Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has controversially declared that the club would have no money left by Christmas without his unpopular austerity measures. Facing backlash from supporters and even being dubbed ‘the Jim reaper’ by some fans, Ratcliffe implemented severe job cuts and scaled back on staff meals at United.
His decision to increase matchday ticket prices mid-season at Old Trafford to £62, offering no concessions, has only added fuel to the fire. In defence of his actions, Ratcliffe attempted to justify the financial cuts, telling the BBC: « I don’t enjoy reading the newspaper very much these days I have to say. I know it’s unpopular, and this period of change is uncomfortable for people, and some of the decisions we have to make are unpleasant. But they are necessary to put Manchester United back onto a stable footing. If people want to see Manchester United winning trophies again then we have to do all this stuff. »
He laid out the stark reality of the club’s financial crisis, declaring: « Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300m (£232.72m) in and if we buy no new players in the summer, » he said.
« We are in the process of change and it’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans. The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don’t do those things. »
Despite the current downturn, Ratcliffe is confident that within the next three years, they will be contenders for the Premier League title yet again. Meanwhile, he acknowledged that retaining Erik ten Hag as manager last summer was ‘a mistake’.
« We are not perfect, and we are on a journey, and there have been a couple of errors along the way, but I think in the main all the things we are doing are the right things for the club, » Ratcliffe explained. « I agree the Erik ten Tag and Dan Ashworth decisions were errors. I think there were some mitigating circumstances, but ultimately they were errors. I accept that and I apologise for that.
« If you look at the time we made the decision about Erik the management team hadn’t been in place more than five minutes. It became clearer three months later and we got it wrong, but we’d moved on. I think we corrected it and we are in a very different place today. »
When quizzed about his personal ambition to clinch the Premier League title by 2028, Ratcliffe didn’t shy away from the taget. « I don’t think it’s mission impossible, » he said. « I think it’s good to have goals and objectives.
« If you look at Arsenal, if you look at Liverpool, if you look at the period of time it took them to get the house in order and get back to winning ways, that’s probably slightly on the short end of the spectrum. But it’s not impossible. »
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