Duncan Castles : Jose Mourinho on collision course with Ed Woodward over Manchester United transfers

[AXVnee7]

I'm not sold on the stories. Seriously man if Jose isn't happy with Ed he should just go and have a meeting with him ffs they work for the same damn organisation! All this 'leaking' to the media whether by himself or agents or whatever is just pathetic, and I really hope it's not true.

 

[Suv666]

The manager has no right to put our business out in the press. That is unacceptable. If he has a problem, go and give Woodward a blast - behind closed doors.
Don't let your anxiety about 'signings' get in the way of what is right or wrong. You do not discuss company business in public.

Maybe he did blast Ed behind close doors, and that didn't work so Mou went public. At the end of the day its Mou's head on the line if we flop in the league

 

[Rhyme Animal]

So Ed is not allowed free time?
Mourinho should be careful.

Woodward should be careful...

He isn't a football man, at all. Under his reign we've had Moyes (SAF's choice, but still...) and LvG, who Woodward stayed with too long.

José has rocked up and delivered 2 trophies, got us CL footy and there aren't any better managers about...

If either of them were to go, it would be Woodward (though I'm sure the club would keep him in a commercial job - where he belongs).

If Mourinho is pressuring him, it's because José wants more success, like all of us.

 

[podurban2]

Jose's fault for going for fecking Perisic, of course the club doesn't want to pay €50M+ for a not-so-great 28 year old who may very well flop with no resell value.

 

[Nate Dogg]

 

[SammyUnited_83]

Jose's fault for going for fecking Perisic, of course the club doesn't want to pay €50M+ for a not-so-great 28 year old who may very well flop with no resell value.

Exactly.

Couple this with the fact that we had recent signings like Martial and Shaw out for large periods of last season (£70mil combined) and you can understand why the board are reluctant to get stung again.

Even with Matic, we can't force Chelsea to sell.

 

[TonyMarshall]

Jose's fault for going for fecking Perisic, of course the club doesn't want to pay €50M+ for a not-so-great 28 year old who may very well flop with no resell value.

He cares about resell value? United aren't Southampton.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Exactly.

Couple this with the fact that we had recent signings like Martial and Shaw out for large periods of last season (£70mil combined) and you can understand why the board are reluctant to get stung again.

Even with Matic, we can't force Chelsea to sell.

Problem is, If we don't strengthen this Summer then we can forget challenging for the league and possibly even Top 4. The board should surely realize this.

 

[Dumbat12]

Jose's fault for going for fecking Perisic, of course the club doesn't want to pay €50M+ for a not-so-great 28 year old who may very well flop with no resell value.

This. Pretty much. So what if tomorrow they ask 100 million? Should we pay that kind of money just because Jose wants the player? And money is not the problem for me, it's the calibre of players we're going for. Who the feck is Perisic and how is he going to improve us? Why is Morata worth 100 million? Both are just a little upgrade on what we have and Perisic in particular would probably get benched next season or the season after at most, then we'll have to buy another to replace him.

For Christ sake, Jose seems to be unwilling to pull the plug on Rooney who's just a Sunday league quality player now and his only use is draining the club's wages, but he wants the club to pay this kind of money for literal nobodies.

Problem is, If we don't strengthen this Summer then we can forget challenging for the league and possibly even Top 4. The board should surely realize this.

Not strengthening with absolute average Joe's though. Auba is reported to be open for a move for even less to an even bigger spenders than us (PSG) and he is way more of a quality player than Morata, for example. Proven, too.

 

[apotheosis]

Are you saying that because everyone else is spouting baseless speculation, why shouldnt you? If so fair enough, I certainly agree a lot of people are talking a lot of bollocks about Mourinho as well.

Fact remains though, the idea that the reason we havent done the deal yet is that Woodward is in NZ is highly speculative. Id go further than that actually and say its bollocks, pure and simple.

I admitted myself it was speculative and we don't know anything for certain. It made far more sense to my reading of the situation, and therefore i would consider it far more likely than most of the other explanations for this situation occurring.

Whether you believe it or not, do you think Mourinho thinks ED being in NZ has affected the speed of deals being completed or not?
If you don't then we need another scenario as to why he has gone public to put pressure on ED.

But If you do however consider that a possibility, then the rest seems to fall into place.

Jose gives detailed list to ed early
jose makes comment that Woody now has to get to work straight away and can holiday in August when the season restarts.
Ceo usually required at negotiating table to complete deals.
Ed goes on Lions tour in June and is still not back by July1st.
No additional deals completed from that period onwards.
Mourinho becomes frustrated and uses media for whatever reason, to put pressure on ED.
After couple of days of public attention Ed flying back for urgent transfer business july 3rd.

I find it harder to look at that scenario and reasonably come up with any other scenario that's even close to as likely imo, Simon. If you think that is completely baseless assumptions and not simple reasoning, then fair enough.

 

[Suv666]

Jose's fault for going for fecking Perisic, of course the club doesn't want to pay €50M+ for a not-so-great 28 year old who may very well flop with no resell value.

Well thats what Ed's job, its negotiations and I'm pretty sure Mou has given him alternate targets, he just wants them done before pre season and thats a perfectly valid request. Ed on the other hand thought he could force Inter's hand with the FFP thing and failed miserably probably why Jose is upset

 

[Kag]

Woodward should be careful...

He isn't a football man, at all. Under his reign we've had Moyes (SAF's choice, but still...) and LvG, who Woodward stayed with too long.

José has rocked up and delivered 2 trophies, got us CL footy and there aren't any better managers about...

If either of them were to go, it would be Woodward (though I'm sure the club would keep him in a commercial job - where he belongs).

If Mourinho is pressuring him, it's because José wants more success, like all of us.

Mourinho is on his last legs. He'll be out the door well ahead of Woodward under the Glazer model. As far as they're concerned, everything is hunky dory.

Mourinho, however, is at the best club possible to further his career and actually prove the doubters wrong. If he wants to go ahead and spoil it then fair game, but he's finished at the top level if he does. PSG aside, nobody is taking the punt, especially when you consider he'll have clashed heads at United, a club that is more than fair to its managers in regards to time and degree of control awarded.

We can do without this wanker and his tantrums, if I'm brutally honest. He's a great manager, but we can do without the drama. I thought he was better than this nonsense but he's going the right way about proving his legions of detractors right, and those who backed him heavily (me) completely wrong.

 

[Beachryan]

While i understand the sentiment, you just know Jose will have his excuses lined up before the season if he doesn't get his wish list.

Personally would love to see him actually improve what we have, but that's not really his style.

 

[King7Eric]

Woodward should be careful...

He isn't a football man, at all. Under his reign we've had Moyes (SAF's choice, but still...) and LvG, who Woodward stayed with too long.

José has rocked up and delivered 2 trophies, got us CL footy and there aren't any better managers about...

If either of them were to go, it would be Woodward (though I'm sure the club would keep him in a commercial job - where he belongs).

If Mourinho is pressuring him, it's because José wants more success, like all of us.

This attitude for me, is the problem amongst our fanbase. Not having a go at you personally mate, but I think we need to have a little more trust in the club. Mourinho is a great manager but he's not some god's gift to us. He comes with his fair share of baggage and with his history of leaving after 2-3 years, I can understand why the club don't want to spend mega bucks on 28-29 year old who let's face it, are not exactly world beaters. If, as history suggests Mourinho leaves in a couple of years we would be stuck with ageing players on mega contracts who no one wants to buy (kinda like the Rooney situation).
Its no surprise that Lindelof is already signed and Morata deal seems the most advanced (even though the price is way too steep) because these are profile of players who would be useful to the club for a fair few years. I can't blame Woodward or the board for thinking long and hard before spending around 80-90 million on the likes of Perisic and Matic

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

This. Pretty much. So what if tomorrow they ask 100 million? Should we pay that kind of money just because Jose wants the player? And money is not the problem for me, it's the calibre of players we're going for. Who the feck is Perisic and how is he going to improve us? Why is Morata worth 100 million? Both are just a little upgrade on what we have and Perisic in particular would probably get benched next season or the season after at most, then we'll have to buy another to replace him.

For Christ sake, Jose seems to be unwilling to pull the plug on Rooney who's just a Sunday league quality player now and his only use is draining the club's wages, but he wants the club to pay this kind of money to literal nobodies.


Not strengthening with absolute average Joe's though. Auba is reported to be open for a move for even less to an even bigger spenders than us (PSG) and he is way more of a quality player than Morata, for example. Proven, too.

You back the manager. If he asks for the player you get him. It's Jose Mourinho (a serial winner) we are talking about. We backed Van Gaal and Moyes (well, with Fellaini anyways) financially so to not back Jose would be a very stupid move.

FWIW - I'm not a huge fan of some of the players we have been linked with, in fact i'd say majority. But if Jose feels he needs them then we need to get them for him. He has a track record of winning after all. And also that way if things don't work out for Jose here, at least we can say we full backed him and just wasn't meant to be.

 

[GiddyUp]

Why should clubs who don't want to sell players be forced to let them go for the market price. The main reasons prices are so high is in most occasions don't want to sell, & hype the prices right up if clubs are so insistent in purchasing them.

I did say it was a starting point not the final price. Off course you must factor in the desire of both clubs as well as the player and what they want. This is just an independent indication of the players value in a sporting and business sense. It may well bring the transfer market to a more sane operating level instead of what we truthfully call silly season. 200 mil buy out clauses and valuations on players like Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar are unrealistic and should be called out as the dumbfeckery they are.

 

[Dumbat12]

You ba.ck the manager. If he asks for the player you get him. It's Jose Mourinho (a serial winner) we are talking about. We backed Van Gaal and Moyes (well, with Fellaini anyways) financially so to not back Jose would be a very stupid move.

FWIW - I'm not a huge fan of some of the players we have been linked with, in fact i'd say majority. But if Jose feels he needs them then we need to get them for him. He has a track record of winning after all. And also that way if things don't work out for Jose here, at least we can say we full backed him and just wasn't meant to be.

Jose may want Tom Cleverley for 150 million next year, would you back him? There has to be a limit here. We may be the richest club in the world, but we're not a botomless pit. We can't buy a nobody like Perisic for 50 million just so next year Jose can bench him and buy something else for twice that amount.

 

[Powderfinger]

Getting all or even most targets before preseason just isn't a realistic goal. It might happen on occasion but, in general, that's just not how the transfer market works. Real Madrid will sell Morata if and when they're ready to do so. It's not like Woodward could have got him in two weeks ago if he had tried a little harder.

It seems to me that Jose is looking to preemptively cast blame at Woodward if the season doesn't meet expectations.

 

[Adebesi]

I admitted myself it was speculative and we don't know anything for certain. It made far more sense to my reading of the situation, and therefore i would consider it far more likely than most of the other explanations for this situation occurring.

Whether you believe it or not, do you think Mourinho thinks ED being in NZ has affected the speed of deals being completed or not?
If you don't then we need another scenario as to why he has gone public to put pressure on ED.

But If you do however consider that a possibility, then the rest seems to fall into place.

Jose gives detailed list to ed early
jose makes comment that Woody now has to get to work straight away and can holiday in August when the season restarts.
Ceo usually required at negotiating table to complete deals.
Ed goes on Lions tour in June and is still not back by July1st.
No additional deals completed from that period onwards.
Mourinho becomes frustrated and uses media for whatever reason, to put pressure on ED.
After couple of days of public attention Ed flying back for urgent transfer business july 3rd.

I find it harder to look at that scenario and reasonably come up with any other scenario that's even close to as likely imo, Simon. If you think that is completely baseless assumptions and not simple reasoning, then fair enough.

I have no time right now to go into this in much depth but in a nutshell I imagine Mourinho made a fairly innocuous remark and the media have blown it out of proportion, as is their way. Im sure Mourinho is frustrated, as we all are. I doubt he thinks being in NZ is the reason for it tho, being an intelligent guy I imagine he thinks it's down to the clubs disagreeing about valuations.

 

[United Pro]

?

 

[togg]

I have no time right now to go into this in much depth but in a nutshell I imagine Mourinho made a fairly innocuous remark and the media have blown it out of proportion, as is their way. Im sure Mourinho is frustrated, as we all are. I doubt he thinks being in NZ is the reason for it tho, being an intelligent guy I imagine he thinks it's down to the clubs disagreeing about valuations.

I think this is probably much more what happened. A journalist asks, 'hey jose are you frustrated with transfer market' - 'Of course I'm frustrated, things take longer than you would like'

Headline:'Jose unhappy with transfer business' which then leads to speculation that Jose is pissed with Ed.....

 

[Wade3]

You back the manager. If he asks for the player you get him. It's Jose Mourinho (a serial winner) we are talking about. We backed Van Gaal and Moyes (well, with Fellaini anyways) financially so to not back Jose would be a very stupid move.

FWIW - I'm not a huge fan of some of the players we have been linked with, in fact i'd say majority. But if Jose feels he needs them then we need to get them for him. He has a track record of winning after all. And also that way if things don't work out for Jose here, at least we can say we full backed him and just wasn't meant to be.

You don't back him at all costs. Aside of the fact that we're not a bottomless pit as somebody else pointed out, us spending insane amounts on average or slightly above average players sets a precedent for future transfers. We'll always have to pay a little more, but there has to be a limit, a limit Jose has to live with because one day, and given his managerial history that day will most likely come sooner than later, he'll be gone and a new manager might not consider Morata or Perisic to be as valuable to his playing system.

 

[Kag]

You back the manager. If he asks for the player you get him. It's Jose Mourinho (a serial winner) we are talking about. We backed Van Gaal and Moyes (well, with Fellaini anyways) financially so to not back Jose would be a very stupid move.

FWIW - I'm not a huge fan of some of the players we have been linked with, in fact i'd say majority. But if Jose feels he needs them then we need to get them for him. He has a track record of winning after all. And also that way if things don't work out for Jose here, at least we can say we full backed him and just wasn't meant to be.

If you can't understand why the chief directors at the club have a clear issue with spending over £40 million (before July!) on a 29 year old Ivan Perisic then I'm genuinely at a loss.

You back the manager, yes. You don't, however, bow down to every demand and put the club in a terrible predicament with regards to future transfers. If we buy Perisic for the quoted amount them we'll be fecked for years. We'll never bring in a Bailly, Lindelof or Mkhitaryan (genuinely good deals in today's market) again.

"Remember that time United spent £45 million on Ivan Perisic?"

"Oh yes, Steve. Let's fleece 'em."

It's a hilariously inflated deal that we'll do well to avoid. Mourinho should concentrate on finding attainable targets.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Jose may want Tom Cleverley for 150 million next year, would you back him? There has to be a limit here. We may be the richest club in the world, but we're not a botomless pit. We can't buy a nobody like Perisic for 50 million just so next year Jose can bench him and buy something else for twice that amount.

Well what is the point of bringing Jose in if you aren't going to back him? Obviously a line has to be drawn to a degree but if Jose felt that a certain player was going to make the difference in regards to pushing the team on, then you do what he asks. The market is inflated this year, so there are going to be some stupid prices flying around. Just look at what Everton are doing. This Summer is absolutely vital in regards to where this club is heading, I think that fact is seriously slept on. We cannot penny pinch this Summer, out of any.

And your line about Jose signing someone this year and benching him next year is completely unfounded so not going to reply to that.

 

[Adebesi]

I think this is probably much more what happened. A journalist asks, 'hey jose are you frustrated with transfer market' - 'Of course I'm frustrated, things take longer than you would like'

Headline:'Jose unhappy with transfer business' which then leads to speculation that Jose is pissed with Ed.....

I find it astonishing people would assume it's anything other than this. It's like its never happened before.

 

[togg]

If you can't understand why the chief directors at the club have a clear issue with spending over £40 million (before July!) on a 29 year old Ivan Perisic then I'm genuinely at a loss.

You back the manager, yes. You don't, however, bow down to every demand and put the club in a terrible predicament with regards to future transfers. If we buy Perisic for the quoted amount them we'll be fecked for years. We'll never bring in a Bailly, Lindelof or Mkhitaryan (genuinely good deals in today's market) again.

"Remember that time United spent £45 million on Ivan Perisic?"

"Oh yes, Steve. Let's fleece 'em."

It's a hilariously inflated deal that we'll do well to avoid. Mourinho should concentrate on finding attainable targets.

To be fair I reckon when Mourinho wrote down his name he probably thought he was an attainable target and probably didn't think Inter would slap a £40m figure on him......

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

You don't back him at all costs. Aside of the fact that we're not a bottomless pit as somebody else pointed out, us spending insane amounts on average or slightly above average players sets a precedent for future transfers. We'll always have to pay a little more, but there has to be a limit, a limit Jose has to live with because one day, and given his managerial history that day will most likely come sooner than later, he'll be gone and a new manager might not consider Morata or Perisic to be as valuable to his playing system.

If you can't understand why the chief directors at the club have a clear issue with spending over £40 million (before July!) on a 29 year old Ivan Perisic then I'm genuinely at a loss.

You back the manager, yes. You don't, however, bow down to every demand and put the club in a terrible predicament with regards to future transfers. If we buy Perisic for the quoted amount them we'll be fecked for years. We'll never bring in a Bailly, Lindelof or Mkhitaryan (genuinely good deals in today's market) again.

"Remember that time United spent £45 million on Ivan Perisic?"

"Oh yes, Steve. Let's fleece 'em."

It's a hilariously inflated deal that we'll do well to avoid. Mourinho should concentrate on finding attainable targets.

Like I said in the post above, Obviously a line has to be drawn somewhere i'm not saying we have to be stupid. But if Jose feels a certain player will make a huge difference to us then sometimes we have to do what he asks. It is an absolutely vital Summer for us this year, and prices are inflated. So some deals like Morata are always going to cost a bit more. I don't agree with the Perisic deal, but sometimes you have to trust the manager.

 

[Big Andy]

Maybe Ed Woodward had to take annual leave or risk losing it as he can't carry it over...

 

[salford_]

Jose did it at Chelsea too, and i'll bet he whinged at madrid or inter....complained about targets. He has form.

 

[JustAFan]

The manager has no right to put our business out in the press. That is unacceptable. If he has a problem, go and give Woodward a blast - behind closed doors.
Don't let your anxiety about 'signings' get in the way of what is right or wrong. You do not discuss company business in public.

Chances are this is all made up by the press

 

[podurban2]

He cares about resell value? United aren't Southampton.

Of course Ed/the board care about resell value. If he flops we would like to recoup a large part of what we paid (see Di Maria). Just because we are rich doesn't mean we don't operate like any other business.

 

[JustAFan]

BBC confirming the same:
Manchester United: Jose Mourinho unhappy with lack of summer transfer business

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40495870

Repeating the same bs as everyone else without one quote from anyone.

Again I will point out this entire story started several days ago and was completely made up by Phillip de Brun based on the tone of Ed's voice in an interview

As I correctly predicted other outlets have run with this without one iota of proof.

And yet people fall for it.

 

[Jazz]

Chances are this is all made up by the press

I've commented that I actually wouldn't be surprised if it's not the press inventing an 'issue'. My response was in case our manager had leaked the information - which I think would be bad form.
Anyway, we move on and see what happens.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Like I said in the post above. Obviously a line has to be drawn somewhere i'm not saying we have to be stupid. But if Jose feels a certain player will make a huge difference to us then sometimes we have to do what he asks. It is an absolutely vital Summer for us this year, and prices are inflated. So some deals like Morata are always going to cost a bit more. I don't agree with the Perisic deal, but sometimes you have to trust the manager.

Yes but the manager should not treat resources as club's but as his own too. I am not a fan of his attitude lately. He needs to be fully involved in the negotiations (although i know nothing about what is happening BTS). Him putting ball in Woodward's court is not the way of doing things. If the reported fees are true then we will be spending 50m + 40m euros on bang average 29 year olds who only add to the defensive capabilities of the squad. I also remember Woodward saying something about the period of heavy investment coming to an end. We won't be throwing money at our problems in the future.

These players wont have any resale value and are not of genuine quality. Again after 2 years we would be in the market for the players playing in same position. Jose is under pressure to deliver but throwing money on potential deadwood is wrong.

We will do well to avoid such deals.

 

[JustAFan]

I've commented that I actually wouldn't be surprised if it's not the press inventing an 'issue'. My response was in case our manager had leaked the information - which I think would be bad form.
Anyway, we move on and see what happens.

You can actually look in the twitter thread and see the moment deBrun created this story out of thin air.

 

[CG1010]

Repeating the same bs as everyone else without one quote from anyone.

Again I will point out this entire story started several days ago and was completely made up by Phillip de Brun based on the tone of Ed's voice in an interview

As I correctly predicted other outlets have run with this without one iota of proof.

And yet people fall for it.

BBC is not likely to bullshit without having proof. Most likely they would have confirmed the Duncan's story with Jose's people and ran with it themselves after getting the confirmation. So there is no need to have 'quotes'. Though I wouldn't blame Jose for being frustrated but I wish he would tell Ed this in private.

 

[Kill 'em all]

It's still early in the window but if Jose doesn't get what he wants, we already know what will happen. He will throw a huge tantrum and things won't go well. The signs were already there when he commented about having given Woodward the list of players 2 months before the season ended and when he said that it's all in Woodward's hands.

BBC confirming the same:
Manchester United: Jose Mourinho unhappy with lack of summer transfer business

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40495870

Can't understand how you some are just writing this off as pure speculation when this has happened with Jose at other clubs, clashes with owners and people in charge of transfers for not getting what he wants.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

To be fair I reckon when Mourinho wrote down his name he probably thought he was an attainable target and probably didn't think Inter would slap a £40m figure on him......

Exactly - he probably meant if we could get him for £15-20m, which is probably what he's worth.

 

[7even]

I don't know what is worst. Clueless journalists or hysterical online supporters.

Do anybody honestly thinks that the CEO and the manager of Manchester United, a world wide brand with millions of followers and a club every newspaper on the planet more or less covers, a company who's on the NYSE, do you in your wildest imaginations think that they don't communicate with each other during holiday on weekly or maybe daily basis?

You know... stay silence for 5-6 weeks, don't talk or exchange thoughts, don't send messages or e-mails especially when important transfer business is on their way. Why using your mobile phone on the beach... why talk to your nearest boss when your future probably depends on the outcome, why phone a manager when you have a million dollar decision to make. Off course not according to Dumb and Dumber on the national newspapers. (and their followers)

I know specualations go wild inside this place but please...... tell me you're trolling

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Repeating the same bs as everyone else without one quote from anyone.

Again I will point out this entire story started several days ago and was completely made up by Phillip de Brun based on the tone of Ed's voice in an interview

As I correctly predicted other outlets have run with this without one iota of proof.

And yet people fall for it.

The BBC has its own sources - they will not publish something like that without having spoken to either Jose himself, or someone speaking on behalf of Jose.