BBC: United hold talks with Mourinho

[Summit]

Don't make me post an image of the edit log Summit.

It's cool, do it. I edited it well before you popped in with your post.

 

[Rado_N]

 

[Summit]

Sport witness are sceptical of the person responsible for the article. Says he wrote a very critical book about Mourinho and was sure Mendes and Mourinho would give this guy no info after saying Mourinho cried.

 

[bosnian_red]

Never saw that. I get why people don't like him as he can be a dickhead but I've always liked him personally. I'd rather a confident, arrogant even personality in charge then someone like Moyes, that's why even though Van Gaal has been shite for us, he's still more suited to us then Moyes ever was. Mourinho even more so. Just want it to get sorted though, as I have no doubt that he'll get us back to the top challenging for trophies.

 

[Adisa]

The article also says we have reserved the right to cancel the contract if we find a more suitable candidate. Goes with the theory that Mourinho isn't our first choice.

 

[POF]

Well, they did it in the Champions League last season against PSG. I think you make some good points, but I'm often reading this reliability argument and I don't agree with it. He lost at home against Sunderland in 2014 with 4 matches to play, for example. Liverpool were first in the league (77 pts) and Chelsea second (75). The result that weekend was Chelsea 1 - Sunderland 2 (Eto'o 12) (Wickham 18, Borini 82).

It happened the same in the Champions League that year, they started scoring against Atletico at home in the second leg, and the match ended 1-3. And against PSG two years later like I said, at home and against 10 players which makes it even worse.

It happened in the European Supercup against Guardiola, and against Bayern again when he managed Real. They scored 2 goals at home in the first minutes, then parked the bus and Bayern dominated the match and had the most clear chances. We saw it also at OT last season, when he ended the match trying to defend the 0-1 with 8 defenders clearing the ball from the box, which led us to surround them and get the draw.

Maybe if we go back 8-10 years, his first Chelsea team was very difficult to beat when they scored first. Inter was a tough team too, so mature and disciplined. But in the last years I don't see this solidity anywhere, in fact I don't see anything to be impressed. He won 2 leagues in the last 6 seasons, one of them against one of the better teams in history, which is remarkable. But aside from that, I don't see any miracles during this time. After that season he's managed for 4 years, 2 of them trophyless and the last one he was sacked after being a total mess. Honestly, I don't think he's a guarantee of anything.

Absolutely. Mourinho is no guarantee of anything but he is clearly the best available manager now and the most obvious one who can bring a winning mentality back to a club who built it over 26 years and lost it in a few months under Moyes.

You are right about those European games. It is harder to do in Europe for a number of reasons, mainly becauss English teams are not as good as their European counterparts. United don't need to worry about Europe for now. The priority is to return to being a force in the Premier League. In his first 2 years back in England Mourinho had an amazing record against title rivals and his record was better the more important the game was.

I agree that United need a complete restructure of the footballing element of the club. They need young footballing blood that can produce long term stability and vision outside of the manager's position. But this is a club that took a year to appoint a current club employee as head of the academy. The restructure could/will take years.

Mourinho has never shown that he can build long term success at a club. He tried and failed in his latest spell at Chelsea but you can tell he really wants to have a long term spell now. Can he do it? Who knows. But first and foremost United needs someone to make them competitive now. He is the clear and obvious choice.

 

[Someone]

 

[Trizy]

Just bring him in now.. couldn't be worse than LVG.

 

[Someone]

 

[pseudo_canadian]

If all of that is true, then our club is the most dithering load of cnuts ever.

 

[Someone]

 

[Bojan11]

Fergie and Charlton should have little say in the decision.

 

[Florida Man]

Got my zipper down with my hand down my pants, ready to whip it out.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Well, they did it in the Champions League last season against PSG. I think you make some good points, but I'm often reading this reliability argument and I don't agree with it. He lost at home against Sunderland in 2014 with 4 matches to play, for example. Liverpool were first in the league (77 pts) and Chelsea second (75). The result that weekend was Chelsea 1 - Sunderland 2 (Eto'o 12) (Wickham 18, Borini 82).

It happened the same in the Champions League that year, they started scoring against Atletico at home in the second leg, and the match ended 1-3. And against PSG two years later like I said, at home and against 10 players which makes it even worse.

It happened in the European Supercup against Guardiola, and against Bayern again when he managed Real. They scored 2 goals at home in the first minutes, then parked the bus and Bayern dominated the match and had the most clear chances. We saw it also at OT last season, when he ended the match trying to defend the 0-1 with 8 defenders clearing the ball from the box, which led us to surround them and get the draw.

Maybe if we go back 8-10 years, his first Chelsea team was very difficult to beat when they scored first. Inter was a tough team too, so mature and disciplined. But in the last years I don't see this solidity anywhere, in fact I don't see anything to be impressed. He won 2 leagues in the last 6 seasons, one of them against one of the better teams in history, which is remarkable. But aside from that, I don't see any miracles during this time. After that season he's managed for 4 years, 2 of them trophyless and the last one he was sacked after being a total mess. Honestly, I don't think he's a guarantee of anything.

Good points.

 

[Natener]

Don't like this. Either we tell SAF and Sir Bobby to stay out of this entirely or we should have gone for someone else from the start. It won't help anyone if Mourinho comes in knowing the two most respected figures at the club were against his appointment.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Fergie and Charlton should have little say in the decision.

They should have fecking zero at this point, they're not the ones in charge.

 

[stepic]

If true, Fergie's and Charlton's reservations are really irritating.

 

[Zoo]

 

[Leftback99]

So according to this article there's a chance we could pay Mourinho £15m for literally nothing? I'm skeptical.

 

[Rado_N]

Fergie and Charlton should absolutely no say in the decision.

Fixed

 

[Irrational.]

... Because we all know what happened the last time we hired a Sir Alex/ BC approved manager.

I'm sure this has been said plenty of times throughout this thread but:

Mourinho is a winner, made for a winning club like United. I don't care if that makes us the most loathed club in the world, sign him the feck up. He'd bring a ruthlessness and win-at-all-costs mentality that we sorely lack.

 

[a_devil_inside]

If we're leaving it until May 1st then we may as well just announce it as soon as the season finishes. If he was announced then what effect would it have on Van Gaal's last few games?

 

[Grylte]

So according to this article there's a chance we could pay Mourinho £15m for literally nothing? I'm skeptical.

Well, to be fair, we paid LvG alot more to do worse than that!

 

[Pexbo]

So according to this article there's a chance we could pay Mourinho £15m for literally nothing? I'm skeptical.

Smart money in my opinion.

We secure the best possible manager available and keep our old boys happy that they can sound out other options in the mean time.

The reality is that if a contract is in place, we will sign him.

 

[ravi2]

Fergie and Charlton should have little say in the decision.

They should have fecking zero at this point, they're not the ones in charge.

If true, Fergie's and Charlton's reservations are really irritating.

Aren't those the two who were behind Moyes....they chose Moyes, who had never won anything instead of Jose who had won it all numerous times in a critical point in our clubs history and the sequence of events after that led us into the predicament we are in today. That is being out of the champions league 2 out of 3 years and the team in shambles.

 

[Spock]

... Because we all know what happened the last time we hired a Sir Alex/ BC approved manager.

I'm sure this has been said plenty of times throughout this thread but:

Mourinho is a winner, made for a winning club like United. I don't care if that makes us the most loathed club in the world, sign him the feck up. He'd bring a ruthlessness and win-at-all-costs mentality that we sorely lack.

It's just that simple.

There are some who complain about his defensive tactics, but it's a bad rap IMHO. If you want trophies, goals and clean sheets, then you go with a manager who has delivered over the last decade.

 

[Nani Nana]

Yes José come over here love

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

With all due respect, Woodward needs to stick two fingers up at the "footballing" board, and do what is right for the club's successes in the immediate future, whilst ignoring the 'romantic' options.

Even if Giggs had a bit of experience, it's just not the right time. He'd be up against Klopp and Pep at our two fiercest rivals next season. He is not the man to take them down. Not yet anyway. He may never be. We just don't know, but for him to inherit the job and have a run at them with zero experience would be lunacy.

 

[Seveneric]

Gee, I wonder where that account could be getting the idea that SAF and Charlton are opposed. It's not like that story is not a plot line that newspapers and other journos have been regurgitating for more than a year now

 

[Hammerfell]

The man's an egotesticle but my god do I want him here.

 

[bri2013]

Seems the Beeb have it on their gossip column now.

Just confirmation of the tweet posted by @Summit a couple of pages back

 

[.Rossi]

If true, what is Fergie's problem?!

 

[dwd]

I don't buy the notion that Fergie is opposed to Jose taking over. I've seen it come out his own mouth that he would have been considered the first time round had he not already agreed to rejoin Chelsea. What's changed since then other than the fact we've got even worse and need him more than before?

 

[clarkydaz]

if those pointers are true, who else realisticly is there to be at loggerheads? So its a tug of war with Jose/Giggs, hence the strong opinions of Yorke this week saying Jose is too old and its a young mans game now

 

[markorm]

It's good to see our club is being watched over and is in good hands!

Spoiler

 

[Minimalist]

I find all of that bizarre and therefore hard to believe. Why would we essentially pay a manager to be on hold until we confirm there's no one better out there? Just sounds ridiculous all round.

Then again...

Anyway if it was actually true about Ferguson and Charlton then Woodward really needs to assert his role and tell them their opinions are valuable but ultimately it's his decision. The idea of some kind of power struggle is crazy to me. Ferguson, beyond respect and good relationships with people, should have little power compared to Woodward.

 

[.Rossi]

I don't buy the notion that Fergie is opposed to Jose taking over. I've seen it come out his own mouth that he would have been considered the first time round had he not already agreed to rejoin Chelsea. What's changed since then other than the fact we've got even worse and need him more than before?

Sir Alex Ferguson telling a lie?! Surely not

 

[bri2013]

 

[.Rossi]

if those pointers are true, who else realisticly is there to be at loggerheads? So its a tug of war with Jose/Giggs, hence the strong opinions of Yorke this week saying Jose is too old and its a young mans game now

Dwight "Moyes is the right man" Yorke

 

[dwd]

Sir Alex Ferguson telling a lie?! Surely not

What does he gain from lying about that?

The only thing I can think of is to wind Mourinho up, but Jose always speaks so highly of him so I don't get the agenda if there is one.