Ratcliffe embarrasses United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is entitled to his views even if they are considered offensive to many. What he is not entitled to do is embarrass Manchester United and its hard-working staff. What Ratcliffe is not entitled to do is make Michael Carrick’s job more difficult by upsetting some of his players, guaranteeing the head coach has to answer awkward (but legitimate) questions about his boss, and ensuring opposition fans whip up even more of a hostile atmosphere against United. For an intelligent man, Ratcliffe can be naive at times. He needs either to clarify his comments, if possible, or simply apologise.
He should have thought through how his comments about the UK as a country “colonised by immigrants” would play out. Maybe Ratcliffe doesn’t care. Maybe he simply enjoys the stir his words make. After decades of being a hugely successful businessman but largely unknown to the public, Ratcliffe has the media on speed-dial. He can talk to Sky News, as in this incident, and his words travel the world.
And alienate parts of the world, not least at the club. Let’s start in the dressing-room. How do all these players from 14 different countries, making up three quarters of Carrick’s squad, feel about working for somebody in Ratcliffe who disputes their presence in the UK (while leaving aside his hypocrisy as a Monaco tax resident)? How will Stockport-born England international Kobbie Mainoo, whose father came over from Ghana, feel about Ratcliffe’s “colonised by immigrants” rhetoric? His comments also reverberate negatively in other areas, damaging the club.