I love Ole for everything he has done for the club, including as manager. People forget just how toxic the club was at the end of Jose's time. I didn't enjoy the games or look forward to them at all. I've had doubts since the form fell off the cliff post PSG 2019. Yes, that was a fluke of a win but when you look at it, the personnel on the field, and the way we set up, it is clear that Ole is tactically quite good at counter attack and compact defensive structures (which suits our players in many respects) and that is why for some time we have had tis boom bust cycle of big results in big games followed by dreadful runs against lesser teams when the onus is on him to coach a more cohesive and attacking style of play.
There have been a few factors that have caused me to end up where I am now, which is fully fledged Ole Out. Most of it starts at the EL Final, runs into this summers strategy in the market, and culminates with what we are seeing on the pitch now.
- The EL Final. Not subbing DDG for Deano given the penalty records of each player. Not making a fecking sub.... a long running issue for him. He had no idea what to do, and it showed.
- His over reliance / loyalty to players / coaches who aren't good enough / past being able to play at this level. Jones. McFred. Lingard. Mata. Martial. They can stink the place out week after week for 3 years but keep getting on the pitch. This extends to his coaching staff. Carrick. McKenna. Right now would have been the time Fergie would have brought in someone like Queiroz to help improve the standard of coaching. The lack of patterns of play has been evident for almost his entire time in charge now. And he isn't trying to fix it.
- His record in the transfer market is not as blemish free as everyone implies. Why did we need to sign Heaton? Why did we sign Pellestri or Amad prior to sorting out the 1st 11? And so on.
- Treatment of Donny. It's a complete and utter joke. Either he allowed the club to waste a sizeable chunk of our budget on a player he didn't want, or he doesn't know how to use him. Lose lose for Ole. He has given plenty of bang average performers endless chances to play their way into form, but not Donny. A complete disgrace.
- This season the fixtures were there for a strong start, and he blew it. I do not care that he doesn't have the best player in the world in every position the way he seems to want, he should be winning and dominating most of these games. Klopp managed to get them lot through last season playing midfielders in central defence, by having a recognizable pattern of play to rely on. It's called coaching. I'd worry how far we would fall if we lost Maguire and Varane for the season now. It just comes off as excuses at this point.
- The Young Boys game, if I had to hang my hat on one specific moment, was probably where I said enough is enough. Last season he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by dropping that clanger at Istanbul Basaksehir, one of the most disgraceful defeats in the clubs history for a multitude of reasons, not least HOW we managed to gift them a goal from schoolboy mishaps. And that Leipzig performance. It was because of his limitations that we ended up in the EL again. And it was always "once he has the players these things will stop happening". Well, now he has the players, and we are still being embarrassed in Europe losing to small clubs in ridiculous fashion. That moment it became crystal clear in my mind, this is just who Ole is as a manager. This is his level.
I also don't expect him to save himself this time around with a run of big results. As I said already, he is good at setting up a compact counter attacking team for specific games. Problem now is, in order to do this, he has to drop Pogba and Ronaldo. So I fully expect that the next few weeks will be very very bleak in terms of results. I really hope this doesn't tarnish his overall legacy at the club. It's sad to see so called United fans abusing him. It's perfectly possible to love Ole and accept he isn't good enough to United manager. I also love Roy Keane / Gary Neville / Paul Scholes etc but wouldn't want any of them managing United either. My big fear now is how bad it has to get before the gutless owners and board do what they need to do.