Metaphors rain at Manchester United amid post-underinvestment damp – The Irish Times

Image of the week: Watching waterfalls

The best time to repair your roof is when the sun is shining. The second best time is after it has run off as a result of heavy rain, which causes a waterfall of water to spill into your stadium at the end of a high profile fixture while the TV cameras are still there to capture this metaphor of being at your club.

Yes, it’s the final week of the Premier League season, but it’s also rappel time at Old Trafford, where Manchester United have been busy sending men in high-visibility jackets up the stadium to take a look at the problems that led to an overflow at from the south-west corner shortly after the team’s defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

The sight sparked a cascade of far-too-easy jokes about the leaky defense – in fact, the images of the rain were so on the nose that former United player-turned-pundit Rio Ferdinand thought they were “AI doing magic”.

The watery event completed an unflattering hat-trick for the club: in 2019, fans were treated to an unexpected shower before a defeat to Manchester City, while the same happened in a home defeat to Crystal Palace last September.

But cheap solutions can be even harder to come by than victories on the ground. An expensive plan to repair the roof and replace part of it has now become linked to a longer-term ambition to either completely redevelop the aging, neglected stadium or – as is said to be the preference of United’s new billionaire shareholder Jim Ratcliffe. – build a brand new one. Maybe put out a few buckets in the meantime?

In numbers: Burberry in the trenches

12%

Like-for-like sales fell at fashion group Burberry in the three months to the end of March compared with the same period a year earlier. The British luxury fashion house warned of “challenging” conditions amid slowing demand.

19%

Sales fell so much in China in the January-March quarter, the last year of Burberry’s financial year, that chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd said it indicated “very quiet” traffic in Chinese malls.

55%

Burberry’s share price has fallen in London over the past 12 months, with sales of outerwear and plaid accessories hit by cutbacks in spending by aspirational customers. A “refocus” of its brand image is underway.

Knowledge: Duncan Wanblad

Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of mining company Anglo American, enjoys fly fishing, scuba diving and both building and flying model helicopters, according to his website profile. The London-based South African, who started his career as a mining engineer, is also a long-distance cyclist, a classic car enthusiast and a supporter of Watford Football Club.

He may be too busy for much of that at the moment, however, as Anglo American is in the midst of an improved bid for the company from rival BHP, which has been circling it for some time.

This week, Wanblad went on the attack, launching a “clear, convincing and decisive plan” involving a proposal to break up or sell its diamond business, De Beers, and refocus its efforts on copper and iron ore . This prompted City AM to switch to the headline ‘diamonds aren’t forever’. But will it be enough to stop BHP sniffing around?

List: Jimmy Kimmel Plus

They do things differently in America, part 687. At Disney’s ‘upfronts’ event for advertisers, Jimmy Kimmel, talk show host on Disney-owned US network ABC, was invited to take the stage and almost fry the entire TV. industry. Few prisoners were taken, as this snapshot of his versions suggests.

1. Family Business: “This new season shows you the Kardashians like you’ve never seen them before — assuming you’ve never seen them before. Otherwise, it’s the exact same shit as it’s been for the last 17 years.”

2. Showy Competitors: “Do you ever have a friend who buys a boat and paid a lot of money for the boat and he always posts pictures of the boat and in every conversation you have with him, he somehow finds a way. to handle the boat? That’s NBC with the Olympics.”

3. Being nice to advertisers: “Remember when Elon Musk was interviewed and told advertisers to screw themselves? We would never do that. But we want to remind you that he did.”

4. Industry brainstorming: “Things are changing at CBS, and not for the better. Young Sheldon is coming to an end after seven seasons. I know, I haven’t seen it either. But what I do know is that there is a 100% chance that somewhere at CBS headquarters right now there is a chalkboard with the words Old Sheldon on it? written on it.”

5. Streaming bundle alliance: “We’re joining forces with Warner Bros Discovery. I have to say, I haven’t seen this much corporate camaraderie in this business since last summer when they all worked together to starve the writers.”