Sky Sports: Gary Neville on Utd's season expectations | MNF

[el3mel]

Expectations aren't being dropped becauae we have an ex as a coach. Expectations are rightly being dropped because there is a realisation that we need to clear the decks and depend mostly on young players who have never achieved anything.

Not to me. I'm 100% sure if that was another manager he would have been evaluated more harshly. Ole is getting an easier ride and some are trying to hard to make it like he's blameless for anything going south this season.

Any way whatever way people want to evaluate Ole on, the club would and should evaluate him in the same manner as the previous managers : Top 4 and good football. Thar's a fair game. He does both and he gets a second season and so on, because otherwise LVG should have stayed then, missed top 4 on goal difference and was playing loads of youngsters, but he left and he deserved to go too.

We're still earlier in the season and we're in a decent position now, so let's see what's going to happen for the rest of it.

 

[John Blund]

Keane and Sharpe as CMs? I can't recall having them at centre and Butt on the right in one game. Giggsy on the right, and Sharpe on the left. Gary, we expect more from you!

 

[Patience]

Finish top 4 and play good football and Ole stays for next season. Anything else and he should follow the previous managers. We're not going to drop the expectations for United even more than how it already dropped just because we now have an ex-legend as a manager. He would and should be evaluated like any other manager. The results will determine his fate.

This is the type of United fan we really could do without.

Hiring and firing managers is what has us in this mess we are in..

We need a manager in place long enough, backed by a club strategy, to re-adopt an identity and set us on the path for future glory...

Firing managers for not finishing top four is why we are such a mess. How can you not understand that? Our squad is a mess (though Ole has cleaned it up somewhat).. it has players from four different managers in it; and all those managers had different philosophies. You want us to sack Ole if he doesn't finish top 4 and start all over again?

On what planet does that make any sense?

Would you have sacked Fergie in 1989?
Would you have sacked Sir Matt in 1949?

Your post above is awful. It is this type of mentality that truly gives United fans a bad name.

 

[el3mel]

This is the type of United fan we really could do without.

Hiring and firing managers is what has us in this mess we are in..

We need a manager in place long enough, backed by a club strategy, to re-adopt an identity and set us on the path for future glory...

Firing managers for not finishing top four is why we are such a mess. How can you not understand that? Our squad is a mess (though Ole has cleaned it up somewhat).. it has players from four different managers in it; and all those managers had different philosophies. You want us to sack Ole if he doesn't finish top 4 and start all over again?

On what planet does that make any sense?

Would you have sacked Fergie in 1989?
Would you have sacked Sir Matt in 1949?

Your post above is awful. It is this type of mentality that truly gives United fans a bad name.

The real awful thing is the amount of Top Reds fans who swarmed this forum out of nowhere this year and trying to show everyone the real way of supporting United, which is for them accepting mediocrity, while I'm pretty sure under the previous 3 managers they were slaughtering everyone anyway.

Anyway, you're welcome on my Ignore list.

 

[Bilbo]

Not to me. I'm 100% sure if that was another manager he would have been evaluated more harshly. Ole is getting an easier ride and some are trying to hard to make it like he's blameless for anything going south this season.

Any way whatever way people want to evaluate Ole on, the club would and should evaluate him in the same manner as the previous managers : Top 4 and good football. Thar's a fair game. He does both and he gets a second season and so on, because otherwise LVG should have stayed then, missed top 4 on goal difference and was playing loads of youngsters, but he left and he deserved to go too.

We're still earlier in the season and we're in a decent position now, so let's see what's going to happen for the rest of it.

I generally have agreed in the past few seasons that all of our managers should be judged (and kept or fired) based on league position but with Ole I think a little differently, but having said that the criteria for finishing outside of top 4 and keeping him would be based around 'are we playing good football?' and 'is there enough progress on the pitch that we believe the team is progressing?'.

If we end up finishing 5th or worse then the verdict on both of those topics is likely to be a no.

However even with a so-so season I think we will stick with Ole, simply because changing the manager is going to affect our plan and we need to give this the time it will take to work for us. Anything short of a disastrous season and I think Ole is safe.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

All of what you say is true but it is all on the assumption that Ole will be a good enough coach once all the pieces are fixed. He might not be, and we might be investing time in someone who is never going to be good enough. There isn't much to suggest which way it will go at the moment. I'm very happy with what he has been doing off the field but on pitch it is worrying. I wonder if he would have been more suited to the DOF job than the manager position.

You need to worry more about the off pitch side of things because the previous three managers were atrocious in that regard. The foundation is broken and Ole is here to fix that. Then we can worry about things on the pitch.

 

[Adisa]

Not to me. I'm 100% sure if that was another manager he would have been evaluated more harshly. Ole is getting an easier ride and some are trying to hard to make it like he's blameless for anything going south this season.

Any way whatever way people want to evaluate Ole on, the club would and should evaluate him in the same manner as the previous managers : Top 4 and good football. Thar's a fair game. He does both and he gets a second season and so on, because otherwise LVG should have stayed then, missed top 4 on goal difference and was playing loads of youngsters, but he left and he deserved to go too.

We're still earlier in the season and we're in a decent position now, so let's see what's going to happen for the rest of it.

Personally, I have never seen top four as the most important barometer of progress. That's why I wanted Jose out after we finished second. I don't think my opinions would have changed if Pochettino(who should have gotten the job) were here instead of Ole. For me this season has always been about total rebuild in style while integrating as many young players as possible and jettisoning the experienced flops.
Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean I would accept us finishing 10th. I think we should finish no worse than we did last season but there are many more things we can judge Ole on than just top four.

 

[AshRK]

Not to me. I'm 100% sure if that was another manager he would have been evaluated more harshly. Ole is getting an easier ride and some are trying to hard to make it like he's blameless for anything going south this season.

Any way whatever way people want to evaluate Ole on, the club would and should evaluate him in the same manner as the previous managers : Top 4 and good football. Thar's a fair game. He does both and he gets a second season and so on, because otherwise LVG should have stayed then, missed top 4 on goal difference and was playing loads of youngsters, but he left and he deserved to go too.

We're still earlier in the season and we're in a decent position now, so let's see what's going to happen for the rest of it.

Are you sure about that considering half of the threads is about Ole bashing. He is not getting any easy ride . Some fans are just more reasonable and asking to wait a bit longer before completely judging him. If you ask me I have seen some progress this season but this is work in progress and Ole himself knows that. The fact that many think he is just a glorified cheerleader itself shows he is not getting an easy ride.

 

[el3mel]

I generally have agreed in the past few seasons that all of our managers should be judged (and kept or fired) based on league position but with Ole I think a little differently, but having said that the criteria for finishing outside of top 4 and keeping him would be based around 'are we playing good football?' and 'is there enough progress on the pitch that we believe the team is progressing?'.

If we end up finishing 5th or worse then the verdict on both of those topics is likely to be a no.

However even with a so-so season I think we will stick with Ole, simply because changing the manager is going to affect our plan and we need to give this the time it will take to work for us. Anything short of a disastrous season and I think Ole is safe.

Personally, I have never seen top four as the most important barometer of progress. That's why I wanted Jose out after we finished second. I don't think my opinions would have changed if Pochettino(who should have gotten the job) were here instead of Ole. For me this season has always been about total rebuild in style while integrating as many young players as possible and jettisoning the experienced flops.
Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean I would accept us finishing 10th. I think we should finish no worse than we did last season but there are many more things we can judge Ole on than just top four.

I didn't mention top 4 only. I mentioned both "top 4 and good football", which is for me a fair expectations from any United manager.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Just watched that interview. I want Ole to succeed. I am prepared to write this season off in terms of rebuild. However we must start to see an identity and at least see the club going in the right direction playing wise. I agree with G Nev that the senior players are not very good, but I disagree with him on the youth. I have a feeling some of our youth players are overhyped. Perriera, Rashy, Darren Fletcher's god son. Lets get behind the lads. I just wish he would play Gomes and not play Lingard and Mata but hey ho

Pot, kettle, etc.

 

[el3mel]

Are you sure about that considering half of the threads is about Ole bashing. He is not getting any easy ride . Some fans are just more reasonable and asking to wait a bit longer before completely judging him. If you ask me I have seen some progress this season but this is work in progress and Ole himself knows that. The fact that many think he is just a glorified cheerleader itself shows he is not getting an easy ride.

He's getting an easier ride in comparison to the previous 3 managers imo. It's logical to defend him, or think he's good enough for us, as we all have different opinions but the idea that he's going to be totally blameless if the season went south is something I don't agree with, and surprisingly there're really some who are pushing this idea. It's something that didn't happen under any of the previous 3 managers.

All in all what I'm saying is he should be evaluated just like the previous managers which is fair and square I guess.

 

[Bilbo]

He's getting an easier ride in comparison to the previous 3 managers imo. It's logical to defend him, or think he's good enough for us, as we all have different opinions but the idea that he's going to be totally blameless if the season went south is something I don't agree with, and surprisingly there're really some who are pushing this idea. It's something that didn't happen under any of the previous 3 managers.

All in all what I'm saying is he should be evaluated just like the previous managers which is fair and square I guess.

Not sure I agree that he is getting an easier ride. He doesn't have the pedigree or experience that our previous managers had so people are very quickly questioning whether he is even capable of managing at this level, let alone how well he is delivering on his vision.

 

[SAFMUTD]

He's on the money.

I wish our fan base - online at least (the match-day fans definitely get it) would understand that this is all about the long-term.

Any fan judging Ole on what happens this season alone is failing to see the bigger picture.

What I love the most is that Ole wants Sancho.. but it was impossible to prise him away from Dortmund this summer.. but did the club panic buy and say 'well let's get Bale in - or let's buy somebody else for that position"? - no.. the club has patience. The board, the manager, the players all know where it's going.

Ole also wants either Longstaff or Rice but neither could be prised away... did we panic buy instead? No. We are taking our time to build the type of team and type of identity Man Utd needs to get back to the top.

The board are fully behind Ole and the fans need to get in line too.

Anybody complaining about results/performances this season are missing the point of what the club are trying to do.

This is all about the bigger picture.

We all need a large dollop of my username.

You make it sound as if those players are the only ones that would improve us, it makes sense to wait for a player but what doesn’t makes sense is to stay still until that player magically becomes available.

In addition what will change next year that will change Sancho, Longstaff and Rice status? If anything their fee will increase unless we are expecting then to flop so we can get them cheaper?

The club should do their job and have multiple targets identified, I don’t believe our whole rebuild should depend on getting 2-3 specific players, specially unproven ones at top level such as Rice and Longstaff.

 

[AshRK]

He's getting an easier ride in comparison to the previous 3 managers imo. It's logical to defend him, or think he's good enough for us, as we all have different opinions but the idea that he's going to be totally blameless if the season went south is something I don't agree with, and surprisingly there're really some who are pushing this idea. It's something that didn't happen under any of the previous 3 managers.

All in all what I'm saying is he should be evaluated just like the previous managers which is fair and square I guess.

I agree with your second point that he should be judged as a manager and not as an ex-legend but he is no way getting an easier ride. I am not sure where you are getting that from. Maybe there are some who will not give any fault to Ole but they are for sure in minority. Instead you will find many here who have been critical of Ole and some even want him gone today. So this whole him getting an easy ride is just wrong, he is getting the same heat like Jose or LvG or Moyes, just that he is getting it soon in his tenure.

 

[Greck]

If a promising manager like Pochettino is willing to come here in July we will be fools to turn it down just to continue this 3 year Ole experiment. Imagine 3 years of ignoring mediocre results and red flags just to realise in 2022 that Ole wasn't a good manager all along. That's what people asking for 5 transfer windows with no room for periodic reevaluation seem to be suggesting

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

If a promising manager like Pochettino is willing to come here in July we will be fools to turn it down just to continue this 3 year Ole experiment. Imagine 3 years of ignoring mediocre results and red flags just to realise in 2022 that Ole wasn't a good manager all along. That's what people asking for 5 transfer windows with no room for periodic reevaluation seem to be suggesting

I think Ole is a good manager overall. It' just his coaching the may be a little bit suspect at the moment. But he's intelligent and observant and this club has had its best and most sustained success when it trusts managers over the longer term. Since Ole understands United it's fair that he gets that chance compared to his recent predecessors.

 

[Red Dreams]

I think Ole is a good manager overall. It' just his coaching the may be a little bit suspect at the moment. But he's intelligent and observant and this club has had its best and most sustained success when it trusts managers over the longer term. Since Ole understands United it's fair that he gets that chance compared to his recent predecessors.

I still trust Ole.

My complaint has always been he needs to get the support of the board for starters.

The 3 players he has went for are all solid.'

But to weaken the midfield as the board has done is unforgivable.

 

[Rozay]

The sentiment is fair, but the young players he speaks of are not good enough either. McTominay and Pereira are not the calibre of young player you have in a title challenging XI either, so when you consider that, we need better older players and better younger players in the team, which makes the job instantly appear bigger. That said, we have bigger young talent on the bench than we do on the pitch more often than not, so I expect the quality of young player to increase in the team.

Good luck finding 3 top class 26 year olds to come straight into the XI though. That will bankrupt us in today’s game!

 

[Rhyme Animal]

"Woodward needs to go"

"Club needs a shake up from top down"

Close friend gets appointed manager...

"Be patient, expect little"

 

[Stacks]

A mixed bag of not good enough, not the right fit, not the right mentality. And then you throw in signings like Sanchez (to play left wing over Rashford and Martial). The hope is we've learnt our lesson from such a scattergun approach.

You should always have a mixture of quality experience to nurture the young players. If Sanchez could still perform it would of be a problem. The issue is he had been dying when we signed him and it wasn't a blip.

 

[Leftback99]

You should always have a mixture of quality experience to nurture the young players. If Sanchez could still perform it would of be a problem. The issue is he had been dying when we signed him and it wasn't a blip.

You do but buying Sanchez to play in the position where we had the most potential long term (Rashford & Martial) showed a complete lack of planning. He didn't seem the type of character you need to encourage young players either.

 

[Stacks]

You do but buying Sanchez to play in the position where we had the most potential long term (Rashford & Martial) showed a complete lack of planning. He didn't seem the type of character you need to encourage young players either.

Sanchez can play all across the frontline in his pomp so it would of been a good signing if he was still good.

 

[Random Task]

He's on the money.

I wish our fan base - online at least (the match-day fans definitely get it) would understand that this is all about the long-term.

Any fan judging Ole on what happens this season alone is failing to see the bigger picture.

What I love the most is that Ole wants Sancho.. but it was impossible to prise him away from Dortmund this summer.. but did the club panic buy and say 'well let's get Bale in - or let's buy somebody else for that position"? - no.. the club has patience. The board, the manager, the players all know where it's going.

Ole also wants either Longstaff or Rice but neither could be prised away... did we panic buy instead? No. We are taking our time to build the type of team and type of identity Man Utd needs to get back to the top.

The board are fully behind Ole and the fans need to get in line too.

Anybody complaining about results/performances this season are missing the point of what the club are trying to do.

This is all about the bigger picture.

We all need a large dollop of my username.

Couldn't agree more. I've been banging out a similar tune for some time now.

It's the instant gratification element of our fanbase, of which there is a surprisingly large number in existence, who fail to grasp the concept behind this sudden change in direction since Ole took charge. You can go on about it until you're blue in the face, but your post will be disregarded as 'just another top red spouting gibberish', unfortunately.

 

[Leftback99]

Sanchez can play all across the frontline in his pomp so it would of been a good signing if he was still good.

The assumption for most was that he would play right wing but he was barely tried anywhere else but on the left. Mourinho liked a big man up front so it never made sense.

 

[Stacks]

Gary missed the part about having a world class manager who can adjust his tactics

 

[R'hllor]

Gary thinks similar to some/most people in here, get X players and we will jump for a level, sure but for how long? Just buy quality, buy those who will get the game by its dick and win it, buy those who can decide a game in 2 brilliant moments for us regardless of how we play. Problem is, people want that week in week out, which isnt possible, so what we gonna do when events in those scenarios dont occur?

I find really problematic not only now but in last few years, our inability to develop and improve our game on a training pitch that reflects in a match, our inability to develop and improve players we have, you can call them average quality wise as much as you want but even those players can be raised to be at least good.

Since SAF, there is not one single player we bought that we improved, made them better or way better vs first day they came, our biggest achievement in that department would be for them to stay on the same level as they were before joining and even not sure how many players we can put in that category.

Look at players in other teams that you would like to see in our shirt and that in your opinion would put us level above and ask yourself, how long it would last and would those players develop in a same manner if we bought them instead at the time.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

He's on the money.

I wish our fan base - online at least (the match-day fans definitely get it) would understand that this is all about the long-term.

Any fan judging Ole on what happens this season alone is failing to see the bigger picture.

What I love the most is that Ole wants Sancho.. but it was impossible to prise him away from Dortmund this summer.. but did the club panic buy and say 'well let's get Bale in - or let's buy somebody else for that position"? - no.. the club has patience. The board, the manager, the players all know where it's going.

Ole also wants either Longstaff or Rice but neither could be prised away... did we panic buy instead? No. We are taking our time to build the type of team and type of identity Man Utd needs to get back to the top.

The board are fully behind Ole and the fans need to get in line too.

Anybody complaining about results/performances this season are missing the point of what the club are trying to do.

This is all about the bigger picture.

We all need a large dollop of my username.

If we get Sancho, Rice and Maddison plus keep Pogba, I'd be very, very happy indeed. I'm obviously upset that we didn't add at least a midfielder in the summer, but we've seen how Fred worked out, so assuming this planning is accurate, then it's one I can back even though it means we are off the pace for now.

The last few years way of doing things, maybe we punt at Bruno Fernandes (who I'm suspicious is any good given that there wasn't a taker despite an aggressive campaign) and we are just as bad. Getting the right players is important and that can sometimes mean being patient. Painfully so.

 

[Leftback99]

Gary thinks similar to some/most people in here, get X players and we will jump for a level, sure but for how long? Just buy quality, buy those who will get the game by its dick and win it, buy those who can decide a game in 2 brilliant moments for us regardless of how we play. Problem is, people want that week in week out, which isnt possible, so what we gonna do when events in those scenarios dont occur?

I find really problematic not only now but in last few years, our inability to develop and improve our game on a training pitch that reflects in a match, our inability to develop and improve players we have, you can call them average quality wise as much as you want but even those players can be raised to be at least good.

Since SAF, there is not one single player we bought that we improved, made them better or way better vs first day they came, our biggest achievement in that department would be for them to stay on the same level as they were before joining and even not sure how many players we can put in that category.

Look at players in other teams that you would like to see in our shirt and that in your opinion would put us level above and ask yourself, how long it would last and would those players develop in a same manner if we bought them instead at the time.

We will but it's about buying the right players with a plan to how we will play and how we will use them, this is what Liverpool's scouting system has done brilliantly over the last few years. We've bought names first and then tried to shoe horn them into a system later.

 

[simonhch]

He talks about that spine of senior players being vital, but we have to remember that we should be looking to towering performances from the likes of De Gea, Maguire, and Pogba. That is our spine. In reality we need just one more player added to that, and that is a top class CM to play as a number 6. I believe that would be transformative for our side, with Pogba pushing to 10, and McTominay being an agressive 8.

 

[Roboc7]

If we get Sancho, Rice and Maddison plus keep Pogba, I'd be very, very happy indeed. I'm obviously upset that we didn't add at least a midfielder in the summer, but we've seen how Fred worked out, so assuming this planning is accurate, then it's one I can back even though it means we are off the pace for now.

The last few years way of doing things, maybe we punt at Bruno Fernandes (who I'm suspicious is any good given that there wasn't a taker despite an aggressive campaign) and we are just as bad. Getting the right players is important and that can sometimes mean being patient. Painfully so.

Even if we’re being conservative signing Rice, Maddison and Sancho would cost 250m, does anyone seriously expect us to spend that?.

I don’t see what’s impressive about waiting to pay more money for players next summer or for Sancho to not be interested again. If that’s all we can come up with to improve then we still have big problems.

Liverpool were patient with VVD but Salah was 2nd or 3rd choice, there is a distinction between panic buying and alternatives and patience isn’t always the answer.

If behind the scenes we’re identifying multiple targets, that are obtainable and form part of a plan and system then this season will be worth it. If not then it’s back to square to be again.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

Even if we’re being conservative signing Rice, Maddison and Sancho would cost 250m, does anyone seriously expect us to spend that?.

I don’t see what’s impressive about waiting to pay more money for players next summer or for Sancho to not be interested again. If that’s all we can come up with to improve then we still have big problems.

Liverpool were patient with VVD but Salah was 2nd or 3rd choice, there is a distinction between panic buying and alternatives and patience isn’t always the answer.

If behind the scenes we’re identifying multiple targets, that are obtainable and form part of a plan and system then this season will be worth it. If not then it’s back to square to be again.

It's possible we've gotten some noise out of Sancho's camp that it's a move he's open to in the future. Maybe nothing also and that would be dumb.

I think those three players, if they came would probably have to be maybe a January deal (Rice?) and the others in the summer or three signings over two summers. Our net spend has been very low for the last two summers. I hope we just bite the bullet next summer and go for that trio.

 

[Stacks]

If we get Sancho, Rice and Maddison plus keep Pogba, I'd be very, very happy indeed. I'm obviously upset that we didn't add at least a midfielder in the summer, but we've seen how Fred worked out, so assuming this planning is accurate, then it's one I can back even though it means we are off the pace for now.

The last few years way of doing things, maybe we punt at Bruno Fernandes (who I'm suspicious is any good given that there wasn't a taker despite an aggressive campaign) and we are just as bad. Getting the right players is important and that can sometimes mean being patient. Painfully so.

Not sold on all the English players. Maddison looked dogshit on Saturday and if we wanna play a neat passing game, just look at England and how we don't quite do it right playing out from the back. Our CB need CM who are comfortable receiving on the half turn.

 

[Tom Cato]

I think Ole is a place-holder and not in the way we think.

I genuinely think the Glazers are looking to sell - probably in around 1-2yrs. I think they'll spend as little as possible in the transfer windows while peddling the 'patience' narrative to the media/fans and in Ole they have a manager the fans are unlikely to turn on and thus, will give time to allow them to quietly plan their exit.

I think by summer 2021 they will be gone, we'll be cemented as a top 8-10 team and Ole will be replaced by whoever is the new owner(s).

You're of course entitled to your opinion, but you are only basing this on yourself, not any source, rumbling or anything substantive surrounding the club.

What exactly does spending little have to do with the Glazers wanting to sell? The clubs spending bill has virtually no effect on the clubs valuation IF the clubs ability to handle its debts are in good working order.

If the club buys a player, the money is not gone. It's turned into a club asset. Players are investments, their salaries are the price of the continue investment. The money is still there, in the form of a sellable asset. And even if the Glazers stocked up the club bank and decided to sell. What do you imagine happens with the money?

The Glazers can't take the money with them, that is simply not how corporate finance functions. The Glazers earn money on Manchester United Football club LLC through yearly dividends paid out from their shareholdings. There is no incentive for the Glazers to sell Manchester United currently. Every single year the Glazer family takes money out from the club, and the club pays the debt from the takeover years ago.

Oh yeah and we just forked out $140 million pounds on 3 players. Our net spend is obviously nothing near that, but the point is that the club does spend money on players they can get that they want. We're not going to buy players for the sake of buying them this time around, we wait for the right guy to become available. Prime example: Jadon Sancho.

 

[Leftback99]

He talks about that spine of senior players being vital, but we have to remember that we should be looking to towering performances from the likes of De Gea, Maguire, and Pogba. That is our spine. In reality we need just one more player added to that, and that is a top class CM to play as a number 6. I believe that would be transformative for our side, with Pogba pushing to 10, and McTominay being an agressive 8.

I'd say it's a number 10 we need more. The links with Maddison make sense. Also why the criticism of us not buying a 'Herrera replacement' is a bit over the top, McTominay is effectively it for a 4-2-3-1.

 

[Roboc7]

It's possible we've gotten some noise out of Sancho's camp that it's a move he's open to in the future. Maybe nothing also and that would be dumb.

I think those three players, if they came would probably have to be maybe a January deal (Rice?) and the others in the summer or three signings over two summers. Our net spend has been very low for the last two summers. I hope we just bite the bullet next summer and go for that trio.

If we’re waiting 2 summers that shows club is still poorly run, by all means have them as targets but for the kind of money being spent you can find players as good for less.

I’ve no doubt Sancho’s camp will have hinted that to us and at least half a dozen others, but as we found with Kroos and Ramos that’s means very little and actually signing someone is a different matter.

If Sancho won’t come or can’t be signed next summer do we have another season with no RW?.

We could be gearing up for a big spend next summer but we could also be cost cutting.

 

[tenpoless]

He's been very vocal about our management for some reason. I wonder why.

 

[Gandalf]

If a promising manager like Pochettino is willing to come here in July we will be fools to turn it down just to continue this 3 year Ole experiment. Imagine 3 years of ignoring mediocre results and red flags just to realise in 2022 that Ole wasn't a good manager all along. That's what people asking for 5 transfer windows with no room for periodic reevaluation seem to be suggesting

If Pochettino still hasn't won anything by July then we would be daft to hire him. Harry Redknapp had Spurs in the CL so I fail to see why everybody is falling over themselves to anoint Poch. He has a good squad but still seems to stick to the principal tactic of telling his players to kick and foul the opposition as much as possible and to fall over theatrically whenever they get near the penalty area. No thanks.

 

[VP89]

Garry Neville is a bellend. He doesn't like it when others make a point and he backtracks massively.

I saw a clip today where he says how good it is that we stopped signing 30 year olds. Charrager pointed out that Neville advocated buying Sanchez and he replied by making up a pile of wank.

Gary talks sense most the time but he thinks his segment is the best segment and he can't be interrupted. That Roy Keane show where he cut off the Irish hosts was pretty classless from him too.

His over dramatic theatre views can do one too. I'm probably known as the biggest "Pogba hater" and even I know Neville was a clueless twit in that penalty rant.

 

[Eric7C]

I find Neville irritating now even when he is partly right.

He is basing his entire theory on the evidence of one summer of business. What happens if Ole bombs here and Woodward is back buying over the hill superstars (Suarez anyone)? At least wait for two or three windows before you build a castle of theory.

 

[Stacks]

If we get Sancho, Rice and Maddison plus keep Pogba, I'd be very, very happy indeed. I'm obviously upset that we didn't add at least a midfielder in the summer, but we've seen how Fred worked out, so assuming this planning is accurate, then it's one I can back even though it means we are off the pace for now.

The last few years way of doing things, maybe we punt at Bruno Fernandes (who I'm suspicious is any good given that there wasn't a taker despite an aggressive campaign) and we are just as bad. Getting the right players is important and that can sometimes mean being patient. Painfully so.

Not sold on all the English players. Maddison looked dogshit on Saturday and if we wanna play a neat passing game, just look at England and how we don't quite do it right playing out from the back. Our CB need CM who are comfortable receiving on the half turn.