Ten crazy Sir Jim Ratcliffe decisions exposed in *that* Manchester United report
Man Utd have given Erik ten Hag a contract extension months before sacking him, hired and fired Dan Ashworth and spent £200million on players in the 2024 summer transfer window under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s watch, but god forbid there is a surplus of Sellotape.
That Telegraph report about Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s first year as Red Devils co-owner is certainly something. There is a lot to unpack.
Staff have been forced to stop working from home to go into an office without enough chairs, hundreds have been made redundant and others have been left out of pocket under the Ratcliffe regime. Man United are a shambles on the pitch but somehow in a worse state off it.
The sheer ridiculousness, ignorance and hypocrisy exposed in the report made us chuckle and seethe but the overriding emotion was disbelief. Here are the ten most astounding things Sir Jim Ratcliffe has done at Manchester United, according to Telegraph Sport’s report.
Man Utd report: Ten most incredible Ratcliffe decisions
‘So, what do you do around here?’
The Katie Zelem mess created quite a furore. It’s hardly a surprise that Man United’s women’s captain moved to Angel City in the United States months after an awkward first encounter with British billionaire Ratcliffe.
‘There was also an unfortunate episode when Ratcliffe was being given a tour of the women’s facilities at Carrington and asked Katie Zelem, then the captain of the women’s team, what she did at the club. Like Ratcliffe, Zelem was born in Failsworth near Oldham,’ the report stated.
Not a good look, that. Zelem made her 150th appearance for the club three days before Ratcliffe’s minority takeover was completed, yet he had no idea who she was. It has surprised nobody that Ratcliffe is prioritising the men’s team over the women’s but there is no excuse for that. She was captain at the time, is from the same neck of the woods and an England international!
Ratcliffe clearly was not clued up on the women’s team before, during or after the takeover process but he could have at least checked out the squad list on the website before taking a tour of their facilities, FFS.
‘To be fair, I have no idea who she is either!’ many stated on social media, voluntarily letting people know they are an absolute moron while failing with an embarrassing attempt to divert criticism from the guy who paid Zelem’s wages.
Counting screws and returning Sellotape
Being part of the ‘group property services team’ involves some pretty mundane tasks but Ratcliffe has taken things to a different level, ensuring the team ‘individually count cartons of screws at their disposal to ensure they are not over-ordering’. You don’t become a billionaire without making huge sacrifices like that, folks.
Not only that, but Sellotape was returned after ‘a big stationary order’ as it was ‘not considered a necessity at that time’ and portion sizes in the canteen at Old Trafford have been reduced. Not only are they smaller, but ‘there is less variety’ and ‘bulk orders of vegetables at Carrington require sign-off’.
Those million-pound compensation packages would not have been possible if Altay Bayindir had the extra broccoli he craved so much. Let’s hope that sort of sacrifice has not gone unnoticed; perhaps he deserves a paper certificate.
Compensation, compensation, compensation
The Telegraph report by James Ducker revealed to us that Man United paid £4.1million to sack sporting director Dan Ashworth five months after hiring him, £10.4million to sack manager Erik ten Hag 116 days after reluctantly triggering his contract extension clause and £11million to hire Ruben Amorim as the Dutchman’s replacement.
The bizarre cost-cutting and money-saving tactics put in place under Ratcliffe’s ownership are made to look all the more ridiculous when over £25m is being paid on compensation to high-profile staff members and foreign clubs for their manager.
“What good is penny-pinching when savings are obliterated by hare-brained decisions like that?” a staff member told The Telegraph.
These decisions have contributed to morale among staff that has been described as “on the floor”, with those losing their job not only paying the price for the Glazers’ negligence, but now ‘a series of botched decisions at executive level by Ineos’.
Ratcliffe saved £35m from 250 jobs being cut, the report adds. He also saved £2m axing Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial role, £250k axing the Christmas party and £6,500 axing staff bus to FA Cup final, all while eyeing up a new stadium worth a projected £2bn. Oh, and the club’s latest accounts showed £198.7m total revenue – down 12% year-on-year. God forbid there is too much Sellotape though.
MORE REACTION…
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👉 Ratcliffe asked Man Utd women’s captain ‘what she did at the club’ in ‘unfortunate episode’ after takeover
One very insensitive phone call
Kath Phipps is a Manchester United legend. She was loved by everyone at the club and was never alone in hospital, receiving ‘frequent visits’ from David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson and other friends at the club.
Her death ‘hit staff hard’ but the penny-pinching maniacs seemed more concerned about her two season tickets.
‘There was disbelief then, when word emerged that Phipps’s listed next of kin, to his considerable shock, had received a call from the club two working days after her death to enquire about the status of her two season tickets,’ the report said.
Classy.
Staff ‘liberated’ to get off sinking ship losing its ‘heart and soul’
There is an awful lot to unpack in this point in particular, with hundreds of staff unfortunately let go but plenty relieved having seen things go from bad to worse from the outside, with the ‘heart and soul’ of the club being chewed up and spat out.
The ‘lack of empathy and sensitivity towards staff who have been shown the door’ is ‘a particular sore point’, especially considering some ‘dedicated most of their working lives to the club’.
Sir Jim has waltzed in, sacked a bunch of people and been very inconsistent in communicating with staff who feel “like this axe is hanging over your head all the time and you’re just waiting for it to drop”. Ending a 30-year service award payment of a huge bonus similar to an employee’s annual salary up to of £50,000 stung. One person was ‘weeks shy of hitting that milestone’ apparently, only to be made redundant, thus ‘forgoing a significant chunk of that bonus’.
Another example of the ownership’s poor transparency was when employees in USA for last summer’s pre-season tour were told their job was safe, only to be informed ‘days later’ that they are ‘at risk’ and were ‘offered the opportunity to fly home immediately’.
The initial ‘air of excitement’ when Ratcliffe and his Ineos gang arrived is now long gone, having impressed with ‘their straight talking and desire to make football the clear focus again’. At the end of 2024, chief executive Omar Berrada warned staff that he could not “promise the next year won’t be difficult too”.
Sacked staff have received support from senior players including captain Bruno Fernandes, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton, who are all ‘saddened by developments’, though ‘some staff who have left talk about feeling liberated’ without being able to ‘shake their profound sadness at what is unfolding’ with Ratcliffe in charge.
“We’ve had more resets and slogans than we’ve signed good players since Fergie went,” a member of staff said. It’s hard to disagree with that.
Company credit cards no more
Some still employed by United are now being forced to spend their own money on things like travel and entertaining expenses as ‘one of Ratcliffe’s first moves’ was to get rid of company credit cards.
The staff members in question obviously get paid back but can be left out of pocket for weeks. Some have been forced to ‘take out personal credit cards or dip into savings’, sometimes for hundreds of pounds. These guys are not on the same money as your Casemiros and Matthijs de Ligts and can’t afford to wipe their arses with hundred pound notes, unfortunately.
The abolishment of company credit cards means staff have faced ‘anxious waits to recover those costs’ and ‘depending on the time they were incurred staff can be heavily out of pocket for weeks at a time’ with expenses repaid once a month.
A few of us can relate to the point of view of the employee here, but very few will be able to relate to such an extent.
Stewards lose their weekly bonus
There used to be a £50 steward-of-the-week bonus. Not anymore. Instead, ‘they now get a paper certificate complimenting their work’.
It will be a congratulatory e-mail in no time.
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Hasty FA Cup celebrations amid embarrassing priority
Zelem was not able to tell Ratcliffe ‘You know who I am now’ when she captained the Red Devils to FA Cup glory at Wembley last May because the billionaire decided to watch Arsenal beat the men’s team at Old Trafford instead. He did indeed miss the club’s first Women’s FA Cup victory because priorities.
The disregard of Zelem and her teammates is astonishing. There was no post-match party arranged for if the team won, meaning the players decided to celebrate in central London with friends and family, only for the club to ‘hastily arrange for a bash at the team hotel’.
It’s not hard to imagine that it was a shambolic effort, not helped by the fact the hotel was miles outside of London and ‘presented a series of last-minute logistical challenges for the women’s team and their loved ones’.
Well, at least Ratcliffe got to see some masterful defending from Casemiro.
‘Don’t make me look bad in front of my chauffer, will you?’
Fernandes divides opinion on the football pitch but if anyone has come out of this looking like a bloody nice fella, it’s him.
Ratcliffe was pinching more pennies when he saved £6,500 by scrapping free travel for staff for the Men’s FA Cup final against Manchester City. Staff were forced to pay £20 for a coach to Wembley and Fernandes was not having it, offering to pay the fees out of his own pocket.
Man United rejected the offer as ‘it would have reflected badly on the new regime’. It would have, yes.
While staff paid 20 quid for their travel, the club ‘shelled out thousands on private chauffeured cars to take Ineos executives to the game’. Staff were ‘left bemused’ as a result, just as disgruntled Dunder Mifflin employees were when Michael Scott got a limo to that shareholder conference.
Posting letters more frowned upon that drug smuggling?
‘One employee joked it would be easier to “smuggle drugs” than to send a letter, with envelopes scarce, stamps expensive and the emphasis very much on email.’
Brilliant.
‘Were the Glazers even that bad, guys?’
Yes. They were. But Ratcliffe is also terrible. People try and make comparisons about who’s the better villain, just enjoy them, man.
A few personal highlights from Ducker’s report was the reminder that fans chanted this during a Premier League match at Fulham: “Just like the Glazers, Jim Ratcliffe’s a c***”.
To get that treatment in the first year of his ownership is actually quite impressive.
It was also revealed that protests are planned when United host Arsenal next month. The Manchester United Supporters Trust has warned there could be “outright rebellion” from fans.
Meanwhile, two of the club’s global partners have reservations about renewing their sponsorship deal. Not going well is it, Jim?
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