24 Apr 2022 10:11:59
RR is apparently to provide a dossier to Murtough on the issues, it's going to be a large document.

Apparently RR has privately branded the dressing room as "selfish, over-inflated, lacking quality and too powerful". He has been staggered by the lack of professionalism amongst the first-team squad. RR also apparently said the players deliberately didn't play what patterns he had set for certain games. The players that did that should be booted out, no matter who it is.

What we are seeing is the result of a lack of discipline, of putting arms around, don't lose friends for three years style of management. Add to that the Lingard alleged leak on the dressing room and you have sight of probably the biggest rabble masquerading as a team of players at United that I can remember.

This does need major surgery, these players will all turn nicey nicey to ETH face for a few weeks or even months before the back stabbing starts again. I fear the club are too weak to boot them out, too afraid of the financial loss on players. This must stop now. Whenever I read what RR thoughts on the structure of the club, including the alleged comment above, they make sense. He has seen at first hand the issues. If the club don't carry out the major surgery needed ETH will not see 3 years, the rabble will stab him in the back. You can hate all you want but Mourinho flagged this years ago, but the club were weak, went for someone who wouldn't rock the boat, look at the mess that decision caused now. RR has exposed them, their egos, their attitude, use it. Do not leave the trouble makers in place, the financial cost may be lots but the price of not doing is far higher.

1.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 10:43:58
Ive enjoyed RR time at the club- I see him as a headmaster called upon to stand in for the history teacher for a few months- not his forte but he can do a job until he goes back to his main role.

I have liked him because he's the first man in a while to say it as it is, basically these are a bunch of overpaid prima donnas not willing to fight, run or listen to the manager and the structure is poor - there's no "Rashy" "Giggsy" "The boys done good" nonsense in his conferences. If he were to be sacked or leave tomorrow he will still be seen amongst footballing men (Klopp. Pep, Nagelsmann) as a respected expereinced sensible Football elder with no hidden agenda or bias who has been to United and seen behind the scenes first hand what an absolute joke of a club it is and how much work needs to be done -he should be thanked for that at least.

2.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 10:46:17
When Jose was saying this most people here thought he'd 'lost the dressing room'

3.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 11:13:52
True Random red, difference is Jose is a very divisive figure once he opened his mouth half the media and a lot of fans were "here he goes moaning and bitching again, blah blah blah " RR doesn't have that baggage, h e isn't fighting to hold on to his managers job, he is in someways an outsider and I can imagine he's gone home somedays thinking what have i walked into here.

4.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 11:32:41
EtH needs to be backed properly and not just in the way of being given a big transfer kitty.

Fortunately we have a plethora of players out of contract either this summer or next.

This summer will see Matic, Mata, Pogba, Cavani, Lingard, Grant and possibly Chong all leave on free deals. So there's 7 gone.

Next summer currently we have Rashford, DDG, Shaw, Ronaldo, Fred, Dalot, Jones and Heaton all out of contract. Although several have an option for an additional year. So that's another 8 who could leave.

Which means without giving extensions we could shift 15 players by the start of the 2023/ 24 season just by letting contracts elapse.

We then have players like Andreas Pereira, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Williams and Telles who could all leave for nominal fees without too much trouble. They will easily enough find clubs willing to pick them up.

Henderson could be easily sold for a decent fee, there would be plenty of interest.

The players we might have trouble shifting are Maguire, AWB and Martial. Three players who clearly don't have a future in the first 11 if we are to get back to winning ways. Yet all of them cost significant fees and are on high wages. These three will require the club to "take a hit" to move them on. Selling at a much lower fee than they paid and/ or subsidising wages in order to find clubs willing to take them on.

However, in truth if the club is willing to take the hit on those three they could easily shift as many as 24 players over the next two windows by selling for nominal fees and just allowing contracts to elapse if need be.

The issue is that if you allow as many as 24 to leave then the club will require significant investment to replace those players.

This revolution is actually very doable if there is a willingness to make it happen.

Over the next two years we will see if the club is serious about changing and moving forward, or whether they are just paying lipservice to the fans and in reality it is business as usual.

5.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 13:14:35
With a handful of 'free' transfers (and there are easily a handful available that would improve the Utd team), shrewd signings of lesser-known players (let's go for the next Vidic as opposed to an overpriced household name) instead of marquee signings and 2-3 youth promotions I think we can plug the gaps. Any shortfalls I hope could be filled by a natural desire to impress the new manager and be part of something special. Carragher suggested ten Hag could come in and make 2-3 huge signings and everything would be hunky-dory which in my view is the opposite of what we need. There's no point in buying Kane, Rice et al like they're going to round things off and help us win something. I think we need to remove any expectation to challenge for anything major next season and just hope for the effort and mentality to return, if it's enjoyable all the better. Optimistic.

6.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 14:12:53
Shappy matic is not out of contract.

7.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 15:09:06
Glad to here RR has had an agenda. But for me. I would have liked him to have taken more of a stand against this. Pick out the worst offenders and send them to train separately. Promote youth players to fill holes and back them, even if they are not quite ready and make mistakes.

Continuing to play the trouble makers and then writing a dossier is weak management. Ask yourself would Pep, Klopp, Conte, SAF has done the same thing? It is pathetic passive aggressive management and he should have done more. No one would have blamed him if he dropped the whole squad and brought them back in slowly.

8.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 15:20:02
Ken you are right he is not. However, my understanding is that he will be allowed to leave for free/ nominal fee (2m at most) . And he will be leaving this summer.

9.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 15:24:28
Spenno, I agree we don't need the cherry on top, we need a bloody foundation. Too many players have proven themselves to not be good enough either technically or mentally.

Klopp and Pep in 2 summer windows moved on around 15-20 of the previous squad and replaced them with a combination of signings and academy players. That's how they got to where they are now.

I think our club will need to do something similar, I think we could do it slightly quicker than Liverpool due to our financial power, but not as quickly as City as they had expert's in every area of the club and we are lagging behind in that regard. Which means we will almost certainly either sign a couple of players who don't work out, or be unable to bring in our first choice options so will have to make more compromises along the way.

10.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 15:31:24
Dodgy, it's a difficult line to tread. Unless he has been told who the next manager wants to keep, whether the club is prepared to bomb out 15 plus players etc then it becomes difficult to throw his weight around with any authority.

Sometimes more can be leaned by observing over a period of time than making snap judgements and seeing who reacts and how.

Maybe some players are followers and tag along with the troublemakers. But in the right set up, with the right people around them they could be good, hard working, productive members of the squad.

Maybe there are players Rangnick would bomb out who the next manager might want.

It's a no win situation he was walking into and not a situation where he would have the full autonomy to do as he would like as he is really just a place holder until the next manager comes. The best he could do was observe, gain understanding and perspective to enable him to best serve as a consultant to the next manager.

Oh to be a fly on the wall during those first few EtH/ Rangnick meetings.

11.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 15:35:54
Without ucl we are already excluded from bring the top level players in. Not sure Kane is right for us now, but do you think he would leave spurs for us now? Especially is they get UCL?

Rice would also wonder are we really a step up. Choice between Chelsea and us looks huge right now.

12.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 18:07:18
Shappy

I don't agree, he had free hand to make a stronger stand.

If he just dropped a few but without publically shaming. Maybe just a tag line of some players weren't mentally ready to be part of the matchday squad. He wanted to select players who showed him the right attitude through the week.

I'm convinced that it would not have developed into this mess.

For him to say that the players are purposely not playing his training patterns. That says he should have been dropping players and playing those who who do play those patterns.

But he keeps selecting the same players. Or dropping some to the ben h, but then brings them on as subs only for them to wander around making zero impact.

Regardless, I'm done with this season, can't wait for ETH to come in. I want him to be given full say over everything to do with the first team squad. A final say in recruitment. Back the guy, give him time and let's blow this team up and start again. Just hope some of the next gen of stars see the opportunity of coming to a sleeping giant and build a world class squad over a couple of years. Loving some of the names ED002 has shared over on rumours page. Nice to see a move away from the over priced over hyped names we are constantly connected to.

13.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 18:10:27
Dodgy, I think Kane is a pipe dream, Spurs will more than likely be in the UCL next season. Also I agree I have concerns over his longevity and cost. Personally I think we are three years away from a proper title challenge realistically. Kane would be 31/ 32 before we can seriously mount a title charge, with his injury record I doubt he'd be fit for much of that season.

In my opinion we need younger hungrier players who'll be hitting their peak in 2-4 season's time.

Rice fits the profile well to be honest. Yet his cost would be prohibitive if we are looking to sign multiple players. Also we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that West Ham could win the Europa League and qualify for the UCL as England's fifth team via that route. You'd expect them to beat Frankfurt in the Semi-final (although anything can happen in knock out football) with one of Rangers or RB Leipzig in the final.

If West Ham are in the UCL next season then I don't see Rice leaving them this summer.

I think we should be looking at cheaper more savvy options. I could see someone like Ruben Neves or Palhinha fitting into EtH's system very well. Or perhaps a move for Edson Alvarez who knows the system intimately.

Timber looks a good bet at CB/ RB cover. Although I wonder if EtH would want a left footed CB as his system sees the CB's play slightly wider covering the wide areas as well. Which suits a left footed player at LCB who is quick and mobile. We have been linked recently with Pau Torres again, although personally I have a few concerns about whether he could handle the physicality of the EPL. Looks a little like a left footed Lindelof to me, although weaker in the air and slightly quicker. Schlotterbeck is a player loved by the hipsters, looks decent from the little I've seen of him. Quick, mobile, great passer and strong in the air. It's just whether he can step it up to the top end of the EPL.

We need a striker and possibly a wide player. Although for me the most important aspect of this window is to get the players out with poor attitudes and weak mentalities. Then build a solid defence and midfield base.

14.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 18:54:16
I would pay the money for Rice as he is top drawer. Outside of his ability and drive in the pitch, he makes everyone around him better. He significantly improves each season they are good signs of his character and influence. He was rejected by Chelsea and regrouped and got better. He has character in bundles.

I would tell him he is the Captain and the tone setter in that dressing room and the leader, the key and fundamental piece in the next ECL and EPL winning Man Utd side.

I think he is that good and am just seriously impressed by him every time he plays.

He can be the next Robbo or Keane influence wise and solves a problem for a decade.

You don't need 11 superstars but the ones you do have to be of the right character that's why I pay him whatever it takes.

I understand why some people don't want to spend on one guy, we do have a lot of holes, but for me he is the one guy I think will give a return on this.

{Ed002's Note - What money would that be? West Ham are not looking to sell Rice.}

15.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 19:03:59
I read that Erikson might be of interest. I would love to see that, I remember Utd being linked when he was an Ajax player. I assume he'd be a free transfer but am not sure of the ins and outs. We'd suddenly have a player who can orchestrate the game and put the ball on a sixpence for fun.

Timber. not sure. I watched one of those awful Youtube compilations with the rave soundtracks (turned that off right away) and he seems to fly in and go to ground an awful lot. He'd be a walking penalty shout in the PL. Yet we definitely need someone commanding and mobile in the middle of the defence. It's embarrassing that other than Varane, who has been an improvement if not an revelation, all previous defensive signings in the post-SAF era have been woeful.

16.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 19:17:17
I read a lot of reports linking Timber, I actually think his partner Martinez is the better player (granted he is 4 to 5 years older)

17.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 19:53:51
We signed Pogba, Zlatan, Mkhitaryan, Bailly, etc without CL.

The important thing from now should be to sign the players who suit the team's identity rather than a commercial opportunity.

18.) 24 Apr 2022
24 Apr 2022 20:45:25
How did they work out TRD ?.

19.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 06:25:01
Irrespective of securing CL,
Recruitment for a decade except a very few have been disaster.
One of the prime reason for our mighty fall.