Manchester United co-owners Ineos have been criticised by football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
The Reds announced several cost-cutting measures on Monday as part of a "transformation plan." Pending consultation with employees, the move involves potential redundancy for up to 200 staff members. The cuts would come in addition to the 250 roles already axed by United in the previous year.
United's announcement has been widely criticised as the men's first team continues to toil on the pitch under head coach Ruben Amorim. The Reds currently sit 15th in the top-flight table and are on course for their lowest-ever Premier League finish and a season without European football for the first time in over a decade.
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Maguire has strong words to describe the cost-cutting plans announced by United this week, sharing his view that Ineos' plans are "enabling" majority owners, the Glazer family, who have been widely blamed for the Reds' demise.
"They [Ineos] are essentially enabling the Glazers," he said via United in Focus. “If the Glazers had announced 450 redundancies, the pushback from the United fanbase would have been huge.
"Whereas, Ratcliffe came in and had instant goodwill because the PR machine span the story of putting the ‘man’ back in ‘Manchester’. At the moment, he’s putting the ‘fail’ back into ‘Failsford’.
“A lot of people have given him the benefit of the doubt and are just repeating the mantra ‘difficult decisions have to be made.'”
United argue that their plans are to put the club on a stronger financial footing. Since 2019, the club has reported losses for five years straight, with a £27.7million loss in its latest quarterly results. Over the past three years, the total losses have surpassed £300m.
“We have a responsibility to put Manchester United in the strongest position to win across our men’s, women’s and academy teams," said Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada in a statement on the club's website about the announcement.
"We are initiating a wide-ranging series of measures which will transform and renew the club. Unfortunately, this means announcing further potential redundancies and we deeply regret the impact on those affected colleagues. However, these hard choices are necessary to put the club back on a stable financial footing.
“We have lost money for the past five consecutive years. This cannot continue. Our two main priorities as a club are delivering success on the pitch for our fans and improving our facilities. We cannot invest in these objectives if we are continuously losing money.
“At the end of this process, we will have a more lean, agile and financially sustainable football club, while continuing to provide a world class service to our valuable commercial partners. We will then be in a much stronger position to invest in football success and improved facilities for fans, while remaining compliant with UEFA and Premier League regulations.”
