Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: I'd rather have a hole in Man Utd squad than 'an a***hole'

Untd55

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If it was any other manager, they would be lambasted by the same people who are saying there is nothing wrong here. It is the double standard that is the issue.

He is clearly talking about players here, even though he put that little bit at the end. Is he is not criticising the players? The exact thing that people hated about prior managers. Stange.

If you complain about one, you should complain about the other.
 

romufc

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He is clearly talking about players here, even though he put that little bit at the end. Is he is not criticising the players? The exact thing that people hated about prior managers. Stange.
Clearly you haven't read the article.

‘I feel in this group we don’t have one bad apple' - clearly not criticising the players he has here now is he?
 

UnofficialDevil

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I'm not anti Scottish, I just wanted Moyes out.
-No they are just not the exclusive metrics like I said. Do you honestly not think this team looks better than it has in previous years?
-Great let's do the top 4 shuffle again and bring in a new manager and start all over even though we actually look half decent.
-And I'd say this autonomy on transfers has gone pretty well so far, wouldn't you? Or do you think Maguire, AWB, James and Fernandes have been failures?
-Come again? A severe depletion? What team are you watching?

I don't know what age you are but maybe this is a generational thing. This new breed of United fan depresses the shit out of me.
Im 47 and want him gone.
 

devilish

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What will happen now is that all our players will wonder who is the asshole is. That's not good for team spirit.

Ole needs to be less cynical in his interviews and more cynical when the transfer market opens. I never understood his swings from everything is magnificent to I smell an asshole around. Its not good for the team. I guess it's the price we are paying for having an on the job training manager
 

Fingeredmouse

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What will happen now is that all our players will wonder who is the asshole is. That's not good for team spirit.

Ole needs to be less cynical in his interviews and more cynical when the transfer market opens. I never understood his swings from everything is magnificent to I smell an asshole around. Its not good for the team. I guess it's the price we are paying for having an on the job training manager
Not if the players have better reading comprehension skills than you possess.
 

devilish

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Not if the players have better reading comprehension skills than you possess.
Well maybe you are right. I don't recall Sir Alex doing extreme sweeping statements on his squad though. We are talking here about a guy who had actually won trophies. Ole might learn from that

Also we did started the season with a hole mainly because Ole couldn't get his hands on his beloved longstaff. We were lingering to 7th place up until Bruno was signed and he did what Vidic and Evra couldn't do ie do well from day 1 despite being signed in January. I was expecting that Ole would learn from that and avoid having holes in his team. Holes are often as if not more dangerous then aholes
 

Bebestation

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Well maybe you are right. I don't recall Sir Alex doing extreme sweeping statements on his squad though. We are talking here about a guy who had actually won trophies. Ole might learn from that

Also we did started the season with a hole mainly because Ole couldn't get his hands on his beloved longstaff. We were lingering to 7th place up until Bruno was signed and he did what Vidic and Evra couldn't do ie do well from day 1 despite being signed in January. I was expecting that Ole would learn from that and avoid having holes in his team. Holes are often as if not more dangerous then aholes
That's because you put a top 4 finish this year higher of importance than the right balance of the squad.

That's unfortunately not the same for most fans and Ole isnt going to go out and please everyone like SAF did every year because he can win a trophy with his eyes closed & say whatever he wants with with his lips at the same time too.

For the first time - we look like we are running out of dead wood or the dead wood are where they belong/will belong soon after a few transfers. We have young players and dedicated players literally running non stop for 90 mins.

All we kind of look is like we need some quality in some vital areas - Bruno proved it, Rashford proved it when he was injured to, waiting for Greenwood to develop as a RW or a ST is another.

The fact is some fans want us to achieve top 4 by keeping sh*t on our shirt whilst some like to keep going clean to the party with only their friends. I'm the latter. The first mode will just crumble because you are building off something that isnt solid to begin with.
 

Kag

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If it was any other manager, they would be lambasted by the same people who are saying there is nothing wrong here. It is the double standard that is the issue.

He is clearly talking about players here, even though he put that little bit at the end. Is he is not criticising the players? The exact thing that people hated about prior managers. Stange.

If you complain about one, you should complain about the other.
Except he clearly isn’t. Looks to me like you’re manufacturing offence because you didn’t like it when necessary criticism was directed at (particular) previous managers. It’s a nod to idiots like Lukaku. Well shot of.
 

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I think his squad management has been great. No matter if Ole is sacked or not we'll be in a much better position than when he started. Get rid of Sanchez and we're in an excellent position to add a really top player or two.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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Yes, and we have seen a change where the team changed. A year on and look at the players shipped out, he has done well to ship them out.

Ole clearly wanted another striker but did not want to rush into spending £60m on someone who will not fit in, there is no point of panic buying.

It was definitely not in Ole's mind that he will lose Martial, Rashford and Pogba for large chunks of the season.

Even with a massive squad, City have struggled without Laporte

Liverpool would struggle if they lost VVD, Salah, Mane for large parts of the season.

No one is overstating his achievements, he has done a good job. I am not saying he has worked miracles neither am I saying he deserves the sack.
Herrera rejected a contract offer to leave on a free & Lakaku wanted gone after his 2nd game. Whilst the likes Smalling & Rojo we still own and the prior is likely our 2nd best CB.

As for injuries, apparently the money was there & he chose not to spend it, Martial historically has muscle injuries so selling a 20 goal a season striker without a replacement was malpractice - a player doesn’t need to cost £60m to improve this squad. Whilst playing Pogba for as long as he did versus the opponent we were facing after his initial lay-off likely led to his extended absence. Also weren’t there mumblings of an issue with Rashford prior to his injury.

You’re correct that big teams miss big players but to use that as an excuse over-simplifies some of his failings; we haven’t lost/drawn the games we have this season simply due to a lack of quality we’ve looked as under-coached as much as we have impressive.

I’m going away from this thread topic though but we definitely agree, ‘I am not saying he has worked miracles neither am I saying he deserves the sack.’.
 

NecssryEvil

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You're either with us or against us. And just being on the team doesn't mean you are with us. If you are being disruptive, selfish and not buying into the concept the team is trying to create, you're an a-hole. And in a lot of cases it would be better to have a lesser player there that is striving to achieve what the team is. Also, it didn't seem to me that he was pointing at a specific player, or players, just made a statement about what he feels needs to be part of a players mentality to be part of the team he is trying to build. When you have a group of players that have all bought in and would take the proverbial "bullet" for one another, you get the 98/99 United team or, for a more recent example, Leicester City. Even if Ole is gone after a couple years, I would hope he has at least accomplished getting rid of all the a-holes. United will be better for it.
 

devilish

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That's because you put a top 4 finish this year higher of importance than the right balance of the squad.

That's unfortunately not the same for most fans and Ole isnt going to go out and please everyone like SAF did every year because he can win a trophy with his eyes closed & say whatever he wants with with his lips at the same time too.

For the first time - we look like we are running out of dead wood or the dead wood are where they belong/will belong soon after a few transfers. We have young players and dedicated players literally running non stop for 90 mins.

All we kind of look is like we need some quality in some vital areas - Bruno proved it, Rashford proved it when he was injured to, waiting for Greenwood to develop as a RW or a ST is another.

The fact is some fans want us to achieve top 4 by keeping sh*t on our shirt whilst some like to keep going clean to the party with only their friends. I'm the latter. The first mode will just crumble because you are building off something that isnt solid to begin with.
Top 4 has been the minimum achievement expected at Manchester United for decades. It got bigger names fired ie people with successful CVs who actually brought trophies to the club. Making it to top 4 + buying good players in the process aren't usually opposite to one another. For most of the time one depends on the other. Failure of buying decent players will usually get the manager sacked. Take Moyes, LVG and Mou as an example. There are exceptions of course. A manager who knows his stuff in terms of tactics might overachieve with a poor side. It happened with LVG and Mou as well. On the other hand a tactically devoid manager might take a decent side to 7th place.

Ole will probably edge it because of the covid crisis which kind of upsetted the modus operandi our club tend to work with. Once this crisis is over then rest assured that if Ole doesn't make it to top 4 then he would have been shown the door.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Now that's nonsense. Nothing to show for this fitness improvement. Our key players had been risked playing with existing injuries and sustained some serious injuries. Thing only looks better when reinforcement in Bruno helps improve the team.

How many years so called arseholes played under SAF? Did we win nothing with those so called arseholes under SAF?

Please don't compare SAF to Ole. SAF can roast players, but he would never build a snowflake personality of all saints for the team.
You don't get it don't you. When player's fitness improved, physically is not the only one affected but it's mentally as well. When mentally they are improved, players become better & perform better (Fred, Rashford, Scott, Shaw and etc), as a result it becomes good vibes in the squad. Players already showed improvement before Bruno came.

This is not comparison of SAF to Ole. This is an example of a manager cannot allowed players to be bigger than manager, thus why he sold Beckham, Keane & Ruud once they turned into a***holes. To answer your question of how many years, ZERO, he got rid all of them.
 

Dve

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Isn't that exactly what this is? If he had a team full of arseholes and there was talk of disharmony every weekend he'd be getting battered for it, and the results would suffer.

This is almost directly referring to Sanchez by the way, Solskjaer wanted him gone (and doesn't want him back) due to his attitude.
I believe he was talking about transfer policy (players he won´t bring in) rather that any current United players.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Okey can you tell me how Ole can come out with that kind of nonsense while still playing the likes of Lingard and him being one of his favories? The guy was self promoting in week while we've been trashed and putting logos on tragedy events messages. Not a bad apple? And I did not say Ole does not know how to deal with them, but claiming I don't want one is very stupid. Let's say we have an option to sign Neymar for 60m euros this summer, and we all know that he is a total idiot and an arsehole, would you pass on it? Now maybe Neymar is a bad example since we have a LW but the point is if you can get such quality for that price, you have to be ready to compromise on the luggage. Of course it's just my opinion after all.
WTF nonsense are you on about? And also what claim?

Ole stated that his team right now has no bad apple which is something he dealt with the situation very well last summer. This is pretty much nothing negative that can backfire him but an actual compliment to his squad. You are moaning for no reason because you didn't read the article.

And Ole stated that people who are bad apple are players with the negative thinking which affect team environment. Lingard's self promoting is something off football and has no negative influence on team environment.
 

Bilbo

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Top 4 has been the minimum achievement expected at Manchester United for decades. It got bigger names fired ie people with successful CVs who actually brought trophies to the club. Making it to top 4 + buying good players in the process aren't usually opposite to one another. For most of the time one depends on the other. Failure of buying decent players will usually get the manager sacked. Take Moyes, LVG and Mou as an example. There are exceptions of course. A manager who knows his stuff in terms of tactics might overachieve with a poor side. It happened with LVG and Mou as well. On the other hand a tactically devoid manager might take a decent side to 7th place.

Ole will probably edge it because of the covid crisis which kind of upsetted the modus operandi our club tend to work with. Once this crisis is over then rest assured that if Ole doesn't make it to top 4 then he would have been shown the door.
No he wouldnt. There were/are enough positives to buy him another season regardless. Rightly so
 

Bilbo

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On the subject of the thread, this is a nothing statement and not really worthy of any debate. It's not a special trait that Ole possesses. No manager wants to have players in his squad that disrupt.

If I was a manager I would hope and expect to have autonomy in deciding who to retain. Ole has certainly been given that so far, and his decisions seem to have been mostly or entirely correct. This is why he has been backed by some despite some difficult times. We trusted that he knew what was required and had the nous to act on it.
 

devilish

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No he wouldnt. There were/are enough positives to buy him another season regardless. Rightly so
Well lets agree to disagree. I've yet to see a United manager surviving despite not making it to CL qualifications.
 

sammsky1

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He should probably stick more to his coaching and try to achieve something significant, something like finishing in the top 4 at least before mouthing off shit like this. As it stands he could be sacked by September and this will come to bite him on the ass.
Absolutely zero% chance of that. He is going nowhere.
 

Bilbo

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Well lets agree to disagree. I've yet to see a United manager surviving despite not making it to CL qualifications.
You're right, and that has proven to be a flawed approach. It hasn't worked.

The strategy under Ole is and has been different. The squad was bloated and needed surgery. That, along with unfortunate injuries to key players, has been the single biggest factor for why we are even discussing top four, and the fact that we looked well placed to achieve that despite this strategy is IMO fairly remarkable.

I've said on here before and will say again now, that IMO we are a full year ahead of schedule in our rebuilding of the squad. Sacking Ole now would be the stupidest decision the club has made post Ferguson. The future is extremely promising
 

Bilbo

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Nothing wrong at all. Perfectly rational and instructive statement.

You need to worry about the people who criticise such comments, which come from a pre conceived agenda.
I agree. Thought we were past that by now but apparently not
 

Bebestation

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Top 4 has been the minimum achievement expected at Manchester United for decades. It got bigger names fired ie people with successful CVs who actually brought trophies to the club. Making it to top 4 + buying good players in the process aren't usually opposite to one another. For most of the time one depends on the other. Failure of buying decent players will usually get the manager sacked. Take Moyes, LVG and Mou as an example. There are exceptions of course. A manager who knows his stuff in terms of tactics might overachieve with a poor side. It happened with LVG and Mou as well. On the other hand a tactically devoid manager might take a decent side to 7th place.

Ole will probably edge it because of the covid crisis which kind of upsetted the modus operandi our club tend to work with. Once this crisis is over then rest assured that if Ole doesn't make it to top 4 then he would have been shown the door.
But we also worked in different methods during those periods too just buying whoever's the flavour of the season before they turn rotten. Now we are looking at player stats and things like actual player attitude to decide who to bring here and who should stay.

This might be not be the most complete squad or team in the last couple of years we've had but it's the one gushing with United DNA - from the young players, to the hard workers, to the right transfers in coming - the one thing that looks off is the top 4.

We aren't even that far from it & if we are - it's because he doesnt want arseholes in his squad's ruining other players attitudes and the way a relative new manager ends up managing his players. Those players will get replaced & all that takes is patience.

I've said it before, what Ole is doing now is building a commited squad - someone else can come here and build on that even if he stops because it's useful than purely buying uncommitted players from 3/4 different managers hanging around pretending to kiss the badge when they score aiming to reach top 4 once a year.
 

Web of Bissaka

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Thing is, our players who didn't read the full interview comments may be affected by the limited headlines. Some who did may even misunderstood it. Who knows.

This can either be a good or bad thing.
 

Random Task

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Well lets agree to disagree. I've yet to see a United manager surviving despite not making it to CL qualifications.
There was every chance we would have earned CL qualification as we were one of the most in-form teams in the league before it abruptly ended. I'm sure the United hierarchy will take that into account.
 

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I believe he was talking about transfer policy (players he won´t bring in) rather that any current United players.
If you read the article he clearly stated that and even went further to say there was no bad apple in the squad, some people just won't stop pretending they don't know that was what he meant.
 

devilish

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You're right, and that has proven to be a flawed approach. It hasn't worked.

The strategy under Ole is and has been different. The squad was bloated and needed surgery. That, along with unfortunate injuries to key players, has been the single biggest factor for why we are even discussing top four, and the fact that we looked well placed to achieve that despite this strategy is IMO fairly remarkable.

I've said on here before and will say again now, that IMO we are a full year ahead of schedule in our rebuilding of the squad. Sacking Ole now would be the stupidest decision the club has made post Ferguson. The future is extremely promising
All of that could and should be achieved while still achieving CL qualification. I dare to say that top 4 was very achievable this season. If we take Ole's naive tactics aside, we would have still been able to comfortably make it to top 4 if we went immediately for Bruno rather then insist on Longstaff. Instead we left a hole that made things messy up until we finally got the top quality CM we needed.

So no, leaving a hole in the team is not a good idea at all. We should learn from that.
 

devilish

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There was every chance we would have earned CL qualification as we were one of the most in-form teams in the league before it abruptly ended. I'm sure the United hierarchy will take that into account.
I agree and in my opinion that the club will take that into account. After Bruno Fernandes signing things improved. In fact I think that sacking Ole now would be unfair at this point in time, unless of course the season resume, and we go full disaster mode. However let us not forget that we spent all summer pursuing Longstaff, only to start CM with a huge hole. That huge hole in CM made it difficult for us to achieve the minimum expected and that despite the fact that every single club bar Liverpool was inconsistent this season.
 

Bilbo

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All of that could and should be achieved while still achieving CL qualification. I dare to say that top 4 was very achievable this season. If we take Ole's naive tactics aside, we would have still been able to comfortably make it to top 4 if we went immediately for Bruno rather then insist on Longstaff. Instead we left a hole that made things messy up until we finally got the top quality CM we needed.

So no, leaving a hole in the team is not a good idea at all. We should learn from that.
That's a pretty bizarre argument to make. Completely ignoring all of the realities of the situation whilst simultaneously leaning heavily on the assumption that we threw all of our eggs into the Longstaff basket, which I strongly doubt was the case
 

devilish

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That's a pretty bizarre argument to make. Completely ignoring all of the realities of the situation whilst simultaneously leaning heavily on the assumption that we threw all of our eggs into the Longstaff basket, which I strongly doubt was the case
Whatever happened, we did started the season with a huge hole in CM.. That backfired spectacularly. Thank god we recovered in January thanks to Bruno. Then the covid crisis came in which created more doubts then ever. I honestly couldn't see us making it to top 4 without Bruno. We were simply not good enough
 

Bilbo

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Whatever happened, we did started the season with a huge hole in CM.. That backfired spectacularly. Thank god we recovered in January thanks to Bruno. Then the covid crisis came in which created more doubts then ever. I honestly couldn't see us making it to top 4 without Bruno. We were simply not good enough
I agree. Without Bruno we wouldnt have made top 4 in all likelihood. I dont think it was ever a realistic target anyway.

We suffered more because of Pogba's injury. Unfortunate but we also knew that we were light in numbers and taking more of a gamble this season than we usually would be comfortable with. I'm pretty certain it was understood and accepted by the club and that is why I'm so confident that the plan was to keep Ole on for at least another season come what may
 

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Nothing wrong at all. Perfectly rational and instructive statement.

You need to worry about the people who criticise such comments, which come from a pre conceived agenda.
Agree totally.
He's setting his stall out without slamming someone in Public.

Good man I say.
 

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Blow for blow, he's doing the exact job some scottish bloke did in the late 80's at the club. He's removing the sense of entitlement, lack of work ethic and piss poor attitudes and replacing it with hard working, committed, youthful and resilient players... how did that end up last time?
 

horsechoker

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It's a good approach, these small things go along away but Ole will need to get more than the basics right.
 

sammsky1

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What will happen now is that all our players will wonder who is the asshole is. That's not good for team spirit.
Ole needs to be less cynical in his interviews and more cynical when the transfer market opens. I never understood his swings from everything is magnificent to I smell an asshole around. Its not good for the team. I guess it's the price we are paying for having an on the job training manager
Oh poor diddums. Maybe you should deliveroo some sherbet dips to those psychologically abused and bullied players you're so concern about?

Just state that you hate the manager rather than agenda bullshit like this.