Woodward (old thread)

[RedRover]

No you just took exception to what I said which is fine. Speculation is speculation. You're speculating. I'm speculating. He'll strengthen our rivals so yes it is a disaster. If you stop challenging for big players, they'll go elsewhere. If you cannot sell the idea Manchester United is a bigger club and this is a transition then you're not for the role.

Yes I would have signed him and you say it's utter rubbish which I respect but he's better then Kagawa. If we were serious about Hummels, we could negotiate maybe. Who knows right? Look i've seen fans saying we didn't need Vidic and Evra. Seen people saying we didn't need Robin Van Persie. In Hindsight it looks daft to turn down quality when you have a squad lacking.

I think most people are intelligent enough to know we were successful because of Sir Alex. Since his retirement the board have failed the club. Don't pick out my post and use it for theraphy. You saying 'new generation twitter fans' is daft.Twitter is just rumor and speculation magnified. Maybe it's you who should understand that.

Oh and btw, Woodwood should have been fired last summer so don't put words in my mouth. Last summer, if Dave was dithering Woodwood needed to make it plain and clear what is required. We ended up paying more for Fellaini then we needed too. The club were doing the same big talk until LVG came in. Anyone with a little common sense would just get to work.

Ps: If we did make a bid, that would mean LVG sanctioned it wouldn't it?...

At the end of the day - the manager needs to be on board with any signings, or you're on the fast track to disaster. You suggested otherwise. If you're not going to back the man you've just handed a 3 year contract to then that is a massive problem as you've obviously picked the wrong man. Its bno different from Roman picking players for Mourinho. Few decent managers would let that happen - especially when they've just taken the job.

You're entitled to your opinion but if you want to sack a Chief Executive simply bcasue he failed in one transfer window I find that bizzare in the extreme. Bringing in the managers targets is an important part of the job - but its not all of it. The club needs someone capable of doing the other 95% of the job, being the business side, in order to keep the club as a financially viable prospect now and in the future - especially when you're saddled with hundreds of millions of pounds of debt.

Perhaps you think there are suitable candidates queuing up round the block to be chief executive of a multi- billion pound company - people who have both football knowledge and the ability to succesfully run a huge, stock market listed company? I'd suggest otherwise. Clearly he has not been immediately succesful on the football side of things and needs to adapt. I see no issue with that. Football is unlike any other business. He may prove not to be able to adapt and if so the club needs to come up with an answer - but given the commercial success he's had and how valuable that is to the club now and going forward, he should be given the chance.

Maybe you think you pick the Chief Executive based on his ability to bring in players alone? The reality is that the club would be financially ruined in no time.

As a final point - you say I don’t understand Twitter. What I understand is that its 99% garbage and that based on what I see on here plenty of grown men seem to believe and bizarrely make judgments based on the information that's on there.

 

[backofthenet]

At the end of the day - the manager needs to be on board with any signings, or you're on the fast track to disaster. You suggested otherwise. If you're not going to back the man you've just handed a 3 year contract to then that is a massive problem as you've obviously picked the wrong man. Its bno different from Roman picking players for Mourinho. Few decent managers would let that happen - especially when they've just taken the job.

Why? That's not the case with the large majority of the major clubs. The manager is not a manager at all... he's a head coach. The players needed are identified between the coach and the director of football and then its their job, with the chief exec to get the players in. This is why City and Chelsea were able to get successful transfers in last season that were absolutely nothing to do with the coach. Mourinho puts up with it, as does Pellegrini, as does Ancelloti, as does Guardiola, as does Enrique now at Barca. Why do we have to stick to the archaic idea of an all encompasing manager who, unless he is bloody good at delegating as Fergie was, will be unable to cope with all the needs of the club. Also, if the coaches performance with the players does not work and they have to be fired, the incoming and outgoing player strategy is not adversely affected.

We're going into a shit situation where we have had to change targets again just before the start of the window... all of the work that had been done (barring maybe Shaw) was dumped, and we're immediately playing catch up. There is a lot to be said for the DoF approach... if you get the right man.

 

[RedRover]

Why? That's not the case with the large majority of the major clubs. The manager is not a manager at all... he's a head coach. The players needed are identified between the coach and the director of football and then its their job, with the chief exec to get the players in. This is why City and Chelsea were able to get successful transfers in last season that were absolutely nothing to do with the coach. Mourinho puts up with it, as does Pellegrini, as does Ancelloti, as does Guardiola, as does Enrique now at Barca. Why do we have to stick to the archaic idea of an all encompasing manager who, unless he is bloody good at delegating as Fergie was, will be unable to cope with all the needs of the club. Also, if the coaches performance with the players does not work and they have to be fired, the incoming and outgoing player strategy is not adversely affected.

We're going into a shit situation where we have had to change targets again just before the start of the window... all of the work that had been done (barring maybe Shaw) was dumped, and we're immediately playing catch up. There is a lot to be said for the DoF approach... if you get the right man.

That is the case at most clubs in this country. The continental model may very well work elsewhere and that's fine - it may even take off over here. But the argument in this case is irrelevant - because we dont have someone in the role of a Director of Football. You have two options therefore - 1) let the manager pick the players he wants or 2) let the chief executive make the decision. Given that one knows aboyt football (and in this case is incredibly experienced) and the other is a buisnessman I know who I'd choose.

You might argue that we should use that model - but that s not relevant here and is a totally different issue, because as it stands we dont have that structure - so the choices are as above. You might think its fine having people who dont know about football being in charge of transfer policy. That would never have happened under Fergie - for good reason.

Even if you justify that model - given that we've sacked the manager, we then need to appoint two people in one summer rather than one - I cant see how that makes things any easier.

I personally don't think top class managers will put up with it for the most part. You seem to think Mourinho isnt picking the players? I think otherwise, and given the scale of the task facing Van Gaal, I suspect playing second fiddle to someone would not be high on his list of priorities given his experience and where he is in his career.

The fact is a lot of people wanted Moyes sacked - this is the result and we are where we are.

 

[legball]

I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling there's so many things wrong at United now and it's not just Ed Woodward. The way of doing things/decision making in general has been baffling at times. Ed is constantly mouthing off to the media about who the top target is, who we are bidding for, how much there is to spend and stuff like that. Last summer was a total disaster, it showed a club that didn't have a clear plan or strategy, the trend has continued now, for this summer there will be two ready made excuses that'll be thrown out if things go wrong - new manager and world cup year. I don't have any faith in a man who is finding it difficult to complete a deal for 18 year old Luke Shaw who plays for Southampton. Ed aside, the lack of football people in our board is also a worry.

 

[backofthenet]

That is the case at most clubs in this country. The continental model may very well work elsewhere and that's fine - it may even take off over here. But the argument in this case is irrelevant - because we dont have someone in the role of a Director of Football. You have two options therefore - 1) let the manager pick the players he wants or 2) let the chief executive make the decision. Given that one knows aboyt football (and in this case is incredibly experienced) and the other is a buisnessman I know who I'd choose.

You might argue that we should use that model - but that s not relevant here and is a totally different issue, because as it stands we dont have that structure - so the choices are as above. You might think its fine having people who dont know about football being in charge of transfer policy. That would never have happened under Fergie - for good reason.

Even if you justify that model - given that we've sacked the manager, we then need to appoint two people in one summer rather than one - I cant see how that makes things any easier.

I personally don't think top class managers will put up with it for the most part. You seem to think Mourinho isnt picking the players? I think otherwise, and given the scale of the task facing Van Gaal, I suspect playing second fiddle to someone would not be high on his list of priorities given his experience and where he is in his career.

The fact is a lot of people wanted Moyes sacked - this is the result and we are where we are.

This is all very true. I'm just bemoaning the fact that we have allowed ourselves to get into a position where we are chasing the pack on the transfer front for the second season in a row... this time, not after a title winning season, but the worst season in 20 years.

I certainly wouldn't want Woodward picking the players. He's a business man, not a football man. We have football men on the board however. Why are they not involved? Why should we allow ourselves to get into the position that all planning that had previously been made goes out of the window and are now desperately scrabbling around to see if the signings Van Gaal wants can be achieved. I don't think you can blame Woodward in that situation as he's several months behind the other clubs.

As the major transfers do take months to setup and achieve we're facing a couple of scenarios in my opinion. Either we are not able to pull off the major signings we want as other clubs planning doesn't account for the loss of the players that Van Gaal wants, or we do achieve them, but have to wait until very late in the window whilst the clubs we're buying from line up replacements. This leaves us with either second choice players coming in, again potentially late in the window as we'll give the first choice deals as long as we can to pull off, or the signings we want are achieved but after pre-season or even into the season, again leaving us chasing the rest.

This scenario could have been avoided had the targets that Moyes (who was never a bad spotter of talent... someones going to mention Fellaini to this comment) identified and arranged been taken up. We would have had some good players in already, who would be available for the pre-season irrespective of the world cup, and we would be in a better position than we are today in my opinion.

 

[Striker10]

Every rival will strengthen every year, are you saying we should bid for every player?

And there will be players that rather play for another team, if that's a sackable offense then we'll change our CEO every summer.



How do you even know anything about what happened with the transfer? Maybe we went big with the bidding, out bidding Chelsea but Cesc rather live in London, work under Mourinho and be part of a team loaded with talent.

Alternatively, maybe LVG wasn't keen and Woodward decided to listen to his manager.

Most of the transfer "news" are made up by people who are making "educated" guesses.



You think Fellaini is a board signing?
There's not much a board can do if the manager is dithering. We've seen enough over last season to suggest that Moyes wasn't up the job.

In the second window, the board delivered Mata.

Then they sacked Moyes and hired LVG.



So sack the new CEO a month or two into his job? How does this even make sense to you?
How many times would we have sacked Gill?



How do you know what actually happened? Woodward could've called him hourly but Moyes just couldn't come up with credible targets?

There's been reports since then that suggest Moyes vetoed a few transfers.

Are you suggesting the CEO should just overwrite the manager?

And how do you know he's not quietly getting to work with the targets?



Even if he did, and there are many reports saying he didn't, it's never a guarantee players we want will come to us

Who else have I said we should sign? So no we shouldn't just sign everyone. My point about the CEO is that he lacks experience for the role and is better at making money then spending it. Why didn't we make an official 50 million bid last summer to really test Barcas resolve? It's not personal but from the outside looking in, it looks like he got the job because he made the Glazers a lot of money. He has yet to prove himself capable of the job. If he proves us wrong? Wonderful but i've yet to meet a man great at making money and great at spending it.

If you develop an attitude like 'we'll sign the best players in the world and no champions league but players want to sign for us!' then make sensible bids. Now if I think it's a mistake us turning down Fabregas it's because he will help win Chelsea the league and you can quote me on that.

 

[RedRover]

This is all very true. I'm just bemoaning the fact that we have allowed ourselves to get into a position where we are chasing the pack on the transfer front for the second season in a row... this time, not after a title winning season, but the worst season in 20 years.

I certainly wouldn't want Woodward picking the players. He's a business man, not a football man. We have football men on the board however. Why are they not involved? Why should we allow ourselves to get into the position that all planning that had previously been made goes out of the window and are now desperately scrabbling around to see if the signings Van Gaal wants can be achieved. I don't think you can blame Woodward in that situation as he's several months behind the other clubs.

As the major transfers do take months to setup and achieve we're facing a couple of scenarios in my opinion. Either we are not able to pull off the major signings we want as other clubs planning doesn't account for the loss of the players that Van Gaal wants, or we do achieve them, but have to wait until very late in the window whilst the clubs we're buying from line up replacements. This leaves us with either second choice players coming in, again potentially late in the window as we'll give the first choice deals as long as we can to pull off, or the signings we want are achieved but after pre-season or even into the season, again leaving us chasing the rest.

This scenario could have been avoided had the targets that Moyes (who was never a bad spotter of talent... someones going to mention Fellaini to this comment) identified and arranged been taken up. We would have had some good players in already, who would be available for the pre-season irrespective of the world cup, and we would be in a better position than we are today in my opinion.

You're right - this would have been avoided if they'd still pursued players which the ground work had been done for - but the reality is that is never going to happen when you change managers. That's just the way it is and the club has to try and minimise the impact of that. There is little point moaning about it.

As I've said, a lot of the people whinging about this now wanted Moyes out. This is what you're left with. Deals take time to put together.

As it is I see no reason why new players which have been targetted cannot be brought in over the summer. Those players that are at the World Cup will probably not want to get involved in speculation and discussion about their future anyway.

 

[RedRover]

Who else have I said we should sign? So no we shouldn't just sign everyone. My point about the CEO is that he lacks experience for the role and is better at making money then spending it. Why didn't we make an official 50 million bid last summer to really test Barcas resolve? It's not personal but from the outside looking in, it looks like he got the job because he made the Glazers a lot of money. He has yet to prove himself capable of the job. If he proves us wrong? Wonderful but i've yet to meet a man great at making money great at spending it.

How else do you pick a Chief Executive of a listed company? You seem to severly underestimate what the role entails - not just at United but in any buisness.

He is evidently not a football expert - that was something he needed to learn. He is, clearly (given the commercial position United find themselves in over the last few years) very good at the "business" part of the job which is vital. A Chief Exec who is a great at buying players is no use if the club falls apart financially and ceases to exist. The club is a large, multi-billion pund brand that needs careful management or it risks going to way of any other badly ran company.

How many people do you think are experts in football and have the ability to succesfully run a large listed company? They are two worlds that rarely cross over so its not surprising he'll take time to get up to speed with how the football world works.

 

[backofthenet]

You're right - this would have been avoided if they'd still pursued players which the ground work had been done for - but the reality is that is never going to happen when you change managers. That's just the way it is and the club has to try and minimise the impact of that. There is little point moaning about it.

As I've said, a lot of the people whinging about this now wanted Moyes out. This is what you're left with. Deals take time to put together.

As it is I see no reason why new players which have been targetted cannot be brought in over the summer. Those players that are at the World Cup will probably not want to get involved in speculation and discussion about their future anyway.

I do. The clubs that the players are at can say no, because they hadn't planned to lose those players. Roma for example almost certainly had no plans to lose Strootman this summer. Now we're asking them to sell us him. They'll have to line up a replacement. They won't have done their groundwork for this either. So we have the chance that they cannot get a suitable replacement and therefore say no. Were Bayern expecting to lose Schweinsteiger? Dortmund to lose Hummels? As these are all big European clubs the players that they would be looking to sign would be multi-million pound players. Those deals take time. We're then left with hoping that they can identify their replacements so that they will let our targets go. If the players were identified in the spring, this is much more achievable.

 

[Suus]

I wish this punk would just sign one player. May it be a supertalent, a squadplayer or a keyplayer. Just someone to get the blood pumping, and get some excitement going.

 

[RedRover]

I do. The clubs that the players are at can say no, because they hadn't planned to lose those players. Roma for example almost certainly had no plans to lose Strootman this summer. Now we're asking them to sell us him. They'll have to line up a replacement. They won't have done their groundwork for this either. So we have the chance that they cannot get a suitable replacement and therefore say no. Were Bayern expecting to lose Schweinsteiger? Dortmund to lose Hummels? As these are all big European clubs the players that they would be looking to sign would be multi-million pound players. Those deals take time. We're then left with hoping that they can identify their replacements so that they will let our targets go. If the players were identified in the spring, this is much more achievable.

As has been said a million times on here, while there are no guarantees about any deal coming off, United are financially in a league that very few others can compete in in terms of wages and fees.

Just because we've not had to spend big regularly I recent memory doesn't mean the club can't. Other clubs like Chelsea, City, PSG and others have done it so why not us?

We can offer players a top manager, an exciting project in the most popular league in the world and double or maybe even treble the wage. That will be attractive to a good number of players and often when the player wants to go his club are receptive- especially when the buying club are desperate for players and will pay big money.

 

[Dreaded]

I do. The clubs that the players are at can say no, because they hadn't planned to lose those players. Roma for example almost certainly had no plans to lose Strootman this summer. Now we're asking them to sell us him. They'll have to line up a replacement. They won't have done their groundwork for this either. So we have the chance that they cannot get a suitable replacement and therefore say no. Were Bayern expecting to lose Schweinsteiger? Dortmund to lose Hummels? As these are all big European clubs the players that they would be looking to sign would be multi-million pound players. Those deals take time. We're then left with hoping that they can identify their replacements so that they will let our targets go. If the players were identified in the spring, this is much more achievable.

We could have every one of our deals done at this stage and are just waiting to unveil players after the WC. The selling clubs may have had plenty of time to identify their replacements and Ed and LVG have everything lined up perfectly.

Of course this may not be the case either..

But neither you nor me know absolutely anything of what is going on in regards to our transfers dealings, this summer or anyone other summer for that matter.

Yet so many people post such firmly held opinions and analysis based on nothing more than their interpretation and guesswork of what they think is happening or on the ramblings of journalists with an added layer of their own guesswork.

 

[Revan]

I wish this punk would just sign one player. May it be a supertalent, a squadplayer or a keyplayer. Just someone to get the blood pumping, and get some excitement going.

I wish these kind of posts would never existed.

 

[golden_blunder]

This whole thread is embarrassing. United fans are spoilt

 

[Suus]

I wish these kind of posts would never existed.

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

 

[Revan]

This whole thread is embarrassing. United fans are spoilt

The 'funny' thing is that no-one has the smallest idea of what is happening. which players are we trying to sign, what are financial constrainst, did LVG approved any player from the last list etc, but still people want to kill Woodward. Especially those (like the poster above) who are more interested to sign a player just for the sake of it.

 

[Revan]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

Grow up.

 

[Rednotdead]

We could have every one of our deals done at this stage and are just waiting to unveil players after the WC. The selling clubs may have had plenty of time to identify their replacements and Ed and LVG have everything lined up perfectly.

Of course this may not be the case either..

But neither you nor me know absolutely anything of what is going on in regards to our transfers dealings, this summer or anyone other summer for that matter.

Yet so many people post such firmly held opinions and analysis based on nothing more than their interpretation and guesswork of what they think is happening or on the ramblings of journalists with an added layer of their own guesswork.

Well, the window opens in 17 days. We may get a better idea then what, if anything, is going on. Strange that other clubs seem to be able to do business in spite of the WC.

 

[Kag]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

Good lord.

 

[Rednotdead]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

Rules to remember: no adult images or videos; mind your language; criticise the post not the poster; remain respectful to other posters;

And no sodding text talk!!!

 

[united_99]

Anyone think this whole impressive victory yesterday against Spain will give him more respect? I don't mean respect by opposing fans or media as I couldn't care less about their opinions on LvG, but rather by United old guard and Woodward/Glazers?

Ofc they fired Moyes and chose LvG, so the respect will be there already. But yesterday's victory against the reigning champions - although it's just one game - might give him more respect/admiration, especially in terms of transfers and implementing strategies. Kind of confirmation that "he knows what he is doing". Our board are no football ppl so they might be more impressed by stuff like this in a WC when the whole world is watching.

 

[SirAF]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/English-Gra...id=1402734799&sr=8-2&keywords=english+grammar

 

[Ryan's Beard]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

Christ

 

[Miscemayl]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

How did this guy get promoted?

 

[Melvyn]

Same cud be said bout you rly. Not your post, but your whole existence.

your right

 

[The Neviller]

There seems to be a strange notion in here these days, that every transfer rumour or denial had to have been planted by Woodward, or briefed to the press. Suddenly the press don't invent transfer rumours like they used to. We're linked with 100 players every transfer window (and are then not interested in most of them, as far as the press are concerned), and every window ever before Woodward arrived it was the papers making stories up.

Now when a transfer story rears it's head, or when it's declared we aren't interested anymore or never were it's "Woodward briefing the press again". When did this change happen? When did the press go from bullshit artists to pawns in Edward Woodward's transfer game? It's fecking weird, to be honest. The press still make shite up. Not every transfer story is us declaring interest and then declaring we're not as some kind of conspiracy.

 

[The Neviller]

Rules to remember: no adult images or videos; mind your language; criticise the post not the poster; remain respectful to other posters;

And no sodding text talk!!!

When did your modminship get confirmed?

 

[Gladiator]

If that is right then fair enough. I've not seen it any where stated that "Ed Woodward told me this or that". I'm not sure why a journalist would reveal sources - that is usually the last thing they want to do.

Even if it is the case the suggestion was that deals are "agreed in principle" which isn't the same as certain to go through - presumably they are for the incoming managers approval.

As such, perhaps LVG doesn't want them. If not then that isn't the boards fault.

Fans called for Moyes to be sacked and he was. That throws transfer plans into chaos and they start potentially have to start from scratch. The fact that deals aren't done yet is not a surprise when that is the case.

The vast majority of all clubs transfer business will be done post World Cup anyway.

He said it in one of his United.no columns a few weeks back. Distinctly said Ed Woodward has been briefing journalists.

 

[Gladiator]

Why do people even have an opinion on this man?

Literally nobody actually knows what he does. It baffles me.

I'm not sure what you mean. Moyes went on record last summer saying Ed was working on potential deal for Fabregas so there is a glimpse of what some of his responsibilities are.

 

[The Neviller]

He said it one of his United.no columns a few weeks back. Distinctly said Ed Woodward has been briefing journalists.

Of course he has. All major figures at clubs speak to journalists, but how many players have we been linked with already and how many have we been then reported as no longer interested in? Did he read out a list in his first briefing of 100 names, and then hold daily conference calls with all the British journalists afterwards to keep them up to date with which ones off the list we're no longer interested in?

This idea that Woodward spends his days on the phone with Jimmy Bullshitter from the Daily Turd is an absolutely ludicrous notion. There might have been the odd thing here or there that he has let them know, but I'd very much doubt it's to the extent that is being suggested.

 

[The Neviller]

I'm not sure what you mean. Moyes went on record last summer saying Ed was working on potential deal for Fabregas so there is a glimpse of what some of his responsibilities are.

So he 'works on deals'. Insightful.

 

[Gladiator]

Of course he has. All major figures at clubs speak to journalists, but how many players have we been linked with already and how many have we been then reported as no longer interested in? Did he read out a list in his first briefing of 100 names, and then hold daily conference calls with all the British journalists afterwards to keep them up to date with which ones off the list we're no longer interested in?

This idea that Woodward spends his days on the phone with Jimmy Bullshitter from the Daily Turd is an absolutely ludicrous notion. There might have been the odd thing here or there that he has let them know, but I'd very much doubt it's to the extent that is being suggested.

Well whenever you read Taylor,Ogden, Mitten or Ducker's pieces, you can guess as to how much info he gave them. Major figures at clubs do speak to journalists but the regularity that Ed does it, is bizarre. As Mitten noted in his piece, when Sir Alex was at the helm, it was much harder to get the pulse on what was going on at United. Now with Ed and his briefs it's been more open.

So he 'works on deals'. Insightful.

Well it is insightful if you assume we have absolutely no idea what he does. That's one part of the job description.

 

[The Neviller]

Well whenever you read Taylor,Ogden, Mitten or Ducker's pieces, you can guess as to how much info he gave them. Major figures at clubs do speak to journalists but the regularity that Ed does it, is bizarre. As Mitten noted in his piece, when Sir Alex was at the helm, it was much harder to get the pulse on what was going on at United. Now with Ed and his briefs it's been more open.



Well it is insightful if you assume we have absolutely no idea what he does. That's one part of the job description.

How do you have any idea how often he speaks to the press? Because the guys notorious for making up rumours say so?

They say it was much harder to get information on transfers when Ferguson and Gill were there, yet they still managed to link us with a million players every summer. So they made those rumours up? Now they're the paragons of virtue because they're saying negative things about a guy United fans don't like? Bullshitters for years, trustworthy and to be believed with everything they say now. Weird switch.

 

[Gladiator]

How do you have any idea how often he speaks to the press? Because the guys notorious for making up rumours say so?
y
They say it was much harder to get information on transfers when Ferguson and Gill were there, yet they still managed to link us with a million players every summer. So they made those rumours up? Now they're the paragons of virtue because they're saying negative things about a guy United fans don't like? Bullshitters for years, trustworthy and to be believed with everything they say now. Weird switch.

I think you're misunderstanding the process. The linking of players doesn't have to come from the club. Sometimes that can come from the agent, or someone an agent has talked to, a player's teammate, and other secondhand information. If either of these sources tip the info to a journalist or tabloid, then it's no surprise if you see a story in the papers about a player being linked to the club even if the club itself has said nothing about that player. There are many parties at play so when you see a rumour, it could be coming from anywhere. Whether or not it's true, it's hard to tell sometimes. We are not close to what's going on so hard for us to say for sure.

What's nice about having correspondents like Ogden, Taylor, Ducker, Ladyman and Mitten is that usually their info is credibly sourced, meaning it's from someone close to the club. Now, whether their source(s)choose to spin a story or tell the flat out truth is another thing but you wouldn't expect these journos to be making up info since they've worked hard to create relationships with these high up sources to receive info.

Regarding Ed's briefs, Mitten revealed in one of his United.no columns that Woodward is the one briefing info to journalists which includes Mitten himself and the ones I just listed. The accuracy of the briefs is contingent on Ed and what he chooses to reveal. Unless given permission, journos are not going to put in every column they've received info from Ed and this is what he says. Usually more info is revealed when it's off the record and there's no identity tied to the source. But the fact stories from Ogden and Taylor for example carry an authoritative tone, you can presume they have a more direct line to their source than other journalists who carry a more speculative tone (i.e. Jamie Jackson).

I dont think you should believe everything revealed by these respected journalists. The question becomes like I said before, what is the nature of the brief? Is it truthful? Is it spin for a specific purpose?Is it just for good PR? There are different possibilities but when these respected journalists write their columns, you can at least take it more seriously than some of the stuff you read.

 

[The Neviller]

So these journalists go to great lengths not to9 reveal their sources so as not to upset them and ruin any future chances of getting info from them, so Mitten writes a column in Norway gobbing off about how Woodward is his source. Yep, that makes sense.

They make shit up, we all know that. Only since Ferguson left has anyone truly believed otherwise. Sure they hear some things, and I've no doubt they've had some snippets from Woodward, but a lot of it is invention. We've always been linked with players we've had no interest in. These last two summers all those stories have been attributed to Woodward. All of them have lead to people here saying he's briefed them. There have always been stories in the papers about who we were going to sign, many of them nonsense, long before Woodward was ever near the place.

 

[Gladiator]

So these journalists go to great lengths not to9 reveal their sources so as not to upset them and ruin any future chances of getting info from them, so Mitten writes a column in Norway gobbing off about how Woodward is his source. Yep, that makes sense.

They make shit up, we all know that. Only since Ferguson left has anyone truly believed otherwise. Sure they hear some things, and I've no doubt they've had some snippets from Woodward, but a lot of it is invention. We've always been linked with players we've had no interest in. These last two summers all those stories have been attributed to Woodward. All of them have lead to people here saying he's briefed them. There have always been stories in the papers about who we were going to sign, many of them nonsense, long before Woodward was ever near the place.

Yeah. How many people read United.no website? Less presence and visibility than reading something like that on ESPNFC or the Times for that matter.

Why else do you think Fergie got upset at Cass when headline was ran connecting Fergie to a story about Sneijder?

I'm curious as to how you're so certain it's made up or that a lot of is invention? Is that because you can't see what's being revealed as being plausible or you actually know it's made up?

The difference is with Ed, you're getting a direct line rather than secondhand information but I guess that means nothing to you.

 

[Will Absolute]

It certainly looked like someone at the club was feeding journos bits and pieces of information. From time to time they were all singing from the same hymn sheet in a way that didn't happen in the past.

The club's denial of interest in Kroos, which again appeared in several papers simultaneously, seems to have heralded a change though. After that the leaks stopped, and the less reputable press reverted to making up random crap. We've been linked with everybody for a day.

 

[The Neviller]

Yeah. How many people read United.no website? Less presence and visibility than reading something like that on ESPNFC or the Times for that matter.

Why else do you think Fergie got upset at Cass when headline was ran connecting Fergie to a story about Sneijder?

I'm curious as to how you're so certain it's made up or that a lot of is invention? Is that because you can't see what's being revealed as being plausible or you actually know it's made up?

The difference is with Ed, you're getting a direct line rather than secondhand information but I guess that means nothing to you.

We've read it. I'm sure plenty of United fans have read it, it's been linked to on pretty much every United forum going. Who else matters with regards club issues but United fans? Do you really think Woodward doesn't know that Mitten revealed him as the source of United stories on that website?

Anyone who isn't naive knows that the press concoct transfer stories, or report untruths they've seen elsewhere and refer to "sources". You only have to look at the Kaka to United rumour that started here and made it to the mainstream British press.

 

[The Neviller]

It certainly looked like someone at the club was feeding journos bits and pieces of information. From time to time they were all singing from the same hymn sheet in a way that didn't happen in the past.

The club's denial of interest in Kroos, which again appeared in several papers simultaneously, seems to have heralded a change though. After that the leaks stopped, and the less reputable press reverted to making up random crap. We've been linked with everybody for a day.

I've no doubt there were certain things that came directly from the club, but this idea that every story in the papers has come from Woodward briefing the press and that subsequent statements that United aren't interested is us saving face, and is anything more than press invention or guesswork, is ridiculous. As if Woodward has nothing more to do than having meetings with the press every day.

 

[The Neviller]

From the Twitter thread

Yeah definitely. Wasn't Piers Morgan involved in a phone hacking scandal? I then remember hearing about tabloid journalist masquerading as player's entourage or something to that effect just to get a story. I feel a line has to be drawn between privacy and how much room press has to invade players' lives. Imo, they're just footballers. Not celebrities who should have the media acting like paparazzi where they have to follow them all the time. I could care less if Rooney has a beer in his hand at a concert as long as he's fit and ready to go by game day.

And yet you don't think the press are capable of inventing stories? They'll hack phones, they'll pretend to be members of a players entourage, but link United with a £60mil bid for Pogba or Vidal or some other guff, without any valid source? Never.

The press are chancers, we all know it, and 'Exclusive: United linked with £Xmillion bid for Player Y' sells papers and gets hits. It's that simple.