BBC: United hold talks with Mourinho

[Sky1981]

Just go for the proven one

We have much time in the future for gigs and pocahontas if mou doesnt work out

He is still your best bet on not being trumped by half the league.

Stabilize the sinking ship then we talk about romance. Ain't no romance when you're sinking, ask di caprio that

 

[Julian Denny]

I think we are totally between a rock and a hard place on this. Because of the Moyes debacle and now the LvG debacle, unless he can drag us into ECL qualification, or win one of the Cups, we cannot possibly afford the risk of having Giggs as a successor next season. With Pep at City, only Mourinho can provide a high profile counter weight to that. Just ask the question, which top players will come and play under Giggs after this mess? Mourinho upsets people but he is a winner and has always had huge respect for United. He'd be able to attract the right players and re-build a successful side in a way LvG has failed to do. It would only be short term most likely but at least, hopefully, winning ways will have been restored and with it pride and respect. Not totally dissimilar to what the Doc did in the 70's. He also upset lots of people but boy did he get United back to winning ways after the devastation of being relegated.

However, this was not how it was supposed to be. LvG was to lay the foundations for a winning club over his three years with Giggs then taking over a stable winning team having served his apprenticeship. I believe Woodward still hankers after this scenario and would be prepared to snub Mourinho if somehow LvG can revitalise everything and see out his term. It's unlikely to happen now and soon Woodward will be forced, however reluctantly, into action.

 

[wiz4231]

Pochettino even being mentioned just goes to show how quickly people can get behind someone if they show enough promise even if they have no track record of success.

He's exactly what we need, someone with promise. He's done well everywhere he's gone, setting the foundations to build on with low budgets. I've always said we dont need to buy the best players/most expensive, we need to buy players that fit the system. He is a man capable of that and sort out the flaws in the squad. They have the best defensive record in the league and yet they don't have the best defenders, they're not too shabby in attack either while not having the best attackers. It's his philosophy were buying into and that's working extremely well, I do admire it and I am entertained by it too.

 

[Antisocial]

Stabilize the sinking ship then we talk about romance. Ain't no romance when you're sinking, ask di caprio that

 

[horsechoker]

Just go for the proven one

We have much time in the future for gigs and pocahontas if mou doesnt work out

He is still your best bet on not being trumped by half the league.

Stabilize the sinking ship then we talk about romance. Ain't no romance when you're sinking, ask di caprio that

Brilliant

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Just go for the proven one

We have much time in the future for gigs and pocahontas if mou doesnt work out

He is still your best bet on not being trumped by half the league.

Stabilize the sinking ship then we talk about romance. Ain't no romance when you're sinking, ask di caprio that

He still managed to give Kate Winslet one before the ship sank.

 

[JON.B]

He's exactly what we need, someone with promise. He's done well everywhere he's gone, setting the foundations to build on with low budgets. I've always said we dont need to buy the best players/most expensive, we need to buy players that fit the system. He is a man capable of that and sort out the flaws in the squad. They have the best defensive record in the league and yet they don't have the best defenders, they're not too shabby in attack either while not having the best attackers. It's his philosophy were buying into and that's working extremely well, I do admire it and I am entertained by it too.

Okay let me just highlight something about his managerial past.

:He took over Espanyol when they were in crisis, coached players who were his teammates and had no previous managerial experience. Did well before eventually being sacked being bottom of the league. So his reputation is generally based on his stint at Southampton and then his time at Spurs. Not saying he's not an option and hasn't done enough to be considered an outside bet but, it highlights that you don't have to have a track record of success to be in with a chance if you show the right attributes.

 

[RooneyLegend]

I dont know about the rest but allegri and Conte are nowhere near Maureen. Neither pocahontas. Simeone is

Really don't understand why Allegri is so underrated on this forum.

 

[Raees]

I honestly think if Mourinho came in right after SAF he'd have struggled big time in his first season. Now is a much better time for him and the club.. increased motivation to do well, half the squad has been cleared out and expectations at an all time low. The only downside is that if he comes in without CL football, he is going to have an almighty task on his hand in that first season to make us competitive when we aren't going to be attractive to any half decent player. Mendes will need to play an absolute blinder to help Jose out here.

If he can get past that first season and get us into top 4 (which I think he will) then suddenly we are well set to really attack the second season and go for the title. I think within two years under him, we'd have some trophies under our belt.

If he had joined post Fergie, I think he like Moyes would have been fooled by the lack of quality in the squad but unlike Moyes.. he would not have bought foolishly in January (Mata and Fellaini)... he would not have extended Rooney's contract and I reckon in the summer, he'd have bought wisely and progressed the side into comfortably challenging for the title or top 3 minimum. The pressure would have been immense though as people would have been expecting titles. Whereas now as long as we can become competitive again, fans will thank their lucky stars.

 

[Earthquake]

he would not have extended Rooney's contract

He was the one that tried to buy Rooney off us....

 

[DomesticTadpole]

He was the one that tried to buy Rooney off us....

If he saw him at close quarters he would have realised how stupid an idea that was. Also the players would have respected him. They had no respect for Moyes.

 

[Von Mistelroum]

This thread is really psyching me up for a season of Guardiola vs Mourinho derbys. I genuinely think that, if he came here and spent wisely, the premier league would stary to look like the place to be for top players.

A rivalry like that fuelling two super rich clubs, coupled with the extra tv money for other clubs, the likes of Pochettino, Klopp, Wenger and the already competitive nature of the league would make it the 'NBA' of football that people have talked about.

However, I still genuinely expect LVG to be here next season or Giggs if he doesn't manage to win a couple of games here and there....

 

[Earthquake]

If he saw him at close quarters he would have realised how stupid an idea that was. Also the players would have respected him. They had no respect for Moyes.

He'd have turned water into wine for us, too.

 

[Raees]

If he saw him at close quarters he would have realised how stupid an idea that was. Also the players would have respected him. They had no respect for Moyes.

Exactly. Mourinho was looking from the outside in.. even so I think it was faulty judgement by Mourinho as a guy as astute as him should have realised a guy with Rooney's body type isn't a great investment taking into account the age he was and the fee (would have been a decent short term investment but terrible long term buy for Chelsea - further lending weight to Mourinho's scorched earth criticism). But yeah, working with him on a daily basis.. I can't see Mourinho ever extending his contract, this is a guy who told Terry to his face in 07/08 that he didn't think his performances were the same after injuries.

 

[77]

This thread is really psyching me up for a season of Guardiola vs Mourinho derbys. I genuinely think that, if he came here and spent wisely, the premier league would stary to look like the place to be for top players.

A rivalry like that fuelling two super rich clubs, coupled with the extra tv money for other clubs, the likes of Pochettino, Klopp, Wenger and the already competitive nature of the league would make it the 'NBA' of football that people have talked about.

However, I still genuinely expect LVG to be here next season or Giggs if he doesn't manage to win a couple of games here and there....

 

[Randall Flagg]

Exactly. Mourinho was looking from the outside in.. even so I think it was faulty judgement by Mourinho as a guy as astute as him should have realised a guy with Rooney's body type isn't a great investment taking into account the age he was and the fee (would have been a decent short term investment but terrible long term buy for Chelsea - further lending weight to Mourinho's scorched earth criticism). But yeah, working with him on a daily basis.. I can't see Mourinho ever extending his contract, this is a guy who told Terry to his face in 07/08 that he didn't think his performances were the same after injuries.

Terry was one of Jose's best players last season, many years later

For someone as "astute" as Jose he sure does make some questionable signings. I understand when a manager take a punt on a young player. Mourinho signed Falcao and Steve fecking Sidwell...very astute

 

[Cassidy]

Terry was one of Jose's best players last season, many years later 7-8 years later

For someone as "astute" as Jose he sure does make some questionable signings. I understand when a manager take a punt on a young player. Mourinho signed Falcao and Steve fecking Sidwell...very astute

He also signed Essien at Real (when it was clear he was done)

 

[DomesticTadpole]

He also signed Essien at Real (when it was clear he was done)

All managers make the odd bad signing. SAF was guilty of that as well.

 

[Randall Flagg]

He also signed Essien at Real (when it was clear he was done)

I just went through many of his transfers for chelsea

very hit and miss

his best players both times were signed by his predecessors

 

[Kostur]

How does it "further cement his legendary status"?

Pretty easy, we'll continue to be in a freefall, become a midtable club and we'll look up to the days when Fergie was tearing shit apart, last days of our glory.

 

[Attila]

Terry was one of Jose's best players last season, many years later

For someone as "astute" as Jose he sure does make some questionable signings. I understand when a manager take a punt on a young player. Mourinho signed Falcao and Steve fecking Sidwell...very astute

Ferguson had some questionable signings too...Michael Owen for example.

No manager has a perfect transfer record anyway

 

[devilish]

Really don't understand why Allegri is so underrated on this forum.

Cause I've been following him for quite some time that's why. He wasn't very good at AC Milan and did well with Juve after Conte gave him a title winning team

 

[Oneunited26]

Especially given that they haven't got a say beyond advising.

The ball is in Woody's court and his court alone, since the Glazers defer all footballing decisions to him.

Ridiculous the number of people, and especially journalists, who seem to be envisaging some kind of Mexican stand off with Glazers on one side of the table and SAF/SBC on the other, when the latter two have no voting privileges and are just ambassadors.

I agree, its very much the terrible work of woodward and the board for poor planning since fergie retired. Woodward has kept VG on, its Woodward chasing unicorns, and despite the money spent, we have just had 2 awful appointments. Fergie has passed the torch on, and the people been given that power have dropped the ball big time

 

[devilish]

They are not glorified assistant managers, they are head coaches and there is nothing wrong with that and most clubs work like Italian clubs. As for the 3-5-2, there is nothing wrong except that it's a specialist formation, you can't use it with all the players.

They have far less power then the common EPL manager so there will be things that they have no idea about them and they will have to learn. Do we really need someone who has experience on lets say from A to L when we need someone who knows from A to Z? Especially in our situation when we seem to lack structure that can take over in key areas if needed.

3-5-2 in a league that rely heavily on flanks so much is totally ridiculous. Gaz himself said that he struggles to understand how a fullback can ever be able to counter to the constant attacks on the flanks by two players (Winger and fullback) and he does know a thing or two about being a fullback

 

[Raees]

Terry was one of Jose's best players last season, many years later

For someone as "astute" as Jose he sure does make some questionable signings. I understand when a manager take a punt on a young player. Mourinho signed Falcao and Steve fecking Sidwell...very astute

At that stage though Mourinho's aims were quite different - he had higher standards to adhere to in his first stint. He was aiming for CL wins and his aim wasn't to get rid of Terry but get him out of his comfort zone - make him return to the level of Ferdinand and Vidic. Upon his return, the aim was much different and it was just to get the PL win in a severely weakened league.. for that purpose, Terry still sufficed.

Falcao, I still think was a favour to Mendes. Steve Sidwell was a poor signing but every manager has their fair share of poor signings, Pep had Chygrynskiy, Keirreson and Zlatan.. a shambles of a summer post CL glory.

Fergie is infamous for his worst signings list.

What makes these managers great though is that they have more 'hits' than 'misses'. Compare that to someone like Moyes who basically scored a hatrick of own goals with 'Mata, Fellaini and Rooney on a 5 year contract'. It doesn't bear comparison.

 

[SteveJ]

Well, Fergie didn't do what was best for the club when he took the two major shareholders to court over a horse, he didn't even own.
I don't mean that as being disrespectful to Fergie but, it's true. He put greed and power above the club's interest on that occasion.

Mr Rossi, you are the known lovechild of Keano and...um...someone else; therefore, I refuse to acknowledge your opinions. Plus, I've been here longer than you, so I win. Or something.

 

[.Rossi]

Mr Rossi, you are the known lovechild of Keano and...um...someone else; therefore, I refuse to acknowledge your opinions. Plus, I've been here longer than you, so I win. Or something.

Sharpie.

Could be Eric or Irwin either. Not too sure.

 

[SteveJ]

 

[RooneyLegend]

Cause I've been following him for quite some time that's why. He wasn't very good at AC Milan and did well with Juve after Conte gave him a title winning team

He has won 2 out of 5 serie a titles that hes competed in from his milan days. He finally lead Juve to very good results in the CL after Conte's failures. In milan, he didn't have a great squad and thus they struggled at times, however he did manage to lead them to victory vs a rampant barca side. Last season he won vs madrid despite have inferior players. Imo the mark of a great tactician us how they take a group of inferior players and allows them to compete with better ones. He has built a watertight defence that's arguably the best in Europe at Juve.

 

[Earthquake]

Sharpie.

Could be Eric or Irwin either. Not too sure.

Lets be honest here, it's David May.

 

[.Rossi]

Lets be honest here, it's David May.

Nah it's February mate

 

[JPRouve]

Lets be honest here, it's David May.

It's probably Fergie, whish explains Keano resentment.

 

[Earthquake]

It's probably Fergie, whish explains Keano resentment.

Never thought SAF of all people would be a one night stand kinda guy.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Never thought SAF of all people would be a one night stand kinda guy.

Knight

 

[charlenefan]

Not seen Mourinho's home record mentioned much

I want Old Trafford to be a fortress again! I want that home record!

Probably because all that was done previously was made moot following this season

 

[devilish]

He has won 2 out of 5 serie a titles that hes competed in from his milan days. He finally lead Juve to very good results in the CL after Conte's failures. In milan, he didn't have a great squad and thus they struggled at times, however he did manage to lead them to victory vs a rampant barca side. Last season he won vs madrid despite have inferior players. Imo the mark of a great tactician us how they take a group of inferior players and allows them to compete with better ones. He has built a watertight defence that's arguably the best in Europe at Juve.

Erm actually he won 1 league in 4 at AC Milan back in 2010. That team had the likes of Nesta, Thiago Silva, Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, Beckham, Inzaghi and Ibra in it. He then went to Juventus were Conte had resurrected the side and won 3 titles in a row and Allegri went on winning the 4th title and nearly got sacked in the start of the season after gaining like 5 points in 6 matches at the beginning of the season.

Conte was never great in Europe (prior to last season you could say the same about Allegri who got knocked out by mighty Tottenham). Hence why I wouldn't want him at OT. However lets not think for a moment that Juventus nearly won the treble thanks to Acciugina (Anchovy) Allegri. This is Conte's squad

 

[Attila]

Erm actually he won 1 league in 4 at AC Milan back in 2010. That team had the likes of Nesta, Thiago Silva, Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, Beckham, Inzaghi, Huntelaar and Ronaldinho in it. He then went to Juventus were Conte had resurrected the side and won 3 titles in a row and Allegri went on winning the 4th title and nearly got sacked in the start of the season after gaining like 5 points in 6 matches at the beginning of the season.

Conte was never great in Europe. Hence why I wouldn't want him at OT. However lets not think for a moment that Allegri won with his side. This is Conte's side and all Juventus fans pretty much know that

You forgot the main man in your list, Ibrahimovic

 

[charlenefan]

I honestly think if Mourinho came in right after SAF he'd have struggled big time in his first season. Now is a much better time for him and the club.. increased motivation to do well, half the squad has been cleared out and expectations at an all time low. The only downside is that if he comes in without CL football, he is going to have an almighty task on his hand in that first season to make us competitive when we aren't going to be attractive to any half decent player. Mendes will need to play an absolute blinder to help Jose out here.

If he can get past that first season and get us into top 4 (which I think he will) then suddenly we are well set to really attack the second season and go for the title. I think within two years under him, we'd have some trophies under our belt.

If he had joined post Fergie, I think he like Moyes would have been fooled by the lack of quality in the squad but unlike Moyes.. he would not have bought foolishly in January (Mata and Fellaini)... he would not have extended Rooney's contract and I reckon in the summer, he'd have bought wisely and progressed the side into comfortably challenging for the title or top 3 minimum. The pressure would have been immense though as people would have been expecting titles. Whereas now as long as we can become competitive again, fans will thank their lucky stars.

It's better to inherit a team who's lacking in confidence and forgot how to win rather than inherit league title winners?

 

[devilish]

You forgot the main man in your list, Ibrahimovic

I mixed the two squads (2009-2010 and 2010-2011) my mistake

 

[Owngoalscorer]

The day the Prem becomes the NBA is the day i stop watching and i won't be the only one... It's bad enough as it is