I'm not sure though. Firstly it's hard to determine what a "great" manager is. Pep wasn't a great manager when he took over at Barcelona. Klopp wasn't a guarantee even when he came in at Liverpool, and outside of those two, there is no one else you can put in the "great" bracket. You're down to picking from the likes of Pochettino or Jose...managers who've failed at clubs with similar or less expectation than United, or who you know have a short shelf life and come with a guaranteed fallout/car crash ending. Basically, not great managers. Either that or you take a chance on an unknown as we have done.
You think Pochettino failed at Spurs? really? I can't even fathom the idea. If you look at every single aspect of Pochettinos reign at Spurs, they literally improved everywhere, everywhere, there isn't a single aspect where they went backwards under him. Obviously his last season at the club was his weakest but he still achieved two things that there is absolutely no chance of happening this season at United under Ole and that's 4th spot and a CL Final. Considering we've also finished outside the top 4 in four of the last six seasons that overall performance is hardly something we can turn our noses up at.
League finishes - Between 4th and 6th and lower before Poch - Top three three times in a row under Poch, not outside the top 4 in any season bar his first. We've finished 2nd once in six seasons (might as well say seven because we aint finishing that high this season)
Style of play - It's strange how the anti Poch people focus purely on his last 18 months at Spurs, completely disregarding 36 months prior to that of Spurs being one of the best teams to watch in the league. We've basically been an unwatchable team for about 70 of the 76 months since SIr Alex stepped down.
Players - The list is endless, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Eriksen, Ali, Dembele, Kane, Son, all became top PL players under his guidance. How many players have improved after signing for United post Fergie? One? two? can't be more than three.
All this achieved with basically a weekly wage cap and a net spend less than teams currently playing in the Championship and currently in the bottom three of the PL.
I get it he didn't win a trophy at Spurs and at United he would be expected to win trophies but at Spurs, how many trophies of any relevance have they won in the last 30 years? two league cups. When judging a manager you can't look at anything in isolation, you can't pick specific time frames that suit the argument, you can't apply the expectancy of a club like United to Spurs because it's worlds apart, you have to look at the entire reign and picture. You look at the club he's at and what level they were at prior to that manager being at the club and like I said, there isn't a single aspect Spurs did not improve at under Poch.
There is absolutely no way and nothing in Ole's managerial history to suggest Ole could have done what Poch did at Spurs, with the same restraints. Absolutely no way.
This isn't me saying Poch is the answer to everything and that he will 100% bring this club back to the top of the elite but if I were hedging my bets on who would do better and if i was in charge of the club and had to make a choice I would pick Poch 99 times out of 100 over Ole. The fact is the board should never have given Ole the job full time, they should never have put him in this position in the same way we shouldn't put other club legends who are not capable of turning around the club in this position.
I also don't buy into this idea that we need a few catastrophic seasons before we can be half decent again, that's nonsense, not saying you said this but it is a general theme making the rounds. I don't expect us to overtake city and Liverpool but this United team needs a proper coach, who can instill some intent and purpose with a clear tactical style. United need to be finishing in 3rd/4th minimum over the next couple of seasons, these things are achievable. Pochettino has proven he can do this and so for me it''s a no brainer. He knows the league, his stock is high, he's respected in football. These things matter and can make a difference. Ole has been here for 13 months and whilst there are a few positives I still scratch my head on a regular basis as to what exactly our team are doing on the pitch (you yourself in the post match thread couldnt work out where anyone was playing) How is that ok?. Then we start looking at things like set pieces and the handling of injuries and I'm just left thinking, what on earth is Ole doing here? And i hate it, constantly having to post things Ole's doing wrong, almost feels like betrayal but it's that fecking cnut Woodward who has put him in this unwinnable position.
