Alan Shearer clear on who is to blame for current malaise at Manchester United – Man United News And Transfer News

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BBC sports pundit, Alan Shearer, has claimed that the vast majority of Manchester United’s problems stem from the ownership of the Glazer family.

Writing in The Athletic, the Newcastle legend claims that a football club is just like any other business and “what happens at the top of the organisation filters down to the shop floor”.

The all-time leading Premier League goal scorer stated that “uncertainty has taken root, on and off the pitch” and “ultimately, players want to run onto the pitch with their minds clear and from the outside looking in, fogginess has been ingrained for a very long time” at the Old Trafford side.

Shearer states that players “loathe” uncertainty, and while it remains to be seen what control INEOS will have at the club whilst the Glazers are still there, it is a step in the right direction. He claimed that players “sitting in the dressing room before a match, you want to know exactly what your role is and feel confident in your ability to fulfil it. You want to look around and know the players sitting near you all feel the same”.

“The common denominator” to foster such a culture is clearly the owner, according to the former England international.

“When that vibe is persistently gloomy or divisive, it seeps into your bones”.

Shearer claims that if owners give players the best of everything, it is much more difficult for them to “shy away from responsibility”. This is something numerous United teams have been guilty of over the years as they have thrown successive managers under the bus.

The Newcastle legend tells a story about his former coach, the late-great Sir Bobby Robson who once told his side, “If I give you my wrist, you’ll take my arm, if I give you my arm, you’ll take my shoulder”. For too long this culture has thrived at Old Trafford.

Shearer draws a comparison to his own spells at Newcastle United and Blackburn. He claims to have had a “brilliant owner” in Jack Walker at Blackburn and it was “similar” at St James’ Park under Sir John Hall, Douglas Hall and Freddy Shepherd. However, the player also had some experience of the toxicity he claims exists at United under the Floridian family.

Describing when he returned to Newcastle as caretaker manager in 2009 he stated, “it was toxic, a total shambles and relegation was staring us in the face. Negativity was tangible; you could smell it and feel it, players had been bombarded with different ideas and their heads were swimming and discipline had frayed. The tone was dictated by Ashley’s appointments and decisions”.

Shearer finally backs up his point on the ownership by taking swipe at the transfer policy that saw the club spend so much on a player like Antony and the mishandling of the Mason Greenwood situation demonstrate a “lack of clarity and leadership (that) eats away at the fabric of a place”.

United fans will be hoping that the news of INEOS’ investment and the fact the chemicals company is already involved in transfer and managerial decisions points to the fact that, at last, there is a genuine change in direction.