SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has branded Manchester United “mediocre” and warned that “difficult and unpopular decisions” would be needed to get the club back to the top.
Ratcliffe came under scrutiny earlier this week following the controversial decision to increase prices for unsold Premier League tickets to a minimum of £66, regardless of age.
In an interview with United We Stand editor Andy Mitten, Ratcliffe was asked about the decision to scrap concession ticket prices.
The Ineos billionaire, who now owns a 27.7 per cent stake in Man Utd, said: “The club has been drifting for a long time, about ten years. Manchester United has become mediocre.
“It's not elite and it should be one of the best football clubs in the world. It used to be under Alex.” [Ferguson].
“There is a huge change coming to achieve elite status. A huge change has already taken place.”
Following Ineos' takeover of the club's football operations, a number of key appointments have been made to improve the club's structure, including the arrivals of Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada as football director and CEO.
Ruben Amorim was appointed as the team's new manager after Ineos sacked Erik ten Hag, despite initially retaining the Dutchman in the summer – decisions that cost the club £21.4 million.
Speaking about those calls, Ratcliffe said: “I know we get criticized in the press, but we do have to challenge the cost of running this club because what I want to free us up to is to buy really good footballers, and Don't spend so much money.” the money for infrastructure.
“We cannot run a business at a loss, as United has done in recent years.
“If you lose money, you have to borrow from the bank to pay for the losses. Ultimately, that becomes unsustainable…
“We are on our way, but this will not happen overnight. There are financial issues that we need to address because we have inherited a financial situation that only time can solve.”
When asked specifically about the rise in ticket prices that sparked fierce protests from fans at Old Trafford earlier this week, he said: “It's an emotional issue, ticket sales, but we have to have some benchmarks with ticket sales.
“We have to make sure we look after the community because at the end of the day it is their football club.
“We need to make sure that people who are true supporters can afford to go. Perhaps their circumstances don't allow them to spend a fortune on tickets.” I understand that 100 percent. But we have to find a balance in that and optimize our ticket. revenue because it comes back to how we win the Champions League or Premier League. “I am very aware that we have to take care of the community because it is the community's team, but I also want to optimize the income of people who can afford it.”
Ratcliffe argued that the decision only looked at three percent of tickets and insisted he did not want to price out locals.
He added: “I understand that. I grew up on a council estate in Manchester, I absolutely understand that.
“I don't want to be in a position where the real local fans can't afford to come, but I do want to optimize ticket sales. We have to find a balance. And you can't be popular all the time or.
“Here we are talking about three percent of the tickets. That's not the problem.
“The issue, as you say, is whether this is the thin edge of the wedge. I don't think it makes sense that a ticket to Manchester United costs less than a ticket to visit Fulham.”
Ratcliffe also criticized the team's recruitment in recent years, describing the club as being in the “last century” in terms of data analysis.
He said: “We haven't been good enough in recruitment, you'll probably agree. Everyone would agree with that.
“And until we're as good as anyone in the world, it's not good enough for Manchester United.
“We have to have the best recruitment in the world. Data analysis comes next to recruitment. That doesn't really exist here. We are still in the last century in terms of data analysis.
“There is a huge amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we are in the 'very poor' category here in terms of data analysis.
“These things don't happen overnight. You can't just flip a light switch and do the recruitment. It's all about people and we need to find the right people.
“The other big one is that we have to run the club efficiently and well. We have to sweat every pound so that we have more capacity for the investment in players.
'Those are the big items that take time.
“The other point here is how to grow the amount of money you can spend on players. You can run the business more efficiently. And you can grow the top line.”
Ratcliffe added that he wants staff morale to be determined by results on the pitch and that he saw much-maligned majority owners Joel and Avram Glazer as nice people 'who are' real fans of the club.
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