But isn't he supposed to be pressing the defensive midfielder in the hole, rather than the centre back or the keeper. He's ending up to far ahead of the play to be effective
Think it needs to be said that not every aggressive "running at somebody" equals "pressing". I mean, pressing means it isn't just one player but it is some sort of group and they follow a certain pattern. This is where we fall short. We have no plan, Bruno is aggressively running at people and lamenting that others don't join in isn't us being bad at pressing. We just don't do it very often. And who is supposed to press whom is defined in the plan, if there is no plan, then nobody can violate the plan.
It's actually scary that you literally said it may not be worth replacing ole unless there's someone out there who can "guarantee a title this season". Dude, that's impossible. Longer ole stays the more damage he does. His lack of coaching is already ruining careers of promising young players. Players come in and they get worse here. I'd rraplce him with anyone available for the interim and then reassess long term in the summer. It's not rocket science.
Who are the players whose careers are ruined? What is the actual damage being done?
That is hyperbole. Look, I can imagine what you mean but it is hyperbole to talk about him doing damage when the actual problem is that he isn't delivering the sort of progress we expect or differently said, other managers seem to deliver more than him when given a squad. I don't see any damage being done but we are not progressing which definitely is an issue. An issue that should be engaged by either executing a plan ready for those situations or by creating such a plan. But as long as no actual damage is done (remember last days of Mourinho, he did some damage by splitting the changing room), measures don't have to be driven by urgency but by smart thinking.
The scenario you are talking about, have an interim then take final decision in the summer isn't against my concerns, I could live with that. I want to avoid making an already difficult situation more difficult by forcing ourselves to decide out of the little pool of currently available managers instead of doing a real due dilligence, candidate scouting, interviews if potential visions align and so laying the groundwork for the summer.
My personal opinion is, I don't see the harm of keeping Ole in the job until then, I don't see the need for an interim, it isn't like Ole is ruining us whatsoever. Who would be an interim who is better or promises a better outcome of the season than Ole? And again, I am not bigging up Ole at all but I'd perceive that as an unnecessary sidestep. Be transparent internally to him and maybe to key players that the club is preparing steps for the summer and leave the group as it is. It isn't like we are soooo much worse these days than 1 month ago or 6 month ago. We are just as dull as we are since quite a while, only problem is that the results are now lacking a bit. Obviously this is a problem but this also isn't a new one, last year in January we had a similar streak.
I don't see real chances for a manager to come in halfway through the season and change it to soooo much better. I know, there were times in the past where that happened but it certainly isn't the norm. Maybe, maybe, I could imagine a switch in January coupled with a transfer and a loan or something. But right now, personally I would kind of see it as an act of rashness and desperation. Replace one or two players with work rate, try to be more solid in the middle by making use of a different formation and the results will come back. Sure - this isn't what United should be striving for, going for a few good results. That's where the work in the background comes into play. This season is running, there is no reset button. We have to play with the cards we got and we have to live with the consequences of some decisions.