Manchester United and Chelsea battle over Michael Edwards

mitchmouse

loves to hate United.
Joined
Oct 8, 2014
Messages
17,361
Funny, because I remember being vocal about signing Mane when I was in the newbs, guess I remember wrong if the whole place was laughing.
I remember saying we'd regret if if we failed to sign Mane (and that was before he'd even agreed to join Liverpool). To be fair, I did say the same about getting either Werner or Havertz!
 

Varun1

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jun 11, 2018
Messages
1,075
Sounds like BS to me ... it has been known for months that Michael Edwards was leaving. Maybe we were in for him all along, but it's now in the news because Chelsea are interested as well, having lost Marina G.
 

Carl

has permanently erect nipples
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
45,327
Would be a very interesting and potentially very shrewd move.

He may well be excellent at his job but VVD, Salah and Mane were far from master strokes. Excellent signings, of course, but players everyone already knew about.
 

Carl

has permanently erect nipples
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
45,327
When LvG wanted Mane, this whole place was laughing and mocking him for it.
Funny, because I remember being vocal about signing Mane when I was in the newbs, guess I remember wrong if the whole place was laughing.
As per usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There was definitely loads of snobbery because he only played for Southampton, in contrast there were plenty that thought he'd he an excellent signing.
 

Revaulx

Full Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Messages
6,031
Location
Saddleworth
Certainly not Liverpool when they signed him he had virtually none!
Seven years as a stats guru at other clubs (if LinkedIn is to be believed) is hardly “virtually none”. I’d be amazed if he learned nothing about recruitment while he was doing those jobs, even though he may not have been directly in charge of it.

The same is true of Murtough. He may not have been in charge of recruitment in previous roles, but that hardly means he’s not wholly familiar with the process, and what works and doesn’t work.
 

Rampant Red Rodriguez

Scared of women, so hates them.
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Messages
972
Best thing is to flop for a few more years and waste loads of money on crap players and struggle to get into the UEL.

That would hurt the American owners where it hurts most. And after several failed management teams, no one wants to manage Man Utd because of structural damage from the Glazers. Hopefully they could then be pressured to sell because of debt repayments getting onto and not generating the money to cover all wages and costs associated with running the club.
 

UnitedSofa

You'll Never Walk Away
Joined
Jul 12, 2013
Messages
6,725
Seven years as a stats guru at other clubs (if LinkedIn is to be believed) is hardly “virtually none”. I’d be amazed if he learned nothing about recruitment while he was doing those jobs, even though he may not have been directly in charge of it.

The same is true of Murtough. He may not have been in charge of recruitment in previous roles, but that hardly means he’s not wholly familiar with the process, and what works and doesn’t work.
The part in question I was referring to was “recruitment experience”
 

R'hllor

Full Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
15,414
That's not the way I remember it. A lot of people were happy with the prospect of Mane signing.
including you then?
Funny, because I remember being vocal about signing Mane when I was in the newbs, guess I remember wrong if the whole place was laughing.
Are you telling fibs???

I remember being in that forum and everyone being excited about how he ripped apart John Terry.

Maybe it was just you :lol:
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/sadio-mané.408248/

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/sadio-mané.402444/

Nope, never was a transfer muppet, dont remember my opinion on him in here. Also, whole place term is OTT expression clearly, guess also LvG being mocked for left footed CB for LCB never happened either
 

Revaulx

Full Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Messages
6,031
Location
Saddleworth
The part in question I was referring to was “recruitment experience”
Yes, but there are lots of different aspects to recruitment experience.

He (and Murtough) may not have done the Matt Judge bits, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had experience in identifying targets based on obtaining and analysing their stats. Portsmouth’s recruitment was pretty decent in the five years he was there right at the start of his career. What finished them off was buying good players that they couldn’t afford, rather than spaffing a fortune on a load of duds.
 

King_Cantona07

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
Messages
503
Location
London
We should be getting the person who identified Mane and VVD for southampton not the one who signed them from Southampton.
 

Adnan

Talent Spotter
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
29,864
Location
England
We should be getting the person who identified Mane and VVD for southampton not the one who signed them from Southampton.
Koeman brought VVD to Southampton and it was Koeman's father who spotted the talent of VVD in the Willem II reserves at a time when Van Dijk wasn't even considered a talent at Willem II.

And why the Soton person and not the Metz talent spotter who identified Mane's ability in Senegal?
 

King_Cantona07

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
Messages
503
Location
London
Koeman brought VVD to Southampton and it was Koeman's father who spotted the talent of VVD in the Willem II reserves at a time when Van Dijk wasn't even considered a talent at Willem II.

And why the Soton person and not the Metz talent spotter who identified Mane's ability in Senegal?
Good point, the person who spotted Mane should be in our youth dev setup.
 

Tiber

Full Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
10,231
For what job? Assistant to a DOF who still has never completed a transfer in his life?
 
Last edited:

Frank Grimes

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
8,608
Location
Newbies 15/16 FPL Champion.

Frank Grimes

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2014
Messages
8,608
Location
Newbies 15/16 FPL Champion.
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/sadio-mané.408248/

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/sadio-mané.402444/

Nope, never was a transfer muppet, dont remember my opinion on him in here. Also, whole place term is OTT expression clearly, guess also LvG being mocked for left footed CB for LCB never happened either
Well you can't come out with OTT expressions and expect to not be challenged on them. It's a forum, words are important. Your post was not a fair reflection on what happened imo.
 

Adnan

Talent Spotter
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
29,864
Location
England
So almost 1 in 4 were happy with his signing. That's a significant amount of people. If it was 5% I might have let @R'hllor away with his post but no way can he imply nobody wanted Mane when 1 in 4 did.
3 out 4 were unhappy with his signing, which isn't really a surprise.
 

Grande

Full Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
6,205
Location
The Land of Do-What-You-Will
As per usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There was definitely loads of snobbery because he only played for Southampton, in contrast there were plenty that thought he'd he an excellent signing.
Partly true, but looking at the threads now, there are just a few that are really excited, whereas there are many more that wrote stuff like ‘kill me if we sign him’, ‘He’d just be in the way of Pereira’ and ‘brainless and lacks technique’. A good reminder to not take much read on the café seriously.
 

Adnan

Talent Spotter
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
29,864
Location
England
He said everyone which was an unfair representation. A lot of sharp people wanted him.
There was definitely people who wanted him but the consensus mostly was that he wasn't good enough. Even I voted for us to sign him, but I had hardly watched much of him, apart from maybe a game or two.
 

mitchmouse

loves to hate United.
Joined
Oct 8, 2014
Messages
17,361
He may well be excellent at his job but VVD, Salah and Mane were far from master strokes. Excellent signings, of course, but players everyone already knew about.
To be fair, don't think many saw the just how good VVD would be and Salah had failed at chelsea so you might be being a little unfair
 

Carl

has permanently erect nipples
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
45,327
To be fair, don't think many saw the just how good VVD would be and Salah had failed at chelsea so you might be being a little unfair
Point was just that they weren't unknown talents.
 

MUFC OK

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
7,216
We’d never bring in someone from outside the Glazers circle of trust for a recruitment role - that might cost money.
 

MUFC OK

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
7,216
To be fair, don't think many saw the just how good VVD would be and Salah had failed at chelsea so you might be being a little unfair
Yeah they were hardly hot property at the time though, managed to sign both uncontested and they became world class.
 

NLunited

Full Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
3,588
Location
US
Bad idea to hire someone from Pool, he‘d probably screw up our transfers even more.