Darren Fletcher just on TalkSport, here's basically his key points..
1. The club is in this mess because of past recruitment from LVG and Jose. The club not to blame because they backed their managers until a point late on with Jose.
2. Never recovered from losing Fergie and Gill.
3. Club knowingly left themselves short of players for long term gain.
3. Club aiming to rebuild ready for the decline of Liverpool and City. Know it will be painful for fans but no quick fix signings, only the right players if they're available.
4. Solskjaer knows what he's doing. Wants to play better football in possession but hasn't got the players capable apart from Pogba.
To be honest I feel completely dejected after that performance. Heart breaking watching what we've become this season, I just hope those backing this management team and Woodward are seeing something that I'm not because, in my opinion, you don't need the best midfield in the world to beat the lower placed teams. Liverpool don't have the best midfield in the world and they're the best team in the country.
There's so many arguments to be made against what we're seeing but I just don't feel like getting into it anymore. I don't think Ole is the right manager, he's only ever proven that he isn't. Hopefully the rest of the footballing world didn't see something in him that we have and he will prove me wrong. He's not going anywhere, that's for sure, so all we can do is hold blind hope.
I was on the fringe until today, leaning towards Ole-out. But today, I changed my vote to Ole-in. I completely agree with Fletcher. I hope at some point, he comes back to United at any capacity. We are probably the only big football club in the world which completely backs the manager. It’s a dying (perhaps even archaic) tradition. Most clubs now have a DOF to oversee the club’s recruitment and non-footballing, non-commercial activities. They don’t have a manager. What they do have is a ‘Head Coach’ who prepares the first team for the upcoming matches. I too am enticed by this delegated hierarchy in football. But, similar to every system, this too has drawbacks. It dissolves a club’s identity; eliminates longevity.
Man Utd has an identity. It’s not defined by the style of football; we never had any particular style. We played whatever style needed to win. Our identity was always our winning mentality. That’s why this club is special. Kind of similar to the New England Patriots.
Our club was desperate for the past 6 years, looking for success. It realized the mess that’s been created, leaving us with a mix of players that’s not cohesive.
Our team doesn’t have a common mentality anymore.
That’s why Ole was hired - to go back to the grassroots of our heritage. No one ever said that he’s a world class manager. He never said it. He’s unproven.
Being a Man Utd manager means you’ll get the unique challenge of coaching as an auteur. There is no proven manager in this world who can even dare to accept this challenge. All we have now are ‘Head Coaches’ who can coach a particular style of football. And, no one in this world can comment on how good a ‘Head Coach’ Ole is. He’s just unproven.
Sure, he could be the worst there is. Or perhaps, he could be the best there is. Let’s say he’s somewhere in the middle. Do you think Sir Alex was the best coach there ever lived? No. He got out coached and out-tactic’ed many times in his life. What he was though, was the greatest manager that ever lived. He hired the best game readers in the world to coach and draw up the tactics for his players. He was the leader who made sure his team did whatever it took to win. And by team, not just the players, the entire coaching staff, the ball boys, the tea ladies, the scouts, everyone.
I don’t want a philosophical ‘Head Coach’ at Man Utd. We are not Barcelona or Bayern Munich or Juventus which have the luxury of a lopsided league that lets them obsess over style.
I’m sure everyone here who’s a Man Utd fan is because of Sir Alex’s era. We can easily win a league or two by appointing a good head coach with a well defined philosophy. Hell, wait until the summer and appoint Conte, the greatest league winner there is right now. He will browbeat the players to the title by signing whoever he needs. And then, he’ll crap out after that. Because, the truth about these philosophical head coaches is that they are too stubborn and too spoiled. They care only about their football/resume and not the club. That’s why they move from one club to another.
If everyone here wants to feel like a Man Utd fan again, appointing a DOF and a *********** for a head coach is not the way to go. We don’t want to become a Chelsea.
Courtesy of Sir Alex, his DNA for Man Utd still runs through some of his players. Ole probably was one of those fervent disciples. He needs to be our manager. He’s rebuilding, as outlined by Fletcher. There’s no quick fix.
But that doesn’t mean we have to keep losing our games. I’m sure we are all disappointed with our team’s performances on the pitch. Every single game begins with an equal win probability for the either teams. No matter the difference in the abilities of the players on the pitch, the team with the best purpose will win. What Ole needs more than the players are the coaches. Liverpool have a dedicated coach even for throw-ins. So specialized is the coaching these days for football. Ole has one of the best game readers ever in Carrick assisting him. That’s it. He needs more than him, McKenna and Phelan. In my opinion, that’s a skeleton staff to its bare bones. Hopefully, he finds the right coaches to build his team.