Football: United fans excited by Ineos interest but new owners don't guarantee success

LONDON – With Ineos CEO Jim Ratcliffe

joining the race to buy Manchester United

, fans are excited about a future free from the much derided Glazer family, against whom they have protested since the Americans bought the club in 2005.

However, if recent incoming owners of Premier League clubs are anything to go by, supporters should brace themselves for more upheaval among the coaching staff and squad, just when things appear to be clicking on the pitch.

Confidence is flowing around Old Trafford as United extended their unbeaten run to 10 games following

a 1-1 away draw with Crystal Palace on Wednesday,

although the stalemate ended their nine-win streak.

Erik ten Hag, United’s fifth permanent manager since Alex Ferguson left in 2013, has been one of the architects of the revival but would not necessarily be safe under new owners.

Installing a new manager swiftly after taking control of a club is a recurring theme across the Premier League, with incumbents rarely lasting much longer than a year.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly

sacked Champions League-winning coach Thomas Tuchel

in September 2022, little more than three months after completing his takeover of the London club.

The American tycoon has spent £445 million (S$726.9 million) on players but his team are

currently floundering in 10th place

under Tuchel’s successor Graham Potter.

Newcastle United’s Saudi Arabia-backed consortium were even more ruthless when they took over the north-east club in 2021,

sacking Steve Bruce 13 days later.

But successor Eddie Howe, backed by more than £200 million in transfer spending, has been a roaring success,

taking the team into the top four in the table.

Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group,

who put their club up for sale in 2022

, sacked Roy Hodgson three months after taking control in 2010 and appointed two more managers before settling on Jurgen Klopp, who has been in charge since 2015.

But it took the Merseyside club’s owners almost a decade to land the team’s

first Premier League title in 2020.

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke gave newly appointed coach Unai Emery time when he assumed full ownership of the London club in September 2018 but

sacked the Spaniard in November 2019.

Successor Mikel Arteta

has taken Arsenal to the top of the league

this campaign, his fourth at the helm, in a sign that success requires patience and a consistent strategy.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, by contrast, has gone through seven managers in seven years and spent over £500 million on players with little reward.

Frank Lampard’s struggling team

face a second successive battle to avoid relegation and fans have been singing “sack the board” in recent matches.

United’s current owners have rarely meddled in the workings of the team and instead fans’ complaints with the Glazers centre on their leveraged buyout which loaded the club with debt, rising to £515 million last September.

They also signed United up to the doomed European Super League in 2021, which

led to fans storming Old Trafford

before a match against Liverpool which was then postponed.

It remains to be seen if Ratcliffe and Ineos, should they complete a successful takeover against several other potential bidders, are the right owners for United.

The British billionaire and long-time United fan founded the Ineos chemicals group in 1998 and is the company’s chairman and CEO with a two-thirds stake.

According to Forbes, he has a net worth of US$15.5 billion (S$20.5 billion).

The BBC reported that Ineos, which has for a long time been involved in the world of sport, with links to Formula One, cycling, sailing, football and rugby, generates sales of around £50 billion and employs more than 26,000 people.

 Some analysts have estimated United’s worth at more than US$4.5 billion.

The club’s next owners will be expected to plough even more money into the squad to compete with their big-spending rivals, as well as overseeing the redevelopment of Old Trafford, which has not undergone any major work since 2006.

But fans only need to look at United’s rivals to see that new ownership – if there is no right strategy – is far from a guarantee of instant success. REUTERS