I like the way youve put "fans" in inverted commas, as though sticking by the club "even through bad times" makes them lesser supporters.
BBC: United hold talks with Mourinho
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And the club's clearly very bothered about it aren't they?
Not sure it's about money myself Adebesi. Five million pounds is nothing to a club like United, bearing in mind they're on track to earn £500m this year. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35548741
Given LVG's spent well over £100m net on new players, and looks like missing out on the CL, he's been hugely expensive for United. So the fact that he's still at the club can't have anything to do with cash.
I was actually thinking about the same case. I think im gonna do that.
Pointless. We're not Accrington Stanley, £5m is nothing to us and the payoff isn't a factor in the decision.
Do any of us know whether the club are bothered or not? I would guess not, unless Woodward and Sir Bobby Charlton are secretly posting on redcafe.
Making sweeping statements based on the attitude of the United board isn't particularly constructive IMO.
That story about having to pay him off must surely be on the basis of us somehow scraping 4th place, there's absolutely no way his contract doesn't contain a 'no CL and you're out' clause.
He's definitely a top 3 manager in the world. We dont even make top 5 in england. But yeah, whatever floats your boat.
The only reason he's out of job is that he's waiting for united, if we dont make the offer he can pinpoint any team in the world bar barcelona and perhaps munich and he'll get tye job.
fecking arsenal will deliver wenger to airport themselves for jose
Positive (sort of) thinking:
If LvG is still in a job 3 weeks from today, we will know that he is staying. We can put all the speculation to bed, get over it and get ready for the Euros or focus on other things
If LvG is to go, there should be an announcement in the next 3 weeks. Which isn't long to wait considering most of us have been waiting the best part of 6 months hoping for his sacking
If LvG is still in a job 3 weeks from today, we will know that he is staying. We can put all the speculation to bed, get over it and get ready for the Euros or focus on other things
If LvG is to go, there should be an announcement in the next 3 weeks. Which isn't long to wait considering most of us have been waiting the best part of 6 months hoping for his sacking
Yeah Im inclined to agree as it happens. I mean, if Jim sorts out the crowdfunding ill chip in. It would still make a statement of sorts. But I suspect this will happen anyway and it is more a question of timing - which I have been arguing for months. I know people say City were already struggling before the announcement but to me it seems fairly clear that distraction made it a lot worse, or last a lot longer. I think we have taken the decision and it will be announced once the season is over.
If one week after the season is over Van Gaal still hasnt resigned (I also think that is how it will happen, though I am less sure about that than that he will leave one way or the other) I will up my donation to the Feck of Van Gaal Fund 10 fold.
I think it's just the same as with Moyes. If he misses 4th then he loses a crap load of money in his pay off. Moyes would have been very very expensive to sack had they done it before 4th was mathematically impossible, so they say
I don't think making fourth matters with regards to bringing Jose in. I think the board are doing the logical thing in waiting for the season to be over before announcing anything as we still have a shot at 4th and the FA cup final coming up. All the journos dont know squat, and are recycling the same garbage due to a lack of any meaningful update from the club.
Of course it's not about the money...I honestly think the Club thinks fans are happy. I would love to convey the message that it's not the case.
Yeah, I'd have imagined it would have been a big pay off, seen as he signed a 6 year contract, and we weren't even done with his first year.
So unless it top 4 was mathematically out the equation, it would have been a negotiation based on the value of the remaining 5 odd years.
I can only assume, or better yet, hope, that the same clause is in LvG's contract and that's the only reason we've waited.
Top 4 and a FA Cup for LvG though....
that'd be a interesting twist and dilemma, for the Board at least. 
funnily enough i play this team in my FIFA15 game hah
Similarly, do any of us know the minds of fans in Asia? Pot and kettle.
Oh come on, he's only waiting for Utd because there's no other job open for him.
As for Arsenal, they've had plenty of opportunity were they interested in him. They're clearly not.
Have you seen responses on social media from fans on any post/status/tweets? It is impossible for them to think fans are happy. Even the match going fans' reactions in general should tell otherwise to them.
Have you seen our website/social media presence? I don't think anyone at the club knows how to operate a computer. We'd have better luck if we faxed our protests in.
I think there are other jobs open to him to be fair. There may not be many other English jobs open to him, and he prefers England, but even then there's Everton. If he was happy to go to Italy he would have plenty of options Im sure - similarly in Spain.
Its probably true that we are the biggest club who are interested. If not us, maybe a handful of Inter sized clubs, or if not, a sleeping giant, possibly with money to spend, like Everton. So I reckon he has options - but its also a fair observation that he has closed a lot of doors for himself and has fewer options than he once did.
Exactly, some of the fans abroad will just jump ship to the successful teams and kids here will do the same. If there is no loyalty to a certain team in the household already they will just attach themselves to the winning sides. That is what happens and has been for years. Our club in its complacency might be in for one hell of a shock.
If anyone knows how to work the fax. I really don't think they care one jot about what the fans think. All that concerns them is the bottom line in the P&L account.
As evidenced by the fact that he's clearly waiting for us to make a decision. Any other offers he has will be from second-rank clubs and accepting one of those will be a step down.
There shouldn't be a decision to make because Van Gaal's failure has made that decision for the club. Its simple, he has failed to meet the minimum requirements expected after getting unlimited funds to mould the squad to his desires. The fact that the club think that there is any decision to consider after what we have endured this season is adequate evidence to conclude that the boardroom is the root of this malaise.
Yes, I think you could say that. Again, we are almost certainly the biggest club interested. There isnt a huge number of clubs at the very top table and his slash and burn style means several of those wouldnt want him (Arsenal, Barca). Most of the others have decent managers already. So yeah, if it isnt us its a step down, almost certainly.
Do any of you actually believe that Van Gaal will now be your manager next season?
From the outside looking in I'm starting believe that he will be.
If he does leave, on a personal level I'll actually be disappointed as I like him, I think his press conferences and interviews are great.
From the outside looking in I'm starting believe that he will be.
If he does leave, on a personal level I'll actually be disappointed as I like him, I think his press conferences and interviews are great.
I think if Arsenal wanted him and acted quickly they could get Jose, he truly loves London.
However we all know Arsene isn't going anywhere for the next 3 years at least.
I am pretty sure our club tracks social media reaction very regularly. Now if those who make decision want to make use of it in deciding future course of action as far as manager is concerned is another matter.
I´m in...
Personally, my fear is that Woodward and the Glazers think we're a British version of the New York Yankees - a mega-brand whose on-pitch performance doesn't affect its popularity or commercial appeal.
Hopefully the fact the owners have plunged a huge amount of money into the squad suggests they are as ambitious as we are, and won't be content with becoming another Arsenal.
In any case, if they do think we can emulate the Yankees, sustaining years of success without the money draining away, they're wrong. Football is a global sport (unlike, say, baseball or NFL) and if your team sucks the whole world knows about it.
I reckon youre right.
There are a lot of people on here who think Mourinho has this burning ambition to manage us, specifically us, and that he would make massive sacrifices to make it happen. While I dont discount that possibility, given the prestige of the club (which is undeniable) it is not something I have ever actually believed myself. I think he wants to manage big clubs, prestigious clubs, and we arent the only one. I think he would consider any club that has the resources to deliver him personal glory.
I was looking at my old posts yesterday, I quoted myself in this very thread, a post I made in 2012, where I said I thought the Liverpool job might be appealing to him because turning things around there, winning the league for them and establishing them back at the top, would do far more for his own personal stock than maintaining success at United. Obviously that was 2012, things are a bit different now as he is not going to be "maintaining" success if he comes here, he would be turning things around. But the point is, I dont think he looks at any one club especially as his ideal, what he wants is to build on The Legend of Jose, cement his place in management history and feed his own messiah complex. Anything that supports his claim to being The Greatest. A big part of that is managing big clubs. It wouldnt feed his ego, managing Everton - unless he had the resources to make them title contenders, or even winners, which would certainly be good for his personal narrative.
I am not discounting other factors like the attraction of a particular city by the way. I agree living in London would have some appeal - I mentioned that in my 2012 post as well. London is a great city, if I was a millionaire I would probably live there myself. If he had the option of either Arsenal or United, all other things being equal (as in, starting now and not having to piss about waiting for us to make our minds up, equal salary etc) I am not at all convinced he would choose us. He might, but then again he might not. As I said, I dont think he has been pining for the United job for the past 5 years at all, I think his interest in us is entirely opportunistic.
The only difference with us and the Yankees is that they have a lot of overpaid, too old, injury prone players. Where we have a lot of younger, overpaid injury prone players. I agree. U.S. Sports just seem happy to be pulling money in and it doesn't matter if they win something or not. Although I would say the Yankees crowds don't seem as big as they were. If our crowds dropped like that it would cause untold damage to us as a brand.
Also in the New York area there are a lot of teams you could support raher than the Yankees, the Giants, the Knicks, the Nets, the Jets, the Islanders, the Rangers, even the Mets. The list is endless of where you could transfer your money and loyalty.
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Very interesting and thank you for the reply.
Being a Spurs fan I really don't want him turning up at Arsenal and I'm very very confident that Wenger is going nowhere.
I remember back when he was at Chelsea and he would talk a lot about his love for living in London, even electing to stay in London rather than going back to Portugal after his first Chelsea exit. I think he went back to Portugal after a while but still spent an awful lot of time here. This time round after being sacked he started referring to England instead, which is obviously good for Utd.
But there's one other thing, we all know Jose and his quirks and Wenger has been his arch enemy in English football. The opportunity to replace Wenger at Arsenal and bring the title and or a CL to the club after a stale run under Wenger could be too much for his ego to refuse.
Yep, that's exactly the kind of thing he would look at.
The London thing Im sure is genuine, like I said its a fantastic city, all the more so when you have money. Im sure when he changed "London" for "England" he was more trying to keep his options open, but I dont suppose his feelings for the city have changed. There is also an assumption London clubs have an advantage when attracting foreign players as well which might be a factor - hard to quantify but Im sure it exists to some extent.
If we miss out on Mourinho because of Woodward and co at the board mulling over 5 m pounds payout will be so typical and not really surprising.
Cringeworthy.
Agreed.
A club that earns on yearly basis 500m profit will need us to raise 5m to sack the coach that would finish outside the top 4 and bring losses that make those 5m marginal? Yeah right.
The biggest problem LVG has I think, is that his team don't reflect his arrogance. I like him as a person - but he worries too much about the opponant. Claudio won the league with Leicester, by working to the players strengths. In that respect, he feels like a fraud. It's actually a little contradictory. The players have to know who they are better then but sometimes I think, they don't. When they concede, we don't tend to kick on or take it as an insult. Nothing about United at the minute, knows how to react properly when questions are asked and that's where I would agree with Keane that United need characters.
I think he should be sacked but United might fancy Giggs long term. I know it's unpopular but he's certainly play attacking football and apparently he did spot or recommend Martial so maybe he's got the eye for a player
He's certainly got one for the ladiesWe have a lot of young talent and there isn't really a better option to link the first team and youth. I would have no problem with Giggs or Jose. I just think we cannot afford to continue the way we are with LVG.
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There's more chance of Donald Trump being elected president of ISIS than there is of Mourinho going to Chelsea.
Pre-Wenger Arsenal would have jumped at the chance to get Mourinho, but the club has rebranded itself under Wenger. Their image is very clean-cut and inoffensive - the very antithesis of Mourinho.
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