Club ownership | Senior management team talk

Regardless of the manager. Next summer transfer window needs to be focused on signing two attackers in their prime.
 
Got the most important decision wrong. Also took their sweet time with it.
 
Bojan11 said:
Regardless of the manager. Next summer transfer window needs to be focused on signing two attackers in their prime.
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Why would players in their prime join us, when the club itself has no interest in competing for top trophies next season?

It's why I never got the whole Kane thing. Why would a 29-30 yo world class striker join us, when he's got a few years of his prime left to compete for top level trophies and the club itself doesn't have any ambition to win a title within the next 2 years. The only way to motivate them to join us is money, because they know their prime is going to be wasted on top 4 challenges.
 
Bojan11 said:
Regardless of the manager. Next summer transfer window needs to be focused on signing two attackers in their prime.
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No one in their right mind is joining us in their prime. The only reason to join us is big money, which seems to be the case for years now.
If Ineos wants to change it, they can start by hiring a competent manager. This contract extension experiment has run its course.
 
Orange Tree said:
Got the most important decision wrong. Also took their sweet time with it.
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Has to be the biggest show of incompetence on their end. If they were already talking to other managers, why not at least bring in an interim until they find the manager they really want? Continuing and even activating a one year extension on someone they clearly didn't believe in makes zero sense and was always going to plummet morale. Now, whoever is replacing him has to start from a very difficult position. I just hope this strange decision-making was due to Berrada and Ashworth not being in place yet, but it's hard to imagine they didn't give their approval before they started.
 
I have severe misgivings about the same people who reappointed Eric Ten Hag in the summer now being the same people who are now going to decide on his replacement. The manager alone being fired might no longer be enough. Some other heads might now have to roll after this monumental feck up.
 
Supposedly, INEOS has a preferred style of play that ETH and any future manager has to play. Yet no one on here can tell us what it is, mainly because INEOS haven't told us either. Instead, ETH is carrying on playing the exact same way as last season.

INEOS bottled it big time not sacking ETH immediately upon getting the club. Let alone after the FA Cup final.
 
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The Mitcher said:
Supposedly, INEOS has a preferred stule of play that ETH and any future manager has to play. Yet no one on here can tell us what it is, mainly because INEOS haven't told us either. Instead, ETH is carrying on playing the exact same way as last season.

INEOS bottled it big time not sacking ETH immediately upon getting the club. Let alone after the FA Cup final.
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I don't blame then for nit sacking him in the summer, he won a trophy in good fashion and there wasn't an outstanding candidate on the market.

I do blame them if they don't act now though. We can no longer point to injuries and the manager has been backed again in the summer. Despite that we are getting worse.

Two massive games coming up, it's become clear ETH can't turn this around. Pull off the plaster swiftly and move on, I just want the club to show a level of ambition.
 
Reading between the lines I think they were looking for a new manager in the summer but couldn’t get anyone they wanted. Can’t imagine that has changed in such a short time since.

He’s got to go and I feel like we’ve finally got the right people in place to get the right manager, but if their targets are unavailable we might be stuck with ETH for a little while yet.
 
I think they couldn’t find a replacement and thought the best decision was to stick with him.

That’s one of the biggest mistakes they’ve made though. Any new manager is somewhat of an unknown but in this case we know (or should have known) that the incumbent cannot take us where we want to go.

Every day he spends in the job is a waste of time.
 
thegregster said:
Not looking good. Signing De Ligt,Ugarde and Zirkzee for £120m already looks to be terrible business. I couldn't see City or Arsenal wasting so much money on players who are miles from the level required. Even the likes of Villa wouldn't.
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You would change your mind real quick. Just wait for a new competent manager. We have a really bad one.
 
kaku06 said:
You would change your mind real quick. Just wait for a new competent manager. We have a really bad one.
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We all thought this when Moyes,LVG,Jose,Ole and Ralf left.

The lows under Ole,Ralf and now ETH have killed any optimism I have for the future. The lack of fighting spirit and basic ability of this squad wont be changed by any manager.

Anyway even if we get a decent manager in this season and he got better performances its too late. This season is already a write off in terms of top 4.
 
thegregster said:
We all thought this when Moyes,LVG,Jose,Ole and Ralf left.

The lows under Ole,Ralf and now ETH have killed any optimism I have for the future. The lack of fighting spirit and basic ability of this squad wont be changed by any manager.

Anyway even if we get a decent manager in this seaon is already a write off in terms of top 4.
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The mistake was we monumentally fecked up one appointment after another by hiring either novices or has beens. A competent manager makes all the difference. Good thing is we don’t have Woodward anymore. Not so good thing is Ineos has all to prove to get the next appointment right after botching this one after the fa cup final.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
Hope they've already got an emergency meeting scheduled for first thing tomorrow
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feck that. No one sleeps in peace tonight. The meeting should be happening straight after and now till it reaches the righteous conclusion. Enough with the dilly dallying.
 
They are charlatans. The leeches would've binned off the manager last season. These fools have somehow managed to lower the standards even further.

The Southgate links in the summer tells you all you need to know about them. Either they think that atrocity genuinely is the answer. Or they believed linking that atrocity to United would soften the blow amongst the fanbase when they'd later decide to keep ETH. If it's the former then we're fecked. If it's the latter we're fecked too because there's nothing this fanbase loves more than lapping up to club propaganda. Playing these fans like a fiddle is piss easy.

Now the CEO has come out and said that we'll win the league by 2028. This gullible fanbase has already embraced those comments. No one demands any sort of accountability around here. As long as you're good with words and wishy-washy nonsense about challenging for titles in a decade the fans will be on your side.
 
Does feel they've fallen into the same trap, perhaps worse as we've not looked a top 4 or top 6 side for a long time now. At least under Woodward the profile of player had us up there and ETH got third out of it. Murtough and now Ineos we're well in the 8th to 15th range for a long period now.

Obviously there's a lot to fix and take shape, I would've expected some uplift in mood with new management and what seem like serious people involved. Players seem eager to come still but quickly look like they've walked through the gates of hell, like the club is bad or dead behind the scenes, any energy and skill is lost but I'm not sure I'd sign the majority of these players, either poor technically/physically or lack character motivation and the desperate state of the club brings that out in spades.

I feel the job requires a very strong character, not surprising how Fergie and Sir Matt stand out. Zidane is not interested but he reminds me of Sir Matt, the aura and steely eyed stare. Potter could come in and be a good means to an end but I feel the job would swallow him up like ETH and others. Structure is one thing but United is a difficult beast that requires one to be very bold and strong at all times, you don't build or rebuild, you aim for the top no matter if you have Keane or O'shea and Neville. Players go out there 10ft tall knowing they must win and each match is a league winning one, no excuses.
 
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I'm starting to worry about these lot, and I was strongly in favour of their bid to buy the club. Forget their decisions in the summer, but it feels like they'll let this season fall to pieces at this rate, which has me wondering if they genuinely did actually rate this coach afterall.

I think we could be looking down the barrel of an even bigger problem than we all realise: Ineos, Berrada, Wilcox, Ashworth etc are actually clueless. God help us if that is the case, as we are officially done.

And let's be honest, perhaps the signs are already there. Keeping ETH, some of the signings who don't look great, leaked emails like amateurs, Southgate links/rating, the apparently botched approach for a new manager - interviewing others whilst we had a fecking manager. Not to mention their approach to things behind the scenes and the ladies team. I smell trouble on the horizon. I seriously hope I'm wrong but I've got a bad feeling this could just be the next chapter of our clown show, just as we thought we were moving forward.
 
So far in term of football, it's all talk. The incompetency really show when they took forever to decide ETH's fate. Maybe just maybe the real best in class football people is in City, Arsenal and Liverpool?

Our summer signings are also start to look suspect. Hopefully it's the style of play that don't suit them and not the players problem. We have so many failed signings, unbelievable.

How is it possible that suddenly I feel Woodward and Murtough could be more competent? I thought the Ineos Team learned from their stint at Nice. Keeping a manager now is incompetent and irresponsible when they claim they are the best in class.
 
Don't know what happens behind the scenes obviously, but sometimes I wonder if there are too many cooks in the kitchen and they're suffering from analysis paralysis as a result.
 
pocco said:
I'm starting to worry about these lot, and I was strongly in favour of their bid to buy the club. Forget their decisions in the summer, but it feels like they'll let this season fall to pieces at this rate, which has me wondering if they genuinely did actually rate this coach afterall.

I think we could be looking down the barrel of an even bigger problem than we all realise: Ineos, Berrada, Wilcox, Ashworth etc are actually clueless. God help us if that is the case, as we are officially done.

And let's be honest, perhaps the signs are already there. Keeping ETH, some of the signings who don't look great, leaked emails like amateurs, Southgate links/rating, the apparently botched approach for a new manager - interviewing others whilst we had a fecking manager. Not to mention their approach to things behind the scenes and the ladies team. I smell trouble on the horizon. I seriously hope I'm wrong but I've got a bad feeling this could just be the next chapter of our clown show, just as we thought we were moving forward.
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What were they supposed to do with the manager last season? I agree they should have sacked him but they seemed to think that too considering how much time they tried to find a better one.
Yakuza_devils said:
How is it possible that suddenly I feel Woodward and Murtough could be more cocompetents.
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Because people have a massive recency bias.
 
Tyrion said:
What were they supposed to do with the manager last season? I agree they should have sacked him but they seemed to think that too considering how much time they tried to find a better one.

Because people have a massive recency bias.
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These are all signs of incompetency, surely?
 
pocco said:
I'm starting to worry about these lot, and I was strongly in favour of their bid to buy the club. Forget their decisions in the summer, but it feels like they'll let this season fall to pieces at this rate, which has me wondering if they genuinely did actually rate this coach afterall.

I think we could be looking down the barrel of an even bigger problem than we all realise: Ineos, Berrada, Wilcox, Ashworth etc are actually clueless. God help us if that is the case, as we are officially done.

And let's be honest, perhaps the signs are already there. Keeping ETH, some of the signings who don't look great, leaked emails like amateurs, Southgate links/rating, the apparently botched approach for a new manager - interviewing others whilst we had a fecking manager. Not to mention their approach to things behind the scenes and the ladies team. I smell trouble on the horizon. I seriously hope I'm wrong but I've got a bad feeling this could just be the next chapter of our clown show, just as we thought we were moving forward.
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Here's my list of their missteps so far:

- Not letting ETH go after the FA cup win.
- Not sounding out managers much before the season ended and waiting for the "review".
- Giving Bruno a new contract when we should have sold him. Even if we didn't want to sell him, we should have never given into his demands of a fatter paycheck. He didn't warrant it just because we made a mistake in giving Rashford and Case huge contracts before. The way to correct is a mistake is not to make another one.
- Signing a bunch of Dutch players and big club rejects like we have done previously. Ugarte, de Light and Zirkzee are not game changing signings. They did good work on the outgoings, plus Mazra looks good and Yoro seems highly rated (Although, we paid a King's ransom for him in the last year of his contract). However, we got a 6 window when we really needed a 9.
- And the continuing mistake is keeping ETH as our manager. Every minute that he remains a United manager is a wasted minute.
 
pocco said:
I'm starting to worry about these lot, and I was strongly in favour of their bid to buy the club. Forget their decisions in the summer, but it feels like they'll let this season fall to pieces at this rate, which has me wondering if they genuinely did actually rate this coach afterall.

I think we could be looking down the barrel of an even bigger problem than we all realise: Ineos, Berrada, Wilcox, Ashworth etc are actually clueless. God help us if that is the case, as we are officially done.

And let's be honest, perhaps the signs are already there. Keeping ETH, some of the signings who don't look great, leaked emails like amateurs, Southgate links/rating, the apparently botched approach for a new manager - interviewing others whilst we had a fecking manager. Not to mention their approach to things behind the scenes and the ladies team. I smell trouble on the horizon. I seriously hope I'm wrong but I've got a bad feeling this could just be the next chapter of our clown show, just as we thought we were moving forward.
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The incompetence is the same, just the brand is different. And whereas the parasites and their flunkies were mostly mute, the INEOS ones love to talk big. It ends just the same, though. Perhaps they aren't as uncaring as the Glazers, but just as inept.

Ten Hag would have always been on thin ice this season, and he had already proved he is not up to the job on multiple occasions. A new manager would have hopefully brought in fresh ideas, a coherent style of football, a renewed sense of hope, and some patience. And there were enough of those managers out there. Even on a random Internet forum people could see all of that, and there were plenty of good suggestions. He and Marcus Rashford should have been let go, and Bruno Fernandes should have seen his contract out and then a decision made.

The people paid millions couldn't see any of that, though. Or maybe they could, but just to scared to act. Doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, there's a reason Nice and Lausanne are where they are, and plenty of people said that two years ago. A clueless bunch, but with silver tongues this time around.
 
As much as the defensive moves were praised keeping ETH and giving Bruno a pay rise we’re both poor decisions. With other signings like Ugarte and Zirkzee (all signings for that matter) wait and see.
 
thegregster said:
We all thought this when Moyes,LVG,Jose,Ole and Ralf left.

The lows under Ole,Ralf and now ETH have killed any optimism I have for the future. The lack of fighting spirit and basic ability of this squad wont be changed by any manager.

Anyway even if we get a decent manager in this season and he got better performances its too late. This season is already a write off in terms of top 4.
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No mate, that was on clown boy Woodward and his "value protection" policy that created a culture where players felt that they don't have to put in any effort in order to be here.
 
The Athletic piece from a few months ago made it clear that Berrada and Ashworth had no direct involvement in the manager decision in the Summer

Yes they could see what we could. Yes they’d have had a private opinion. But they couldn’t hold any official talks with replacements and they couldn’t comment on what things were like from inside the club

I still think ETH should have gone in May. But let’s not pretend that it was some massive bottle job. It always made more sense to make that big next appointment when everyone could be 100% involved in the process

What they do or don’t do now they can be more accountable for
 
Signings are all good players and will prove their worth under a coach that isn’t asking them to do stupid things. The recruitment was far more efficient this summer and these are quality players.

They decided to give ETH a final chance with the added quality and he has failed. Now they need to be swift with him too and move him on.
 
i read lot of stories how Jim and co have reputation of being ruthless. So, it would be strange to me if they keep Erik. With all of those "best in the class people" around surely they see that Erik is not fixing this mess.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
The Athletic piece from a few months ago made it clear that Berrada and Ashworth had no direct involvement in the manager decision in the Summer
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Do you actually believe this? Direct or indirect involvement is not important. The key point is they are definitely involved in the decision one way or another.

Also, now they are fully in charge. The football last season and now surely is sufficient for them to act now? They are so called best in class football people and we are playing worst in class football in PL.
 
To keep him in summer was an ok decision at the time and I can see why they did it. However, now is time to be ruthless. Another 3-0 loss at OT is the final nail
 
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