01 Sep 2025 10:59:44
For years now, I've seen fans and pundits rattling on about how we are where we are because of our owners, with their main argument stemming from the fact that so many supposedly great players and managers have repeatedly failed to deliver at Old Trafford due to the structure above them. But today, as we see yet another former United manager sacked (fair play to Leverkusen for realizing how woefully inept Ten Haag is so quickly), I can't help but think back to Jose's infamous football heritage speech.
How many of these players and managers that have failed to deliver for us have gone on to do better elsewhere? Di Maria and Ronaldo are probably the only two post-SAF players who have achieved anything meaningful after leaving us. Unless you want to count Moyes and Jose winning the Europa Conference League, none of our former managers have gone on to do anything remarkable either.
So while I'm not necessarily disputing the fact that things aren't quite right behind the scenes, perhaps our issue isn't with the structure failing to support our players and managers, but rather the structure bringing in players and managers who are past their best, unable to deal with the pressure of playing for a club of our size, or a poor fit for whatever it is we're trying to build.
01 Sep 2025 11:36:06
Are you suggesting that RA is ‘past his best’?
01 Sep 2025 11:36:27
Who picks these players and managers? They don't just magically turn up at old trafford.
Each of them signs a contract, ultimately counter signed by the ownership lol.
Come on this is basic stuff.
01 Sep 2025 11:46:31
So it is the owners fault then!
01 Sep 2025 11:50:11
So is reading, DSG, but clearly neither you nor Fizz has quite mastered that yet.
I closed my post with maybe the issue is that the owners are choosing the wrong personnel rather than failing to support them, as so many on here seem to suggest.
And Fizz, I clearly used the word “or” rather than “and” there, and was referring to managers and players who we’ve already parted ways with.
01 Sep 2025 12:17:52
Have u seen how many players they sold?
01 Sep 2025 12:30:53
redseven, I can read well enough, thank you. Perhaps that is a fault of yours and not mine. I quote you: ">>> but rather the structure bringing in players AND managers who are past their best. " To me, that reads as AND as opposed to OR. Funny old game.
01 Sep 2025 12:41:14
So your point is that there isn't a problem with the structure, its just there is a problem with the structure?
Got it lol.
01 Sep 2025 13:19:05
Thanks for proving my point, Fizz. Clearly, you have no idea how lists work either. It’s amazing how people can get by in this world with such limited comprehension.
DSG. For many years now, fans and pundits alike have gone on about how numerous successful managers have failed at United, with the one constant across all of their tenures being the owners, as if the structure is the reason why they all failed. My point was that not a single one of these managers has gone on to do anything noteworthy after leaving our club, suggesting that a lack of support from the Glazers and their underlings probably wasn’t the reason why things turned out the way they did.
Yes, the owners are the ones who sign off on all of our incomings and outgoings, but their hand is quite often forced. Take the appointment of Ole, for example. They would have been roundly criticized by fans if they hadn’t offered him a permanent deal after the start he made, especially if the manager they brought in instead had gone on to underperform. At that time, he was probably the right choice.
Ole wanted Maguire, Sancho, and Ronaldo (not Maguire, Sancho, or Ronaldo, Fizz) . Had we not signed them, the board would have been accused of not supporting the manager and then blamed when the manager failed. The same goes for Jose with Pogba, and Ten Haag with Onana. If they pay what’s needed to sign these players they get criticized for paying too much. If they move on to plan B or C, they get criticized for not bringing in the players the manager has asked for. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
The Glazers are a bunch of leeches, yes, and some of our post-SAF recruitment has been truly terrible, but I don’t think all of that can be pinned solely on the owners. Most of the managers they’ve brought in have been the ones fans were calling for, and they’ve spent a ridiculous amount of (the club’s) money bringing in the players that those managers wanted. With that in mind, I think it’s time that we laid this whole “no manager could succeed at United because of the owners” nonsense to rest.
01 Sep 2025 14:36:45
Lists? What lists? Where? What oblique bolloxology do you speak now? You're like a BMW driver who sees no need to use his indicators because he knows where he's going! Then chide folk for 'failing to understand what it was that you were trying to say'.