The Glazers are undoubtedly a convenient scapegoat for Manchester United's problems but the club's malaise runs deeper than the identity of the owners.
While fan indignation at the barefaced profiteering United's owners have exhibited since landing the football deal of the century in 2005 has some resonance, supporters are delusional if they think a change at the top will be the panacea for one of the club's main problems.
Namely, that football has evolved and United no longer dominate. So while 'Glory, Glory Man United' chants have been replaced with 'Glazers Out' at Old Trafford, the truth is they're no longer the only club with the financial muscle that allowed them to rack up multiple titles in the early Premier League years.
It is true a fish rots from the head down but it's too easy to blame the Glazers for everything that is wrong with England's biggest club. Sure, the Americans are far from ideal but when United were dominating, no one was pointing to Martin Edwards as some kind of visionary or perfect owner - he nearly sold up to Michael Knighton for £20million three years before the dawn of the Premier League for goodness sake!
The bottom line is, United's success back then was down to Sir Alex Ferguson on the pitch and David Gill behind the scenes.
In any business, you are never going to excel unless you get really top-end people that can carry you to where you want to go - and United still haven't got them. They haven't got them on the pitch, they haven't got them in the dugout and, in recent times, haven't had them in the boardroom. That naturally leads to an accusation that the Glazers are the ultimate problem but Ferguson was the reason for United's past success, not Edwards, so why should it be different now?
United are built to be an elite football club but don't now operate like one.
The haphazard thought processes that hired five managers and fired four of them in a decade, the way they handled Cristiano Ronaldo's exit, the manner in which they bungled the Mason Greenwood situation, the scattergun nature of the club's transfer policy, the decay of the once majestic Old Trafford, the issue with Jadon Sancho and now the allegations against Antony - the list is endless.
True, these all fell under jurisdiction of the Glazers, but where's the CEO? It is your senior management that drives a club and they have been missing in action.
The fact is, the rules of engagement for United are different. It's almost becoming an impossible job for United as the landscape of football has changed while they are still under more scrutiny than any other English club. The expectations placed upon them ensure that if United are not winning everything, they are considered a failure.
Erik ten Hag got them to third in the league and won the League Cup in his first season but all of a sudden questions abound because they haven't started this campaign well and doubts surface about whether he's the man for the job.
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unless United play with a swagger and a buccaneering style, unless they look a million dollars every time they step on a pitch and start every season as if their pants are on fire, then they are the subject of intense media scrutiny about the capability of the club, the attitude of the players, their recruitment policy, what the philosophy is, the ownership model - every aspect of it.
That might be because of the proliferation of ex-Manchester United players in the media.
When Gary Neville dissects a defeat, the conversation is inevitably littered with observations about what the Glazers are doing wrong. No doubt this week's share-price plunge will be used as an excuse for poor form on the pitch at some stage. But while they make the ultimate appointments, the Glazers don't control the destiny of what the people they employ are doing.
There's also far too much harking back to the Ferguson era, as if it's not abundantly obvious that, as with Sir Matt Busby, they had a once-in-a-generation manager.
Pontificating back on that time is like the Monty Python sketch with the dead parrot. That Manchester United is dead. They can no longer outspend other sides or attract the best talent because there are plenty of other people that have the financial resources to lure players with the potential of achieving something.
Then you look at the culture of the club. Everything about it feels wrong to me. The players and their attitude feels wrong, including their captain Bruno Fernandes who is a wonderful footballer but a terrible leader. Ten Hag is a decent manager with not insignificant achievements in the Netherlands but I don't think he exudes the authority required of a man capable of leading United out of the desert they find themselves in, let alone the Herculean effort required to triumph over the imperious Pep Guardiola across the city.
Is Ten Hag the best in class? I would argue no. I certainly can't see him ending the club's title drought.
What United really need is someone like Jurgen Klopp, someone capable of embracing it all, shouldering the huge responsibility of managing such a massive club and delivering success.
Someone who can harness the spirit and energy of the club from previous glories and set standards and outcomes reminiscent of yesteryears. Does that sound like Ten Hag? I don't think so.
Then again, it took four years for Ferguson and Klopp to win their first trophies in England so perhaps Ten Hag will prove me wrong if he is afforded such time to win the biggest prizes.
But we're four games into the new season and he's already in deflection mode. The best managers, the ones that ultimately achieve things, don't call players out in public. If they do, it is usually because they are floundering and haven't got the answers.
Time will tell if Ten Hag does but if he doesn't, it's not because the Glazers own Manchester United. No matter what Mr Neville would have you believe.
SMHellas
516
Of course it is, just as the United we knew under Sir Matt Busby was dead when Fergie came in. It doesn't mean the club can't have a glorious future, it will just not be in the Fergie era which ended in May 2013
Sahamnorst
505
I would agree with this writer mostly , the recruitment policy, sluggish decision maker,character of more than half of the players and sometimes , the man management style of the coach. For example ,one would wonder why the board waited till deadline date to get amrabat. Another thought goes to the signing of sergio from spurs, what does he really being to the squad. Then the handling of greenwood"s issue at the earlier stage, the exit of de gea, and the issue of sancho. Now there is the pending issue of anthony. I doubt , I the recruitment team are real football people, the manager well let's wait a little longer, then for the players their mentality and professionalism has to be questioned.
Tiyabeklnt
147
This is the exact problem of Man United, you can’t let go of Ferguson Era. Let go and embrace the new Era with the slow change that comes with it, let go. Sometimes y’all forget that the amount of discipline those Era had is no longer their plus internet that has gone into the head of these young players, it’s a lot to deal with and it takes a firm hand to be able to instill those disciplines . The distraction is too much for the players nowadays, if the media/pundits does not depress them for one bad game, ex girlfriends and current girlfriends will sue for abuse just to rip em off or bad diet thereby resulting in injuries, with that being said I urge fans/people to let these youngsters and their coaches breath.