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

[99withaflake]

Does this mean we'll have an additional 100 million in the next transfer window, on top of what would usually be available, to make massive bids for some of the best players in the world?

Or does Ed have to personally rate them with his 8 league titles and 2 European Cups on Football Manager?

 

[Enigma_87]

We would have signed him, if that was true.

Not if Woody is protecting his 30m "asset" in Shaw. Combined with Sandro being 28 in January if we're to believe the briefs on other players and on Shaw particularly..

 

[Mainoldo]

Please don’t try to patronise me I’ve been a united fan for over 40 years yes we have always brought kids through particularly the class of 92
But we have always throughout the last 4 decades been the Uk big spenders regularly breaking records or spending big money for “star “players whether it be as far back as Ian Moore , Ted mcdougal , Bryan Robson , Lou macari , Brian mclair , Gary pallister and more recently the likes of Pogba . The football world has changed and few teams / managers have the luxury of allowing kids to develop as every elite manager knows he is no more than 5 bad defeats away from the sack ,we need a title and we need it quickly or else I can see many years in the wilderness ahead of us , we improved last year but in this window we have missed a golden opportunity to grow again rather than falling further behind city , we now look like a club whose ambitions revolve around finishing in the top 4

What opportunity? City only signed one player. We had a great opportunity last season and the season before that when we spunked money. So based on the modern game maybe it’s time to give someone else ago.

Since we haven’t won the league no club has done it back to back this is not a league for one club dominance, all we have to do is get it right with abit of luck and we have all the tools in place for that.

 

[AR87]

People that support Woodward not going after Jose's targets are missing the issue. You don't need to get Jose the players he wants, but you do need to strengthen the squad where it's deficient according to your preference. To do nothing at all is simply negligent.

 

[Dumbat12]

What opportunity? City only signed one player. We had a great opportunity last season and the season before that when we spunked money. So based on the modern game maybe it’s time to give someone else ago.

Since we haven’t won the league no club has done it back to back this is not a league for one club dominance, all we have to do is get it right with abit of luck and we have all the tools in place for that.

City were also in a far better position than us when Guardiola became their manager. Jose inherited a shambles of a team that finished 5. I think many of you are forgetting that simple fact. What does it matter even if Van Gaal spent 300 billion, if that money was used to buy shit players that are of no use to Mourinho? You can't have it both ways - penny pinching and expect silverware. That only happened under the greatest manager ever and it will never happen again.

 

[Christie]

It happens in all professions. Imagine being Jeff Dean - widely recognized as one of the best programmers and computer scientists of all time - who has to report and work under Sundar Pichai - an economist who probably hasn't ever coded in his life.

For whatever reason, humanity decided that chief executive officers actually lead the company. It is unfair, but so is for me to do whatever my boss asks, and if I even have the best ever idea, but my boss doesn't fancy it, I cannot do it on my working hours.

Now imagine if your idea costs hundreds of millions and the boss still doesn't fancy it. Especially after he gave you 400m+ and you repayed it with a subpar job. Life is unfair!

Does Pichai Tell Jeff Dean how he should be coding and how to design his software?

How is finishing 2nd a subpar job? We were given the funds to finish second and we finished second. Looks like a good job well done to me.

The board really needs to reiterate the targets for the season to the fans. I'd like woody to tell us we need to challenge for the title this season

 

[Bastian]

People that support Woodward not going after Jose's targets are missing the issue. You don't need to get Jose the players he wants, but you do need to strengthen the squad where it's deficient according to your preference. To do nothing at all is simply negligent.

This. Absolutely. I'm trying to envision Woodward telling Jose that they don't like signing 29 year olds but he could either have no one or younger options for left back, centre back, right sided attacker and a backup striker and Jose saying "never mind then".

 

[AR87]

This. Absolutely. I'm trying to envision Woodward telling Jose that they don't like signing 29 year olds but he could either have no one or younger options for left back, centre back, right sided attacker and a backup striker and Jose saying "never mind then".

Seriously. Is Jose really going to tell them to piss off if they made a bid for Malcom or Bailey to address the absence at RW? I highly doubt it and if he did then you dump him and bring in somebody who will. If your whole thing is buying for the long term than do it, don't just talk about it and blame the manager's shortlist for why you didn't get players in. A complete joke.

 

[Mainoldo]

City were also in a far better position than us when Guardiola became their manager. Jose inherited a shambles of a team that finished 5. I think many of you are forgetting that simple fact. What does it matter even if Van Gaal spent 300 billion, if that money was used to buy shit players that are of no use to Mourinho? You can't have it both ways - penny pinching and expect silverware. That only happened under the greatest manager ever and it will never happen again.

Didn’t City finish 4th and we finish 5th when they both took over. I’ve explained this myth earlier anyway. It’s just all excuse which I’m tired of. They both had the same yard stick. Pep won- spending exactly the same amount of money with no world class requirements like Jose with Pogba, Zlatan, Sanchez and even the second best young striker in the league. But it means nothing because Pep had Kompany(who’s always injured); Aguero(who still gets injured for a third of the season); David Silva(who’s basically just Juan Mata with a pinch of salt) and KDB(well we have Pogba).

 

[simonhch]

Woodward has shown himself superb at closing Big transfers. I don’t blame him one iota for not throwing silly money at average players or players near the end of their careers, who aren’t even elite performers. He is the custodian of the long term future of the club, whereas Mourinho will be gone in 12-24 months.

 

[Beachryan]

Didn’t City finish 4th and we finish 5th when they both took over. I’ve explained this myth earlier anyway. It’s just all excuse which I’m tired of. They both had the same yard stick. Pep won- spending exactly the same amount of money with no world class requirements like Jose with Pogba, Zlatan, Sanchez and even the second best young striker in the league. But it means nothing because Pep had Kompany(who’s always injured); Aguero(who still gets injured for a third of the season); David Silva(who’s basically just Juan Mata with a pinch of salt) and KDB(well we have Pogba).

Well this would be a really good argument if it was remotely true. Pep's first year: outspent Jose by 20m. Pep's second window: outspent Jose by 120m (source: transferleague.co.uk). This summer, reasonably close. Pep brought in 19 players in 2 years, Jose brought in 11.

But carry on.

 

[Beachryan]

Part of me respect's Ed for this. Jose did his little play to the media, less than a day later Ed briefs the whole lot about who is really in charge.

In the end, Ed is responsible for United, Jose is responsible for himself.

 

[Dumbat12]

Didn’t City finish 4th and we finish 5th when they both took over. I’ve explained this myth earlier anyway. It’s just all excuse which I’m tired of. They both had the same yard stick. Pep won- spending exactly the same amount of money with no world class requirements like Jose with Pogba, Zlatan, Sanchez and even the second best young striker in the league. But it means nothing because Pep had Kompany(who’s always injured); Aguero(who still gets injured for a third of the season); David Silva(who’s basically just Juan Mata with a pinch of salt) and KDB(well we have Pogba).

4th gets you CL, 5th doesn't. Pep also didn't spend the same amount of money. Checkin by transfermarkt now, he's up 100 million on Jose by net spend. Conveniently, you also mention Pep's player injuries while completely ignoring ours. We're just perfect on that front.

 

[Enigma_87]

Woodward has shown himself superb at closing Big transfers. I don’t blame him one iota for not throwing silly money at average players or players near the end of their careers, who aren’t even elite performers. He is the custodian of the long term future of the club, whereas Mourinho will be gone in 12-24 months.

aye, and superb at closing on release clauses. Another feck up of a window after the imposters, paying over Fellaini's release clause and not being able to close a loan deal at deadline day.

But yeah carry on.

 

[simonhch]

aye, and superb at closing on release clauses. Another feck up of a window after the imposters, paying over Fellaini's release clause and not being able to close a loan deal at deadline day.

But yeah carry on.

The first window sucked, but he’s been fairly imperious since then.

 

[beergod]

The ham handed briefing of the press under his reign is laughable.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

The first window sucked, but he’s been fairly imperious since then.

Agree. He's gone beyond what anyone expected to get his managers' targets since then whether it be LVG or Jose. Whether they wanted an ageing (who isn't though?) Schweinstieger, ageing Falcao, Ibra, Sanchez under City's noses spending more than they were willing to, Pogba (record fee), centre back after centre back for Jose, Matic. He's consistently given his managers' what they wanted with little fuss. This summer is the one time he's put his foot down and I can see why he's skeptical over paying enormous amounts for CBs who aren't special when we have already spent 60 million recently in this area where we happen to absolutely stacked with players. I suppose Perisic too but that's it. And if the reports are true there's a common theme there and I can't say I disagree with Woodward all that much

 

[Irish Jet]

I mean to pull this shit on the eve of the season says it all. He’s more worried about saving face and getting his side out than moving on to the season.

Whatever you say about Mourinho’s moaning it’s at least motivated by the team’s ability to produce on the pitch. This from Woodward is motivated by damage control off the pitch without any regard for Leicester or the season ahead. He’s a weasel and it speaks volumes about his priorities.

If the relationship was strained before then it’s broken now. Hopefully the team holds it together.

 

[haram]

People are really defending him? He allowed van Gaal to spend all of this cash and now a manager who is actually improving the team comes along he comes out with this shite. After the fact that the same manager has bought players under the age of 25 in Pogba, Lukaku, Dalot, Fred, Bailly and Lindelof. What the hell does Woodward know about building a squad?

Part of the problem with this squad is the shit he sanctioned before Jose arrived. Using Bailly and Lindelof as a stick to beat Jose with is hilarious considering they were only 30 million each and were young anyway. When it turns out we need a bit of experience back there as well Woodward comes out with this shit and people eat it up? Who do people think picks up as Alderweireld declines? fecking BAILLY and LINDELOF.

People backing Woodward over Jose Mourinho. What the hell is going on. Woodward is literally part of the reason this squad was in a mess before Jose arrived. Lets sign more marketable players, that’s what he wants. Remember how Perisic wasn't flashy enough for most on here anyway, I’m sure all of those people are delighted.

There was a poor transition of the squad after the Sir Alex years with the likes of Rio and Rooney declining and no one to follow up on them. Jose is trying to fix that by adding young players AND trying to add experience. Then we have this spanner talking about “i WoUlD hAvE sAnCtIoNeD a 100 MiLlIoN vARaNe DeAl!!!11”. Does this plank not get that all of our experience has dissapeared with the Sir Alex era? Our most experienced CB is Chris fecking Smalling.

 

[MikeKing]

Has Woodward actually said this stuff? I haven't seen it anywhere, only seen it repeated in threads here. Link, or better a video, or quote?

 

[Kapardin]

Has Woodward actually said this stuff? I haven't seen it anywhere, only seen it repeated in threads here. Link, or better a video, or quote?

It has all the hallmarks of a Woodward leak like in the past (Most recent being our dropping interest in Griezmann). Both Telegraph and Guardian carry almost the same lines regarding Varane as well.

 

[ravi2]

I cannot believe some people here are actually defending Woodward.
He and the glazers are most of the reason the club is in the position or is in today from a footballing perspective.

Woodward's cheap PR stunt today shows him for who he is.
He should never be making footballing decisions for United.

 

[MikeKing]

It has all the hallmarks of a Woodward leak like in the past (Most recent being our dropping interest in Griezmann). Both Telegraph and Guardian carry almost the same lines regarding Varane as well.

Allright, but its still all media stuff, so it might be just that too? It is not above the media to make up stuff painting Woodward in a good light, as people obviously will think he briefed them for self protection. It just doesn't make much sense to me i guess. Mourinho said he had faith Woodward would try his best, and he probably did. Media wrote about us chasing a CB all summer and nothing came of it, but some how their relevance or integrity is never questioned, i don't get the concept of it.

 

[R'hllor]

This thread going to be epic, you can already see ditches being dug.

 

[meamth]

Blame ed, blame Jose, blame, blame, blame, blame.

This is what happens when we don't sign the players we want, pure knee jerk meltdown.

Over the years we spent so much money for players and it's time to deliver without a blockbuster signing. What more surprising is these muppets forgot we signed Dalot, Fred and Grant.

You want a right winger? Jose certainly doesn't seems interested, clearly you lot know much better than the coaching staff.

 

[meamth]

Has Woodward actually said this stuff? I haven't seen it anywhere, only seen it repeated in threads here. Link, or better a video, or quote?

Like the ESPN pundits said last night, the media over sensationalize the words Mourinho said. You need to be careful when reading quotes from the media about United.

 

[Irish Jet]

Blame ed, blame Jose, blame, blame, blame, blame.
ger?

I mean they’re quite publicly blaming each other.

 

[Irish Jet]

Like the ESPN pundits said last night, the media over sensationalize the words Mourinho said. You need to be careful when reading quotes from the media about United.

It’s clearly a press briefing directly from Woodward. Daniel Taylor doesn’t mess around with this shit and the likes of Stone at the BBC and the Telegraph are reporting the exact same thing.

It’s also got the exact same shite we’ve heard from Woodward before about breaking records, being in for big players, no value etc.

 

[simonhch]

I mean to pull this shit on the eve of the season says it all. He’s more worried about saving face and getting his side out than moving on to the season.

Whatever you say about Mourinho’s moaning it’s at least motivated by the team’s ability to produce on the pitch. This from Woodward is motivated by damage control off the pitch without any regard for Leicester or the season ahead. He’s a weasel and it speaks volumes about his priorities.

If the relationship was strained before then it’s broken now. Hopefully the team holds it together.

Mourinho’s motivation is always what’s best for Mourinho. He regularly throws his own damn players under the bus.

 

[meamth]

I mean they’re quite publicly blaming each other.

Really? show me something in a clear context with what he said. I couldn't found one. When Mourinho said one thing, the media said another thing which really made him look like a miserable person.

I find him and Woodward are working hard on the signings and they are certainly trying to make a reasonable signing in a crazy inflated market.



If they can get the players, they will get the players, if not, fine, we move on.

 

[Irish Jet]

Mourinho’s motivation is always what’s best for Mourinho. He regularly throws his own damn players under the bus.

And what’s best for him is to actually win things.

 

[simonhch]

And what’s best for him is to actually win things.

And if he is underperforming, blame everyone else and generally adopt a scorched earth policy. Not like he hasn’t done it before.

I’m fairly sure winning things is good for everyone.

 

[Yagami]

Even though I agreed with José in prioritising a ball playing CB, I can't blame Woodward for not spending big on one as he did so the past two seasons on Bailly and Lindelof and they're already seemingly out of José's plans. José had got his two CBs the past two seasons - he needs to do his job and get the best out of them now even if I personally would've preferred the other CBs we were targeted with over the window just gone like José himself.

 

[Micky Targaryen]

Blame ed, blame Jose, blame, blame, blame, blame.

This is what happens when we don't sign the players we want, pure knee jerk meltdown.

Over the years we spent so much money for players and it's time to deliver without a blockbuster signing. What more surprising is these muppets forgot we signed Dalot, Fred and Grant.

You want a right winger? Jose certainly doesn't seems interested, clearly you lot know much better than the coaching staff.

The funny thing is that the season hasn't even started yet. According to this place, you can't judge a player's quality based on a World Cup and you can't judge how a team will fare based on pre-season matches. But apparently you can predict the failings of a club based on a damn transfer window.

 

[bucky]

Not if Woody is protecting his 30m "asset" in Shaw. Combined with Sandro being 28 in January if we're to believe the briefs on other players and on Shaw particularly..

Why would he protect Shaw, when he had no problem moving on from Schneiderlin and Memphis? He's also had no problem signing Matic, so I really doubt the best LB available being 28 years old would have been of any issue.

 

[Kag]

Gone up in my estimation considerably.

Hasn't flogged Martial for a geriatric and hasn't blurted millions on dross. He's done the right thing.

 

[Enigma_87]

Why would he protect Shaw, when he had no problem moving on from Schneiderlin and Memphis? He's also had no problem signing Matic, so I really doubt the best LB available being 28 years old would have been of any issue.

Doesn’t seem that Sandro fits the profile from what I’m getting. Would’ve costed 50-60m pounds and being a defender won’t be very marketable. Doubt he’d have a big resale value and we’ve already spent 30m on a full back.

Works perfectly on the pitch but hey...

 

[UncleBob]

A large section, the one unable to see any flaws in Mourinho,will instantly blame Woodward for failing to back Mourinho, citing names of players we were probably never interested in, while another large section, the one who can't wait to see Mourinho leave the club, will defend Woodward and argue that the club is right not to invest more money as the problem is Mourinho. Different threads same issues. People need to relax, at times it's easy to get the impression that people want to argue just for the sake of arguing.

Did Mourinho get all the players he wanted ? obviously not, will he be happy about it ? obviously not, should he be ? not really. Has Woodward done a poor job ? depends. If we didn't sign more players due to an underlying issue where the club is vary of investing too much money into Mourinho's project, either because it's all about top 4 or because they don't have much faith in Mourinho, then we obviously have big issues ahead. Just pointing at lack of signings doesn't prove much. When we made top 4 with Van Gaal, the club still spent close to £103mill to improve the squad. The past two windows under Jose we've spent around £370mill. Considering the money we've spent in the past after securing top 4, and the money (and wages) we've invested during Jose's first two seasons, I find it weird that some so easily just throw out claims about lack of investment due to top 4 being all that matters.

It's not a shopping list at IKEA. I would've loved it if we signed a cb and a right winger, but I can't say I'm too depressed about not caving in to Levy and forking out what, according to most media outlets, would've been an insane fee. Is it highly likely that Mourinho wanted Willian to join us, imho yes, doesn't mean that Willian was interested enough in joining, or that Chelsea were even remotely interested in selling him to us. Willian might have tried to do his best to get Chelsea to accept a deal, with them not being willing after the Matic deal last summer. So Mahrez joined City, Lemar joined Atletico and Malcolm joined Barcelona. Doesn't mean that Mourinho wanted either of them, or that either of them wanted to join us.

Not sure if people remember the general atmosphere when we only signed Michael Carrick ( £18,6mill "lol" ). We have a very good squad, hopefully a solid midfield with the addition of Fred, the key is getting the group of players to play well together.

 

[bucky]

Doesn’t seem that Sandro fits the profile from what I’m getting. Would’ve costed 50-60m pounds and being a defender won’t be very marketable. Doubt he’d have a big resale value and we’ve already spent 30m on a full back.

Works perfectly on the pitch but hey...

If this nonsense about being marketable were true, Jones wouldn't be at the club anymore. It's also not exactly marketable playing crap football with two aging FBs, who could be upgraded on. Matic isn't exactly marketable either. If we are willing to pay 53m for Fred from the Ukrainian league, I doubt we aren't willing to pay 60m for a more proven player.

 

[meamth]

The funny thing is that the season hasn't even started yet. According to this place, you can't judge a player's quality based on a World Cup and you can't judge how a team will fare based on pre-season matches. But apparently you can predict the failings of a club based on a damn transfer window.

Caf knowledge: we need 1 RW, 2 New CM, 1 LB, 1 RB. Then we will win the title.

Jose said: We don't need another attacker, I trust Fellaini and Young. Maybe we need a new CB but if we can't get one, it's okay. I need a Carrick replacement (Fred) and Valencia's successor.

Consensus: Muppet football masters aren't buying that. Sack Jose, sack Woodward, sell Pogba.