Sir Jim Ratcliffe had an eventful day. He put himself through a gruelling, challenging event, testing his spirit, and it can’t have been easy on his body either.
That was just the Manchester United match at Wembley. The 71-year-old owner had also run all 26.2 miles in the London Marathon before the game!
The marathon would have seemed easy in comparison to sitting through Manchester United for 120 minutes plus penalties.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe had to watch the game in the company of Avram Glazer too. The American’s private jet to Wembley cost £250,000 last season, twice, charged to United’s expenses, per The Athletic.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe frustrated with Manchester United plan delays
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was one of the more famous runners on the London Marathon course, and he was interviewed after completing the course.
Ratcliffe is very direct and communicates well. Unlike Glazer. The Ineos owner talked about his initial challenges at United and what is taking him longer than he wanted.
Referring to the challenge in bringing new sporting directorDan Ashworth on board, Ratcliffe says he is frustrated by the delays, with ‘capable people’ he wants to hire ‘on gardening leave’.
He also pleaded for some patience from fans, although acknowledged this could be in short supply with modern football supporters.
Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: “It’s a long journey really the football because one of the biggest problems is that you get these new guys to come into the team, really capable people, but they are all on gardening leave.
“So it takes you six months, a year or 18 months – it’s a real issue in football.
“They can’t work for us, the fans are impatient and I have some sympathy with that.
“But it’s a journey and, whether they like it or not, they have to be a bit patient. It’s not a lightswitch, it takes a bit of time.”
Ineos bring in Wilcox and Berrada
There is some progress being made. Ratcliffe’s advisor Sir Dave Brailsford has been active at United for months, and was at Wembley, a few seats along. Ineos chief executive Jean Claude Blanc is also part of their decision making.
They have appointed chief executive Omar Berrada, who is officially on gardening leave until July.
This past Friday, the club announced the appointment of Jason Wilcox, arriving as technical director.
He will bridge the gap until Ashworth arrives, whenever that might be, and work alongside him.
Even if Ashworth starts this summer, Ratcliffe would have preferred to have his top team in the building already.
Some smart decisions will hopefully be made this summer, but given all the delays, we may only see the real Ineos vision in summer 2025, when Ratcliffe’s dream team have had time to bed in, make their changes, and perhaps rip everything up.