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Three words in transfer guru Fabrizio Romano’s update on Erik ten Hag’s future this morning may explain what has baffled every Manchester United fan on the planet: why Ineos is taking so long to decide whether to keep or sack the manager.
Ineos took over football operations at United after buying a 25% stake in the club in December.
Reports from reliable sources such as Gianluca di Marzio claimed the decision had already been made months ago to fire Ten Hag, while others such as David Ornstein said the decision would be made at the end of the season after the FA Cup final.
Since then, the turnaround has flown through the halls of power at Old Trafford and fans have been left scratching their heads wondering what could possibly have taken so long and why the club would take this precious time away from any new manager to get the table up and running. to work before the new season.
One of the hallmarks and frustrations of Glazer’s direct ownership was obstruction and delay in decision-making, especially by co-chairman Joel Glazer, who was known to micromanage everything and forever give his yes or no.
Ineos was supposed to be the antidote to that.
In this morning Daily briefingRomano gave an update on the situation, saying:
“This weekend is very intense behind the scenes at Man United, despite things being very quiet about Erik ten Hag’s future. However, many things are happening.
“I have been told that Man United are still talking to representatives of other managers as Ten Hag’s future is still uncertain at this time.
“The Manchester club are yet to make a decision on their Dutch coach and are taking their time to make sure they make the right move.
“A lot of people are involved in this, including the board and new co-owners.
“The situation is still 50/50 as we wait for Manchester United to make a final decision.”
And it’s those three words, “including the board,” that set Glazer’s red lights flashing.
If the board is involved in this decision, then Ineos clearly does not have full control over football matters.
The press release for the download stated:
“As part of the transaction, INEOS has accepted the Board’s request to delegate responsibility for the management of the club’s football operations. This will include all aspects of the men’s and women’s football operations and academies, along with two seats on the Manchester United PLC board and the Manchester United Football Club boards.”
We all assumed this gave Ineos a free hand, but if Romano is right, it appears that the board’s sign-off is still required for some decisions, or at least for this particular decision.
And since Ineos has only two seats in the board, they cannot control the decision.
PLC boards and football club boards are different beasts and Romano is not saying who is involved in this case. But assuming it’s a football club board, that means Joel, Avram, Darcie, Bryan, Edward and Kevin Glazer, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill, long-time non-executive board member Michael Edelson, Patrick Stewart (who will step down at the end of the month), Jean-Claude Blanc and Sir Dave Brailsford make up the twelve current members according to the House of Companies.
Stewart is Glazer’s man – he was appointed in 2006 – so his presence until the end of the month would logically mean a seven-to-five majority for Glazer. The Glazers could therefore block any decision by Ineos to fire or retain Ten Haag.
The balance of power would, of course, change slightly when Stewart steps down at the end of this month, but the six Glazers would still outnumber the five other members. He will not be replaced by an additional Ineos man as they already have their two allocated seats.
We’ve heard stories this week that Sir Jim Ratcliffe would rather “walk towards the right decision than run towards the wrong one” and that’s why the decision is taking so long. Still, it was hard to shake the feeling that one of Britain’s richest men would have decided on a key managerial position weeks, if not months ago.
It makes no sense that Ineos is still debating. However, it makes perfect sense that the Glazers would be. This whole situation stinks of Joel.
Perhaps the Glazers will support Ineos’ proposal to sack or keep Ten Haag in their own good time, or it’s possible that Ineos simply won’t be able to push through their biggest big decision at the club to date.
Whatever the case, it seems that if Romano is right, United fans still haven’t been completely absolved of Glazer’s involvement in their football club’s operations. It remains to be seen what other decisions might require the board’s sign-off and how much this will tie Ineos’ hands behind their backs as they try to revive the soccer giants.
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