Woodward (old thread)

Should Studward remain as CE of Manchester United?

  • No - he should be sacked also.

    Votes: 40 22.6%

  • Yes - he should stay.

    Votes: 137 77.4%
  • Total voters
    177
  • Poll closed .
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Walrus said:
I think people are underplaying the fact that we will play fewer games, and this should in theory mean less injuries/rotation etc.

I agree that City and Chelsea are still the two to beat, but I dont think Liverpool or Spurs are as good as anyone is making out - I would be more concerned by Everton than Spurs, for example.

I think City, Chelsea, Arsenal and ourselves will make the top four (not in that order), and Liverpool, Spurs and Everton will fight it out for 5th. I can see us finishing 3rd with the current squad.
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I take your point about the games but there are a number of players like Rafael, Jones, Smalling, worryingly Evans, RVP, Nani, Young who aren't injured due to being overplayed - it's more a case of being injury prone

Rafael for example picked him a hamstring against LA Galaxy in the first game, Welbeck seems to pick up a few of those too, Jones can be very reckless in the tackle etc..

I did hear that Moyes ran the squad into the ground last Summer and maybe that was a factor but the point remains we are short on Quality - guys like Carrick, Smalling etc should be the cover for new players
 
buckooo1978 said:
I take your point about the games but there are a number of players like Rafael, Jones, Smalling, worryingly Evans, RVP, Nani, Young who aren't injured due to being overplayed - it's more a case of being injury prone

Rafael for example picked him a hamstring against LA Galaxy in the first game, Welbeck seems to pick up a few of those too, Jones can be very reckless in the tackle etc..

I did hear that Moyes ran the squad into the ground last Summer and maybe that was a factor but the point remains we are short on Quality - guys like Carrick, Smalling etc should be the cover for new players
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I guess I am just being an optimist. The squad we have now in my opinion, is stronger than the one SAF had in his final couple of years in charge, and we competed/won the league. I don't think it is a big push for LVG to come third with it..
 
Walrus said:
I guess I am just being an optimist. The squad we have now in my opinion, is stronger than the one SAF had in his final couple of years in charge, and we competed/won the league. I don't think it is a big push for LVG to come third with it..
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But City and Chelsea have improved massively in those two years and have World class managers themselves. So have Arsenal and Liverpool are knocking on the doors. Our squad is no where near Chelsea,City or even Arsenal for that matter.
 
Walrus said:
I guess I am just being an optimist. The squad we have now in my opinion, is stronger than the one SAF had in his final couple of years in charge, and we competed/won the league. I don't think it is a big push for LVG to come third with it..
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Vidic/Ferdinand v Jones/Smalling/Evans?
 
Browniee said:
He's goin to get fecking crucified and rightly so
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Why though? What evidence is there that he hasn't tried everything in his power to get the players LVG wants, in fact, wheres the evidence that we are after any player.
At the end of the day, Woodward can only go after the players that the manager wants, if the players refuses to sign or goes elsewhere then what can he do?
 
How do LvG have better squad than SAF' squad?
Prime Carrick vs Herrera , Erva Rio Vidic have gone and We're gonna play 3 CBs system w/o any decent backup, Mata isn't much much better upgrade compare to Kagawa. We lack in both quality and quantity while other clubs have improved significantly since then. Sorry but It doesn't even make sense saying top 3 already in our pocket.
 
Getsme said:
Why though? What evidence is there that he hasn't tried everything in his power to get the players LVG wants, in fact, wheres the evidence that we are after any player.
At the end of the day, Woodward can only go after the players that the manager wants, if the players refuses to sign or goes elsewhere then what can he do?
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But I thought we are the biggest team in the world, and the worlds top players want to play for Manchester United?
Top players seem willing to join Chelsea, City, PSG, Monaco et al, why? Because there willing to pay the parent club and player the fee and wages. We don't, simple as. We will continue to miss out on top talent. Nothing will change even with these big sponsorship deals in place. Woodward is a Glazer puppet. A Dream CEO for them, great saver tight spender
 
Getsme said:
Why though? What evidence is there that he hasn't tried everything in his power to get the players LVG wants, in fact, wheres the evidence that we are after any player.
At the end of the day, Woodward can only go after the players that the manager wants, if the players refuses to sign or goes elsewhere then what can he do?
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Seems a bit strange that all around us our competitors aren't finding any problems signing players. I refuse to believe we're not in the market for new players.
 
He has been a bit silly with the bold talk about transfers IMO.

Made a rod for his own back.
 
Browniee said:
But I thought we are the biggest team in the world, and the worlds top players want to play for Manchester United?
Top players seem willing to join Chelsea, City, PSG, Monaco et al, why? Because there willing to pay the parent club and player the fee and wages. We don't, simple as. We will continue to miss out on top talent. Nothing will change even with these big sponsorship deals in place. Woodward is a Glazer puppet. A Dream CEO for them, great saver tight spender
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But I thought this summer was going to be 'unprecedented' in terms of ins and outs at United? I thought we were going to give our manager a 200m 'war chest'? Watch this space ;)?
 
Browniee said:
But I thought we are the biggest team in the world, and the worlds top players want to play for Manchester United?
Top players seem willing to join Chelsea, City, PSG, Monaco et al, why? Because there willing to pay the parent club and player the fee and wages. We don't, simple as. We will continue to miss out on top talent. Nothing will change even with these big sponsorship deals in place. Woodward is a Glazer puppet. A Dream CEO for them, great saver tight spender
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We allegedly turned down Kross, Thiagio, Ozil to name but a few, why? Because the manager didn't want them, nothing to do with Woodward. I understand the frustration, I'm frustrated myself, this doesn't mean that I'm going to blame a single individual, especially when there isn't a shred of evidence to back it up. Unlike last season when it was a complete shambles.
At the end of the day, Its up to LVG to give the manager a list of players he wants to sign, if this hasn't happened then you cant blame Woodward, its that simple, until evidence comes out that Woodwards purse isn't as big as he says it is or that he has messed up transfers then Woodward will only be a part of the concerning issue, not the problem.
 
Rory 7 said:
But I thought this summer was going to be 'unprecedented' in terms of ins and outs at United? I thought we were going to give our manager a 200m 'war chest'? Watch this space ;)?
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Exactly, it's all bollocks. I know there's 3 weeks left so there is still time and I shouldn't be shouting my mouth off. What's makes it even worse is that rumour if true about 5 first team players being told they can leave, that's 10 first team players that could leave in one window. You want unprecedented, there it is right there. How are we going to replace them players in 3 weeks. It's either going to explode into a muppet fantasy or it will continue like it is as we will wake up on September 2nd having spent £20m on Nigel De Jong! I'm going for the latter.
I know, I know 'shut up you pessimistic cnut'
 
Rednotdead said:
Seems a bit strange that all around us our competitors aren't finding any problems signing players. I refuse to believe we're not in the market for new players.
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I agree, however no other Club has a new manager who wanted to look at the players before he made his decisions, last season we had a manager who couldn't make a decision.
I cant see why we wont sign another player or two, God knows we need it.
 
bleedred said:
But City and Chelsea have improved massively in those two years and have World class managers themselves. So have Arsenal and Liverpool are knocking on the doors. Our squad is no where near Chelsea,City or even Arsenal for that matter.
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To say our squad is "no where near" Arsenal is a major exaggeration. I would put our squad ahead of Arsenals - not by much, but ahead nonetheless.

Liverpool knocked on plenty of doors last season, but have now sold the player that allowed them to do that. Without Suarez or a similar world class signing, and with the increased workload of having the CL, they wont get in the top four this year.

City and Chelsea have improved, so have we. We have a world class manager, two world class strikers and a world class #10 behind them. We have one of the most exciting young attacking prospects in Europe, if not the world, we have three young CBs who - with a manager who actually trusts them and plays them together - can become one of the best defenses in the world, as well as one of the brightest/best young GKs in the world behind them - and some youth prospects in defence who have been given a chance in preseason and have clearly impressed the manager.

Yes our midfield is weak, we brought in Herrera to address this. It would be nice to have someone to partner Herrera, but other than that, im pretty happy with the squad.

Rednotdead said:
Vidic/Ferdinand v Jones/Smalling/Evans?
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If we take off the SAF-tinted specs for a few minutes, Rio has been a liability for the last 2 seasons (as has Evra frankly), and Vidic was quality, but not as quality as he was 4-5 years ago.

Rio and Vidic was one of the best CB partnerships I have ever seen. But that was years ago. In SAFs final couple of years they were not at that level, not by a long shot.

I am a fan of Jones, Smalling and Evans. They have suffered the same problems as other members of our squad in that they have not been played consistently, and in the case of 2/3 of them, not in the right position. As far as im concerned, when any of the three have been given a proper run at CB, they have performed. I have no issue with us heading into next season with those three as first choice - if LVG has faith in them then so do I.
 
Browniee said:
Exactly, it's all bollocks. I know there's 3 weeks left so there is still time and I shouldn't be shouting my mouth off. What's makes it even worse is that rumour if true about 5 first team players being told they can leave, that's 10 first team players that could leave in one window. You want unprecedented, there it is right there. How are we going to replace them players in 3 weeks. It's either going to explode into a muppet fantasy or it will continue like it is as we will wake up on September 2nd having spent £20m on Nigel De Jong! I'm going for the latter.
I know, I know 'shut up you pessimistic cnut'
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:lol:
I think the truth will be somewhere in between your two scenarios. I'd be very very surprised if we don't sign a centre half of some kind or another.
 
The constant denials of interest don't mean anything in my opinion. I think it is more of a case that if we can't get the deals done we'll look less stupid than last year, letting everybody know who we were after and ultimately signing nobody. All the foreign press are still saying that our interest is still there and while that could be bullshit, it's surely a better source than journos who haven't got a word out of United all summer.

However, if it does come to September and no one has been brought in then Woody will look like an absolute feckwit. He should've kept his mouth shut and opened it when we signed these world class players. The "watch this space" quote could come back to bite him big time.
 
Of course lads its is entirely plausible that our new manager, a man with a reputation for bringing youth through and working with the players he has, only wants us to sign two players before the window is out....plenty of time for that.

And of course its also entirely plausible that LVG's reputation for working with young players was what made him so attractive to the club in the first place, having realised that the little ginger scotsman they hired last summer was looking for a 'war chest'.
 
Baxter said:
The constant denials of interest don't mean anything in my opinion. I think it is more of a case that if we can't get the deals done we'll look less stupid than last year, letting everybody know who we were after and ultimately signing nobody. All the foreign press are still saying that our interest is still there and while that could be bullshit, it's surely a better source than journos who haven't got a word out of United all summer.

However, if it does come to September and no one has been brought in then Woody will look like an absolute feckwit. He should've kept his mouth shut and opened it when we signed these world class players. The "watch this space" quote could come back to bite him big time.
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And if we don't make it back into the top 4 who takes the brunt? LVG. Not needle neck Woodward
 
Some scary shit is happening. I ended up being on a train back to Manchester from London on the deadline day last summer and paid £4 to use Virgin's WiFi only to see we'd signed Fellaini for £29M or whatever. By happy coincidence I'll be on a train from Manchester back to Uni. Woody, please don't make me regret using that £4 again :(.
 
Blue always red said:
Some scary shit is happening. I ended up being on a train back to Manchester from London on the deadline day last summer and paid £4 to use Virgin's WiFi only to see we'd signed Fellaini for £29M or whatever. By happy coincidence I'll be on a train from Manchester back to Uni. Woody, please don't make me regret using that £4 again :(.
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I remember waking up on the day after the transfer deadline ended expecting to see deals for Herrera and Contreao complete and all we ended up with was Fellaini.
I knew after that we were in for a rough season.
 
Getsme said:
Why though? What evidence is there that he hasn't tried everything in his power to get the players LVG wants, in fact, wheres the evidence that we are after any player.
At the end of the day, Woodward can only go after the players that the manager wants, if the players refuses to sign or goes elsewhere then what can he do?
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But Woodward, at the end of the day, is our Chief Executive and he is the individual tasked with bringing new blood into the club. If he's not capable of doing that then surely he's not suitable for the demands of the job itself. I mean, I could have a good go at bringing top talent to the club and by that logic, if I was unable to do so, would I then be absolved of blame, and keep my position, because after all the "player refused to come?" Ed is our chief negotiator, and as such I would expect a certain level of competence, quite distinct from my own, or any other pleb's, when it comes to the complex work of player transfers. He is the man who is meant to have the requisite skill set when making decisions on matters of contact so surely it's just too simplistic to give him a free-pass if he's "tried really hard" but the player still wouldn't come. Other teams are able to conduct their business with few problems so why should we be any different?
Mind you, like you say, none of us here know who the manager wants to sign, so we don't have a definite measure from which to judge "failure" or otherwise, but that is yet another device that could be used to excuse possible incompetence, and without all the relevant information we'll never truly know.
I actually feel that LVG has to some extent put the breaks the club's transfer business, and is busy trying to assess the squad at his disposal. I would be inclined, in accepting that fact, to give Woodward some leeway but I just wish he'd kept his pie-hole firmly shut and not gone all uber-muppet in that now infamous MUTV interview.
 
Walrus said:
I guess I am just being an optimist. The squad we have now in my opinion, is stronger than the one SAF had in his final couple of years in charge, and we competed/won the league. I don't think it is a big push for LVG to come third with it..
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I'm worried about the hole Vidic left mainly

its the point though that we shouldn't be looking to create a squad to finish third

add a top CM, CB and wide attacking player as I don't see why we can't challenge Chelsea/Arsenal for the title
 
What is funny is that LVG hasn't signed one player that he wants yet . . Shaw and Herrera deals were all but signed before LVG even joined the club. Suggests that it was the scouting end of the club that felt these players were needed and LVG trusted them when they approached him. The question you have to ask is how LVG could make snap decision to spend 60mil so quickly, but need a month to assess the rest of the squad ? The only answer is that they weren't his signings . .
 
Drummer said:
What is funny is that LVG hasn't signed one player that he wants yet . . Shaw and Herrera deals were all but signed before LVG even joined the club. Suggests that it was the scouting end of the club that felt these players were needed and LVG trusted them when they approached him. The question you have to ask is how LVG could make snap decision to spend 60mil so quickly, but need a month to assess the rest of the squad ? The only answer is that they weren't his signings . .
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They weren't his signings. But that kind of suits LVG. He likes to work with the squad he inherits.
 
buckooo1978 said:
I'm worried about the hole Vidic left mainly

its the point though that we shouldn't be looking to create a squad to finish third

add a top CM, CB and wide attacking player as I don't see why we can't challenge Chelsea/Arsenal for the title
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LVG said the target is always first, not fourth, and I agree.

In the circumstances however, I would prefer to see our youngsters given gametime to develop. I have a suspicion that we will be active in the January transfer window - we won't have to worry about any players that we buy or sell being cup tied in Europe after all.

If LVGs strategy is to go into the season, test the youngsters and try to get a strong established XI (rather than the constant rotation we are used to) then I agree with that - safe in the knowledge that if suddenly some of the youngsters look like they aren't quite ready, or we get injuries, we still have the January window in which to correct that.

With the squad we have, it would take a LOT (an unrealistic amount) to go wrong, for us to be so far behind in January that we can't catch up or correct it.

Even last season under Moyes, at Christmas time we still had our eyes on 4th - and yet now we have a far better manager, and have made 2 important signings without any major departures (at this stage it was a shame to lose Vidic but I can't class him as a major loss - Rio and Evra were sadly liabilities), yet people are writing us off as bloody relegation candidates on here! (Slight exaggeration)
 
Rory 7 said:
They weren't his signings. But that kind of suits LVG. He likes to work with the squad he inherits.
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I don't know much of LVG history, does he EVER make big signings ?

I don't mind the thought of a squad rebuild, but it would be nice once in awhile if the club flexed its financial muscle and made a real statement of intent to our rivals . .
 
Drummer said:
I don't know much of LVG history, does he EVER make big signings ?

I don't mind the thought of a squad rebuild, but it would be nice once in awhile if the club flexed its financial muscle and made a real statement of intent to our rivals . .
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The thing about it is, he's going to have to big a few big signings!
A blind man could dribble past our midfield!
 
Unless we have the busiest deadline day any club has ever had in the history of football, we will be left very short this season now. It's a bit annoying it's all been left so late again. 2 seasons in a row by Ed. Fergie/Gill rarely started the season without their complete pack.
 
Drummer said:
I don't know much of LVG history, does he EVER make big signings ?

I don't mind the thought of a squad rebuild, but it would be nice once in awhile if the club flexed its financial muscle and made a real statement of intent to our rivals . .
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I'm not really sure he does. I think he sees a virtue in creating stars from youth. That was my reaction immediately when he was appointed. Maybe someone else can enlighten us but I certainly don't look on LVG as the type who needs a big transfer budget.
 
.Rossi said:
The thing about it is, he's going to have to big a few big signings!
A blind man could dribble past our midfield!
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My concern is that it suits the owners to have a manager who doesn't like to spend big ! !

Rory 7 said:
I'm not really sure he does. I think he sees a virtue in creating stars from youth. That was my reaction immediately when he was appointed. Maybe someone else can enlighten us but I certainly don't look on LVG as the type who needs a big transfer budget.
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There is a virtue in that alright, but if you look at Barcelona's success a few years back, at the highest level, it makes sense to invest big in the squad while simultaneously investing in youth . .
 
Another day, and no signs of anything happening. Soon the week will come and go before we know it and we'll be left with just two weeks left to do some business.
 
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