07 Jan 2016 13:03:57
I know we all have opinions about LVG but fear not as BBC reporting David Moyes has said he would come back to United.
We are saved. No?
My how I remember that scintillating attacking play he brought to us. And let's not forget all that silverware he added to his already illustrious career.
Oh wait a minute.
I've not seen the interview and in his defence I assume he was merely responding to a question such as 'there is a lot of speculation about LVG, would you go back? '.
Nevertheless he remains one of the luckiest people ever to have managed United.
Interesting comparisons between LVG and Moyes in that under both we played dire football but LVG is given more time because he has been done there and won it in the past. Which just makes the Moyes appointment more farcical.
I understand the grand plan now is for LVG to remain in post until Giggs takes over in 18 months. Whilst it is not the plan I would go with given we will miss out on top class managers such as Guardiola, Ancelotti, Mourinho, Klopp, Simeone, Conte, Allegri etc, at least it IS a plan. Something we seem to have lacked since Fergie left.
And I know its herecy to say anything bad against Sir Alex Ferguson but, albeit as a member of a board of directors at a company, he seems single-handedly to be the one who appointed Moyes. That decision, again when there were better candidates available, seems to have set us on the LVG almost as an interim post and setting up Giggs from 2017 onwards.
So my question is this:
If senior folk at the club have been rooting for Giggs to eventually become manager all along, would that apprenticeship not have been better served under Sir Alex Ferguson rather than an unqualified manager and a subsequent one who's style of play seems to have either been sussed out or is simply not effective enough in the frenetic pace of the Premiership.
Anyone have the inside track on exactly why Fergie left so suddenly? That serious lack of succession planning, magnified massively by David Gill stepping down as Chief Exec at the same time, has put us back a minimum 5 years. Its weakened us from being consistently the top club in England for the previous 2 decades to being potential also rans for a considerable time ahead.
No-one can bemoan Fergie and what he has done for the club. I never imagined winning one league let alone the unprecedented success we have had and not least great attacking football we have seen in many teams over many years. Part of Fergie's legacy though has to be the extremely poor state of affairs we find ourselves in now. It was very selfish of him to go at the time he did and the way he did without there being a properly thought out succession plan.
And we will pay the price for that failure for a long long time.
07 Jan 2016 13:30:19
What is the point of this post?
Slating a manager, who in his own right is a model professional yet he took over the United job at the wrong time?
Why has everything got to be a conspiracy, or have some hidden meaning behind it. Sir Alex left because he had more important things in his life to attend to, one of them being his wide.
I terms of David Gill, well Kenyon done an equally fantastic job at United so I don't think Gill had any real influence on Sir Alex going.
Sir Alex got a lot out of his playing staff, others have failed to do the same. What did you want him to do? but 25 youngsters that the new manager may not have wanted? Give the new manager the time and funds to build his own team, this wasn't a usual case of a manager leaving a club and passing down whatever players were there before him.
Also, if you've read this page and the ED comments recently you'll know that there is no plan for Giggs to takeover.
07 Jan 2016 13:34:10
Fergie felt that it was the right time to go. In the book he says it was down to family issues and spending more time with his wife. Obviously that played a part, but he also knew that the squad needed to be rebuilt and felt that it should be left up to a new manager who could shape things for themselves.
It's true that the squad Fergie left was aging and not particularly inspiring (but they did win the league so) . However, it's also true that our relatively low spending during Fergie's last five years theoretically provided the new manager with a massive war chest to rebuild with (Gill has intimated as much) .
It was always going to be a struggle after Fergie retired, and most of us realised that. The problem is that we have hired the wrong managers, and wasted a lot of money on too many players who either don't fit, aren't ready or simply aren't good enough. I firmly believe that if Pep had chosen us over Bayern, we would be serious title contenders this year. But we have what we have now, and with the player/ manager combination I think it will be another few years before we are ready to mount a sustained challenge for the biggest trophies.
P. s. there is no grand plan for Giggs to take over. If there was van Gaal would have been sacked over christmas, and he'd already be in charge.
07 Jan 2016 13:37:32
Ferguson said before that Giggs would have been his assistant if Giggs had retired sooner.
07 Jan 2016 15:44:35
Jose - the point of the post is we have picked post Fergie 2 managers who were not appropriate for different reasons. Moyes lacked the experience to manage United regardless of whether he was a model professional or not. It's not his fault he was picked. That's the United's Boards decision.
LVG was only ever going to be here short term. That was a mistake. Surely what we needed was a young manager with a record of success. Someone who had the credentials to succeed (unlike Moyes) and young enough to be here a long time (unlike Van Gaal) .
We have no God given right to win stuff. And let's be honest we've had a rich couple of decades. But it's planning at the top that we are suffering from now.
If Giggs isn't the plan for next manager post LVG then that's a good thing as, a la Moyes he lacks the managerial experience to be a success. I know Guardiola was an instant hit at Barcelona but look at the team he inherited. That ain't happening at United.
Whilst I hope we don't 'do a Liverpool' it's likely to be several years before we consistently challenge for major honours again. And that's not a happy state of affairs for the soon to be richest club in the world is it?
07 Jan 2016 16:21:32
Halesini ed002 had said that giggs is not first in line and is not the club's plan for him to follow lvg as manager.
So I'm sure that answers your question.
Enough said about the rest of the opening post above.
07 Jan 2016 19:32:51
Halesini
You make a lot of good points. Part of the problem on here particularly is when you make a lot of points in one post is that if one is something people disagree with, the other points can get missed and the disagrees, anonymous disagrees, mount up.
I agree with many points, particularly that Giggs would be the wrong choice and am worried that with boardroom dithering we could be Liverpool 1990. Another is about the transition and how poorly it was handled.
Lastly the key point for me is the next decision, no more excuses, Woodward must get it right.
07 Jan 2016 21:44:58
Or we could go with the Madrid approach and get a new manager every season whether we win a trophy and play good football or not.
I'm not worried about anything I'll support whoever is in charge.
Football is a game its a hobby I enjoy sometimes it's good for my team sometimes it's not. But I'll support and enjoy it no matter what
Another one of the problems on here is that some people take themselves too seriously and they continually moan and are worried.
People with flooded homes and serious illnesses or have real problems should be worried. Football supporters should support the team and not worry about the team imo.
Why worry about things you have no control over. If you are qualified to do a better job as coach or for that matter CEO throw your hat in the ring when the opportunity arises otherwise sit back and enjoy the ride. If your not that qualified don't tell them how to do the job
life is too short to fight battles you can't win and to be worried about things you have no control over.
08 Jan 2016 08:42:09
Agree with a lot of the points Halesini and Red man. In my view, we should be pulling out all the stops to get Pep. That should be at the top of the agenda in every meeting our board partake in.
If Pep goes to City, then the rest will be playing for 2nd spot for the next 5 years. Simple as that.
08 Jan 2016 09:42:22
Ken
I agree there are more important things in life than our club yet I can't compartmentalise it for the want of a better word like you say you can. For me it's been a passion since I started going to games in the very early seventies, I turned up to watch whatever was offered. I worry because I have seen the bad times at United and too many now have only known SAF and success, now having had success I am concerned, worried the club will blow it, the club is an important part of my life, it's why this is the first website I read in the morning and why I organise my life around kick off wherever I am in the world. I have more worrying personal issues right now but I cannot switch off worrying United will get it wrong as they did when appointing the wrong managers.
Schmidfield
I would like to hope that Woodward has played a blinder, will show us he can merit being the CEO of our club not by signing a new "partner" but by lining Pep up in secrecy yet continuing to brief support for the "plan", LVG then Giggs. It is less disruptive mid season and the pressure the speculation adds to Pellegrini won't help City. It would possibly explain sticking with LVG as they have. Should we be successful with Pep, I do wonder if City would try for Mourinho, leaving the press with the Manchester duo of Pep and Jose but in the opposite places they expect. Not getting my hopes up too much on Pep because given the previous two decisions, the club have shown they can get it spectacularly wrong.
Perhaps if the club appoint Giggs I can try Ken's approach, stop worrying and switch off, my passion not the telly that is.
08 Jan 2016 13:39:18
Personally, my passion is my family. I love following Utd, and have done for 35 years. But it doesn't even come close to the really important things in life.
08 Jan 2016 13:48:06
Red man the plan is not lvg then giggs. We have been told this why do you keep saying it is? Who had said it is? The sun? The mail? Twitter? Ed002 had said it's not the plan that is good enough for me at the moment. The truth is none of us Jane any idea so it's not work worrying over imo. You can make yourself I'll with too much worry. Honestly mate try not to worry. Look up the difference between worry and concern. My advice is have some concern but stop worrying. I know i'm just off the back of a mini stroke at 46 and fit as a flea. Worry and stress can make you ill concern won't.
08 Jan 2016 16:35:52
Im with you stevie.