27 Aug 2019 21:30:50
Red Man,

Why didn't you call for Mourinho to be sacked after his second season even though he has a ruinous 3rd season at every club he has been and has left teams in a complete mess? It was on his CV afterall and everyone could see it except you.

Why not call for Jose's sack after a disastrous league campaign in which we finished 6th after spending a sizable chunk of money?

LVG claims credit for the systems set in by Cruyff at Ajax and Barcelona and he actually caused a lot of damage at Barcelona and Bayern. Both clubs were glad to get rid of him. It was all on his CV. You blamed the board then but suddenly now its Ole and not the board?

You weren't right about Moyes when you called for him to be sacked before a single signing or before even a ball was kicked. Absolutely ridiculous. No manager would've succeeded with that squad with only Fellaini on deadline day as a signing. Not Pep, not Klopp, nobody. He was hung out to dry with the lack of signings.

What has Ole done for him to be sacked? Has he made expensive signings which have failed or caused squad disruption? No, that was Jose with Mkhitaryan, Sanchez, Lukaku, Fred, Pogba, an injury prone Bailly and insisting on giving Zlatan a new contract.

Has Ole brought in players who simply don't fit in the league like Blind, Di Maria, Memphis, Rojo, Darmian and wasted funds? Or has he signed passengers who are passed it for big wages who everyone knew had their legs gone like Bastian, Falcao? Or has Ole signed an average Schneiderlin for big money? No. That was all LVG.

Ole made 3 signings who are quality, fit into the team and style of football and clearly improve us in key areas and have hit the ground running. We all know he wanted midfield reinforcements and didn't get them. The problems with the team were inherited by him from the CV merchants Jose and LVG. He has shunned Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Matic. Let Lukaku who was clearly not working leave. Reinvigorated Martial by playing him in his best position. Is letting the disruptive influence of Sanchez leave. We would be doing a lot better if he had the rest of the pieces he wanted (and that would apply to Jose too. I like Jose, he wasn't backed last summer but he also made major mistakes in the market) . I see a manager who is making most of the necessary decisions. Who did he have on the bench that would've changed that game against Wolves? Maybe Greenwood but that's it. The 11 on the pitch were our best hope.

I didn't blame the previous managers when they failed to get results neither will I blame Ole. They did a decent job with the players at their disposal and so has OGS. I don't buy the argument that this squad is underachieving. Its about par for the quality it has. In fact Ole's signings are amongst our best players at the moment.

I blame the board for not having a coherent long term plan with a director of football and a good recruitment. Not the managers who have been hung out to dry by the incompetence of the people in the structure above them and amateur negotiators who can't get the deals done for the players they identify.

You are right that things aren't going well and we should be in a better position. But its not the manager (or previous managers) but the people above them in the hierarchy that are to blame. I criticized those who called for Jose's sack too by pointing that out.

We will continue to fail even if OGS is sacked and replaced with Allegri or Blanc or any other manager with a "CV" is installed, not because of the manager but because of the same people above them who are in charge of recruitment and long term overall football strategy. The cycle will continue. We need to call for restructuring and change in personnel at that level, not for managers to be sacked. Its completely pointless and won't get us anywhere.


1.) 27 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 21:57:50
Poch was the best manager available and if the plan was to throw everything at him to get him once jose got sacked, the club should have stuck with that plan and done that.

Ole is making very good decisions when it comes to excluding poorly performing players at the club but does he really have the tactical accumen to succeed at the top level? I don't think he does.

Just because a couple of managers with top CV’s and records of success don't work out doesn't mean you suddenly abandon going for top quality managers. The same way one bad side effect from an antibiotic doesn't mean you only use herbal remedies to solve your ailments for the rest of your life.

The only thing gary neville has said that was rational and coherent in the last 6 months is that united should aim for the “ best in class” at every level of the club. They are not doing that at the moment, plain and simple.


2.) 27 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 22:16:59
I know this isn't aimed at me but I seem to mirror the views of Red Man. As a United fan in his mid 30s I dreaded the day Sir Alex would retire but the optimistic part of me found the pros in Moyes, LvG and Jose. Over the last 6 years, everything from the decisions the club has made, poor performances from managers, players that I no longer feel a connection with, I have had the optimism knocked out of me and in the world of football we are miles behind the top clubs in every way.

I wrote in at the end of last season for Ole to rip the team up and start from scratch. Obviously this isn't happening in one window and the age of the squad has dropped. Ole has done some things that have impressed me but I honestly don't think he is a good enough coach to improve this squad of players into challengers. Maybe we have to realise that we won't actually be challenging for major honours anytime soon. We have owners that don't care if we finish 4th or 1st. Ole certainly hasn't been backed as well as the other managers in terms of recruitment. It is going to be whether those players that show glimpses of talent can actually perform for long periods.

I see posts like "just support the team" or "you're making snap judgements after one game". I still leap out of my chair when we score a goal, my heart sinks into my chest when we concede. Just because I don't see Ole as Sir Alex 2.0 doesn't mean I want him to fail.

A team that wins 9 games straight and then goes and wins 3 out of 15 games scares me. Is our manager good enough to correct our form when the wheels fall off? Was OGS first 10 games the perfect storm and this is now the real OGS. Or is it finally clicking after a good preseason and we will see the fruits of his Labour.

I'll reiterate, I want Ole to succeed, but if you give me a quid to bet, I don't think he's here at the end of the season. I don't think he's tactically astute. I don't think he is proactive enough and I think Woodward let him down and the majority of the players are just not good enough and consistent enough to meet the goal of top 4 this year. I think we fall short.


3.) 27 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 22:28:27
Wow Redfaith . Looks like Redmans been analyized. Looking foward to the reply already 😂😂.


4.) 27 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 22:33:19
REDFAITH

If we had gone through a recruitment process or heaven help us a restructure and then a recruitment process, do you really think Solskjaer would be in the managers chair? Not a chance.

I have said for years we needed a restructure but we also need a manager who looks forward not back at the old days and tries to recreate them.

We keep making mistakes, Moyes absolutely, LvG because we didn’t have a plan, Jose because we didn’t support what was needed, then we appoint Ole who wants the old days, who doesn’t have tactical acumen or in game management. We need to look forward and get a strong appointment but the manager needs to be able to inspire confidence in the players because they know it has worked for him, they can see it will work. We need new owners, new board, new structure, new managers and new players. But I won’t sit here and say the manager is untouchable because he is a playing legend like some.


5.) 27 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 22:35:15
Redfaith that's some post .


6.) 28 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 23:27:46
I think Redman has every rite to state in his view Moyes and ole were and are not good enough for United.
I think the perception though is under Jose when it was pretty obvious Olympus had fallen it came across as it can't have he has a good cv .
Your a great poster Redman as wether people agree or disagree you spark interesting debate.


7.) 28 Aug 2019
27 Aug 2019 23:41:21
Good post redfaith.

I think OGS is the wrong man. but it's those above him that really need to be called out. Despite what I think of OGS as a manager, he's been hung out to dry here.


8.) 28 Aug 2019
28 Aug 2019 07:19:44
Good post redfaith your right this squad is performing how it should be for the lat few years apart from the year we were 2nd.
The squad has been doing as well as it can under each of the managers.
Your right jred it was a good post talking a lot of sense.
If you don't have players not quite good enough you will find yourself about 6th.


9.) 28 Aug 2019
28 Aug 2019 07:49:13
Great post Red faith.

RedMan, I too was surprised when Ole was appointed as the permanent manager because Woodward said out in public that "a thorough process will be conducted before hiring the next manager".
Like many, Poch was my choice to be the next manager.
But Ole's appointment blatantly contradicts what Woody said which clearly indicates he and the board lacks the acumen to run our great club.

However it's not Ole's fault that he was appointed as the club's manager. He is a great human being, conducts himself like a proud Manchester United manager. He is United through and through.
The bare minimum we can do is respect and back our club legend.

So far he has done really positive things which none of the former managers post SAF did.
The average age of our squad is reduced, the players who do not suit the club's ethos are being shipped out gradually.
The style of play is improving albeit lacking quality in certain areas, more academy graduates being given chance.
Rather than throwing players under the bus, he is protecting the young players.
He is showing ruthlessness by not including the likes of Jones or Smalling in the matchday squads instead having Tuanzebe as the 3rd choice CB.
Matic being replaced by Mctominay in the starting line up.
These are all great signs imo.

Unfortunately, the board has yet again not backed the manager fully. Ole has limited choice because of our paper thin squad and too many average players. But this is a young team with hunger who are destined to improve as the season progresses.

RedMan, you are a great poster but I feel you are being unfair on Ole. He has done more right things than wrong compared to the previous 3 managers.


10.) 28 Aug 2019
28 Aug 2019 09:08:28
Let's put Solskjaer's CV into perspective. Ole led Molde to their first ever title in 100 years, and followed it up with another and a national cup win, which they had only won twice before. Sure the Norwegian league isn't the strongest, but he achieved something that had never been done. Yet, everyone seems to only focus on Cardiff, where to be honest most any manager would have failed.

He should only be judged on his United tenure after completing a full season and even then, until he has his own squad, it's still harsh to do so.

I also feel it's ridiculous when people speak about 3 wins in 15, those last games last season need to be forgotten, the squad was exhausted because badly prepared and it was clear for all to see. After three games this season, I'm an already more optimistic than I have been in the past 6 years and I'm looking forward to each match, which is the most important thing to me, that hasn't been the case for years. Sure we should have done better, but we were unlucky at times too. It's also clear the players are still getting used to the new system, but we now have a more established first 11, which is something we have also lacked in the past few years.


11.) 28 Aug 2019
28 Aug 2019 20:05:56
Solskjær did NOT lead Molde to their first title in 100 years. absoulte nonsense.

{Ed047's Note - as Molde was formed in 1911 and won their first title in 2011 with OGS as manager it would suggest he’d won their first title in 100yrs.

Just saying. 🙂