Andy Mitten column: At Manchester United, things are very bad – and could get worse

Adnan

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"There are people on the football side who think it will get worse before it gets better; that Wolves, Everton and Leicester are primed to overtake England’s most decorated league champions in the country"

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...-ole-gunnar-solskjaer-ed-woodward-andy-mitten

I think we're gonna find out what the Tampa fans felt when the Glazer's ruined them. Unless we can get them out somehow..
 

Coops73

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"There are people on the football side who think it will get worse before it gets better; that Wolves, Everton and Leicester are primed to overtake England’s most decorated league champions in the country"

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...-ole-gunnar-solskjaer-ed-woodward-andy-mitten

I think we're gonna find out what the Tampa fans felt when the Glazer's ruined them. Unless we can get them out somehow..
feck sake, this is all so depressing right now, every thread, headline and rumour make coming onto these forums so bloody bleak, then you look across to the likes of City and Liverpool and see how well they’re doing, being run and playing and you realise how far we’ve fallen.

Unless these Glazer cnuts and Woodward walk away I’m struggling to see where and when it’ll get any better. *sigh*
 

SER19

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But remember, any discussion for fans action is cringeworthy, embarrassing or pointless and anyway, Ed scowled at the camera anyway and gave a look that said 'football manager signings mode'.

Every bit of decline from here, many fans are complicit. When are we going to get real and stop swallowing the shit
 

soapythecat

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Current projection is going to see our most prized assets leaving (could be a good thing), an incompetent CEO but garbage to replace them, and we have a manager with no style of play to head into the new season.
Given how poor we have been since Paris, I honestly don’t see how we can hope to achieve much beyond mid table next season. Smalling, Jones, Young, Rojo and Co will still be here. That is the stark reality.
 

nore1975

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When Mourinho said finishing second with this team was his finest achievement I thought at the time he was being sarcastic. Now I think he was being serious. He like his two predecessors have to share some of the blame along with Ed W. In a sense United need a post Morten of their history since Ferguson. They need to understand why things have gone pear shaped in order to see the right way forward.
 

#07

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Best part of this article is the paragraph about how the players are blaming each other about their paycuts. That's where their priorities are: Money not Man Utd. Shows why there's so little effort on the pitch.
 

Adnan

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Best part of this article is the paragraph about how the players are blaming each other about their paycuts. That's where their priorities are: Money not Man Utd. Shows why there's so little effort on the pitch.
That bit pissed me off..
 

laughtersassassin

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Does anyone have any fate for us next season. Seems the general consensus is we will be worse.


Hope Ole is straight up with the fans if Incompetent Ed is dicking him around.


It has all gone on long enough. Something has to change.
 

john moran

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That bit pissed me off..

Its a story by a journalist , who knows how much of it is true . If he had said they were worried about damage to their image rights or social media profile i would find it more convincing .
 

RoadTrip

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"There are people on the football side who think it will get worse before it gets better; that Wolves, Everton and Leicester are primed to overtake England’s most decorated league champions in the country"

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...-ole-gunnar-solskjaer-ed-woodward-andy-mitten

I think we're gonna find out what the Tampa fans felt when the Glazer's ruined them. Unless we can get them out somehow..
I really dislike woody and the glazers but please, the glazers are not at fault at Tampa.
 

DomesticTadpole

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feck sake, this is all so depressing right now, every thread, headline and rumour make coming onto these forums so bloody bleak, then you look across to the likes of City and Liverpool and see how well they’re doing, being run and playing and you realise how far we’ve fallen.

Unless these Glazer cnuts and Woodward walk away I’m struggling to see where and when it’ll get any better. *sigh*
It's the fact that both also have foreign owners as well, but foreign owners who know what they are doing.
 

crossy1686

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All Ole has to do is confirm that reports about the Glazer's and Woodward are true. It might cost him his job but there's will be a massive protest making certain positions untenable.
 

red4ever 79

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Everything is wrong at the club. Owners, CEO, Manager, Players. I feel sorry for the day to day non footballing staff. Sounds like there may be cutbacks which is absolutely nothing to do with them. Shambles from top to bottom
 

Jinn

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What we need to realise is that the managers are not at fault here. We need to direct our energies at the root cause.
Next season, back the manager...cause he's going to try and polish these turds while getting short shift from the owners.
 

LawCharltonBest

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Does anyone have any fate for us next season. Seems the general consensus is we will be worse.


Hope Ole is straight up with the fans if Incompetent Ed is dicking him around.


It has all gone on long enough. Something has to change.
It will be worse. Anyone with any foresight can see that. 6th is a failure this season, next season I think it would be a success.

This could of course be nipped in the bud if anyone at United had any balls. Alas, they don’t. So we’re forced to watch the train crash.
 

Adnan

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Classical Mechanic

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How have we got to this? Something has to happen, but what?
It's a nonsense though. 6th will not be an achievement We are 9 points clear of 7th currently despite playing like absolute garbage and we'll be among the biggest investors in the transfer market this summer. Chelsea will be facing a transfer ban and are going to lose by far their best player. Arsenal are rumoured to be spending absolute peanuts in the market this summer. Spurs will likely lose important players this summer and have relatively little to spend. We should be more than well placed to challenge for 4th or 3rd under a competent manager.

It just seems to me like a leak from camp Ole to dampen expectations. Its all very Moyseian but because its Ole plenty of fans will lap it up and be grateful to finish 6th next season and even forgive him for finishing 7th or 8th.
 

JPRouve

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There is no longer 145,000 eager fans on the Bucs' season ticket waiting list like there was in 2007. Since Gruden's departure, the club have had four managers in 10 years with no tangible long-term strategy.

Is it ringing alarm bells yet, United fans?
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c.../man-utd-transfer-glazers-buccaneers-15056099
Long term strategy isn't a thing in the NFL, 4 head coaches isn't much and Gruden record wasn't particularly good and they were going nowhere with him.
 

jrdonald

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All Ole has to do is confirm that reports about the Glazer's and Woodward are true. It might cost him his job but there's will be a massive protest making certain positions untenable.
Solksjaer is in his DREAM job. He isn't going to sabotage it. He's the guy who woke up in bed with Scarlett Johansson. He isn't going to complain that she isn't very good at doing the laundry.
 
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12OunceEpilogue

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But remember, any discussion for fans action is cringeworthy, embarrassing or pointless and anyway, Ed scowled at the camera anyway and gave a look that said 'football manager signings mode'.

Every bit of decline from here, many fans are complicit. When are we going to get real and stop swallowing the shit
I've always been firmly in the camp that any match-goer, and certainly season ticket holder, should be free to do whatever they want short of illegality and outright, unequivocal cuntishness without reprimand. If they want to go and cheer, if they want to go and stay silent, if they bugger off after 70 minutes, if they get balls naked and leave their larynx at the back of the Stretty I can have an opinion but I've no right to outright criticise a paying punter at Old Trafford. However while I'm not going to renege on that stance I'll respect pretty much any lawful direct action against the Glazers, as it's that bad now I can see decades of obscurity beckoning.

On the topic of the article it is a sobering summary of the mess we're in, but I'd like more details of what's going on at the club rather than generalities. We'll for sure read some utterly disgusting stuff about this era years from now but at the moment everything is a touch vague. I feel lifting the lid now could help to hasten change.
 

Adnan

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Long term strategy isn't a thing in the NFL, 4 head coaches isn't much and Gruden record wasn't particularly good and they were going nowhere with him.
They're going nowhere with the Glazer's and neither are we.

Attendances at games, which have been sliding for years, are the second lowest in the sport under their ownership.
 

Judge Red

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When you see what our rivals are doing, you want the comfort of believing we’ll come back strong next season. We won’t. There’s no logic to suggest we could.

We have a manager who isn’t good enough, players who aren’t good enough and nothing to attract the replacements needed. And no, money isn’t going to attract the players needed this time. De Ligt is the first proof of that and won’t be the last.
 

Chesterlestreet

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Attracting and retaining sponsors – the one thing at which United have excelled – becomes more difficult, since brands aren’t readily drawn to a stumbling football team.
This is obvious.

The owners ultimately only care about making money, we all know this. But so far, they've shown ambition in that regard, by which I mean that they've sought to expand the "brand" (rather than just milking something existing for all it is worth).

They can't just keep on going in the same, hopeless manner on the football side and expect the brand to take care of itself, it clearly isn't how it works. They'll start to make less money from their cash cow, it's inevitable.

They have to be aware of this, though.
 

TsuWave

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What we need to realise is that the managers are not at fault here. We need to direct our energies at the root cause.
Next season, back the manager...cause he's going to try and polish these turds while getting short shift from the owners.
already conditioning people to be meek and blindly follow and unqualified manager huh?
 

Revaulx

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It's a nonsense though. 6th will not be an achievement We are 9 points clear of 7th currently despite playing like absolute garbage and we'll be among the biggest investors in the transfer market this summer. Chelsea will be facing a transfer ban and are going to lose by far their best player. Arsenal are rumoured to be spending absolute peanuts in the market this summer. Spurs will likely lose important players this summer and have relatively little to spend. We should be more than well placed to challenge for 4th or 3rd under a competent manager.

It just seems to me like a leak from camp Ole to dampen expectations. Its all very Moyseian but because its Ole plenty of fans will lap it up and be grateful to finish 6th next season and even forgive him for finishing 7th or 8th.
Not so sure about the bolded bit. If Ed's getting jittery about the wisdom of appointing Ole he won't be letting him dig deep into The War Chest. And if we do spend big, recent experience suggests that we won't spend wisely.

I'm not sure about the expectation management either. Maybe from camp Ole, though I really don't believe Ed would be happy to see us at sixth. I'm sure he wants United to succeed at the top level; the problem is he seems to genuinely believe that his idiotic decisions are the right ones to take us there.
 

Von Mistelroum

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Seems about right. I've honestly lost my love for football right now. I can't feel anything for these players and though I enjoy watching other teams play, I often find myself feeling down and even depressed when it reminds me of what we're becoming.
 

Crustanoid

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We had protests to get them out around 2010ish when we were actually still winning leagues regularly. Not sure why 6 years of dire management and worse to come has not ignited anything.

The owners need to go. Now. Or else I can’t see a way out of this
 

Jinn

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already conditioning people to be meek and blindly follow and unqualified manager huh?
There's no conditioning. Don't be daft. Open your eyes and see the real problem. Stop being part of the sheep company.
 

Minimalist

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It’s a depressing read but also one that seems to be greatly exaggerated for good effect (perfect timing).
 

Vedder

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Pass me the rope......

It’s not quite the apocalypse yet but it’s going to be a dystopian future. Hordes of scousers with flaming torches. Beating drums that are emblazoned with Wijnaldums face.

We can either wallow in self pity or fight back.....

Question is. Do we have any fight left?
 
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Bobcat

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What i don't understand is how we went from 14/19 wins as we entered April, to 2 in 10, just as Ole was appointed as permanent manager

Fatigue? Did the players down tools? Did Ole suddenly decide we should start playing shit? Might be wishful thinking, but i think this is our low point and it can only go up from here.