Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)

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Almost all the signs point to us trying to sign his targets. Woody didn't just veto them, despite how some talk. However each of targets ended up requiring us to pay stupidly over-the-top prices which Woody refused to pay. Ultimately he was probably disappointed that he didn't get any of those defenders, but had belief in Mourinho being able to continue improving the same team that finished 2nd last season (with the addition of Fred and Pereira).

Exactly this. Buying players is not like going to Tesco, where you know a price and can easily buy them for that. Jose wanted Willian, but if Chelsea demanded £70-80m for him, it would have been ridiculous to pay that. Doesn’t mean we are not backing Jose - just that we couldn’t get his targets for the right price.
 
So... why not just sack him then?

That's my point.

Why not sack him in the Summer if you completely disagree with his targets? Why not sack him now as we're under-performing?

And yes he's been given money to spend, but then, he's won them 2 trophies, and he's given them 2 top 4 finishes - this generate money as well.

That's because disagreeing with his targets and wanting him out are two completely different things. There were times when the club disagreed with SAF over his transfer targets or were unable to bring him the players he wanted. For example United refused to break the wage structure to sign Batistuta or to pay that little bit extra to sign Salas. That doesn't mean it was a vote of no confidence towards the manager. SAF simply got on with it and we kept winning. Jeez I forget how many times he came up saying he needed this or he needed that only to end the summer saying that he's happy with the squad at it is. And we're talking here of a truly special one who never stopped winning important honours with us. Not someone who spent 400m only to win the amazing Europa League and EFL cup.

Last summer it was a nightmare for transfers. There was the WC, the fall of the pound due to Brexit + it was the very first time the transfer window closed so early. Apart from Liverpool almost every big club in the EPL struggled to make signings. Does that mean that Shitty gave a vote of no confidence to Pep or Chelsea gave a vote of no confidence to Sarri?
 
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So... why not just sack him then?

That's my point.

Why not sack him in the Summer if you completely disagree with his targets? Why not sack him now as we're under-performing?

And yes he's been given money to spend, but then, he's won them 2 trophies, and he's given them 2 top 4 finishes - this generate money as well.

There's probably a financial element with his contract terms that none of us would know about. Maybe some stipulations that make it easier to terminate his contract at season's end. Beyond that, it's a question of whether or not Jose or an interim manager is better suited to getting this club in the top 4. My guess is that Ed and the Glazers have decided that he's probably the better bet for the remainder of the season.
 
Of course Castles would out his biased slant on it but the point is clear.
It seems Mourinho is not keen on the preferred candidate and only wants to work with Ocampos .
The the DoF is coming to work for the club not Mourinho so the Glazers have decided to shelve the plan until Mourinho fecks off.
Just look at this line.

What self respecting club allows the manager to pick the DoF?
I wish they would just hire the man they want and tell Mourinho to feck off of he's not happy.
Absolutely. Decide on what kind of club you want to run, then find the DOF who suits that approach. Managers and transfers follow on from that. If there's any truth in this piece, it just confirms what a fecking mess we're in at board level.
 
This. Absolutely ridiculous owners / board.

Just picture this...

Midway through last season:

Woodward - "So, Mourinho's doing alright, won 2 trophies last season, lets extend his contract for some reason"

Glazers - "Yes, go for it!"

*Finishes 2nd*

Mourinho - "So, we finished 2nd, lets invest in this team and push on to challenge next season"

Woodward - "Erm... yeah... I'll just run it past the guys"

Glazers - "Nah, don't wanna do that..."

Woodward - "So... shall we sack him?"

Glazers - "Erm... *checks payout clause on new contract given months ago* no don't sack him, just don't back him. Write the season off, let City or Liverpool have the PL, and direct the media toward him rather than us :)"

Mourinho - "But I need new players in these positions to compete with Citeh and Liverpool"

Woodward - "Yeah... we're not really bothered about that. See if you can scrape top 4 and we'll maybe let you stay another season :)"

Ludicrous morons to be running a football club.

What more ludicrous is that you thought about how you assumed this planned out. Even had time to write it and it still made sense in your head. Your as daft as you assume the owners are.
 
What more ludicrous is that you thought about how you assumed this planned out. Even had time to write it and it still made sense in your head. Your as daft as you assume the owners are.

Yes, they're doing a great job of running Manchester United.

It was wise to extend Mourinho's contract in the middle of last season.

It was also wise to not reinvest in a team that finished 2nd last season.

It was wise to keep Mourinho on as manager, while not backing him.

And 'your' is an abbreviation of 'you are'.

You've certainly told me.
 
That's because disagreeing with his targets and wanting him out are two completely different things. There were times when the club disagreed with SAF over his transfer targets or were unable to bring him the players he wanted. For example United refused to break the wage structure to sign Batistuta or to pay that little bit extra to sign Salas. That doesn't mean it was a vote of no confidence towards the manager. SAF simply got on with it and we kept winning. Jeez I forget how many times he came up saying he needed this or he needed that only to end the summer saying that he's happy with the squad at it is. And we're talking here of a truly special one who never stopped winning important honours with us. Not someone who spent 400m only to win the amazing Europa League and EFL cup.

Last summer it was a nightmare for transfers. There was the WC, the fall of the pound due to Brexit + it was the very first time the transfer window closed so early. Apart from Liverpool almost every big club in the EPL struggled to make signings. Does that mean that Shitty gave a vote of no confidence to Pep or Chelsea gave a vote of no confidence to Sarri?

Jose seems to be the only manager who is allowed to perform poorly because he didn't get every single one of his targets. Pep didn't get Jorginho or Fred, I guess City didn't back him and should have sacked him instead huh?

We also have fans constantly complain that we get bent over a barrel by clubs, but no people are complaining that we didn't get our pants pulled down and buy bloody Willian and Maguire for 70m a piece? I'm pretty sure there'd be a panel of scouts, etc. that would put an upper value on all potential targets and if clubs demand more than we're willing to pay then we should quite rightly walk away. It doesn't mean we have to sack the manager - transfers are just one part of both Mou and Woodward's roles, despite how obsessed everyone seems to be with signings these days.
 
If Campos is available there surely must be a plan to get him. No matter how poor Ed is he surely isnt that poor.
 
Yes, they're doing a great job of running Manchester United.

It was wise to extend Mourinho's contract in the middle of last season.

It was also wise to not reinvest in a team that finished 2nd last season.

It was wise to keep Mourinho on as manager, while not backing him.

And 'your' is an abbreviation of 'you are'.

You've certainly told me.

If correcting my English makes you feel better about yourself take a bow.

We extended his contract because he tickled PSG’s balls for 2 months and he was actually doing well.

We reinvested. A CM and RB however a defender and RW didn’t fit the clubs profile or budget. Boohoo.

I’m sure it would have been a great idea to sack him but it would have caused more disruption than it benefited having to fine a new replacement quickly it was safer believing he could actually earn his money for once in his time here.
 
If Campos is available there surely must be a plan to get him. No matter how poor Ed is he surely isnt that poor.
What if he wants another person? The trouble seem to be Mourinho only wants to work with Campos.
Mourinho shouldn't be the one determining who we go for .
 
The excuses for the Glazers and Woodward have to stop!

Some of our fans will go to ever more desperate lengths to rid them of any blame for our current problem. Inventing new and more far fetched tales in the process.
 
What if he wants another person? The trouble seem to be Mourinho only wants to work with Campos.
Mourinho shouldn't be the one determining who we go for .
No matter where this guy has been he has been outstanding, even if Mourinho wants to work with him that surely cant be a good enough reason not to go for him.. the sad part is that I dont think Ed has a clue who to go for.
 
The excuses for the Glazers and Woodward have to stop!

Some of our fans will go to ever more desperate lengths to rid them of any blame for our current problem. Inventing new and more far fetched tales in the process.

Absolutely this. It's like talking to people with Stockholm Syndrome.

In fact, I would wager that the passion felt for the club, and the fact that the Glazers have been here a while does actually cause some kind of disconnect from common logic within some fans.

This club is run so badly it's almost comical. The footballing job Woodward and the Glazers have managed to pull off is just one awful decision after another.

No other set of fans would accept it.
 
What if he wants another person? The trouble seem to be Mourinho only wants to work with Campos.
Mourinho shouldn't be the one determining who we go for .

Of course, Ed Woodward the oracle of football knows best.
 
This. Absolutely ridiculous owners / board.

Just picture this...

Midway through last season:

Woodward - "So, Mourinho's doing alright, won 2 trophies last season, lets extend his contract for some reason"

Glazers - "Yes, go for it!"

*Finishes 2nd*

Mourinho - "So, we finished 2nd, lets invest in this team and push on to challenge next season"

Woodward - "Erm... yeah... I'll just run it past the guys"

Glazers - "Nah, don't wanna do that..."

Woodward - "So... shall we sack him?"

Glazers - "Erm... *checks payout clause on new contract given months ago* no don't sack him, just don't back him. Write the season off, let City or Liverpool have the PL, and direct the media toward him rather than us :)"

Mourinho - "But I need new players in these positions to compete with Citeh and Liverpool Watford and Bournemouth"

Woodward - "Yeah... we're not really bothered about that. See if you can scrape top 4 and we'll maybe let you stay another season :)"

Ludicrous morons to be running a football club.
Fixed it for you.
 
Shouldn't the DoF appointment be dependent on compatibility with the next manager? I know Jose-inners think the appointment could help salvage what's left of Jose's tenure but that's a long shot and it makes no sense to make the appointment for the benefit of a man who on current projections is on is way out of the club
 
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All these are predicted excuses from the board to not hire anymore. Not surprised by the slightest.
 
Shouldn't the DoF appointment be dependent on the next manager? I know Jose-inners think the appointment could help salvage what's left of Jose's tenure but that's a long shot and it makes no sense to make the appointment for the benefit of a man who on current projections is on is way out of the club

The DoF shouldn't be dependent on anybody. Whoever it ends up being should have the freedom to chart the course of what he wants to do with the playing squad and make his own evaluations of the current manager in staff, then be allowed to make changes if he sees fit. We shouldn't delay hiring a DoF because we want to see if Jose can get us top-4 (and get another season as a result) or if he fails to do so.

This is just another in a long line of shoddy decision from Woodward and the board.
 
Absolutely this. It's like talking to people with Stockholm Syndrome.

In fact, I would wager that the passion felt for the club, and the fact that the Glazers have been here a while does actually cause some kind of disconnect from common logic within some fans.

This club is run so badly it's almost comical. The footballing job Woodward and the Glazers have managed to pull off is just one awful decision after another.

No other set of fans would accept it.

I think once Mourinho is gone, posters here will struggle to find another one to blame for our mess. They have made their mind that Mourinho is the whole of our problem and blame him for anything. They will probably miss having someone to blame everything on once he's gone and our mess continues with whoever follows him
 
The DoF shouldn't be dependent on anybody. Whoever it ends up being should have the freedom to chart the course of what he wants to do with the playing squad and make his own evaluations of the current manager in staff, then be allowed to make changes if he sees fit. We shouldn't delay hiring a DoF because we want to see if Jose can get us top-4 (and get another season as a result) or if he fails to do so.

This is just another in a long line of shoddy decision from Woodward and the board.
I agree but perhaps you missed what started the present discussion. The castles article that cites a DoF Jose can work with. I'm stating the appointment should have nothing to do with him and if we're taking manager compatibility into account it should be for the next person. Both appointments need to be compatible
 
I'm bored of seeing this thread title. 'Man Utd take an age to do something' would cover a lot of stuff.
 
I think once Mourinho is gone, posters here will struggle to find another one to blame for our mess. They have made their mind that Mourinho is the whole of our problem and blame him for anything. They will probably miss having someone to blame everything on once he's gone and our mess continues with whoever follows him
Or maybe posters wouldn't need to blame anyone once Mourinho is gone, once the problem is gone.
 
Or maybe posters wouldn't need to blame anyone once Mourinho is gone, once the problem is gone.

If you want to convince yourself about that.

We will be here the next few things and we're going to see by ourselves.
 
This. Absolutely ridiculous owners / board.

Just picture this...

Midway through last season:

Woodward - "So, Mourinho's doing alright, won 2 trophies last season, lets extend his contract for some reason"

Glazers - "Yes, go for it!"

*Finishes 2nd*

Mourinho - "So, we finished 2nd, lets invest in this team and push on to challenge next season"

Woodward - "Erm... yeah... I'll just run it past the guys"

Glazers - "Ok as long as signings are sensible."

Woodward - "Ok, Mou they gave us the money. Which players you want?"

Mou - "Fred for 50m"

Woodward - "Signed. Are you happy with him?"

Mou - " Not really, I am not planning to play him very often

Woodward - "Why?"

Mou - "I want Toby"

Woodward - "Jeez he'll cost us 60m and he's at the wrong side of his 20s. Can you find someone else who represent value?"

Mou - "Are you questioning me? You already costed me Willian"

Woodward - "I know but you don't spend ridiculous money on near 30 year olds. We bought Matic and Sanchez and it didn't really worked out"

Mou - "Then get me Maguire"

Woodward - "Are you sure? He'll cost a bomb"

Mou - "Not really but if doesn't work out then we can always buy another CB. That's what we always do"

......

Ludicrous morons to be running a football club.
Ged demn! I can picture it this is what happened. Impressive, @devilish .
 
Shouldn't the DoF appointment be dependent on the next manager? I know Jose-inners think the appointment could help salvage what's left of Jose's tenure but that's a long shot and it makes no sense to make the appointment for the benefit of a man who on current projections is on is way out of the club
More the other way around. The DoF should have the largest say on who the next manager is, based on the vision of how we want to move forward (which is something he and Ed would discuss on his signing). A DoF should be in a better place to judge that then Ed is. Of course Ed has to get a good DoF in the first place, but that in theory should be a bit easier.
 
No matter where this guy has been he has been outstanding, even if Mourinho wants to work with him that surely cant be a good enough reason not to go for him.. the sad part is that I dont think Ed has a clue who to go for.

Of course, Ed Woodward the oracle of football knows best.
I'm not saying it should not be Campos. I'm saying Mourinho should not have any bearing on who the club hire.
We've been linked to Mitchell and the guy at Juve. All good appointments, going by their record. But if Mourinho doesn't want to work with them, you can't hire them until Mourinho's gone.
 
The fact we might actually be looking to make sure we hire someone who isn’t going to clash with the new manager is a blessing.

That's a good point.
Normally, we'd make a rash/reactive decision, but this seems deliberately slow (which may be due to various reasons already discussed in this thread).
 
More the other way around. The DoF should have the largest say on who the next manager is, based on the vision of how we want to move forward (which is something he and Ed would discuss on his signing). A DoF should be in a better place to judge that then Ed is. Of course Ed has to get a good DoF in the first place, but that in theory should be a bit easier.
Edited the post to reduce misunderstanding. What is being said is that Jose shouldn't be allowed to determine it, a continued discussion from a quote from the article on the previous page
 
Or maybe posters wouldn't need to blame anyone once Mourinho is gone, once the problem is gone.

Yes, because everything was fine at the club before Mourinho was appointed...

It's not as if Mourinho has delivered our most successful season since SAF.

And it's not as if Mourinho has delivered our highest PL finish since SAF either.
 
I agree but perhaps you missed what started the present discussion. The castles article that cites a DoF Jose can work with. I'm stating the appointment should have nothing to do with him and if we're taking manager compatibility into account it should be for the next person. Both appointments need to be compatible

You're right I didn't lol. I agree with you in that context then.
 
I'm not saying it should not be Campos. I'm saying Mourinho should not have any bearing on who the club hire.
We've been linked to Mitchell and the guy at Juve. All good appointments, going by their record. But if Mourinho doesn't want to work with them, you can't hire them until Mourinho's gone.

Then they should have sacked Mourinho, instead they set him up to fail by not backing him. These morons above the manager dont know what they're fecking doing and no one should trust their judgement on a director of football.
 
Then they should have sacked Mourinho, instead they set him up to fail by not backing him. These morons above the manager dont know what they're fecking doing and no one should trust their judgement on a director of football.
Believe me I agree they should have sacked him in the summer and I also don't trust their judgement.
I'm just giving reasons why they might feel it is better to wait till after he's gone.
 
Then they should have sacked Mourinho, instead they set him up to fail by not backing him. These morons above the manager dont know what they're fecking doing and no one should trust their judgement on a director of football.
Believe me, I agree they should have sacked him in the summer and I also don't trust their judgement.
I'm just giving reasons why they might feel it is better to wait till after he's gone.
 
Yes, because everything was fine at the club before Mourinho was appointed...

It's not as if Mourinho has delivered our most successful season since SAF.

And it's not as if Mourinho has delivered our highest PL finish since SAF either.
It matters little what happened last season if you look at where he has us this season - unless you are suggesting the club remain blindly loyal to a manager because he managed a 2nd place finish, 19 points behind the champions after all the money spent. Managers have won the title, but were gone the next season.
If the team is struggling to compete with Bournemouth and Watford, both who operate on meager resources, gets beaten with ease by Brighton and West ham, no organisation on the pitch, no team, then I don't know why someone would want to blame any other people but the ones in the dressing room.
 
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It matters little what happened last season if you look at where he has us this season - unless you are suggesting the club remain blindly loyal to a manager because he managed a 2nd place finish, 19 points behind the champions after all the money spent. Managers have won the title, but were gone the next season.
If the team is struggling to compete with Bournemouth and Watford, both who operate on meager resources, gets beaten with ease by Brighton and West Ham, no organisation on the pitch, no team, then I don't know why someone would want to blame any other people but the ones in the dressing room.
The board needed to invest heavily last Summer to close the 19 point gap. Jose had done better than any manager post Fergie.

Instead the board briefed the press against Jose, didn't invest even half as much as was needed and lost all the momentum we had built up. As much as I'm happy to criticise Jose for his man management style, the majority of the blame for this season's poor start lies with the board.
 
The board needed to invest heavily last Summer to close the 19 point gap. Jose had done better than any manager post Fergie.

Instead the board briefed the press against Jose, didn't invest even half as much as was needed and lost all the momentum we had built up. As much as I'm happy to criticise Jose for his man management style, the majority of the blame for this season's poor start lies with the board.
Would make sense if we were 3rd or 4th. But we are 8th with a negative GD.
 
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