 years!

[@carlosnunes3701]

They sack the plumber to help pay the 350K a week to Rasford, that stay at stay-at-home wasting his time gaming

[@joekavanagh7171]

Greenwood must feel he has escaped from a lunatic asylum.

[@thejapanexperience6317]

Andy, man of the people. Official journalist of Manchester United. Twice mocks the fans for wanting good things, not once mocks Ratcliff for pumping up tickets mid way in the season with a shitty excuse or for giving a failing manager a two year extension saying current manager isn't for them before sacking manager and getting the current one. Chasing Ashworth then sacking him. How many millions was all of that? But don't worry fellas, Andy is here to explain the 40k savings are the hard decisions that need to be made. They must all be meditating under the old trafford waterfall to remain so calm.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

He’s the founder and editor of United We Stand, an independent fanzine. And he has been critical of SJR in his pieces for the Athletic, he just isn’t screaming from the rooftops.

[@gwheregwhizz]

The new sustainability rules based on percentage of turnover mean the days of concessions are over, huge increases in the cost of tickets and merchandise coming soon everywhere to maximise turnover. If you think it's a rip off now, you ain't seen nothing yet.

[@AmadDread]

Casemiro, Rashford and Shaw... That's millions.

[@Selambehere]

Andy Mitten 👏👏👏 Although the hosts were uncomfortabel with your nuanced views on INEOS, i as a Fan am delighted to hear It. Thank you for refusing to perform outrage. Thank you for staying true to your journalistic duty and informing the people on what is going on and why.

[@Retro_Cyber_0]

Andy was behind the INEOS bid rather than Qatar, even though he knew that would mean the Glazers staying and less money to spend, sorry Andy but most of us could see the way this would go, SJR is very rich by most standards, but he does not have the spare money that we need.

[@bradson2407]

Mitten is an out and out company man. Saying that the job cuts are not a good luck yet simultaneously saying that they were needed! Then revealing that previous managers told him about Rashfords lack of commitment. Then why is he only speaking out now when he has been cast aside….seems very much like an orchestrated campaign from within the club and Mitten is just an Ineos mouthpiece.

[@johnhealy6248]

Andy Mitten always talks sense.

[@Motlier]

He is lying, the club isn't loosing money, because that would break with ffp. The owners of the club are loosing money because of the huge loan they took to buy the club. So it's INEOS and the Glaziers not willing to cover their own company's losses, instead they let Man Utd's profits cover it, and they want higher profits from Man Utd.

[@t1ma_21]

£40k cut deals £40m reputation damage

[@Mike-gn4un]

Andy Mitten always delivers insightful, well articulated commentary. He’s levels above these two presenters, especially guy right of screen, embarrassing biting his nails, fidgeting while Andy is making salient points. Lack of professional courtesy to his interviewee

[@rLxJake]

I’m an American that flies in and buys tickets and buys the kit every year regardless of the team performance. I love my club but im starting to feel like part of the problem.

[@RgjDj1878]

You are not the problem my friend. You’re a symptom. Football is for the working class. This is culturally significant in this country. The premier league are losing fans to lower leagues now. Player wages and agents are the root cause of the problem and the commercialisation required to remain competitive.

[@Mytoydiecastgarage]

People like u are the problem……who support the club and buy merch even when the club is a shitshow of a circus and the owner is increasing ticket prices and penny pinching. See they know people like you will pay and buy stuff so they dont care. When people like you stop buying and paying for tickets then only they will realise

[@ianscully6652]

Don’t forget the price of transfer fees nowadays for footballers and them fees are still rising each transfer window

[@robertstraw9881]

Jim Twatcliffe.

[@KENMBANEFO]

Nice 😂

[@donal5148]

Is Jim Ratcliffe just Mike Ashley in disguise?

[@crayontom9687]

Good shout. I reckon Kendall Roy

[@UtdGLORYtv]

What nobody has ever explained is why we pay the wages we pay. Why is Rashford on 300k, why is shaw on 200k. Why do we keep dishing out massive wages on players…

[@ab_5802]

Purple patches which the fans eat up

[@tt99football56]

Sadly because it's the going rate at the likes of Man City, Liverpool & Real Madrid etc. So these players might they should be earning that, yet they don't deserve it.

[@DK-iy1wf]

Yeah but the likes of Liverpool are not a average team we are so no player at this club should not be more than a £150k

[@marc8772-e7q]

The only way to rid united of the over paid and work shy is relegation and build a team with an academy core

[@colinwallace9468]

Why blame the fans when bad business decisions is ruining the club

[@markreynolds8151]

I love Andy's perspective, he's thorough in his analysis and gives versions from both sides of the coin which the typical biased media don't do these days

[@beefsuprem0241]

Remember when Ratcliffe road into town with all this guff about being a local lad and some pseudo science. All these lot at talksport etc lapped it up. Within weeks he was shaking a begging a bowl at the taxpayer for a new stadium the Glazers should have built. He's there to make money, nothing more.

[@blah350]

Abd the irony is They had someone who was willing to wipe all the debts and start with a clean slate

[@bangrojai]

Get some Arab. Offer 6 b. 4b should be given to Ineos, Sir rat, glazer for their retirement from football forever. 2 b to buy new player and new stadion.

[@MattMajcan]

everyone from the owners to the players, the coaching staff, literally everyone at United is just there for the money, and fame,, and thats why they're so bad. like jurgen klopp famously remarked manchester united is more like disneyworld than a football club

[@lidd..]

Mitten is a spin doctor for Ineos

[@windupmerchant1679]

Regardless of the topic, Rory Jennings is a waste of space.

[@daviddenham1511]

Here’s an idea….if Rashford is such a compassionate, caring human, why doesn’t he donate a weeks wages to all the kids charities he’s so fond of??……….

[@adeyinkabenjamin9537]

He does....but that's not the point eh? You guys just want him to be the villain so now you're making all sorts of stories. Just 2 years ago Marcus was our shining light...led is to a trophy and was our highest goal scorer in 8 years and the team finished 3rd. Now because the team is struggling rashford has been chosen as the scapegoat for all of United's problems

[@marshallm7339]

This guy sounds like an ineos spokesman....😂

[@willie549]

You need to learn to understand what you are listening to...

[@marshallm7339]

@willie549 he wilfully brushes over aspects of their current financial situation to frame Ineos as the victims that have no other choice... When actually they have been directly complicit to many wasteful decisions since taking over.

[@markcourtney7251]

@@willie549exactly! He is slagging them off not supporting them

[@willie549]

@markcourtney7251 Spot on Mark 👍

[@DB_________]

I truly believe the PL bubble is close to bursting. Man Utd are patient zero. Player salaries are the root cause of these clubs struggling financially now that PSR is kicking in

[@purehyperbole5727]

The mistake is thinking that any owner is concerned about the fans. They all want to act like Radcliffe. They are business people. The emotion involved is the fault of the fans.

[@barrypower6822]

well football is a business now a days .

[@NathanBradley-w1z]

​@barrypower6822 Exactly. Its not a football club. It's a business owned by investors. What do investors want? A return on their investment.

[@sufamidan1006]

What Ratcliffe is doing isn’t a surprise to me. I called it to perfection. Absolutely disastrous ownership.

[@petersmith2522]

Why is ffp not onto them then if its losing money

[@alenton81]

Because it's Man Utd

[@EoinFe]

Don't think they are losing money, they are just taking to much out of the club and won't stop 😂

[@robangullia]

PSR is very much on the radar hence why these penny pinching measures are being made everywhere possible.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

They will probably need to sell Rashford, as selling an academy graduate helps a lot with the PSR burden (“pure profit”), as they sold McTominay and Greenwood this year.

[@noiseinmyblood]

It wasn't Ratcliffes money that bought his share. It's a loan he took based on his assets, and the people who issued that loan want to see him cut costs.

[@creepingbrain]

He used cash

[@Timekeeper1200]

Football clubs can't be bought with loans anymore. That ended years ago

[@jimchapman9137]

Andy mitten absolutely dominating these two guys... 👏

[@robertbslee4209]

Radcliffe bought shares from Glazers and paid Glazers = 0% went to the club Radcliffe investment is a loan to the club, ManU have to pay commercial interest to Radcliffe = the same as Glazers

[@seanknapton7449]

I actually think Radcliffe will end up religating Man Utd - the Dennis Law back heel

[@mann953]

Do you mean a businessman is running the football club like a business? What else did you think? Did you really believe his promises about creating jobs?

[@yt.personal.identification]

"The Glazers don't milk the club for enough cash" said Sir Jim after his purchase.

[@mufccharliemufcglazersout]

Ineos are killing United Slowly like the French 🇫🇷 club they own

[@thesoultwins72]

The best leaders, always ''Lead by Example''. What really upsets the actual 'workers', is when they have to make sacrifices for poor management - yet the 'management' are not affected.

[@stevekent3991]

I don’t think Andy Mitten realises how bad Man United’s debt situation is and how bloated the structure is. Any business in financial trouble needs to stop spending money they don’t need to spend. Every penny counts, both for revenue and costs. It doesn’t matter whether you are getting rid of lowly paid employees or highly paid employees, if they do not contribute enough to the profitability of the business then they need to go. Goodwill doesn’t pay the bills when the business is going down the pan, get real.

[@ianscully6652]

Totally agree. Ratcliffe will eventually get around to offloading the players at the club who are performing poorly each week.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

What are the largest outgoings for Manchester United? The wage bill for the playing and coaching staff; the debt repayments; agents’ fees; and compensation payments to former managers and CEOs. I’d suggest tackling those before the £50 bonus to the stewards and the cost of a bus down to Wembley.

[@Adam-bk9hl]

That's the longest Rory Jennings gone without speaking on air. Gotta take some positives.

[@BrandynGarland-y8h]

These are the same fans we’re mourning about Qataris taking over oh no we don’t want Qataris we want British owner no foreigners blah blah hope your happy now you got your self a British owner

[@peterdjeric5369]

So so true

[@pppscooby]

If andy mitten knew rashford was a problem because past managers have told him, why has he waited til now to say anything, he’s just jumping on the bandwagon, lazy journalism

[@mrdynamitehee]

Mitten trying to make excuses for Radcliffe is sad. If cuts had to be made why is it only the ordinary people and those relying on charitable contributions bearing the brunt? Why didn’t Radcliffe pay Ten Hag’s contract, Dan Ashworth’s contract, and Sporting’s compensation out of his own money since he was the idiot who messed those whole situations up himself. Those wasted millions alone would have kept people in their jobs. Why do charities receiving a measly £40k a year have to suffer for his mismanagement? Really nasty little man. No wonder he wanted us all to vote Brexit.

[@johnarmitage7937]

Night is darkest just before the dawn, love it Andy Mitten 👏🏽

[@carlranger8060]

Tbh, he should never have bought his stake. If he was a true United fan as he says, he would've gotten out of the way to allow the Qatar is to buy the club. In short he isn't rich enough for a club as big as Manchester United.

[@robw4057]

Lpool fan here... I completely agree. Qatar would have put you back on the map.

[@LukeJohnson-tw5bo]

Ban state owned clubs!!!!!!

[@FoggyPigeon]

Don't United fans and other club fans always take the piss out of City for being an 'oil money club'? It's often claimed that none of their achievements really count due to them being owned by super rich owners. Wouldn't United then just be hypocrites if they were owned by the Qatar consortium?

[@pppscooby]

SJR knew the situation before he bought the club, as a life long man utd fan he shouldn’t have bought the club knowing he couldn’t afford to run it properly, as a life long utd fan he should let the better bid succeed.

[@tombattisti8682]

Billionaire ownership is nothing but trouble. Period!

[@MicDubTV]

Andy is pure class. THE person to go to for true United insight if you’re talking about journalists. Next would be Laurie Whitwell & Carl Anka. Really trust Ornstein as well.

[@pauldark3044]

Please have Andy Mitten on every time you talk about Utd! He really knows what he is talking about

[@scottyh1238]

"Rashford at his prime was touted as a 100m pound player".... 1. Has Rashford ever had a prime? 2. No club in his entire career has ever looked to drop 100m on Rashford.

[@dannyduggan4324]

Not a United fan but that one 30 goal season post world cup he could have been. Though agree no team ever would have considered 100m for him as most knew he wouldn't sustain it.

[@scottyh1238]

@@dannyduggan4324 yes, that was good, but that was like 6-7 months, wasnt even a full season. He will always be known as another one with ridiculous talent but just never fulfilled it.

[@eamonnbarrett7995]

SirJimGlazer is a business man doesn't care about the club, big money