By Rose Onda
Manchester United fans gathered at the club’s Carrington training ground this morning to protest against the Glazer family who owns the club and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer emerged to speak to them.
In addition to Solskjaer, first-team coaches Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher, as well as midfielder Nemanja Matic, also came out to speak to the angry supporters.
The American billionaire owners were architects of the European Super League plans which collapsed after 48 hours this week following a barrage of criticism from supporters, pundits and even the government.
Photos emerged of fans protesting at both entrances, inside the training ground and by the first-team pitch, with banners reading ‘Glazers Out’, ‘We decide when you play’, and ‘51% MUFC’, in reference to the German ownership model where fans hold a majority stake of the club.
On Wednesday afternoon, United co-chairman Joel Glazer finally admitted they ‘got it wrong’ in being one of the main driving forces behind the now-collapsed European Super League and has ‘apologised unreservedly’ to the club’s fans over the whole saga.
In a letter penned to United supporters less than 24 hours after the club withdrew from the Super League following fierce backlash, Glazer also admitted that he and members of the board need to ‘be better at communicating’ with the fanbase.
In what was a rare public address from the 50-year-old, Glazer acknowledged that his role in the £4.6bn scheme ‘failed to show enough respect for [football’s] deep-rooted traditions’ and said he was now ‘personally committed to rebuilding trust with our fans’.
‘Although the wounds are raw and I understand that it will take time for the scars to heal, I am personally committed to rebuilding trust with our fans and learning from the message you delivered with such conviction.
‘We continue to believe that European football needs to become more sustainable throughout the pyramid for the long-term. However, we fully accept that the Super League was not the right way to go about it.’
The club has already felt its first casualty from the Super League mess, after it was announced that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward would be stepping down from his role at Old Trafford.
Woodward was a key figure in fiercely controversial plans for the new breakaway league, with his links to US investment bank JP Morgan helping to secure the £4.3billion in financing.
Confirming his decision on Tuesday night, Woodward said: ‘I am extremely proud to have served United and it has been an honour to work for the world’s greatest football club for the past 16 years.
‘Over the past few days, we have all witnessed the great passion which football generates, and the deep loyalty our fans have for this great club,’ the letter read.
‘You made very clear your opposition to the European Super League, and we have listened. We got it wrong, and we want to show that we can put things right.
‘Although the wounds are raw and I understand that it will take time for the scars to heal, I am personally committed to rebuilding trust with our fans and learning from the message you delivered with such conviction.
‘We continue to believe that European football needs to become more sustainable throughout the pyramid for the long-term. However, we fully accept that the Super League was not the right way to go about it.
‘The club is well positioned for the future and it will be difficult to walk away at the end of the year.
‘I will treasure the memories from my time at Old Trafford, during a period when we won the Europa League, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. I am proud of the regeneration of the club’s culture and our return to the Manchester United way of playing.
‘We have invested more than £1bn in the squad during my time here and I am particularly delighted with the progress the players have made under the astute leadership of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his coaching team in the last two years.’
Before his exit from the club, Glazer tried to persuade Woodward from resigning but was unsuccessful in his attempts, according to The Times.
The report details that Woodward is understood to have told those closest to him that trying to establish the Super League was one of the biggest mistakes of his career and he regrets it.
Club sources said that Woodward was planning to leave at the end of the year anyway — and is set to remain until then — but the announcement had been brought forward to avoid leaks.
