Manchester United name John Murtough as Football Director and Darren Fletcher as Technical Director

Murtough is no chump. He’s done great work in the past and has a masters in sports psychology.

Anyone bashing on Fletcher just because he is one of the old guard is off the mark too. He seems highly regarded by many, and without a working knowledge of what happens within the club, it seems unrealistic to assume that anyone here has (a) any real knowledge of what he does day to day or (b) how well he does it.

Judging strategic appointments like these against a backdrop of short term results is one of the daftest habits of football fans.

Just like it’s daft to fire the manager 8 games into the season when you’re only a few points off the top. Especially when you’ve finished 3rd and 2nd the previous two seasons. Your best back to back finishes since 2012/2013.

I’m not saying Ole in or Ole out. I’m saying that people are too reactionary about short term results. We should be looking at the the data, thinking about the continuity of any future appointments (to reduce squad turnover), and remaining focused on our long term goals.
 
How many of the players you've listed are in our first team today? 2. If I go back in history of Bayern, I can probably create a novel of the Bundesliga players they've poached. That's not my goal. I just wanted to showcase their team right now. t is impossible for us to have the same model. We cannot do the same things they do even if we're richer.

You could do that for every wealthy clubs in all leagues and you can start with United.

8 domsetic players playing where? Only Shaw and AWB. That's the two players from the PL playing in our team. And I'm sorry but it is not even comparable. Shaw was a promising young talent when we brought him while AWB was a decent right-back, not really that amazing, but certainly no world class even to this day. In contrast Neuer and Lewandowski were world class when poached. Goretzka and Kimmich were amazing midfielders. Their defense - not too shabby either. In comparison, the equivalent of us buying Neuer and Lewandowski would be taking KDB from City for little to no money and Salah from Liverpool. There is simply no comparison. If you switch places between Bayern and United, United will win the Bundesliga with its eyes closed. They'd bully the rest of the league for the best players while Bayern will now start struggling to sign players and would either grossly overpay on local talent like Maguire or would be forced to look for outside where every team has a 30+ million bonus fee because of the money in the PL.

Kimmich was playing in the second division, they purchased him in 2015 he wasn't close to be an amazing midfielder and Goretzka was a promising talent not an amazing midfielder either and it took him a bit of time to get there. Neuer wasn't purchased for little money, he was the third most expensive goalkeeper in the history, Lewandowski was a free agent everyone could have offered him a contract.
 
How many of the players you've listed are in our first team today? 2. If I go back in history of Bayern, I can probably create a novel of the Bundesliga players they've poached. That's not my goal. I just wanted to showcase their team right now. t is impossible for us to have the same model. We cannot do the same things they do even if we're richer.


8 domsetic players playing where? Only Shaw and AWB. That's the two players from the PL playing in our team. And I'm sorry but it is not even comparable. Shaw was a promising young talent when we brought him while AWB was a decent right-back, not really that amazing, but certainly no world class even to this day. In contrast Neuer and Lewandowski were world class when poached. Goretzka and Kimmich were amazing midfielders. Their defense - not too shabby either. In comparison, the equivalent of us buying Neuer and Lewandowski would be taking KDB from City for little to no money and Salah from Liverpool. There is simply no comparison. If you switch places between Bayern and United, United will win the Bundesliga with its eyes closed. They'd bully the rest of the league for the best players while Bayern will now start struggling to sign players and would either grossly overpay on local talent like Maguire or would be forced to look for outside where every team has a 30+ million bonus fee because of the money in the PL.
I thnk you ought to look at our team! You're missing quote a few there!

You are talking about players they picked up years ago - I am discussing recent transfer dealings (last 5 years)- I've already stated that they have branched further afield in terms of their dealings, I have given you the proof of that, if you wanted to be ultra pedantic about it the domestic player bias, as in players they have purchased from teams in their own league system goes up from around 46% from the last 5 years to 61% from the 6 years before that.
So a clear difference (albeit they are rough figures!) that shows they havent used the doemstic market anywhere as much as they did previously.
 
You can't see what's been going on at United since Sir Alex left, right from the nepotistic appointment of Moyes to barrage of criticism towards Mourinho from ex United players in Media to them protecting Ole and influencing the decisions and appointments at United.
You can't blame SAF and CO92 for the piss poor running of the club. They weren't making transfers or appointing managers.
 
You can't see what's been going on at United since Sir Alex left, right from the nepotistic appointment of Moyes to barrage of criticism towards Mourinho from ex United players in Media to them protecting Ole and influencing the decisions and appointments at United.

Yeah barrage of criticism, so much that Neville shat on every ManUtd player to defend Jose.
 
When Deadwood Woodward has left we will see more clearly which way the club is going. Fletcher at least is a football man and Murtough has had experience at Everton in the role. Maybe Deadwood hs had too much influence doing it his way instead of asking for help
 
You could do that for every wealthy clubs in all leagues and you can start with United.
How so? Explain to me how we can buy our "Lewandowski" from City?

Kimmich was playing in the second division, they purchased him in 2015 he wasn't close to be an amazing midfielder and Goretzka was a promising talent not an amazing midfielder either and it took him a bit of time to get there. Neuer wasn't purchased for little money, he was the third most expensive goalkeeper in the history, Lewandowski was a free agent everyone could have offered him a contract.
Kimmich was playing for a very rich team that was dominating the lower leagues (who is unsurprisingly now the second best team in Germany). Goretzka wasn't just a "promising" talent, he was a huge talent that most big clubs were in for - Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal and even us. And Neuer was expensive only relative to what goalkeepers go for. 18 million in 2011 is chump change for any big team. Point is, even if we buy a player from the PL, it'd cost around upwards from 60 million, even if the player is from the bottom half of the table while Bayern can buy a similar quality of a player for 20 million.

Do we need a better management? Hell yes. I'd be the last person to defend the incompetent clowns in charge of this club, but can we be like Bayern? Hell no. That's simply impossible.

I thnk you ought to look at our team! You're missing quote a few there!

You are talking about players they picked up years ago - I am discussing recent transfer dealings (last 5 years)- I've already stated that they have branched further afield in terms of their dealings, I have given you the proof of that, if you wanted to be ultra pedantic about it the domestic player bias, as in players they have purchased from teams in their own league system goes up from around 46% from the last 5 years to 61% from the 6 years before that.
So a clear difference (albeit they are rough figures!) that shows they havent used the doemstic market anywhere as much as they did previously.
I'm talking about players in their current team, I don't care when they were brought. Shaw was brought years ago, as well. Why does that matter?
 
You can't see what's been going on at United since Sir Alex left, right from the nepotistic appointment of Moyes to barrage of criticism towards Mourinho from ex United players in Media to them protecting Ole and influencing the decisions and appointments at United.
Are they influencing decisions though? I assume you are talking mainly about Neville and the likes of Scholes and prehaps Rio here? Their words will hold little clout in the halls of Old Trafford whether positive or negative. I mean Neville himself expressed that having Murtough and Fletcher in their respective positions wouldn't improve the clubs standings, so it would seem strange to think if they did listen to the old players, that they'd go through with the appointments.

I can get the Moyes appointment - that was a disaster and a mistake. No other club would ever let their outgoing manager select the new incumbent.
 
How so? Explain to me how we can buy our "Lewandowski" from City?


Kimmich was playing for a very rich team that was dominating the lower leagues (who is unsurprisingly now the second best team in Germany). Goretzka wasn't just a "promising" talent, he was a huge talent that most big clubs were in for - Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal and even us. And Neuer was expensive only relative to what goalkeepers go for. 18 million in 2011 is chump change for any big team. Point is, even if we buy a player from the PL, it'd cost around upwards from 60 million, even if the player is from the bottom half of the table while Bayern can buy a similar quality of a player for 20 million.

Do we need a better management? Hell yes. I'd be the last person to defend the incompetent clowns in charge of this club, but can we be like Bayern? Hell no. That's simply impossible.


I'm talking about players in their current team, I don't care when they were brought. Shaw was brought years ago, as well. Why does that matter?
Because you are claiming the only reason Bayern are a succesful club is because they have 17 other feeder teams giving them their best players every season.

To which I have given evidence to state that this isn't the case recently, they have lowered the amount of domestic purchases and foreign buys now are the higher figure, quite extensively so.

I am not saying we can be the next Bayern Munich, my point is the fact people claim the club doesn't have a plan, that we are 'neptotism FC' or 'mates FC', yet we seem to be following a pattern that another very succesful club has taken and has worked by for years and years. Yes, they have had mitigating circumstances in what you hvae raised which has helped them along the way (but one could argue so have United?!).

Is it not then best to follow a plan that has been successful elsewhere rather than try something else that is half arsed and a gamble if it works or not?
 
Because you are claiming the only reason Bayern are a succesful club is because they have 17 other feeder teams giving them their best players every season.
Now where did I claim that? There is no club in the world that buys different players every season. All I said is that the rest of the league is comprised of feeder clubs and that much is true. Bayern regularly buys players from them to strengthen its squad. Often times for very little money. Said model we cannot copy for obvious reasons.

Do you really think we'd be any worse than Bayern if we switched places with them and kept our financial resoruces intact? I don't.
 
How so? Explain to me how we can buy our "Lewandowski" from City?

Lewandowski was a free agent, he was purchased from no one.

Kimmich was playing for a very rich team that was dominating the lower leagues (who is unsurprisingly now the second best team in Germany). Goretzka wasn't just a "promising" talent, he was a huge talent that most big clubs were in for - Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal and even us. And Neuer was expensive only relative to what goalkeepers go for. 18 million in 2011 is chump change for any big team. Point is, even if we buy a player from the PL, it'd cost around upwards from 60 million, even if the player is from the bottom half of the table while Bayern can buy a similar quality of a player for 20 million.

Do we need a better management? Hell yes. I'd be the last person to defend the incompetent clowns in charge of this club, but can we be like Bayern? Hell no. That's simply impossible.

Leipzig aren't very wealthy, they are the 6th or 7th in Bundesliga in 2021 and it wasn't worse in 2015. Neuer was and still is a goalkeeper, so there is no other reasonable way to judge the value of his transfer in 2011 and no goalkeeper in the PL was going to be sold for +60m in 2011, that claim isn't grounded in reality, I mean Arsenal sold Van Persie to United for 30m Euros the following season. Neuer was sold for 30m(including bonuses) which has no equivalent among PL intra-transfers in 2011.
 
I don't want to sound controversial but is Fletcher the most overrated person ever to work for Man United? When he was still in the academy we were told that he would be the next big thing. In fact, if memory serves me right SAF wanted to give him his debut at age 16 which is quite amazing considering that Scholes got his debut at age 20. Then every top red I know blamed our humiliating defeat against Pep's Barca (the one which they barely left us touch the ball) on his absence. Fletch was a decent talent and all but I couldn't see how we could possibly stop Messi, Xavi and Iniesta by playing Fletcher. He then got a long contract extension despite his tragic illness. Finally he returned to United and after around 10 minutes coaching he ended up our technical director. If he continues on that path then I can see the Glazers selling Manchester United to him for an autographed photo of his.
 
I don't want to sound controversial but is Fletcher the most overrated person ever to work for Man United? When he was still in the academy we were told that he would be the next big thing. In fact, if memory serves me right SAF wanted to give him his debut at age 16 which is quite amazing considering that Scholes got his debut at age 20. Then every top red I know blamed our humiliating defeat against Pep's Barca (the one which they barely left us touch the ball) on his absence. Fletch was a decent talent and all but I couldn't see how we could possibly stop Messi, Xavi and Iniesta by playing Fletcher. He then got a long contract extension despite his tragic illness. Finally he returned to United and after around 10 minutes coaching he ended up our technical director. If he continues on that path then I can see the Glazers selling Manchester United to him for an autographed photo of his.
Eh? He was underrated if anything. He was often used as the scapegoat in his early career when things went awry in the pitch, to the extent that many thought SAF picked him solely because he was Scottish. He ended up being a very important player for us in the midfield, and I actually think we sorely missed him in the 2009 final.
 
Eh? He was underrated if anything. He was often used as the scapegoat in his early career when things went awry in the pitch, to the extent that many thought SAF picked him solely because he was Scottish. He ended up being a very important player for us in the midfield, and I actually think we sorely missed him in the 2009 final.

I always saw him as the Nicky Butt level type of player ie good enough to be in the squad but clearly not at the same level of the first teamer.
 
He’s done a good job up until this season relative to expectations however the pressure was always on this season for him to deliver. Looking like he probably won’t do that now!

I thought that the results were OK in recent years whle the league positions were better than expected.

But all and all, being third or second isn't the target and I wasn't bothered about that. I was always focused on the football and I never saw it as a base to form a title run. Which is why I didn't need to wait for this season in order to see he isn't right for it.

A club with foresight would have seen it as well, but we always need for things to turn sour before we do something.
 
Just like it’s daft to fire the manager 8 games into the season when you’re only a few points off the top. Especially when you’ve finished 3rd and 2nd the previous two seasons. Your best back to back finishes since 2012/2013.

I’m not saying Ole in or Ole out. I’m saying that people are too reactionary about short term results. We should be looking at the the data, thinking about the continuity of any future appointments (to reduce squad turnover), and remaining focused on our long term goals.

A few weeks ago it was 'you can't sack him when you're one point from the top'. then 'you can't sack him when you're two points from the top'. Now it's 'you can't sack him when you're a few points from the top'... I see a worrying trend.

You can sack him no matter what position he is or how many points away from the top, once you realise he's just not going to take you there.

Yes, I do believe it's wrong to be too reactionary about short term results. But most people who want him out did not form their opinions over 10 matches (including the CL matches this season).
 
Wow so we needed so many people to conclude that Varane was worth spending 40m upon? Crikey
Well yeah, we were negotiating with Real Madrid for a player that had won multiple champions league and was among the very best in his position. There was some morons who thought we couldn't complete deals of this magnitude which really isn't a surprise.
 
Lewandowski was a free agent, he was purchased from no one.
Not exactly. Lewandowski ran down his contract on purpose after Bayern tapped him up, he ended up signing a pre-contract with them before his current contract had fully epxpired with drew a lot of ire from Dortmund fans.

Leipzig aren't very wealthy, they are the 6th or 7th in Bundesliga in 2021 and it wasn't worse in 2015. Neuer was and still is a goalkeeper, so there is no other reasonable way to judge the value of his transfer in 2011 and no goalkeeper in the PL was going to be sold for +60m in 2011, that claim isn't grounded in reality, I mean Arsenal sold Van Persie to United for 30m Euros the following season. Neuer was sold for 30m(including bonuses) which has no equivalent among PL intra-transfers in 2011.
They are wealthy relative to the laegue they're playing in. Leipzig has finished 3rd, 3rd, 2nd in the last 4 seasons. I'm not gonna count this one since it's only the beginning, but I doubt they'd go any lower than 4th. Yeah, Arsenal sold us a 29 year old Van Persie on his last year of his contract that wanted to come to us. In comparison to a 20 years old Neuer being brought by Bayern. You're proving my point
 
I always saw him as the Nicky Butt level type of player ie good enough to be in the squad but clearly not at the same level of the first teamer.
For most of his time here you'd be completely right IMO (in fact for most of it he wasn't as good as Butt). However he stepped up significantly during the 12-18 months before his illness and developed into an important player. Not to the Keane/Scholes level of course, but a higher level than Butt. Nor too far off Carrick IMO. Then the illness destroyed his career unfortunately, and if I remember correctly he was still only 26 at the time.
 
Now where did I claim that? There is no club in the world that buys different players every season. All I said is that the rest of the league is comprised of feeder clubs and that much is true. Bayern regularly buys players from them to strengthen its squad. Often times for very little money. Said model we cannot copy for obvious reasons.

Do you really think we'd be any worse than Bayern if we switched places with them and kept our financial resoruces intact? I don't.
And I've just proved that to be false,

I think you've lost track of what the original point was, I'm not here to discuss Bayern's transfers dealings, I'm here to point out we are following a similar pattern to them, and it has gone well for Bayern so seems like a good plan to follow.

Trying to claim that setup hasn't worked for Bayern is hard to do, and I understand you feel it's because they have the league feeding them players, but I have proved that to not be the case recently.
 
Not exactly. Lewandowski ran down his contract on purpose after Bayern tapped him up, he ended up signing a pre-contract with them before his current contract had fully epxpired with drew a lot of ire from Dortmund fans.


They are wealthy relative to the laegue they're playing in. Leipzig has finished 3rd, 3rd, 2nd in the last 4 seasons. I'm not gonna count this one since it's only the beginning, but I doubt they'd go any lower than 4th. Yeah, Arsenal sold us a 29 year old Van Persie on his last year of his contract that wanted to come to us. In comparison to a 20 years old Neuer being brought by Bayern. You're proving my point

First any player is free to negotiate a contract with a club 6 months before the end of his current contract, you don't have to wait for it to be expired, all clubs are free to talk to these players, that's the Bosman ruling.

Secondly Leipzig aren't super wealthy or particularly wealthy, Frankfurt have higher revenues, where they finished has nothing to do with their wealth relative to the league. If we follow that logic Schalke aren't wealthy, yet they had the third revenues in the league.
 
Ferguson always stated he loved the way Bayern Munich were run: "It’s a club run in the proper foundation of it. Former players who run it really, Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinze Rumenigge, they run the club in the right way and they are always winning the league in Germany.

He always wanted ex players higher up in a technical/board room level, he has stated that numerous times, thats how we are restructuring, this has been happening for over a year now.

Its not fecking nepotism, it's not a mates club, its how the club want to run themselves.

It works well for Bayern, and I don't hear anyone on here state its nepotism or a mates club about them?!

Strange thing to get angry about, but I guess people need to rage about something it seems.
To be fair, Hoeness and Rummenigge are extremely experienced and know what to do. Fletcher had no role like this before, and Ole’s highlight is relegating Cardiff. Just putting a bunch of random players in key positions is not emulating Bayern, instead it is a recipe for disaster. And a disaster is all what we are going to get.

Want to emulate Bayern? Hire VDS. The only ex-United player who so far has proven that he might be fit to have a high position in our club. And want to emulate Bayern? Fire disastrous managers, regardless if the played for the club 15 years ago, as they quickly did with Kovac.
 
You can't blame SAF and CO92 for the piss poor running of the club. They weren't making transfers or appointing managers.

I am not blaming them, I am only saying their influence over the club is proving detrimental for the progress of the club.
 
To be fair, Hoeness and Rummenigge are extremely experienced and know what to do. Fletcher had no role like this before, and Ole’s highlight is relegating Cardiff. Just putting a bunch of random players in key positions is not emulating Bayern, instead it is a recipe for disaster. And a disaster is all what we are going to get.

Want to emulate Bayern? Hire VDS. The only ex-United player who so far has proven that he might be fit to have a high position in our club. And want to emulate Bayern? Fire disastrous managers, regardless if the played for the club 15 years ago, as they quickly did with Kovac.
How about Kahn? What was Rummenigge doing before he held a position at Munich?
These people are footballing people, as is Fletcher, so I think it's a bit disingenuous to suggest it's going to be a disaster.
Also Ole has won trophies, so I'd imagine they would be his highlights.

What's to say that these changes above don't lead to Ole getting sacked if he doesn't perform over the next five games?

I agree with you on VDS, again though, what qualifications did he have before he took the job at Ajax?
 
How about Kahn? What was Rummenigge doing before he held a position at Munich?

Kahn was one of the greatest leaders in the history of football. Let's not compare him with a squad player like Fletcher.

And even more importantly, he spent 1 and a half years learning under Rummenigge before he got the important job. Fletcher came out of nowhere to get it.

These people are footballing people, as is Fletcher, so I think it's a bit disingenuous to suggest it's going to be a disaster.

Being football people means feck all. Being good at those things that make a good director is far more important. Liverpool's and City's boards are completely 'football-free' people, but doing pretty good. Gill was not a football person, but was pretty good.

Also Ole has won trophies, so I'd imagine they would be his highlights.

In fecking Norway. For a club that he binned when he received the offer from Cardiff. His biggest job before this was Cardiff, and we saw how it ended

What's to say that these changes above don't lead to Ole getting sacked if he doesn't perform over the next five games?

Cool, let's give to them credit for something they have not done yet, while we waste another season and we are close to getting out of the second competition.

I agree with you on VDS, again though, what qualifications did he have before he took the job at Ajax?

There is absolutely no need for United to serve as a learning job. Get people who know what are doing and who have learned their job in some smaller club. Why on Earth we should serve as a training ground for some rookies?
 
Kahn was one of the greatest leaders in the history of football. Let's not compare him with a squad player like Fletcher.

And even more importantly, he spent 1 and a half years learning under Rummenigge before he got the important job. Fletcher came out of nowhere to get it.



Being football people means feck all. Being good at those things that make a good director is far more important. Liverpool's and City's boards are completely 'football-free' people, but doing pretty good. Gill was not a football person, but was pretty good.



In fecking Norway. For a club that he binned when he received the offer from Cardiff. His biggest job before this was Cardiff, and we saw how it ended



Cool, let's give to them credit for something they have not done yet, while we waste another season and we are close to getting out of the second competition.



There is absolutely no need for United to serve as a learning job. Get people who know what are doing and who have learned their job in some smaller club. Why on Earth we should serve as a training ground for some rookies?
I get the feeling you're just being contrarian for the sake of it really.

Fletcher's role is completely different to that of Khan's or Rummenigge, Fletcher is a liaison between Murtough and the first team.
Also Fletcher was captain of his country in numerous occasions, but I assume that doesn't count right?

Being 'football people' is key of you want to follow the Munich method, which as I have stated previously Sir Alex always wanted United to adopt, and which we appear to be doing.

Ole won trophies in the league he was coaching in, not sure why that's something to be scoffed at? Football is all relative after all. But I guess unless it's the Champions League it doesn't count right? Bizarre way of thinking.

You claim United shouldn't be a training ground for rookies, again what was Rummenigge doing before his position at Bayern? What was Khan doing? What was VDS doing before his job at Ajax? Again, strange way of thinking.

Just stop with your negative, contrarian vibes, you obviously have your views and that's fine, but some of what you are saying doesn't really make too much sense to me really, and is very contradictory.
 
When they finally do get around to engaging with the supporters, they owners need to be asked what the remit is for the football director and technical director, and how much authority they carry.

What is the contingency plan in place if Ole doesn't work out for whatever reason? It's a business to them right? Can't believe our only plan is a man with no plan.
 
Not a criticism of him but all signs are indicating that if there is a change in manager it's Joel Glazer, Woodward and Arnold still pulling the strings.

Seems like the role is more limited to transfers than much managerial input.
 
Not a criticism of him but all signs are indicating that if there is a change in manager it's Joel Glazer, Woodward and Arnold still pulling the strings.

Seems like the role is more limited to transfers than much managerial input.
It’s already been confirmed that he is level with Solskjaer rather than Solskjaer reporting to him so it wouldn’t make sense him being involved in his firing/hiring.
 
Are we beginning to see a shift into a new regime, where Murtough and Fletcher have more control now that Ole has gone?
 
Are we beginning to see a shift into a new regime, where Murtough and Fletcher have more control now that Ole has gone?
I think it was always a mistake to appoint the manager first and then try to bring in a DOF. The rush to make Ole permanent, even though he did reasonably well, has been very costly. Imagine if we had stuck to the plan or rather accelerated it by hiring Ragnick in December 2019 we'd be seeing the fruits by now.
 
Great work I guess but the PR victory laps after every signing is a bit humorous. That first summer with LVG or when Maguire and AWB were praised Woodward was in the press talking about revamped structures and scouting databases. Then when things go awry it's crickets. Maybe do your job and take credit when the project has been seen to completion.
 
Are we beginning to see something resembling a structure going forward now?

Murtough as the head figure

Fletcher, Rangnick, Head of data science & the head coach all reporting to him

Who's the head of the academy now @Adnan ? And is there room for more people in that structure? Like a head of recruitment? Would Matt Judge be one of Murtough's reports, or is that more a dotted line into him?
 
Great work I guess but the PR victory laps after every signing is a bit humorous. That first summer with LVG or when Maguire and AWB were praised Woodward was in the press talking about revamped structures and scouting databases. Then when things go awry it's crickets. Maybe do your job and take credit when the project has been seen to completion.
Exactly.
 
The appointment of Fletcher was really bizarre. What kind of credentials does he have to take on such a role?
 
The appointment of Fletcher was really bizarre. What kind of credentials does he have to take on such a role?
Everything about how our club is operated is bizzare. Fletch is one of the "lads", I guess. United DNA and all of that.