Rumours have started that Julian Ward is on his way to the toilet…
" Few join Manchester United after representing Liverpool and retain the affection of the Anfield faithful - just ask Michael Owen.
But that hasn’t deterred Sir Jim Ratcliffe from targeting a man influential to the success of the Merseyside club in the past decade. Julian Ward became a key figure at Liverpool after joining in 2012, initially as a scout, before later becoming technical director.
He then took the role of sporting director in the summer of 2022 following the departure of Michael Edwards, but left the club after just one season in the top job at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, citing a desire to take a break from football. But now he’s firmly in the running for the chief executive role at United, with Richard Arnold on the way out after 16 years at Old Trafford.
Before replacing Edwards, the 42-year-old played a significant role in one key signing, before overseeing four more in the 2022-23 campaign and then one last summer."
I can only blame myself for last night’s effort. First time I bothered to watch them in years outside of playing LFC and they woke up, and a tally put in half a performance.
Having punished myself with walking the dog in the pissing wind and rain I vow not to watch them again.
Man Utd’s second half comeback cost me £260 last night.
But worth every last penny if it means them hanging on to the dopey Dutchman for a while longer
Ward to Utd - what an odd story. We don’t know how good a sporting director he could be as he was barely in that role for us long enough to tell. Yet the role this piece claims he is being touted for is the non-footballing role that would be the boss of the sporting director.
This is all just a big shrug for me. What Liverpool did well was partly personnel, but mostly it was a coherent structure that gave people clear briefs. The typical Utd way to do it would be to just hire a collection of well paid people and then expect them to figure it out, which is exactly what these stories are hinting at.
