It’s the ‘January window no less’ that is the basis for my point. If you take it out, we also become far more likely to strengthen the squad, of course.
If we don’t sign anyone this window it shows the club lacks ambition
- Thread starter Josep Dowling
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In the current state, I'd question any player we sign, if they have any ambition?!
We aren't signing anyone this window, bet your bottom dollar on that.
No ambition, no direction. Hard to see a way back as long as the vultures are in control.
No ambition, no direction. Hard to see a way back as long as the vultures are in control.
Rubbish.
I don't believe we will sign anyone even though we are in dire need. Let's face it we would have done it by now if we were serious.
So they haven’t improved?
Gotta feel for Ole - if he'd been able to make 2 or 3 more purchases in the summer. (Mandzukic and Fernandes, for example) I think our season would've played out very differently and the additional depth would have helped us immensely. Unfortunately, our board have created a culture of not properly backing the manager despite being one of the most profitable clubs in the world.
If we aren't sold by April, I think this club is in big trouble. Going to give up my season ticket if there aren't major changes to personnel this month also as I've lost trust in the board's ambition.
If we aren't sold by April, I think this club is in big trouble. Going to give up my season ticket if there aren't major changes to personnel this month also as I've lost trust in the board's ambition.
I don't believe there has been such an improvement that you can attribute it to coaching.
Yes. I never looked at that way.
Haaland, clearly has ambition, so thought it best not to join us.
The problem is that if we only sign players with ambition, they won't want to join us. They'll stay put and wait a year or 2 to see where we are at that time.
At this time any player who has ambition, will steer clear.
The Ole in brigade have completely lost their marbles. Their logic is completely flawed and they are unable to make a coherent argument.
The whole club is under performing, from top to bottom, but that doesn't mean that Ole should keep his job.
The only real argument they have is the expected points stats this season, but if you use that stat and factor out set-piece chances and penalty misses, we are where we should be more or less.
The Ole in brigade have completely lost their marbles. Their logic is completely flawed and they are unable to make a coherent argument.
The whole club is under performing, from top to bottom, but that doesn't mean that Ole should keep his job.
Set pieces and penalties are some of the easiest elements to coach, compared to the more holistic and complex elements of build up play, attacking against a set defence etc.
Eh.. im not in the Ole in brigade. I just found the other poster his reason that he 'might' lose his faith in Ole curious. The reply i got back to that was a bit strange.... at best. So i didnt feel like commenting back to it.
The Ole in brigade have completely lost their marbles. Their logic is completely flawed and they are unable to make a coherent argument.
The whole club is under performing, from top to bottom, but that doesn't mean that Ole should keep his job.
Now i think about it... maybe you were refering to that?
When Ole took the reins, all of the talk was about how this rebuild would require patience, and that we needed to give him 5-6 transfer windows to sort the situation out.
This will be his 3rd at the helm - already at the halfway point - yet any progress made is negligible.
If we fail to sign anyone during this window then any talk of a rebuild is moot.
And the excuse about how difficult it is to sign players - of course it is! But if their strategy is to wait for it to suddenly become easy then the whole club is screwed.
This will be his 3rd at the helm - already at the halfway point - yet any progress made is negligible.
If we fail to sign anyone during this window then any talk of a rebuild is moot.
And the excuse about how difficult it is to sign players - of course it is! But if their strategy is to wait for it to suddenly become easy then the whole club is screwed.
Sick and tired of being sick and tired. If we don’t sign anyone in this window the club is fecked
Already hearing the same difficult market bs (whilst other clubs make signings) and expectation lowering as usual. It’s the same shit, different window.
Already hearing the same difficult market bs (whilst other clubs make signings) and expectation lowering as usual. It’s the same shit, different window.
Is there any credible tweets linking us to any midfielder or any striker? If not then there is no intention of signing anyone in this window.
The way he laughed off the talk about Bruno Fernandes said it all. No one coming in.
The positive is that I can finally see things going toxic with the fans in terms of ownership. This situation is the final straw for the majority.
There are many lingards and matas auditioning on ramp in jan window. If we don't get clear upgrade on what we have then better stay away and save some bucks for the summer.
You cant really count last years January transfer window. He had been interim manager less than a month and had no say whatsoever.
No it doesn't. Close thread
That we didn't already have someone lined up is bad enough.
Ole isnt doing himself any favours by trying his best to make the fans believe that this transfer nonsense is his decision.
It been pretty clear that the responsibilities for transfers are down to Woodward and Judge. So why sit and take responsibilty for the mess?!? your only making fans angry by treating them like idiots saying there is 'no value', or 'jan is too hard to get deals done'. I understand protecting players, but protecting the board?? Its insulting to the fanbase, as the majority of options we could bring in (esp at CM/AMF) are of more value than that shower of sh*t we currently have. And for getting not getting deals done in January... tell that to Liverpool & VvD, or Evra & Vidic. Or Costa, Laporte, Mata, Aubamayeng, Moura, Dzeko, Gabriel Jesus, luis suarez, Mahrez etc etc etc.. Other clubs throughout europe must be baffled looking at us wondering why we have done nothing and seemingly accepting it all.
Ole just gonna lose the little people left defending him with this nonsense. Doesnt he realise if we dont get better quality in, its literally gonna end up being his job? Eventually you have to have had enough and put the people letting you down on the spot.
But of course if in actuality this is Ole's decision, he absolutely shouldnt be in charge. Although, im certain hes not calling these shots, as regardless of the sh*t he spouting now, hes previously stated his intention to bring in talent to cover several positions. No way his mind has changed now. If anything he needs them even more now.
I think Ole does have ambition, and does want to bring in a few decent names.. But bloody hell he needs to come out and say it. Lay the blame elsewhere.
The ones with no ambition are the halfwits sitting in the board room talking 'quarterly figures'. Absolute leeches the lot of them
It been pretty clear that the responsibilities for transfers are down to Woodward and Judge. So why sit and take responsibilty for the mess?!? your only making fans angry by treating them like idiots saying there is 'no value', or 'jan is too hard to get deals done'. I understand protecting players, but protecting the board?? Its insulting to the fanbase, as the majority of options we could bring in (esp at CM/AMF) are of more value than that shower of sh*t we currently have. And for getting not getting deals done in January... tell that to Liverpool & VvD, or Evra & Vidic. Or Costa, Laporte, Mata, Aubamayeng, Moura, Dzeko, Gabriel Jesus, luis suarez, Mahrez etc etc etc.. Other clubs throughout europe must be baffled looking at us wondering why we have done nothing and seemingly accepting it all.
Ole just gonna lose the little people left defending him with this nonsense. Doesnt he realise if we dont get better quality in, its literally gonna end up being his job? Eventually you have to have had enough and put the people letting you down on the spot.
But of course if in actuality this is Ole's decision, he absolutely shouldnt be in charge. Although, im certain hes not calling these shots, as regardless of the sh*t he spouting now, hes previously stated his intention to bring in talent to cover several positions. No way his mind has changed now. If anything he needs them even more now.
I think Ole does have ambition, and does want to bring in a few decent names.. But bloody hell he needs to come out and say it. Lay the blame elsewhere.
The ones with no ambition are the halfwits sitting in the board room talking 'quarterly figures'. Absolute leeches the lot of them
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I wouldn’t be surprised if we signed nobody, nor would I have much issue with it if we didn’t. People need to get over this kindergarten stroppy mentality that they are the only ones who have thought of strengthening the squad either and that nobody at United has the intention of doing so.
For me, every player we add is another few years to have a look, let him settle etc, and the opportunity cost is massive. It is no secret at all that the better players are not really available in January, and unless a scenario arose where that changed, I’d rather us not have to order from some January ‘set menu’. By all means, let’s do a loan deal, or if we can get a genuine long term target now, let’s do that, but let us absolutely not go and spend huge money on sub-standard players because they are available now. That isn’t the way to rebuild a team. If we believe we can get what we want in the summer, then wait until the summer, rather than caving to satisfy the moaning from the internet.
For me, every player we add is another few years to have a look, let him settle etc, and the opportunity cost is massive. It is no secret at all that the better players are not really available in January, and unless a scenario arose where that changed, I’d rather us not have to order from some January ‘set menu’. By all means, let’s do a loan deal, or if we can get a genuine long term target now, let’s do that, but let us absolutely not go and spend huge money on sub-standard players because they are available now. That isn’t the way to rebuild a team. If we believe we can get what we want in the summer, then wait until the summer, rather than caving to satisfy the moaning from the internet.
To add to this , is not only other clubs signings players to help them in the ongoing season , big clubs are already buying players for the following 2 years showing how a club must be run . We have a "rookie" manager , rookie staff in Carrick and MK and a rookie CEO, the perfect combination for failure.
I’m sorry but this post is a bit silly.
We don’t need to buy players because fans are unhappy, we need to buy players because the ones we have simply aren’t good enough.
We need a midfielder, we really desperately need one. This isn’t about wanting a shiny new toy, it’s about not wanting to have to play the likes of City with Lingard, Pereira and Fred in midfield.
As for it being impossible to make good signings in January, it’s just not true.
It might be the case that we won’t be able to make signings this month, but let’s not pretend that nobody makes good signings in January, else there wouldn’t be the window in the first place.
Jan 2018: Van Djik to Liverpool, Laporte to City, Aubemyang to Arsenal, Giroud to Chelsea, Dubravka to Newcastle, Lucas Moura to Tottenham
Jan 2019: Pulisic and Higuain to Chelsea (pulisic to join in the summer)
Tielemans to Leicester (loan)
Jonny to Wolves
That’s just some of the transfers from the last two January windows.
It is not a silly post, the club will know the areas they want to strengthen, and whom they want to strengthen them with. Do you want me to list the amount of big deals that have been done in a summer window?
Everyone can see the team is sub-standard, but it is the duty of the club to think a bit further than the next 5 months. Imagine we were working on the deal for Paul Pogba but we had an injury so we just went and spent £40m on a Tielemans instead? It would be stupid.
The likes of Van Dijk, Laporte we’re both long term targets, whom both clubs had shown interest in the summers before (one of whom had a release clause anyway which made blocking a Jan deal harder). Other random opportunities pop up where a player at a big club may be unsettled etc, like Moura. As for Tielemans, I’ve said that if we can do a loan deal I’d be all for it. We are also just 10 days into the window. I’m sure if we had the chance to sign Sancho or Maddison now, we would, unless this ranting is simply suggesting that we don’t want to add good players, which is where it again, become childish and stroppy. There are several well-known restrictions to signing top players mid-season, reasons that the moaners are aware of, but have chosen to ignore so that they can moan anyway. Pulisic and Jonny both joined their clubs in the summer windows. Jonny was just made permanent in Jan, just like if Inter concluded an Alexis deal this month, and Pulisic would not have been allowed to leave in January, which again is the point.
We all want the team strengthened. It would be stupid to spend our transfer budget on some redacted list of players because we can’t wait a few months. We should be targeting loan deals if we can’t get main targets. If we fall short and cannot get main targets in the summer, then that would be the time to move down the list.
Asking for big transfers that have been done in the summer is totally irrelevant.
You said that we’d be buying from the set menu in January, and now despite being shown that actually most clubs in the last two years have made great additions in January, they all have a bit of context and the likes of Van Djik, Laporte, Lucas Moura, Auba were signings all have an excuse attached to their signing, and are attributed to being random chance.
You can’t say we can’t get main targets in jan and then say Laporte and Van Djik were main targets, that just shows that if a club does their work properly, they can get transfers done this month.
If you want to make excuses for United then go ahead, but don’t belittle those who can clearly see not enough work is being put into this window as being internet fans who want a shiny new toy/are moaners, it just comes across as being as I said, silly.
What I actually said, was that if we can get our main targets in January, we obviously should, however - it is well known that this is more difficult to do mid season. Listing major deals done in the summer is no less relevant than your own list, far more primary targets are secured in the summer window for a reason. Again, I’m sure if the club were presented with the opportunity to buy Sancho or Maddison this month, they would do.
Fans just vent emotionally. The same ones who are demanding we bring in the top talent in January will turn around and say ‘I expect Pogba to leave in the summer, but we won’t sell him in January’. Why not? Is it not a transfer window where teams have signed players before?
Simply put, I don’t want us settling. We should target the right players, and if we have reason to believe those are available in the summer, then we should wait, if they are available now, we will buy them.
Does Ole realize that if we don't bring in a couple of players this window we won't get a top 4 finish and he will be sacked in the summer.
I'm sure he does, but he can't just magic up some players if those above him aren't willing to do business.
I think he does not care that much about the sack , the money will flow into his account and for sure he will have another shot with another PL team.
The Athletic wrote today:
"United are working on a number of deals and senior figures this week expressed a certain confidence two could come through the door. But other sources are determined to manage expectations, with the prospect of no new arrivals still on the table."
"United are working on a number of deals and senior figures this week expressed a certain confidence two could come through the door. But other sources are determined to manage expectations, with the prospect of no new arrivals still on the table."
The fact that there’s debate and argument over OP is just comedy. The correct and most obvious post to both the thread title and OP is just “yes.”
This is a classic case of fans who believe everything the club say. We knew from the summer window that we are short in midfield. The background work should have happened over the months to identify targets, with talks in the background so when it comes to January, we know we have deals in place.
There is this perception that January is a crap window, yes it might be true because it is one month compare to 3 months? Ofcourse it is harder because there the time limit is shorter but that doesnt mean it is 10 x harder.
Yes, because fans are emotionally attached to the club. No one likes to see their club played off the park by their closest rival in a semi final. Considering we are a massive club, it is an embarrassment that we cannot field a midfield capable to competing against the bottom team let alone top teams.
Many clubs know what they need. Why have dozens of deals not been announced on 1 January? We both know that this is not how football works. Every club serves their own interests. They do not just allow you to make deals for their best players during the season, wrapped and ready to go for departure halfway through the campaign. Not if you are buying top players from big clubs. But you knew this anyway, as I’m sure this football thing isn’t new to you.
Regarding the emotional attachment, that is natural. But talking rubbish is talking rubbish. And to say a club lacks ambition for not bringing in a host of top players in January will always be rubbish. Even though you and me both, trust me, would like us to go out and acquire our main targets this week. Just like anyone hoping to buy Paul Pogba from us should not even bother coming before summer. You may even struggle to get Ashley Young or Marcos Rojo from us at present. This isn’t new in football. People are just throwing strops without thinking it seems.
Most of our top targets are probably well documented at this stage. We won’t get them this month in all likelihood. Should we just change targets then because summer is 6 months away?
I agree with what you are saying, I am not expecting a Jadon Sancho or Maddison in January because we have to be realistic in what we can get. Those deals are harder to negotiate and is totally understandable.
The issue is that we know Matic is not favoured, Pogba is out for a while and Fred was an uncertainty. Although McTominay injury has really caused an issue because it came so late that the fans are in panic mode. We should have players lined up or scouted to sign in January.
Our targets should not change because that shows a clear lack of plan.
Ambition wise - the club do need to show ambition by signing players not just in January but Summer because we are way way off the pace.
WHEN we don't sign anyone....
That is all fair. I will judge the club’s direction in the summer, not January. I think the planning was poor last summer and we should have added a midfielder then, but I won’t hold it against them this month. But as you said, you don’t expect a Sancho or Maddison this month, but it appears that these are the players we want to buy, and surely you don’t wish to discourage us from chasing this type of player. Therefore, personally, I’m more anxious about who we DO bring in this month rather than who we don’t, because the last thing I want to see is us moving away from the players we should be targeting because we signed someone else in January who we inevitably need to give a chance etc.
If we can take Vidal on a 6 month loan or something, that’s the sort of deal I’d favour now.
Exactly, a Vidal or Rakitic on loan will do just fine.
The thing is everyone is trigger happy, if our long term target is Maddison or Sancho why sign Grealish, Donny, or a RW, surely that will mean we wont sign Maddison over the summer then? But if we found a CM that we can get now and will be valuable squad player, I wouldn't mind seing that kind of signing.
Fellaini has to take a pay cut due to new Chinese regulations and does not mind coming back to the PL. 