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Totally Unofficial 2021/22 Premier League Thread (NWT)

siff said:
Premier League managerial decisions are among the most head-scratching in sport.
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Amen to that. What's the reason behind Sheffield's collapse this season? Is it injuries? were they just way higher than their quality level last season? Sell off key players?
 
The quality of the league is up, they punched above their weight last season, Dean Henderson is a big miss. And they can't score at all. They survived last season on a lot of 1-0s.
 
TownieDeac said:
The quality of the league is up, they punched above their weight last season, Dean Henderson is a big miss. And they can't score at all. They survived last season on a lot of 1-0s.
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Correct on all counts. They also had a unique playstyle that caught some teams off guard last season and earned them points early in the season before they came a little bit back down to earth towards the end, but still very safe. They have been supremely unlucky at times this season too, one of the downsides of playing on a knife's edge as they do.
 
Paywall article on The Athletic re: Avram Glazer cashing in on his shares of Manchester United, I'll post some highlights from the article:

Avram Glazer cashing in shares exposes truth: It’s personal profit before titles
  • Glazer cashing in on ~$100M of shares; N=none of the proceeds from Glazer's proposition to the stock market will be reinvested back into United. He is offering five million shares, which at today’s price of $20.13 per share would translate to £72.5 million.
  • The money is earmarked for “estate planning”, which rather gives the impression a certain Palm Beach mansion is set for a particularly glossy lick of paint.
  • The crucial point here is that by the time Avram’s shares are sold — the deadline is March 16 — the personal deposits from United by the family will be close to £300 million, for the first time putting them into profit on the £270 million they themselves paid to buy the club in 2005. The rest of the £790 million takeover was provided by banks, with the debt then loaded onto United.
  • Dividends to the tune of £23 million annually will keep being paid. Even the effects of the pandemic did not halt that conveyor belt. The latest tranche went out in January.
  • Cumulatively, United have paid £112 million in dividends across the last five years, according to calculations by Swiss Ramble. The only other Premier League club to have awarded any at all was Norwich City, with a grand total of £300,000.
  • The Glazers also gave United the gift of massive financial burden. At the latest count, net debt stands at £455.5 million, an increase of £64.2 million from the same period last year, and such obligation with lenders is cited as a reason for caution in the transfer market.
 
the most recent StatsBomb pod (after a nearly year long hiatus) hints at huge spends at City Football Club on an analytics staff this past year, eeeeek.

some other decent stuff on the pod, but ted is so far up his own ass it's almost unlistenable. shame they have an industry leading model and set of products, cause I'd love to listen to anyone else.
 
Gooner said:
Paywall article on The Athletic re: Avram Glazer cashing in on his shares of Manchester United, I'll post some highlights from the article:

Avram Glazer cashing in shares exposes truth: It’s personal profit before titles
  • Glazer cashing in on ~$100M of shares; N=none of the proceeds from Glazer's proposition to the stock market will be reinvested back into United. He is offering five million shares, which at today’s price of $20.13 per share would translate to £72.5 million.
  • The money is earmarked for “estate planning”, which rather gives the impression a certain Palm Beach mansion is set for a particularly glossy lick of paint.
  • The crucial point here is that by the time Avram’s shares are sold — the deadline is March 16 — the personal deposits from United by the family will be close to £300 million, for the first time putting them into profit on the £270 million they themselves paid to buy the club in 2005. The rest of the £790 million takeover was provided by banks, with the debt then loaded onto United.
  • Dividends to the tune of £23 million annually will keep being paid. Even the effects of the pandemic did not halt that conveyor belt. The latest tranche went out in January.
  • Cumulatively, United have paid £112 million in dividends across the last five years, according to calculations by Swiss Ramble. The only other Premier League club to have awarded any at all was Norwich City, with a grand total of £300,000.
  • The Glazers also gave United the gift of massive financial burden. At the latest count, net debt stands at £455.5 million, an increase of £64.2 million from the same period last year, and such obligation with lenders is cited as a reason for caution in the transfer market.
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deacvision7 said:
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I do not like United at all, but having had plenty of ownership issues of our own at Arsenal, I truly feel for United fans having to deal with an owner who clearly only cares about his own personal profit. Even Kroenke has actually tried to help out more recently.
 
deacvision7 said:
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It's galling to read for sure but I guess my question is, have they genuinely been using "caution in the transfer market"? The issue at United in the post SAF era has not been a lack of spend, it's been a lack of smart spend.
 
Seems like their recent signings have been pretty damn good

Telles is just ok, VdB yet to be seen

But Cavani cheap and productive, Diallo will be excellent, Bruno worth any amount of $

The most recent couple windows have been pretty solid, I’m sad to say. A bit easy if money is no object.
 
The point is money is an object given the club is hemorrhaging money to parasitic owners.


That said, I do agree that transfers have gotten smarter lately and it is no coincidence that this happened as Woodward was phased out and Murtough was given more direct involvement of recruitment. I'm excited to see what the former can do as the new DoF with Fletcher as his Technical Director.

You've pointed this out plenty of times, and I don't think you're wrong, a big problem with United has been "no plan" for what players they are buying into a grand scheme. Just getting talent and hope it works... Football Manager style. Hopefully those days are gone now that a guy that believes in analytics and more than "eyeball tests" is in charge of football matters.



Anyway, a club that has the revenue of Man United should not be in debt and should never let other clubs outbid them in the market or bow out when a price gets "too high" for a target they've identified.

Solskjaer, after permanent appointment identified 3 main targets he wanted in the squad:

Erling Haaland of Red Bull Salzburg
Joao Felix of Benfica
Bruno Fernandes of Sporting


He got 1/3 and should have gotten the other 2 but the money men balked.
 
It’s pretty simple guys. I want three of the top 12 or so footballers on the planet. Go do it. Mbappe is my backup, but I don’t wanna get there.
 
The Leeds pitch appears damn near unplayable, but perhaps that’s out of design.
 
TownieDeac said:
It’s pretty simple guys. I want three of the top 12 or so footballers on the planet. Go do it. Mbappe is my backup, but I don’t wanna get there.
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Those were not 3 of the top 12 footballers when Ole was given the permanent role, but go on. You're rolling.

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