And so here we are again, at that point as the nights draw in and Manchester United prepare to sack a manager.
asserted
United → draw → manager
Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, coming on the back of last week’s 4-1 reverse against Como, made clear what many had feared from the moment Michael Carrick was given the job on a permanent basis: that he isn’t up to it.
asserted
he → come → it
When you’ve burned through a long list of managers in 13 years, it’s perhaps worth considering whether the manager is really the problem.
asserted
manager → burn → years
Could some blame perhaps go to the director of football, Jason Wilcox, or the chief executive, Omar Berrada, the people making the appointments?
uncertain
blame → go → appointments
Or to the Glazer family, who plunged the club into debt with a leveraged buyout in 2005 and have since made calamitous decision after calamitous decision, reducing the most successful club in English league history to a mid-table laughing stock with a roof that leaks symbolically?
asserted
that → plunge → roof
It’s worth remembering where all this began.
asserted
this → ’ → ?
The United story has taken on the aspect of a classical tragedy and, like all good tragedies, it begins with a small, seemingly unconnected moment, amplified by pride, that ends up bringing the whole edifice crashing down.
asserted
that → take → edifice
In 1999, Mull of Kintyre, a horse owned by the Irish millionaire John Magnier, won the Gimcrack Stakes at York.
asserted
Mull → own → York
Traditionally, the winning owner would give a speech at the Gimcrack Dinner, but Magnier was a shy man who hated public speaking so he asked his friend, the United manager Alex Ferguson, to give the speech on his behalf.
asserted
he → win → behalf
The racing establishment, though, refused: it had to be the owner.
asserted
it → refuse → ?
To spite them, Magnier named Ferguson as the owner of another horse, Juniper.
asserted
Magnier → spite → horse
The following year, Juniper was narrowly beaten in the Gimcrack Stakes.
asserted
Juniper → beat → Stakes
So the year after that, he made Ferguson the owner of Rock of Gibraltar, which had won its first three races.
asserted
which → make → races
Rock of Gibraltar won the Gimcrack easily and Magnier, waving a metaphorical two fingers at the racing authorities, watched Ferguson give the speech.
asserted
Ferguson → win → speech
Magnier was largely making mischief, but he was also happy to do a favor for a friend, to give Ferguson a better experience of racing, and he benefited from the association of the horse with such a famous name.
asserted
he → make → name
In addition, Ferguson did not get on well with the United chairman, Martin Edwards, and had a sense that football clubs were becoming good investments.
asserted
clubs → get → sense
Accordingly Magnier and his associate JP McManus bought shares in United.
asserted
Magnier → buy → United
(The full story is explored by the journalist David Walsh here).
asserted
story → explore → journalist
It turned out, though, that Rock of Gibraltar was a much better horse than anybody had realized, winning seven Group One races in a row.
asserted
anybody → turn → row
Ferguson believed the verbal deal was that he could choose 50% of the prize money won by Rock of Gibraltar (about £800,000) or 50% of the stud fees, which ended up being worth tens of millions.
uncertain
which → believe → fees
He went for the latter.
asserted
He → go → latter
Ferguson sued and, with his name on the ownership documents, probably would have won had it gone to trial.
asserted
it → sue → trial
But then rumors started to spread about some of Ferguson’s financial dealings at United.
asserted
rumors → start → United
Paid actors at United’s annual general meeting raised awkward points, then Magnier and McManus sent a list of 99 questions to the United board, which mysteriously found their way into the Daily Mail.
asserted
which → pay → Mail
United were highly embarrassed.
asserted
United → embarrass → ?
Fans began to demonstrate against Magnier and McManus at race meetings.
asserted
Fans → begin → meetings
A settlement was reached, with Ferguson paid £2.5m to drop the action.
asserted
Ferguson → reach → action
But the damage was done.
asserted
damage → do → ?
Magnier and McManus had decided to sell their shares in United, and another shareholder was ready and waiting: Malcolm Glazer.
asserted
shareholder → decide → United
Ferguson backed Glazer, who launched his leveraged buyout.
asserted
who → back → buyout
Magnier and McManus sold up in 2005 for £260m, a profit of a little under £100m.
asserted
Magnier → sell → 100
Had they waited for Ratcliffe, who bought a similar stake in 2024, they would have received roughly £1bn more than that.
asserted
they → wait → that
For Ferguson, a threat had been dealt with.
asserted
threat → deal → Ferguson
The problem was that Glazer and his family would prove some of the worst club owners in English history.
asserted
Glazer → prove → history
For 20 years, United have been addled by debt and have made consistently terrible footballing decisions.
asserted
United → addle → decisions
Ferguson’s team was good enough, and his personality big enough, that United won five league titles and a Champions League after the takeover, but once his genius had gone, there was nothing left.
asserted
genius → win → takeover
A mismatched squad built up over seven flawed managerial appointments and a multiplicity of conflicting approaches will not readily be sorted out.
asserted
squad → build → approaches
For the want of a horse a club was lost.
asserted
club → lose → horse
The Aporia
