Manchester United Football Club suffered its biggest share price drop this week after rumours that the business was no longer for sale began circulating – with more than £600 million wiped off their market value.Yikes.
After a number of reports over the weekend suggested that the much-maligned Glazer family are now set to take the club off the market after months of takeover talk that now looks to have stalled, Man United‘s share price closed at $23.66 on Friday and dropped to as low as $18.83 on Tuesday.
With the final figure on 5 September closing at $19.35, this was the biggest dip the club has ever seen (18.22%) in a single day since it became a publicly traded company back in 2012, breaking the previous record of a 13.8% drop set just a few years back on March 12, 2020, during the pandemic.
Speaking to Sky Sports, football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained exactly how the share price plummeted, stating that a lot of the club’s market value prior to the drop was actually being “propped up to a degree by speculators who thought there would be a full sale”.
As Maguire goes on to detail, many of those invested in the club would have been hoping to sell off their shares Man United shares for “between $27-30” once a potential buyout was complete but since there has been little movement on the long drawn out takeover, many simply decided to offload them now.
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The Price of Football podcast host also argued that the Glazers’ supposed second thoughts over selling United might have come not only from their two lead bidders — Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe — failing to meet their valuation but from seeing others like Barcelona just “selling off slices” of their club.
He also added that there is a confident assumption that TV rights deals will increase next year as they so often do and that new technologies like AI and VR could allow for “new ways to deliver content to Man United’s global fan base”.
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While we’re on the subject of digital technologies, these reports come in light of the suggestion the club’s media team and hierarchy are already editing out ‘Glazers Out‘ chants and their numerous offensive lyrics.
Are Manchester United editing out the Glazer protest chants from their footage?
Various times when ‘we want Glazers out’ has mysteriously disappeared on United’s social media.
United issued a statement updating fans on the ongoing Antony situation on Wednesday 6 September, confirming that they are now looking into the matter alongside the investigation being carried out by Greater Manchester Police and Brazilian authorities, adding that they will be making “no further comments”.
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Despite insisting that they are considering the impact these claims will have on “survivors of abuse”, it is now being reported that the club have so far “resisted calls from domestic abuse charities” to suspend the 23-year-old.
NHS launches new AI and robot cancer detection pilot offering ‘glimpse into future’
Emily Sergeant
The NHS has launched a ‘trailblazing’ new AI and robot pilot to help spot cancers sooner.
Patients who are facing suspected lung cancer could get answers sooner under the new pilot that makes use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic technology to help doctors reach hard-to-detect cancers earlier, and all without with fewer tests too.
At the moment, patients are faced with weeks of repeat scans and procedures to come to a diagnosis.
But this could soon be replaced with a single, half-hour cancer biopsy – reducing prolonged uncertainty, and avoiding more invasive surgery.
According to the NHS, the new approach uses AI software to rapidly analyse lung scans and flag small lumps that are most likely to be cancerous, before a robotic camera is then used to guide biopsy tools through the airways with much greater precision than standard techniques.
A new NHS pilot using AI and robotic technology will help doctors reach hard-to-detect lung cancers earlier.
Weeks of scans and procedures could be replaced with a single biopsy, reducing uncertainty and avoiding more invasive surgery.
The robot can reach nodules as small as 6mm – which is around the size of a grain of rice – that are hidden deep in the lung and are often deemed too risky or difficult to access using existing methods, and once AI has highlighted higher-risk areas, doctors can then take a precise tissue sample, which is sent to specialist laboratories and reviewed by expert cancer teams to confirm or rule out cancer.
The NHS’s top cancer doctor hailed the pilot – which is currently being carried out at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – as ‘a glimpse of the future of cancer detection’.
“Waiting to find out if you might have cancer is incredibly stressful for patients and their families,” admitted Professor Peter Johnson, who is NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer.
The NHS has launched a new AI and robot cancer detection pilot that’s offering a ‘glimpse into future’ / Credit: rawpixel
“Our lung cancer screening programme means that we are picking up more cancers at an early stage than ever, and by bringing AI and robotics together in this trailblazing NHS pilot, we’re bringing in the very latest technology to give clinicians a clearer look inside the lungs and support faster, more accurate biopsies.
“This is a glimpse of the future of cancer detection.
“Innovation like this is exactly how we can help diagnose more cancers faster, so treatment can be most effective, and why the NHS continues to lead the way in bringing new technology safely into frontline care.”
If successful, the pilot will help the NHS to generate evidence to develop a national commissioning policy for robotic bronchoscopy.
It will also support more consistent access to the technology across the NHS in future.
Featured Image – Tima Miroshnichenko (via Pexels)
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Chester Zoo announces new spring date for its popular running event to help UK wildlife
Emily Sergeant
Chester Zoo has announced that its popular Run For Nature is back again this year, and this time, there’s a new spring edition.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo seen success with this event in the past few years, with thousands of runners signing up for one of the North West’s most unique athletic experiences and all funds raised going towards efforts to protect highly-endangered giraffes in Africa.
This year though, the much-loved event’s focus brings conservation ‘a little closer to home’ and will protect some of the UK’s most threatened species instead – with all funds helping to safeguard hedgehogs, kingfishers, otters, harvest mice, and more.
It comes as the UK is currently considered one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.
Participants will first get to wind through the zoo and enjoy glimpses of elephants, lemurs, and other incredible species along the way, before heading out into the picturesque Cheshire countryside.
Adults can choose from a 10K or 5K route, while younger runners are invited to take part in a one-mile ‘Zoom’ race, open to children aged four-15, which takes place entirely within the zoo’s incredible 130-acre grounds.
All runners will receive free entry to the zoo for the rest of the day as part of their registration, along with a 25% discount for friends and family who come along to show support.
Chester Zoo’s popular 10K charity run is returns with a new spring date / Credit: Chester Zoo
Lorraine Jubb, who is the Fundraising Lead at Chester Zoo, called the Run For Nature a ‘really special event’.
“In previous years, runners have already supported conservation efforts for Asian elephants, Eastern black rhinos and Northern giraffe,” she explained. This springtime though, we’re turning our attention much closer to home in the UK, and to the wildlife we share our gardens, parks and countryside with.
“With one in six species now at risk of extinction in the UK, every runner will be playing a vital role in helping us protect animals and supporting our growing nature recovery work across right across Cheshire.
Danny Jones -
6th September 2023 
