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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Living in the past. Fully settled into the role Liverpool had for years. Guys who know the United Way and won't rock the boat too much.

The United cnuting Way. I've never despised a phrase so much.
 
youmeletsfly said:
Did VDS have any experience when he took over at Ajax?( Using him as an example because everyone seems to want him)

At least he knows the club and might know what is needed.

Dunno, I feel that any appointment has the same degree of risk, experience or not.
Click to expand...
Yeah but that’s Ajax that are a much smaller club - an ideal training ground and now he would be a good candidate for a bigger job as he’s got experience and proven himself capable in the role.
 
devilish said:
I wonder what exactly remains in Ole's managerial CV if you remove Molde and Cardiff out? Maybe his record since joining us as a permanent manager?
Click to expand...
Which would still be more than what Guardiola had on his, when he got the Barca job.
 
The wilderness year's are only just beginning. If this is the plan,they're spinning us a yarn about giving us 'our club back' which basically means spending feck all,using any and every youth player regardless of talent,and keeping the 'old heads' around(which has already begun with the contract extensions).

For me,they want to milk another two seasons of revenue then jump ship when the fans finally stop feeding them. By then,we'll be comfortably a midtable club.
 
Shane88 said:
Living in the past. Fully settled into the role Liverpool had for years. Guys who know the United Way and won't rock the boat too much.

The United cnuting Way. I've never despised a phrase so much.
Click to expand...

You can blame Neville I'm sure he's the one that made it a thing
 
Adnan said:
Which would still be more than what Guardiola had on his, when he got the Barca job.
Click to expand...

Pep developed one of the best youth sides the world had ever seen. What did ole achieved at Cardiff?
 
devilish said:
Pep developed one of the best youth sides the world had ever seen. What did ole achieved at Cardiff?
Click to expand...
The comparison was, Ole's stint with us and Guardiola's with Barca B.

Guillermo Amor, Jordi Roura, Aureli Altimira and Markel Zubizaretta did far more than Pep did to imprint the vision of Cruyff on La Masia. Guardiola was the result of their work infact..
 
Adnan said:
The comparison was, Ole's stint with us and Guardiola's with Barca B.

Guillermo Amor, Jordi Roura, Aureli Altimira and Markel Zubizaretta did far more than Pep did to imprint the vision of Cruyff on La Masia. Guardiola was the result of their work infact..
Click to expand...

What is Ole's record as our permanent manager?

I am not completely against having Ole as manager. However if we're having someone as manager whose so green that he pisses grass then we need to properly support him. Phelan has no experience as technical director while Carrick has been part of Mou's failed coaching staff. I hope I am wrong but by the looks of it we're bound to failure.
 
devilish said:
What is Ole's record as our permanent manager?
Click to expand...
Ole's record as our permanent manager is more impressive than Guardiola managing Barca reserves. He was also aided greatly by Tito Vilanova who is said to have had a greater influence on the likes of Messi and co.
 
Last edited:
Phelan to TD and Carrick to Assistant Manager would be underwhelming to be honest. At least it puts the TD role in place at the club as a starting point for the future though.
 
Adnan said:
Ole's record as our permanent is more impressive than Guardiola managing Barca reserves. He was also aided greatly from Tito Vilanova who is said to have had a greater influence on the likes of Messi and co.
Click to expand...

Seriously? The guy can't seem to stop losing since he became a permanent manager. Also you l're playing right in my hands in saying that Pep has proper support. Which is lacking here both at board level and in terms of team quality

Also I can't see pep going to Cardiff and be so much out of depth.
 
Freak said:
I don’t mind Phelan as a DOF appointment. What concerns me is that we will make Carrick a number 2. I think Ole needs someone stronger in that number 2 role. Carrick is still learning his trade as a coach.
Click to expand...
Yup. This was my first thought as well. Why not McKenna promoted? At least he coached our U-18s to play glorious attacking football. I am yet to be convinced by Coach Carrick to be perfectly honest. Something seems awry here. My only hope being the club has done some semblance of research and not just riding the emotions train here.
 
Ban said:
I thought you're pro Ole?
Click to expand...

I wasn't against his appointment if he was properly supported and guided. Instead we have this no big changes in the squad + Phelan as TD & Carrick as no 2 BS.

If he doesn't have the balls to do drastic changes then he won't be successful.
 
People want fresh blood. I get it. They want a fancy name that they’ve never heard about so they can pretend they know all about their successes. It’s fine.

We tend to forget that Phelan was there throughout the most successful period of Manchester United ever. Literally no one has THAT experience to transcribe to our team of today. To top it off he’s also now gotten a front line view as to what the problems are and what he feels could be the limiting factors from above. It’s almost as if he’s gotten the best on the job training possible for an executive position. He also doesn’t seem to be the type to be a pushover.

His keen relationship with ole can only be beneficial to the team and not the board. It could be the big reason why Ed would not hire him.
 
Feck what a laughable club we have become. Loads of money, a complete overhaul needed to catch Liverpool and City, and we ask Mike if he fancies filling the hot seat. Banter FC
 
WR10 said:
People want fresh blood. I get it. They want a fancy name that they’ve never heard about so they can pretend they know all about their successes. It’s fine.

We tend to forget that Phelan was there throughout the most successful period of Manchester United ever. Literally no one has THAT experience to transcribe to our team of today. To top it off he’s also now gotten a front line view as to what the problems are and what he feels could be the limiting factors from above. It’s almost as if he’s gotten the best on the job training possible for an executive position. He also doesn’t seem to be the type to be a pushover.

His keen relationship with ole can only be beneficial to the team and not the board. It could be the big reason why Ed would not hire him.
Click to expand...

On what planet are director of football's fancy names? How many people gave a feck that Txiki became City's DoF? The big one for City was Guardiola but Txiki was arguably just as important.

We had Javier Ribalta wanting to take on a bigger role in the club, and we let him go to the russian league instead. Now apparently Phelan is the best man for the job when he wasn't even in contention 3 months ago. It reeks of a panic appointment because we have no clue how to recruit a DoF.

IrishRedDevil said:
Feck what a laughable club we have become. Loads of money, a complete overhaul needed to catch Liverpool and City, and we ask Mike if he fancies filling the hot seat. Banter FC
Click to expand...

Exactly. Phelan wasn't in the picture a few months ago and now he's favourite to be our DoF. Panic appointment.
 
Do we yet know what the role of our technical director will be? It seems to change drastically from club to club.
 
ivaldo said:
Do we yet know what the role of our technical director will be? It seems to change drastically from club to club.
Click to expand...

From the descriptions the club are using its a glorified secretary. He's supposed to act as a connection between the manager and Woodward, so probably a Woodward underling that makes sure the manager stays in line.
 
Alabaster Codify7 said:
The wilderness year's are only just beginning. If this is the plan,they're spinning us a yarn about giving us 'our club back' which basically means spending feck all,using any and every youth player regardless of talent,and keeping the 'old heads' around(which has already begun with the contract extensions).

For me,they want to milk another two seasons of revenue then jump ship when the fans finally stop feeding them. By then,we'll be comfortably a midtable club.
Click to expand...

Ive said this a few times on here.
If we dont get these leeches out of our club we will probably go decades without winning the league.
 
devilish said:
Seriously? The guy can't seem to stop losing since he became a permanent manager. Also you l're playing right in my hands in saying that Pep has proper support. Which is lacking here both at board level and in terms of team quality

Also I can't see pep going to Cardiff and be so much out of depth.
Click to expand...
The point is, we wouldn't have given Guardiola the job regardless, because we have a mentality it seems that we need a experienced this and that. Barca don't operate like that, they give job to the person who they believe is the best for their philosophy going forward. That's why you see alot of their ex players in top jobs there. They don't give two fecks about experience it seems. We've never had their mindset even in the days of Fergie.

Ole failed at Cardiff because he was trying to turn Dinosaurs into footballer's. Trying to make their lumps play out from the back was a naive move. Cardiff with the players they had, needed a Sam Allardyce or even their current Dinosaur, Warnock, rather than someone like Ole who wants his team to play football. I can look past that failure with Ole, because his concept of coaching was definitely progressive as far as actually playing football. Even Fergie was sacked at St Mirren in his late 30's.

His current record is actually fine, considering he took over a team that had a goal difference closer to the relegation fodder under Mourinho and was like 11pts away from top 4? We also have alot of players that shouldn't be playing at this club that he's inherited. Most on here gave us absolutely no chance of top 4 when he took over but since he's arrived we're in the mix.

To judge him, we must give him a transfer window and a pre-season because the current players are not accustomed to his way of playing, especially without the ball. Once he gets a pre-season with the players, I'm optimistic we'll see a higher tempo in our play, because he'll have the lads fitter and sharper and better prepared for the season ahead. I think the below tweet is why I think there's been a drop in performances.

 
pablo__p said:
Just sign VdS, cannot be that hard given his ties with the club?
Click to expand...
What if he doesn't want to move to England at this point in his life? He has a great job at a club he probably has a closer connection on his home country. I remember his wife having health problems while he was at our club, now I believe she made a full recovery but people who go through that are even more likely to put family first, and I can imagine that's being at home!

Basically my point is, it's not just as easy to say "Get Van Der Sar" as if we can just pull him off the street, put him in the job and that's that. He has a day in it too, and there's no indication he'd even be interested in what's a lesser role than his current job. Yes Untied are a bigger club than Ajax, but Ajax is no minnow (and are currently out performing us in Europe) and he's CEO there. Not just a technical director/DOF whatever.
 
Adnan said:
The point is, we wouldn't have given Guardiola the job regardless, because we have a mentality it seems that we need a experienced this and that. Barca don't operate like that, they give job to the person who they believe is the best for their philosophy going forward. That's why you see alot of their ex players in top jobs there. They don't give two fecks about experience it seems. We've never had their mindset even in the days of Fergie.

Ole failed at Cardiff because he was trying to turn Dinosaurs into footballer's. Trying to make their lumps play out from the back was a naive move. Cardiff with the players they had, needed a Sam Allardyce or even their current Dinosaur, Warnock, rather than someone like Ole who wants his team to play football. I can look past that failure with Ole, because his concept of coaching was definitely progressive as far as actually playing football. Even Fergie was sacked at St Mirren in his late 30's.

His current record is actually fine, considering he took over a team that had a goal difference closer to the relegation fodder under Mourinho and was like 11pts away from top 4? We also have alot of players that shouldn't be playing at this club that he's inherited. Most on here gave us absolutely no chance of top 4 when he took over but since he's arrived we're in the mix.

To judge him, we must give him a transfer window and a pre-season because the current players are not accustomed to his way of playing, especially without the ball. Once he gets a pre-season with the players, I'm optimistic we'll see a higher tempo in our play, because he'll have the lads fitter and sharper and better prepared for the season ahead. I think the below tweet is why I think there's been a drop in performances.

Click to expand...


I'm wondering why this is. It seems so basic in football. I don't remember Mourinho's former teams being so unfit and you'd think he would be the one to blame for this. Do we even have a head of fitness at first team level? Is it Tony Strudwick or is he more involved with the youth team?

It really seems that our last 2 managers have prioritised positioning over movement. Our players don't show for the ball or make many runs. Barca, for example, seem to constantly be on the move, not sprinting often but just coming towards the ball. We just stand static and occasionally make hopeful sprints. I do hope that Ole doesn't just focus us on pressing out of possession, which is very important these days, but also in movement on the ball. Barca do it with several players over 30 and not a huge amount of rotation. The likes of Messi and Busquets play nearly 60 games a season.

This is what was so noticeable under Ole at first. Our players were interchanging, the movement was dynamic and unpredictable... yet recently we've resorted to being statues. Ole's reacted by being quite defensive I think so we're looking again like a Mourinho team. I hope a good pre-season will have us more consistently looking like we did in the first 10 or so games under Solskjaer's reign.

Overall it looks like we're really crap at coaching. Most of our players have gone backwards in their development and older players seem to be regressing far younger than in our competitors. We surely can't be behind in terms of facilities so it must be personnel I guess? Truly bizarre.
 
Pretty sure I remember seeing a tweet from one of Utds fitness coaches who’s been there since 2011, saying he was leaving... so I don’t know whether he was forced out and they’re now going to get a fitness coach who can do OGS’ proposed style.

Jose’s Italian fitness coach went with him, so we’ve basically had no first team fitness coach for like 4-5 months or so.
 
Alabaster Codify7 said:
The wilderness year's are only just beginning. If this is the plan,they're spinning us a yarn about giving us 'our club back' which basically means spending feck all,using any and every youth player regardless of talent,and keeping the 'old heads' around(which has already begun with the contract extensions).

For me,they want to milk another two seasons of revenue then jump ship when the fans finally stop feeding them. By then,we'll be comfortably a midtable club.
Click to expand...
We could go 20+ years without a title unless the Glazers sell up. How long has it been already?
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
I'm wondering why this is. It seems so basic in football. I don't remember Mourinho's former teams being so unfit and you'd think he would be the one to blame for this. Do we even have a head of fitness at first team level? Is it Tony Strudwick or is he more involved with the youth team?

It really seems that our last 2 managers have prioritised positioning over movement. Our players don't show for the ball or make many runs. Barca, for example, seem to constantly be on the move, not sprinting often but just coming towards the ball. We just stand static and occasionally make hopeful sprints. I do hope that Ole doesn't just focus us on pressing out of possession, which is very important these days, but also in movement on the ball. Barca do it with several players over 30 and not a huge amount of rotation. The likes of Messi and Busquets play nearly 60 games a season.

This is what was so noticeable under Ole at first. Our players were interchanging, the movement was dynamic and unpredictable... yet recently we've resorted to being statues. Ole's reacted by being quite defensive I think so we're looking again like a Mourinho team. I hope a good pre-season will have us more consistently looking like we did in the first 10 or so games under Solskjaer's reign.

Overall it looks like we're really crap at coaching. Most of our players have gone backwards in their development and older players seem to be regressing far younger than in our competitors. We surely can't be behind in terms of facilities so it must be personnel I guess? Truly bizarre.
Click to expand...

Mourinho's tactical approach doesn't ask a lot of running, it's based on low block, containment and breaks, even with Chelsea they were middle of the pack in terms of running while not playing a possession style. IIRC Barcelona are among the teams that run the least but that's because they have the ball for very long period of time, they do use the 3 second tactic but it's followed by containment too. What Ole demanded from the players is at the opposite end of these approaches, it's closer to Klopp or Bielsa way of playing football which requires an incredible amount of stamina and runs with longer pressing phases and larger areas to cover particularly for wide players.
 
If Mike Phelan does get the DOF role, surely we still need a head of recruitment? Someone with a strong list of contacts that will be able to bring people in this summer, as well as getting rid of many.
 
JPRouve said:
Mourinho's tactical approach doesn't ask a lot of running, it's based on low block, containment and breaks, even with Chelsea they were middle of the pack in terms of running while not playing a possession style. IIRC Barcelona are among the teams that run the least but that's because they have the ball for very long period of time, they do use the 3 second tactic but it's followed by containment too. What Ole demanded from the players is at the opposite end of these approaches, it's closer to Klopp or Bielsa way of playing football which requires an incredible amount of stamina and runs with longer pressing phases and larger areas to cover particularly for wide players.
Click to expand...

Ah OK, makes sense. Thanks for the insight.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.