Sir Jim Ratcliffe taught important lesson as he gets called out by Nice club captain

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Manchester United bidder Sir Jim Ratcliffe is coming in for criticism at French club Nice.

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is waiting to see if his bid to take over at Manchester United will be approved.

In the meantime, Ratcliffe may have his hands full in France, amid unrest at Nice, the Ligue 1 side owner by his firm Ineos.

Ratcliffe’s ownership has been called out by current club captain Dante, via L’Équipe and GFFN.

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe criticised at Nice

A mediocre track record at the French is an underwhelming indicator where Manchester United fans are concerned.

An average season sees Nice occupying ninth position, very much safe from relegation but nowhere near challenging PSG as they hoped.

This is a goal which Ineos have spoken about trying to get to, and comments from Dante may provide a lesson he can learn from.

Dante is quoted by L’Équipe: “I think at some point you have to be clear in what you’re saying. To maintain a project, maybe you need to speak less about objectives and work in silence to create an environment of competitors. Because the expectation is even bigger, and then after, people are frustrated.”

Financial restrictions have prevented Nice from spending far more money than they generate, speeding up their potential rise up the table. But as Dante points out, expectations need to be set accordingly.

At Nice, GFFN reports attendances are dropping with fans frustrated by the poor performances.

Ratcliffe would stand a better chance of success at Manchester United due to the amount of money the club generates by itself.

There is a chance that Nice ends up being Ineos’ test run ahead of plowing into United full-on, and they would be foolish if they did not learn lessons and learn from their mistakes.

One of the key things here is not to set the bar too high. So if Ratcliffe comes in and starts pledging title success within three seasons and Champions League triumph within five, that might seem reasonable, but he would be creating a rod for own back, and increasing pressure on the players and manager in the process.