Feck the medals -- its Blue Peter badges or nothin'
The John Murtough Era
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Feck the medals -- its Blue Peter badges or nothin'
Guess it must have been another TheReligion who tagged me in 2 posts just a few days back. Funny that for someone who claims not to know me. Either demented or full of shit. Both options make sense to me to be fair.
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What part of my post hasn't been reported by the most reliable media sources?
Possible First 11 Right now
De gea
Dalot
Maguire
Martinez
Shaw
Fred
Eriksen
Bruno
Sancho
Rashford
Martial
Possible second 11
Heaton
Awb
Varane
Lindelof
Malacia
Garner
Vdb
Mctominay
Elanga
Ronaldo
Amad
Is this good enough? Because most likely this would be the group on August 6th.
De gea
Dalot
Maguire
Martinez
Shaw
Fred
Eriksen
Bruno
Sancho
Rashford
Martial
Possible second 11
Heaton
Awb
Varane
Lindelof
Malacia
Garner
Vdb
Mctominay
Elanga
Ronaldo
Amad
Is this good enough? Because most likely this would be the group on August 6th.
Would you be happy with 6th?
Get over it, he has to get hours to complete his coaching badgesI believe Fletcher is out on the training field again….the feck is happening at this club
Its not all that bad to be fair, I'll probably want to add another forward and midfielder.
We need another two midfielders and a striker - arguably a new keeper and full backs too.
It hasn't been a promising transfer window but we've had those before and the team has been utter rubbish as soon as they took to the field.
The rebuild was never going to happen overnight, I guess we just have to be patient and trust/ hope Ten Hag to be the right man at the right time for once.
It hasn't been a promising transfer window but we've had those before and the team has been utter rubbish as soon as they took to the field.
The rebuild was never going to happen overnight, I guess we just have to be patient and trust/ hope Ten Hag to be the right man at the right time for once.
If that's the squad come 2nd September then the transfer window will have to be seen as a massive failure. At the very least we need another midfielder and attacking player, and a RB to replace AWB should be high up on the list of priorities.
Over the course of a long season there's simply not enough quality in depth available.
Hopefully we'll do more deals but I feel the club has decided to wait till the end of the window to do so, Fdj is out of our hands, the latest report is Antony is now worth 100M, I think Rb would happen if awb departs which i don't see happening, and then there's the Ronaldo mini saga.
No.
It should be good enough for our opening two games against Brighton and Brentford but by the time we're facing Liverpool on August 22nd I'd hope we'd be a little stronger than that.
De Jong (or other top class holding mc) and two forwards (if Ronaldo is leaving) are must sign this window. I do hope that we are working on it and that he can finish those transfers.
doesn't look anywhere near strong enough to me if we are talking about guaranteeing top four. Nowhere near enough fire power to counteract the goals we'll concede. and if someone gets a bad injury...
This squad will fight for 6th place with Newcastle, West Ham and Leicester. Need 3 more players And Ronaldo fully fit, focused in the first 11 to have a chance of top 4.
De Jong probably makes or breaks our summer.
Otherwise we're relying on McFred starting most games again, or hoping we can find a system that uses Fred and Eriksen, which sounds a bit dangerous.
I can't imagine even the most optimistic United fan thinks we'll bring two forwards in.
We have a pretty good squad with lots of potential. However, we would be unlikely to finish any higher than 6th with that god awful midfield.
Lets be honest, Murtough and the gang have been a shit show this summer.
Chased FDJ all summer to get no CM
Overpaid for Lisandro
Done well to get Eriksen
Malacia was a simple deal
Chased FDJ all summer to get no CM
Overpaid for Lisandro
Done well to get Eriksen
Malacia was a simple deal
Nowhere near good enough. Most likely battling with West Ham for 6th/7th again.
They started plans for the window quite late, the thing is the whole restructuring process isn't a day job, the scouts leaving at the time they did, switching to ETH targets and all the ground work needed to make these deals happen.
The summer was never going to be smooth sailing and neither is the upcoming season.
Hopefully with the ETH factor and maybe two more deals.
The drawn out FDJ and Ronaldo sagas have been as embarrassing as anything that came before but it’s not Murtough’s fault that no one wants Ronaldo.
Even if we somehow end up with FDJ, it’s not a win to sign a player who doesn’t want to be here.
Even if we somehow end up with FDJ, it’s not a win to sign a player who doesn’t want to be here.
This is why I've not judged them as harshly as everyone here. We essentially entered this window starting from scratch
The time to judge them on this window is AFTER it closes. A lot can happen in that period. If we signed FDJ, Antony/an alternative RW and a RB(all of which are possible with sales) all the hysteria will look silly afterwards
Not a promising summer for the new regime. Even if we do business in the last weeks of the window now, it will likely be seen as scurrying to get players in as opposed to well thought out targets. Unless they do get De Jong over the line and through the door, which is feeling less and less likely.
This is a squad with so many holes, and to have filled so few of them is not a good sign.
This is a squad with so many holes, and to have filled so few of them is not a good sign.
its a bit early to jump to conclusions, because there is still plenty of time, but that kind of argument doesn't really hold.
This isn't like with Chelsea, where the old owner got kicked out and a new owner comes in without any time to prepare. Murtough knew a long time ago that he is going to take over and could prepare. He also knew for quite some time, that a new manager comes in this summer. He knows the financial situation. He knows the squad. EtH was singed in April long before the window opened. He hopefully didn't overhaul the scouting department on a whim and had time to take this into account.
The whole point of a management structure above the manager is, that they should have a good idea in what direction they want to move anyway. I'd give him time till the window closes. Let the dust settle and wait how the team presents itself for the first ~2month.
If he wasn't prepared and had to start from scratch, essentially winging it, he already disqualified himself for the job. United fans really need to stop making excuses for the people working for the club.
I don't think Murtough has put a foot wrong really.
He's seen that ETH has a very set method of the players that would suit his system, and amid the overhaul in scouting, he was right to terminate Rangnick's consultancy and trust ETH. If he kept the former there risks a clash in the middle of the window between the two's shortlists and it would cause a mess.
He bought well for Malacia, Eriksen, Martinez.
Him and Arnold have handled the Ronaldo situation very well - keeping their stance a secret and only pushing the narrative of "not for sale". It's reported that Ronaldo's camp are still on good terms with the club so there's nothing toxic in that regard. That's quite difficult to navigate I think.
Finally on FdJ - he knows that Ten Hag has players that can operate in midfield, albeit not to a top level. He's right to go FdJ or bust in my books, because I don't really rate Tielemans near enough and there's little else around. I don't want a new toy for the sake of it - so it make sense to see this to the end.
Have to remember we cant plug every hole this window. 4-6 very good deals this window is a fine start. If we manage to sell Baily + say Jones/Telles then I think we'll bring another body through the door.
He's seen that ETH has a very set method of the players that would suit his system, and amid the overhaul in scouting, he was right to terminate Rangnick's consultancy and trust ETH. If he kept the former there risks a clash in the middle of the window between the two's shortlists and it would cause a mess.
He bought well for Malacia, Eriksen, Martinez.
Him and Arnold have handled the Ronaldo situation very well - keeping their stance a secret and only pushing the narrative of "not for sale". It's reported that Ronaldo's camp are still on good terms with the club so there's nothing toxic in that regard. That's quite difficult to navigate I think.
Finally on FdJ - he knows that Ten Hag has players that can operate in midfield, albeit not to a top level. He's right to go FdJ or bust in my books, because I don't really rate Tielemans near enough and there's little else around. I don't want a new toy for the sake of it - so it make sense to see this to the end.
Have to remember we cant plug every hole this window. 4-6 very good deals this window is a fine start. If we manage to sell Baily + say Jones/Telles then I think we'll bring another body through the door.
Yep. Bit of a disaster really. Sadly, many of us saw it coming.
Its not uncommon for a club to end up signing a well thought out target late in a transfer window. Supporters get unnecessarily worked up by a few weeks delay on a player that we hope will play here for 5 years or more.
That midfield and a couple of bad injuries sees us out of the top four in all likelihood.
It’s been a poor summer. I’m not going to get too hung up on Murtough and his performance; the reality is that I have no idea what he does and does not do. I used to say the same about Woodward.
What I do know is that the season is less than two weeks away, and the squad is not a great deal better than it was when the transfer window opened. Not good enough.
What I do know is that the season is less than two weeks away, and the squad is not a great deal better than it was when the transfer window opened. Not good enough.
Clearly you can see our targets this summer are all ETH driven, its clear that was agreed when he accepted the role, I don't think Murtough can be blamed FDJ hasn't walked through the door because he's done his part.
We probably want another forward but there's still time in the window for that.
We could sit down and say Murtough always knew he'll be in charge this window but you need a manager in place before pursuing targets.
Let's say Rangnick was made manager our list would be probably the likes of Laimer, Nkunku and Maybe Rudiger.
That's why I added the caveat on De Jong, as he is clearly the main target for the summer. But if we don't get him in and are looking for alternatives in the last days of the window, it is not a good look for the recruitment side of the club.
Has anyone seen how thread bare city's second XI is?
United wouldn't look as well run as Bayern, Liverpool, City overnight.
Those clubs didn't have to sign a manager, restructure upper management, buy players in as multiple positions into a side who failed to get UCL within a short period, it will take time to get it all done.
Those clubs didn't have to sign a manager, restructure upper management, buy players in as multiple positions into a side who failed to get UCL within a short period, it will take time to get it all done.
How's that? Did someone burn down Old Trafford or wherever our scouting department is?
The problem is I suspect the people in key roles at the club will never make the club well run because they aren't up to the job.
Even with the caveats of them being relatively new in post this summer has still been a shit show. Its not lime murtough and Arnold were new to the club and they did still have several months in post in advance of the season.
I totally agree with this. As soon as Ragnick got chopped I posted that Murtough doesn't inspire confidence. While I'll reserve either credit or serious criticism by the end of the window some of the posts about his capabilities are somewhat bemusing considering Murtough is unproven in his role. Assessing the window at present there are more sentiments going against him as opposed to benefits.
I understand time is left but this has been expressed before the tour began the window is closing (quite literally) to rely on time as a valid argument, if developments are not progressive it will be not only a detriment to John but will negatively impact the seasonal campaign. Woodward was left hung out to dry by many, Murtough is not immune to this he needs to prove his worth.
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1)We entered in this window "from scratch" thanks to him ffs. He is Dof. He is in charge for planning.
2) You can judge him now and after deadline you know. He already failed to secure easier start for new manager by not getting new players for pre-season. That is minus for him.
3) Also regarding the rest of transfer window; it is not the same will he close the rest of deals before our first game or on deadline (so after our first 5 PL games)
So he can bring 5 new players and still this "hysteria" will not look silly. First half of transfer window he didn't do well. Lets see how he will do in second half.
yes, but I don't think that this is an encouraging sign. Its a step back towards the model that worked with SAF, but failed horribly afterwards. Murtough should have started to think about this window month ago. Naturally once EtH was signed, he should be heavily involved in this process. Murtough's job isn't just to ask the manager what players he wants and try to get these.
I’m not one to doom and I think ETH has the hallmarks of a cracking appointment but if you’d told me all we’d have signed 10 days before the season started was a 4th left back, a 7th CB and Eriksen on a free with Ronaldo’s future completely up in the air back in May I wouldn’t be calling that a job well done at all.
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There's a recent report by Melisa Reddy on sky about the club plans (you could check it out), it clear this is ETH driven window is a one summer thing, it almost like setting the template for the scouting.
We need a guiding philosophy and it isn't Murtough who would pioneer this football ideals, its the manager, it just like Liverpool with the Gengenpress they adopted after hiring Klopp that's what we have done with ETH and his dutch total football ideals when the template is set then the recruitment team can take it up from there.
Even if ETH is sacked/depart the club further down the line we'll hire someone else with similar style already with other department fully functional to support this manager so it not SAF like.
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