Manchester United Discussion

15 Apr 2024 22:55:38
Potter is going to be our manager next season isn't he.

16 Apr 2024 00:27:23
Hope so.

15 Apr 2024 11:58:52
Question for Ed002 please. and apologies if this has been covered [delete if so].

If the club decide to part ways with ETH at the end of the season - who do you think would be the best fit as coach/ manager - and why.

Your thoughts and input are very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

{Ed002's Note - I have answered this recently.}

15 Apr 2024 15:04:45
Jeez, RTFP mate.

15 Apr 2024 20:28:33
Apologies. Did not mean to offend AJH.

15 Apr 2024 20:30:32
I have tried searching but with no luck…. apologies.

15 Apr 2024 20:50:01
It’s either Potter or Southgate as the most likely options rn Wil.

15 Apr 2024 20:51:42
Tap in new coach in the search box Wil.

14 Apr 2024 14:13:59
Manchester United has become an impossible job! A graveyard to enthusiasm, innovation, hunger and success. Devoid of leadership, purpose and direction, infected by apathy, mediocrity and incompetence. No longer the Theatre of Dreams but now a place of decay, neglect and indifference.


A decade of poor decisions, a lack of vision and purpose has resulted in an collection of over paid, pampered, egotistical, charlatans that care more about making excuses and protecting their own brand than taking accountability for their own performance.

A dressing room of blaggers and blame shifters, not fit to wear the shirt but eager to point the finger and shift responsibility have permeated the very core of this once revered institution.

A lack of hunger, intensity and desire, words synonymous with Man Utd for over a decade regardless of manager. Downing tools, blame shifting, excuses. The same things happen, the same words are used as each new hope fails to instil any kind of discipline or standards at this once great Club. EtH is just the latest excuse berated by his own players, the media of some of his own supporters for believing he could make a difference.

Anyone that has watched Utd avidly for the past decade understands the problem and knows it can't simply be solved by the sacking of yet another manager. Years of neglect, apathy and incompetence cannot be purged by the dismissal of one man.

What we need now is clear heads and clarity of thought. A vision for the future, an identity, a philosophy, a purpose, a plan. We need elite decision makers and senior leaders to galvanise the Club and give it purpose. Knee jerk reactions and emotional decisions will only prolong the recovery.

How do we want to play? What is our style? What are our values? What do we stand for? Every new manager, coach, player and member of staff should be carefully selected and recruited that share those standards!

Ineos must not make the same mistakes of the past. They must understand salvation cannot be found in one man but the calibration of experts all working tirelessly towards the same purpose and goal. They must implement their philosophy and vision. They must recruit the right people. They must create a coherent plan and devise a roadmap to get there. They must root out incompetence and indifference. They must dismantle player power and eradicate the excuses and blame shifters. What they do in the coming months may just define the next decade.

14 Apr 2024 15:30:03
It's not an impossible job at all.
Dlib they know what they are doing. Not every decision they make will be correct but they will do the right things they have experience and expertise what they mustn't do is listen to rhetoric from people that don't have the 1st clue what they are talking about.

They need subject matter experts they are on acrecruitment drive to fill key roles but they must not be deterred by know it all, know nothings.
You cried here for years wanting a dof and new set up so let them do their jobs. Why you think you your the man to tell experts how to do their job is beyond me.
You just want what you want you have a very high opinion of your own opinions which are based on what knowledge exactly?

Opinions are all valid but you need to understand not to get too attached to your opinion when it's based on no practical knowledge of the job that needs doing.
Just because you feel something must be done does not make it necessarily true.

14 Apr 2024 16:49:01
Tumbleweed you win the internet for a day for the most ironic post of the month. Given some of your post's content, I would say you've excelled yourself in bolloxology with this one! Just too funny 🤣🤣.

14 Apr 2024 17:44:00
Dlib I am not meaning to be negative I have no intimate knowledge either but we have a chance now better than we have had for a long time.
Sjr has been talking the right talk imo.
They have made some good moves in recruitment. They don't have their get under the table yet.
They will need time to u destiny what they must do.
None of us know what they must do.
They need time let's not judge them on the jobs we feel they must do until they understand the priorities themselves.
Surely can't tell them what they must do without knowing the details of so many situations they have on the table.
All any football fan has is hope and belief.
I hope that the investors help turn our fortunes around and at this time I believe they will. I won't agree with lots of stuff that they decide and do. Least of all keep eth in place but if they do it means they are seeing something I'm not and I'll accept that and bow to their greater knowledge. And go back to hoping that whatever they are seeing appears soon 🤣
Maybe it's how I read your posts but they come across to me and my perception is that you are very set on what must happen and questioning decisions before they are made insisting on what you know is the right thing to do. I find that difficult to understand when you don't know most of the details and there could be 100 reasons why your wrong. You call it an impossible job I call it the opportunity of a lifetime for the right manager. I don't understand how any Manchester United supporter wouldn't think that. Its just maybe how we see things differently. I support the club, brand and institution as much as I do the team
I didn't mean to get at you dlib so wanted to explain myself.
I hope that in 12 months that we can see some improvements in all areas but some must come before others are even addressed.
The task they face is monumental and that's even before they are the team issues.
Let's hope we can beat Coventry and all go into the final with a bit of hope if not too much belief🙈.

15 Apr 2024 09:42:56
Bolloxology ken 😂.

13 Apr 2024 22:03:34
Does rashford have nudes of eth or what? I've never seen a player so bereft of form attitude and effort yet he starts nearly every week. My question is why?

13 Apr 2024 22:26:10
Rashfords clearly carrying a knock, but what's the option? Antony had 1 alright game against Chelsea but people forget how bad he was before that, Amad? Manager clearly isn't convinced who else Mount? Just come back from muscle injuries that have had him out most the season, being nursed back into it.

Everyone's keen to slag Rashford but the whole team is awful, they aren't 100% sure on the tactics, which means they aren't committed to them and that's if they understand what they are meant to be doing which I'm not sure they are.

Not only that the gaps in the middle because the defence drop early and the midfielders push up, like the manager wants, mean players aren't flying back all the time as they hope someone else will cover it, not always because they're lazy but because they know there's going to be another mad chase back in a minute or so, they're trying to pace themselves through a match.

14 Apr 2024 11:18:41
Rashford is in poor form, and has probably needed to be dropped to give him the chance to refocus and find his drive and desire again.

Yet the sad reality is that we have such a poor squad that there are literally very few options to drop him for.

Garnacho has shown he needs to play on the right for the time being to help his development. Sancho has had to sit on the naughty step and been shipped out, the club reneged on reintroducing Greenwood and he's been shipped off.

Antony has struggled and has been utterly awful this season. Not even good enough for a team battling relegation, let alone one competing in the UCL.

Amad and Mount have been out injured for the majority of the season. Even if/ when fit they aren't really wingers, neither are quick dribblers or able to play well on the counter. They are more like wide No.10's, creative players who need players around them to play off of.

Which really leaves Pellistri and Shoretire, neither are good enough for this level and should have been sold last summer.

So if you drop Rashford then who are you playing ahead of him?

That's the real problem.

14 Apr 2024 11:26:56
Antony lacks quality but at least he would give us workrate and effort. Both clearly lacking from rashford. Don’t get me wrong there’s more than him at fault but he seems to be one of the worst, and trust me that attitude is infectious in the wrong way.

14 Apr 2024 11:52:54
He seems to be the worst because he's seen as the talisman the match winner and we aren't winning matches, same with Bruno he dragged us through to an undeserved draw yesterday he's barley mentioned other than to say how many misplaced passes he's made or that he runs round like a mad man (people usually say that while complaining Rashford doesn't run round like a madman) .

11 Apr 2024 10:06:05
The summer is looking to be heavy on player departures with either players being sold or contracts not renewed.

My 10 year old boy loves this time of year and creates individual playing cards for our players with his view of what will be happening and what came to fruition.

He has got excited as in his words 'this summer we will be like Chelsea' and generate a good amount of money in sales without impacting the current first team. He has been looking at the loan players and thinks that none of these will return for various reasons with the possibility of generating £80m whilst also clearing £400k week off the wage bill (obviously some of this is currently paid by loan clubs) .

We discussed not all of this will be available due to profitibility rules but this is before we start looking at current players that we could generate a fee for. Realistically we could be looking at another £50+m with potentially more than £600k+ week coming off the wage bill.

All in this could be quite the summer.

11 Apr 2024 14:34:03
I'm not sure our loan players will garner much interest. Sancho can see being another year on loan due to his wage and costs. Greenwood will go but can't see us getting much, as we are over a proverbial barrel. Then Williams and Van de Beek haven't done anything on loan so may be a difficult sell to even loan without covering a significant portion of wages. I have 0 clue how the financial side works so maybe talking garbage.

In terms of contracts expiring we have Evans, Heaton, Martial and Amrabat (loan expiry) right. So significant wages there in Martial alone but Evans may get renewed IMHO?

On the sale front, if we can get buyers, or have sensible transfer values in mind can see Eriksen, Varane, McTominay, AWB, Casemiro and one of Maguire or Lindelof.

11 Apr 2024 14:54:57
Varane is out of contract in June.
If we get 80/ 100m for
Sancho, Greenwood, maguire, hannibal vdb pellistri Williams Fernández it would be good with only sancho looking likely to create a loss on the book value.
Heaton varane martial and Evans are all out of contract
If all those leave it saves a fortune on wages and none bar Evans and varane made any significant contribution this year.
There are only 4 players that could possibly generate decent fees imo
Rash mctom Shaw Bruno will any of those leave?

11 Apr 2024 15:34:40
The outs are definitely the most important aspect this summer in order to reshape the squad and create more space for the highly talented youth we have to come through.

Varane, Martial, Evans, Heaton, and Amrabat will all leave for free (loan return) . Yet they are currently paid around 38m annually. Which is a significant saving on the wage bill (which is around 200m a year for the senior team) .

We then have players like Sancho (30-40m), Greenwood (30-35m), Donny (8-10m), Hannibal (10-12m), Pellistri (8-10m), Williams (5m), Shoretire (0.5-1m) .

Which would raise between 90-100m in transfer fees, and reduce the wage bill by a further 26m.

That's 12 players gone, none bar Varane having played significant minutes for us this season. With around 100m raised in transfer fees, and around 64m saved per year on wages (that's around a 27% reduction of the wage bill) .

I'd expect all of them to leave and fairly early as well. Then we get to the ones who could leave if good offers come in for them.

Maguire could raise 25-30m maybe and would reduce the wages bill by 10m a season, or we could sell Lindelof probably for around 15-18m, his wages are around 6m a year. I'd expect at least one of these guys to go.

One of McTominay or Eriksen would also likely leave this summer. More likely Eriksen as he wants regular football, yet McTominay would bring in more money. Eriksen is on 8m a year, and we might get a nominal fee (5m maybe) for him. McTominay we could probably sell for 20-25m, with his wages around 3m a year.

The other player who could leave is Casemiro, we might be able to get between 20-30m for him, while the big saving would be on his 18m a year wages. I suspect he'll leave this summer, he wants regular football, while if the club don't move him on this summer they might struggle to sell him next summer if he continues to decline. That would mean paying him 18m next season and probably being forced to pay him a further 18m for the final year of his deal.

At a guess I'd say Casemiro, Eriksen, and Lindelof will be the ones to leave. Potentially raising 30-45m in transfer fees, but saving a further 32m a year in wages.

Overall that would maybe mean we bring in 130-150m in transfer fees, while reducing the wage bill by a massive 96m annually. Which would represent nearly a 50% reduction in the wage bill. While very few of those players leaving would have a significant impact on the first team, with most being either squad players who hardly play, or players who are declining and don't have a long term future at the club.

That kind of money raised and that much saved on the wage bill, potentially combined with some investment from the new owners mean that the club could potentially spend 200-300m this summer, as long as they are sensible with the size of the new contracts handed out.

I'm not saying they will spend that much, just that it could well be available for the right players this summer. I don't expect to see silly numbers of signings, 5 or 6 is most likely I'd imagine. Maybe one more if Bayindir pushes to leave, as he'd need to be replaced. But I doubt we'd see a significant amount spent on his replacement. Patrick Schulte is a name I've seen mentioned a few times as a possible keeper signing. Given his contract ends in December I can't imagine he'd be expensive with less than 6 months on his deal.

If I was to hazard a guess I'd say two CB's, a CDM, a LB, a ST or a wide forward would be the most likely signings, with maybe another CM/ CDM if the right player is available for the right price.

11 Apr 2024 21:24:20
If we move on maguire, varane, casemiro, martial, vbd, erikson and sancho that is that will be the best part of 90 million a year on wages saved, that's nearly half our wage bill, absolutely mad money. I know we have to replace them, but if we can cut that in half of what they are paid and get 60 or 70 in transfer fees we look in a much better financial position already and that won't actually damage the quality of the squad.

11 Apr 2024 22:41:52
I provided a pretty comprehensive overview of our squad a few months back, but can't find it to regurgitate as a response.
Basically, sell the dross, promote the youth, where appropriate, and fill the gaps left with potential that can play the high lines we are most famous for.

Keep eth, and by Xmas if not performing bin him, if performing, give him an extension.

I'm not DoF, but that's a solid blueprint.

If course improve backroom staff and setup, improve facilities etc etc.

Basically reestablish our identity.

12 Apr 2024 12:01:51
Jimbored, I've also previously pointed out that our squad is bloated with too many players who simply aren't good enough.

36 players currently in the first team squad, and if we are honest only about 4 or 5 are good enough for the first team with maybe a few more good enough as squad options.

We could easily remove 20 of them without a single Manchester United fan even questioning it.

The worst thing is that this bloated squad is blocking pathways for our academy players into the first team.

Apparently we had 7 of the under 18's training with the first team on Wednesday/ Thursday. Training with the first team is one thing, but they also need opportunities to play otherwise we will never know if they are able to step up.

Youth development is a tricky thing and not an exact science. Pretty much everyone in our academy has the talent to become a EPL footballer (maybe not all of them for a top six side), but will they develop physically, mentally and emotionally to be able to deal with the step up, the pressure and thrive in that atmosphere.

While their development can quickly stagnate if they aren't constantly being pushed to play at a higher level. Looking at our under 18's this season it's obvious that the are a cut above everyone else at that level (despite many of them already playing a year above their age group) . 17 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in 20 games with a goal difference of +47. They will win the league with games to spare. Which begs the question where do they play next season? It would be ridiculous to keep many of them who will still be eligible for the under 18's next season at that level. They will have to be pushed up to the under 21's at least (unless they are not physically ready to play at that level) . Some should also maybe start getting a game or two in the first team.

Yet that can't happen with such a bloated squad. We need to shift out at least 10 more players this summer than we bring in.

That should have multiple benefits. Firstly, it'll give space and opportunities for our academy players to play a few games. Secondly, as anyone whose worked in education will tell you, it's harder and less effective to educate a large group over a smaller group. You don't get enough one to one time with each member to give them personal advice on where and how they can improve. Finally a larger group is much harder to create a team spirit and togetherness. You tend to get breakaway little groups and some players become disengaged because they know they won't get a chance to play often if at all. They start just going through the motions and not training at 100%. That effects the others, it's hard to get the most out of training when those you train with aren't pushing you.

Realistically we should have a core squad of 18-20 outfield players who are all good enough to be first choice. You then have your 3 keepers, and the rest of the squad should be made up of the best young players from your academy, ready to fill in whenever needed. To have opportunities for them to seize and prove themselves.

That should be the aim, and to do that we will need to shift a lot more players this summer than we sign. 15-17 players should probably be heading for the exit door this summer, with 5-6 coming in. That will create the squad needed to successfully train and improve the players, to create a strong team mentality, and to create the space for those super talented academy players to get a few minutes in the first team.

12 Apr 2024 12:39:38
Shappy, I hope you're right about that number of exits. So many players just hanging around stinking the place out.

Plus like you say, it will be fantastic to create the squad space to bring through some more youngsters.

Exciting times ahead (hopefully! )

12 Apr 2024 16:04:13
We need 2 CMs minimum. Especially considering that McTom, Case and/ or Eriksen will be sold.

12 Apr 2024 16:33:25
Idek2346, I don't think all three will go. Casemiro and Eriksen I think will go, but I suspect McTominay will stay for another season.

12 Apr 2024 19:47:43
I remain to be astounded if any of this happens.

We have a manager who is likely moving on again, and have not appointed anybody at DoF, Tech Director, and our new CEO haven’t started yet until summer. So who is doing all this transfer grunt work?

13 Apr 2024 20:09:49
So let’s try and count he outs:

Casemiro, Maguire, Lindelof, Martial, Varane, Amrabat, Eriksen, Evans, wan Bissaka, Heaton, Pellestri, Hannibal.

Then maybe Antony, McT, Rashford if crazy bid comes in?, Bayindir, Amad, maybe Bruno with a silly offer, Malacia?

Would have zero issues with any of the above going!

But that’s a crazy amount of players going and needing to be replaced.