Glazers and Ratcliffe are seriously at odds

It's hardly as though things only started going wrong yesterday. They have not. Manchester United have been unable to get their results back on track for years, and the problems extend beyond the pitch. Many children do not even remember the days when Sir Alex Ferguson was the be-all and end-all, when the dressing room would echo with noise, when he would bang his fist on the table, when trophies in England were taken for granted and the club regularly reached the latter stages of the Champions League. And not just reached them — they lifted the big-eared trophy, too. Manchester United have not been the same for well over a decade, struggling and drowning in problems. Old Trafford is falling apart, results are average at best and below average at worst, and things have not improved under Sir Jim Ratcliffe either.Glazers thinking of selling stakes at ManchesterHope was rekindled among the fans when he joined the club, with some believing that things would get at least a little better. Nothing much has changed, and a split now appears to be looming…The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are seriously at odds. The Glazer family are unhappy with the way Manchester United has been run since British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquired a stake in the club. To be clear, the club was not run properly before his arrival either — not under that very same family. Fans have been protesting against them for quite some time…No hard feelings: Carrick and Bruno bury the hatchetThe Glazers are beginning to lose patience, and it is clear why: Manchester United is losing value. Not so long ago, four years ago, when they were considering selling the club, they valued Manchester United at 4.5 billion pounds. Their chances of getting that much are diminishing, but they have not abandoned the idea of selling. Sir Jim Ratcliffe joined the club around two years ago and holds a minority stake. He bought 25 per cent of the shares in a deal worth 1.2 billion pounds, with his company INEOS taking responsibility for running the football operations. He also committed to an additional 245 million pounds in investment, bringing his total investment to around 1.5 billion pounds. His ownership stake now stands at 28 per cent.FALSE 10: ‘Jim can‘t fix this‘The American businessmen expected the British billionaire and his associates to make smart business decisions, that the sporting side would flourish and that Manchester United could begin to restore its former glory, allowing them to sell the club for a better price one day. Since that has not happened, they have become deeply disappointed, and well-informed sources in England have revealed some of the Glazer family's thinking… It is being said that what Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his associates are doing is an absolute farce and that they are failing to deliver on their promises. There are also claims that the Glazer family has never run the club in this way before (they hardly managed it well themselves, and they could look around and listen to what the fans have been telling them all these years), as well as suggestions that things could hardly have been made worse and that the current situation is the complete opposite of what Ratcliffe claimed his strategy would achieve."Jim Ratcliffe, you are not a savior!"The Glazers are monitoring developments at Old Trafford from a distance, and there is nothing positive to report at the moment. Manchester United are on a run of eight matches without a win in all competitions, have recorded just one Premier League victory since the start of the season, and are enduring their worst start in 40 years?! To make matters worse, matches against Chelsea, Roma, Aston Villa and Liverpool are coming up… Manchester United could potentially slip into the relegation zone if they lose to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend.BETTING GUIDE: Chelsea vs Manchester United, match preview, team news and predictionNothing that is happening is helping a potential sale of the club, which is why the Glazers are furious. They have the power to force Sir Jim Ratcliffe to sell his stake if they reach an agreement with a third party to buy the club. The minority shareholder cannot block such a deal unless he matches the offer and buys Manchester United himself, a scenario that seems unlikely. And one more important point: the Glazers cannot directly buy back Ratcliffe's stake — the 28 per cent that he owns. All in all, the circus at Old Trafford is well underway. The problems are not confined to the dressing room; there is no shortage of them in the offices either. To be fair, almost everything, as always, starts in those offices before trickling down.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 9Saturday15.30: (1.83) Chelsea (3.90) Manchester United (3.90)18.00: (2.15) Bournemouth (3.60) Leeds (3.20)18.00: (2.10) Brentford (3.80) Nottingham Forest (3.20)18.00: (2.90) Coventry (3.45) Sunderland (2.40)18.00: (2.60) Hull (3.50) Ipswich (2.65)18.00: (1.65) Manchester City (4.40) Brighton (4.40)20.30: (1.55) Tottenham (4.30) Crystal Palace (5.40)23.00: (1.92) Aston Villa (3.80) Fulham (3.60)Sunday19.30: (2.80) Liverpool (3.50) Arsenal (2.45)Monday23.00: (2.35) Newcastle (3.60) Everton (2.85)***odds are subject to change***