Greenwood

[Fuck the Glazers]

Arnold releases statement

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... d-27564252

"We were provided with alternative explanations for the audio recording, which was a short excerpt from a much longer recording, and for the images posted online."

What were the explanations, "I was only messing and she fell down the stairs"

[swampash]

I got the impression from the Sun article (terrible to admit I read the Sun!), that his contract had been terminated, so no sale income.

[bman2]

Yeah it’s being widely reported that the club has cancelled his contract, he’s a free agent. It’s possible that the club is just being super noble and principled about it all. Stranger things have happened. The only pragmatic, cynical, business-oriented explanation i can come up with is that the club was very worried that Greenwood would sue the fuck out of them. So they’ve publicly endorsed the positions of the CPA and the current position of his accuser/spouse, and they’ve torn up his contract. So it’s now impossible for Greenwood to make a case that the club have ruined his career: they’ve defended his reputation, and they’re not standing in the way of him signing with another club.

Am I missing something? I can’t think of another explanation for the club publicly declaring “He’s a good lad, and we wish him well. We’re not even looking for a transfer fee”.

I’m generally critical of how the club is run, including on this issue. But the way it’s panned out, I’m beginning to think that the club just got really fucked over here, and there wasn’t much to be done. It’s bad enough erasing Greenwood’s previously estimated worth of £100M or so from United’s ledger. But it’s also possible that if he’d sued the club for loss of future expected earning of a global superstar (English) striker, the total financial impact might have been much much more, enough even to ruin the club maybe. Maybe that worry has even been the unspoken factor throughout the whole Glazers-looking-for-investment-or-sale saga. That risk might have caused prospective buyers to bid less, or might have encouraged the Glazers to go looking for financial support in the first place.

[Felwin]

Yeah it’s being widely reported that the club has cancelled his contract, he’s a free agent. It’s possible that the club is just being super noble and principled about it all. Stranger things have happened. The only pragmatic, cynical, business-oriented explanation i can come up with is that the club was very worried that Greenwood would sue the fuck out of them. So they’ve publicly endorsed the positions of the CPA and the current position of his accuser/spouse, and they’ve torn up his contract. So it’s now impossible for Greenwood to make a case that the club have ruined his career: they’ve defended his reputation, and they’re not standing in the way of him signing with another club.

Am I missing something? I can’t think of another explanation for the club publicly declaring “He’s a good lad, and we wish him well. We’re not even looking for a transfer fee”.

I’m generally critical of how the club is run, including on this issue. But the way it’s panned out, I’m beginning to think that the club just got really fucked over here, and there wasn’t much to be done. It’s bad enough erasing Greenwood’s previously estimated worth of £100M or so from United’s ledger. But it’s also possible that if he’d sued the club for loss of future expected earning of a global superstar (English) striker, the total financial impact might have been much much more, enough even to ruin the club maybe. Maybe that worry has even been the unspoken factor throughout the whole Glazers-looking-for-investment-or-sale saga. That risk might have caused prospective buyers to bid less, or might have encouraged the Glazers to go looking for financial support in the first place.

It's important to distinguish between termination and mutual termination. The only way he'd have grounds for a case is if they were to cancel his contract without giving a specific reason. If they made it clear that they wished to negoatiate a termination and his party rejected, then his agent and him know it only ends one way, he plays reserve football or gets sold/loaned out. IMO if there was a significant package on the table i.e. wages for remainder of contract plus a bit on top, then he'd have taken it in order to continue his career ASAP. All speculation mind.

I do actually get what you're saying but I still think it's fairly clear they wanted to reintegrate him and then shat the bed when they realised how bad the backlash would be. It's possible to read what has happened since then how you see it. They cobble something together with him happy to leave. But I don't agree that there "wasn't much to be done". If they'd been decisive in the first place and not chosen to protect their asset over doing the right thing, it wouldn't have ended up like this.

[swampash]

Bman touches on an interesting point. The sale could well have been held up by this as the financial risk would have been included in the warranties the sellers would have been required to commit to. We might see the sale go ahead quickly now.

[JoelfuckingGlazer]

Bman touches on an interesting point. The sale could well have been held up by this as the financial risk would have been included in the warranties the sellers would have been required to commit to. We might see the sale go ahead quickly now.

Its possible, but I don't think so. Typical Glazer indecision and the emergence of the Saudi's on the scene are much more likely factors leading to a view that there's much more to be squeezed out of this yet.

[JoelfuckingGlazer]

I do wonder though, whether the farce around Greenwood has been a factor in the malaise on display in our opening performances? Or whether the protracted 'sale' is a factor too? Or whether they're non issues in terms of player and team performance. Certainly the Greenwood issue I can see as impacting attitudes and morale.

[swampash]

I do wonder though, whether the farce around Greenwood has been a factor in the malaise on display in our opening performances? Or whether the protracted 'sale' is a factor too? Or whether they're non issues in terms of player and team performance. Certainly the Greenwood issue I can see as impacting attitudes and morale.

Hopefully not, although it might affect some of them - Rashford for instance?

[bman2]

The club needs to stay away from English players. They all get overhyped and there’s too much of a celebrity culture around them, and it starts when they’re very young. Very few English players good enough for the top half of the PL don’t turn out to be massively overhyped, overpaid, and to have shit attitudes. Maguire, Sancho, Greenwood, Henderson, they’re all a massive drag on the club, holding it back. Rashford’s a good’un, but we’re overpaying him too of course.

Bribing them up through the youth system is fine. But buying established English players from other clubs has an incredibly high failure rate. It almost never works out.

[Fuck the Glazers]

I do wonder though, whether the farce around Greenwood has been a factor in the malaise on display in our opening performances? Or whether the protracted 'sale' is a factor too? Or whether they're non issues in terms of player and team performance. Certainly the Greenwood issue I can see as impacting attitudes and morale.

I think the takeover - definitely. The players will know the Glazers are shit for the club. Everybody else does. Even Hag has more than hinted at it in press conferences.

Players want to win and play good football, and they'll see the historic mismanagement and incompetence that has plagued United for over a decade. They'll see the batshit signings, penny pinching and ill-fitting managers that have resulted in stagnant shitness for way too long.

And from a purely selfish perspective, they'll want Qatar so they get paid a shitload more. They'll see what City players are getting paid via bogus sponsors and undisclosed bank accounts, and want the same. Varane, Rashford etc have had Saudi clubs on the phone offering them 2/3m a week compared to 3/400k. That's the new standard and they'll want a bit of it.