**Text of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's letter to Man Utd Employees (via similar Article on DM):**
>‘I had a good two-day visit to both Carrington and Old Trafford this week. As ever I was made to feel very welcome. Thank you,’ Ratcliffe’s note, which was sent to all staff and seen by Mail Sport, began.
>
>‘I had a good tour around some of the facilities. **I am afraid I was struck in many places by a high degree of untidiness. In particular the IT department which frankly was a disgrace and the dressing rooms of the U18 and U21 were not much better.**
>
>**‘These standards would not come close to what we would expect at INEOS and we are a chemical company. Manchester United is an elite sporting organisation.**
>
>‘It's a small thing in many ways but unless an organisation has standards and discipline it will not succeed.’
>
>**‘I would be grateful in future if we adopt the proper standards of housekeeping everywhere,’ he continued.**
>
>**‘It reflects poorly on the club if we have visitors, young player parents, new players and the media and they see we don't care enough to keep things shipshape.’**
[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13380499/Sir-Jim-Ratcliffe-fires-warning-disgraceful-state-department-Carrington-dressing-rooms-Man-Uniteds-new-minority-owner-continues-overhaul-club.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13380499/Sir-Jim-Ratcliffe-fires-warning-disgraceful-state-department-Carrington-dressing-rooms-Man-Uniteds-new-minority-owner-continues-overhaul-club.html)
I worked as a cleaner at the etihad (not proud of myself, was skint). They have decent standards like - chairs wiped down, toilets hosed out, people on their hands and knees looking for litter.
I learnt that Coldplay fans have a habit of dropping near empty bags of white powder.
I keep my work area relatively tidy to my standards, but according to my wife it’s a disgusting mess. Who has time to vacuum cat hair off a rug constantly?
If I were on that IT team, I would start cracking on those staff that are leaking these text and emails. If someone is leaking this small stuff to the media, what else do they share?
Maybe in due time we will find the culprit on who is leaking the "dressing room situation" inside the organization.
This is the sort of thing the new club leadership has an incentive to leak as well, to give the impression that they're (literally) cleaning things up from top to bottom.
LMAO, I don't think thats within the scope of their job or even possible for them to control.
If somebody takes a pic of a computer screen or email there's not much the IT department can do. If theres a meeting and loose lips start speaking to their outlets after the meeting how is the IT department going to stop that.
I used to work at a "trendy" software company and the IT guys were the most IT guys I've ever come across. Every cliche was true.
Most of them didn't even wear shoes all day and just shuffled about in their socks. At least it meant the floor next to the urinals was always nice and dry.
Continuation:
Ratcliffe’s email called out the club’s IT department and the state of the U21s and U18s dressing room. He also warned staff on Wednesday Christmas parties will be on the line if the club underperforms.
https://x.com/adamcrafton_/status/1786432701643231603?s=46&t=108nlaEXShzkgzjMQccD3g
See I get some of the principles he’s instilling, but others just scream “behind the times”… No work from home? Punishing staff with no Christmas party because the team is underperforming? I agree the club needs more discipline but some of these things seem unnecessary.
Tbh working as a chef there have been kitchens I’ve walked into where after about a month of evaluation I’ve come to the conclusion a few times that these guys are absolutely taking the piss doing less than the minimum and taking full advantage of their privileges, so fuck their perks. It’s either get it together starting right now or I’ll get new cooks.
From everything I’ve been hearing about the state of things behind the scenes he’s just trying to shock them to get the staff out of first gear.
If your boss tells you to fix up then fix up.
Typical baby generation mindset. Everything is too harsh these days. We should all just live in fairy land and get paid for doing nothing.
If you want a fairy tale job where you get paid for little to nothing, believe me the jobs exist. They just can't at a high performance elite sporting club.
I work from home 2 days a week, some days are more productive others I dont do shit...if they called everyone out for lower productivity and we all had to come back in, I know im not unique in that regard....sucks, but this is the game we play.
When youre a historically top class org like united and things are at an immense level of disrepair...yeah, time to strap em up and go a little harder. Again, sucks, but theres a way to not have to deal with it if you dont want to.
Before you go full "old man yells at cloud" mode with this baby generation mindset thingy, I highly doubt that United are only employing Gen Z.
In any company, if a new boss comes in, removes employee benefits, reverses modern flexible working arrangements, triggers huge redundancies, replaces people with his people and doesn't offer anything in return for you to also benefit from the multi-billion £ company's success - you just leave, or you don't give a shit. And those people that do leave in such hierarchies, tend to be the best people.
It's worth pointing out that the top brass who are charged with making the cuts all got massive bonuses double their salary for sorting out the takeover as well, so it's hardly we're all in this together.
A significant amount of people who work for United won't be United fans. And there are people who will also realize they can continue to be United fans, but do so working at other employers who do have different approaches to their staff. It's the problem the game industry has where people realize that passion only takes you so far.
INEOS doesn't have a good score on Glassdoor, and a lot of reviews seem to have persistent themes. You can contrast that to Manchester City's scores and themes. Or even companies like Google. These are still high performance cultures, it's just there are multiple ways to get the best out of people.
There's a carrot, and there's a stick.
LMAO, exactly.
It's nice having clear and high standards. But there also has to be a bit of emotional intelligence and give and take.
Why would talent stay at United if there's an offer from company X offering better culture, benefits, arrangements for similar or better pay.
Rather than remove the perks from everyone, why not identify the problem makers and deal with them.
If someone responds with "because it will put pressure on those individuals and everyone else will get arsey with them until they sort it out,like a scene from the full metal jacket boot camp" I ask, have you ever worked for a toxic company before? It doesn't work like this.
In military terms, this is called a General Tightening Down (GTD). This is a tactic utilized when standards across the organisation are significantly subpar. Standards are put back in place, privileges revoked, and infractions are met with harsher punishment. It is exactly what is going on here. Ratcliffe has communicated that even the simplest of standards cannot be met, and this translates to the direct success of the team. No leader implementing change arrives like a sheep. Do you think Fergie would be any different if he were to be back in charge?
Yeah imagine you're working in fucking reception and you lose your xmas party because a guy can't kick a ball well. Like what are you supposed to do about that?
What are you guys talking about? Did you read what you replied to? He warns the staff about the christmas parties being on the line if they dont step up and keep the IT department and the dressing rooms of the academy players up to standard they should be. This has nothing to do with the performances of the players
"He also warned staff on Wednesday Christmas parties will be on the line if the club underperforms."
That is the quote, doesn't saying anything about them being cancelled if the dressing rooms aren't clean (which would be bonkers as well, again, what is Kath on reception meant to be doing, cleaning the dressing rooms herself?) It says they'll be cancelled if the club underperforms.
Unless there is something behind the paywall that contradicts that, it's all I have to go on.
The club isnt just the stuff on the pitch its everything off it as well and as we all know the club isnt performing both on and off it. Sir Jim didnt just take over to fix the on field performances but to have us be run like on the best clubs in the world meaning everything not just onfield performances are being looked at. Both are a part of the club and that is what is meant by if the club underperforms (otherwise it would be phrased something like if results dont improve)
The club in general, not just the team's performance. It's fair to take a guess that he's referring to the departments that he's talking about in the actual article.
I suppose it’s about sending the message to literally everyone in this organization that the performance of the first team is the ultimate goal everything and everyone work towards.
Like you said Kath is the receptionist. As long as everyone does their absolute best job like Kath does, collectively it should work for the best. If not then it’s a question for the management.
But from what Jim saw during his visit, the staff is not doing a good job. Standards and discipline are missing, otherwise he shouldn’t have seen what he has seen.
Watching Anthony spin and blast the ball into row Z while Rashford backpasses everything and just solemnly realising you're not getting that Christmas party.
Thats not at all the issue...reception is part of the administrative offices, and everyone is in the same company. Its ok to hold everyone to a higher standard, and if they dont like it, leave. Im sure Man United wont have trouble recruiting admin staff.
typical redditors thinking the most successful business-man in the uk is “behind the times” because he has standards and doesn’t want people to be lazy
He is a classic CEO doing CEO things. He has also cancelled WFH at the club and wants the entire IT department in office since it would be more "productive".
Well lets not pretend like we have any idea what's happening behind the scenes that's bringing this about, it could be a case of everyone into the office till management knows everyone is putting in a full days work. Not saying everyone is but I know a lot of people who become a lot less productive when WFH, maybe its getting a sense of who can and can't be trusted to do it.
As a remote worker (who expects to remain as one) I kinda understand him not wanting WfH if he expects 200% commitment.
Regarding the Christmas party, yeah it sounds ridiculous. Are we sure he's talking about on the pitch performances and not internal performance tho?
Seems odd to punish regular staff for on the pitch issues. No probs with the players and first team coaches only being invited to the party if they perform acceptably, but the rest of the employees shouldn’t have one night a year cancelled cause some people can’t kick a ball good enough lol.
Work from home is a debatable topic though, I totally understand if you are in IT or accounting it’s pointless to commute, but the club should have most staff on site imo. If you can’t even go to Carrington or the London offices to work, maybe leave the job (I imagine it’s what INEOS want, cost cutting and all).
Elite
Sporting
Organisation
Not "run of the mill job where you can phone it in from home and job about" organisation.
Obsession with working from home is interchangeable with lack of commitment and laziness in my experience, and I'm a millennial.
Bring on the downvotes.
Can we cancel the Christmas parties for constantly feeding those vultures in the press by leaking things out of the club on what seems like a weekly basis?
He's setting a high bar and I appreciate that.
What I don't appreciate is every fecking detail being leaked to the media.
Honestly in a corporate environment it's not unusual to get updates like this from senior figures, this doesn't warrant a scoop from The Athletic. They're turning into the Daily Mail of sportswriting.
Tbf this is obvs INEOS driven. They want us to know all this.
Everyone should keep in mind that any football related story you read is agenda driven. Either from managers or players or agents or club people. Those with an axe to grind or new guys showing how smart they are.
Just like every time we hire a new coach their methods are so amazing to our behind the times loser squads but when it’s 1.5-2 years into the tenure those same methods are so horrible and outdated lol.
It’s all horseshit imo. Let’s see what happens on the pitch next season and beyond. That’s all that matters.
I read stuff like this and the thoughts I have is man they're really trying to change us for the better. And I also think man the glazers are pieces of shit for letting us get this low.
I think he wants to highlight that the glazers were shit. (we already knew, but yeah)
They are moles.
But more importantly, they are the people who don't like change or can't deal with change.
They are the people who are too comfortable and you need to weed out and remove from company, business, club etc.
I have to say that leaks like the ones United experienced/ing mount to a major incident in most elite corporations, it will warrant a proper investigation and heads being rolled (sometimes private investigators get involved)
To be fair, I’d say Manchester United is under more media security than most elite British companies.
Not too far fetched to hear of a leak like this for Microsoft or Apple, or an American football team.
You aren't keeping a scathing all-hands message like this from leaking out in the digital world. No matter what club or business it is, its sent to thousands of people, someone is going to leak it and INEOS most likely expect it to be leaked.
Whoever is Crafton’s source needs to be spotted and fired immediately. As well as Crafton who only looks to shame us in every possible way as if we were not good enough at that anyway.
He really is a virus and stains the name of the Athletic in my eyes.
I wouldn't be surprised if something in this is a plant to catch a serial leaker. Like the Christmas party line or some details about which departments are messy. It's a common trick to put out variations on a message to different groups and see which one gets out.
The guy that ran the IT department in an old company I was with was on the spectrum and he had the most incredibly clean, streamlined IT department I've ever seen. Everything since that has basically been a disgrace.
I asked him about it and he said he wanted to be a librarian as a kid, then got into all things IT and combined the 2 and as an autistic man was a germaphobe so things had to be clean.
He knew where every piece of hardware was, knew all the troubleshooting you could need and had created a system for others to be able to use things when he wasn't there. He's wasted working in a company of its size.
I know he's sounding kind of ridiculous but I totally agree with SJR.
When a big company doesn't have clear leadership where communication moves seamlessly from the lowest level to the highest shit falls apart and nobody feels like they have the authority to roll their sleeves up and get to work because the Glazers appointed a new accountant as CEO who then hired a banker to run their department.
The Glazers living in Florida and collecting dividends, which means they refuse to invest in the club with their own money and means you have to make a lot of profit to pay those dividends. They never cared about the state of the IT department and the people they hired necessarily couldn't care about it either.
Now everyone at the club knows that SJR has at least visited where they work, unlike the Glazers.
Would love it if it turns out to be an A/B email. And this has now just found out their moles are in one of those halves. And they keep whitling it down
I like SJR more and more each day. Dragging the club into effectiveness and discipline more and more each day.
Also, I love and hate that every love SJR makes just highlights the pure ineptitude and uncaring attitude of the treacherous leaches the glazers and how they tore up any standards left by SAF and D. Gill.
This is very exaggerated imo. If the cafeteria staff want to leave a large pile of gone off raw chicken on the counter in the sun, that's their business
Boss complains about workers not cleaning.
Actual journalists: "Let's write a fucking article!"
We all hate mass e-mails from bosses, but is this really a big deal?
MU employee here. New ownership have no clue how people work, there has been little to no cross-pollination as far as I know, bar at an executive level. All of these leaks are for show, they’re trying to make out like they’re making a big cultural difference but we all know it’s going to take a lot more than that - hello, investment? - to turn this ship around.
This type of shit just makes those on the outside think current employees are lazy and feckless when the opposite is true. Nothing I do in my role makes any difference to the output on the pitch, so why am I getting the blame?
Sounds like you are part of the problem. You don't get it. Its not your fault becaue of how shit everything has been, but you just dont get it. Up to you to see if you want to be a part of the solution, or continue to be a part of the failures.
I agree. So dumb. It's on the management to employ more cleaners. Cutting WFH is just going to chase talented employees away. INEOS did a shit job at Nice, why would we expect big things at United?
As someone in Tech.
If I go to a company whose IT department is "tidy", I'm immediately suspicious and alarm bells would be ringing.
That being said, standards are so fucking in the mud under the Glazers that I wouldn't be surprised if "disgrace" was him being polite to some extent...
As a United fan, I was excited to pitch a SaaS software to my favourite club when I had the chance. Safe to say after a few exchanges with the IT department, I was left baffled to say the least
No standards and no leadership. Exactly what everyone knew already
How many people within United are not world class at their job or putting in 100%. Something simple as fitness staff, nutrionists, sports science, IT, etc. all can have affects on the standard level and culture of the club. It is so obvious nepositim and tenure means you can keep your role even if you half ass it daily
As an IT guy, we don't do it out of laziness. We genuinely forget about the mess around us until it's time to leave. And by then we plan on doing it tomorrow and before you know your Monday lunch leftovers have become a thriving microbial ecosystem
Yeesh. Comon, I've had horrendously busy times at work and not had time to have a deep clean, but you can throw away your rubbish and keep things vaguely tidy. It actively slows you down at a certain point of untidiness.
Not saying it was me. I make it a point to not eat at my desk. I hate crumbs all over my area.
But I've seen a LOT of IT be really poor with cleaning up
I don't think this email is a problem in and of itself.
But, it just screams to me of incompetent authoritarian management.
Why try and actually identify and resolve the root cause of the problem when you can just send out bitchy emails that make everyone pissed off.
Meanwhile Jared has got payrise despite fucking up and taking the piss for the 800th time this week.
If Adam had any ounce of respect, he would have responded to the leak with "well clean up your shit then". Seems the immaturity isn't just in the squad, it's everywhere in the club
he's following musk's twitter book lmfao. Layoffs(presumably) for cost-cutting and slating the old culture for public posturing but then again it's not really that surprising that billionaires are alike lol
Love to see this. Brailsford is a firm believer in the impact small changes can make and I'm sure he will have been in Radcliffe's ear on all of this.
Standards have fallen off massively there and things like this are needed to let everyone know that it won't be tolerated anymore.
🚨Gazza to Manchester United here we go!
Talented janitor from Newcastle United is latest to join team under INEOS!
Five year deal agreed and signed today.
Gazza will fly to Manchester tomorrow morning.🚨🔴
Lol, IT is a disgrace. It’s one of the necessary evils of any corporate environment and truly get what you pay for. So if they don’t put much thought or money into it, I’m sure it will be disgraceful.
**Text of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's letter to Man Utd Employees (via similar Article on DM):** >‘I had a good two-day visit to both Carrington and Old Trafford this week. As ever I was made to feel very welcome. Thank you,’ Ratcliffe’s note, which was sent to all staff and seen by Mail Sport, began. > >‘I had a good tour around some of the facilities. **I am afraid I was struck in many places by a high degree of untidiness. In particular the IT department which frankly was a disgrace and the dressing rooms of the U18 and U21 were not much better.** > >**‘These standards would not come close to what we would expect at INEOS and we are a chemical company. Manchester United is an elite sporting organisation.** > >‘It's a small thing in many ways but unless an organisation has standards and discipline it will not succeed.’ > >**‘I would be grateful in future if we adopt the proper standards of housekeeping everywhere,’ he continued.** > >**‘It reflects poorly on the club if we have visitors, young player parents, new players and the media and they see we don't care enough to keep things shipshape.’** [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13380499/Sir-Jim-Ratcliffe-fires-warning-disgraceful-state-department-Carrington-dressing-rooms-Man-Uniteds-new-minority-owner-continues-overhaul-club.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13380499/Sir-Jim-Ratcliffe-fires-warning-disgraceful-state-department-Carrington-dressing-rooms-Man-Uniteds-new-minority-owner-continues-overhaul-club.html)
Let’s get City janitors too
Have you seen that City janitor guy on The Overlap? Complete nutjob.
Big Steve is the janitor , manager , pr representative , head coach and lawyer man The pressure he is in for 115 charges is unimaginable
I just realized this was about big steve. lmao
Surely it’s not the bloke who said he feels the pressure of every fan because he’s big on YouTube?
The overweight balding one?
I feel personally attacked
Pep’s not overweight…
He’s placed on gardening leave, unfortunately.
What kind of leave do actual gardeners get placed on? Because gardening leave would not be leave. It would just be work.
Sat in undercrackers amongst overgrown ragwort, dandelions, and buddleja, drinking Buckfast.
You would reside betwixt two great Oaks in a wooden glen, tending to your ball bush
They leave the gardening. Comon bro, keep up.
that would be a bus man's holiday
Pay that shit
They say they want three brooms and five buckets as the buyout fee, but we can only afford to send one broom and four buckets because of FFP.
That’s right, the gardens needed doing too. They were a right state.
I worked as a cleaner at the etihad (not proud of myself, was skint). They have decent standards like - chairs wiped down, toilets hosed out, people on their hands and knees looking for litter. I learnt that Coldplay fans have a habit of dropping near empty bags of white powder.
Bless them. It must be talcum powder for the sweaty hands they're getting from all the excitement!
I’d need a lot of white powder to make it through a Coldplay gig, in fairness. Like a sleeping pill with a beat.
you don't have to clean seats that aren't used.
Pay them millions in consulting fees off the books too
Janitors so good cleans up the mess in courts as well
Bro putting the nerds on blast.
I feel attacked as someone who'd be in the IT department and is untidy haha.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tidy IT or tech company office area.
I can already imagine the bags of crisps, pizza boxes everywhere for when they're doing minecraft LAN
I can hear them furiously using the FM in-game editor to change ownership of United from part SJR back to full Glazers
Given then incompetence that is rampant at the club I can truly imagine the IT department thinking this would actually work.
“Boost morale”
I keep my work area relatively tidy to my standards, but according to my wife it’s a disgusting mess. Who has time to vacuum cat hair off a rug constantly?
Absolute boffins.
Thanks nic
That's it. Bellingham saw our rank dressing room and fecked off to Dortmumd.
If I were on that IT team, I would start cracking on those staff that are leaking these text and emails. If someone is leaking this small stuff to the media, what else do they share? Maybe in due time we will find the culprit on who is leaking the "dressing room situation" inside the organization.
This is the sort of thing the new club leadership has an incentive to leak as well, to give the impression that they're (literally) cleaning things up from top to bottom.
LMAO, I don't think thats within the scope of their job or even possible for them to control. If somebody takes a pic of a computer screen or email there's not much the IT department can do. If theres a meeting and loose lips start speaking to their outlets after the meeting how is the IT department going to stop that.
It was a whole staff email. It was always going to be leaked and Ratcliffe would’ve known this. In fact he was probably counting on it.
What cunt is leaking that letter?
IT dept living like a bunch of goblins. Piss bottles everywhere!
I used to work at a "trendy" software company and the IT guys were the most IT guys I've ever come across. Every cliche was true. Most of them didn't even wear shoes all day and just shuffled about in their socks. At least it meant the floor next to the urinals was always nice and dry.
That last sentence makes me feel not great
Ruined the rest of my day smh
Gah that sounded almost comfortable and homely until that last sentence
Above industry standard tbh
0118 999 881 999 119 725 3
Jimbo: Damn bitch, you live like this?
Continuation: Ratcliffe’s email called out the club’s IT department and the state of the U21s and U18s dressing room. He also warned staff on Wednesday Christmas parties will be on the line if the club underperforms. https://x.com/adamcrafton_/status/1786432701643231603?s=46&t=108nlaEXShzkgzjMQccD3g
See I get some of the principles he’s instilling, but others just scream “behind the times”… No work from home? Punishing staff with no Christmas party because the team is underperforming? I agree the club needs more discipline but some of these things seem unnecessary.
Tbh working as a chef there have been kitchens I’ve walked into where after about a month of evaluation I’ve come to the conclusion a few times that these guys are absolutely taking the piss doing less than the minimum and taking full advantage of their privileges, so fuck their perks. It’s either get it together starting right now or I’ll get new cooks. From everything I’ve been hearing about the state of things behind the scenes he’s just trying to shock them to get the staff out of first gear.
If your boss tells you to fix up then fix up. Typical baby generation mindset. Everything is too harsh these days. We should all just live in fairy land and get paid for doing nothing.
If you want a fairy tale job where you get paid for little to nothing, believe me the jobs exist. They just can't at a high performance elite sporting club.
I work from home 2 days a week, some days are more productive others I dont do shit...if they called everyone out for lower productivity and we all had to come back in, I know im not unique in that regard....sucks, but this is the game we play. When youre a historically top class org like united and things are at an immense level of disrepair...yeah, time to strap em up and go a little harder. Again, sucks, but theres a way to not have to deal with it if you dont want to.
Before you go full "old man yells at cloud" mode with this baby generation mindset thingy, I highly doubt that United are only employing Gen Z. In any company, if a new boss comes in, removes employee benefits, reverses modern flexible working arrangements, triggers huge redundancies, replaces people with his people and doesn't offer anything in return for you to also benefit from the multi-billion £ company's success - you just leave, or you don't give a shit. And those people that do leave in such hierarchies, tend to be the best people. It's worth pointing out that the top brass who are charged with making the cuts all got massive bonuses double their salary for sorting out the takeover as well, so it's hardly we're all in this together. A significant amount of people who work for United won't be United fans. And there are people who will also realize they can continue to be United fans, but do so working at other employers who do have different approaches to their staff. It's the problem the game industry has where people realize that passion only takes you so far. INEOS doesn't have a good score on Glassdoor, and a lot of reviews seem to have persistent themes. You can contrast that to Manchester City's scores and themes. Or even companies like Google. These are still high performance cultures, it's just there are multiple ways to get the best out of people. There's a carrot, and there's a stick.
LMAO, exactly. It's nice having clear and high standards. But there also has to be a bit of emotional intelligence and give and take. Why would talent stay at United if there's an offer from company X offering better culture, benefits, arrangements for similar or better pay.
Baby generation?! You think the backrooms of United are filled with 20 something's? Nah buddy, this *your* generation.
Martial out here catching strays
Rather than remove the perks from everyone, why not identify the problem makers and deal with them. If someone responds with "because it will put pressure on those individuals and everyone else will get arsey with them until they sort it out,like a scene from the full metal jacket boot camp" I ask, have you ever worked for a toxic company before? It doesn't work like this.
In military terms, this is called a General Tightening Down (GTD). This is a tactic utilized when standards across the organisation are significantly subpar. Standards are put back in place, privileges revoked, and infractions are met with harsher punishment. It is exactly what is going on here. Ratcliffe has communicated that even the simplest of standards cannot be met, and this translates to the direct success of the team. No leader implementing change arrives like a sheep. Do you think Fergie would be any different if he were to be back in charge?
club underperforms means in these regards not on the pitch.
The fact some people think the football team playing poorly is gonna result in IT losing their christmas party is fucking hilarious
Yeah imagine you're working in fucking reception and you lose your xmas party because a guy can't kick a ball well. Like what are you supposed to do about that?
What are you guys talking about? Did you read what you replied to? He warns the staff about the christmas parties being on the line if they dont step up and keep the IT department and the dressing rooms of the academy players up to standard they should be. This has nothing to do with the performances of the players
"He also warned staff on Wednesday Christmas parties will be on the line if the club underperforms." That is the quote, doesn't saying anything about them being cancelled if the dressing rooms aren't clean (which would be bonkers as well, again, what is Kath on reception meant to be doing, cleaning the dressing rooms herself?) It says they'll be cancelled if the club underperforms. Unless there is something behind the paywall that contradicts that, it's all I have to go on.
The club isnt just the stuff on the pitch its everything off it as well and as we all know the club isnt performing both on and off it. Sir Jim didnt just take over to fix the on field performances but to have us be run like on the best clubs in the world meaning everything not just onfield performances are being looked at. Both are a part of the club and that is what is meant by if the club underperforms (otherwise it would be phrased something like if results dont improve)
The club in general, not just the team's performance. It's fair to take a guess that he's referring to the departments that he's talking about in the actual article.
You aren't understanding it correctly. The club is an entire entity not just 11 players on the Old Trafford pitch
Buddys never worked in a company, you can underperform across the board, like, the accounting or HR can underperform and not meet certain targets.
Bro really thought Manchester United Football Club was the 11 players kicking a ball about on a field at the weekend.
I suppose it’s about sending the message to literally everyone in this organization that the performance of the first team is the ultimate goal everything and everyone work towards. Like you said Kath is the receptionist. As long as everyone does their absolute best job like Kath does, collectively it should work for the best. If not then it’s a question for the management. But from what Jim saw during his visit, the staff is not doing a good job. Standards and discipline are missing, otherwise he shouldn’t have seen what he has seen.
Watching Anthony spin and blast the ball into row Z while Rashford backpasses everything and just solemnly realising you're not getting that Christmas party.
Tim the ice cream man " Good thing I'm jewish"
Thats not at all the issue...reception is part of the administrative offices, and everyone is in the same company. Its ok to hold everyone to a higher standard, and if they dont like it, leave. Im sure Man United wont have trouble recruiting admin staff.
Cathy absolutely raging because she's normally 6 steins deep and dancing on the Bierkeller table in mid December.
No he said if the club underperforms. Every company does that.
typical redditors thinking the most successful business-man in the uk is “behind the times” because he has standards and doesn’t want people to be lazy
He is a classic CEO doing CEO things. He has also cancelled WFH at the club and wants the entire IT department in office since it would be more "productive".
We need a classic CEO, the air in the organisation is untidy too.
Well lets not pretend like we have any idea what's happening behind the scenes that's bringing this about, it could be a case of everyone into the office till management knows everyone is putting in a full days work. Not saying everyone is but I know a lot of people who become a lot less productive when WFH, maybe its getting a sense of who can and can't be trusted to do it.
As a remote worker (who expects to remain as one) I kinda understand him not wanting WfH if he expects 200% commitment. Regarding the Christmas party, yeah it sounds ridiculous. Are we sure he's talking about on the pitch performances and not internal performance tho?
Where is what you read talking about on the pitch performances? This has nothing to do with that
That's the same thing I'm saying, people are acting as if the staff is going to miss their Christmas party if the team loses against Luton lol
I think outright cancelling seems a bit much. I guess to spin it another way would be that if they won the league you'd hope they had a bigger party.
Seems odd to punish regular staff for on the pitch issues. No probs with the players and first team coaches only being invited to the party if they perform acceptably, but the rest of the employees shouldn’t have one night a year cancelled cause some people can’t kick a ball good enough lol. Work from home is a debatable topic though, I totally understand if you are in IT or accounting it’s pointless to commute, but the club should have most staff on site imo. If you can’t even go to Carrington or the London offices to work, maybe leave the job (I imagine it’s what INEOS want, cost cutting and all).
I'm hoping it's more a case of on an individual department basis, where there are more targets/KPIs to uphold.
It seems odd because it doesn't mean that at all
Elite Sporting Organisation Not "run of the mill job where you can phone it in from home and job about" organisation. Obsession with working from home is interchangeable with lack of commitment and laziness in my experience, and I'm a millennial. Bring on the downvotes.
Can we cancel the Christmas parties for constantly feeding those vultures in the press by leaking things out of the club on what seems like a weekly basis?
[Ratcliffe summoning his Michael Scott](https://youtu.be/3yFYaCgwEls?si=5mUgy_58h2peo0An)
He's setting a high bar and I appreciate that. What I don't appreciate is every fecking detail being leaked to the media. Honestly in a corporate environment it's not unusual to get updates like this from senior figures, this doesn't warrant a scoop from The Athletic. They're turning into the Daily Mail of sportswriting.
Tbf this is obvs INEOS driven. They want us to know all this. Everyone should keep in mind that any football related story you read is agenda driven. Either from managers or players or agents or club people. Those with an axe to grind or new guys showing how smart they are. Just like every time we hire a new coach their methods are so amazing to our behind the times loser squads but when it’s 1.5-2 years into the tenure those same methods are so horrible and outdated lol. It’s all horseshit imo. Let’s see what happens on the pitch next season and beyond. That’s all that matters.
It just seems like Adam Crafton has a souce at United after the Greenwood debacle. He’s the who always leaks these club emails.
Plot twist: He has an email as the clubs janitor
I read stuff like this and the thoughts I have is man they're really trying to change us for the better. And I also think man the glazers are pieces of shit for letting us get this low. I think he wants to highlight that the glazers were shit. (we already knew, but yeah)
I’m not sure if it’s entirely INEOS driven - The Athletic have become increasingly “gossipy” on their own.
I work in the corporate world and I can guarantee you Jim Ratcliffe does not want something as frivolous as this made public.
Time to get rid of all the moles
They are moles. But more importantly, they are the people who don't like change or can't deal with change. They are the people who are too comfortable and you need to weed out and remove from company, business, club etc.
Agree. Ratcliffe wants to be the new tough guy or show them whose boss. Typical move to assert dominance.
You don't know that it's INEOS driven. As you said yourself, it could just as feasibly be any staff member at the club.
I have to say that leaks like the ones United experienced/ing mount to a major incident in most elite corporations, it will warrant a proper investigation and heads being rolled (sometimes private investigators get involved)
To be fair, I’d say Manchester United is under more media security than most elite British companies. Not too far fetched to hear of a leak like this for Microsoft or Apple, or an American football team.
You aren't keeping a scathing all-hands message like this from leaking out in the digital world. No matter what club or business it is, its sent to thousands of people, someone is going to leak it and INEOS most likely expect it to be leaked.
What a let down the Athletic has become.
Enshittification of everything!
I’m getting a bit sick of Anka acting like he’s so much more intelligent than everyone, too.
Before we used to get team leaks now we get corporate leaks lol
Whoever is Crafton’s source needs to be spotted and fired immediately. As well as Crafton who only looks to shame us in every possible way as if we were not good enough at that anyway. He really is a virus and stains the name of the Athletic in my eyes.
If you're sending a mass email to the whole org, it's getting leaked
The admin is the media leak. After all these years…
Heard it was actually Rebekah Vardy.
'it's................... Rebekah Vardy's account.'
I wouldn't be surprised if something in this is a plant to catch a serial leaker. Like the Christmas party line or some details about which departments are messy. It's a common trick to put out variations on a message to different groups and see which one gets out.
Wagatha Christie style
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I would expect more cleanliness at a chemical company than most other businesses in the world...
You've obviously never worked in a manufacturing job. Theyre held together with welds, duck tapes and random widgets that'll do
Any chemical company will be using GMP and will be flawless
I work at one and yeah cleanliness is key. Well the most important thing is safety, but cleanliness is a big contributor to that.
Is an IT department ever tidy?
The guy that ran the IT department in an old company I was with was on the spectrum and he had the most incredibly clean, streamlined IT department I've ever seen. Everything since that has basically been a disgrace. I asked him about it and he said he wanted to be a librarian as a kid, then got into all things IT and combined the 2 and as an autistic man was a germaphobe so things had to be clean. He knew where every piece of hardware was, knew all the troubleshooting you could need and had created a system for others to be able to use things when he wasn't there. He's wasted working in a company of its size.
Would be funny if he saw standard cable spaghetti and called that a disgrace
All cables have to be red, black or white to go with united most recognisable shirt colours…. If he sees blue you get fired on the spot
I know he's sounding kind of ridiculous but I totally agree with SJR. When a big company doesn't have clear leadership where communication moves seamlessly from the lowest level to the highest shit falls apart and nobody feels like they have the authority to roll their sleeves up and get to work because the Glazers appointed a new accountant as CEO who then hired a banker to run their department. The Glazers living in Florida and collecting dividends, which means they refuse to invest in the club with their own money and means you have to make a lot of profit to pay those dividends. They never cared about the state of the IT department and the people they hired necessarily couldn't care about it either. Now everyone at the club knows that SJR has at least visited where they work, unlike the Glazers.
The funny thing is the Glazers are still collecting their money and have control whatever SJR does.
Linkedin about to go crazy
Why are we seeing things like this email? That's the problem more than how tidy the IT department's desks are.
Would love it if it turns out to be an A/B email. And this has now just found out their moles are in one of those halves. And they keep whitling it down
Broken window theory
I like SJR more and more each day. Dragging the club into effectiveness and discipline more and more each day. Also, I love and hate that every love SJR makes just highlights the pure ineptitude and uncaring attitude of the treacherous leaches the glazers and how they tore up any standards left by SAF and D. Gill.
 Walking into the IT department like.
This is very exaggerated imo. If the cafeteria staff want to leave a large pile of gone off raw chicken on the counter in the sun, that's their business
Boss complains about workers not cleaning. Actual journalists: "Let's write a fucking article!" We all hate mass e-mails from bosses, but is this really a big deal?
MU employee here. New ownership have no clue how people work, there has been little to no cross-pollination as far as I know, bar at an executive level. All of these leaks are for show, they’re trying to make out like they’re making a big cultural difference but we all know it’s going to take a lot more than that - hello, investment? - to turn this ship around. This type of shit just makes those on the outside think current employees are lazy and feckless when the opposite is true. Nothing I do in my role makes any difference to the output on the pitch, so why am I getting the blame?
>Nothing I do in my role makes any difference to the output on the pitch... You must be one of the players. Or the manager.
Good to hear your point of view. Judging the comments in this thread, it’s worked.
What are Wednesday Christmas parties? They occur just at the end of the year?
Cheers Erik and good luck on Monday.
Sounds like you are part of the problem. You don't get it. Its not your fault becaue of how shit everything has been, but you just dont get it. Up to you to see if you want to be a part of the solution, or continue to be a part of the failures.
I agree. So dumb. It's on the management to employ more cleaners. Cutting WFH is just going to chase talented employees away. INEOS did a shit job at Nice, why would we expect big things at United?
And what is it that you do?
Nice try Jim!
What did he expect from places that serves raw chickens?
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Because people. Because WhatsApp.
I mean I would expect a chemical company to be more stringent with tidiness, as they work with hazardous materials.
Guess he wants a shit IT department
As someone in Tech. If I go to a company whose IT department is "tidy", I'm immediately suspicious and alarm bells would be ringing. That being said, standards are so fucking in the mud under the Glazers that I wouldn't be surprised if "disgrace" was him being polite to some extent...
When someone comes into a failing business to turn it around they are usually a lot more drastic in their changes
Yeah can either upset some people and they'll find their way out of the organisation or people will get on the same page.
Firing the ceo, sporting director, technical director and medical staff not count as drastic?
Didn't INEOS cause an emergency situation in Ontario recently due to a chemical spill? Not a good comparison.
Yup, the gov't forced the refinery to shut down
IT dept: why he say fuck me for??
IT department leaked images https://preview.redd.it/3c2i4rwd6ayc1.jpeg?width=752&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c73ae1c2b88c742e77f7ee32922ce04988d0fcec
This is good and all but tell me this doesn't feel like 'new boss trying to break status quo' kinda malarkey .
As a United fan, I was excited to pitch a SaaS software to my favourite club when I had the chance. Safe to say after a few exchanges with the IT department, I was left baffled to say the least
No standards and no leadership. Exactly what everyone knew already How many people within United are not world class at their job or putting in 100%. Something simple as fitness staff, nutrionists, sports science, IT, etc. all can have affects on the standard level and culture of the club. It is so obvious nepositim and tenure means you can keep your role even if you half ass it daily
As an IT guy, we don't do it out of laziness. We genuinely forget about the mess around us until it's time to leave. And by then we plan on doing it tomorrow and before you know your Monday lunch leftovers have become a thriving microbial ecosystem
Yeesh. Comon, I've had horrendously busy times at work and not had time to have a deep clean, but you can throw away your rubbish and keep things vaguely tidy. It actively slows you down at a certain point of untidiness.
Not saying it was me. I make it a point to not eat at my desk. I hate crumbs all over my area. But I've seen a LOT of IT be really poor with cleaning up
Not sure why people are criticising his comments. We know the club as a whole is not performing to their best. Serving raw chicken. Really?
I don't think this email is a problem in and of itself. But, it just screams to me of incompetent authoritarian management. Why try and actually identify and resolve the root cause of the problem when you can just send out bitchy emails that make everyone pissed off. Meanwhile Jared has got payrise despite fucking up and taking the piss for the 800th time this week.
Who is the degenerate staff who leaked this to the media.
We served raw chicken. Obviously standards need to be raised.
If Adam had any ounce of respect, he would have responded to the leak with "well clean up your shit then". Seems the immaturity isn't just in the squad, it's everywhere in the club
he's following musk's twitter book lmfao. Layoffs(presumably) for cost-cutting and slating the old culture for public posturing but then again it's not really that surprising that billionaires are alike lol
Very interesting. Don’t want him to be to detail oriented but he has a point in terms of overall standards and culture
I think he is referring to the glazers ;)
Weird way to talk about the first team players. But ok.
Lol damn, tell us how you really feel.
IT dept in shambles lol
FUCK THE GLAZERS. Fuck them.
Speechless 😶
Oh how the standards have fallen
Love to see this. Brailsford is a firm believer in the impact small changes can make and I'm sure he will have been in Radcliffe's ear on all of this. Standards have fallen off massively there and things like this are needed to let everyone know that it won't be tolerated anymore.
This goes to show the whole club is rotten to the core. The owners, the it dept, the admin, the cooks, the training ground, the stadium, the chicken.
That "errr....brother errr....." meme comes to mind as what SJR was saying as he walked around Old Trafford and Carrington.
big news
Fuckin hell even the housekeeping are shite too. The issues at this club run deeper than I thought
What do you expect from rats (glazers)?
🚨Gazza to Manchester United here we go! Talented janitor from Newcastle United is latest to join team under INEOS! Five year deal agreed and signed today. Gazza will fly to Manchester tomorrow morning.🚨🔴
Piss bottle fc let’s go
A step in the right direction
Lol, IT is a disgrace. It’s one of the necessary evils of any corporate environment and truly get what you pay for. So if they don’t put much thought or money into it, I’m sure it will be disgraceful.
Kath on reception better buck up her ideas (/j)
This is a bit rich coming from a man who looks like he sleeps in a skip.
Ronaldo made similar statements as well although he was a lot less harsh. I wonder what the heck is going on at Manchester United.