He’s been called a genius for the growth on the commercial side but I don’t think he deserves that much credit for it, most of these deals were secured because of success prior to him taking over.
Ed Woodward 2019 - Until all Arctic ice melts edition
- Thread starter fallengt
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He’s been called a genius for the growth on the commercial side but I don’t think he deserves that much credit for it, most of these deals were secured because of success prior to him taking over.
Jude acting as DOF. No wonder we aren't looking for one. We are in deep shit boys.
Thanks for sharing that post. Fecking shocking. Never liked Woodward and mentioned a while ago that he is on some sort of ego trip. The bit in bold is one thing that really annoys me. It shows that Woodward is not giving Ole a good enough platform to build from and this bit
and Woodward still fails to get him a replacement in. Makes me dislike Woodward more all the fecking time
Good article and validated what many of us think. But yeah, sack the manager again.
So to summarize:
It's as big a shambles as we all thought.
- Woodward counters the 'noodle partner' jibe by saying that the commercial side isn't his domain. He actually focuses on football matters. That's a major blow to his supporters on here.
- Woodward kept Rooney, not Moyes.
- "there is a suspicion among some agents that Woodward, for all his supposed intentions to appoint a “head of football”, enjoys the glamour of the game too much to ever truly relinquish involvement in transfers."
- "At times a player’s personal terms have even been agreed, and contracts drawn up, only for lines of communication to go cold as United instead close in on a different target. Woodward has been known to place a courtesy call after the event to explain and assuage." Explains a lot.
- "There are claims Mourinho only acceded to the Brazilian midfielder, who came at a cost of £52 million, because he felt the alternative was no midfielder at all." So whose signing is he?
- "“You don’t really get near Woodward, he delegates a lot of work to Murtough and Judge,” said one leading agent. “Judge is like an acting director of football, really. But what experience has he got in the football industry?”"
- "There was one early incident that exposed the differences between working in the city and football, though. Judge held a positive early meeting with a representative of Edinson Cavani but then saw the move derailed when the brother of the player became involved and made different demands. Judge now often asks for prospective details to be outlined in an email". Interesting.
- "Woodward spoke with Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, and Darren Fletcher among others about the role but those conversations have yet to lead to anywhere definitive. A committee of former players offering formal advice on signings was proposed but fairly quickly parked" So no committee then.
- "One candidate discovered the proposed role had the potential to be more about carrying messages than making decisions. When it emerged any appointment could work from the club’s Mayfair offices, the sense grew United did not carry serious intentions for significant change." And no real DoF either.
It's as big a shambles as we all thought.
Wow just Wow. It's a huge slap on fans too who just blame Ole for everything. This further proves Woodward loves his power.
A great summary. Need this guy OUT!
Why hasn't he been run out of town yet?
Keeping Ole just makes things even worse though. When this is all going on behind the scenes and you also have a manager out of depth it’s not going to make it better.
It’s clear nothing is going to change in terms of how the club as run so will have to keep sacking managers until they stumble across someone who can make best of it all.
Had Woodward got his shit sorted out and recruited a replacement for Lukaku early on we’d have likely won most of our games this season.
Well we don’t know, not even what the Caf thinks. So let’s start a thread ‘Ed or Ole for a boot up the Arse!’ - put a vote on it and let everyone have a say. What do you think, @Niall?
Fecking hell...knew it was a disaster up at the top of the club but...fecking hell.
Because Woodward is fairly good at finding scapegoats in managers and absolving himself of any blame whilst the fan base remains apathetic watching this great club being run to the ground by Woodward and his cronies. Imagine in this cutthroat competitive industry that relies on having the best of select few talented individuals in your team having Judge demanding that an agent sends their terms via email when other clubs with equal offers would be wining and dining the player's family promising them the world or Woodward putting off the signing of Maguire so that he can focus on the Wan Bissaka signing, what about delegating so that you complete the two deals at once? Then his first act was to ignore SAF's advice and the consequence of that was that for the last half of his new contract we had the burden of an overpaid over the hill player, the shocking bit was the Fred signing. No wonder the Glazers' other investments are struggling, they are woefully negligent and Woodward is taking advantage of that.
Who knows but Ole has shown this season that as his CV suggests he’s not a great coach or manager. Whoever manages Utd is going to be let down in the transfer market. Someone with better coaching and tactical ability is only way forward. Ole is well short of the required level in those areas which is a shame but hardly a shock.
I read it. There's quite a few things that are blatantly incorrect.
Thanks for sharing that post. Fecking shocking. Never liked Woodward and mentioned a while ago that he is on some sort of ego trip. The bit in bold is one thing that really annoys me. It shows that Woodward is not giving Ole a good enough platform to build from and this bit and Woodward still fails to get him a replacement in. Makes me dislike Woodward more all the fecking time
Ole has been our manager for 8months. EIGHT. We've been shit for better part of 6 years. I'm very sad people prefer to look at the easy target and forget the rest completely. That is why this guy has been able to keep his position unchallenged for these many years.
So this guy didn't support Jose at all and forced Fred on him. Didnt give a defender or a winger either.
No wonder Jose started calling it out. We are absolute shambles.
No wonder Jose started calling it out. We are absolute shambles.
Because we like to focus on the problem right in front of us. That's how he's been able to escape.
None of this is a shock. The signs have been there. You read between the lines from what the failed managers have been saying, watching the transfers draw out, and you see the monster. Yet some folks need it written out in a binding contract that he's unfit for the role before they decide to point a finger.
Moyes saying he's either a genius or a clown
Totally agree with you. Maybe now people will start getting more on Woodward's back. What he is doing to the club is shambolic and he shouldn't be allowed to continue doing this
Ten months, mid December he first came in.
Maybe this will be the kick up the ar$e they need to start investing more shrewdly to get us up where we should be. Challenging for honours. Or it may make them think that it will require too much of an investment and they might sell. If they do decide to sell I hope to feck it is not another leveraged buy out.
I still think he has a lot of potential in the right setup. He did well at Molde and Cardiff are rubbish and will make anybody look bad. He says the right things and his targets are spot on, hust a shame his tactics are so inconsistent. It’s not all bad like many suggest. For the first time in years it seems we have the manager, players, and club hierarchy, all pulling in the same direction. This is important. In the long run it might well pay off & I would trust Ole to at least identify the right targets. I want to see how we perform with a fully fit squad and a good run.
I'm glad he's finally under the scrutiny spotlight, he's had too good of a ride under our decline. All these leaking positive things that the fans want to hear after a defeat are tiresome and embarrassing.
In that article it claims he distance himself away from commercial matters but Judge is effectively our DoF, utter shambles to deflect blame upon himself.
In that article it claims he distance himself away from commercial matters but Judge is effectively our DoF, utter shambles to deflect blame upon himself.
"The recruitment system without Ferguson’s alchemy was flawed. A scout’s recommendation for Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez, available then for £8 million, fell through the gaps, while Moyes rejected the one signing lined up, Thiago, because he was not personally familiar with the player."
That's honestly depressing. Just how different our story could have been if we actually appointed a competent manager that summer is sad to think about.
If there's one player that wasn't Jose's I'd say it was Fred. Jose looked nonplus about getting him like it was just another body.
Fred coming in for 50 million could've signaled Herrera to playout his contract as well. At the end of the 2018 season things weren't looking too good for him.
Fred coming in for 50 million could've signaled Herrera to playout his contract as well. At the end of the 2018 season things weren't looking too good for him.
True but there are hundreds of players that are recommended by a fleet of scouts.
Also different managers have different perspectives and different styles which require certain types of players for particular role.
So even a top manager could have rejected Thiago because he may not fit in his preferred system
There have been whispers of this for some time. But a lot of the cafe has patently rejected it because they prefer to let their anti Mourinho sentiment run riot.
If I had been amongst that group of fans....I guess it's safe to say that I'd probably be in jail facing Grevious Bodily Harm charges and someone in hospital.
I guess it's fair to say you would've done feck all.
Probably the Dutch fans that were upset with having to watch that garbage live
So who decided to spunk 50 million on Fred?
The suspicion is Woodward not Jose. Jose was not exactly thrilled with his acquisition seeing he never played him.
Without Jose giving even the slightest hint in the media that he was never wanted by him ? Good one.
The worst part of the deal was the sum paid. I mean Fred at Shaktar was promising. If we paid 30 million, back then it may have made sense....but 50 is over the top.
We’re screwed.
I read somewhere that the Glazers involve themselves in footballing decisions such as transfers.
There was a rumour about one of them stopping Jose from putting Martial on transfer list because he was his favourite player.
There was a rumour about one of them stopping Jose from putting Martial on transfer list because he was his favourite player.
Damn