Well, they dropped within days of eachother. First the Doha-based Richard Keys, of Bein Sport, then the well-connected Mike Keegan from the Daily Mail. In the very same week, both men, with a couple of generations of elite reporting between them, reflected on 'what could've been' if Sheikh Jassim's bid for control had been chosen by the Glazer family over Sir Jim Ratcliffe's compromised effort.
And there simply cannot be a coincidence in the timing, as both men opened up their stories drawing a line between Sheikh Jassim's promised plans and an "old episode of Bullseye". Both of 'em. In their opening paragraph... C'mon, surely there's been some briefing involved here from the Sheikh's camp?
As we say, Keys is now based in Doha. He's probably a neighbour of the Sheikh's. And in Keegan's case, he was the main driving source covering the Sheikh's original attempts to buyout the Glazers. They have the contacts. The history. Is something brewing here...?
Keys, in his unique way, set the tone. After the "shambles" of the Ratcliffe era, it was well worth exploring, he declared in his blog, what could've been if the Qatari bid had been successful. And then Keegan took up the baton, just three days later, laying out for us all the Sheikh's plans under the umbrella of a project dubbed 'Ruby'. Essentially, United would be transformed within three days:
Day One: Announce takeover.
Day Two: Announce that all debt has been removed, that the club has been taken off the New York Stock Exchange and that it is no longer answerable to far-away stakeholders.
Day Three: Announce fully-funded plans for new stadium.
But it wouldn't end there. And it's clear Sheikh Jassim and his camp have been watching closely how Ratcliffe and his Ineos team have fumbled and bumbled their way through these past 12 months. Indeed, their chat with Keegan, in terms of PR, was a masterstroke. And by claiming 'fumbled and bumbled', we're giving this lot the benefit of the doubt, because there's every chance this attitude and approach simply comes naturally.
For this column, as regulars will know, the alarm bells regarding Ratcliffe were ringing as soon as he chose to hang the tech team out to dry. Embarrassing those involved in a circular email which made it's way to the global media. Since then, for the club's non-playing staff, it's been one swipe after another from the higher ups. The demand that they not mix with the players during lunch something that particularly stands out. Football's equivalent of on-set workers being warned not to look the actors in the eye. Incredible. Is it any wonder morale throughout the place is at "rock bottom".
And Ratcliffe's response? Well, he did address staff morale in conversation with the United Stand last week: “Morale will be driven by success on the pitch.
“If we’re losing matches then I don’t expect morale to be good and if we’re winning matches then it should be good. We want people here who are either happy or unhappy on a Monday morning depending on what happened at the weekend.”
Yeah, we also don't know what he's talking about... Ratcliffe, with these words - and just as he did with the tech guys all those months ago - clearly couldn't care less about those who keep the place running. The chemicals billionaire rolling back one of the foundations of the winning culture Sir Alex Ferguson drove through the club all those years ago.
And as we say, the Sheikh's camp have been watching, with Keegan's source stating: "We weren't looking to lay people off, we were looking to invest". Further, rather than having Sir Alex sidelined, the Scot would be part of an advisory board. Much like Sir Bobby Charlton was involved in an official capacity during Fergie's time as manager. Geez, are we still talking about the same club...?
But beyond the digs, there was a thinly-veiled message to Ratcliffe and the Glazers. There's regret on the Sheikh's behalf that he didn't go higher in the bidding battle. As much as there was frustration with the Glazers' tactics, as highlighted by Keys, Keegan's source conceded they were left rueing not paying over the odds to get the deal done. In other words, Sheikh Jassim would be prepared to come up with something that would please both shareholders - and he's willing to talk.
"Sheikh Jassim is still a rich guy," stated Keegan's contact. "He is still a United fan. He is not going to rush off and try another Premier League club.
"If the opportunity to buy the whole of Manchester United arose again at some point in the future it is hard to see there not being a big level of interest. The plans are still there."
Surely this is no coincidence? If there's regret inside United's boardroom, in the space of four days, they've just been handed an escape route.
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