The Mourinho Thread: Should he stay or go? | Sacked

Is Mourinho’s time as United manager up?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2,296 77.1%
  • No

    Votes: 293 9.8%
  • Not yet - needs more time to see if he can turn it around

    Votes: 388 13.0%

  • Total voters
    2,977
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If club thinks about it in financial terms than savings on player bonus from CL qualification and 10 million saved on Jose's payoff will offset a huge portion of revenues lost from not qualifying for CL. That would be the only logical reason to stick with him.
 
The idea that he can turn it around with new players is silly. He has signed 10 players...10. only two at the most can be said to be a success and and that's even arguable. That's a success rate of 20%. When you add the fact that he can't get a tune out of the players he met, it's virtually impossible he proves to be a success regardless if how long or how much you give him.

The way I see it, there were only few of the 10 that I would truly believe was a Jose signing. The others don’t look like Jose signings but they could very well be signings for the future or signings as cover for positions that he has to play existing players in or simply Ed wanted those for marketability reasons. He hasn’t been allowed to buy all the players he wants to effectively play his system. It is Ed holding that responsibility in transfer. Jose has come out to say he is more of a coach in the set up here instead of a manager. I just don’t quite see players like lindelof and Bailly at their transfer fee level supposedly brought in to unseat our starting Manchester United defenders. Others who are competing for the title like city have mostly 50M per defender at the minimum and others even more.
 
Are there any reports suggesting he is close to being sacked? Or even has '2/3 games left to save his job?
 
I always backed Jose, backed him after the shitshow against Sevilla, after constantly throwing everyone under the bus, even after getting trashed by Spurs as we looked like a different team compared to last game against Brighton (at least until they scored...). I thought maybe, just maybe he can turn it around. However it all went downhill from there, he fell out with pretty much everyone, lost the dressing room. There is simply no way back from here and I feel we are just wasting time with him in charge. We will clearly win nothing and risk losing our best players. Is it worth it? Why delay the inevitable? He is toxic to the club, looks like someone who is begging to be sacked and we are not getting TOP 4 with him in charge, bottom 4 is more likely anyway. Just sack him now as we have an international break coming up, caretaker manager would have a couple of weeks to do something.
 
At the end of the day, this happened at Chelsea.
They were 16th when he was sacked, they won the league the season before and in all honesty, they had a better team than what we currently have.
The following season Conte won the league.

What is the point of keeping Mourinho, sacrifice a style and good football for Results, I can understand but when he brings neither but toxicity and drama. How on earth can you support him?

Can't score
Can't defend
Can't create chances
Can't control games

How many games have Utd been on top this season?
Burnley and Young boys.. every other game, the other team put in a shift or were just better. Including Derby..

Just baffling, the decision to sack him to me, is more obvious than Moyes and Van Gaal. Simply because we have evidence of what happens when things go down hill under Mourinho, Multiple cases and the exact same god damn thing is happening once more.
 
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He will be sacked. It's a matter of time now. Fans are talking with their feet, football is dreadful, ex-legends like Rio & Scholes say the football is terrible, players have fallen out with him and we're in 10th place.

He's gone - international break I reckon.
 
Yet he's still been our best player this season bar Shaw

We all saw just how formidable a MF without him looked against the mighty Derby County Rams...

We also lost to WHU and Pogba was playing in that team.
Pogba also played yesterday, where we failed to score.
 
He will be sacked. It's a matter of time now. Fans are talking with their feet, football is dreadful, ex-legends like Rio & Scholes say the football is terrible, players have fallen out with him and we're in 10th place.

He's gone - international break I reckon.

March is when I think it will happen.
Let's see how gets it right. ;)
 
Again, it's not about that at all. There will be no "told you so" or "I always back the manager". I didn't back Moyes, I think I wanted him sacked around Christmas. With LVG I wanted him sacked halfway through his 2nd year. There is no moral high ground. I was often critical of SAF (without ever wanting him sacked). It's just about differing opinions on our short-term approach and our long-term approach.

Fair enough, but what happens if we start flirting with relegation?
 
Fair enough, but what happens if we start flirting with relegation?

I'm not going to go into the bunker :lol: If that happens then we're looking at a different scenario. Also, if he is sacked and a new manager appointed who makes everything great, I'll happily admit I was completely wrong.
 
If we lose today he will surely get sacked.

If we had lost, he would not have been sacked.
Sacking is not as easy as you may believe.
The boss has to think about the payment terms of the sacking/severance.
How would the players respond to there being no manager in charge.
Is there a replacement lined up.
If Jose left, while under the care of the caretaker manager, would the performance improve, stay the same or get worse.

etc etc.

Much like when you run a big company and you decide to sack one of the most important staff members, say the MD, this decision is not done on the whim or taken lightly. Every eventuality needs to be thought through.
 
If you were a fan of Mourinho before he came to United I see no reason to leave his camp now. Apart from the underwhelming results he's not doing anything he hasn't done everywhere else. As long as the results are good he's charming, but once the results are poor he's a smug and whiny cnut.

The only new thing is not actually winning major trophies.

that being said, I've always found Mourinho to be an insufferable cnut.
 
I'm afraid I can no longer support him, I just can't take the football anymore, it's agonizing. I thought he would be the right fit and we would become a ruthless machine like his first Chelsea team but it has just gone horribly wrong. I don't blame him completely because the players have not enthralled me either, and, as for the board, I still pray that a barking mad United supporting oligarch will come along and make them an offer they can't refuse, kicking Ed's little ass out the door without touching the frame.
I also hate the way this pollution has affected the Caff.The place is split and both sides hurl abuse at each other on a daily basis. Some of it is funny, cathartic, and born out of frustration but I also think there are some who relish it and embrace the chaos. Some posts have been bizarre to say the least, from both sides.
I know we are going into a rinse and repeat cycle, again, and I really don't know who can take the job on successfully with the Board we have. If he fails, we are doomed.
I want it to be us against the world again.
 
United have become a comedy club for opposition fans. Every headline is negative. The environment around every part of the club has become toxic. Woodward needs to lose himself in the background and Mourinho can relax with his family and Millions in compensation.
 
You got a points total last season that if I've read the stats correctly, was more than the points you achieved in winning the league in 4 of your last 13 winning campaigns and within just 2 or 3 points of several other of your winning campaigns.

Perhaps the manager & players didn't get as much credit as they should for that which probably doesn't help, but regardless, how much of this is down to the manager & players looking at the points gap they have to bridge to win the league (not that 100 pts will be necessary again in a hurry), looking at who's been bought in the summer and seeing an impossible task ? Made worse by liverpool looking like more of a potential threat this season and chelsea improving hugely.

Whether it's for those reasons or others, this does seem to be largely a mental issue because regardless of what shortcomings you see in the make up of the squad, how much the players are suited to the manager's style, whether he's been backed and where you think you need to add, your group of players should be playing far better and achieving far better results - the idea that a top class manager can't get a decent team out around de gea, pogba, lukaku, fred & sanchez seems strange. But whether the underperformance this year is down to manager or players, once it gets to this stage, it's always going to be the manager that goes.

I don't get this idea that he might turn it around. Turn it around to what ? Not a title challenging season. What use is a manager that can't kick on from a season like last season, regardless of who's fault it is, to a club like United ? Say he turns it around and you just about get a CL spot - what then ? There are a number of potential reasons he hasn't been sacked already but from a united fan perspective, surely none of them are good ones ?
 
I've done little more than explain it in my posts in this thread. I'll do a short bullet point summary

  • Don't think a new manager now is a good idea - players need to play for their futures, club structure needs changing before new appointment.
  • Worried about player power, especially with regards to players who do not give their all, turning it on and off.
  • Don't think the coaching staff can handle the job and the scrutiny it brings.
  • Still think if he is backed by the club in no uncertain terms that he can mend things within the dressing room.
  • Reassess at the end of the season.
  • Make peace with Pogba or sell him.
Your bolded point is the only one that actually applies to Mourinho the manager, though, the others you could use as examples for any manager anywhere at any club, and are therefore fairly pointless.

Plus, it makes no sense. He has never, ever, ever shown any signs he can "mend" anything once things start going downhill for him. I'll ask you basically the same question you ignored from me before...

Exactly what the actual feck has Mourinho done throughout the last two decades that can possibly make you think he will mend anything or turn things around in his third season here?
 
What would you like to see happen now? McKenna & Carrick as caretaker managers? To be honest, I'd prefer that to appointing a new manager for the long-term right now. If it were to happen I'd also prefer there to be no talk of "if they do a really good job..", but a clear understanding that there will be a new manager appointed after that caretaker stint.

I appreciate it's a tough one, and throwing around 'Jose out' doesn't answer the question of where we go once he's gone. Personally, if the reports that Zidane has been contacted and is prepared to take charge hold water, I'd give him the job. There are legitimate concerns over his appointment but I'd hate to miss out on another potentially great young manager while we arse around with has-beens and never-weres.

I don't see Carrick and/or McKenna being ready to manage so I would turn to them only as a strict caretaker option as you suggest; looking to mentally unshackle the players, work on some attacking stuff and hope the feelgood bounce got us somewhere half-decent this year. Otherwise I'd turn to a Hiddink-style interim. Neither of those options particularly excites me, as we'd be back pretty much at square one in the summer, but I also firmly believe you should never persevere with something that isn't working.

The point is that there are no easy answers and no ideal options, but the basic principle of stopping the rot as soon as possible before starting to build afresh means Jose needs to go.
 
If you were a fan of Mourinho before he came to United I see no reason to leave his camp now. Apart from the underwhelming results he's not doing anything he hasn't done everywhere else. As long as the results are good he's charming, but once the results are poor he's a smug and whiny cnut.

The only new thing is not actually winning major trophies.

that being said, I've always found Mourinho to be an insufferable cnut.
Why?

Mourinho in the past basically guaranteed a title in his first two seasons. Why wouldn't we be fans of that given the previous four seasons? I think most of us knew that his third season was a big issue given his past right from the off so why would we back him when what we all feared did come to fruition?
 
So it seems a critical mass has been reached quite rapidly over the last 10 days or so. My Mourinho In thread was merged with the Mourinho is a has-been thread. So here is another thread for the few who still back the manager.

I can't say I've enjoyed the disaster that this season has turned into but I don't think Jose is outdated or somehow not a top manager anymore. He is clearly struggling with getting the best out of the team this season, but it's still early IMV. The bigger concern is the mood and the personality clashes. Something has got to give there and I'm inclined to side with the manager over Pogba, for instance. I also don't believe getting a new manager in right now will do any magic. It's a pretty bad time to be coming into the job for anyone. If the board decide to sack him I'd hope it would be an interim situation where everybody is playing for their United futures.

A lot of the criticism of Mourinho is warranted. The team selection at times, how he defends himself in the press can leave a bad taste, but I just see a manager who struggles with a team that doesn't have the character he is used to. What makes it even harder is that the quality is also not high enough. I'd still give him more time and backing.

I don't see a better alternative than going with him for the season and reassess towards the end of the season. And if that turns out to be the case, we should back him in the January market and prepare those moves now.

Can you prove that?

What makes you so smart that you can buck the common consensus? We're the only fanbase that contains anyone that still thinks he's a top manager in 2018. There's absolutely no way any top team is going to appoint him after this.

but I just see a manager who struggles with a team that doesn't have the character he is used to. What makes it even harder is that the quality is also not high enough.

That's not being a top manager. A lot of players that are struggling to demonstrate character or quality are HIS players.
 
Why?

Mourinho in the past basically guaranteed a title in his first two seasons. Why wouldn't we be fans of that given the previous four seasons? I think most of us knew that his third season was a big issue given his past right from the off so why would we back him when what we all feared did come to fruition?
I admit I don't post that much in the United forum, but I see a lot of outrage about Mourinho's behaviour as of late. His Ambiguous digs at his players, his strenuous relationship with the media, is extremely dour demeanor etc. None of these things are new or exclusive to Mourinho at United. Same goes for the complaints about his uninteresting style of play. Mourinho has always been slagged for making his teams play boring football if at all neccesary.

The lack of trophies is obviously a valid concern, but as far as I'm concerned, the rest shouldn't put a Mou fan of Mou. He's a cnut, always has been, it's a big part of his (formerly) winning formula.
 
Paraphrasing Chief Brody in Jaws, if anyone is still 'Mourinho In' they are certifiable.
 
God forbid there's a safe space in the United forum for us few delusional idiots who think Mourinho can turn this around.

That said, I'm on the ledge. But you won't see me in this thread once I've switched to Mourinho out
 
The board find themselves in an impossibly difficult place. They have just extended his contract and any pay off would be huge. (£15-20m) Maybe more, I don't know what his terms are but I thought he earned £15m a year and had 4 more years to run. However big the severance the board will look complete and utter twats if they sack him. They may well still think he can turn it around. That kind of pressure can make you think all sorts of things.

The narrative amongst the fans at Chelsea in 2015 was a bit more split than it appears to be on here at the moment. He was still to get sacked and had a bit more currency at the time so it's understandable. Some fans, myself included, stuck by him until the end in December. The thinking was that he was the best manager in the world and that the players should be doing what he said. Simple. With so many good players in the squad and the best manager in the world it should work perfectly. The players were getting some real stick and Jose's name was being sung around the stadium at full volume. It got to the point where I thought OK, lets get rid of a few players so they knew who was boss. Let them rot in the reserves. Fabregas, Ivanovic and few others were playing absolute sh*te and it looked like they were to blame. Hazard even seemed to have picked up a phantom injury.

Hindsight and a lot of soul searching have, however, lead me to see a different past. Good players don't become bad players over a closed season. From the outside it looks like players have downed tools but if you are unsure of what the manager really wants you tend to err on the side of caution. You also tend to be indecisive at crucial times. The passes tend to go astray and if the managers default setting is defend you can easily end up passing it around at the back without a clue of how to get forward. The opposition smell blood and go for you. The whole mentality goes and before you know it certain players don't even want to be in the team.

Utd are currently 2 points better off than Chelsea were after 7 games in 2015 and Chelsea went on to lose 2 of their next 3 games. Despite this they still stuck with him until 17th December. I know Utd fans don't like to use Chelsea as a yard stick but showing loyalty to Jose cost them a place in the champions league that season and Utd's board probably think they will need to act before that happens. To me it's obvious he's done but I fully understand why some fans would want to stick with him.
 
I don't think he's finished as a coach. Sure his tactics and general style of play aren't the most exciting or best to watch, but it's possible to win football matches, and silverware playing that way. The thing I think that's outdated about him is his man-management style. He slaughters players in the hope of getting a response, and doesn't adapt that to work with players that need a softer touch - he himself has admitted that.
 
To me, the only question is about whether the difference is just motivation. I see it in my work. When an employee is motivated and has a lot of self-belief, he or she delivers far beyond what they would normally be expected to do on talent alone. In football, I give you John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Tom Cleverley and co. when playing for Fergie. This comes from above though. The manager / hierarchy above is the key element in building this story. The narrative of goals, roles and fitness for purpose. Are Henderson, Milner or Wijnaldum actual world-beaters? How about Fabien Delph? Yet, these people perform at a much higher level than people for us with a lot more talent - Pogba, Sanchez, Lukaku etc. This element, the motivation and belief, is that final ingredient. It's what makes the difference when push comes to shove at the highest level.

No idea how people can't see this. At the end of the day, footballers may be multi millionaires but they're still human. If the management team are grossly incompetent and constantly falling out with employees - in any walk of life, football included - morale will be low and the employees certainly won't give their all. This is just basic logic and I've come across it a-lot in my own office during the years when certain things were going on. But nah, people on here will label it all 'ABU media' fabrications. Don't get me wrong, the media are milking this and making shit up, but I'm also confident plenty is true. If anyone believes we don't have a divisive camp, they're utterly delusional.
 
Upcoming international break is when Ed must act but he won’t.
 
You may not like Jose, but he is an elite level manager, with a trophy count which beats 99.9% of football managers around the World.
Fergie beats him hands down, and that's just as relevant as what you're saying.
Football has moved on.
 
Can you prove that?

What makes you so smart that you can buck the common consensus? We're the only fanbase that contains anyone that still thinks he's a top manager in 2018. There's absolutely no way any top team is going to appoint him after this.

That's not being a top manager. A lot of players that are struggling to demonstrate character or quality are HIS players.

What? Intelligence aside (found on every side of this topic) it's having your own opinion. I think I'll try a day of asking people what makes them so smart that they can buck the common consensus. Maybe I'll try it out at a protest :D

The board find themselves in an impossibly difficult place. They have just extended his contract and any pay off would be huge. (£15-20m) Maybe more, I don't know what his terms are but I thought he earned £15m a year and had 4 more years to run. However big the severance the board will look complete and utter twats if they sack him. They may well still think he can turn it around. That kind of pressure can make you think all sorts of things.

The narrative amongst the fans at Chelsea in 2015 was a bit more split than it appears to be on here at the moment. He was still to get sacked and had a bit more currency at the time so it's understandable. Some fans, myself included, stuck by him until the end in December. The thinking was that he was the best manager in the world and that the players should be doing what he said. Simple. With so many good players in the squad and the best manager in the world it should work perfectly. The players were getting some real stick and Jose's name was being sung around the stadium at full volume. It got to the point where I thought OK, lets get rid of a few players so they knew who was boss. Let them rot in the reserves. Fabregas, Ivanovic and few others were playing absolute sh*te and it looked like they were to blame. Hazard even seemed to have picked up a phantom injury.

Hindsight and a lot of soul searching have, however, lead me to see a different past. Good players don't become bad players over a closed season. From the outside it looks like players have downed tools but if you are unsure of what the manager really wants you tend to err on the side of caution. You also tend to be indecisive at crucial times. The passes tend to go astray and if the managers default setting is defend you can easily end up passing it around at the back without a clue of how to get forward. The opposition smell blood and go for you. The whole mentality goes and before you know it certain players don't even want to be in the team.

Utd are currently 2 points better off than Chelsea were after 7 games in 2015 and Chelsea went on to lose 2 of their next 3 games. Despite this they still stuck with him until 17th December. I know Utd fans don't like to use Chelsea as a yard stick but showing loyalty to Jose cost them a place in the champions league that season and Utd's board probably think they will need to act before that happens. To me it's obvious he's done but I fully understand why some fans would want to stick with him.

Good post. Always appreciate detailed opinions from fans of other clubs. You may well be right in that it's reached a breaking point. Like I said, I rather expect the club to sack him in the next few weeks than sticking by him. Maybe I'm in the same exact place you were, I'm not thinking he's the best manager in the world or that he can do no wrong, but overall I'm still backing him. Time will tell...
 
What? Intelligence aside (found on every side of this topic) it's having your own opinion. I think I'll try a day of asking people what makes them so smart that they can buck the common consensus. Maybe I'll try it out at a protest :D



Good post. Always appreciate detailed opinions from fans of other clubs. You may well be right in that it's reached a breaking point. Like I said, I rather expect the club to sack him in the next few weeks than sticking by him. Maybe I'm in the same exact place you were, I'm not thinking he's the best manager in the world or that he can do no wrong, but overall I'm still backing him. Time will tell...

:lol: I don't actually mean you're stupid or something. I'm asking what information you have or what is it you're seeing that the rest of us don't.
 
The "no" vote has increased in the last hour. Someone is trolling.
 
God forbid there's a safe space in the United forum for us few delusional idiots who think Mourinho can turn this around.

That said, I'm on the ledge. But you won't see me in this thread once I've switched to Mourinho out

He's done, son. Come to the light.
 
I'm not going to go into the bunker :lol: If that happens then we're looking at a different scenario. Also, if he is sacked and a new manager appointed who makes everything great, I'll happily admit I was completely wrong.

No, its fine. I didn't mean to attack you. Its just that we've seen this story before. Chelsea tried the wait-and-see game with him and he got them flirting relegation. They waited too long to sack him and the season was a write-off. Our situation right now practically mirrors theirs back then. I think most people want to prevent the season from descending into a downward spiral, when its so blatantly obvious that all the signs are there.
 
:lol: I don't actually mean you're stupid or something. I'm asking what information you have or what is it you're seeing that the rest of us don't.

I know I know :lol: I just thought it was a hilarious phrase

I'm not privy to any information that illuminates my mind on this matter. I can't give you or @Massive Spanner a scientifically sound theory on how things will pan out with Mourinho on board. I guess this all comes down to a general feel.
 
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