SIR JIM RATCLIFFE claims that co-owning Manchester United is turning him “into an old man”.
The British billionaire, 71, also admits that he doesn’t know why he decided to buy into his boyhood club.
AlamySir Jim Ratcliffe has spoken out about Manchester United[/caption]
With United facing criticism on and off the pitch, Ratcliffe has performed several interviews this week.
In the latest, the Ineos chief – who also owns chunks of Mercedes F1, Ineos Grenadiers cycling and OGC Nice in Ligue 1 – was asked about his motivations for buying into the Red Devils.
On if it was the money that appealed, he said: “That is 100 per cent not where I’ve come from at all. I’m making enough money in chemicals and oil and gas and all that stuff.”
He then added: “I can’t honestly answer why we did it. It’s quite a difficult question.
“With Nice, in the French league, you can buy a club for £100million. It’s much cheaper access.
“But I don’t particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players but the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited.”
Ratcliffe also revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson warned him of the stresses of Man Utd after he completed his purchase.
He said: “The first thing Alex Ferguson said to me was that the shirt can be too heavy.
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“It applies to everyone here really, the coach, the players — the owner. It’s turning me into an old man.
“It’s hard to do the interviews. On camera for 40 minutes, one cock-up and you’re legendary for it.”
Ratcliffe refused to criticise the Glazer family during the interview.
On possibly taking similar criticism to what United’s majority owners receive, he admitted: “So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family have been abused, then I’d have to say, look, enough’s enough guys, let somebody else do this.
“They can’t really come to a match, the Glazers. They’ve retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I’m getting all the bloody stick.
“We bought in and I haven’t seen them since.
“At the moment, I don’t have security, I don’t have to walk around like that.
“But it would defeat the object, wouldn’t it? You couldn’t tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn’t be fun.”
I wouldn’t have tolerated Ed Woodward, or Richard Arnold.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Rather than the Glazer family, Ratcliffe decided to take aim at two former United executives.
He said: “I mean, I wouldn’t have tolerated Ed Woodward, or Richard Arnold.
“Richard was a rugby man, he didn’t even understand football. Ed didn’t have the credentials to manage the club.
“He was a merchant banker, an accountant. He wasn’t the chief executive.”
PAEd Woodward and Richard Arnold came under fire from Ratcliffe[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
