Would you sack or keep Ole? (Poll reopened)

[bsCallout]

Essentially, I agree with you. But it works on both sides of the debate and is something I find pretty irritating.

If you pin it on Ole the poor results and performances so far. You have to also give him credit when it’s improved.

However there’s a massive contingent in here, where if it’s poor it’s not Ole’s fault, championship level squad, the board etc a wonder we’re not relegated. But when it’s good it’s 100% down to ole. Also Ole is only manager who can spend £200m on decent players. Jose was this ‘massive failure’ despite outperforming OGS by every metric so far.

It’s mind numbingly dumb, so if you are going to apply that criticism, apply it to both sides.

I agree, however, the majority of posters on here are OleOut, it's relentless, which is the reason for my comment. You can't actually have a discussion with these people, objectively.

Generally OleIn concede not all is perfect, they kind of have to. So there is slightly more room in their point of view for discussion.

I don't actually agree that Jose outperformed on every metric. There are many areas Ole has succeeded. I also don't agree that most deem Jose a massive failure, I think most tend to believe he did OK but was just a toxic personality that we didn't want.

All the threads descend into people just bashing heads against each other, OleIn/OleOut.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Champions league qualification is a must I think or he will be gone. From the clubs perspective he's been given over 200m to spend on a squad that came 6th the previous season. Failure to get at least 4th place or win europa after spending such amount will also result to us losing money from the different articles I've been reading.

Why would the club back Ole again and give him another summer budget to spend after he has contributed to the club losing money even when the club gave him the support he needed. Add to the fact that Pochettino is also very much available and can at least guarantee top 4 consistently with a limited budget. I think Ole will be gone if he doesn't get champions league qualification.

We could blame this outcome on injuries but if I was the club and Ole didn't get Champions league qualification and a coach like Pochettino was available I'd ask myself "Should I give Ole, who has spent 10 years coaching Cardiff and Molde and came here and failed to get top 4 after spending 200m another season and another summer budget or should I get Pochettino who made Tottenham a force with a limited budget".

I've also said several times that if the club is actually undergoing a rebuild then it should by no means be reliant on the current manager, Ole such that when he leave we will stop signing the right fit or clearing deadwood or promoting youth or start signing players on high wages again

 

[JJ12]

I think we're all feeling pretty positive right now, and rightly so. Form is good, clean sheets, lots of goals, good performances from a lot of players, specifically Fernandes.

3 Points off 4th, into the final rounds of the EL and FA cup. It's all looking rosey but we can still finish the season in 6th with no silverware which would completely destroy and of the good will that's built up recently. I just hope we win something and get CL this season, we can be happy with that considering how inconsistent we've been.

I personally think we have just lacked quality in the squad. If we had Bruno, Pogba and Rashford all season we would be in such a better position.

After another window and a deeper squad I think next season will be much better.

Less Lingard and Pereira. James used appropriately. We’ll be much better off.

 

[Bilbo]

I think we're all feeling pretty positive right now, and rightly so. Form is good, clean sheets, lots of goals, good performances from a lot of players, specifically Fernandes.

3 Points off 4th, into the final rounds of the EL and FA cup. It's all looking rosey but we can still finish the season in 6th with no silverware which would completely destroy and of the good will that's built up recently. I just hope we win something and get CL this season, we can be happy with that considering how inconsistent we've been.

Lets be honest any goodwill that has been built up is only ever worth the next defeat. If we lose to City there will be many unhappy posters on here throwing around their rage.

The objectives for this season have already been achieved IMO. Now we have the opportunity to turn it into a great season.

 

[dirkey]

Not a case of me telling myself anything, simply pointing out the obvious realities.

Of course, the minute we sign a player who doesn't work out, you'll claim it as an Ole signing, not a club signing.

#agenda

 

[Bilbo]

Champions league qualification is a must I think or he will be gone. From the clubs perspective he's been given over 200m to spend on a squad that came 6th the previous season. Failure to get at least 4th place or win europa after spending such amount will also result to us losing money from the different articles I've been reading.

Why would the club back Ole again and give him another summer budget to spend after he has contributed to the club losing money even when the club gave him the support he needed. Add to the fact that Pochettino is also very much available and can at least guarantee top 4 consistently with a limited budget. I think Ole will be gone if he doesn't get champions league qualification.

We could blame this outcome on injuries but if I was the club and Ole didn't get Champions league qualification and a coach like Pochettino was available I'd ask myself "Should I give Ole, who has spent 10 years coaching Cardiff and Molde and came here and failed to get top 4 after spending 200m another season and another summer budget or should I get Pochettino who made Tottenham a force with a limited budget".

I've also said several times that if the club is actually undergoing a rebuild then it should by no means be reliant on the current manager, Ole such that when he leave we will stop signing the right fit or clearing deadwood or promoting youth or start signing players on high wages again

They aren't going to fire him this summer

 

[dirkey]

He deserves credit for the team playing and performing well at the minute. The signs are promising.

As for how much credit he’s getting, the lines are not as generous as you’re making out. Matic was a fine performer in the season where we came second. Fred was always likely to need a season to adapt, especially playing with some of the players weve been fielding.

In fact one of the things bothers me is how lvg and Jose are written off as these useless failures in their time here. If that’s the bar people are using, htf does ole compare to that? I mean they actually won stuff.

Lvg spent most of.a season playing fecking paddy McNair in midfield and people think ole has it bad....

Is he really getting that much credit though? Honestly. Just look back at the recent matchday threads. Brugge, Watford and Derby, those games have about as many pages as the Everton one. Why? Because we dropped a couple of points on the road to a good Everton side and the whingebags came out of the woodwork in style.

He doesn't get half as much credit for the good as he gets crap for the bad. It's embarrassing.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

They aren't going to fire him this summer

If we don't qualify for champions league then there's little or no reason to say that they won't fire him

 

[Gehrman]

I think he will be here next season. If we can't make 5th or get CL through winning the europa I think it's fair to say we didn't meet our targets.

However I come across some posters that argue that Ole is some wizard in the transfer market and we have bought cheaply. I agree his additions have been solid, but none of his signings are like us buying Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Cantona, Schmeicel, Hernandez etc for a pittance. Harry Maguire is a good CB who was wanted by Mourinho last season and apparently also Pep and was one of the better players in the WC. We bought him for a world record fee. AWB is a similar buy to Shaw. Shaw's development got fecked by injuries mostly. But again AWB was an obvious target for RB. James for his price is worth his pricetag. Bruno, still early days, looks like his best signing so far but was also an incredibly obvious target. For me it's like I don't revere Saf for buying Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand because it was well known they were young world class players and at the time we could outmuscle most of all the other clubs in the PL.

So I'm not critizing Ole's in transfers, I think he's bought well, but in no way cheaply.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Would have only lost 1.

True, don’t know what I was thinking there @Aarron Swift

I still think we need to win 2 of the 3 as our win-rate otherwise would be exactly the same as the rest of the season (37.5%), but yeah, I concede that 4 points from these games would be acceptable, on the basis that we then go on a winning run in the league.

 

[mad1max954]

I personally think we have just lacked quality in the squad. If we had Bruno, Pogba and Rashford all season we would be in such a better position.

After another window and a deeper squad I think next season will be much better.

Less Lingard and Pereira. James used appropriately. We’ll be much better off.

Crazily enough, now we have started to fit the jigsaw togehter and are bringing in the right sort of players, we are now starting to play better too. Its mind boggling i know!!

fecking harry potter couldnt make lingard any better, so what do people honestly expect of Ole? It was always going to be a tough season and I the fact we are still in contention has surely have got to be the aim before we started the season.

But lets look who has undoubtedly improved:: Fred, Mct, Rashford, Shaw, Williams, Martial

I find it crazy that people are so short term on here that they want Ole out. I mean what else could he or anyone else have done with this squad. You can literally see the improvements being made.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Of course, the minute we sign a player who doesn't work out, you'll claim it as an Ole signing, not a club signing.

#agenda

Nar, Dan James is as much a club signing as you’ll ever see and he’s turning out a bit “meh” at best.
Unless Ole does a LvG or Mourinho and starts mainly buying players he has worked with before, it’s safe to safe that method of running the club is long gone, thank feck.

 

[Wilt]

They aren't going to fire him this summer

The bookies seem to think otherwise with Pochettino being at a very short odds 3/10 to be the next Utd manager.

Given Pochettino is unlikely to hang around beyond this summer, they obviously feel he’ll get the job.

 

[Aarron Swift]

True, don’t know what I was thinking there @Aarron Swift

I still think we need to win 2 of the 3 as our win-rate otherwise would be exactly the same as the rest of the season (37.5%), but yeah, I concede that 4 points from these games would be acceptable, on the basis that we then go on a winning run in the league.

2 wins would be fantastic i think to set us up for a good finish. I guess its all relative, If teams around us win their next 3. we could find 4pts leaves us a bit too far off (would 8pts behind chelsea, 5pts wolves). If Chelsea & Wolves remain inconsistent, 4pts could leave us in a great position if they pick up 6 or fewer points.

easy solution would be to just win all 3 and take 9pts

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

But lets look who has undoubtedly improved:: Fred, Mct, Rashford, Shaw, Williams, Martial

I find it crazy that people are so short term on here that they want Ole out. I mean what else could he or anyone else have done with this squad. You can literally see the improvements being made.

Wait till the end of April you before getting al high and mighty, it’s all good talking about the improvements you can “literally see”, but until we actually show some sustained league form it’s all much of a muchness.
I’m worried we all start bigging up how we’re on the right track only for us to now lose to City, Spurs and draw v Sheff United... cause that’s pretty much how our season has gone.
I’d give it a few more games before getting carried away and let’s keep our fingers crossed we have genuinely turned a corner.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

I think he will be here next season. If we can't make 5th or get CL through winning the europa I think it's fair to say we didn't meet our targets.

However I come across some posters that argue that Ole is some wizard in the transfer market and we have bought cheaply. I agree his additions have been solid, but none of his signings are like us buying Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Cantona, Schmeicel, Hernandez etc for a pittance. Harry Maguire is a good CB who was wanted by Mourinho last season and apparently also Pep and was one of the better players in the WC. We bought him for a world record fee. AWB is a similar buy to Shaw. Shaw's development got fecked by injuries mostly. But again AWB was an obvious target for RB. James for his price is worth his pricetag. Bruno, still early days, looks like his best signing so far but was also an incredibly obvious target. For me it's like I don't revere Saf for buying Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand because it was well known they were young world class players and at the time we could outmuscle most of all the other clubs in the PL.

So I'm not critizing Ole's in transfers, I think he's bought well, but in no way cheaply.

Mate, I was gobsmacked earlier, reading posts about how its great to have a manager who isn't simply signing the most expensive guy out there. Um. Ole has broken the world transfer record for CB a few months ago. He spent £50m a RB.

Good signings, but let's please not lie about the fact that these are not top-tier spending brackets.

I even saw 'unlike LVG and Jose who only wanted galactico' type comments. Um, what?

Jose - Pogba aside......Mkhitaryan (£30m), Lindelöf (£35m), Bailly (£30m), Zlatan (free and great business)…...what exactly is galactico or expensive about this?

Same with LVG, who's problem was signing quantity over quality but apart from ADM, name one player who cost LVG a fortune? Martial, and he's still here so I guess he was worth it?

It's the sickening re-writing of the narrative that irks me more than anything about this era. You'd swear Ole was finding Vidic's and Evra's. He's spent £200 fecking million since the summer! More than any other PL manager this season.

It has gone beyond simply defending the current manager nowadays and has entered the realms of flat-out lying.

 

[dirkey]

Nar, Dan James is as much a club signing as you’ll ever see and he’s turning out a bit “meh” at best.
Unless Ole does a LvG or Mourinho and starts mainly buying players he has worked with before, it’s safe to safe that method of running the club is long gone, thank feck.

Exactly. But read the post by the poster I was replying to. The exact epitome of giving the manager no credit where it's clearly due. Zero doubt in my mind we'll hear about the first major bust that we sign on Ole's watch by this very poster.

 

[BusbyMalone]

For all my misgivings about Ole as a manager and how skeptcal i still am on whether he can take us to where we need to be, every time i watch Spurs under that grim reaper of a manager i feel a jolt of excitement and relief that he’s no longer here. I would take Ole over him every day of the week.

I’ve been critical of Ole, but i think it would be a bit disingenuous of me to look at us over these past few weeks, or months, and ignore some of the positives that have come out of that period. Our football has improved, albeit with the same silly mistakes thrown in, and we’ve seemed to have quickened up our passing. Obviously this has been helped with the addition of Bruno; he seems to have elevated players around him (none more so than Mata), and we do seem to transition up the field a little quicker than before.

It’s also nice to see all the players seemingly happy to play for him. That wasn’t the case under our previous managers. Things aren’t perfect, but there seems to be very healthy atmosphere inside the club. There’s still some division in the fanbase, but the actual club seem to be unified. I think intentions are also important. We want to progress the ball forward and always look to attack. Now, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. As i said, it’s not perfect. But the intentions are there, which is not something you could say for our previous manger. Sometimes we sit back against certain teams, but we’re always looking to counter, as opposed to hoofing it away and hoping for the best.

I also don’t go into game dreading them. I go into them worried because i know how inconsistent we are and at any moment we could feck it up, but that dread and apathy i used to feel under Jose or Van Goal has gone. So that’s something to be thankful for.

I still think he needs to be more proactive when it comes to his in game management, as this can be infuriating to watch at times, and i’m still skeptical as to whether this coaching team he has around him are up to the task. Ultimately, i still probably think he’s out of his depth so i’m not going to go too overboard as we could easily get thumped on the weekend and go on a bit of a losing streak, but there are signs of life here. Again, nothing earth shattering, but i’ve been quick to criticise him at every moment, so thought he deserves some praise.

 

[Gehrman]

Mate, I was gobsmacked earlier, reading posts about how its great to have a manager who isn't simply signing the most expensive guy out there. Um. Ole has broken the world transfer record for CB a few months ago. He spent £50m a RB.

Good signings, but let's please not lie about the fact that these are not top-tier spending brackets.

I even saw 'unlike LVG and Jose who only wanted galactico' type comments. Um, what?

Jose - Pogba aside......Mkhitaryan (£30m), Lindelöf (£35m), Bailly (£30m), Zlatan (free and great business)…...what exactly is galactico or expensive about this?

Same with LVG, who's problem was signing quantity over quality but apart from ADM, name one player who cost LVG a fortune? Martial, and he's still here so I guess he was worth it?

It's the sickening re-writing of the narrative that irks me more than anything about this era. You'd swear Ole was finding Vidic's and Evra's. He's spent £200 fecking million since the summer! More than any other PL manager this season.

It has gone beyond simply defending the current manager nowadays and has entered the realms of flat-out lying.

A lot of it is in hindsight though. I remember we were all delighted in LVG first transfer window. I don't how players like Depay, Di Maria and Sncheiderlin turned out to be so crap.

We were over the moon with Sanchez too.

 

[dirkey]

Wait till the end of April you before getting al high and mighty, it’s all good talking about the improvements you can “literally see”, but until we actually show some sustained league form it’s all much of a muchness.
I’m worried we all start bigging up how we’re on the right track only for us to now lose to City, Spurs and draw v Sheff United... cause that’s pretty much how our season has gone.
I’d give it a few more games before getting carried away and let’s keep our fingers crossed we have genuinely turned a corner.

Good Post.

 

[mad1max954]

Wait till the end of April you before getting al high and mighty, it’s all good talking about the improvements you can “literally see”, but until we actually show some sustained league form it’s all much of a muchness.
I’m worried we all start bigging up how we’re on the right track only for us to now lose to City, Spurs and draw v Sheff United... cause that’s pretty much how our season has gone.
I’d give it a few more games before getting carried away and let’s keep our fingers crossed we have genuinely turned a corner.

This isnt about turning the corner, its about long term improvement - long term direction! picking a small number of tough fixtures and using that to define a measure of success... its just short term!

Its a season of change and ups and downs were always going to happen. Its the long direction that we need to be monitoring at and I think that is as good as its been for 6 years!

 

[Robbie Boy]

Looks like there is good atmosphere at the club and since Burnley defeat we have done well. Signing player like Bruno must be the turning point.

His signing has certainly given everyone a lift and even Ighalo has been good for the mood at the club, it seems. There is definitely a sense of togetherness that I haven't seen at the club post Fergie. Let's hope it can continue.

 

[Bilbo]

If we don't qualify for champions league then there's little or no reason to say that they won't fire him

The reason would be that it wasn't his main objective

 

[90 + 5min]

Which is why I’m confused so many are happy not to properly evaluate this and consider what’s best for next season.

I also think it would be pretty dumb of the board to say if you reach this target your safe and If you don’t you are not.

In May it’s a simple question. Can we do better.. if yes. Can we make improvements to do better.. if yes. Get it done!!

Letting Mourinho go into his third season was logical but not practical and we should have made the change.

You can always do better. Even if you are ManCity or whoever. That doesn’t mean that Guardiola should get sacked. Klopp can also do better. That doesn’t mean he should get sacked. You have to take things into context.

That's the problem I have on here, if we get 4 points from the next 3 league games, that's:

3 wins, 3 draws, 2 loses: 37.5% win-rate

In the league since Bruno and Ighalo arrived.

How is that "progress" in anyone's eyes? That's our season in a nutsell. We need to 100% beat Sheff United at home and we need a win in vs. either City or Spurs. That'd give us some great momentum and show genuine change is developing.

We have already beaten those teams. City and Tottenham. That shows that we are progressing.
It is not always about results. You have to think at whole situation. Even if we end up without CL next year we will have taken step forward.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

This isnt about turning the corner, its about long term improvement - long term direction! picking a small number of tough fixtures and using that to define a measure of success... its just short term!

Small number of fixtures? Between 1st Feb and the end of April it will have been 11 Premier League games, most of them very winnable, since Ole took his spending to €214m. You expect that after being in the job for that long and spending those sums, plugging a couple of large holes in January, to start seeing our win-rate rise from in the shitty 30’s to in the 50’s.

If he keeps picking up points like he has been from Feb-May, why on Earth would you be ok with that?

I’m not expecting Ole to make us look like title challengers by May, or even putting his future down as CL dependent, just asking the bare minimum of a manager in his position after two busy transfer windows. Win at least 50% of your league games from Feb 1 to May (less than all of Moyes, LvG’s and Mou’s seasons), if you can’t manage that after spending €214m, you have no right being here.

 

[Mainoldo]

You can always do better. Even if you are ManCity or whoever. That doesn’t mean that Guardiola should get sacked. Klopp can also do better. That doesn’t mean he should get sacked. You have to take things into context.

In a fairytale world yes you can always do better. But it’s simple maths we have a Z list manager and there‘s an A lister available. Not only that but he ticks all the requirements we are looking for.

You make the change. Now would be just stupid I understand that. Making him continue because he be some chance gets top 4 after all we have witnessed this season. Would be made. I can guarantee you now. The next season will be a complete write off.

 

[L1nk]

The grass isn't always greener.

Solskjaer's done enough to earn some respect and time to show he's capable of rebuilding a team like United. All his signings look to have been solid buys from the club and there appears to be a mix of short, medium and long term planning which has been missing with recent appointments who've been looking to win a few trophies within their 3 year stints at the club.

I don't think we'll regret on missing out on someone like Pochettino, I don't think he'd even be that good for us long term, same applies for whatever flavour of the month, jean wearing, 30-something, German manager people are hyped about this week. It's pretty much given that all managers that succeed are given time and the club has agreed to build it's structure and culture around them. United manager's don't get that opportunity, they have to fit our culture otherwise they don't last long.

Annnnnnd there it is, the problem with this club in a nutshell really to be honest.

"flavour of the month, jean wearing, 30-something, German manager people are hyped about" I have no doubt you'd have turned your nose up at Klopp, why are you so resistant to change and modern managers. Why do you always want to look to the our past glories and try to repeat it instead of moving on and what not. Nagelsmann and Rose are better managers than Solskjaer and they are the managers of the now and the future, they aren't just flavours of the month.

We will regret it, why do you think top clubs covet these managers and they never Solskjaer? We are the only fanbase that chats shit about flavour of the month managers, that aren't flavours of the month, and wonders why we are hiring managers that are well past their best or bang average. Everyones too quick to turn their nose up at everything unless it's steeped in romantic and sentimental nonsense.

Here's what will happen, the top clubs will target the likes of Nagelsmann, Rose, Pochettino and others, whilst we sit here talking about how they are just flavours of the month and the mighty Ole will bring us back to the glory days because he used to play for us, where as these big clubs realise they aren't and won't turn their noses up at them. Expect them all to be at big clubs within the next 3 seasons i suspect, and you'll be like ah they aren't good anyway we didn't need them they are just German flavours of the month.

 

[theklr]

In a fairytale world yes you can always do better. But it’s simple maths we have a Z list manager and there‘s an A lister available. Not only that but he ticks all the requirements we are looking for.

You make the change. Now would be just stupid I understand that. Making him continue because he be some chance gets top 4 after all we have witnessed this season. Would be made. I can guarantee you now. The next season will be a complete write off.

If we get Sancho and Grealish with Rashford fit, I guarantee you "even" Ole would make it comfortably into top 4 and compete in cups. Ofcourse with a better manager it will be even better, but it wouldnt be a total write-off.

 

[Odin]

A couple of sincere questions for Ole outers:
1) Have you lately seen progression in passing pace, attacking patterns, players attitude, team cohesion and overall squad quality?

​

Your answer is "No"? Don't bother to read the second question, we'd never see things the same way anyway.​

2) Do you think all recent positives are just a fluke or purple patch from the back of signing Bruno Fernandes (and Odion Ighalo)?

Well, you may be right, but you really can't tell. It's about feelings and emotions on both sides in the debate. I prefer to be uplifted by good results and support what I see as progress. If you can't see the current progress, you really shouldn't be reading this (see above).​

​

A lot of Ole outers claim to know some "truth" about Ole's managing capacity by looking at "hard facts" such as our league table position, portraying Ole ins as sentimental and deluded. If it is just a purple patch, the players will revert back to mediocre/inconsistent. On the other hand, if we finally are reaping benefits from overhauling the squad and good coaching (catalyzed by putting a proper player in the important no.10 position), we could be in for an even brighter future. I don't know. I just feel we are building something, and that we may easily set ourselves back by sacking and hiring (again).​

​

Only time can tell. That's a fact. A real one. As some have said previously, passing judgement at present is pretty silly given that we've looked much better lately and we have everything to play for. Do you agree?​

 

[90 + 5min]

In a fairytale world yes you can always do better. But it’s simple maths we have a Z list manager and there‘s an A lister available. Not only that but he ticks all the requirements we are looking for.

You make the change. Now would be just stupid I understand that. Making him continue because he be some chance gets top 4 after all we have witnessed this season. Would be made. I can guarantee you now. The next season will be a complete write off.

Who is A list manager?

And if Solskjaer is Z-list what about all those managers that is behind him? What letter do they have?

 

[JJ12]

The bookies seem to think otherwise with Pochettino being at a very short odds 3/10 to be the next Utd manager.

Given Pochettino is unlikely to hang around beyond this summer, they obviously feel he’ll get the job.

Look how many players the bookies have us favourites for signing. Let me know how that goes too.

 

[Greck]

Wait till the end of April you before getting al high and mighty, it’s all good talking about the improvements you can “literally see”, but until we actually show some sustained league form it’s all much of a muchness.
I’m worried we all start bigging up how we’re on the right track only for us to now lose to City, Spurs and draw v Sheff United... cause that’s pretty much how our season has gone.
I’d give it a few more games before getting carried away and let’s keep our fingers crossed we have genuinely turned a corner.

I also prefer to wait and see rather than get carried away. Our league form since Bruno arrived is 2 wins 2 draws with hard games coming up. A flurry of positive cup results somewhat flatters to deceive. Trashing tranmere, Brugge and Derby is good good as you can only beat who's in front of you but doesn't somehow make me think we've turned. Our league form is on pace to be the same even with Bruno

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

A couple of sincere questions for Ole outers:
1) Have you lately seen progression in passing pace, attacking patterns, players attitude, team cohesion and overall squad quality?

I’m not an Ole out, I’m an “Ole was naive as fook in the Summer and was lucky not to lose his job in December and Jan. Now he must prove himself between Feb-May to keep his job”.

That said, yes, we might have played 3 shitty cup games lately but since Bruno’s introduction everything does look miles better. I think even the hardcore Ole outers expected us to be miles better with Bruno over Lingard & Andreas in fairness.

2) Do you think all recent positives are just a fluke or purple patch from the back of signing Bruno Fernandes (and Odion Ighalo)?

Absolutely no idea. I’m hopeful it’s a genuine sign we’ve turned a corner, but we’ll know much more by the end of April.

 

[InspiRED]

Crazily enough, now we have started to fit the jigsaw togehter and are bringing in the right sort of players, we are now starting to play better too. Its mind boggling i know!!

fecking harry potter couldnt make lingard any better, so what do people honestly expect of Ole? It was always going to be a tough season and I the fact we are still in contention has surely have got to be the aim before we started the season.

But lets look who has undoubtedly improved:: Fred, Mct, Rashford, Shaw, Williams, Martial

I find it crazy that people are so short term on here that they want Ole out. I mean what else could he or anyone else have done with this squad. You can literally see the improvements being made.

Erm, I think they expected Ole not to give Lingard a new contract, or think that he could rely on him to do a decent enough job in midfield, which I think he actually did and is one of the major mistakes he's made.

People glossed over that beanz beanz beanz shite but I thought it was so indicative of a mentality that was not fit for a successful side. It's probably exacerbated by the fact Ole used to be U 23s coach too so there are some complications there.

I think (well hope) that Ole is learning to be a bit more ruthless and to take a harder line with players like Lingard, which he absolutely has to do.

 

[InspiRED]

Is he really getting that much credit though? Honestly. Just look back at the recent matchday threads. Brugge, Watford and Derby, those games have about as many pages as the Everton one. Why? Because we dropped a couple of points on the road to a good Everton side and the whingebags came out of the woodwork in style.

He doesn't get half as much credit for the good as he gets crap for the bad. It's embarrassing.

Well you're probably right about that. I missed the second half against Everton, but first half is in my mind as one of the standout performances post SAF. Everything just seemed to be clicking. Mctominay, Fred and Matic in midfield with Bruno just off them looks such a decent prospect. Shaw looks like he is reaching up near his potential again and there is tangible team spirit and morale, so I find it hard to understand how people would be critical after that. We looked like a bona fide top 4 side and imo closer to the top 2 in that first half performance.

Performances are more important for me than results, because good results will come eventually if you dominate matches. I always felt we flattered to deceive before that. PSG was an awesome moment and great result, but the fact is we were absolutely mauled over those two legs and with the amount of money we are able to spend there's no excuse for that. Think Solskjaer is learning to be more ruthless and as i said in previous posts realising he can't rely on players like Jlingz and Pereira which has been one of his biggest mistakes so far

 

[Mainoldo]

If we get Sancho and Grealish with Rashford fit, I guarantee you "even" Ole would make it comfortably into top 4 and compete in cups. Ofcourse with a better manager it will be even better, but it wouldnt be a total write-off.

Even with those players. We’ll still have no style of play. We’d still be looking far from competing for a title and we’ll no doubt be wanting yet another CB.

 

[Mainoldo]

Who is A list manager?

And if Solskjaer is Z-list what about all those managers that is behind him? What letter do they have?

Are there managers behind Solskjaer? Who are they? Steve Bruce?

Pochettino is an A list manager. Allegri too, just not the right fit for what we should be trying to do.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Everton away was always gonna be a tricky game, I missed it so had nothing to say either way, other than that a point was fine.
Guessing people were just annoyed that we’ve spent a year dropping points every single team Chelsea drop them and that frustration clouds their judgement.

Add to that, there’s a lot of tricky games in this league, if we say “well what do you expect, it’s a tough place” every time we drop points in a tricky game, well that’s a 6th placed side right there.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Absolutely not. The poll is done. You yourself made a thread where we all outlined our targets/ circumstancesfor changing our minds either way. I think even the 50 percent who voted for an immediate sack in January are now resigned to the fact that nothing will change until the end of the season. The Board too has hopefully given Solksjaer their own targets. We have to wait and watch and for the betterment of the club pray that we somehow make the CL. Yes we scraped through against Chelsea via massive chunks of luck and blind VAR and also got 3 points against Watford at home (nowadays thats a big achievement). Let's see how many more freakish wins we can gather. We will need as many as we can get.


The real concern is losing out on capable managers due to this baseless sentimentality around Solskjaer. In the summer expect Tuchel and probably some others to be available, in addition to Allegri, Pochettino and probably Guardiola. Burying our head in the sand even then and hoping for miracles will be our undoing I think.

Freaks win hahah good few freak clean sheets too ! Luckiest team in the land

 

[ReddBalls]

Jose - Pogba aside......Mkhitaryan (£30m), Lindelöf (£35m), Bailly (£30m), Zlatan (free and great business)…...what exactly is galactico or expensive about this?

"Galactico" ain't just about price, though. It is about buying players on (big) reputation in stead of being the right fit for club and tactics. Pogba, Zlatan, Pigraiser, Falcao, Mkhitaryan (POTY in Germany), ADM, Sanchez, Lukaku all fit that description.

I still agree with you that praising Ole for buying cheap is wrong. The main difference is that the players bought under him all seem to fit better both as characters and as footballers. Some of those will be expensive, some won't.