Why did Manchester United have such a huge reversal in 72 hours on Greenwood’s return to Manchester United? Adam, The author of The Athletic, restored this story Crafton and analyzed Manchester United’s handling of this matter.
In February 2022, Richard Arnold was the CEO of Manchester United for less than a month. He delivered a speech at the staff meeting. The executive played a video about Manchester United’s great goals and past brilliant achievements, and then urged the staff to stand on “the shoulders of the team giants and forge ahead”.
Richard Arnold said: “Walking with Manchester United is not a simple job, it is an incredible feeling.” However, for Richard Arnold in the past week, there may be no “incredible” feeling. This is a shameful and even unbearable time. Because of the team’s grasp of Greenwood incident, it seriously deviated from the expected track within 72 hours.
This article aims to restore this story and explain why Manchester United once decided to let Greenwood return to the team, but then changed his mind and announced on Monday that the player would leave the team.
As of last Wednesday, Manchester United’s plan still hopes Greenwood to return to the team. On Thursday and Friday morning, the team executives spent a long time proving to the team’s angry employees that their decision was correct, but the team’s decision still made some staff dissatisfied, even consider leaving Manchester United.
On Friday, TA reporter said Manchester United were preparing for Greenwood’s return and assessed the impact of the incident. At that time, Manchester United evaluated the reaction of football experts, journalists and politicians to this matter, and divided these people into three circles of “support”, “neutrality” and “hostility. But by late Friday afternoon, Manchester United season ticket holders, fan groups, members of Congress, and even some charities concerned about female abuse began to express strong opposition, and finally forced Manchester United executives to rethink Greenwood’s return.
On the same night, the core decision-making level of Manchester United held an emergency meeting. Soon, Greenwood’s “return to the team plan” was terminated. For Manchester United, the only remaining problem is whether to rent Greenwood or sell it or even directly terminate the contract with him-but Manchester United is also worried about directly terminating the player contract, there are certain legal risks. After all, the internal investigation results think that they may not have enough reasons to terminate Greenwood’s contract.
Finally, Manchester United confirmed on Monday that they would cooperate with Greenwood to find ways to let him continue his career elsewhere, and the player would not continue to play on behalf of Manchester United in the future.
It is true that leaving the team on loan will make Manchester United still retain commercial control over Greenwood. However, due to the pressure of public opinion, Greenwood’s future will no longer be linked to Manchester United-after all, before he was arrested, he is the best young forward in England in most people’s eyes. Therefore, manchester united’s senior officials had hoped that one day people would forget greenwood’s mistakes so that greenwood could sell a good price in the transfer market or let greenwood finally return to manchester united’s first team.
Manchester United finally said on Monday afternoon: “Everyone, including Greenwood, realized that it was quite difficult for him to start his career again at Manchester United. Therefore, both sides agree that it is the most appropriate choice for him to leave the Old Trafford stadium, and now we will cooperate with Greenwood to achieve this goal.”
Perhaps such a situation would remind people of the previous Glazer family’s secret plan to participate in the European superunion. Although the nature of the two is different, the final result is the same: under the strong public protest, manchester United bowed their heads.
On January 30, 2022, Greenwood was arrested, and this happened 48 hours before Richard Arnold succeeded Woodward and became the CEO of Manchester United. Since then, the player has never played for Manchester United, but because Greenwood’s contract with the team will last until 2025, Manchester United has been paying him wages during this period.
On last October, the player was charged with attempted rape, personal injury and other crimes. Although Greenwood denied all the charges and the British prosecution dropped them in February this year, the debate on whether Greenwood should return to Manchester United’s first team has never stopped. Manchester United said they had conducted a five-month investigation to learn more about Greenwood. They talked with Greenwood many times during the investigation, but did not directly contact the “victim” of the previous case. On the contrary, they talked with the mother of the “victim” with the knowledge of the “victim. According to Manchester United, both the mothers of “victims” and “victims” had the opportunity to influence Manchester United’s findings, but they did not do so.
At the same time, Manchester United also said that they were satisfied with their conversation with the mother of the “victim”, and the “victim” was not forcibly controlled by Greenwood. After analyzing the audio and video released online, they also don’t think Greenwood abused the “victim.
Richard Arnold said in a statement on Monday: “Although we cannot obtain some evidence, based on the evidence we have compiled, we have come to the conclusion that: greenwood did not commit those accused crimes.”
At the same time, Manchester United believes that they do not have enough reasons to terminate the contract with Greenwood-this view still exists today.
Greenwood also issued a statement on Manchester United’s official website, saying: “The first thing I want to say is that I know people will criticize me because of what they have seen and heard on social media, I know people will think of the worst. I have known since I was young that any violence or abuse is wrong. I didn’t do what I was accused. On February this year, my charges were also dropped. However, I totally accept that I made a mistake…… I will take my own responsibility.”
Greenwood’s return plan
On the morning of August 16, TA reporter informed Manchester United executives that they would report Greenwood’s return to the first team. At the same time, others said Richard Arnold had planned to record a video to explain Greenwood’s return to Manchester United’s first team to the staff and fans. Manchester United coach Teng Hach and John merst, the football director in charge of men’s team, women’s team and youth academy, all supported Greenwood’s return, but Manchester United sources also said, some Manchester United staff felt “ashamed” because of such a plan “.
In response, Manchester United published a statement on their official website and copied it to TA reporter. This 224-word statement does not deny that Richard Arnold has conveyed the Greenwood return plan or any details TA intends to report. Manchester United insisted that “no decision has been made”, but it also seemed to imply something by referring to the team that “Greenwood is still a member of Manchester United, playing for the team since the age of 7, and is a novice father. Manchester United also said that they “understand the strong opinions triggered by some evidence based on the public domain”.
Manchester United’s unusual reaction also seemed to indicate the panic in the hearts of the team’s decision makers-when they made this statement, England defeated Australia in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup.
Manchester United has planned for Greenwood’s return for quite a long time (the plan has been revised more than a dozen times), and judging from Manchester United’s statement, they are trying to “regain” control over the Greenwood incident. However, Manchester United soon suffered from internal and external difficulties and fell into the crisis of public relations.
Strong a chorus of disapproval
Some employees were shocked by Manchester United’s return plan around Greenwood, for which Manchester United’s senior management had many intense meetings with employees. Some people even considered that if Greenwood returned to Manchester United’s first team, he would resign. Others said that if things took shape, they would consider strikes.
The emergency meeting involved Manchester United executives, who tried to prove the rationality of Greenwood’s return and insisted that the team did not make a final decision. At that stage, Manchester United just told TA reporters and staff that the evidence available to the public was incomplete and did not explain why the team wanted Greenwood to return. However, when disgruntled staff began to vent their emotions frequently in front of the media, fan groups began to keep speaking out, and even fans sent impassioned emails to Richard Arnold, it seems that Greenwood’s return to Manchester United began to turn around.
In the e-mail that Manchester United officially replied to the fans, they wrote that Manchester United “paid great attention to the views of the fans”, but they also said that the team “also believed that our decision under such circumstances, it should be mainly based on our findings”.
The next day, British TV host Riley said publicly that if Greenwood returned to Manchester United, he would defuse Manchester United-this remark instantly became the front page of British media. It is no longer the surrounding News of the team, but also a topic of serious discussion in the TV media. It is true that Manchester United has done enough homework and planned how to meet the negative news like the tide in order to make Greenwood return public. However, when the details are beyond their control, it seems that they will do it again, just like “playing with fire and burning yourself”.
Postpone the announcement of the return plan
Manchester United’s control of the situation has been at a disadvantage since the moment the team postponed announcing Greenwood’s return. Richard Arnold once said at a meeting that Manchester United would announce Greenwood’s return on August 4. Then on July 30, Manchester United said that Greenwood would have a general verdict before the first round of the new season against Wolves.
At that time, Manchester United formulated detailed coping strategies and even communicated with various stakeholders, including sponsors, the team’s fan Advisory Committee, and the Manchester United women’s football team. However, the problem was that many key players in the United Women’s football team were participating in the World Cup at that time, and people thought it was very inappropriate to disturb their matches. In recent months, when Manchester United executives talked about the relationship between Manchester United women’s football team and Greenwood’s return, their wording also reflected some problems. They used the word “negotiation”, but when the Guardian reported that Manchester United postponed the decision of “consulting Manchester United players participating in the women’s football World Cup”, the words seemed to be more cautious.
Manchester United insisted that their plan was by no means to entrust decision-making power to female players. On the contrary, they really wanted to inform the team in advance and have the opportunity to get feedback. If these feedback turns out to be overwhelming negative feedback, Manchester United may be forced to reconsider their decision. But its intention is essentially centered on transmitting Richard Arnold’s decision, hoping that all “consulted” can follow the objective fact investigation results.
It is true that the women’s team players strongly oppose Greenwood’s return, but this emotion is not overwhelming. This is also why women’s football girls are already in a weak position in the team. Some players are worried about their long-term prospects in the team and are not willing to talk too much.
Although sponsors worry that Manchester United’s operation will cause some unnecessary negative problems, it has not become a decisive factor. A Manchester United sponsor’s own source believes that no matter what their personal views are, it is inappropriate for outsiders to stir up other people’s “family affairs. They are also worried that this may set a precedent and finally get a reputation for interfering in team affairs.
However, this incident still caused an uproar among the fans. After reporting in the guardian, manchester united women’s football teammates found themselves petitioning under the official social media account of manchester united women’s football team on the eve of the quarter-finals of the women’s football world cup against colombia in england, I hope that the women’s football girls will allow Greenwood to return to the first team, and there are even some seemingly threatening remarks-a women’s football girl’s agent even considers seeking cyber security support for her clients.
Also on August 11, an account called “female fans against Greenwood’s return” appeared on Twitter. The team with this account told TA reporters that they were preparing a series of protests, to make it clear that they do not want Greenwood to return to the team.
Before Manchester United’s first round match against Wolves, some fans even protested outside the stadium. They said on the banner, “female fans do not want Greenwood to return”.
Those “hostile” to Greenwood’s return plan
However, Manchester United’s plan to return Greenwood did not change at that time. They still hope to make a decision before the international competition day in September. After all, the women’s football World Cup was over at that time, and the women’s football girls of Manchester United would also return to the club.
On August 17, the charity “Women’s Aid Organization” wrote directly to Manchester United, expressing their concerns. At noon on Friday, they received a call from Manchester United, and both sides believed that the conversation on abuse and player education was very constructive. A few hours later, TA reporter followed up and reported some details, confirming the team’s promotion to Greenwood’s return plan. These include the seriousness of the team’s internal differences and the “hostility” of some charities to Manchester United’s decision “. At the same time, it also questioned why Manchester United’s internal procedures did not contact any charity organizations dealing with violence against women.
At the same time, after several hours of communication with Manchester United, the “Women’s Aid Organization” publicly condemned Manchester United on social media. They wrote: the description of the word “hostile” is an inappropriate way of charity in stakeholder mapping, especially in the current situation.
By Friday night, Manchester United’s top decision makers also began to realize that this matter was completely out of their control. British MPs have also begun to publicly criticize Manchester United. On stryï Tefal, Andrew West, a Labor Party member of Germany and Umston, said: “I am very disappointed with the way Manchester United handled this matter. They should focus on making the right decisions, supporting victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse, and acting in good faith. The team must realize that this is not a crisis public relations, but about how to do the right thing.”
Finally, on that night, the core decision-making level of Manchester United held an emergency meeting, and the team no longer continued to implement Greenwood’s plan to return to the first team.
Perhaps there has never been a suitable time for Greenwood to return to Manchester United.
Although Manchester United had repeatedly thought what they had done was right, if they really believed that they had made the right decision, then why didn’t anyone stand up and fight against the opponents, emphasize the correctness of your opinion? The video planned by Richard Arnold was not released either.
This was no different from their plan to participate in the European Super League at that time. At that time, Manchester United also found that they had no way to explain their position. On the contrary, they found themselves surrounded by the comments of critics and could not make any noise at all. In essence, Manchester United has been far away from the decision they seem to want to make.
In hindsight, Manchester United executives may reflect that Greenwood is not suitable to return to Manchester United at all, or they may imagine that if external lawyers were hired to investigate at that time, instead of entrusting tasks to employees who may have vested interests in some results, whether it will contribute to the view of internal processes. At the same time, Manchester United delayed the announcement time again and again, which also created a passive environment, making their plans likely to leak out.
At different times, Manchester United had reasons for not being able to advance Greenwood’s return plan. Announcing this decision before us training is regarded as a major risk, because going to America is originally a business trip. The women’s football World Cup is another reason for Manchester United’s plan to “abort.
On Monday, Richard Arnold said: “I hope to minimize the impact of the investigation on the men’s team, the women’s team and the England women’s national team, which also adjusted the time schedule of the investigation. I admit that this gives us more time to speculate, but if we don’t do this, it will damage the due process or cause inappropriate chaos.”
Some people inside Manchester United believe that this is the consistent style of Manchester United under the Glazer family: hesitation and procrastination. Others think that this just reflects how intense Manchester United’s decision-making level is when discussing this issue.
But perhaps, most importantly, these delays themselves show that there has never been an appropriate time for a person whose public image has been so greatly damaged to return to Manchester United.
(Armour)
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