There are certain figures who hover into view at key moments of history, defining eras despite having little control over events.

You might remember Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who was dubbed by the UK media as ‘Comical Ali’ and became famous towards the end of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in his role as the country’s minister for information.

Al-Sahhaf offered bulletins throughout the conflict and as the Ba’ath Party’s position became worse, his messages became more optimistic. With rockets flying into Baghdad, according to Al-Sahhaf, the situation was well under control.

Saddam Hussein was nowhere to be seen. Everybody knew that everything happening was because of him and Al-Sahhaf’s front and centre presence instead gave an insight into just how useless the whole regime had become.

In fairness to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, at least he did not use one of his several media appearances this week to convince anyone that his football empire was not in danger of crumbling. Quite the opposite — the criticisms were meted out in liberal quantities, to a wide range of targets: a selection of unnamed senior players (“overpaid” and “not good enough”), former executives Richard Arnold and Ed Woodward (“Richard was a rugby man, he didn’t even understand football. Ed didn’t have the credentials to manage the club. He was a merchant banker, an accountant”), and even Ligue 1, with Ratcliffe saying he cannot bring himself to watch his other club, Nice, because “the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited”.

In fact, the only people Ratcliffe did not train his sights on were those most United fans deem culpable for the club’s decline — the Glazers, the U.S. family who, despite appearances, are the actual owners of the club courtesy of their 67.9 per cent controlling stake (the stake belonging to INEOS and its founder, Ratcliffe, is worth 28.94 per cent).

It was the Glazers who hired Arnold and Woodward, and the football executives who signed those apparently useless players. It was also on the Glazers’ watch that United’s financial position had, according to Ratcliffe on Monday, deteriorated to such an extent that the club was at risk of “going bust by Christmas”. Yet the main cause of that malaise — the crippling interest payments due on the £700million ($905.5m at current rates) worth of debt the Glazers’ leveraged buyout forced on United — also went curiously unmentioned.

Then again, maybe it isn’t quite so curious. Ratcliffe is not allowed to publicly attack the Glazers due to the non-criticism clauses he agreed to when his minority investment was sanctioned in December 2023. 

In legal terms, as revealed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made at the time, this meant neither Ratcliffe or the Glazers “shall in any manner, directly or indirectly, make, or cause to be made any public statement or announcement that relates to or constitutes an ad hominem attack on, criticises, or otherwise disparage” the other party.

Ratcliffe knows that, as the owner with the lower share, he has to find a way to work with his partners, hence why he is so disinclined to talk about them in public. They were barely mentioned in the round of interviews Ratcliffe did on Monday with some British newspapers, the BBC and Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast (The Athletic were not offered the chance to speak to him); the Sunday Times had more joy in prising some thoughts out of Ratcliffe in an article which appeared online on Saturday but, for the most part, he toed the corporate line. 

He suggested there wasn’t a “bad bone” in Joel Glazer’s body and that the family were “old East Coast” Americans — “they’re very polite, they’re very civilised, they’re the nicest people on the planet”. The subtext was that the family are too nice to do what Ratcliffe thinks needs to be done — namely, take a chainsaw to a bloated workforce.

Yet there were hints that the relationship between Ratcliffe and the Glazers is hardly close, given his remark to the Sunday Times that “we bought in and haven’t seen them since” and that they have largely retreated “into the shadows”. 

The Glazers’ reputation is so bad that no amount of PR will change how they are viewed by most United fans, and maybe Ratcliffe was trying to subtly create a bit of distance from himself and his ownership partners. But the net effect of his publicity drive this week is that it is Ratcliffe who is in the line of fire. 

An artist’s impression of United’s new stadium plan (Manchester United/Foster + Partners)

If you knew absolutely nothing about United, and nothing about football, you would look at all the coverage and assume that Ratcliffe is operating as a somewhat frazzled lone wolf given the way he lurched from warnings about bankruptcy to laying out plans for one of the most ambitious stadium projects the game has ever seen inside 24 hours. 

The Glazers — whose opinion on all this stuff matters most given their controlling stake — have not uttered a word. We don’t know what they think about moving into a new 100,000-seater stadium that, if Ratcliffe has his way, will take just five years to build and cost around £2bn. It is the most significant decision the club has made since the Glazers’ takeover nearly 20 years ago, but their names have not appeared at the bottom of any of the bubbly press releases, and they certainly have not put themselves forward for interviews.

Not that this is new. The 20th anniversary of their takeover falls in June and, across the last two decades, the Glazers have probably said less about the club and revealed less about themselves than Ratcliffe has in the last seven days alone. 

It must be stressed, especially from a journalist’s perspective, that being available is much better than being absent. Yet for the time being, Ratcliffe is doing little more than acting as a useful fireguard for the Glazers

United supporters know who has most of the power and this explains why the focus of their protests has remained consistent. Yet the more a filterless Ratcliffe runs around, attempting to explain the world away, the more he risks receiving an equal share of the blame when things go wrong.

(Top photo: Avram Glazer with Sir Jim Ratcliffe; Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

The final round of The Players Championship was delayed due to weather and lightning on Sunday afternoon, as Rory McIlroy held the sole lead by a narrow margin more than halfway through his round. 

The delay followed Saturday’s announcement that tee times would be moved up to avoid extending the final round into Monday. 

“We’ve been reviewing this weather for three or four days and, unfortunately, it’s held its pattern, and it looks like this line of storms are going to be quite intense,” , Stephen Cox, vice president of rules and tournament administration, said, via the PGA Tour’s website.

“Obviously, our preferred desire is to have one tee in two(somes) and this is the awkward balance that we face,” he continued. “If we do roll the dice, as they say, and try and play off one tee in two(somes) we could easily find ourselves in a Monday finish.”

Fans leave the course during a weather delay in the final round of The Players Championship, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Florida. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Players on Sunday played in groups of three to try and avoid delaying the final round further, but lightning and rain in the area began rolling in at TPC Sawgrass around 1 p.m. local time. 

RORY MCILROY TOOK COLLEGE GOLFER’S PHONE AFTER HECKLING MOMENT AT THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

The weather forecast for Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, included strong winds and the high chance of Thunderstorms beginning around 3 p.m. The weather was expected to last through the afternoon and early evening. 

According to the PGA Tour, the last Monday finish at The Players was three years ago. 

The latest update just before 3 p.m. ET said play was expected to resume Sunday afternoon. 

“PGA TOUR officials are closely monitoring the weather and play is expected to resume later this afternoon,” the update read. 

Rory McIlroy holds an umbrella on the 11th green during the final round of The Players Championship, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

McIlroy was atop the leaderboard when the delay was announced. 

He was -4 under in the final round through the first 11 holes and is just one stroke ahead of J.J. Spaun who is +1 through the first 10. 

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The Rams’ running back corps will have a familiar look going into offseason workouts next month.

Starter Kyren Williams is entering the final year of his rookie contract, backup Blake Corum will try to build off his rookie performance, and the Rams announced Sunday that they agreed to a one-year deal with reserve Ronnie Rivers, a restricted free agent who has also been a key special teams player.

Cody Schrader, who played in one game last season, also is on the roster.

Rivers, 26, joined the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2022. Last season, he rushed for 99 yards in 22 carries.

Keeping Rivers in the fold gives coach Sean McVay another experienced player for a team that finished with a 10-7 record last season and advanced the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

In the last few weeks, the Rams agreed to adjust the contract of quarterback Matthew Stafford, re-signed left tackle Alaric Jackson and receiver Tutu Atwell and signed receiver Davante Adams and offensive lineman Coleman Shelton.

Last season, the Rams averaged 103.8 yards rushing per game, which ranked 24th in the NFL.

Williams, who will turn 25 in August, rushed for a career-best 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns. It was the second consecutive 1,000-yard season for the 2022 fifth-round draft pick.

McVay and general manager Les Snead have said a contract extension for Williams would be among offseason topics of discussion.

“I’m really proud of the body of work that Kyren has put together, what he represents, and all the different things that we really want to be about as a football team,” McVay said. “He’s checking a lot of those boxes.”

Williams said in February that he did not want to play for any team other than the Rams.

“I hope that we can get that done,” he said.

Corum, a third-round pick last year out of Michigan, rushed for 207 yards in 57 carries. He suffered a broken forearm in the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks.

Schrader, an undrafted free agent claimed off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers, had one carry for three yards and caught one pass for six yards in the finale against the Seahawks.