Wot, no transfers?

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It adds up perfectly.
It doesn't take a genius to understand that the owners want to spend less and earn more (ie. maximise profits).
My worry is that from here on in, we are basically going to be attempting to win the 4th place trophy, while spending very little. I do hope this doesn't happen.

Owners may not be going over board with transfer fee but they are certainly not stopping the money. We just don't wanna get mugged for average workhorse signings or in case of Sandro its pretty clear he changed his mind when Ronaldo arrived in Turin.
 


Luckhurst sums it up well


It may be that Woodward is cognisant of Mourinho's historic third season troubles, has taken a look at his general demeanor (and that of the squad) and has decided he won't be around much longer and so isn't worth investing in.

Fine. But you have to sack him then. As it is, it looks as though the decision has been taken to simply write this season off and sort things out next year, which is ludicrous.
 
Just getting the feeling Woodward is going for a managerial change + squad overhaul next summer and so hasn't backed Jose, since any new signings might not be to the fancy of the next manager. Plus, trying to override Jose's desire to sell Martial as well seems telling.

Even if Jose leads us to the title (hypothetically!!), I think there will be a handshake and departure via mutual consent next summer. In which case, not making any further signings makes sense, but it comes at the cost of one more dreary season.

Good post.
 
It may be that Woodward is cognisant of Mourinho's historic third season troubles, has taken a look at his general demeanor (and that of the squad) and has decided he won't be around much longer and so isn't worth investing in.

Fine. But you have to sack him then. As it is, it looks as though the decision has been taken to simply write this season off and sort things out next year, which is ludicrous.

Apart from Willian and Sandro there are really no alternatives in those positions and those two are not moving clubs. We will get another cb i believe, so we will have addressed 3 out of 5 positions while we got a top player in January too. Also defensive wise even the wing positions are fine its attacking width wise they are lacking which is an issue but a better transition with a good Ball playing Cb will fix some attacking issues, so its not totally bad though not perfect.
 


Luckhurst sums it up well

Luckhurst is full of shit. Are you telling me if Bale had pushed for a move for example and was available for £90 million or so Woodward wouldn't have bitten Madrids hand off? As Stones says, the issue isn't that the money isn't there – it's that the club doesn't want to be held to ransom for players of a certain perceived level. Mourinho on the other hand could care less what we pay, he just wants the players he wants.
 
Just getting the feeling Woodward is going for a managerial change + squad overhaul next summer and so hasn't backed Jose, since any new signings might not be to the fancy of the next manager. Plus, trying to override Jose's desire to sell Martial as well seems telling.

Even if Jose leads us to the title (hypothetically!!), I think there will be a handshake and departure via mutual consent next summer. In which case, not making any further signings makes sense, but it comes at the cost of one more dreary season.

Then why give him a contract extension in January itself?
 
Luckhurst flapping his chops in all directions there.

We've been overpaying for mediocrity for too long now. Mourinho will have to coach his way out of trouble - shock horror.
 
Owners may not be going over board with transfer fee but they are certainly not stopping the money. We just don't wanna get mugged for average workhorse signings or in case of Sandro its pretty clear he changed his mind when Ronaldo arrived in Turin.

Yeah, but the issue is that the market is going crazy. If we do not want to spend money, we have to trust scouts and buy younger, less known, players. The Dalot purchase is a good example of that. Sadly, Jose is not the manager to develop younger players.
 
If we don’t sign anyone on the basis that the club believe Mourinho should do better with what he already has, they can be both simultaneously be right that he should be doing better and also wildly optimistic to expect him to do better with a bunch of players that he believes are not good enough and who have largely proven him right. Either way, we’re tossing away another season. Fred alone won’t fix what’s ailed us for the last couple of seasons.

I’m pretty indifferent to Mourinho but I struggle to understand what the point would be in choosing him as your manager and then not giving him the tools he needs to do the job. And if we’ve somehow gotten the idea that the market will normalise itself then I suspect that’ll also be proven to be wildly misguided.
 
Apart from Willian and Sandro there are really no alternatives in those positions and those two are not moving clubs. We will get another cb i believe, so we will have addressed 3 out of 5 positions while we got a top player in January too. Also defensive wise even the wing positions are fine its attacking width wise they are lacking which is an issue but a better transition with a good Ball playing Cb will fix some attacking issues, so its not totally bad though not perfect.
Wait so there are no good LB or RW other than those two? Seems a stretch. Off the top of my head, Barcelona have already signed on RW who seems a better option than Willian.
 
Then why give him a contract extension in January itself?
TBH It all went to shit after he signed that extension, things were going quite well up to that point.

Clearly aimed to earn a good severance deal and now he's on the path to a quick sacking. Easy money.
 


Luckhurst sums it up well

I think the issue is simple. The board don't feel they have got value for money from the 350m+ they have given him. So they aren't going to break the bank for players they feel aren't top tier or who the scouts feel aren't top tier.
If Mourinho had mounted a serious challenge last season with his signings playing out of their skin, I have no doubt they would have gone out of their way to give him what he wants.
 
Apart from Willian and Sandro there are really no alternatives in those positions and those two are not moving clubs. We will get another cb i believe, so we will have addressed 3 out of 5 positions while we got a top player in January too. Also defensive wise even the wing positions are fine its attacking width wise they are lacking which is an issue but a better transition with a good Ball playing Cb will fix some attacking issues, so its not totally bad though not perfect.

How are there no alternates??? That's crazy. We literally don't have a right winger. Why not just buy Dembele or Malcolm or Pulisic or Maximin or Bailey. Only Dembele would be difficult or expensive.
 
Wait so there are no good LB or RW other than those two? Seems a stretch. Off the top of my head, Barcelona have already signed on RW who seems a better option than Willian.

Not what Mourinho likes to work with, No. We have already tried with Mkh. Right workhorses are rare to find and we have them in our squad itself with Young and Valencia.
 
Then why give him a contract extension in January itself?

2 trophies + the decent-ish football in the first half of the season during the 4-0 FC period had convinced Ed that we were onto something under Jose. It was when he started demanding Perisic, Willian and other players the board didn't fancy + the dull football that the wheels came off.
 
I like this idea.

I also sort of dislike it cause, well, we're probably going to be as dire to watch this season as ever, but then I don't think with 2 or 3 new players it would be any different under Jose regardless of that so I'm not fussed. I'm hoping the club have some sort of plan here and are biding their time under Jose while waiting for the right manager to be become available. And hey, we might still be surprised by Jose (unlikely) this season.
I suppose. I'm just finding myself more and more disinterested in Jose's United. Would have been good to see a new attack minded coach coming in this summer to be honest. Someone who would get the most out of our flair players and actually target interesting players this summer. It's shocking that for a team with a dynsfunctional attack for 5 years, the only attacker we've been linked with is bloody Willian. Madness.
 
Just getting the feeling Woodward is going for a managerial change + squad overhaul next summer and so hasn't backed Jose, since any new signings might not be to the fancy of the next manager. Plus, trying to override Jose's desire to sell Martial as well seems telling.

Even if Jose leads us to the title (hypothetically!!), I think there will be a handshake and departure via mutual consent next summer. In which case, not making any further signings makes sense, but it comes at the cost of one more dreary season.

Fine. If that's the case they can look forward to empty seats and massive protests.
 
I think the issue is simple. The board don't feel they have got value for money from the 350m+ they have given him. So they aren't going to break the bank for players they feel aren't top tier or who the scouts feel aren't top tier.
If Mourinho had mounted a serious challenge last season with his signings playing out of their skin, I have no doubt they would have gone out of their way to give him what he wants.

Ultimately it doesn't matter who is to blame - the net result is the same for us fans.
 
Not what Mourinho likes to work with, No. We have already tried with Mkh. Right workhorses are rare to find and we have them in our squad itself with Young and Valencia.
In that case the manager needs to have a wider imagination or find a new job.
 
I just came across a scenario on another thread which I hadn't considered.

My understanding of the rules are that the clubs have to name their 25 man squad when the transfer window shuts. If this is the case and a European team came in and triggered a release clause in a players contract, would you have to finish the season with a 24 man squad?

I suspect that a further problem comes if clubs are holding back unnamed players for sale on the continent. Buying clubs would know you have to sell so value drops.
 
How are there no alternates??? That's crazy. We literally don't have a right winger. Why not just buy Dembele or Malcolm or Pulisic or Maximin or Bailey. Only Dembele would be difficult or expensive.

We don't have a natural right winger. Agree on that though we have players who can play there. Those players might bring balance but might not improve the output than what we already have with Mourinhos choice of tactics.
 
Was there this air of negativity around the club when he renewed? Don't recall the timings but midway through season things still seemed ok?
It was way too early and at least on the caf, people were surprised the deal did not wait till summer
 
Fine. If that's the case they can look forward to empty seats and massive protests.

Empty seats don't look great on TV, but matchday revenues are proportionally far less significant now than they were in 2005, which means match-going fans are consequently less important to the club than they once were (lack of investment in the stadium is illustrative of this).
 
Nobody can deny we've gone backwards as a club in comparison to other clubs in these last 5-10 years.

The next 5-10 years will get even worse.

You'll continue blaming the manager or whoever I'm sure.

It's well underway. United are playing for a top 4 position next season and that is with every club still on the same points. Manchester United are playing for a top 4 position. We're Arsenal, Spurs. Liverpool before the last couple of years.

You reap what you sow unfortunatley. Some of our fans will deserve it. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's true.

You certainly will.
 
Are we actually getting a centre back, after weeks of being linked with almost every player in Europe? And why are Darmian and Rojo still here? In fact, I would add Smalling into that question, but some disagree on him. This has become a bit of a nightmare.
 
Ultimately it doesn't matter who is to blame - the net result is the same for us fans.
Personally don't really blame the board for how they are behaving now but I would still put 90% of the blame on them. Should have done their due diligence before hiring him and if they did, they should have been prepared to go all in. Their actions now tell me they aren't
 
Are we actually getting a centre back, after weeks of being linked with almost every player in Europe? And why are Darmian and Rojo still here? In fact, I would add Smalling into that question, but some disagree on him. This has become a bit of a nightmare.

I think Darmian will be sold in the next couple of weeks, when Valencia is back. Rojo too, still time for both.

Smalling I would never sell.
 
In that case the manager needs to have a wider imagination or find a new job.

Also that's why Sadio mane was such a crucial signing which Lvg was right to target, just couldn't make out why we went for mkh instead that summer and let Klopp snatch him.
 
You certainly will.
What were you doing in 2005 when all this was in the offing with the takeover from the leeches in America?

Probably nothing.

And that is why we sit here today waiting for the season with no realistic chance of winning the division and a bleak outlook for the future.

And it's not going to get better my friend. Wake up.
 
One of the biggest and often overlooked issue is that the signings of bailly and lindeloff haven't worked.

If they did you would have a brand new ball playing cb pship and wouldnt even be wasting time or money on toby a maguire or boatang.

Resources could go elsewhere such as RW and LB.
 
What were you doing in 2005 when all this was in the offing with the takeover from the leeches in America?

Probably nothing.

And that is why we sit here today waiting for the season with no realistic chance of winning the division and a bleak outlook for the future.

And it's not going to get better my friend. Wake up.

:lol:

I think you should have a lie down mate.
 
One of the biggest and often overlooked issue is that the signings of bailly and lindeloff haven't worked.

If they did you would have a brand new ball playing cb pship and wouldnt even be wasting time or money on toby a maguire or boatang.

Resources could go elsewhere such as RW and LB.

I still have high hopes for the two of them. Bailly is a player, but injuries have set him back.
 
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