Is this the worst it's been?

This truly is the worst I can recall and I’m a United fan since 68.
The year we were relegated wasn’t as bad. Because we fought hard, we were poor but we tried ! Our defence was decent. If memory serves we only got really hammered 3 or 4 times that season.
Watching the current lot you just don’t get the feeling it matters to them a whole lot.
As well as that our club is owned by a loathsome bunch.
I can’t see things improving either.
 
For me it's the fact that Murtough has shown himself to be totally inept in his occupation of responsibility. If you had a good DOF uncertainty over a manager is less impactful because under the DOF a good squad can still be assembled. The issue with United is that ETH has much to prove but the DOF has even more to do so. It's just unacceptable, just imagine how different the narrative around United is with a competent DOF.
 
I have accepted the reality that this is the worst it’s ever been for United that I’ve seen.

The real question is whether this is rock bottom or whether we have further to go before the bottom of the rock has been hit.
 
We just keep pushing that with every season. Yeah, for sure this has been a terrible start. Have we started a season with two losses after Fergie? I can't recall. At least we had few seasons where there was some "hope". Mourinho had a good start.

There is no turning this one around. This team/squad is sh1t. You can't coach out of this mess. It's impossible.
 
lex talionis said:
I have accepted the reality that this is the worst it’s ever been for United that I’ve seen.

The real question is whether this is rock bottom or whether we have further to go before the bottom of the rock has been hit.
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It could certainly get worse, we are only two games into the season and have been outclassed by two of the smaller clubs in the league. We can only hope this team finds some desire from somewhere.
 
Snapshot looks are never really enlightening to anything of substance. We could lose the next game and still finish in the top 4. We could win the next game and come in 7th. There's a lot of bad right now to be concerned about. But there's also a lot of talent and a new Manager. It takes time...it takes patience. I'm frankly not as worried as I was at some other points under Ole.

Im a fan going on 10 years so I can admit this is bad. But my feelings mean nothing. I actually have a family member who plays in the NHL and he often tells me specific examples of how totally off the media and the fans usually are to the mood and situation in the dressing room.

So it might be the lowest point. Or it could get lower. Or it could get better. I personally think they are trying too hard and getting used to a drastically different system. That takes time and patience to implement so its not surprising to struggle early. ETH is getting used to new players, and there are a ton of moving pieces.

The bottom line is I'll be there to support the guys no matter what, because we actually know f**k all of what's really happening behind the scenes...
 
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lex talionis said:
I have accepted the reality that this is the worst it’s ever been for United that I’ve seen.

The real question is whether this is rock bottom or whether we have further to go before the bottom of the rock has been hit.
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Rock bottom easily, there is no further to fall
 
To me it feels like we are at this same level for the better part of 9 years. It’s been that long since I saw utd play some decent football. In the end we will probably finish somewhere in top 10 as usual.
 
Evergreen thread. Initially talking about something other than Brentford spanking us. I think Liverpool showing mercy to us was worse, but when they beat us 10-nil next match, we will have hit a new low.
 
I don't think any club management/ownership could be more incompetent or cynical in their dealings. Do you? We've kept the same squad because the club doesn't want to spend money and no player in their right mind wants to come. ETH talks about waiting for the right player. He'll be waiting a long time for top players to turn up. I wished they had invested in 6-7 quality under 25 players - and not all from Holland. Nothing makes sense, it's just super depressing. How long before the young ones get a run? At least they might try.
 
It's going to get worse...a lot worse. The current squad will get dissolve into bitter acrimony and will leak all sorts of negative stories about the manager. The club will also release briefings about stuff being "EtH's decision" ratter than actually backing him. While Joel Glazer will still have some sort of weird final veto on who gets offloaded or not.

This will all become highly dramaticised by a press who want someone more pliable and talkative as the manager.

the fans need to just back the manager for the next 18 months - no matter how results go. there is a massive power struggle going on at the moment and the easiest thing the club could do is just replace the manager but it will continue the mediocrity at the club.

If we get rid of EtH we are looking at 2 potential scenarios

Sack EtH - Get Poch - This is clearly the message we get from some of the players and media who just think poch is a lovely guy - won't work us too hard....in reality back to Ole and Vibes FC - happy players produce occaisional exciting wins but ultimately plateau out at top 4 level at best.

Sack EtH - Ronaldo Interim - The scenario I fear the most....For revenue reasons the glazers want to keep a fuming Ronaldo happy and promise him a "player manager" contract IF they sack Erik. Cue extended battles and poor form with a civil war type season that could actually result in a relegation battle. Ronaldo acts as Interim Player Manager and we become a Mendes feeder club....if we survive the relegation battle. If we don't Ronaldo leaves and we are left to rot. If we hear stories about Ronaldo's "renewed commitment" to the club and that his relationship has improved - be afraid that this sort of backroom deal has happened.
 
BigRon1985 said:
Getting relegated only 6 years after winning the European Cup is as low as it gets but the comeback was immediate winning the old Second Division title followed by a 3rd place finish in the old First Division as well as reaching the '76 FA Cup final. The current team will always be technically superior, but they are a gutless, spineless and pathetic bunch whilst the Doc's team were all warriors who would die for the badge and never gave up.

What I'd give for the likes of Martin Buchan (a proper Captain!), Steve Coppell, Lou Macari, Gordon Hill, Sammy McIlroy and a striker who knows where the net is - Stuart "Pancho" Pearson in this team.

Need to invent time travel!
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Coppell, Hill and Mcllroy were technically gifted players! Had Coppell not got injured I really think that England could have won WC’82, he was that good.
 
Rams said:
Coppell, Hill and Mcllroy were technically gifted players! Had Coppell not got injured I really think that England could have won WC’82, he was that good.
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Wasn't suggesting they weren't technically gifted just that with nearly 50 years gap/development between them you can't really make a fair comparison.

Agree with you about Coppell......what a player!
 
No, this is just the beginning. It will only get lower and lower.
 
The results and performances are one thing, what’s scaring me is the absolute shite we’re being linked with( apart from FdJ) The names being linked with the club will end up being mediocre, overpaid players to join the rest of our mediocre overpaid players.

We’re going backwards. Gone into work today and a couple of lads have put money on a United relegation. Sounds absolutely crazy but taking the last 20 games into account we’d be 19th in the league and look to be getting worse.
 
If we're not careful we could be looking at a relegation battle sooner rather than later.
 
lex talionis said:
I have accepted the reality that this is the worst it’s ever been for United that I’ve seen.

The real question is whether this is rock bottom or whether we have further to go before the bottom of the rock has been hit.
Click to expand...

This sums it up nicely.
 
I give Ten Hag enough credit as a coach to evenutally get this team playing football. Too many residual issues from last season, as well as Ronaldo being a knob. Hopefully we can put together a good run of form once we get everything settled and the window closes.

The worst it's ever been was the Jose implosion. He spent £350m on 11 players, had us sitting amongst relegation fodder on 26 points from 17 games. It looked like he was actively sabotaging us in a petty public vandetta against Pogba and co (who were just as bad). People forget how bad we was at that point.
 
Rolaholic said:
We watched one of our worst squads ever last season, lost 6+ senior players on frees/transfers/loans, got just 3 new players in the window and started lineups with the majority of the XI from last season who caused that shitshow and we expected miracles...
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Majority of fans didn’t expect miracles. The people actually paid to run the club though, what a bunch of idiots.
It’ll get pretty toxic when we get twatted by Liverpool shortly.
 
Lynty said:
I give Ten Hag enough credit as a coach to evenutally get this team playing football. Too many residual issues from last season, as well as Ronaldo being a knob. Hopefully we can put together a good run of form once we get everything settled and the window closes.

The worst it's ever been was the Jose implosion. He spent £350m on 11 players, had us sitting amongst relegation fodder on 26 points from 17 games. It looked like he was actively sabotaging us in a petty public vandetta against Pogba and co (who were just as bad). People forget how bad we was at that point.
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Well at least the Jose implosion was followed by the biggest new manager bounce in history, so that would I think suggest that things weren't nearly as bad then as it is now. There was at least a sense of untapped potential in the squad, that could relatively easily be unleashed simply by not having JM around and playing a form of football that wasn't relentlessly negative. Hard to see that now.
 
I remember being at Old Trafford in May 1989 when we played Wimbledon. It was the end of a long, horrible season. There were 23,000 of us there, and at the time I wondered just how low could things get.

But this feels worse, because we have our greatest rivals all miles ahead of us, whereas we knew then we could quickly close the gap to Liverpool and Arsenal with the right signings (we beat the mickeys 3-1 on New Years Day).
 
Warra "New United" this has turned out to be and today Samuel Luckhurst has started up the leaks machine again. Absolutely nothing has changed.
 
justsomebloke said:
Well at least the Jose implosion was followed by the biggest new manager bounce in history, so that would I think suggest that things weren't nearly as bad then as it is now. There was at least a sense of untapped potential in the squad, that could relatively easily be unleashed simply by not having JM around and playing a form of football that wasn't relentlessly negative. Hard to see that now.
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I'm still optimistic. These poor performances are just exposing players to Ten Hag scrutiny, much prefer that to happen now when Ten Hag has plenty time on his side and the good will of board/fans. They can't hide behind manager and use poor coaching as an excuse now.

Maguire's days a numbered. Ten Hag is demanding midfeilders after seeing McFred after one game. He's also demanding a goalkeeper who can pass. Shaw has played himself out the starting 11. I think De Jong still looks likely.

The Manchester United we're seeing now will be completely different to the one you're seeing next Feb.

If we didn't have Ten Hag, i'd be very worried.
 
It has never been this bad in the Premier League era. It is going to get even worse before it gets better, though.
 
I am 67 years old and have supported this club all my life,I was born and raised just over the ship canal bridge in Salford,when I was a kid and we were all skint we did not have any money to go to a game,we used to listen to the crowds reactions Saturdays afternoons and try and gauge wether we scored or not.Those were great times.I have seen lots of highs and lows at the club,seen us get relegated and bounce back and so on, I do not mind us getting beat as long as we have a go.Ron Atkinsons /. Tommy Docs teams were good for that.These days I look at the current team and think half of them do not give a feck about the club.They get beat then some of them are all over social media posting shit.I see that we are now selling jimmy Garner,shame really as i thought he could make it.We are hearing lots of story’s coming out about disharmony and dressing room quarrels.The manager has to stick to his principles and weed out the shit and trouble makers,In my opinion it will be a long way back for us as a club but we have all got to get behind the manager and stick with him.I like the fact he made the feckers run there bollocks of yesterday in the blazing sun After the Brentford fiasco long may he continue.
 
Lynty said:
I'm still optimistic. These poor performances are just exposing players to Ten Hag scrutiny, much prefer that to happen now when Ten Hag has plenty time on his side and the good will of board/fans. They can't hide behind manager and use poor coaching as an excuse now.

Maguire's days a numbered. Ten Hag is demanding midfeilders after seeing McFred after one game. He's also demanding a goalkeeper who can pass. Shaw has played himself out the starting 11. I think De Jong still looks likely.

The Manchester United we're seeing now will be completely different to the one you're seeing next Feb.

If we didn't have Ten Hag, i'd be very worried.
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Really? I think its clear we are absolutely skint and trying to rake together 15m for Garner to provide a cheapo attacker after landing Rabiot for 20m. So if Maguire is done who will take over? Bailly and Varane arent reliable so could be Lindelof and Martinez. Basically those poor players like McTominay, Fred, Maguire, Shaw and Rashford will keep on getting more and more gametime because the squad is just ao goddamnned threadbare.
 
Feels pretty bad but the worst is yet to come I fear, we look rudderless at the moment, disorganised,the team and transfers are a mess.
ETH needs support if he’s to try fix this.

The next 8 games coming up don’t fill me with a lot of confidence either things will improve.These players could easily get him sacked.
 
royboy16 said:
Feels pretty bad but the worst is yet to come I fear, we look rudderless at the moment, disorganised,the team and transfers are a mess.
ETH needs support if he’s to try fix this.

The next 8 games coming up don’t fill me with a lot of confidence either things will improve.These players could easily get him sacked.
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I fear the same, feels like this is not the worst. Next Monday, will be even lower imo.

I just cannot see where we get a goal next, let alone a point. Looking at the fixtures, i cannot see where we get a win next.
 
i mean the schedule isnt super easy coming in (especially with how we are playing at the moment) so things could get pretty fecking bad. Gotta assume not getting the win against pool, then that soton game becomes huge. Imagine if we fail to win that game as well and then all of a sudden going into leicester/arsenal with pure desperation now. I said if we didnt add central midfielders we would struggle to even finish top half, and it looks to be the case.
 
I've had a chance to think about this since I last replied. For me, the unfolding of the Greenwood matter is worse than this. Matches are lost and performances can be poor, but the issues that came to light earlier this calendar year regarding one of out current players put Manchester United in a worse light than losing the first two matches of the season.
 
MalaysianRed7 said:
Thanks for the reply. Re. the bolded bit, I wish we had players like that now; Malacia was the closest thing to that yesterday. Love the second paragraph as well, since I’m familiar with all those names aside from Pearson! Gordon Hill hit out at the Glazers on Twitter yesterday - good on him.
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I would take Lou Macari, Steve Coppell, Gordon Hill, Martin Buchan, Stuart Pearson, Sammy McIlroy, Brian Greenhoff, Kevin Moran, Gerry Daly, David McCreery and Alex Stepney over any of our current squad with the exception of Ronaldo who might not be the player he was but at least he was a player!
 
Lynty said:
I give Ten Hag enough credit as a coach to evenutally get this team playing football. Too many residual issues from last season, as well as Ronaldo being a knob. Hopefully we can put together a good run of form once we get everything settled and the window closes.

The worst it's ever been was the Jose implosion. He spent £350m on 11 players, had us sitting amongst relegation fodder on 26 points from 17 games. It looked like he was actively sabotaging us in a petty public vandetta against Pogba and co (who were just as bad). People forget how bad we was at that point.
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I agree with you about ETH, but not with this squad, none of them look like they can bothered. We need a wholesale clear out, and if we take a loss in transfer fees, so be it.
 
In living memory, yes. Unless your a 50+ year old grumpy old git.
 
Incredibly, we can look at next week's match against Liverpool now as a six pointer.

If we beat them (please withhold your laughter) we will be above Liverpool in the table and we could, if other results go the right way, send Liverpool to the bottom of the table. But if they beat us we'll be on zero points at the bottom of the table unless Everton or West Ham lose by massive goal difference.
 
redmanx said:
I agree with you about ETH, but not with this squad, none of them look like they can bothered. We need a wholesale clear out, and if we take a loss in transfer fees, so be it.
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Exactly. Letting this bunch leave on a free is preferable to keeping them. They actually are making a negative contribution. A lot of them just aren't trying.
 
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