05 Apr 2016 10:09:30
@Ed001
Does it seem to you that United have dithered over a decision about the manager/ Mourinho?
There seems to be no clear indication about whether LVG will stay or go and now Dutch media are reporting that he will be given a 100mil euro budget and Lukaku is his top target. That newspaper has been reliable and spot on regarding LVG so far. LVG certainly seems to have planned the entire pre season as well.
I was wondering if you or the other editors had heard anything?
{Ed001's Note - there is no dithering, they want to keep LVG.}
05 Apr 2016 10:28:59
Thanks for the reply Ed001. Do you think they would keep him regardless of what happens with UCL qualification?
{Ed001's Note - it is all about him reaching his season's objectives. If he fails, then he will go, if he succeeds, then he will stay. The main one being Champions League qualification.}
05 Apr 2016 10:36:42
That seems a really dumb way of planning for next season doesn't it? Wait until the last game of the season to decide whether to keep or let a manager go when the rest of the clubs plan well ahead and know who they will have in charge next season by february end or the start of march.
What do you make of all the Mourinho talk then Ed001 and the fact that he has declined other good offers? Just his camp trying to push stories or some flirting from United's side as well?
{Ed001's Note - they are planning on him staying, that is the right way to plan. You just make contingency plans in case there is a change.
Jose wants the United job, he really wants the United job in fact, so he is trying to get it.}
05 Apr 2016 10:53:54
Ed001 you just ruined my day mate! Another season of LVG's painful football and talking down to everyone and telling us of his philosophy and how its all a process (of going backwards! )
I can't wait for more millions to be squandered on slow static players by a manager who has been repeatedly booed this season and given us a great number of dreadful 0-0 first halves! A manager who failed to qualify from one of the easiest UCL groups and who has wasted so much money and has done no better than Moyes. Especially next season with Klopp, Pep, Pochetino and a firing Ranieri competing against us, we shall stick with LVG.
I still hope we finish 4th or even higher, but a little part of me does feel it would be better to miss out on top 4 to get LVG out.
{Ed001's Note - there is little point changing now when the owners have an exit strategy for next season. The best thing is to let it ride and make the necessary changes when it is all settled down. LVG is a safe pair of hands for a time of turmoil.}
05 Apr 2016 10:58:40
Exit strategy? Do you mean new owners or the planned change to Allegri after LVG?
{Ed001's Note - both.}
05 Apr 2016 10:58:44
Redfaith see my post further down this page mate I was as suprised as you seem to be when I heard the news also.
Ed001 could you see Mourinho coming out in the media with a few digs at LVG over his Utd tenure and style of football if it looks like LVG is going to stay in an attempt to get a reaction from the fans? Or is this too low for even Jose?
{Ed001's Note - I really wouldn't expect that from Mourinho.}
05 Apr 2016 11:09:48
Not to make this about Mourinho Ed001 but if he doesn't join United where does he go from here? There isn't really any major clubs looking for a manager. Would he go on the international scene or even a sabbatical in your opinion?
{Ed001's Note - he wants to stay in the UK near his wife and kids. Maybe England job?}
05 Apr 2016 11:23:47
Is it not a massive risk to keep LVG in place for next season if they're trying to sell the club? Talking to fellow reds over the last few months, the only reason the hostility against van Gaal has been reigned back in the terraces is because the majority of fans are convinced that he won't be in charge next season. If he stays and persists with his brand of slow, painful, unimaginative football, the owners will be trying to sell a club where the supporters are openly protesting the management. Not sure if that's the calmest set of circumstances.
I fully understand why the owners would want to keep van Gaal in charge: less disruption in the backroom, less investment in players, and gives perspective buyers a freehand in choosing his successor. But he certainly isn't doing anything for on pitch performance, and any new owners will face a situation in which we are falling further and further behind the best clubs in Europe and the EPL. Spurs, City, Chelsea and Liverpool will all be moving forward with solid managers next season, while we'll be stuck with a manager who is so clearly out of touch with modern football that he'd be better suited to being exhibited in the Urbis building.
{Ed001's Note - ah but think how attractive it is to a buyer, knowing you can make the changes you want and be lauded by the fans for them. If it was, say, Ryan Giggs in charge, there would be a split amongst the fans if he was replaced. That is going to be an issue for a prospective owner who will want his own man. So keeping LVG means that a new owner can make the changes and know that they will have the fans onside doing so.}
05 Apr 2016 11:45:05
Would the whole deal be done and dusted with new owners in place by the start of next season or next may when lvg leaves.
Could we go into next summer with no manager and the club up for sale.
{Ed001's Note - it is more likely to be next year that it occurs.}
05 Apr 2016 11:45:40
Also if that was the case how would transfer work out etc .
{Ed001's Note - the club will still internally fund transfers in the summer as usual.}
05 Apr 2016 11:56:29
Ed if what you're saying is true which I think is completely possible about there being new owners in a years time which means no change of manager and another year of lvg then I think he shouldd give giggs more influence in what happens with the squad like tactics and transfers etc.
It would be like a years apprenticeship to see if he's up to taking the job on when lvgs gone.
05 Apr 2016 11:59:11
Sorry ed i meant the 2017 season, lvg contract is up in 12 month so will the club be sold before the end of his contract or is there a chance that come next summer united have no manager and the club up for sale .
{Ed001's Note - I very much doubt that would be an issue.}
05 Apr 2016 12:09:09
I look at it a bit differently Ed001. Wouldn't it be better for new owners to come into the club with an already settled manager who is a proven winner and is taking the team forward? Just go ahead with his plans, and have a smooth transition with minimal changes to the football side if any?
We saw how Sir Alex and Gill leaving at the same time caused complete turmoil. Certainly the Glazers were massively helped by keeping the football side of the business virtually untouched after coming in with Gill and Ferguson running the show.
New owners bringing in a new commercial vision and a new manager who will bring in his own players and completwly rip up the squad seems far too many changes in far too short a time to me.
{Ed001's Note - owners never want to do that. They have their own plans and ideas.}
05 Apr 2016 12:18:52
I think it would be carnage to go into the summer with no manager and the club up for sale .
If the glazers are to sell up i hope its done and dusted before the end of the 16/ 17 season.
Time wise i'm not sure that's likely.
05 Apr 2016 12:28:35
I never thought I'd say this; but I hope we don't make top 4 if that's the case. I can't stand the thought of another year with LVG at the helm.
05 Apr 2016 12:57:07
Isn't Allegri about to sign a new contract.
05 Apr 2016 13:03:24
Allegri has said he will sign a contract extension this week.
05 Apr 2016 15:42:21
I don't always agree with your posts MAZE but I agreed with what your contact said the other day regarding LVG and hats off to you as it looks like LVG will stay.
05 Apr 2016 15:55:29
Why does it look as if lvg will stay? I'm not saying he won't stay it could go either way but one newspaper report comes out saying lvg will stay and everyone believes it.
I'm not sure if I'm right about this but wasn't lvg a columnist for De telegraff could his camp be stirring?
05 Apr 2016 16:28:35
I think we are all smelling a lot of smoke and seeing a lot of mirrors.
Classic case of no one wanting to make a definitive statement for LVG or denying the Mourhino rumours.
Best way for club to get respite is to sow confusion hoping that a few half decent results will make everyone forget what an awful season it has been (regardless of final situation) and what most fans see the root cause.
Not replacing LVG will imo be unforgivable.
Whether it should be Mourhino is debatable, but he would sort things short term.
05 Apr 2016 17:55:10
When has there ever been a take over of a football club that hasn't resulted in a change of manager at that club?
Abramovic shipped out Ranieri by the end of his first season as owner.
City did the same with both the take over by Shinawatra, and the one by Sheikh Mansour.
Who ever buys the club will have their own ideas. Will they want to see us have something like a galactico policy and sign world stars? Will they want us to go back to our roots and focus on young player development? Will they have a preference about the kind of football the club plays? Will they want to invest in the club to improve their public image or to increase global appeal of their other businesses? Will they be assest strippers looking to pilage the club coffers.
Until we know who they are amd what might motivate them to spend so heavily to purchase our club we really will have no idea about what to expect.
What we can presume though is that who ever they are and what ever they want they will want and need their own men working with them.
Can any of you hand on heart say you would be prepared to part with between 1.5-2.5 billion pounds of your own money to put that asset in to someone elses hands?
Of course not, so whether we get a new manager this summer or not. The likelihood is that within a year of any sale we would be looking at replacing them again anyway.
05 Apr 2016 18:10:14
Fergy and gill both stayed on when the glazers took over . If its not broken don't fix it.
05 Apr 2016 21:21:25
Jred, that was a very different situation. Sir Alex was the most successful and most decorated manager in our history. Removing him would have been suicidal.
You don't sack a proven and successful manager who has been at the club close to 20 years at the point in which you purchase it.
We keep saying we won't see the likes of Sir Alex and his achievements again. So that situation was unique.
But if we were to sack LvG and replace him it will be the clubs third manager in four years. With that kind of record and baring in mind that the new manager will have only been in the role for little more than a year it would be fair for a new owner to remove that manager if they didin't elign with what the new owners wanted. But it would make life awkward for the new owners to do so, as the decision will hardly be backed universally by the fans. Causing a split in the fan base soon after you take over isn't the best way to introduce yourself.
However if LvG was to see out his contract the new owners would be seen as the ones who are bringing in a new and possibly better era to the club. That might make things slightly more cozy for them to start with.
05 Apr 2016 23:00:15
Shappy - A bit like how Jose is one of the most successful and most decorated managers in world football right now?
If LVG was at the helm when new owners came in I could see why they would want him gone; but were it Jose, Pep or Klopp - one would hope that they'd be quite content knowing that they had one of the best possible managers.
05 Apr 2016 23:07:59
Shappy
So we stick with lvg and the glazers sell up at the end of the season .
How long does it take to sell the club? When lvg leaves and the club is up for sale who picks the new manager?
Who picks the new players or sets the budget .
Or what if jose came in and we finished top 4 he had a plan for the next season players etc and like with fergy we just carried on .
We could either try to fit new owners, manager and players in during the summer which would be nuts .
You can't pick a manager until the owner is in place . How long does that take?
Then in the turmoil we need a budget and to start to look at which players we want, what the manager thinks of the squad etc.
Then after all that we start to work on deals .
Or we sign one of the best managers in the world this summer on a 3 year contract, new owners come in next summer and they have to put up with with a manager with the best cv in the world for 12 month .
But instead of getting new owners etc in one go we have some one like jose (like fergy did ) to carry on .
Name me one team that got new owners and a manager at the same time . It would be DAFT .
05 Apr 2016 23:34:44
So your assuming that the new owners are going to buy the club in the summer of 2017? Your also assuming that they won't start to look into what is required to run a club until after they have bought it.
The reason we know the Glazer intend to sell is because they are sounding out potential buyers. If your going to spend a couple of billion I strongly suspect you have some kind of plan.
The club could well be sold in January or February next year. Giving the new owners a chance to make plans on who they want to replace LvG.
As for future signings we need to remember managers don't buy players out of a catalog or something like that. The club will still have a scout network, who will be active and building up dossiers on many players.
Any new manager will assess the squad, identify areas of improvement and consult with the scouts about who would be best suited to solving that issue.
We can agree or disagree about what may or may not happen. Atm its all pie in the sky. But what we are being told is that the current owners feel that it will be easier to get a sale that meets their targets if they keep LvG rather than sign someone else on a long deal tying them to the club for a period longer than they themselves intend to be at the club.
06 Apr 2016 07:49:53
We are also told if lvg doesn't get top 4 he will be gone next month .
There is also a strong chance he will be gone anyhow.
To be honest i'm far from convinced the glazers will sell up .
But a new manager and new owners in the same year would be nuts .
As you pointed out even chelsea and city waited a year.