Mourinho and Ole assembled a disgraceful and loathsome squad of players. Ten Hag should be given full backing in dismantling this snake pit over the next few windows.
Athletic | Manchester United: Inside Ralf Rangnick’s spell as interim manager
- Thread starter Teja
- Start date
Yeah, precisely and he wouldn’t have been giving Bailly the arm around the shoulder treatment if he was taking the piss either. His advice to Dave Brailsford for continued success always sticks with me "Get rid of the c*nts". Unfortunately, the c*nts seem to run our dressing room.
To be fair, I don't see too many fans on here letting the players of the hook. You're right about the media but I suspect they are biased towards their sources.Sounds like half the story. I can add more. Leaking to the press. Fighting and arguing in the dressing room. Downing tools. 90 percent of players just abandoning all form - Rashford, Bruno, Maguire etc (even with all the sht going down you can still play well - De Gea managed it), Lack of any leadership from senior players - especially the captain. It can go on and on and on. And yet we have already moved into the 'its all Ralfs fault and lets give the players a clean slate' land from some press and fans. I dont think there is anything that could go wrong that didnt. Heck we couldnt even serve hot food that one game!
If Mourinho had his way then Pogba and Martial would have been gone! So we would have got rid of at least two toxic players years ago... the players that Mourinho wanted to buy as replacements is a different story.
It’s important to listen to Rangnick experience and assessments. He sounds like a very sensible man.
On the other hand I never felt Rangnick took responsibility for anything during his time as a manager. Like he identified himself more as an evaluator than a manager. Pretty weird.
My conclusion: Rangnick is a good evaluator and his strength is strategic thinking. He is a terrible manager; the worst manager we’ve had as long as I can remember.
On the other hand I never felt Rangnick took responsibility for anything during his time as a manager. Like he identified himself more as an evaluator than a manager. Pretty weird.
My conclusion: Rangnick is a good evaluator and his strength is strategic thinking. He is a terrible manager; the worst manager we’ve had as long as I can remember.
Last edited:
This makes for depressing reading. If true, we continue to be poorly run post Woodward. Hopefully ETH gets full support from Murtough and company.
The one in bold really is bemusing isn't it? Did Ole really think Mctominay was going to cut it?
Revisionist history a bit though? Under Ole we were making progress up until this season (when the players decided they were too tired/downed tools again).
Under mourinho we actually won something.
Hopefully with a footballing structure in place we will be buying players for a system and not for a manager.
Well, everyone we fired had that kind of story coming out after the end anyway.
Everyone who didn't do well at a workplace had difficulties.
As for Ronaldo, of course, he could act that (not an excuse for him). But he not starting every game is not new to him. That happened to him since he was in RM days. But RR's lack of man-management skills probably did not help the situation a lot. The weird things are that RR thought he would bench Ronaldo more (when he was the one bailing the team out more than not and there was NO ONE to replace him) and play two false nines with Bruno and Pogba ( Pogba to press?) in the City game. The tactical change to the City game led us to nowhere at all. RR's lack of man-management and coaching skills cannot be ignored here to make this thing worse. The squad stopped trusting him and we knew what happened. One important thing was that how Carrick came in and managed for three games with everything looking under control (I know small samples and all.)
He was just out of depth in every department except saying what we have been saying on CAF for ages such as we are not recruiting well, etc.
Everyone who didn't do well at a workplace had difficulties.
As for Ronaldo, of course, he could act that (not an excuse for him). But he not starting every game is not new to him. That happened to him since he was in RM days. But RR's lack of man-management skills probably did not help the situation a lot. The weird things are that RR thought he would bench Ronaldo more (when he was the one bailing the team out more than not and there was NO ONE to replace him) and play two false nines with Bruno and Pogba ( Pogba to press?) in the City game. The tactical change to the City game led us to nowhere at all. RR's lack of man-management and coaching skills cannot be ignored here to make this thing worse. The squad stopped trusting him and we knew what happened. One important thing was that how Carrick came in and managed for three games with everything looking under control (I know small samples and all.)
He was just out of depth in every department except saying what we have been saying on CAF for ages such as we are not recruiting well, etc.
Last edited:
Cop out. Jose was part of the problem. His boy Lukaku was part of the toxicity. When the privileges ended under Ole he didn't waste time to get the hell out of here. Same high maintenance diva at chelsea.
I've no reason to disbelieve any of these claims. They fit most of the models we've discussed ad nauseum - downing tools, lack of cohesion, etc.
He's massively on point in terms of there being a lack of long-term thinking with regard to signings and style of play. We'll do better as a football club to work on this but it could take anywhere between 3-5 years to fix, regardless of whether ETH is a success. I hope fans have the patience for it
Harsh. Fergie was pretty decent.
He's massively on point in terms of there being a lack of long-term thinking with regard to signings and style of play. We'll do better as a football club to work on this but it could take anywhere between 3-5 years to fix, regardless of whether ETH is a success. I hope fans have the patience for it
Harsh. Fergie was pretty decent.
It's going to take years to sort all this shit out isn't it 
Honestly, I can't blame him. If you're being subjected to school boy comments from your team and they're perfectly willing to throw you under the bus, why would you take responsibility. There was a definite improvement in performances after he started but then the team downed tools. I think he's right to call them all out and show them up. That dressing room sounds like a nest of vipers.
Murtough and Fletcher definitely don't come out of that article unscathed either. Murtough wouldn't engage with Rangnick on transfers, didn't support him to the team and sent Fletcher off to do his dirty work.
It's going to take years to sort all this shit out isn't it
Yes. The clubs been a mess for years. Loads of players have alluded to it over the past decade
I know he was only the interim manager, but he never really seemed like the manager even a little bit. Is that normally how it feels in this situation? There was always a distance between him and the job at hand.
A lot of mistakes and poor choices were made, but it’s staggering how this club has ended up in such a sorry mess.
A lot of mistakes and poor choices were made, but it’s staggering how this club has ended up in such a sorry mess.
Laurie Whitwell can absolutely do one as far as I'm concerned. He's supposed to be a big united fan but has a new massive leaked story every single week it feels like and it's really really not helping matters.
Ha ha.. You’re right. Have to edit that one
Correct.
Upper management shouldn't leave a coach/manager (even an interim one) bewildered. They should be clear about what they want, first and foremost.
And they certainly shouldn't sit back if there's any reason to think the coach/manager lacks authority in the dressing room.
We can hire all the ETHs in the world, it'll make feck all difference if there's no dramatic change in how the people above him run the football side.
[Obvious caveat: we shouldn't treat this article as gospel.]
Yeah, I mean we're getting certain people's points of view for sure. Mike Phelan randomly the only one coming out of it with credit is certainly suspicious! Still, it all rings true with what we're seeing with our own eyes every week. Sounds like Murtough appointed him and almost immediately wanted to wash his hands of him when he started asking questions that may not have portrayed the football departments in great light.
I've been saying the same for a while (and I didn't even remember Diaz!)
We have finally got the answer to who he's been speaking to all this time with his air pods
If it exposes all the cnuts in the team then it absolutely is helping.
Redissue has more of the text (maybe all of it?).
Lots of paragraphs about the problems with RR working with a scout based in Denmark, rather than the guy sitting 20 feet away from him (what does that say about the guy sitting 20 yards away from him?)
Lots and lots about Ronaldo...my favorite was when it was said that "Ronaldo was missing at a squad lunch." like it was a show of disharmony. Then it added " eight or nine other senior players did not go and attendance was not mandatory", which made it sound like most of the starting players weren't there.
Absolutely not a single negative word about the English players* other than Greenwood -- one mention of him being arrested and the following paragraph being about how he was the type of forward RR really liked. There was something about RR tearing into Bailly --- I guess coming back injured from the African Cup was more upsetting than being charged with rape since there was no hint of any lack of harmony with Greenwood.
Maybe there's more to come? If not, I'd say that Ronaldo is the only player who isn't leaking.
*I did cntl^F. Rashford is mentioned exactly twice -- once about him scoring an injury time winner and the 2nd time about him being selected for the away game at Athletico Madrid.
**It does say that Phelan became indispensible as time went on.....hmmmmm.
Lots of paragraphs about the problems with RR working with a scout based in Denmark, rather than the guy sitting 20 feet away from him (what does that say about the guy sitting 20 yards away from him?)
Lots and lots about Ronaldo...my favorite was when it was said that "Ronaldo was missing at a squad lunch." like it was a show of disharmony. Then it added " eight or nine other senior players did not go and attendance was not mandatory", which made it sound like most of the starting players weren't there.
Absolutely not a single negative word about the English players* other than Greenwood -- one mention of him being arrested and the following paragraph being about how he was the type of forward RR really liked. There was something about RR tearing into Bailly --- I guess coming back injured from the African Cup was more upsetting than being charged with rape since there was no hint of any lack of harmony with Greenwood.
Maybe there's more to come? If not, I'd say that Ronaldo is the only player who isn't leaking.
*I did cntl^F. Rashford is mentioned exactly twice -- once about him scoring an injury time winner and the 2nd time about him being selected for the away game at Athletico Madrid.
**It does say that Phelan became indispensible as time went on.....hmmmmm.
Maybe. It has already and we're as shit as ever.It's going to take years to sort all this shit out isn't it
But these stories always come out when a team is losing and shit. If we were winning and successful, we could have 80% of the same problems behind the scenes and not hear about it.
If the club start making some good decisions, getting a style of play, enjoy playing and things start to click then it'll turn around quickly. It's about getting that break I think.
I can't even think of one player who I'd say has 100% unequivocally been a success in the last decade. Once they sort out the simple things like recruitment, and little thing after little thing start going right, it'll change the whole momentum.
Whether United will start making good decisions is yet to be seen.
He's a journalist!
You expect him to turn down stories and not report on them because it might paint United in a bad way. That's not his problem.
It's going to take years to sort all this shit out isn't it
More than likely, yeah. The fact of the matter is, our two biggest rivals have better managers, better recruitment and a better structure both on the field and off it. Realistically, we could do everything right and still not overtake those two teams.
Yes, that's a huge dose of pessimism right there, but it's how i feel at the moment.
Exactly.
It's like when people criticise Andy Mitten. They are journalists who respect their profession.
No one has mentioned here that in January Ralf tried to get a meeting with Judge and Woodward and couldn't not get one. It's criminal.
Yeah, I'm surprised at some of the shit Mitten gets on here. He's been in the game for a long time and is very respected. Not to say you have to agree with everything he says, but at the end of the day, it's up to United to sort their shit out. Not for journalists to not report on it.
Sounds like someone coming into the club that had a clear idea of doing things a certain way and had absolutely nothing in place (through fault of himself, the club and the players) to do so. What a fecking mess.
I still think he was the interim we needed though, it feels like he hasn't held back on telling the club what a fecking mess we are and it's clear steps are being taken to sort it. Yes, we could have got a better coach, who may have got us into CL and even gotten the job long-term, but where would that leave us in a couple of years if the clowns are still at the circus, just with a different act?
I still think he was the interim we needed though, it feels like he hasn't held back on telling the club what a fecking mess we are and it's clear steps are being taken to sort it. Yes, we could have got a better coach, who may have got us into CL and even gotten the job long-term, but where would that leave us in a couple of years if the clowns are still at the circus, just with a different act?
@Teja Thank you for summarising in such depth whilst sticking within the rules re paywall sites. Good post.
Why did Ralf and the club allow them to leave then?
They were under contract so they couldn't just unilaterally decide to feck off mid-season. Ralf didn't seem too fussed when he let McKenna leave for Ipswich a few weeks into his reign.
If this was Rashford we would call it a PR piece. In the spirit of keeping the same energy this is 100% the same for Rangnick with this article.
Not saying some of it isn't true but you can poke holes through many points raised here. It doesn't seem even remotely objective.
If any report took a pro player approach in the same way this has for Rangnick the responses would be accusing players of briefing the press and being unprofessional.
Not saying some of it isn't true but you can poke holes through many points raised here. It doesn't seem even remotely objective.
If any report took a pro player approach in the same way this has for Rangnick the responses would be accusing players of briefing the press and being unprofessional.
Since when did Ralf let them leave? He has no say. It's the club who let them leave. Plus it would create a much worse atmosphere trying to keep coaches who don't want to be at the club. These are not players who needs to get transferred.
We can't blame our managers. Our scouting department has been nothing short of a disgrace and by all accounts Ed Woodward meddled in transfers and sometimes just outright went and signed players...like is seemingly the case with DvdB
I don´t like to do what I am told, my old boss told me I have the freedom to do what I want so I don´t care for anything else.
Holy shit these players are spoiled beyond fixing and the club is to blame for all of these problems.
Holy shit these players are spoiled beyond fixing and the club is to blame for all of these problems.
We’ve been a team full of rot and decay for a decade but we were some how just about held together by Sir Alex’s pure genius, the second he retired the second it all began falling apart.
I have said for years that we had no vision or structure in place and every manager we’ve had post Sir Alex played a completely different way so on the pitch we were a massive clusterfeck whilst behind the scenes the toxicity grew more and more, I’m far from a Jose fan but he said himself just how bad things were.
I have said for years that we had no vision or structure in place and every manager we’ve had post Sir Alex played a completely different way so on the pitch we were a massive clusterfeck whilst behind the scenes the toxicity grew more and more, I’m far from a Jose fan but he said himself just how bad things were.
When he became the manager obviously. McKenna was sitting on the bench beside him for his first few games in charge so he didn't leave without Ralf's blessing. If Rangnick had told the club he needed McKenna then he wouldn't have been allowed to speak to Ipswich.
Manchester United isn't some voluntary organisation where people can come and go as they please, coaches are under contract. The manager (in this instance Rangnick) decides who goes/stays/arrives when it comes to his coaching staff.
And as far as I know no player has hired a current (temporary hiatus) Athletic journalist to work as their media advisor.
https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/...advisor-after-lingard-and-martial-storms/?amp
https://theathletic.com/author/raphael-honigstein/
I'm surprised this isn't talked about more to be honest.