Outside of tweeting generic stuffs like an old grandpa like "well done lads" "chins up lads", what is he actually doing at the club?
Mike Phelan signed a contract extension in late 2021
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Question.
Do you know what City's #2 does? Do you know what Liverpool's #2 does?
No? Oh ok then.....so why does it matter why we as Man Utd fans need to know what Phelan does?
They seem to be doing quite a good job though. Competency in the workplace doesn't necessarily require an audience.
However, I do like Mike, and as been said ad nauseam: he certainly knows his way around a pair of shorts. Maybe that helps determine why he's been gifted such a generous extension?
Ffs, I wasn't that sold on sacking Ole but definitely wanted some changes to the coaching team. Clearly not happening. International break would have been the perfect time to search for some talented young tacticians we could bring in to help.
Nothing obviously.
It's clear as day that none of our coaches actually do anything except drink tea and eat biscuits and get paid for the privilege. I swear it makes me so angry.
What do you mean, the new set piece coach is working wonders this year.
Oh I was just joining in with the oh-so-well-informed hot takes where people are convinced members of the coaching team at a PL club don't actually do anything.
I don't believe our coaches do nothing. It's a ridiculous assertion..
A good job of what though? What specifically do they do which is good? What are they bringing to the team tactically? How do they help Klopp/Pep?
That's the point I'm trying to make, no one, or hardly anyone actually knows what they do.
So why is Phelan getting so much stick when no one knows what the #2 of any club for that matter actually does.
Well then, clearly someone who thinks differently from me about the current manager's regime got their panties in a twist with my comment and you decided to reinforce that petty behaviour by warning me. A bit of crass language is hardly anywhere near as toxic as some of the wind-ups I see from Ole fans where they respond to debate with the online forum equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and screaming 'CAN YOU SEEEEE...'. End of the day, this is an online forum, and I will state my views how I see fit within reason, and calling someone a numpty is nowhere near some of the bottom feeder insults I've seen thrown around here. I have reported people for straight up racist remarks and have seen no action taken, so don't pretend to hide this behind some quality control nonsense. Almost this whole thread should be locked if we're really doing that level of quality control.
No doubt, not trying to argue that Queiroz won the World Cup after Man Utd. But we didn't bring Queiroz back for nostalgia purposes either did we? Yet we brought Phelan back. Us outsiders will never really know WHY we did that, but looking at how we were only recently trying to fill positions at our club with all the 'old boys' of the Fergie glory days, it's hard not to suspect nepotism was and is still a major factor in our staffing plans (Fletcher as technical director, I mean...). Also, Queiroz must have done something right, since we at least have half the forum here who acknowledge his contributions and actually want Ole to find his own 'Queiroz'.
We did actually bring back Quieroz after his failed stint at Real Madrid. You can call it nepotism or you can call it recruiting people who have proven to be successful with the club already. Just seems like opinions based on nothing but whims.
Sir Alex held Phelan in high enough regard to make him his trusted deputy so I have no doubt about his credentials.
Make a wish foundation FC. No club rewards failure like us.
We only have title aspirations because of the work they've done.
We were worse than spurs when they took over.
He didn't win the La Liga or CL in his 1 season there but I wouldn't call it failing. If memory serves he came close to winning the league (but admittedly fell way short in every other competition). If he 'failed', then I don't even want to know what we've been doing the past 3 years (or 8 depending on your views).
Sir Alex also decided David Moyes was good enough to replace him, so personally, I have plenty of doubts about Phelan.
Perfectly put.
He had Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Raul, Beckham etc in his squad and got sacked after 1 year. He failed.
Anyway, my goal here is not to downplay Queiroz, he was great for us. I'm just calling out posts that are using a different rationale to assess Phelan.
Finally, recommending someone you've never worked with and promoting someone you have is a big difference, to be fair.
But do we really have title aspirations?
Also, it's not like these were the only people on the planet who could stabilize the club to this stage, and now they're not good enough to take the club forward.
We could've easily hired a different manager with his set of coaches, who could not only bring us here, but also instill a competent style of play that could take us forward.
Your line of argument is flawed.
When all "imported" managers have failed and this bunch of ex-manutd players have got us to our best position by far since Fergie left, this framing sounds incredibly daft and entitled to me. The hatred of all things about the club from its supporters is what you need to know about the club first.
Because all 3 of those recruitments were poor. The job was too big for Moyes, LvG and Jose were past it.
Also, it's convenient to just lump all the responsibility for failure on the previous managers when the board was also clueless and never had a plan or direction.
Having said that, we did win a few trophies here and there with LvG and Jose. Let's see where these people who "understand the club's culture" can take us, because for now we're unable to play a half that looks like there's work being done on this bunch on the training ground.
They may not be able to win us the trophies ultimately but not because they are ex-United men. In fact having being successful at United previously as coaches or players, besides progressing in their current roles are massive pluses on their CVs..
Also its easy to say LVG and Jose were past it but when they were hired, the fanbase was generally quite satisfied with these names. Ultimately neither type of model (home grown or big names) is a sureshot success.
They will not be able to win trophies because they are not good enough in their jobs. It doesn't matter if they are "ex-united men" or not.
Tuchel is not "ex-Chelsea man" and Pep is not "ex-City man" but they are world class in their jobs.
If you hire a world class manager, he may still fail. If you hire someone who is not good enough, he will certainly fail. There is a difference. Not all managers have the same skill.
You have missed the context entirely. Most large club (e.g. Barca/Bayern/Liverpool) do tend to have some of 'their own' ex-players and coaches to continue to the footballing traditions of the club. Its not an unreasonable strategy (not saying there is guarantee of success) and that's what I am arguing to the poster who is discrediting the whole strategy itself of bringing ex-United staff. In fact if Ole is fired, I wouldn't mind another similar replacement who is perhaps better tactically and in motivating the players.
The club never learns. Why would Carrick and McKenna possibly need new deals when (A) It's not like other clubs are queuing to take them from us (B) Ole SHOULD be on the ropes, and they could be easily dismissed in 8 weeks and (C) They seemingly are poor at their jobs. I have no factual evidence on that, but it doesn't seem the input is of much quality when you look at how poorly coached we are. Plus there were reports last season that some players were not impressed by McKenna's coaching.
We have improved hugely, but are widely accepted as being 3/4 favourites for the league. With SAF in charge we'd probably be slight favourites. With any other manager in the world, we'd still be 3/4 favourites at best.
Many pundits had us down for finishing outside the top four last season.
Clearly. But these are the guys who actually managed it. From the total mess we were in after the grumpy one, it was not a certainty that we'd see this year on year improvement.
That remains to be seen. Surely they deserve this season, without constant sniping from the sidelines, to see what they can achieve? Last year felt like a disappointment, I get that. But we finished 2nd in a tough league and made it to a european final. People losing their shit because of a slow start is creating a needlessly toxic environment around the club which will not help in the slightest.
So easy.
I won't even bother asking who you believe would have been guaranteed to have achieved more, because none of us know what would have happened.
I'm not sure why Phelan gets so much shit. He must do something right, he was part of a very successful set up for years. Even if Ole went I could see Phelan staying at the club in some capacity.
This is where I tend to agree with you at the moment, it does remain to be seen, but are there any signs that our football is any better than we were last season? I personally don't think so? do you?
Also, since you admit that it remains to be seen, it does mean that they might not be the right people, which is the issue here, giving a 3 year contract to someone who still has to prove that they are the right people for the role is what people are losing their shit about.
I also don't believe they do nothing, whether they are good at what they are doing is another matter
The problem is we'll never know who does what or what they contribute. So people decide they must be doing nothing. A lot of comments in these threads are OTT.
Regardless of if you are Ole at the wheel or Ole out, you have to commend the club for backing their manager.
Even if Phelan is useless but the manager wants him around then it’s better the club back him rather than undermine him.
Mourinho was given a new deal but then had his hands tied on who he could sell and buy. This was crazy to keep him on and not back his decisions. Look like the club have learned from this.
However, that being said it can also lead poeple like Phil Jones and Mata getting new deals.
Even if Phelan is useless but the manager wants him around then it’s better the club back him rather than undermine him.
Mourinho was given a new deal but then had his hands tied on who he could sell and buy. This was crazy to keep him on and not back his decisions. Look like the club have learned from this.
However, that being said it can also lead poeple like Phil Jones and Mata getting new deals.
We're just a few games into the season, with key new players settling in. If you're hoping for us to implent some radically new style of football I expect you'll be disappointed.
'Admit'. See I don't look at it this way. I'm not admitting that they may not be the right people for the job. I'm saying none of us know. Those that claimed Ole was equivalent to a P.E. teacher coming to the biggest club in the world have been well and truly embaressed by the stirling job he's done so far. They said he couldn't get top four. He has. They said he couldn't get past a semi final. He has. Now it's time to see what he can do this season, with a squad that has to be considered very close to complete.
It doesn't have to be radical does it? There are just 3 new players, the rest of the players should be looking like they know what to do on a football pitch, this set of coaching staff has been here since 3 seasons now.
When I said admit, I meant that "remains to be seen" means that none of us know if it will eventually work or not, right? Then why give a 3 year contract to someone who might not be able to take us to that level?
Okay so I don't think Ole is a PE teacher, I think his tenure here has been a solid 7/10, and he's done a brilliant job of stabilizing the club and bringing it where it is now, we do have a very talented squad barring a couple of positions. Having said that, I believe now the squad is a lot better than they're looking on the pitch, and it's not an insult to Ole, like you've said already, the "imported" managers also failed in the recent past. He did really well to bring us here, it's now time to find an upgrade to take the team to winning/competing for titles.
3 year contracts are perfectly reasonable. I don't see the problem with this unless your mind is made up already?
We're 2 points from top in the league. You make it sound like it's awful when, in truth, we very rarely start seasons quickly.
It would be interesting to know SAF's undiluted opinion of Phelan.
I doubt he would have been hired without a quiet nod
I doubt he would have been hired without a quiet nod
If newly developed crisis breeds Ole sacking, what is gonna happen to Mike?
Strange situation. That's why people negatively react to the announcement of Mike Phelan contract extension, where the performance has been all along unconvincing , and bad result finally starts to catch up to it.
Strange situation. That's why people negatively react to the announcement of Mike Phelan contract extension, where the performance has been all along unconvincing , and bad result finally starts to catch up to it.
So Ralf states that our assistant manager spends zero time on the training pitch. What the feck does he do then apart from looking spectacular in shorts?
Probably kept on because of all the criticism Moyes got for sacking the coaching staff. He probably does feck all, given how out of his depth he was at Hull
Yeah but he said that he didn’t spend time on the training pitch under Ole either. So wtf has he been doing for the past 3 or so years?
Phelan is here because he was Fergie's assistant, that's it. It's politically risky to sack him otherwise he'd be gone by now.