20 Jan 2020 08:52:57
A long week of transfer stories awaits, be ready. After yesterday the united PR machine will be in full throttle. Until it appears on the official site or we get word from Ed002, my advice is don't believe anything.
20 Jan 2020 09:23:04
we won't sign anyone its all bs.
if we wanted fernandes we would put an offer in that we know will get accepted.
20 Jan 2020 09:54:14
I think the club wants to create the appearance of them being busy and trying to do transfers, when in reality there is little or no commitmment or determination to complete deals. some might see the lack of signs as an indication that they are moving on from ole, I don't think that's the case, ole may though give them the scapegoat and the excuses that they want. Just please whatever you do, don't buy into this BS that the club don't want to scupper their summer transfer masterplan by overspending in January. Utter BS.
20 Jan 2020 10:43:40
ole has been given the tools to fail. any manager that come in with the team we have and the players we never replaced was always going to struggle.
we are only 5 points off 4th but how many more injuries can we take before we are in deep trouble.
we have obviously known since the summer who we wanted to sign.
the plan was to recruit and get rid of players over the course of so many windows,
it takes time but build.
20 Jan 2020 10:47:01
I think that's a dangerous game to play. There is already murmurs coming from the fans that the people behind the scenes are incompetent and are at fault for the clubs current situation. Gary Neville has come out and questioned why Ed Woodward still has a job at the club.
If the club make noises that they are trying to sign a player or two then they don't regardless of whether they intended to or not then those murmurs will start to grow and become chants at the stadium.
It's not a good way to deflect attention, people are starting to question your competence, so you set in motion a plan where you will look like you've failed, but tried hard? Sounds like slipping a noose around your neck to me.
20 Jan 2020 11:03:23
Shappy whilst I agree with your logic I have one question.
Does the board or owners of the club really care if the fans kick up a stink? We haven't exactly been singing their praises over the last few years and little has changed. Neville talking about the poor sqaud depth compared to wage bill and investment, and how the board should have to answer for that etc. Maybe they should but if their remit is to make money, which we are then they aren't really failing are they.
20 Jan 2020 11:04:18
shappy i remember the times you only heard we was interested in a player when he signed.
they would come out of nowhere.
behind the scenes done and dusted.
now it seems the club or who ever handles the process wants the whole world to know what were doing.
how many times have we been told the club are searching for DOF. what's the hold up.
20 Jan 2020 13:42:41
I think the Fernandes transfer sums up everything wrong with the club’s approach to recruitment.
During the summer we had the opportunity to sign him: we we’re interested, the player was open to coming, and Sporting were willing to sell and had a price set.
We approached the transfer with a sense of ‘big club’ entitlement and put in an insulting offer thinking that the ‘small’ club needed the money and the player would push for the transfer.
It didn’t work and we pretended that he was never a target, and the player signed a new deal.
Cut to this month. After half a season suffering without any creativity in midfield, and no available alternatives, we go back to Sporting.
Do we put a reasonable bid on the table?
Of course not, we come back with the same low offer and the same attitude. Then the media leaks start coming out falsely claiming that Sporting have upped the price etc. Trying to make it look like Sporting are the problem.
How can you expect to do business with other clubs if you don’t treat them with any respect?
20 Jan 2020 15:26:43
Bolger, there isn't a transfer to a top team anywhere in the world that stays a secret anymore. There are too many people involved in the process, and far too much interest for no one to talk.
Transfers take a certain amount of time, agreeing a fee, negotiating terms, sorting out the medical and insurance paperwork, ratifying the deal with both leagues, notifying stock exchange etc. Someone will talk somewhere along the line.
Plus for scouts, agents and players it's in their interest to be scene to be linked with top young players and top clubs.
20 Jan 2020 15:29:18
danny so who is to blame for this way of doing business?
we are told time and time again its not woody wood peckers fault.
clearly its not the managers fault.
but someone needs accounting for, its embarrassing.
pay the money and move on.
what does it matter how much he costs if he makes the team better.
20 Jan 2020 17:00:54
Ed002 has said that our recruitment team behave like amateurs and are making other clubs wary of doing business with us.
That’s where the responsibility lies, and it’s up to the board to hold them to account.
Jose tried to bring in a DoF because he wasn’t happy with recruitment. In contrast, Ole has consistently said that there is nothing wrong with our recruitment strategy. So while Ole is not to blame, he is a symptom of a broader reluctance to change the way things are run.
My own impression is that there are endemic problems throughout the club from the board to the youth
Unfortunately, as seen on here, there are enough fans happy to buy into the PR spin - praising the club for not being held to ransom, etc. This allows the our failing recruitment, coaching, facilities to perpetuate without reform.