Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford (left) met with Manchester United staff this week. Photo: Getty Images
In a book published last year by four-time Olympic sailing champion Sir Ben Ainslie, there is a line describing the rise of Ineos that will resonate with the Manchester United staff who met Sir Jim Ratcliffe this week.< /p> p>
Ainslie leads Ineos Britannia, the British sailing team that will compete for the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona in October.
“As a team leader, I have to justify my decisions, and The Ineos guys – especially Jim – have an amazing ability to smell the bull,” Ainslie said in her book Tenacity, Grit and Resilience. Humor: the history of Ineos.
“The moment they sense that you might be exaggerating a little on some technicalities, they get straight to the point. I think that's why they've been so incredibly successful in business.”
Even as recently as late September, when United were in a growing crisis on and off the pitch, the frustrated staff at Old Trafford were still was still exposed to large portions of what Ratcliffe might call “bull—-“.
Richard Arnold, the former chief executive, for example, told an all-staff meeting that United were “getting closer and making progress” against treble winners Manchester City and were “chasing” other rivals.
This is despite Erik ten Hag's side looking in disarray and having just lost 3-1 at home to £17m Brighton, their third defeat in four Premier League games, as well as Jadon Sancho's expulsion and assault charges , brought against Anthony following the club's backlash over the Mason Greenwood saga.
Ratcliffe and Brailsford speak to Eric Ten Hagom in the team Restaurant at Manchester United's Carrington training ground this week Photo: Getty Images
By contrast, the tone could not have been more different at a meeting between United staff and Ratcliffe at Old Trafford on Thursday, with the Ineos chairman drawing applause for his scathing assessment of the team's performances on the pitch in the decade since Sir Alex Ferguson resigned. Ratcliffe, who was given full control of football operations at Old Trafford in a £1.03 billion deal for 29 per cent of the club's shares that had received regulatory approval, made it clear to those present that United “has failed for too long and that his priority is getting the club back on track rather than making money.
One source familiar with Ratcliffe's address told Telegraph Sport it was “about as fair as anyone has been since Ralf Rangnick said the club needed open heart surgery” but added it was hoped that The British billionaire and his Ineos team have the means, authority, time and ability to carry it out, unlike Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's temporary replacement.
Just by being on the pitch for United this week, talking and listening to staff, players and Ten Haeg, Ratcliffe has become more open, transparent and visible in a few days than the Glazers have been in 18.5 years.
Not since the Glazers bought the club in 2005 have they addressed their employees in this way, highlighting just how isolated, alienated and out of touch Americans have been.
Ratcliffe and the Glazers agreed as part of the deal not to criticize each other publicly, but the Oldham businessman never needed words to do so. His mere presence, and the photographs circulated by the club of him greeting staff and players, shames the Glazers in a way that a word may never be able to do.
At the same time, United fans will be hopeful that Ratcliffe's charm offensive is just the beginning. significant changes in the club, and not just window dressing.
“All fur coats and no knickers” is how one staffer described post-Ferguson United to this correspondent this week, and Ineos' challenge will be to ensure that any changes they implement have real substance because empty rhetoric won't wash away.< /p >
“There is great disappointment,” the source added. “The people at the club want to inspire again. They need someone they can really support and believe in.”
Brailsford and Ratcliffe talk to the striker ” United by Rasmus Hoylund at Carrington. Photo: Getty Images
Sir Dave Brailsford accompanied Ratcliffe to Manchester this week. British Cycling's former performance director, who is now Ineos' sporting director, is conducting an audit of United's football operations and personnel and has spent a lot of time talking to staff.
The recruitment department is believed to be in need of the department. the most immediate overhaul and there is a strong expectation that Ratcliffe and Brailsford will bring with them a new director of football and perhaps head of recruitment.
Donny van de Beek goes on loan to Eintracht Frankfurt this week and Sancho's likely loan return to Borussia Dortmund in the coming days is a reminder of both United's persistent transfer failures and the club's enduring ability to chew up and spit out players in dysfunctional environments.
Whatever happened, United fans will be praying that Ainslie is right and that Ratcliffe and Ineos can quickly spot the bull—- and do something about it.
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