The Athletic FC: A Year of INEOS at United and the Braves’ Close Call with Villa

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Hello! If you’re celebrating Christmas, enjoy it to the fullest. If not, we still extend our very best wishes to you. Peace, and see you on Boxing Day. Look ahead to:

🕰️ One year of INEOS at Old Trafford

💵 The Braves, Villa, and a near . The club’s minority stakeholder might celebrate were it not so focused on cutting costs. The typical Christmas gathering at Old Trafford would undoubtedly have been ‘bring your own bottle’ — if it had occurred.

At this moment, how do we assess progress? Twelve months prior, United were lagging significantly in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat against West Ham United. This Christmas Eve, they still find themselves far behind in the Premier League, reeling from a 3-0 loss to Bournemouth. While an FA Cup appeared during the year, INEOS has not notably moved closer to reviving the club’s former glory.

You can explore footballing details in this article by Laurie Whitwell and Adam Crafton, discussing the group’s influence. However, there’s no escaping INEOS’ keen focus on tightening budgets — from cancelling the staff’s Christmas festivities to an array of 250 job cuts, it seems prioritizing cost-cutting has been foremost for INEOS and its lead figure, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Clarity regarding football-related matters has been less visible.

Football remains the key measure for owners and stakeholders of clubs as large as United. INEOS’s purpose at Old Trafford was to ignite a competitive revival. It has indeed been a challenge — and its tenure at the forefront hasn’t clarified whether United will be satisfied with where Ratcliffe is leading them.

Costly Exits

INEOS and Ratcliffe hold a stake of just under 29 percent in United. The club is still predominantly owned by the American Glazer family — but they have taken a backseat.

Effectively, INEOS’s investment last Christmas gave it free rein to manage United on the sporting side. With the Glazers’ approval, it has. It was INEOS’ choice to retain former head coach Erik ten Hag after last season, a choice it quickly regretted. INEOS also decided to appoint Dan Ashworth as sporting director, only to part ways with him five months later. These blunders have led to losses of well over £10 million ($12.5 million).

(Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

Transfer expenditures have also been steep. The summer window’s expenses approached £200 million, constructing a squad in Ten Hag’s vision, only for him to be let go in October. Ruben Amorim, his successor (above), is now left to navigate the squad he took over, and understandably, he’s experiencing varied results.

All in all, it hasn’t been a joyous year. Ticket prices have risen, with discount categories eliminated. As you might expect, fans are unhappy. The ambassadorial position once held by the club’s legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was actually has little to do with Pele (or not fundamentally) but revealed something I was completely unaware of: the Atlanta Braves baseball team nearly acquired Aston Villa around the early 1970s.

The negotiations fell short, and the idea of American proprietors in England’s old First Division (which evolved into the Premier League in 1992) was met with disbelief — amusingly ironic now considering that ’s Pep Guardiola — crystallized my thoughts. Guardiola is the finest in his field. Despite his exceptional talent, he struggles with eating, sleeping, and disconnecting. He can keep his mind off business for a maximum of half an hour before it drifts back.

This month, Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou asserted that leading a football club is more challenging than politics. While it tempted us to pull out the world’s smallest violin, he rightly noted that politicians face elections occasionally. Coaches contend with them every single weekend. Thus, while you celebrate Christmas, spare a thought for your team’s manager — who likely isn’t enjoying theirs.

Quiz Questions

Our Big Christmas Quiz will be available on The Athletic’s website tomorrow morning. Don’t mention it to the higher-ups, but we’ve decided to give you a sneak peek by sharing a handful of the questions. We’ll provide the answers in Boxing Day’s edition:

• From the above image, name the goalscorer. Is it a) Harry Kane, b) Jude Bellingham, c) Ollie Watkins or d) Ivan Toney?
• This is a quote from USWNT manager Emma Hayes: “Very French. Quirky, to say the least. But I like quirk.” Was she referring to a) Kylian Mbappe’s transfer saga, b) new Chelsea Women’s head coach Sonia Bompastor, c) the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony or d) Tarte Tatin?
• Which player set a Premier League record for being substituted 29 times during a season: a) Andreas Pereira, b) Justin Kluivert, c) Zeki Amdouni or d) Pape Sarr?
• What was unusual about Botafogo’s recent Copa Libertadores final victory (you’ll know this if you’ve been following TAFC closely): a) they had a player sent off for a foul in the first minute, b) they conceded two own goals, c) they ended the game with an outfield player in goal or d) they utilized all five substitutes before halftime?

And Finally…

Steve White/EMPICS via Getty Images

My editor, Kev, suggested I share some memorable Christmas anecdotes from my time as a football writer, so here are two.

First, back in 2001, as a novice journalist, I had the daunting task of calling Swansea City manager Colin Addison (above) on Christmas Day to inquire about the club’s failure to pay its players. He was just preparing to sit down for Christmas dinner and was not exactly thrilled.

Secondly, I recall a night in 2008 when I received a call regarding a transfer Leeds United was trying to wrap up — precisely when I was about to propose to my then-girlfriend. The signing ultimately didn’t pan out. We did, however, get married, so all’s well that ends well.

On that note, may joyful festive spirits reach you all. Celebrate, be merry, and indulge in plenty of football.

(Top image: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)