Rangnick on Fletcher: What his role is, I don't really know

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golden_blunder

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Its just one of them stuffs that the club is bad at, they cant even define and stick with the job desc properly. I read about it somewhere back then involving Bundesliga (I forgot which team), a Technical Director is someone who works behind the scene to oversee the club, to bridge senior team coaches, junior team coaches and the people above then. They also help with transfers planning and give their inputs. A technical director is above the manager so they can suggest to replace manager and coaches if they think its needed. Its a very important and broad position to make sure the people and players in the club fit the vision.

He really shouldnt be coaching players in a tracksuit hence Ralf's confusion. You have way way more important things to do, why are you on the field? the club is in a huge transition as well so it makes little sense to do so. If he thinks he is needed because of a recent change in manager, well the club has enough coaches already, let them do their jobs and if theyre not good enough, you have the power to suggest changes or give them inputs. He just need to prepare for what comes after this season instead of worrying about "oh no a new manager, I need to make sure the players feel safe so I will be there among them". This season is a write off anyway. I dont know about any of you, but I wouldnt want someone with the job title Director coaching players. That means the position is not well defined because normally a director would have so much other things to do.
Yeah they’d have been better calling him “pathway coordinator” or something like that because he’s not doing a proper technical director role. It’s just served to confuse everyone
 

Seij

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About promotions? Sure.

Fletcher started as U16 coach in October 2021. He got promoted as first team coach in January 2022 and got another promotion as technical director in March 2022. In 5 months he had 3 job changes and 2 promotions. So either this guy is a football genius whose quality had never been witnessed in football (which is strange considering that United are still a mess). Else those promotions were unwarranted and were simply jobs for the boys.

https://www.manutd.com/en/news/deta...-man-utd-first-team-coaching-staff-4-jan-2021

https://www.manutd.com/en/news/deta...t-of-football-director-and-technical-director

But that's not all. There seem to be an inherent distaste for experience throughout the board. Take Ole's administration for example. We've got a CEO who had never managed a football club before, a DOF who had never been a DOF before, a technical director who was an U16 coach 5 months before his appointment, a manager who never managed a top club before, coaching staff who never managed at a top club (one of whom was new to coaching). Why was that the case? Its not as if we don't pay good salaries to afford the best people.
I think most of those appointments were made through connections. Arnold was working directly under EW. Murtough has been around the club for some time and is apparently close to EW. Fletcher I don't need to say anything about. The fancy set-piece coach we took from Chelsea's U23 team came highly recommended by McKenna. It feels like you need to be "in the circle" to get a job at the club.
 

golden_blunder

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I think most of those appointments were made through connections. Arnold was working directly under EW. Murtough has been around the club for some time and is apparently close to EW. Fletcher I don't need to say anything about. The fancy set-piece coach we took from Chelsea's U23 team came highly recommended by McKenna. It feels like you need to be "in the circle" to get a job at the club.
Fletcher was appointed after interviewing alongside other ex players including Rio and Evra
 

sugar_kane

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Some interesting bits in the Telegraph article today - Ralf isn’t happy about Fletcher shouting instructions to the players and getting involved in the games during training.

Most of the article sounds like a brief from Rangnick tbh.
 

Random Task

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Some interesting bits in the Telegraph article today - Ralf isn’t happy about Fletcher shouting instructions to the players and getting involved in the games during training.

Most of the article sounds like a brief from Rangnick tbh.
You have to question the source on this one. Ralf said he liked having Fletcher get involved in training sessions because he knows the club and the players well, and often asked his opinion.

Rangnick doesn't seem like the type of guy to change his mind a couple of weeks later.
 

Berbaclass

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Some interesting bits in the Telegraph article today - Ralf isn’t happy about Fletcher shouting instructions to the players and getting involved in the games during training.

Most of the article sounds like a brief from Rangnick tbh.
 

Escobar

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I doubt Fletch would do that without the managers blessing. If he does, he is the next one to be moved
 
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That Fletcher adds good value to training sessions and knows the players well. Fletchers role, as you should know, also extends to feeding back up to Murtough on how the ground level looks, which Rangnick is not really in the loop about because he's busy being the head coach of the club until end of season. Rangnick clearly insinuates he'll know more about the full picture after his role as manager ends and he moves upstairs.

This is quite clear. But of course it's easier to spin sensationalist narratives.
Finally some sense in this thread
 

Foxbatt

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There is a reason why coaches shout instructions and normally don't let others do it. I don't think Fletcher should be shouting any or much instructions to players as Ralf speaks perfect English and for sure much better than Fletcher.
 

Mr Pigeon

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There is a reason why coaches shout instructions and normally don't let others do it. I don't think Fletcher should be shouting any or much instructions to players as Ralf speaks perfect English and for sure much better than Fletcher.
Erm, the feck?!
 

Foxbatt

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Erm, the feck?!
If people come up with the excuse that Fletcher can tell the players what Rangnick wants. Rangnick is perfectly capable of doing so without needing Fletcher. He should be sacked or put somewhere else where he is not responsible or have anything to do with the coaching side of things. He has no business being there on the bench.
 

meninred

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Wondering how this board structure works...under Fergie era ..there was a CEO ( David Gill) and Fergie...Now we have sporting director...tech director..etc...maybe someone can give us more info
 

Mr Pigeon

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If people come up with the excuse that Fletcher can tell the players what Rangnick wants. Rangnick is perfectly capable of doing so without needing Fletcher. He should be sacked or put somewhere else where he is not responsible or have anything to do with the coaching side of things. He has no business being there on the bench.
Ah sorry I thought you were saying Rangnick's English was better than Fletcher's.
 

Sky1981

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You have to question the source on this one. Ralf said he liked having Fletcher get involved in training sessions because he knows the club and the players well, and often asked his opinion.

Rangnick doesn't seem like the type of guy to change his mind a couple of weeks later.
That's a polite way of saying he doesnt know his stuff.

Knows the club and the tradition. Heard it before many times
 

Escobar

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Still a strange position for him, without any experience. We love to hand out internships to people without experience, started with our former CEO
 

tenpoless

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He's a victim of Ole regime where we were so hellbent on going back to SAF days. Then he got appointed based on very little reasons other than he knows the club. A recipe for disaster more often than not. I don't mind him but based on history it usually doesn't end up well. I would however place a red carpet and welcome him with joy if he has achieved something in another place working for the same/similar position. But that is not the case and so far he's so hands on with the players. Like what are you doing you're one of the bosses ffs. You're not there to wear tracksuits. If he really wants that then he should have applied for another position.
 

Revaulx

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He's a victim of Ole regime where we were so hellbent on going back to SAF days. Then he got appointed based on very little reasons other than he knows the club. A recipe for disaster more often than not. I don't mind him but based on history it usually doesn't end up well. I would however place a red carpet and welcome him with joy if he has achieved something in another place working for the same/similar position. But that is not the case and so far he's so hands on with the players. Like what are you doing you're one of the bosses ffs. You're not there to wear tracksuits. If he really wants that then he should have applied for another position.
Well he did get experience away from United, having played for West Brom and Stoke, both decently run clubs, so it’s not as if he’s totally unfamiliar with the world outside of SAF like most of the Class of 92.

Maybe he took the job in good faith but now realises that he’s happier in a coaching role.
In which case he’ll almost certainly move on voluntarily.
 

Daengophile

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There needs to be a clear out of a lot of these hangers-on of indeterminate function in a nebulous organisation
 

sunama

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There needs to be a clear out of a lot of these hangers-on of indeterminate function in a nebulous organisation
Agreed 100%.
The "jobs for the boys" have destroyed the club and those boys need to leave.

BTW, did Carrick get a management gig anywhere? He managed us for 2-3 games then simply vanished.
 

Foxbatt

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Agreed 100%.
The "jobs for the boys" have destroyed the club and those boys need to leave.

BTW, did Carrick get a management gig anywhere? He managed us for 2-3 games then simply vanished.
Carrick would probably get a management gig in a non PL club based on his experience at United. He has said that he wants a break.
As for Fletcher, many players have played for other clubs so it means feck all.
 

Daengophile

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Agreed 100%.
The "jobs for the boys" have destroyed the club and those boys need to leave.

BTW, did Carrick get a management gig anywhere? He managed us for 2-3 games then simply vanished.
I hope that Carrick is not lost to the game. He has a lot to give
 

philnguyen1994

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I hope that Carrick is not lost to the game. He has a lot to give
He was confirmed by Luckhurst to have been approached for the Preston job literally days after leaving Utd but genuinely wanted a break. There's some recent rumour about Burnley too - bit of a poisoned chalice that as they're favorites to go down and the fans loved the last guy.

Seems a smart guy, probably learned from Lampard's mistakes and wants to wait for the right opportunity rather than jumping at the first chance only to fail and ruin his reputation.

Meanwhile, he's been spotted alongside his family sitting amongst the fans at most of our home games since Feb. There was a funny photo someone snapped of him trying to grab some Haribo from his teenage son's bag during the Leicester game (probably bored like the rest of us to be fair).

Also, did a bit of punditry for a random Monday night game (Spurs vs Everton), one day after we got thrashed by City. Was asked about the Utd game and gave the most diplomatic answer possible, didn't criticize our players or Ralf at all and just kept saying how hard City was to play against, almost giving excuses for the players (youtube.com/watch?v=_OAb0KKIYag&t=6s) - No wonder our players like him so much - not sure that's what you want from a manager though.
 
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golden_blunder

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If people come up with the excuse that Fletcher can tell the players what Rangnick wants. Rangnick is perfectly capable of doing so without needing Fletcher. He should be sacked or put somewhere else where he is not responsible or have anything to do with the coaching side of things. He has no business being there on the bench.
He has as much right to be on the bench as the other coaches since he was asked to fill in as a coach as Ragnick was short of staff
 

golden_blunder

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Well he did get experience away from United, having played for West Brom and Stoke, both decently run clubs, so it’s not as if he’s totally unfamiliar with the world outside of SAF like most of the Class of 92.

Maybe he took the job in good faith but now realises that he’s happier in a coaching role.
In which case he’ll almost certainly move on voluntarily.
It’s not that at all. He is still doing some of his badges and had to complete a certain amount of coaching anyway. He was then asked to perform coaching for a good portion of time as RR was short of coaches. Presumably when ETH takes over he will resume his duties of making sure there is a pathway for youth to first team
 

golden_blunder

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I wish fans would educate themselves instead of repeating debunked narratives like sheep
 
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tomaldinho1

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I wish fans would educate themselves instead as of repeating debunked narratives like sheep
I honestly think it’s more common sense than knowing what’s going on at the club.
2 recent articles which are immediately obviously fake but generated huge discussion on here were that Ragnick is annoyed at Fletcher shouting instructions. Did he just realise that was happening and is he unable to tell him that himself or do fans genuinely think Fletcher has gone rogue and Ralf has decided the best way to deal with him is to leak a story to the press? Also that Ten Hag’s top priority once signing with United was to immediately sit down and go through the squad in detail whilst disclosing transfer information with bloody Jamie Jackson of the Guardian? People need to just think for themselves.
 

Revaulx

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It’s not that at all. He is still doing some of his badges and had to complete a certain amount of coaching anyway. He was then asked to perform coaching for a good portion of time as RR was short of coaches. Presumably when ETH takes over he will resume his duties of making sure there is a pathway for youth to first team
Oh I agree that’s perfectly possible. I’d read somewhere* that he was actually really enjoying the tracksuited part of the job and considering becoming a full-time coach; not necessarily at United. Given that he lost a big chunk of his peak career due to an awful illness, I can understand that he might be feeling a bit unfulfilled.

* Can’t remember where; I’m pretty sure it wasn’t on the Caf, so not subject to its rigorous fact-checking moderation and therefore probably bollocks :D
 

golden_blunder

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Oh I agree that’s perfectly possible. I’d read somewhere* that he was actually really enjoying the tracksuited part of the job and considering becoming a full-time coach; not necessarily at United. Given that he lost a big chunk of his peak career due to an awful illness, I can understand that he might be feeling a bit unfulfilled.

* Can’t remember where; I’m pretty sure it wasn’t on the Caf, so not subject to its rigorous fact-checking moderation and therefore probably bollocks :D
That’s not my theory it’s what he himself had to clarify once the numpties picked up on ralfs comment about not knowing what he does.

my theory part:
Ralfs comment was actually more like “he’s employed to do pathways but you have him coaching now so what is his role?”. They should have spoken to Ralf, bad communication.

i do believe that he will resume his normal duties when ETH comes in
 

Neil_Buchanan

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Jobs for the boys- what a load of shit. So we can’t have any ex players work for us at all? You have absolutely no idea what he does or whether he is any good at it or not. Crybaby fans looking to blame absolutely everybody involved. Because things are going bad that must mean every single person involved with the club is shit? Same idiots who so desperately wanted rid of Carrick and McKenna no doubt, how did that work out for us?
 

Revaulx

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That’s not my theory it’s what he himself had to clarify once the numpties picked up on ralfs comment about not knowing what he does.

my theory part:
Ralfs comment was actually more like “he’s employed to do pathways but you have him coaching now so what is his role?”. They should have spoken to Ralf, bad communication.

i do believe that he will resume his normal duties when ETH comes in
Fair enough. We shall see. Fletch is no idiot anyway, which is the main thing.
 

tenpoless

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I have watched his Arsenal game interview 2 times and as the video goes on he gets more irritated. He really dislikes most of the current players. Which is crazy. How can someone who had worked outside of UK for a decade or so, that has been at United for less than 6 months care this much about the well being of the club compared to the previous people running the club? its mental. He is pissed just like the fans. You can see it in his face eventhough he conducted himself fairly well in the interview.
 
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