Our managers actually are being backed.

Adnan

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Who says it has to be those players?

I was naming positions & grealish that Ole wanted in. He got none of them
It was widely reported his top target was Jadon Sancho who had a fixed price of £108m during a pandemic. And it didn't have to be Sancho but it was reported that Ole insisted the club keep trying until the very end to sign him which further highlights the naivety of the rookie manager at this level and Woodward.

Ole has not demonstrated once that he can sign players without spending a fair wack. And until that changes we will keep having this conversation because almost every signing Ole wants is for a ridiculous price.
 

UnofficialDevil

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I'm not anti Scottish, I just wanted Moyes out.
Moyes deserved what he got so I'm not going to talk about him.

But in LVGs two seasons with us - Di Maria Herrera Rojo Shaw Falcao Blind Martial Schneiderlin Schweinsteiger Romero Depay Darmian. Mourinhos first two season before his 3rd season implosion he got Pogba Bailly Mkhitaryan Ibrahimovic Lukaku Sanchez Lindelof Matic.

Back then I was estatic with these signings. I don't know if they were the coaches targets but most of these players performed well in their previous clubs and they were exciting signings

I imagine a few years from now if Maguire keeps going down this path, Awb is still bad in attacking, Telles doesn't adapt in the pl, James is sold for peanuts, Pellistri and Traore don't live up to their potential people will rant about how Ole wasn't backed and how we recruited poorly
True, the way I remember it almost every caf member was super excited when we got each of Mkhitaryan Lukaku and Sanchez. We know how that ended.
The same goes for James after his first games, ecstatic what a bargain, gem etc. Same for Ighalo. Look at the reactions now.
So much praise from everyone for signing AWB and Maguire. Not so happy now.
 

HowYouDoin

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True. Our managers are being backed, we have just picked all the bad ones so far and Ole is by far the worst.
 

JPRouve

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Yes because Ole got a completely different set of players to what he wanted.

Maybe pork chops would have been better as pot noodle reading it back comes across as the players brought in are bad.

But if he asks for particular positions to be filled and none are, then he's not being backed
Who are the players he wanted?
 

Robbie Boy

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I think we can form an fairly accurate idea by what has been reported over months.

I'm by the way not a staunch Ole (as a manager) fan. I don't think he has the tactical aptitude to be good enough and his mates in the coaching department aren't any better.
I mean, 'reports' these days are all over the place and come from a-lot of spurious sources. Unless something concrete comes from the horses mouth or someone within the club, I tend to treat reports and links with trepidation.

I think some of his staunch fans - not saying you by the way - are lining up the excuses before the PL resumes. I see now that apparently Ole didn't particularly want AWB and Maguire. These were signings that were used to praise him last season. The excuses and mental gymnastics are going into overdrive as the walls close in on him.

Re your last point: Spot on he's tactically miles out of his depth and isn't good enough.
 

Steve Bruce

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I think Ole is pretty fine with Cavani. Why not. It´s a one year contract and he could have positive influence on the squad. Greenwood could learn from him, and Martial needs competition. Hopefully a lot better than nothing.
Whether he turns out good or not is irrelevant to the point. It wasn't a priority. We got no priority positions filled.

This is a signing to bluff the United support because Woodward failed again in the market and he was a relatively cheap big name signing.

I've given my 2 cents anyway. Everyone has their view and I see no reason to repeat myself.
 

Will Singh

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Bad negotiation has led to spending all the managers budget and then these negotiators want to blame the manager for it so the following window become tight asses which leads to sacking. Rinse and repeat.
 

HowYouDoin

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He bought possibly our best signing post SAF.
Bruno? Yup.
But also Maguire and AWB haha

Recruitment hasnt been horrible. Big fan of all our signings this year. Cavani, DVB, Telles, Diallo, I think we have an excellent team now.

Ole just isnt the guy to do anything with the quality of the team he's got because he just doesnt belong in Premier League as a manager, hes not cut out for it.
Now you may say whatever you want about Mourinho, LVG and yes even Moyes but they all do have their place in the Premier League. Moyes for example isnt a bad choice for a lower level team to get them to overachieve, its why he gets hired time and time again.
Ole however he just wont work in the Premier League again.
 
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It's like Moyes claiming his list included Fabregas, Gareth Bale and Ronaldo but the club didn't bring him any, or LVG claiming he wanted Neymar, Muller, Higuain and Lewa. and they both have the nerve to complain they were not backed.

Ok next United manager should make a list of Messi, Ronaldo, KDB and Aubamaeyang so that he can say the board didn't back him when he's sacked.
spot on.

do fans understand we come go out and spend £300m in a transfer window.

OGS wasn’t backed because we didn’t spend £300m on Sancho, Grealish, Aki and the french guy I can’t be bothered to learn how to spell.

by the way, I don’t see the manager complaining, just spoilt, deluded fans.
 

JPRouve

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Bad negotiation has led to spending all the managers budget and then these negotiators want to blame the manager for it so the following window become tight asses which leads to sacking. Rinse and repeat.
Which negotiations were that bad? You actually think that you can reduce the price of a player significantly?
 

Skills

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Bad negotiation has led to spending all the managers budget and then these negotiators want to blame the manager for it so the following window become tight asses which leads to sacking. Rinse and repeat.
Our fans don't half talk complete bollocks.
 

Dve

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Whether he turns out good or not is irrelevant to the point. It wasn't a priority. We got no priority positions filled.

This is a signing to bluff the United support because Woodward failed again in the market and he was a relatively cheap big name signing.

I've given my 2 cents anyway. Everyone has their view and I see no reason to repeat myself.
In the end, everything will be judged in the lights of results, so we´ll see. He could have a better window next time.
 

Skills

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Which negotiations were that bad? You actually think that you can reduce the price of a player significantly?
He once managed to get some apples on a BOGOF deal. He thinks you can do the same with players worth £100s of millions.
 

JPRouve

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He once managed to get some apples on a BOGOF deal. He thinks you can do the same with players worth £100s of millions.
It reminded me the haggling scene in Life of Brian.
 

SadlerMUFC

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An expensive squad doesn't mean that the manager is being backed. How many of those players did Ole want? As far as I know it's only been AWB, Maguire and James last summer, and then eventually Bruno in January. This summer our manager got none of his targets...
 

JPRouve

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An expensive squad doesn't mean that the manager is being backed. How many of those players did Ole want? As far as I know it's only been AWB, Maguire and James last summer, and then eventually Bruno in January. This summer our manager got none of his targets...
What do you mean by players that Ole want? Do you know who he targeted, who were the different alternatives? Why do you think that Maguire, AWB, James and Bruno are the only players that he wanted? Do you have any idea if they were the first options or maybe even the second options?
 

noodlehair

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At least according to this.
Third most expensive squad in the world apparently, only behind petrol money owned City and Paris..



https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp308/en/
This has always been obvious - those numbers don't even take into account wages.

The contrary has always been a myth started by Mourinho to hide his own failings. Anyone who thinks Mourinho wasn't backed needs to think - what was adding Harry Maguire (to the team he had already assembled by the end of 17/18) going to achieve? Were we going to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City with Maguire in 18/19?

If the answer is no, why the feck not - considering the amount he had already spent on that squad? Why the feck not, when the club had bought him Matic and Sanchez (two players on his request - who have no long term value, but were there to win now).

Not signing Maguire, just gave him an easy out. And he used it to hoodwink a fanbase which loves nothing more than hero worshipping managers.
I think just looking at the financial side and purely in figures is missing the point really.

Ole for example. It's an expensive squad but in large part due to players signed before he arrived. He has to take responsibility for Maguire, Bissaka and Fernandes, but those are the only big money signings made under him, and you can make an argument both Bissaka and Maguire improved us last season. Certainly Bissaka did. While Fernandes has been arguably the best player in the league since he arrived and our best signing in a very long time...and they didn't back Ole with him really. They signed him halfway through the season when any ambitions Ole might have had with Fernandes for that season had already turned into a salvage job. The club "backed" him by refusing to sign a young striker for less than £30m, who would have instantly over doubled in value just by signing a contract. They've backed him by failing to sign any of his targets this summer. Other clubs might spend less but they don't ignore what their manager needs. He also when he took over from Jose had a situation where the club were deliberately running contracts down to nearly a third of his first team squad, which I imagine makes it quite impossible to motivate players effectively...a factor that was completely ignored at the time.

As for Mourinho, I think he was backed very well to start with, so he has far less to complain about in that regard...but he asked for the authority to manage Pogba, and wasn't given it. He wasn't allowed to move on players he didn't want. In his last season the club basically deliberately dicked him about and yet didn't sack him. I'm not really sure what that was other than self destructive. As soon as he was being told what he could and couldn't do with his own players it was time to get rid, because that's literally the opposite of backing a manager.

Before that, LVG was effectively sacked in secret to make way for Jose 6 months before actually being sacked, if the papers were to be believed (and considering they all ended up being right I would say they can be). I thought he had to go but that certainly isn't backing someone.

Not sure where to start with Moyes. We signed him Fellaini. If he was that doomed from the start why appoint him in the first place?

I would say of the four only Jose got any real backing, and actually, it produced results while it was there. Two trophies and a second place finish which might have even been a title season if it wasn't for City's phenomenal form. LVG maybe he did but it's unclear who was choosing which players we signed and if LVG is to be believed they definitely weren't the ones he was asking for.
 

Adnan

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He was backed and he chose Maguire, AWB etc to implement his high pressure game and has failed because neither are suited to playing in a team that can effectively enforce high pressure. So he's wasted £130m on two players who are a hinderance to the style he wants to implement.

Last season we played low block , reactive football with McTominay and Fred in a two in midfield for a number of games which helped our defense hence having a decent defensive record. So if people want to go on about that then talk about the collective effort in a low block and give praise to the midfielders who were also defending.
 

Champagne Football

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Ole has done well. We've had a horror start to the season because of a late preseason, but I've no doubt we'll be winning games again with style soon. Ole just need to drop one of Bruno or Pogba because they clearly can not play in the same team unless we are home to Fulham or something.

But I'd like to see Ole given a chance to develop Pellistri and Diallo before deciding his fate.
 

Mainoldo

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Ole has done well. We've had a horror start to the season because of a late preseason, but I've no doubt we'll be winning games again with style soon. Ole just need to drop one of Bruno or Pogba because they clearly can not play in the same team unless we are home to Fulham or something.

But I'd like to see Ole given a chance to develop Pellistri and Diallo before deciding his fate.
Who has Ole developed that your so happy for him to develop Pellistri and Diallo?
 

Amadaeus

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This has been obvious for me for awhile and those that don’t agree are deluding themselves. What is more worrying is that we have not been challenging for the highest honors. The problem has and will always be hiring the right manager. Pochettino will change that
 

Hammondo

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If Liverpool have spent less than us and city, clearly spending is not the problem.
 

LVGSdive

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The owners have spent the money. It's understandable in this current situation that they wouldn't spend 108m on Sancho.
 

Champagne Football

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Who has Ole developed that your so happy for him to develop Pellistri and Diallo?
Greenwood and Rashford I guess are the two players that Jose had no time for or would have had no time for, who both thrived last season. Rashford played some of his best ever football last year for us, when just a year earlier he was marginalized by Jose, and Jose had that famous quote that Rashford looked terrified in the match because he was too young and inexperienced.

Right now Ole is having a nightmare with the midfield. Pogba just doesn't look bothered or fit but Ole keeps picking him in the hope he will start producing the goods. If the central midfield is crap then the whole team is crap, so that has been the story of the season so far.
 

Bilbo

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This kind of discussion seems rather unique to United. Did Klopp want Jota, or was he first choice? Was Thiago Silva Lampards preferred centre back? Etc etc etc

Ultimately it doesn't matter. Ole has a squad that he now needs to get a tune out of. The best a manager can hope for is to have a board and a set of supporters that can be reasonable with their expectations of them based on the hand that they get dealt.
 

Mainoldo

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Greenwood and Rashford I guess are the two players that Jose had no time for or would have had no time for, who both thrived last season. Rashford played some of his best ever football last year for us, when just a year earlier he was marginalized by Jose, and Jose had that famous quote that Rashford looked terrified in the match because he was too young and inexperienced.

Right now Ole is having a nightmare with the midfield. Pogba just doesn't look bothered or fit but Ole keeps picking him in the hope he will start producing the goods. If the central midfield is crap then the whole team is crap, so that has been the story of the season so far.
He plays the youth yes but I was talking about development. I’ve said this before Rashford/Martial etc you don’t really develop these players. I like Poch but I would never say he developed Harry Kane but he played him.

If Ole made Dan James a feared prospect or turned McTominay into a top 5 midfielder I’d say that’s development.

As for Greenwood the same as Rash etc. There talent would show under any manager.
 

Ikon

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It's like Moyes claiming his list included Fabregas, Gareth Bale and Ronaldo but the club didn't bring him any, or LVG claiming he wanted Neymar, Muller, Higuain and Lewa. and they both have the nerve to complain they were not backed.
Ok next United manager should make a list of Messi, Ronaldo, KDB and Aubamaeyang so that he can say the board didn't back him when he's sacked.
It's nothing like that at all mate, because most of Ole's targets were readily available and were attainable to an even semi competent board.
 

Mainoldo

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It's nothing like that at all mate, because most of Ole's targets were readily available and were attainable to an even semi competent board.
Like who? Liverpool and Man City would not have been able to attain Haaland; Sancho; Grealish; Reguilon.
 

Ikon

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Does anyone actually believe that this club is being run professionally and efficiently?
Do you feel that Woodward's team are competent in transfer windows?

I get a feeling that some are quite satisfied...
 

Class of 63

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An expensive squad doesn't mean that the manager is being backed. How many of those players did Ole want? As far as I know it's only been AWB, Maguire and James last summer, and then eventually Bruno in January. This summer our manager got none of his targets...
They wouldn't have been signed if Ole didn't want them, and I don't think any of them were well it's better signing him than nobody.

Managers rarely do, Klopp was desperate to get Werner, Pep wanted Koulibaly ....
 

Valencia Shin Crosses

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It's the most expensive mainly due to bad negotiation of transfers than the managers being "backed".
Yeah pretty much.

If we actually went out and grabbed the targets our managers wanted, or even at bare minimum one of them each summer, then I would agree that we were backing them. However, it's quite clear that we only back "new" managers after missing out on UCL money. The evidence is damning when looking at the second or third summer for our managers.
 

Ikon

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Like who? Liverpool and Man City would not have been able to attain Haaland; Sancho; Grealish; Reguilon.
Haaland went to Dortmund for €20m Euro, and Woodward pulled the plug because Haaland wanted a release clause inserted to kick in 2022.
Instead we had that last day scramble eventually getting Ighalo.
At worst we could have had Haaland for two years and quadrupled our outlay in two years time. If the team had done well, he might have wanted a new longer term contract.

The Sancho fiasco has been done to death.
If you are not yet grasping what a major balls up that was, then I don't know what else to say.
 

Valencia Shin Crosses

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They wouldn't have been signed if Ole didn't want them, and I don't think any of them were well it's better signing him than nobody.

Managers rarely do, Klopp was desperate to get Werner, Pep wanted Koulibaly ....
Klopp also wanted Thiago. He also targeted VVD who they paid 75m for in a world record deal. As well as Salah, Mane, Keita, Allison, etc. He's

Pep wanted Koulibaly and didn't get him sure, but he's been backed probably more than any manager in world football at City so that's one miss for a ton of successes (from a transfer point of view).

Ole probably wanted the players we brought in, to an extent at least, but I suspect it was more like needing a new car because you don't have one, and instead of getting the shiny sports car you had your eye on, you get the used SUV. It's still useful and you needed a car, but it's not close to the quality you initially hoped. He wanted Sancho, but was given some young prospects that are highly rated. He wanted Grealish, but got VdB. He wanted Haaland, but was given Cavani on a free. He wanted Upamecano, but we decided against a CB and grabbed Telles instead.
 

Amir

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Yes because Ole got a completely different set of players to what he wanted.

But if he asks for particular positions to be filled and none are, then he's not being backed
Thats the life of a manager - you don't always get the players you want. He previously did - Maguire, AWB and Fernandes - and this summer he had to settle for others. That does NOT mean he's not been backed.

If he felt a need for a right winger, but Sancho was the only option he presented - it doesn't look like that was a plan for someone else - then he can blame himself as well.