Manchester United fans have expressed their concern over new owners Ineos in a survey carried out by The Athletic.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreed a deal to buy 25% of the football club in December 2023 and this has sparked a sea change at almost every level of the organization.
The American outlet, The Athletic, asked fans of the club what they thought of the new owners’ performance so far at Old Trafford.
As United finished 15th in the Premier League and failed to win a trophy in the season gone by, it could be assumed that on-field issues may have been top of the pile, but this has not been the case.
In fact, it was discovered that “45 per cent of respondents were concerned about the redundancies made under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his leadership group.”
Probably the worst PR that the club have received over the last 18 months has been the sacking of numerous long-term employees as the new owners aim to trim what they consider a bloated workforce in comparison to their rivals.
The article reports, “United confirmed in February that they were set to make 150 to 200 redundancies as part of wider cost-cutting measures, following the 250 layoffs made the previous summer. It is understood that 450 members of staff have left since Ratcliffe completed his minority purchase in February 2024.”
The next biggest concern according to surveyed fans was that 19% expressed concern over Ineos’ decisions on head coaches. The group were criticised with dallying over Erik ten Hag’s future last summer before finally keeping him on after the FA Cup win in 2024. Nonetheless, they would finally sack him at the end of October and hire Ruben Amorim from Sporting CP in November.
Fans do seem quite content with transfer activity as only 15% queried Ineos’ performance in the transfer market. This stands to reason as deals to sign Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui and Matheus Cunha have certainly been popular with fans. Moreover, they have captured some exciting young talents like Chido Obi and Ayden Heaven, who are already a part of the senior squad.
All in all, the survey is not the best reading for Ineos. “There were split opinions over INEOS’s running of the club within our survey, but the majority of answers voiced displeasure at INEOS’s handling of Manchester United: 18.2 per cent of correspondents believe the minority investors to be performing at a five out of 10 level.”
In addition, “a combined 62.9 per cent of respondents graded Ratcliffe and his executive group at a four out of 10 level or below.”
Ineos will hope that a successful summer window and substantial progress next season in the league will boost their future reputation among fans.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
