Would you take Rangnick back (As a DOF and NOT a manager)?

No, we’ve got one. Let’s see how he does.
I'm not sure Ashworth had more acclaim than Rangnick in the DOF role, to be honest. But Ashworth is still young and can grow even more. Not sure if the whole gardening leave circus for 1 year is worth it, though.
 
Would have liked to see him continue as manager with a mandate to rip the whole thing up and start again.
His high pressing system would have been brilliant for us. But his home truths were too much for the suits and they didn’t have the guts back him and to take on the players who had downed tools (Shaw, Rashford, Martial etc)
 
Would have liked to see him continue as manager with a mandate to rip the whole thing up and start again.
His high pressing system would have been brilliant for us. But his home truths were too much for the suits and they didn’t have the guts back him and to take on the players who had downed tools (Shaw, Rashford, Martial etc)
Rangnick was famous for his work as DOF, not a manager.
 
More experience, more connections, and an eye for talent. A no bullshit approach. Would rather have had him than Ashworth. I have doubts about the latter, and the Newcastle situation is a shambles.

But it's moot now anyway. Hopefully, Ashworth is worth all the trouble. Something that remains to be seen.
 
No. He was clueless working at a club of this level, both on the pitch and off.
I don’t think he is/was clueless at all, but his 6-month interim appointment left him powerless. He had zero authority over the team and they knew it. He basically named a team each week and they went out and decided if they could be arsed or not. Any one of us could have been in charge at that point, it would have made no difference.
 
I don’t think he is/was clueless at all, but his 6-month interim appointment left him powerless. He had zero authority over the team and they knew it. He basically named a team each week and they went out and decided if they could be arsed or not. Any one of us could have been in charge at that point, it would have made no difference.

Yes it’s quite surprising that slagging off the players in public every week during his press conferences didn’t have a motivating impact on them. Equally surprising that slagging off the entire management structure at the same time left him isolated and without influence.
 
Yes it’s quite surprising that slagging off the players in public every week during his press conferences didn’t have a motivating impact on them. Equally surprising that slagging off the entire management structure at the same time left him isolated and without influence.
He was a sitting duck when appointed long before any of that.
 
He was one of the worst interim managers we’ve ever had but he spoke the right stuff so a lot of people like him.
 
I'm not sure Ashworth had more acclaim than Rangnick in the DOF role, to be honest. But Ashworth is still young and can grow even more. Not sure if the whole gardening leave circus for 1 year is worth it, though.

He’s 53
 
That's young for a director.
It isn't. I don't know the PL clubs to well, but I just looked up how old the DoF (or equivalent people) are in the Bundesliga top 6:
Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen): 42
Fabian Wohlgemuth (Stuttgart): 46
Max Eberl (Bayern): 50
Rouven Schröder (Leipzig): 49
Sebastian Kehl (Dortmund): 44
Markus Krösche (Frankfurt): 43
 
Explain the context for me

Ralf was awful for us as a interim, but he was alo placed in impossible circumstances.
Even then his results in building footballing structures speak for themselves and we would have done much better if we had had him on instead of handing Ten Hag all the reigns.
 
No. He was clueless working at a club of this level, both on the pitch and off.
Nah - he knew the problems and had no problems calling them out. I liked him, and he's obviously not a bad coach either.
 
Ralf was awful for us as a interim, but he was alo placed in impossible circumstances.
Even then his results in building footballing structures speak for themselves and we would have done much better if we had had him on instead of handing Ten Hag all the reigns.

Impossible circumstances? He has results at small teams with limited expectations, nothing at a club of our level with the kind of pressure that brings. You can throw as many excuses around as you want but ultimately he came in, results didn’t improve as he wanted, he decided to point the finger at pretty much everyone above and below him at the club, and results got worse. He proved himself very incapable of working here long-term.
 
Nah - he knew the problems and had no problems calling them out. I liked him, and he's obviously not a bad coach either.

What a hero pointing the finger at others while he’s sat in the managers seat.
 
Absolutely shite manager. Was never qualified to manage a big club to begin with.

Spent more time in the back office than on the touchline over the last decade.

A shitshow of an appointment by murtough, but I spose it was the best we could do on an interim basis at the time.
 
What a hero pointing the finger at others while he’s sat in the managers seat.
He was an interim manager and pointed out the problems and the solutions. Not his fault the idiots didn't listen to him.
 
He said what needed to be said.

I'd have him as DOF.
 
Impossible circumstances? He has results at small teams with limited expectations, nothing at a club of our level with the kind of pressure that brings. You can throw as many excuses around as you want but ultimately he came in, results didn’t improve as he wanted, he decided to point the finger at pretty much everyone above and below him at the club, and results got worse. He proved himself very incapable of working here long-term.

Yes. He was essentially a lame duck manager from day one. And without the backing of the club that Ten Hag got.
His results at building football structure are far greater than anyone in our current structure, bar Berrada.
 
Yes.
He is a brilliant DOF and coach. United missed a glorious opportunity there - the hierarchy for failing to accept the home truths he pointed out, and some of the players for not responding to him, like unruly children towards a supply teacher.
 
He was one of the worst interim managers we’ve ever had but he spoke the right stuff so a lot of people like him.

Correct.
The issue is that would he work well as DoF?
As a manager - no way.
 
I remember discussing RR a long while back. I was actually an advocate of bringing him into UTD before we appointed Mourinho.

However it wasn't because or as a manager.

Ralf is a clever guy and has great football knowledge. A very "build from scratch" type of knowledge.

I never thought he would be grateful shakes at management for us. But as an interim with a background role after was good news for me.

I still think we made a mistake in not keeping him in a role. He basically would have done what Ratcliffe has said in his interview.
 
Depends what style of football Ineos want. DoF seems as much relationship based as being able to spot talent - given the scouts do all the heavy lifting there - so with Ashworth I assume Ineos think he’s got the better fit from that perspective (and is probably easier to manage than Ralf).
 
Depends what style of football Ineos want. DoF seems as much relationship based as being able to spot talent - given the scouts do all the heavy lifting there - so with Ashworth I assume Ineos think he’s got the better fit from that perspective (and is probably easier to manage than Ralf).
Ashworth seems a bit of a nepotism appointment to me, to be honest.
 
Hard to say. The City board of directors seemed to target him from the beginning, even before they got their DOF.

The folks who hired him were the one he worked with at Barca.

Zidane hire was nepotism, so was Conte. The idiotic list is endless.
 
Unfortunately Ragnick played the Game Of Thrones like Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.

he was brutally honest and he thought his title would demand respect around him and also protect him.

The biggest mistake was speaking like a “consultant”/ DOF (whatever his original title was meant to be before manager) during manager press conferences. Instead of keeping it short and saying what he was trying to do with the first team that he had and what he wanted of the players it was all about what he’s going to happen the next transfer window.



Would have liked to see him continue as manager with a mandate to rip the whole thing up and start again.
His high pressing system would have been brilliant for us. But his home truths were too much for the suits and they didn’t have the guts back him and to take on the players who had downed tools (Shaw, Rashford, Martial etc)
He would have filled the first team with young players by now for sure.


Yes it’s quite surprising that slagging off the players in public every week during his press conferences didn’t have a motivating impact on them. Equally surprising that slagging off the entire management structure at the same time left him isolated and without influence.

No idea what he thought that would accomplish. First priority should have been to solidify the first team playing style to be pragmatic and see us through that season. I honestly don’t even remember where we ended up that season and who replaced him! I know we were all excited to see him as a consultant which we never even heard of before but the clubs decision to put him as manager when we were drowning was weird.

It isn't. I don't know the PL clubs to well, but I just looked up how old the DoF (or equivalent people) are in the Bundesliga top 6:
Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen): 42
Fabian Wohlgemuth (Stuttgart): 46
Max Eberl (Bayern): 50
Rouven Schröder (Leipzig): 49
Sebastian Kehl (Dortmund): 44
Markus Krösche (Frankfurt): 43
How about in England? Germany is a much different setup.
 
Unfortunately Ragnick played the Game Of Thrones like Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.
Then many years after their "loss" at the Game of Thrones, people would still talk about their legacies. Because their legacies were true, not just empty shells.
 
Then many years after their "loss" at the Game of Thrones, people would still talk about their legacies. Because their legacies were true, not just empty shells.
I don’t quite understand your post. People still talk that Ragnick was right, and people still talk about how Ned Stark was the most honorable man in Westeros.

People do still talk about both of them