The Latest Utd Manager?

[Stan]

Olly to go the same way as the rest of them in my view so my monies on Pochettino to replace him.

What do you think?

[simoan]

Olly to go the same way as the rest of them in my view so my monies on Pochettino to replace him.

What do you think?

The problem with United is not the manager, it's the level above and Ed Woodward. It's a club that rested on its laurels when it had the greatest British manager of all time and had no plan of succession in place. Both the managers they have employed since Ferguson who have won stuff in their careers (Van Gaal and Mourinho) also won stuff at United but it was not deemed good enough. Mourinho was quite right when he said getting 2nd place in the Premier league with the squad he had at United was his best ever achievement. He was also right about Pogba. All the other post Ferguson managers have no history of winning anything (if you discount the Norwegian League). I don't see how Pochettino is likely to change that. United need a manager with a record of winning things. I'd go for Allegri myself.

BTW I'm a Spurs fan and whilst I appreciated the football we played under Poch, particularly the last season at White Hart Lane, he really should have won something but he always suffered some kind of brain fart and often left making substitutions until too late. I'll never ever forget the FA Cup semi final with Chelsea when he decided to play Son at left back. Pillock.

All the best, Si

[Itsallaguess]

Olly to go the same way as the rest of them in my view so my monies on Pochettino to replace him.

What do you think?

There's far too much short-term thinking in football nowadays, and sometimes club owners need to realise that constantly swapping out managers is not the answer.

I sincerely hope the United owners understand this now, given their recent managerial merry-go-round, and that they give Ole all the time and money that he needs to get them back to where they deserve to be.

Stick with him I say. The fans deserve it...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Stan]

Olly to go the same way as the rest of them in my view so my monies on Pochettino to replace him.

What do you think?

Pochettino it is then

.. and after him?

[Dod101]

Something far wrong with United and I doubt that Pochettino will be an answer.

On current form, Ole will be gone after the Everton game though.

Dod

[Adamski]

The problem for me is Pogba. It's a bit like Asenal with Ozil.

Utd feel obliged to play him as the highest paid, plus a world cup winner, and icon in france.

But I think United's best midfield is fernades, matic and mctominay. Drop Pogba and Fred.

OLe sees them everyday in training so will know whose best. However takes balls to leave "the top" player in the bench.

[Mike88]

I always said his appointment was a disaster based on his management of my own club which he virtually bankrupted with daft purchases which eventually led to relegation from the Premier League. That was not only the fault of OGS but it didn't help as the players soon found out his weaknesses; in football parlance he lost the dressing room very early in his reign.

Despite the derision I received at the time on Lemon Fool, I maintain that appointing a manager, to a club with seemingly unlimited resources who had a poor track record in this country, was a huge mistake and my thinking hasn't changed. However, the Utd Board is as much to blame for basing their decision on short term results and the wishes of fickle fans to have a former Utd great as their leader. It's probably the very fans who urged the Board to point OGS now want him gone such is the nature of football supporters.

The club needs a clear out on and off the pitch.

[Leothebear]

The problem for me is Pogba. It's a bit like Asenal with Ozil.

Utd feel obliged to play him as the highest paid, plus a world cup winner, and icon in france.

But I think United's best midfield is fernades, matic and mctominay. Drop Pogba and Fred.

OLe sees them everyday in training so will know whose best. However takes balls to leave "the top" player in the bench.

I too think he is the problem player. Much as I despise Roy Keane, Utd need that type of inspirational player, instead of a big, sulky prima donna.

[SalvorHardin]

The problem with United is not the manager, it's the level above and Ed Woodward. It's a club that rested on its laurels when it had the greatest British manager of all time and had no plan of succession in place.

Spot on. Appointing Moyes completely screwed us. The plan, such as it was, was to maintain continuity. Moyes wrecked that by sacking all of the coaching staff, replacing them with his mates, then playing like Everton.

Moyes should have been fired for trying to replace the coaches, who Fergie had increasingly let run most of the playing side for a few years. Instead Woodward and the Glazers let him destroy a lot of the team's institutional memory. We should have hired Mourinho back then; instead we got Fergie's mate.

Then we hired two managers with very different playing styles. Increasingly our squad became filled up with players who didn't fit the manager's plans. But the club kept giving these players huge contracts, clogging up the squad.

The Glazers' dumping a lot of debt on the club has caused huge problems. More than £1 billion has been spent on repaying debt and interest payments since they took over.

Replacing Ole with Poch isn't the solution. Poch will still have to operate with owners who micromanage the club themselves (gossip is that approval from the Glazers is required for suprisingly small purchases), and who prefer to sign players more for their social media profile (e.g. Pogba) than for what they do on the pitch.

My fix. Getting new owners who can clear the debt would be nice, but that's not going to happen. The current lot target 4th place, aka The Wenger trophy, and are waiting for a European Super League and clubs selling their own broadcasting rights.

Keep Ole. Pogba never plays again (we're a better side when he doesn't play). Midfield: Fernandes, plus two or three of Fred, van de Beek and McTominay. Make Fernandes captain. Appoint a director of football to deal with transfers.

[Stan]

They’re be going for Dyche next .. no they won’t thank goodness

[Itsallaguess]

Keep Ole.

I'm honestly surprised to hear a Man Utd fan say that.

Do you not watch the current games wondering how he thinks he's able to manage from his seat all the time? It would infuriate me to see some of the issues going on in some of the recent United games, and then see the camera pan to Ole yet again sat in his seat chewing his lip...

I don't think I've ever seen a manager at a top club so clearly out of his depth...

I should caveat the above by saying that I totally agree with you about Pogba, and also by saying that there's clearly been unsavoury elements of 'player power' in that dressing room since Ferguson left that *any* manager is going struggle with before it's dealt with, but to start that process United are going to have to be able to attract the replacement players they need, and I'd be questioning if Ole is in a position to be able to do that...

The biggest problem United have got is that it's not just one problem...

Trying to fix the current issues must feel like trying to nail jelly to the wall....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[simoan]

Keep Ole.

I'm honestly surprised to hear a Man Utd fan say that.

Do you not watch the current games wondering how he thinks he's able to manage from his seat all the time? It would infuriate me to see some of the issues going on in some of the recent United games, and then see the camera pan to Ole yet again sat in his seat chewing his lip...

I don't think I've ever seen a manager at a top club so clearly out of his depth...

I should caveat the above by saying that I totally agree with you about Pogba, and also by saying that there's clearly been unsavoury elements of 'player power' in that dressing room since Ferguson left that *any* manager is going struggle with before it's dealt with, but to start that process United are going to have to be able to attract the replacement players they need, and I'd be questioning if Ole is in a position to be able to do that...

The biggest problem United have got is that it's not just one problem...

Trying to fix the current issues must feel like trying to nail jelly to the wall....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

I agree Solskjaer is completely out of his depth at such a big club. They need to get Allegri before he decides to go elsewhere. Pogba played his best football under him and Conte at Juventus. However, I agree with Salvor Hardin and hope they stick with Ole

All the best, Si

[SalvorHardin]

Keep Ole.

I'm honestly surprised to hear a Man Utd fan say that.

Do you not watch the current games wondering how he thinks he's able to manage from his seat all the time? It would infuriate me to see some of the issues going on in some of the recent United games, and then see the camera pan to Ole yet again sat in his seat chewing his lip...

I don't think I've ever seen a manager at a top club so clearly out of his depth...

There are a lot of us who want Ole to stay, especially on some fansites (e.g. Red Issued) where there is overwhelming support.

When your defence takes the night off as they did in the first half last night, there's not much the manager can do about it.

The problems mostly come from above. Alexis Sanchez is a great example; a Woodward signing to put one over Citeh, his massive contract disrupted the squad (and Mourinho didn't want him).

Nowadays we've become a promotions and merchandising business which happens to own a football club. Did you know that Manchester United has an official tractor partner!

When we fell apart in March 2019, after being brilliant since Ole turned up, a major cause was disharmony in the squad. Caused by the board giving big contracts to several English players whilst deliberately snubbing the (better) Spanish players, notably Ander Herrera.

Pogba's antics, especially whilst injured, are indulged by the board - under Fergie he'd be gone.

Ole has a very good record against big clubs. We're wildly inconsistent at the moment (beat PSG, stuff Leipzig then lose to team no-one's heard of) and when we lose it's portrayed by much of the media as the end of the world.

Getting stuffed by Spurs was an example of this inconsistency. The media mostly ignored some terrible refereeing (sending Martial off whilst not sending off the Spurs player who hit him first).

As to managers out of their depth, nothing beats Moyes. Ole is Fergie in comparison to him.

Ole does get up quite a bit during matches. The TV coverage regularly ignores it. Many posters on forums who attend matches have remarked about this.

[Itsallaguess]

The media mostly ignored some terrible refereeing - sending Martial off whilst not sending off the Spurs player who hit him first.

That was an absolutely ridiculous decision, and that's coming from a Liverpool supporter too, although I've got to say that I think most clubs are getting their fair share of unbelievable decisions this season...

I'm not sure how Lamela is able to look anyone in the eye after that episode...just shameless...

It's a pity really, because the VAR technology is there to be used correctly, but the fact is that it's being utilised by a pack of muppets...

Don't even get me started on the late off-side flags...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[simoan]

Getting stuffed by Spurs was an example of this inconsistency. The media mostly ignored some terrible refereeing (sending Martial off whilst not sending off the Spurs player who hit him first).

I think it's always easy to make excuses based on a bad decision and blame the referee/VAR. I believe the only league United won last season was being the biggest beneficiary from points awarded by VAR . What goes around comes around and all teams suffer these types of decisions over the course of a season. The fact is that United were second best before Martial got sent off (Spurs were winning 2-1) and even with 10 men the way the team reacted was abysmal and completely unacceptable. Very few games that end up 10 vs 11 end up in a 6-1 spanking. Can you imagine what would've happened at half-time if Fergie was in charge? Cups bouncing off the walls, hair dryers etc. Ultimately, Ole lacks authority within the hierarchy at United, and that's a huge problem at such a big club. I'm not surprised they seem incapable of attracting the top players they need whilst he is manager.

All the best, Si

[Mike88]

I think it is fair to say Fernandes was instrumental in the team's improvement last season. He made an instant impact as soon as he arrived; he ran everywhere, chased back, shot on sight and was a constant threat to the opposition. Has anyone noticed how his performances have dropped off this season? His energy seems to have gone and is looking a fraction of the player seen last season. Last season he was highly motivated but this season less so.

The way Fernandes performance has declined reminds me of how the performances of the players in my team declined once they worked out OGS was not up to it.

A side as huge as Manchester Utd should have appointed a top manager; there would have been no shortage of people wanting the job. Instead they hired a person purely on the basis he once played for the club. Whose to blame? OGS for being sub standard and lacking a consistent track record in the English game, the Board or both?

My view is that they should all go.

[Dod101]

Fundamentally, the problem is lies with the owners, although they may not even see it as a problem. I suspect that as long as they get the profit that they need, they do not care what goes on on the pitch. As long as the revenues keep rolling in they have no problem. Once a few sponsors pull out and the worldwide brand is not quite what it was they will start to listen, or maybe even look for buyers.

For the moment though, they do not care who manages Manchester United I am quite sure. OGS is clearly not up to it but Mourinho could not make anything of it either and I imagine that Pochettino, if he arrived, would be no better. The owners will only spend if they have to but whether Pogba is part of the team or not I cannot imagine bothers them very much.

Dod

[SalvorHardin]

For the moment though, they do not care who manages Manchester United I am quite sure. OGS is clearly not up to it but Mourinho could not make anything of it either and I imagine that Pochettino, if he arrived, would be no better. The owners will only spend if they have to but whether Pogba is part of the team or not I cannot imagine bothers them very much.

True. If they sack Ole his replacement will have to deal with the same setup, the same disgruntled players (many of whom are on massive contracts so can't easily be moved on), a board that undermines the manager by siding with players and their agents, a poor scouting system, and soon people will be calling for him to be fired.

The owners are highly motivated by money, hence their pushing the European Super League and huge changes to the domestic setup.

They'd love to end promotion and relegation, turning football into something like the NFL. The club is known to be up for sale, for £4 billion last I heard (not worth that without a Super League and clubs selling individual broadcasting rights).

Mourinho was brought down by player power (and some boring football), notably Pogba who rumour has it was guaranteed to play (when fit) regardless of form because of support from the higher ups.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (IMHO our best post-Fergie signing) had been a huge stabilising force for Mourinho in the dressing room. When he left a lot of infighting surfaced.

Since Ole got the job our transfers, both in and out, have been a lot better. And we did beat PSG convincingly recently, with Tuanzebe largely keeping Neymar and Mbappe out of the game.

[Dod101]

Fundamentally though, if you cannot stop the nonsense of the first goal last evening, you, as The Times said this morning, need to distribute 'Football for Dummies.' It had to be the most stupid mistake of all time. Where was (or who was?) the Captain? A defence is surely the first thing (defence?) we need. All very well saying they went AWOL. NIce happy solution, but for heaven's sake this is important.

Dod

[simoan]

For the moment though, they do not care who manages Manchester United I am quite sure. OGS is clearly not up to it but Mourinho could not make anything of it either and I imagine that Pochettino, if he arrived, would be no better.

Dod

Don't get me wrong. Whilst Pochettino has no history of winning anything he did turn Spurs into a regular top 4 team without spending any money and playing really good football. I have no doubt he will improve what happens on the pitch over the short term. One of his better skills is man management and in particular motivating younger players of which United have a few that could see rapid improvement. It's easy to forget what a mess Spurs were in when he first arrived with some very divisive figures in the dressing room e.g. Adebayor, Kaboul and having to deal with some of the dross we bought with the Bale money (Soldado, Chiriches, Paulinho, Capoue).

All the best, Si