tell you what, I have a crazy funny feeling about this too....
I really hope so. I love Maureen. His players are a disgrace to him this season. If he's sacked we should be all over it asap.
Pep to City, Mourinho to Utd, Ancelotti to Chelsea... 
I was against his appointment but perhaps he's the only one with the experience and personality too make United tick again.
Based on what he did in the 2000s and later. Let me ask you this, where do you rank Del Bosque, Lippi or Capello today?
After Moyes and LvG I'd be happy with a rubber duck as our manager tbh. Can't be much worse anyway.
Well I'd take Ancelotti or Mourinho in a heartbeat. Although Mourinho's style of play could piss me off.
Mourinho's style of play can actually be pretty good when he has a good team. Real played great football, Chelsea were great at times last season too.
I don't think we currently have a great team though, so it probably wouldn't be that fun, but I still don't think I've ever watched a Mourinho team as drab and boring as we are under LvG.
Yes? Based on what from the 2000's and later? And why not start at 2005 for example, if you go back that far, why not go back to the beginning of their careers?
After Del Bosque's thrashing by a LvG side with players like that, it would be difficult to rank him above Van Gaal, wouldn't it?
It's unbearable and the press are just as bad. Trashing the club with the benefit of hindsight, week in week out and fans lapping it all up doesn't help
Things are going wrong and people are desperate to lay the blame on 1 specific cause when there are multiple factors, both external and internal; that provide an explanation as to why we are in this position currently. However, playing the blame game makes us feel good because it gives us false assurances that if a specific person is to blame for our issues, then the removal of that person is the solution. Any article trying to point to deeper issues gets scoffed at or is PRO-LVG. God forbid you mention that it was Fergie that recommended Moyes which was a huge error, without getting your head bitten off and being accused of trashing the clubs greatest manager.
Now apparently it's all Woodwards fault because he hired LVG and fans are really trying to act like there were better choices around at the time and that what is happening now was destined to happen from the beginning. Or it is his fault because he tried to sign one of the worlds best players for high fees yet he is now being accused of only caring about money and not football because he hasn't fired LVG yet which is a sign of a lack of ambition.
Not to say mistakes by our current manager haven't been made, I think his in game management is pants and he made life harder by relying on youth (although I was told repeatedly during the summer that youth opportunities are apart of the UTD was that lvg apparently doesn't embrace)
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If I start in 2005, 6 of the coaches I mentioned have been more successful than LVG. So let's say that LVG is better than Wenger and Pellegrini that's not deluded.
To be fair, it'd have been hard for that Real side not to play any good football at all. They were able to absolutely destroy some teams, but when you've got attackers like Ronaldo, Di Maria, Benzema etc that's expected. Chelsea were okay sometimes last season, but Mourinho almost certainly benefited from the fact that he had attack-minded players like Hazard, Fabregas etc in the team who are generally positive players.
I agree that he probably wouldn't be much worse than LVG is at the moment, though, although there's the worry that he ends up having us in a similar position to Chelsea. Could be going through a poor managerial patch, and we should be incredibly reluctant before opting for him.
I'd feel a lot more confident going for Guardiola right now.
Yes but I don't think he'll be leaving Bayern. Which is why I think Mourinho's our best bet.
I want attacking football. Mourinho is a no no. I dread to think what would happen to the likes of Martial, Memphis, Wilson, Januzaj etc if he was in charge.
Yeah, even if he does want to leave Bayern, we're far from the most attractive option right now. Unfortunately, City may end up appealing to him more. Hopefully not, though.
I find those statements slightly contradicting. Guardiola's managed two of the best sides of the modern era, and nothing else, we've no idea what football he'll churn out with our lesser squad. At least Mourinho's proven he can do it with squads lower in quality than his Real side were.
I have zero faith in those managing the business end at United, so of course we're too little to late for Pep.
Marca are now reporting he won't extend. Will be announced next week. Destination Manchester, likely City.
Steeling myself for confirmation that he's off to the Etihad.
Steeling myself for confirmation that he's off to the Etihad.
Yeah that's a good point. But ideally Pep would have a few years and a blank cheque book to get us playing like Bayern and his Barca.
I'd be surprised if he announced anything other than the fact he's not extending or he is extending. No way he undermines the rest of Pellegrinis season by saying he's taking over City.
Maybe because the 2000's was the decade where Van Gaal stock took a massive hit. It definitely started with him being easily in the top 10,but it wasnt a good decade for him.
After leaving Barca for the first time, he went on to
- fail to qualify for the World cup with the Netherlands
- Returned to Barca for a disastrous 8 months. Left with them fighting relegation
- Thats when the big jobs dried up. Rejoined Ajax as a d.o.f, which ended with him falling out with Koeman
Joined AZ, for a stint that revitalized his career. He struggled in his first season finishing 11th, but won the title the season after.
Left for Bayern soon after. Did quite well in first season, but fired within the 2nd.
Only joined the dutch NT after Euro12. That was around the time @JPRouve is talking about. Van Gaal's stock wasnt very high then.
you see mangerial stock is heavily influenced by recent perfomances, with something like a decade sufficing. Its the same reason why no one ranks Erikson or Trapattoni that high TODAY. We all know what they have achieved.
Is this the two time UCl winning, world cup winning and European championship winning Del Bosque? I've seen it all now.
See this is the thing. on paper everyone seems to assume Mouinho = short term, and Pep = long term. But if Pep doesn't extend his Bayern contract that means he's walked away from both clubs he's managed after four and three years respectively. Which is basically the exact same time-frame Mourinho usually does. That's why I find the idea that Pep will 'build' a great squad over a time a bit unproven. He's never built great sides, he's inherited great sides and made them better. Actually, he didn't even make Bayern better, although it's pretty hard to improve on that treble winning side.
Guardiola molded that Barca side into playing the tiki-taka football that made them the greatest side of their era. He deserves the credit for much of it.
Can we have a poll re: Jose as next manager? Interesting to see how people's thoughts changing (including mine!)
Absolutely and I won't for a second dispute that. It doesn't mean they weren't already a far superior side to the one we currently have, though. He took a great side and made 'em better.
What I'm trying to say here is that there's nothing in Guardiola's past records to prove that he'd take this current squad and make it better than Moutinho would. He doesn't stay at clubs longer, he hasn't built squads from the ground up etc.
I get the sense that we are not talking about the same revisionism
If he says, he isn't extending and doesn't say anything about a sabbatical, then it will be obvious that a deal has been done somewhere. It will most likely be City and the Rumours will go into overdrive. It will undermine Pellegrini either way.
No, I don't think that, the difference is style of football for me. I don't doubt Mourinho could and would be a success at United. As I said he's probably our best bet assuming Pep isn't coming. However, I do agree that Mourinho is more suited to digging us out of a hole.
Exactly, it's not a dig at LVG and I think that being in and around top 10 is pretty good for a manager, but we all have to admit that since he joined United we all overrated him.
So Pep is leaving at end of season with Ancelotti set to replace him at Bayern, they are an extremely well run club, know what players they want, and have mnagers ready in advance. Unlike the absolute mess of last minute everything happening here since SAF retired
We had better get Pep, Man city already are the better team in Manchester, lets not let them get a better manger over us too, especially now both clubs should be going for him
We had better get Pep, Man city already are the better team in Manchester, lets not let them get a better manger over us too, especially now both clubs should be going for him
That's fair. I guess what's I'm trying to say is that with our squad I think Pep would struggle to get them to play how he wants them to, for a while at least. It was a lot easier to get those great Barca and Bayern squads playing his brand of football. LvG said he needed 3 months initially and here we are 18 months later looking worse than ever under him. Not that I'm comparing the two managers, now, merely that it can be difficult and time consuming to get teams playing that brand of football. And Pep has yet to prove he's a long term manager.
Mourinho's recent form surely casts him in a different light though. Massive risk to take in appointing him after this Chelsea calamity.
Oh yeah absolutely. Pep would be a long term 'project' (haha). Frankly, I'd take any of Ancelotti, Mourinho and Pep.
people wanting rid Van Gaal for the style of football and wanting to bring Mourinho in. Jesus Christ
Form is temporary and all that
Of course it's a risk. What manager isn't? I didn't think LvG would fail this spectacularly when we appointed him. I didn't think Raneiri would succeed at Leicester. It's very difficult to know in modern football. But we're talking one terrible year with Mourinho out of 12-15 good/great ones. To me that's not a bad risk.
A long term philosophy, if you will.
And yeah, they're the three best candidates fo' sho'.
If we miss out on Pep and he goes to City the entire United hierarchy wants sacking. Full stop. We are run like a fecking embarassment
The idea that Mourinho plays boring negative football is a complete myth...
Yes it's not as free flowing attacking as others but jesus...you'd think he was Tony Pulis the way some people talk.
Form is temporary and all that
Perhaps, but Mourinho's behaviour in general lately indicates he's not particularly in the best place at the moment. This may just be a poor spell, but it's fecking diabolical. He's still a top manager, but he feels a little bit like damaged goods at the moment.
If City get Guardiola, Ancelotti goes Bayern and we're stuck with Van Gaal next season I'll cry.