Ed Woodward | Post season 2017 edition

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Woodward & Co need to look at City's transfer policy and copy it. It is clear since SAF is no longer here, the club's transfer policy is just not working. We are falling behind and other clubs are taking advantage of it. We just seem clueless on how to approach, make deals etc Manchester United seem to pay an absolute premium for any player yet that player will devalue by 50% as soon as they join. Brain scratcher really
 
A few more papers now saying Mourinho is unhappy at the lack of transfer activity so far. Anyone else still willing to say Woodward is doing a great job?

This has happened a few times now, he spends most of the summer negotiating only to end up with a deal he prob could have done within the first week and we haven't really saved any money nor given the players enough time to settle in before the season starts.

Personally I think he should stick to the commercial side of things which he has been brilliant at and bring in someone with top transfer negotiating skills.

I would not believe what is written in the papers.
 
Reports starting to pop up about Jose not being impressed, this could turn very ugly very fast.

Pre season games soon and Jose will be holding multiple press confrences, you can bet he won't hold back if his guys aren't in place before the tour.

The window only officially opened a few days ago but the reality is we have a tour coming up and the season starts in 1 month, we need to get moving on deals.

Reminds me of Jose's previous season at Chelsea where they only signed that Djilo something fella and another guy. Pedro? It feels to me that Ed's the one dithering over money because it's quite clear Morata wants to leave and Real have set a price. Just pay it and be done.
 
Reminds me of Jose's previous season at Chelsea where they only signed that Djilo something fella and another guy. Pedro? It feels to me that Ed's the one dithering over money because it's quite clear Morata wants to leave and Real have set a price. Just pay it and be done.
I heard the issue with Morata isnt so much the price as the structure of the payments: how much up front, how much in installments, and how many installments? Also something about a buyback clause or something.
 
I would not believe what is written in the papers.
Of course, Mourinho is super happy we don't have a striker, let alone two, at the start of pre-season. I'm sure that's an experience he always wanted to try.
 
Woodward & Co need to look at City's transfer policy and copy it. It is clear since SAF is no longer here, the club's transfer policy is just not working. We are falling behind and other clubs are taking advantage of it. We just seem clueless on how to approach, make deals etc Manchester United seem to pay an absolute premium for any player yet that player will devalue by 50% as soon as they join. Brain scratcher really

Spend aimlessly on mercenaries while having an ageing squad?

No thank you, there are many better examples of transfer policies than City's.
 
Without looking - I suspect every fan forum is going mad with the lack of signings. People need to be patient. Very little is happening - which is the same every year at the start of July.

Who have Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea signed? Liverpool one player, and City two? Its not as if all the top teams have completed their transfer dealings and left us with scraps.

Everton have done a lot of business, but surely in anticipation Lukuku will be sold for a hefty fee.

Hardly any big moves on the continent either. The Morata deal could be the spark - but these things do take time. Just because Utd want transfer business don't early, doesn't mean every club we are dealing with has the same objective. Levy is the perfect example, he's more than happy to take a transfer into the last week to extract a higher fee.
 
I'm all about being patient and understanding deals aren't as simple as identify target, bid, agree wages, unveil all in 2 days. However, I find it very bizarre that Woody has decided to spend two days on a plane (24 hours there 24 back) to go to watch Rugby in New Zealand when we are a week away from a tour and we want to have our full 2017/2018 squad (including the new signings) on that tour.

Is there somebody else that sits in on these negotiations i.e - the Morata deal we are so famously 48 hours away from concluding and in meetings with today?
 
I think a lot of the panic is related to the fact our targets are not exactly inspiring this summer.

Our attack is truly terrible. Missing out on Griezmann has destroyed any ch ace of us changing that this season IMO.
 
I think Morata is done, but to be fair it is a big task to go to a club, who is desperate to still be the top galactico-club, dealing with Mbappe/Ronaldo issues and also a non-working fax-machine. Mix that with a lunatic president and you've stuck your hand in a hornets nest.

Being publically pissed, is terrible communication from Mourinho's side. Completely counter-productive to what he and we are trying to achieve. It can't be like Ed is not trying and rather wants to be at home playing farmville.
 
I can't believe that Duncan Castles would want to throw his strongest connection due to writing false things about Mou, so the article-quoted must be true.

Mourinho should wash his hands by the end of the transfer-window when it is shut and we've had a terrible window - not before :nono: For one time this is terrible PR by him.
 
Going on Joses past i wouldnt be at all surprised if he throws his toys out of the pram , falls out with Ed and goes looking for an exit from Utd
 
I'm all about being patient and understanding deals aren't as simple as identify target, bid, agree wages, unveil all in 2 days. However, I find it very bizarre that Woody has decided to spend two days on a plane (24 hours there 24 back) to go to watch Rugby in New Zealand when we are a week away from a tour and we want to have our full 2017/2018 squad (including the new signings) on that tour.

Is there somebody else that sits in on these negotiations i.e - the Morata deal we are so famously 48 hours away from concluding and in meetings with today?
Why would Woodward be the only one able to do this? You think when we sign players within days of each other, he's hopping to all those meetings?
 
Reminds me of Jose's previous season at Chelsea where they only signed that Djilo something fella and another guy. Pedro? It feels to me that Ed's the one dithering over money because it's quite clear Morata wants to leave and Real have set a price. Just pay it and be done.

So we should no longer negotiate if we are in a strong position?



Honestly the criticisms and suggestions I read on this forum regarding Woodward's work are downright hilarious.
 
Why would Woodward be the only one able to do this? You think when we sign players within days of each other, he's hopping to all those meetings?

Yes. That's exactly what I think.
A lot of the talk is done over the phone, too.

It didn't surprise me that we still rely on fax machines. And it doesn't surprise me that Woodward attempts to do everything himself.
 
Ed has made United into an even bigger commercial/financial giant but during his time there's seems to have be a disconnect to actual football operations. Especially when you compare United to other clubs our size. We seem to let our commercial obligations dictate all other operations within the club. Which to an extent makes sense since this has made us financially untouchable but we seem to lack an identity. Every summer Ed wants a "Galactico" signing but the only one he's actually signed is Pogba. So yes we can afford any player but if we're not bringing them in then what actual good is our commercial success bringing us on the pitch? Clubs like Bayern and Juve seem to have significantly less commercial revenue, yet maintain and structured transfer policy and have found more success. At what point does the United take this away from Ed and make a significant change? It works for Madrid because they bring in World Class players, but it seems in our case we pay World Class fees for players that are just not at that level.
 
This summer is insane and it's not just about woody. So many clubs are financially strong now, which is good for football, but buying a top player is harder than ever. Most top clubs in europe are struggling with this I think. I mean we could easily spend close to 200m and it still wouldn't be enough to get us where we want. I really believe it's much more than spending money now.
 
Going on Joses past i wouldnt be at all surprised if he throws his toys out of the pram , falls out with Ed and goes looking for an exit from Utd

Then he shouldn't let the door hit him on the way out.

Many top European sides would have sacked him for finishing sixth last season. He is on to a good thing at United.

The article doesn't do us any favours from a negotiations stand point. Selling clubs will know our desperation and will smell blood!
 
Yes. That's exactly what I think.
A lot of the talk is done over the phone, too.

It didn't surprise me that we still rely on fax machines. And it doesn't surprise me that Woodward attempts to do everything himself.
Not sure if serious...
 
Without looking - I suspect every fan forum is going mad with the lack of signings. People need to be patient. Very little is happening - which is the same every year at the start of July.

Who have Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea signed? Liverpool one player, and City two? Its not as if all the top teams have completed their transfer dealings and left us with scraps.

Everton have done a lot of business, but surely in anticipation Lukuku will be sold for a hefty fee.

Hardly any big moves on the continent either. The Morata deal could be the spark - but these things do take time. Just because Utd want transfer business don't early, doesn't mean every club we are dealing with has the same objective. Levy is the perfect example, he's more than happy to take a transfer into the last week to extract a higher fee.
I had a look at a Chelsea forum and was surprised that there was some bitching and anxiety there about their lack of signings, so it's definitely not just us.
 
This is not looking good at all. It's important to get the squad together, they are soon heading to USA or China, feck knows where, but they are getting together soon and I want all our players to be prepared for the season. I'm so awfully tired of Woodward and his hesitating strategy in the transfer market.
 
Pretty confident we will sign two players before we set off for the tour. He knows what he's doing.
 
I think Morata is done, but to be fair it is a big task to go to a club, who is desperate to still be the top galactico-club, dealing with Mbappe/Ronaldo issues and also a non-working fax-machine. Mix that with a lunatic president and you've stuck your hand in a hornets nest.

Being publically pissed, is terrible communication from Mourinho's side. Completely counter-productive to what he and we are trying to achieve. It can't be like Ed is not trying and rather wants to be at home playing farmville.
Whilst he isn't playing farmville, isn't he flying crazy hours to go and watch rugby?
 
Whilst he isn't playing farmville, isn't he flying crazy hours to go and watch rugby?
Exactly, I do not understand why he is jetting around the World following rugby when this should be the time of the year when he is up to his ass in work. And I think his holidays start in August. That leaves him under 3 weeks to do the deals. Maybe another towards the end of August. Not sure.
 
Ed has made United into an even bigger commercial/financial giant but during his time there's seems to have be a disconnect to actual football operations. Especially when you compare United to other clubs our size. We seem to let our commercial obligations dictate all other operations within the club. Which to an extent makes sense since this has made us financially untouchable but we seem to lack an identity. Every summer Ed wants a "Galactico" signing but the only one he's actually signed is Pogba. So yes we can afford any player but if we're not bringing them in then what actual good is our commercial success bringing us on the pitch? Clubs like Bayern and Juve seem to have significantly less commercial revenue, yet maintain and structured transfer policy and have found more success. At what point does the United take this away from Ed and make a significant change? It works for Madrid because they bring in World Class players, but it seems in our case we pay World Class fees for players that are just not at that level.
Excellent post.
 
Going on Joses past i wouldnt be at all surprised if he throws his toys out of the pram , falls out with Ed and goes looking for an exit from Utd
Wow you're seriously a glass half full guy. People read too much into things.... Let's just wait and see, we still have 2 months to sign players
 
If Griezmann didn't change his mind, we would have got Greizmann and Lindelof by now and probably in processing wrapping the 3rd signing by now too. People won't moan.

I think we just need to be patient, Morata just finished his honeymoon, I think the negotiation has already started and we will announce it once Real accept our offer. After a striker, Ed will deal the other targets with pace. So don't worry guys.
 
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