EXCLUSIVE | "If you do not do what Ten Hag wants...you'll be punished" | Bruno Fernandes Sky Sports interview

Think this is what this squad has been missing for the last few years and under the last couple of managers. DISCIPLINE. You ain’t getting the respect from the squad if your a soft touch… they need to know who’s boss and that your not gonna accept anything other then 110% in each game! Add this with some proper coaching and training then we’re onto something.
 
I don't necessarily think the problem with Ole was that he was lacking in strictness. I think the issue was likely that he wasn't demanding enough.

Some people might have read that first sentence and quite fairly wondered exactly what the distinction is. By strictness, I'm referring to the imposition and assiduous enforcement of certain ground rules (don't be late to training/meetings, wear the correct uniform to club engagements etc.). I'm not sure I buy that Ole was lacking on this front; plenty of the United squad have said that, behind the "nice guy" demeanor was a man perfectly willing to use his authority.

Being demanding, however, entails constantly requiring the highest of standards in all facets of players' work. Strictness with ground rules arguably falls under that umbrella but it's far more than that. It's the mindset that a good, hard-working training session simply isn't enough. It's the requirement that every pass, every touch, every movement right the way from training into match-days has to be perfect. Crucially, it's the idea that this perfection you're striving for can never be achieved, so every day there are things you can work on to improve your system and things your players can work on to improve its execution. It's in this regard that I think Ole was lacking. My opinion is that perhaps the crucial reason for this was a lack of tactical acumen within the coaching staff; it's hard to consistently expand the capabilities of your players when you're tactically limited yourself.

It's this second aspect that I think will make or break Ten Hag's time at United. Contrary to the belief of many, I think the players will buy into the regime of a demanding coach if there's a feeling that these demands are working towards the improvement of the group.
 
Just imagine if Wreck-It had implemented that philosophy in the time he was here. We still could have had a decent season.
Who knows? If ETH had of came in as interim with all the behind the scenes problems and a strict regime maybe the players wouldn't of been so on board. Getting rid of players like Pogba and Lingard have definitely helped in that regard. I would think interim managers are treated differently than ones that are going to be around, hopefully for a long time. There's no point bringing up Ralf all the time when the situations are completely different.
 
I'm sure Ten Hag didn't want Bruno to be doing silly hollywood passes today so I expect he'll be punished.
 
Who knows? If ETH had of came in as interim with all the behind the scenes problems and a strict regime maybe the players wouldn't of been so on board. Getting rid of players like Pogba and Lingard have definitely helped in that regard. I would think interim managers are treated differently than ones that are going to be around, hopefully for a long time. There's no point bringing up Ralf all the time when the situations are completely different.
There's more Ole references in this thread than Wreck-It and I can guarantee you that if we had employed ten Hag even on just an interim basis, we certainly would not have stooped to the depths that we did under Wreck-It Ralf. He just did not seem arsed at all. Ten Hag at the very least would have arrested the decline.
 
So for the last 3 years everyone was just showing up when they want and doing what they want?

Makes sense to be fair.
well I have been questioning for at least two years what went on at "training", but of course I was told I was being negative as if my thoughts actually affected the club or Ole. The players certainly looked much less fit last season than at any time in the present era and so often in games looked lost and with little idea of what they were supposed to be doing
 
Ole came in post the toxic moaner that is Jose, so went to far the other way. After a while they lacked respect for him as they played regardless of standards.
wait. what? are you blaming last season on Jose? I'd have rather kept Jose for three more years than had to suffer possibly the most not-qualified-for-the-job manager in United history
 
Will be interesting to see over time if the usual suspects will continue to knuckle down or eventually throw their toys out of the pram.

No.... I reckon they have found out where the lever for the (hidden) 'manager out' trapdoor is and sooner or later the urge to pull it will become too great.
 
Should be very easy to improve on oles second place this season given how he just let the players do whatever they want. Very easy low hanging fruit. Top four should be an absolute cake walk.
 
Should be very easy to improve on oles second place this season given how he just let the players do whatever they want. Very easy low hanging fruit. Top four should be an absolute cake walk.
To replicate that second place we would have to bring back Pogba, Cavani, Greenwood, James, Matić and Henderson, who clocked up 90 starts and 41 sub appearances.
 
And send Ronaldo Sancho varane eriksen Martinez and that young left back the other direction.

And have Liverpool go through an unprecedented injury crisis alongside Frank Lampard being one of the few managers worse than Ole. At least Ole helped us in the long term though.

Meanwhile let's forget that instead of Brendan Rodgers as our main competition for top 4 are Chelsea, an improving Arsenal and Antonio Conte's Tottenham.
 
We all suspected it was very relaxed under Ole, might have been the case it seems.
It’s the lack of authority. I just don’t think they respected him as a coach.
 
It's this second aspect that I think will make or break Ten Hag's time at United. Contrary to the belief of many, I think the players will buy into the regime of a demanding coach if there's a feeling that these demands are working towards the improvement of the group.

This is the key bit. You cannot be a hard task master if you aren't rewarding the players for it. At this level, salary doesn't really seem to cut it for whatever reason. If the players are seeing good results from his methods, are enjoying the football and feel like they are going in the right direction they will buy in and work hard.

Perspective, nuance and context ..... who needs them !

I know right. Its the same with Southgate and England. People ignoring the reality of the runs in the WC and Euros and just looking purely at finishing position and nothing else. The exact reason Ole was indulged for so long. Its OK that we play crap football and get outplayed by most of the teams in the league because we do OK results wise and poor performances never come back to bite you long term....
 
Read somewhere that Ganarcho was supposed to start some games on the tour but got dropped because of his tardiness. Apparently was late and the team bus had to wait for him for a good 10 minutes.
 
Will be interesting to see over time if the usual suspects will continue to knuckle down or eventually throw their toys out of the pram.
As soon as the players feel some pressure from the fans when things are not going our way.
 
We all suspected it was very relaxed under Ole, might have been the case it seems.

It’s the lack of authority. I just don’t think they respected him as a coach.

Fred once said Ole was more like a friend than a coach. Didn't help his cause that Ole was actually no good at the coaching part or in game management either. It's gross negligence to have kept him on whilst City and Liverpool were building with Pep and Klopp.
 
A lot of what's been said since Ole left, doesn't paint his tenure in a good light whatsoever.

A lot of what’s been said is what some fans said was the case during his tenure. Didn’t need to be a genius to realise it. Just had to watch our matches, see his press conferences etc.
 
A lot of what’s been said is what some fans said was the case during his tenure. Didn’t need to be a genius to realise it. Just had to watch our matches, see his press conferences etc.

Absolutely - but being validated from the players themselves, verifies peoples perceptions.
 
No wonder why Ronaldo wants out
I said a couple of weeks back something similar, Ronaldo is smart enough to know what's going to be heading his way from ETH and I really doubt (I hope anyway) that ETH will flex too far from his own ideas to accommodate Ronaldo, especially after this 3 week no show. I imagine he will be punished? It would be interesting to see the fallout of Ronaldo being benched, which I can see happening.

It's going to be interesting to see the relationship that develops between ETH and Ronaldo.