Would you sack or keep Ole? (Poll reopened)

[bosnian_red]

Yeah and if it’s the case where people genuinely believe there is no chance of improvement under a new manager then why even bother signing players? Like why bother? Why bother giving Ole money to spend? Why bother strengthening the team if we’re destined for failure regardless due to our owners? Daft, straw man logic.

Because what the owners are failing to do is support the manager by signing the players we need? The owners are failing to implement a proper structure? It's not a hard thing for them to change. Yes the fans will still hate them but their job is to continually provide the funds to reinforce the team. They arent doing that, so no matter who the manager is, we won't do much. If they have a change of attitude and open the purse strings, improve the structure above the manager, that will be what we need to improve, at least to a base level.

Ole probably isnt the guy. He isnt irreplaceable or anything extraordinary. I also don't think that we're playing below our talent level over the course of the season. I struggle to believe that anyone can look at our squad this season and believe that they're severely underperforming. We arent punching above our weight, but we also arent playing a lot worse then what you would expect. We basically lost Pogba for the entire season, so on top of everyone else we didnt replace, we're left with a paper thin squad with loads of gaps in the starting team. Even still, on an individual level, who can we actually say is a lot worse than at any point in the past, all things considered? Those that have declined have basically done so because of age and a natural decline. Plenty have individually looked good and players like Rashford having their best season.

What the board has to do is improve the squad, and get a better structure for squad building and recruitment in, so that we arent constantly in this mess. Once that happens, we shouldn't have this drastic of transitions, and whoever the manager is will have a fair chance of success. Until then, everyone is up against it, even Pochettino.

 

[mu4c_20le]

I ask you again which top club will give a guy like Solskjaer more time?

Liverpool.

 

[Enigma_87]

I did think that this could be the straw that broke the camels back if Ed ended up pressing the button a while back but as more than half the clubs fans now seemingly want it also I doubt he will get that much blame now.

So your solution is to keep him at the job so all club fans would want it? It makes your theory even less valid

Ole is clearly out of his depth. Keeping him in the job and serving the same shite every week will actually direct some of the blame from Woodward towards Ole rather than vice versa.

Woodward is doing what the "top reds" want - keep the inept guy at the job.

 

[ranxerox]

Been holding off voting because I truly was undecided. Three things convinced me to vote out.

1- Rashford- given how thin we are up front it’s very poor management to have played him so much and damn near negligent considering his back issues.
2-Maguire- He has been a massive let down, hasn’t looked worth 20 million let alone 80. Seems to have regressed. Yet he’s the managers most expensive signing and now captain. Something seriously gone awry there.
3-His post Burnley interview-Sounded absolutely defeated and lost. Does not give me confidence that he even believes in himself. I think he is out of ideas and solutions and just hoping for better results.

I don’t think the board will pull the trigger yet but I feel they are very close. The early walk out,chants, and bad reviews by the pundits will definitely get their attention.

A look at the upcoming fixtures is sobering as it’s easy to imagine us crashing out of both cups and plummeting down the table by the end of Feb. If that happens they’ll definitely sack him to try and take the heat off themselves.

Whoever they appoint next needs to be a strong personality with a proven style and philosophy that they are absolutely committed to.

 

[SteveJ]

They make the same mistake over and over: appoint the wrong man, then stall on firing him because they fear headlines like 'Merry-go-round Manchester United are a club in chaos'.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Liverpool.

Yeah, they were very patient with Hodgson. Nonsense.

 

[Zlatattack]

If we sign Bruno and a striker, we defintely need to get rid of Ole, get in Poch and chase that relative chance for top 4. If we don't sign anyone, we should still get a new man in before the summer, to allow him to plan for the summer, but there is not immediate requirement. I think without re-inforcements top 4 is dead.

I also think supporters groups need to start a boycott and campaign at match days etc, to get Woodward out. We need a DOF, not a Glazer puppet.

 

[Apokalips]

Barcelona had 5 managers in 7 years since Pep left.
They had 7 managers in 8 years before hiring RIjkaard.

Since Del Bosque Real had 16 managers in 16 years.

Bayern had 9 managers in the last 10 years.

Chelsea had 10 managers in the last 10 years.

Juventus had 9 managers in the last 13 years.

Liverpool appointed 4 managers in 6 years since they sacked Benitez.

Shall I go on? Do you still live in the stone age?

EVERY top club often changes the manager when things aren't working and REMAINS a top club challenging for silverware year after year.

Thank you! The media and our fans act as if United are the only club that should be immune to this for some reason. It's dumb.

 

[Enigma_87]

Liverpool.

Not even them. The only manager without serious credentials they hired lately - Hodgson was booted after 31 games.

Unless you mean Liverpool before the current owners when they went decades without winning the title.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

So your solution is to keep him at the job so all club fans would want it? It makes your theory even less valid

Ole is clearly out of his depth. Keeping him in the job and serving the same shite every week will actually direct some of the blame from Woodward towards Ole rather than vice versa.

Woodward is doing what the "top reds" want - keep the inept guy at the job.

As long as Ed is in charge makes no difference to me who is running the team now, like I say I’ve reached acceptance with it so all y’all do what you want the manager. Everyone will be bitching in 12-18 months anyway if nothing changes at the top

 

[Enigma_87]

Thank you! The media and our fans act as if United are the only club that should be immune to this for some reason. It's dumb.

They are kissing every frog expecting to become Fergie overnight given some time.

 

[Enigma_87]

As long as Ed is in charge makes no difference to me who is running the team now, like I say I’ve reached acceptance with it so all y’all do what you want the manager. Everyone will be bitching in 12-18 months anyway if nothing changes at the top

With keeping Ole, Woodward will deflect the blame from the ownership. It's natural, more and more people can see he's inept and they will realize they cant change the CEO so sooner or later will direct all the wrath to the manager.

Keeping him in the job now is doing exactly what you don't want - give Ed more time.

 

[AR87]

With keeping Ole, Woodward will deflect the blame from the ownership. It's natural, more and more people can see he's inept and they will realize they cant change the CEO so sooner or later will direct all the wrath to the manager.

Keeping him in the job now is doing exactly what you don't want - give Ed more time.

For some reason this wasn't the case when Mourinho, LvG, or Moyes were here though. The focus on ownership and the board has never been more obvious than now with Ole in charge. The cat's out of the bag now. Everybody knows how mismanaged the club has been.

 

[tonnas]

the club is simply FINISHED. How can you keep caring ? it is impossible.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

With keeping Ole, Woodward will deflect the blame from the ownership. It's natural, more and more people can see he's inept and they will realize they cant change the CEO so sooner or later will direct all the wrath to the manager.

Keeping him in the job now is doing exactly what you don't want - give Ed more time.

Well my views on Ed got me a ban hammer from here for a spell with loads of people aghast who were then praising the songs about him being burnt alive etc so everyone can be hypocrites on here.

Ed is the problem that needs fixing before we even look at whose running the team in my view but C’est la vie let’s sack Ole.

 

[Enigma_87]

For some reason this wasn't the case when Mourinho, LvG, or Moyes were here though. The focus on ownership and the board has never been more obvious than now with Ole in charge. The cat's out of the bag now. Everybody knows how mismanaged the club has been.

Seriously? We had a fecking plane for Moyes?

Look at the mob hounding just 18 months ago against Mourinho.

Ole is by far the worst of the lot.

 

[SteveJ]

the club is simply FINISHED. How can you keep caring ?

We're only here for Lego news.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

No, it doesn't. Sacking Ole now proves to the owners that Ed is hopelessly incompetent with regard to all things football, and not fit for purpose. Another failure under his watch. Which is why I believe the reports above. Ed isn't going to sack Ole because it reflects horrendously on him. Prepare for more and more 'he needs time' bullshit while we slip further and further.

True enough. I argued last summer after it was made clear that we were going into the season with a threadbare squad, that Solskjaer's one and only defending line would be to find a way to bring Ed's failings to the fore by using his status among the fans. I also wrote, after he chose to reprimand the "bad fans" for demanding transfers, that there would come a time when he will be desperately searching for support but he will, sadly, look like the boy who cried wolf.

All this outrage against the Glazers and Woodward is justified. How could it not be? On the other hand, it's kind of a strange deja-vu seeing it coming from the Ole-in brigade (i think it's OK to use the term since they are using it on this forum) who were out in force last summer berating the "internet fans" for suggesting that we should be more active in the market and that Solskjaer should find ways to show that "something is rotten in the state of Denmark".

Which brings me to the post you quoted. Solskjaer chose to toe the party line and now he's very close to burning the only strong card he held. Soon Woodward will be in a position where he can't possibly lose. Let's say that by some miracle Solskjaer turns things around. Woodward's patience will be the key to our success. But that's the best-case scenario. Let's say that he keeps him in the job because sacking him now would prove his incompetence too. Getting behind Solskjaer just to show that we believe Ed's the one at fault means that we have to accept total mediocrity. We're currently on route to finishing the season on 45 points. That's 10-15 in the table over the last decade. So, we're looking at this kind of mediocrity when everyone around us gets his act together. And what's better for owners that don't give a flying rat's arse about what's going on on the pitch than a fanbase that's willing to accept that? Ed remains untouchable. But what if, due to injuries and bad planning, we fall farther behind? Then Solskjaer (or any other manager) will be left with very few supporters. That's when Ed will pull the trigger and present himself as the ruthless CEO who yielded his axe when things got beyond desperate. Which is precisely what is going to happen.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

You keep spouting these bollocks.

What changes with keeping Ole? He says in every interview that the fans shouldn't criticize the owners and they are fully backing him. Are you for real that deluded?

The pressure continues to mount on the owners and Woodward. You're not very bright are you? I'm not saying I think Ole deserves more time. I'm saying removing him and replacing him just lets Woodward n co off the hook again. Nothing is improving. Poch or whoever will be sacked with 2-3 years and you'll be saying same thing again. Change the manager. The club is toxic if you can't see that then deary me.

 

[Eyepopper]

The only thing replacing Ole now would achieve is to prolong the pain.

Whether Ole is the answer long term is irrelevant. We've had 7 years of bad managerial appointments, bad recruitment, regression, under 4 different managers.

Woodward and the owners are the problem. Ole may well be a problem too, but if so, he's the 4th bad managerial appointment by Woodward.

If we replace him today, what do we do? Hope its 5th lucky for Ed and wait another 2 years to see how it turns out

 

[Denis79]

As long as Ed is in charge makes no difference to me who is running the team now, like I say I’ve reached acceptance with it so all y’all do what you want the manager. Everyone will be bitching in 12-18 months anyway if nothing changes at the top

We'll most likely not return to the top of football with Woodward as CEO, I agree. But I don't believe the 'no one can do it better' narrative. Atm we've had the worst start in 30 years apparently and looking at our thin squad and injuries I don't see us turning a corner in the last part of the season, Ole and the board made the choice to gamble this season with a very thin squad, we're getting our rewards now and sadly I'm convinced it's going to get worse.

I couldn't stand Mourinho, don't get me wrong but the squad Ole inherited had won the EL, League cup, finished 2nd in the league and FA cup. Ole chose to dismantle it completely and in such a hurry, without even waiting for the right replacements to be available and this IS the result of that. I'm more inclined to believe we'll end up worse in the league then under Moyes, I don't se us being able to compete in cups. Ole is heading for one of the worst seasons we've seen in over 30-40 years. An experienced manager wouldn't even have been in this situation, I promise you that.

Ole the person, the character is a perfect fit for us, legend, likeable, funny and positive but he simply doesn't have the experience to handle a rebuild at this level, I think he's already proven that.

Another poster made a good point, Would Real, Barcelona, Inter, Liverpool, City, Bayern take him as a coach? If they wouldn't why should we? It is after all the level of football we want to reach.

 

[Enigma_87]

The pressure continues to mount on the owners and Woodward. You're not very bright are you? I'm not saying I think Ole deserves more time. I'm saying removing him and replacing him just lets Woodward n co off the hook again. Nothing is improving. Poch or whoever will be sacked with 2-3 years and you'll be saying same thing again. Change the manager. The club is toxic if you can't see that then deary me.

Can say the same for you.

Did removing Jose, Moyes or LvG let him off the hook? Last time I checked it has always been him to have most of the wrath directed at.

What benefit do you have in keeping an inept manager at helm, one that Ed appointed himself and giving him more time? No one is saying only the manager is at fault, but he's one of the biggest part of the problem we can fix now.

 

[AR87]

Seriously? We had a fecking plane for Moyes?

Look at the mob hounding just 18 months ago against Mourinho.

Ole is by far the worst of the lot.

Mourinho got hounded when he went off the rails. And supporters at matches never turned on him. Much like OGS it was on Twitter, media or on forums like this that the criticism grew and grew.

Moyes was absolutely worse than OGS after inheriting a title winning team and destroying it in body, mind, and spirit within 8 months in charge.

The point is that no matter who the manager is, eventually supporters focus their ire on them when ultimately the problem is that regardless of the manager, the squad assembled over the last 6.5 years is a complete and utter embarrassment.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Can say the same for you.

Did removing Jose, Moyes or LvG let him off the hook? Last time I checked it has always been him to have most of the wrath directed at.

What benefit do you have in keeping an inept manager at helm, one that Ed appointed himself and giving him more time? No one is saying only the manager is at fault, but he's one of the biggest part of the problem we can fix now.

Yes it did. Fan anger towards them dies down (for a bit) and everyone gets excited about new manager and we end up back to square one. It's time they went. Ole will go soon after anyway because he's not a top manager. We all know. I don't want another manager and 2-3 more years of Glazers. I want them gone this year.

 

[Eyepopper]

he's one of the biggest part of the problem we can fix now.

Do you trust Woodward to actually fix it though?

We've been through 4 of his managers now, how likely is it that his 5th is suddenly a success, given his record and the way the club is being run?

 

[Enigma_87]

Mourinho got hounded when he went off the rails. And supporters at matches never turned on him. Much like OGS it was on Twitter, media or on forums like this that the criticism grew and grew.

Moyes was absolutely worse than OGS after inheriting a title winning team and destroying it in body, mind, and spirit within 8 months in charge.

The point is that no matter who the manager is, eventually supporters focus their ire on them when ultimately the problem is that regardless of the manager, the squad assembled over the last 6.5 years is a complete and utter embarrassment.

A title winning team that had 1-2 seasons left in them as nearly all of them retired within 1-2 years. Team needed major rebuild then and he only got Fellaini after Woodward chased shadows all Summer.

Ole is way worse than Moyes, at least the latter had some success in the past at a decent level, Ole is looking barely a pro manager.

Your point is wrong. No matter who the manager was, there has always been pressure on Ed.

 

[e.cantona]

Imagine some version of Ole gets the job and a 1-2-3-whatever year plan is agreed on. Involving transfers, wages, squad composition like quality, character, etc. Insert what's relevant to this plan.. All parties would probably agree that a revamp of this sort will take time, hence a 1-2-3 year plan.. It might be a tough project, with some obstacles, like a lack of results in the short term. I don't know, just making things up. But imagine, some version of this. And then one year in, we need to start anew, new manager, new plan, new players. This ain't sustainable. I'm hoping these people thought this through.

 

[Ronaldo's Love Child]

I actually don't care what position we finish this year (as long as it's not a relegation position).

I can accept forfeiting this season in exchange for experimenting with a settled system and settled tactic. Problem is we don't appear to have one.

 

[Enigma_87]

Yes it did. Fan anger towards them dies down (for a bit) and everyone gets excited about new manager and we end up back to square one. It's time they went. Ole will go soon after anyway because he's not a top manager. We all know. I don't want another manager and 2-3 more years of Glazers. I want them gone this year.

As I said to another poster. It hasn't died down regardless of the manager.

Unless you are buying the club and we don't know about it Glazers are here to stay.

Do you trust Woodward to actually fix it though?

We've been through 4 of his managers now, how likely is it that his 5th is suddenly a success, given his record and the way the club is being run?

Jose started off brightly, so there is hope. He's not a complete idiot and hopefully learns from his mistakes.

I can't see him appointing another nobody like Ole anytime soon so it's a step in the right direction.

As I've said - all top clubs make several wrong appointments, that doesn't stop them from trying.

 

[AR87]

A title winning team that had 1-2 seasons left in them as nearly all of them retired within 1-2 years. Team needed major rebuild then and he only got Fellaini after Woodward chased shadows all Summer.

Ole is way worse than Moyes, at least the latter had some success in the past at a decent level, Ole is looking barely a pro manager.

Your point is wrong. No matter who the manager was, there has always been pressure on Ed.

My point was in response to the idea that sacking Ole will heap more pressure on the owners and the board, but keeping him saves them from that. It's completely wrong. Sacking Ole or not, the focus is on them now, and personally if you're not getting Poch in right now what is even the purpose of giving Woodward another chance to appoint a manager? What gives you confidence that he'll sack Ole and find a good interim, and that if he does he won't immediately hand him a 3 year contract after 5-6 good results?

If anything should happen now it'd be the owners removing Woodward from the football side entirely, and appoint a DoF who should be given the freedom to restructure the footballing operations as he sees fit. Sacking Ole is a futile exercise because the underlying issue which has plagued us since Ferguson remains problematic.

 

[Enigma_87]

My point was in response to the idea that sacking Ole will heap more pressure on the owners and the board, but keeping him saves them from that. It's completely wrong. Sacking Ole or not, the focus is on them now, and personally if you're not getting Poch in right now what is even the purpose of giving Woodward another chance to appoint a manager? What gives you confidence that he'll sack Ole and find a good interim, and that if he does he won't immediately hand him a 3 year contract after 5-6 good results?

If anything should happen now it'd be the owners removing Woodward from the football side entirely, and appoint a DoF who should be given the freedom to restructure the footballing operations as he sees fit. Sacking Ole is a futile exercise because the underlying issue which has plagued us since Ferguson remains problematic.

It is not. Just dig in old threads and you can easily see how slowly it shifts to the manager. Calls for Woodward's head have been a constant and unless you know something I don't in relation of relieving a CEO of his position your exercise is much more futile.

Let me ask you this, do you honestly believe Woodward's job is under any threat at the moment, protests or not?

 

[AshRK]

The tide has changed and many can see he is not good enough. My biggest complain will not be that he is not a good manager, but that he never demanded more from this board. When he was appointed I wasn't overly excited but I thought atleast he can call out our board and make those structural changes required to take this club forward. All he has done is try to create a sir alex atmosphere without any of Sir alex's trait. All these nonsense talk of passion, pride etc are useless if your players are midtable level. Does he seriously think Sir alex would have given the likes of Lingard, Periera, Jones of now this much chance. He is just fooling himself by thinking he is building something special.

Please call out the board and let the fans know what is happening inside.

 

[hmchan]

It's funny to see someone who thinks they are seeing the whole picture by transferring the blame to Woodward. I guess no one here is satisfied with Woodward, problem is whether Ole is doing his job competently.

I see someone pointing out the structural problem for us, but the ultimate problem comes from the lack of ambition from the owners. This has easily been reflected from the transfer activities and rumors over the past few years. It is obvious that they care about revenue more than results. They just want to stay in the top 4 with minimal input, whether we can win titles is irrelevant.

Understanding the above concept, you will know Woodward is just a puppet of Glazers and he is doing an excellent job in terms of that. As far as he can earn money and deal with sponsorships, I don't see a single reason why the board would get rid of him. If you think the problem will be gone along with Woodward, I'm sorry to say you are just oversimplifying the problem.

Under these circumstances, even a director of football doesn't necessarily help. Everton hired Leicester's scout Walsh as DoF a few years ago, who was so-called the unsung architect for Leicester's title winning season. Needless to say, Everton had a terrible transfer window and he departed not long later. Again, considering the lack of ambition from the owners, I don't think a DoF can do much for us, other than creating more chaos and mess among the board, Woodward, the DoF and the manager.

It's obvious that the owners wouldn't be gone in the foreseeable future, not even in previous Glazers-out campaigns, so what could a manager possibly do? Yes it is definitely a difficult job, picking up an average squad while fans expect so much and the boss has no ambition. The manager has to play 200% of players' ability, get consistent results with limited resources, spot talents with cheap price, etc. When you display some sorts of managerial ability, the board may possibly gain trust in you and give you more control including the transfer market. It has become more understandable why Fergie picked Moyes in 2013, given his record at Everton. I don't want to go off-topic too much to mention other managers, but Ole certainly doesn't look the right man to do the job for me.

I'm the one who brings up the issue about the Glazers, but I see many of you either misunderstand or deliberately manipulate my words. I here emphasize again Ole certainly isn't the right man, and for the reasons please refer to the quoted post. Sacking Woodward doesn't help at all as he's just the puppet of the owners, who lack ambition. Hiring a Dof is meaningless under these circumstances.

Be realistic, the structure is there and it can't be changed. All things considered, the best and easiest way is to hire a guy with incredible managerial ability to work under such a problematic structure.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Because what the owners are failing to do is support the manager by signing the players we need? The owners are failing to implement a proper structure? It's not a hard thing for them to change. Yes the fans will still hate them but their job is to continually provide the funds to reinforce the team. They arent doing that, so no matter who the manager is, we won't do much. If they have a change of attitude and open the purse strings, improve the structure above the manager, that will be what we need to improve, at least to a base level.

Ole probably isnt the guy. He isnt irreplaceable or anything extraordinary. I also don't think that we're playing below our talent level over the course of the season. I struggle to believe that anyone can look at our squad this season and believe that they're severely underperforming. We arent punching above our weight, but we also arent playing a lot worse then what you would expect. We basically lost Pogba for the entire season, so on top of everyone else we didnt replace, we're left with a paper thin squad with loads of gaps in the starting team. Even still, on an individual level, who can we actually say is a lot worse than at any point in the past, all things considered? Those that have declined have basically done so because of age and a natural decline. Plenty have individually looked good and players like Rashford having their best season.

What the board has to do is improve the squad, and get a better structure for squad building and recruitment in, so that we arent constantly in this mess. Once that happens, we shouldn't have this drastic of transitions, and whoever the manager is will have a fair chance of success. Until then, everyone is up against it, even Pochettino.

Woodward has been abysmal but I don’t think it’s a case of he’s been abysmal purely because he hasn’t financially backed managers because he clearly has (too much in LVG’s case) We did spend 150 million on defenders in the summer and our defence has seen barely any improvement. I don’t think the gutting of the squad was purely Woodward. Let’s not forget only two January’s ago this guy gave Sanchez the world to bring him to the club.

Yeah the structure is all wrong and the squad building has been abysmal but it’s not a been a black and white case of restricting funds. The Mourinho case sums up Woodward, backs him full pelt for two summers then randomly decided no more. Hiring Ole on a caretaker basis then inexplicably deciding to make it full time with two months of the season left.

If this is how things are going to work than we need to bring in a top quality football coach, who can bring this clusterfeck of a squad to a decent level. Poch worked under ACTUAL restricted funds at Spurs not our version of it.

We certainly aren’t punching above our weight but we are doing far worse than we should. We’re closer to 15th than 4th and are four points ahead of injury ravaged Mike Ashley led Newcastle and a Burnley team who combined probably earn less than Pogba and Degea.

 

[Wicked_Badger]

I think it’s time he went unfortunately. He seemed lost in the post-match interview yesterday & it must be hurting him immensely that he’s failing at his dream job behind the scenes. He’s doing some good things, like the slow clear out of deadwood, but doesn’t seem to be able to get the best out of players that are left. Watching is attack is painful at times, and the defending downright abysmal.

I’ll caveat the sacking with only if Poch is lined up as successor. Otherwise I don’t think changing managers will make much of a difference with such a meagre squad.

 

[AR87]

It is not. Just dig in old threads and you can easily see how slowly it shifts to the manager. Calls for Woodward's head have been a constant and unless you know something I don't in relation of relieving a CEO of his position your exercise is much more futile.

Let me ask you this, do you honestly believe Woodward's job is under any threat at the moment, protests or not?

No, and that's my issue. Sack Ole. Great. Nothing is going to seriously change for the better. When your options to change a match after spending over half a billion pounds in 6.5 years are fecking Lingard and a 17 year old academy product like Greenwood (who is wonderful but still 17), then playing revolving doors with the manager is nothing but a distraction to me.

This is obviously not the best time to say this, but I thought our recruitment was better this summer, showed an actual vision, but it also wasn't nearly enough. James is a nice punt and been well worth what was paid, but that we're leaning on him as a starting XI player rather than as the squad player his current level is at is ridiculous. Not buying a single creative midfielder when it was obvious that aside from Pogba we were bereft of ideas was absurd. Selling Lukaku is fair enough, but not bringing in another striker or attacking player in general was criminal.

You can blame Ole for some of this, but Woodward is the one overseeing and signing off on all of this. And for all of our wonderful revamped recruitment, why is it that we seemingly cannot bring in any completely non-obvious signings for the first team? It's all well and good having a clearer vision and bringing in two known PL commodities and a Championship punt with Giggs' approval, but I'd love to see evidence of us being able to bring in shrewd, under-the-radar players, especially at a time like now where upgrading the talent at various positions shouldn't be THAT difficult.

If we sacked Ole right now I wouldn't mourn his fate. In some ways it might be a favor to him, but I also am fairly apathetic to what it would actually achieve. Until Woodward is out of footballing operations or our recruitment demonstrates some real intelligence in navigating the market we're just hoping to nick top-4 and that's our ceiling.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Sky Sports?

I'm totally sold they have the inside track and aren't repeating hearsay.

 

[Enigma_87]

No, and that's my issue. Sack Ole. Great. Nothing is going to seriously change for the better. When your options to change a match after spending over half a billion pounds in 6.5 years are fecking Lingard and a 17 year old academy product like Greenwood (who is wonderful but still 17), then playing revolving doors with the manager is nothing but a distraction to me.

This is obviously not the best time to say this, but I thought our recruitment was better this summer, showed an actual vision, but it also wasn't nearly enough. James is a nice punt and been well worth what was paid, but that we're leaning on him as a starting XI player rather than as the squad player his current level is at is ridiculous. Not buying a single creative midfielder when it was obvious that aside from Pogba we were bereft of ideas was absurd. Selling Lukaku is fair enough, but not bringing in another striker or attacking player in general was criminal.

You can blame Ole for some of this, but Woodward is the one overseeing and signing off on all of this. And for all of our wonderful revamped recruitment, why is it that we seemingly cannot bring in any completely non-obvious signings for the first team? It's all well and good having a clearer vision and bringing in two known PL commodities and a Championship punt with Giggs' approval, but I'd love to see evidence of us being able to bring in shrewd, under-the-radar players, especially at a time like now where upgrading the talent at various positions shouldn't be THAT difficult.

If we sacked Ole right now I wouldn't mourn his fate. In some ways it might be a favor to him, but I also am fairly apathetic to what it would actually achieve. Until Woodward is out of footballing operations or our recruitment demonstrates some real intelligence in navigating the market we're just hoping to nick top-4 and that's our ceiling.

You have to understand that Woodward is not a footballing guy. Yes he can veto deals and probably put deals through, but he's not identifying targets.

He is not the one that decides if the squad is good or not to finish the season, he's not the one that decides training methods and regimes. He's not the one that decides if the young players or Pereira and Lingard are good enough.

Also directing the blame only towards Woodward is also a bad idea. The board is part of this and should share it. Judge is one leading negotiations for example, not Ed. Woodward whilst still incompetent is not running the club by himself.

Those guys need help, but they won't get it from an inept manager.

And no, the recruitment in the summer hasn't been any different to the years before apart from paying premium for British players. AWB can turn very soon a deadwood to attacking manager. Maguire is not 80m guy and again might not be a right fit for the next manager. James is a rotational player.

Nothing special, nothing we haven't seen.

Meanwhile - new contract for Pereira, new contract for Jones, new contract for Mata (3 years, considering we had a rule back then of offering only one year to 30+ players)... 190k salary for Maguire - means it has no resale value, especially considering the 80m pounds he has been brought for.

 

[TRUERED89]

We’ve given Ole enough ingredients to have a better record than Burnley during his tenure. Lost more games than he’s won in the league? come on It’s joke.

its 9-7-8 atm... Almost

 

[KiD MoYeS]

I don't understand how the board can be fully behind him when the club is as inactive as it is in the transfer window, particularly with how bad the current squad is