I like this guy already
Next permanent manager | Poll updated
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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Is it happening?
I beg to differ. We're in this mess, in my opinion, because we handed too much control to the wrong, not remotely football-savvy people. And the guys we allowed to run the team - LVG, Jose, Moyes and Ole - were either out of touch with the modern game or not good enough.
If we're going to employ a young progressive up-coming manager with a pedigree for building a competitive team that plays attractive football - not to mention doing so with severely limited resources - we have to allow him a big say in who wants at the club or vice versa. Otherwise, you may as well give the job to another ex-player who simply "gets the club ethos".
Give him Carte Blanche and run with it, in my honest to God opinion. If it goes wrong again, then, well, feck knows. Just dissolve the club and become Darlingington fans or something. Or maybe take up Rugby?
It’s incredible how seriously people take him when in reality he tweets absolutely nothing of value. 99% of his “updates” are some variation of “talks are ongoing but not completed yet” and people lap it up, the Sancho saga in particular was ridiculous.
Big say, carte blanche not. It should be a cooperation between Fletcher, Murtough, Ragnick, ETH and co. ETH says I need that kind of a player and the rest work on it and present him the options.
It has to be a complete collaboration between the sporting directors and management on ins and outs.
The previous archaic, or general mess, set-up is hopefully long gone from the club.
The previous archaic, or general mess, set-up is hopefully long gone from the club.
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I'd like to add rashford and shaw to the list aswell.
Romano 'The Hedge', they called him, because he betted on both sides and always came out on top.
Read someone else's rumour and tweet "X is an option for club Y, personal terms will not be an issue, other options are being considered"
Undoubtedly, as long as the new structure knows what it’s doing, and isn’t pursuing Woodward’s path of signing obvious big names regardless of how they fit the manager’s style.
Presumably ETH will have got satisfactory answers to the questions he would certainly have asked at interview concerning this.
Managers almost always tend to work in tandem with the transfer department unless its a club like say Chelsea or PSG where the club just goes out signs a player and then asks the manager to make it work with him. Transfer department (or the DOF) ideally should have conversations with the manager regarding transfer targets and whom the manager wants. One doesn't work without the other.
For us, its important to maintain a balance in the current structure. Neither should have absolute control on transfers.
We have good reason to think that Ten Hag has not demanded to be 100% active in every decision regarding contract renewals, departures, purchases and all present and future transfer strategy. He will have input, of course, and the club should listen to him, but I also think that United wants to do things differently moving forward. This will hopefully be a more balanced approach than we have tended to follow historically.
Way to talk yourself out of a job
I'm hopeful that it will be Murtough and his new deputy (together with the scouting and data analytics teams) who lead this process. If that proves to be the case, I expect it would manifest in smart, data-driven signings (of the type Liverpool have generally made in the last four years), rather than some kind of galactico-lite strategy, like the one we have tended to follow in the past decade.
He is very good at adjusting to the players at his disposal.
It's why the nuances of our system have changed with every season he's been here
Good shout. Mitchell does seem to be particularly pally with Rangnick. I would not be too surprised to see him turn up as the new deputy DOF.It’d be very interesting if we hired Paul Mitchell for a role, because from what I’ve heard and read from differing sources (and may not be true or may be a half-truth) is that Pochettino got essentially promoted to ‘Manager’ from ‘First Team Head Coach’, and his ‘promotion’ essentially marginalised Paul Mitchell at Spurs as Head of Recruitment at that time, resulting in Mitchell making plans to leave but Pochettino wanted him to stay, so it was a bit of a case of Pochettino having his cake and then eating it.
So maybe Mitchell could swing a middle finger the way of Poch if Mitchell got a role here
The tweet makes sense with or without the journo being a hack. Philosophy managers are never content to be frozen out of transfer decisions, not if they can help it. This is expected. On our end we already refused RR's transfer request in January because the manager might not have liked the player. The club was always going to build its transfers around manager involvement. It's not necessarily a good or bad thing. Can't call BS on the tweets we don't enjoy when half the sources posted in the thread are also garbage tier.
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Fingers crossed. It is looking quite positive.
I don't think we have any reason to think Ten Hag is left out of decisions regarding player contracts, outgoings or incomings.
I'd argue even Ole had some input into that too.
But yeah I do agree with the overall point in bold.
I don't know why we are complicating this. Its quite simple tbh.
Don't give the manager full control of transfers because:
I think that's what Romano was hinting at. I think ETH (or any manager) would want a bit of say in transfers.
Don't give the manager full control of transfers because:
- He might not be there long term and so the club may get stuck with more deadwood along the way (happened with LvG and Mou)
- He might not have found the best option within the budget and might be too fixated on a target
- He might be biased in many ways.
- He might not have the club's long term vision in heart.
- The player might not be the best fit for the manager and his style
- They might sign a player for commercial reasons
- The manager may be forced to play a player he doesn't like (happened with Mou)
- They don't manage the dressing room.
I think that's what Romano was hinting at. I think ETH (or any manager) would want a bit of say in transfers.
Ole, like previous managers, arguably had too much input on some of these decisions. Letting Van Gaal loose with the transfer budget was a heinous waste of resources.
Yeah, that would work. The important thing here is everyone involved with transfers is thinking along the same lines. I.e, does this player fit the system, will he gel with the existing squad, is he motivated by money or trophies, can he actually play central midfield effectively, is he a cat or dog guy, and other relevant questions. The opposite of Woodward's 'buy the most expensive big name on the market' approach, basically.
I got attacked earlier under a fan page about saying Fabrizo hasn't a clue about most stuff especially when it comes to us.
Got attacked from all angles.....he has a fearsome online army who will attack at anything bad said about him. Insane how much clout he gets for mostly spoofing and spinning stories as his own that other people have actually more and likely made up, to sound smart.
Jose too.
I don't think Ole's transfers are quite as bad as this season would suggest. The way most are playing right now is not a fair reflection of their ability overall. At least give them a spell under the new manager and allow him to assess them himself. That goes for the entire squad I guess.
Yeah I don't get the Romano praise. The guy is only considered reliable because he piggybacks on surefire stories picked up by other reliable journalists, throws in some hard to disprove tidbits ("personal terms not an issue", "club/player are talking, they like each other") and adds his trademark "here we go!" when they're just about confirmed.He's certainly not this clairvoyant oracle a lot of fans make him out to be. His interviews on fan channels are essentially him giving opinions on transfers and nothing else("nothing confirmed, but the transfer makes sense etc"). Honestly, I reckon most of us could do his job.
The latest tweet by him above is a perfect example. No one is going to be able to disprove a claim as generic as our new manager wanting involvement in transfers. The club nor Ten Hag aren't exactly going to rush out and deny/disprove that by saying "actually nah that bs Fab, Ten Hag ain't touching transfers"
I remember when he took a chance and prematurely put a tweet out claiming Solskjaer was sacked after the Liverpool game, only for him to have egg on his face, promptly delete the tweet and then proceeded to threaten twitter users with legal action after they started sharing a screenshot of his deleted tweet
The latest tweet by him above is a perfect example. No one is going to be able to disprove a claim as generic as our new manager wanting involvement in transfers. The club nor Ten Hag aren't exactly going to rush out and deny/disprove that by saying "actually nah that bs Fab, Ten Hag ain't touching transfers"
I remember when he took a chance and prematurely put a tweet out claiming Solskjaer was sacked after the Liverpool game, only for him to have egg on his face, promptly delete the tweet and then proceeded to threaten twitter users with legal action after they started sharing a screenshot of his deleted tweet
because he wants to be involved in transfers? what's wrong with that?
I say this as if Romano hasn't plucked it out of his arse, but still...
Yeah exactly. I think appointing Ragnick was a step in that direction and now getting ETH definitely means we're changing an approach.
Got to give it to him, he knows how to sell himself. He says obvious things which are already known but sells it like a big exclusive. Similar to Ballbag who apparently is a 'Spanish football expert'.Yeah I don't get the Romano praise. The guy is only considered reliable because he piggybacks on surefire stories picked up by other reliable journalists, throws in some hard to disprove tidbits ("personal terms not an issue", "club/player are talking, they like each other") and adds his trademark "here we go!" when they're just about confirmed.He's certainly not this clairvoyant oracle a lot of fans make him out to be. His interviews on fan channels are essentially him giving opinions on transfers and nothing else("nothing confirmed, but the transfer makes sense etc"). Honestly, I reckon most of us could do his job.
I remember when he took a chance and prematurely put a tweet out claiming Solskjaer was sacked after the Liverpool game, only for him to have egg on his face, promptly delete the tweet and then proceeded to threaten twitter users with legal action after they started sharing a screenshot of his deleted tweet
I see you're being your usual positive self.
Exactly the manager should be involved in who we sign by giving them a list of players he wants. Then he should be telling them which players do not fit and which players contract should not be renewed. It is all about building a team, not a brand. You can look at branding once you actually have a team.
Yes, I think this has to be viewed as a reset of sorts, at least for some of the players. I certainly don't want the club to dispense with a player as talented as Rashford, for example, until he has been given a fair crack under the new regime. I'm sure Ten Hag will be keen to work with him, too. There are admittedly some others who I am a little bit more indifferent about.
The Romano hatred is always funny when you have actual players and team officials around Europe that use him to stay up to date with news/rumors
Sometimes he might get fed information prematurely by agents that may not come to fruition but he's absolutely got good sources and doesn't report things without doing diligence first.
He's also bot unique in that there's information brokers like him in other sports and their credibility is rarely questioned. American sport fans know the likes of Adrian Wojnarowski and Adam Schefter as his equivalent in their respective sports
Sometimes he might get fed information prematurely by agents that may not come to fruition but he's absolutely got good sources and doesn't report things without doing diligence first.
He's also bot unique in that there's information brokers like him in other sports and their credibility is rarely questioned. American sport fans know the likes of Adrian Wojnarowski and Adam Schefter as his equivalent in their respective sports
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The likes of Mata, Jones and Lingard should surely leave. Rashford I agree should get time with new manager. Same with Maguire although he's the main target for abuse in these boards.
I don't think he is hated by anyone aside from football writers, who, unlike Romano, have sources, speak to clubs, attend press conferences etc.The Romano hatred is always funny when you have actual players and team officials around Europe that use him to stay up to date with news/rumors
Sometimes he might get fed information prematurely by agents that may not come to fruition but he's absolutely got good sources and doesn't report things without doing diligence first.
As an aggregator, I'm sure he's fine - he trawls the internet, pulls together the stories that seem most plausible and tweets them for his followers. If all you want is the information, he, like other aggregators, can be useful. The main difference between him and the other aggregators, is that he doesn't tend to cite sources, but instead presents them as his own stories. That's where the criticism comes in.
The Romano hatred is always funny when you have actual players and team officials around Europe that use him to stay up to date with news/rumors
Sometimes he might get fed information prematurely by agents that may not come to fruition but he's absolutely got good sources and doesn't report things without doing diligence first.
He's also bot unique in that there's information brokers like him in other sports and their credibility is rarely questioned. American sport fans know the likes of Adrian Wojnarowski and Adam Schefter as his equivalent in their respective sports
It's not hatred. He seems a nice bloke any time I've seen him talking........it's a dislike of his Hollywood gossip style of football ITK'ing he does, and the constant posting of anything he says like he actually in the know.
He barely knows anything and packages up info from other journos citing their own sources as his own sort of info. Bad enough even trying to work out of the original is even true without everyone sharing his about like it is legit. Total gossip
Exactly hes a good single source to see the latest rumours, but anyone that believes he's got an inside line to every significant transfer across the world is gullible.
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It's so on like a donkey kong.
Let’s hope so. The Telegraph reckons our Top Targets are Kane and Rice. If true* it doesn’t look like much has changed. Not that they’re crap, but they do give off a strong Ed Woodward vibe.
* yes I know; “reputable” papers aren’t averse to pumping out clickbait.
There's clever money and silly money. Signing both would be the latter, I'm not even sure we could afford both even if we wanted to.
I'd be delighted with Rice. I'd stay away from Kane though. He's the sort of player you get when the rest of your team is in order and you're missing that final piece up top. I'd rather we get our foundations right before we put on an expensive new roof.
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