Blaming Woodward and all those above Ole

[JPRouve]

Sometimes but not always. Some like a project better, or development, or trophies.

If money was everything, then we could have gotten the best players in the world without guarantees of trophies. It's no coincidence it's the washed-up players we've been getting, where a large paycheck is the priority.

We were talking about front office hirings. Players are a different story, they have a lot more options and their contracts are a lot more difficult to acquire. Also when it comes to players the manager is the main "motivator" not the CEO.

 

[He'sRaldo]

We were talking about front office hirings. Players are a different story, they have a lot more options and their contracts are a lot more difficult to acquire.

Well like I said, I'm inferring based on the way our deals have been recently. Our main attractor in recent years seems to be money, which maybe Woodward is trying to move away from with the "cultural reboot".

But that in itself is what leads me to believe that money is the main thing Woodward has been using to attract everyone, and if he does it for playing staff then I can imagine him doing the same for office and coaching staff.

 

[Tom Cato]

Yea I feel you.

First thing he did was pushed Fellaini out of the club as harshly as possible. Did the same to Lukaku in summer. 'Not Man Utd players.' Kicked Smalling out too, who whilst not great isn't much worse than slabhead. Gave new contracts to all manner of junk (Yes, that includes Mata)

Went on to buy players we needed less, and not ones we needed more.

Went into the season criminally underprepared, and has hung the kids out to dry. I want him sacked ASAP.

Guess I'm not a 'real' fan.

It's not that you're not a real fan I absolutely think you are. It's just that your opinion is factually misinformed and I'm not sure why you've come to the conclusions you have.

None of the things you've said are true with the exception of Fellaini, who may i remind you wasn't exactly a fan favorite and no one was sad when he left.. and now he's suddenly the missing piece?

 

[Enigma_87]

So wait, they were successful and didn't spend money yet they're as bad as us because the minute they weren't successful, they spent a lot of money so that they'd be successful again?

I'm struggling to see your logic here. I mean there's simply no way you can possibly say Real are as badly managed a club as us.

The logic is as soon as Zidane was gone and they appointed a worse manager they began to struggle and needed a revamp (spending 300m and appointing Zidane again). Sounds familiar?

If they kept adding to the team during the time they didn't spent they would probably be in a better position that are now and not need to spend 300m in a single Summer.

 

[JPRouve]

Well like I said, I'm inferring based on the way our deals have been recently. Our main attractor in recent years seems to be money, which maybe Woodward is trying to move away from with the "cultural reboot".

But that in itself is what leads me to believe that money is the main thing Woodward has been using to attract everyone, and if he does it for playing staff then I can imagine him doing the same for office and coaching staff.

But you have no idea about that subject and the main interaction that players will have in terms of convincing is with the manager not Woodward. Surely you realize that you are talking about something that neither of us have a clue about, now one knows what Woodward said to possible signings in that context and while he most definitely talked about money since it's very important, you can't go around claiming things about very particular subjects you are not privy too, no one has a transcript of these meetings.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Why does it always have to be one or the other? Woodward and Ole are both incompetent, and both need to go.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Why does it always have to be one or the other? Woodward and Ole are both incompetent, and both need to go.

Woodward --> Long term
OGS --> Short term

 

[He'sRaldo]

But you have no idea about that subject and the main interaction that players will have in terms of convincing is the manager not Woodward. Surely you realize that you are talking about something that neither of us have a clue about, now one knows what Woodward said to possible signings in that context and while he most definitely talked about money since it's very important, you can't go around claiming things about very particular subjects you are not privy too, no one has a transcript of these meetings.

Regarding the bolded, surely someone other than the manager in recruitment will have to handle speaking to the players agents and family, and making promises and all that. Of course the manager will talk to the player but that's not the end of it.

At least that's how it seems to work at other clubs, with Ed being our de facto DOF.

 

[Massive Spanner]

The logic is as soon as Zidane was gone and they appointed a worse manager they began to struggle and needed a revamp (spending 300m and appointing Zidane again). Sounds familiar?

If they kept adding to the team during the time they didn't spent they would probably be in a better position that are now and not need to spend 300m in a single Summer.

No because Zidane was there 3 years and Fergie was here 26 years. I really don't see the comparison with their spending and ours. Any time they start to show any dip in quality, they spend money and keep changing things around quickly until they win trophies again, and it usually works, it certainly doesn't take them six years (and counting). Generally they buy well, too, something we haven't done at all, which I'd say is a pretty key difference.

I'm not saying Real are well run or anything but there's no way they're not well run compared to us. We are a disaster.

 

[JPRouve]

Regarding the bolded, surely someone other than the manager in recruitment will have to handle speaking to the players agents and family, and making promises and all that. Of course the manager will talk to the player but that's not the end of it.

Maybe I'm assuming based on how it works at other clubs, with Ed being our de facto DOF.

It's supposed to be the COO, in the past it was Bolingbroke and Martin Ferguson. Nowadays I suppose that it's at least Judge regarding the money part and the manager. And Woodward isn't our de facto DOF, the manager is our de facto DOF.

 

[He'sRaldo]

It's supposed to be the COO, in the past it was Bolingbroke and Martin Ferguson. Nowadays I suppose that it's at least Judge regarding the money part and the manager. And Woodward isn't our de facto DOF, the manager is our de facto DOF.

I remember Evra mentioning that Woodward thought of himself as the DOF in the story where he had a disagreement with Ed.

Evra's words were: "I called Ed and swore on the phone, even threatened him. He said I couldn't talk to the director of football like that and that he was going to fine me..."

Unless he misspoke, that means Ed has most likely been our DOF with others working beneath him.

 

[Enigma_87]

No because Zidane was there 3 years and Fergie was here 26 years. I really don't see the comparison with their spending and ours. Any time they start to show any dip in quality, they spend money and keep changing things around quickly until they win trophies again, and it usually works, it certainly doesn't take them six years (and counting). Generally they buy well, too, something we haven't done at all, which I'd say is a pretty key difference.

I'm not saying Real are well run or anything but there's no way they're not well run compared to us. We are a disaster.

Well for 10 years between Del Bosque and Ancelotti they've spent an enormous amount of money to show for 3 La Ligas. COnsidering it was a two horse race is certainly not something to be proud of. They buy good players but they buy a lot of players and many are bad acquisitions for a lot of money. They let go of good players like Robben that went on to become much much better somewhere else.

The key difference is that money will bail them out as Spain isn't as competitive for bottom and middle placed teams, compared to La Liga. They can buy a lot of players on cheaper prices in the domestic market and have higher pull than us, even when in trouble.

 

[432JuanMata]

I for one don’t blame the Glazers, I know they left us in debt but we have invested heavily since SAF’s retirement so they are spending money it’s just spending it on the wrong players.
Woodward is a clown though he doesn’t understand football(great at business) we need a DOF and a world class manager then we will on our way

 

[Massive Spanner]

Well for 10 years between Del Bosque and Ancelotti they've spent an enormous amount of money to show for 3 La Ligas. COnsidering it was a two horse race is certainly not something to be proud of. They buy good players but they buy a lot of players and many are bad acquisitions for a lot of money. They let go of good players like Robben that went on to become much much better somewhere else.

The key difference is that money will bail them out as Spain isn't as competitive for bottom and middle placed teams, compared to La Liga. They can buy a lot of players on cheaper prices in the domestic market and have higher pull than us, even when in trouble.

You keep calling it a two horse race yet three teams have won it this decade! You're also conveniently ignoring the FOUR Champion's League's they've won, and it that period they had to deal with two ridiculously good Barcelona side's. I'd say it's not bad going, is it?

That's not a key difference at all. The key difference is that they've bought way better than us. The reasons they've been able to do so are irrelevant.

I can't believe someone is trying to argue with me that Real, who are currently 2nd in la liga, and have won the CL 4 times this decade, are as badly run as a club as us. Fun times.

 

[bonothom]

It was a mistake in hindsight. I agree we needed a DOF or similar figure. I will have no complaints against Woodward getting fired. Such mistakes should not go ignored. Still, the current blame lies on Ole and not Woodward.

I agree Ole is way out of his depth. When he was announced as part time coach I was amazed and thought it would go like it has gone since mid march. There are 2 proven managers available who were not available a year ago. To keep this current setup considering where United are is unbelievable.

 

[R'hllor]

Maybe its not their fault that we looking out there like we never kicked a ball in our life but who hired Ole? Reports came out that Ole would be interim till end of season, during that period they would find some type of DoF and then see who for permanent role? What happened with that? Who and why they didnt stick to that? Like if at the end of season, Barca would come knocking for Ole, yea right.

So, nah, feck those cnuts above, no vision, no direction, no idea, they made us to be a corporation and not football club. You say they backed LvG, JM etc. Wonder why. Who in their fecking mind, gets Moyes, then LvG and then JM, and final Ole, how clueless you have to be. Fellaini for example, plays under JM, he gives him a new contract in May (dunno actually), few months later JM gets sacked, 2 months after that Ole sells him. Blind, LvG buys him, gets sacked, JM get rid of him on first opportunity, is that what you call squad building? Guess not every player fits to new manager, wonder why again, you GIVE money to someone who is possession ball based and then switch to someone total opposite and give him money too and expect what, that next manager does not look at squad built by previous manager and think, what to do with most of them.

 

[JPRouve]

I remember Evra mentioning that Woodward thought of himself as the DOF in the story where he had a disagreement with Ed.

Evra's words were: "I called Ed and swore on the phone, even threatened him. He said I couldn't talk to the director of football like that and that he was going to fine me..."

Unless he misspoke, that means Ed has most likely been our DOF with others working beneath him.

I don't think that there is much to make of that, particularly when managers have been according to themselves the one picking staff and picking players. If we believe them, then we don't have a DOF and it makes sense since our way of doing things is directly linked to the managers we had. The other option would be that Woodward coincidently always aligns his DOF principles with the current head coach without it coming from the head coach.

 

[momo83]

Glazers deserve every ounce of blame they get, they deserve all the protests and all the booing they’ve had in the past and hopefully will get in the future.

Ed I’ve always thought gets more stick then he deserves.

Ole getting away with murder. Doesn’t deserve booing in the stadium no manager does, but about time Media started calling it what it is.

 

[Enigma_87]

You keep calling it a two horse race yet three teams have won it this decade! You're also conveniently ignoring the FOUR Champion's League's they've won, and it that period they had to deal with two ridiculously good Barcelona side's. I'd say it's not bad going, is it?

That's not a key difference at all. The key difference is that they've bought way better than us. The reasons they've been able to do so are irrelevant.

I can't believe someone is trying to argue with me that Real, who are currently 2nd in la liga, and have won the CL 4 times this decade, are as badly run as a club as us. Fun times.

Since 09/10 they have spent 1.372 bln. EUR on transfers or on average around 125m EUR yearly. Let that sink in for a minute.

They bought some absolute dross during that time.

The original point was clubs that are doing good that have a board that incompetent on many levels - there you go for highlighting my point.

From the off I said that a club can be successful in terms of winning cups and leagues, yet isn't well run and a bit of a mess above the manager, which undoubtedly Real is - on both accounts.

 

[romufc]

I agree Ole is way out of his depth. When he was announced as part time coach I was amazed and thought it would go like it has gone since mid march. There are 2 proven managers available who were not available a year ago. To keep this current setup considering where United are is unbelievable.

Absolutely.

Fans seem to be accepting a below average manager and blame the board.

The board doesn't coach the team. Ole needs to go.

 

[Denis' cuff]

I'm totally with you that Ole is not up to the job. But I think you are absolving Woodward and his bastard clan too much here. LVG has stated in interviews that he did not get the players he wanted so that puts into question who decides on players bought, including under Mourinho and Ole.

Ole probably knew that the squad was too thin - that's my hypothesis anyway - but he's so desperate for the gig that he cannot even hint at anything not being fantastically amazing at board level. Of course it's on the board too to have completely fecked up this last window. We had many months to evaluate the squad, they knew who they wanted out, but faffed around for ages (Woodward specifically did so on Maguire, being told the price at the end of the season and ending up paying that same price at the end of the window). They knew Ander was off, they'd sold Fellaini, Fred had revealed himself to be worth maybe 10% of what we paid and Pogba was saying he wanted to leave. This is definitely not all on Ole. And given the sample size of their stay at United, I'd say Woodward is much further away in the incompetence race. He's sanctioned radically different managers back and forth, chopping and changing the squad, paying ludicrous wages to mediocre players, extending their deals to preserve some fix-the-books value, seeing other clubs gain on us commercially despite his much referred to commercial genius. He is a charlatan of the highest order. Ole is just a decent guy who is desperate to do well but comes up short. And he's trying to also please that charlatan and shield him and his masters from criticism.

Spot on.

99% on here wanted Fellaini and Lukaku gone (“not United players”) and some now complaining they were sold. They weren’t replaced because even though The Lukaku transfer could/should have been done within a week of the window opening, EW decided to drag it on until the last week so he could say there was no time for replacement.

DOF? One thing people constantly overlook here; you really think a DOF would be allowed to function any more than the manager? EW is the DOF. Get used to it.

Until the disease that is the Glazers are gone, EW is going nowhere and we’ll continue to blunder plummet in every department.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Since 09/10 they have spent 1.372 bln. EUR on transfers or on average around 125m EUR yearly. Let that sink in for a minute.

They bought some absolute dross during that time.

The original point was clubs that are doing good that have a board that incompetent on many levels - there you go for highlighting my point.

From the off I said that a club can be successful in terms of winning cups and leagues, yet isn't well run and a bit of a mess above the manager, which undoubtedly Real is - on both accounts.

Are you saying Real are a better run club than us or not?

 

[JPRouve]

Are you saying Real are a better run club than us or not?

He is saying that they have an incompetent board.

 

[Bastian]

Spot on.

99% on here wanted Fellaini and Lukaku gone (“not United players”) and some now complaining they were sold. They weren’t replaced because even though The Lukaku transfer could/should have been done within a week of the window opening, EW decided to drag it on until the last week so he could say there was no time for replacement.

DOF? One thing people constantly overlook here; you really think a DOF would be allowed to function any more than the manager? EW is the DOF. Get used to it.

Until the disease that is the Glazers are gone, EW is going nowhere and we’ll continue to blunder plummet in every department.

It depends on who the DoF would be. If it's someone like Rangnick he'd go full Jose if Ed was trivialising his role. If we were to hire a no-experience ex-player, then that's the opposite side of the spectrum.

 

[sammyk123]

I for one don’t blame the Glazers, I know they left us in debt but we have invested heavily since SAF’s retirement so they are spending money it’s just spending it on the wrong players.
Woodward is a clown though he doesn’t understand football(great at business) we need a DOF and a world class manager then we will on our way

Who hired Ed?

It's the Glazers responsibility to hire the right people, if they don't, then they are to blame.

Regarding investment, they are spending the club's money, not their own. Not sure they deserve credit for that

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

I've had enough of people shoving all the blame on Ed Woodward and defending Ole with this whole "until Woodward resigns". Complete nonsense. I'm not here to say Woodward has done a great or even good job but it is nowhere near the incompetency Ole has shown.

Woodward backed every LVG transfer till the end. Backed Mourinho with all sorts of players he wanted that turned out to be garbage. Mourinho was not backed for one season because of his failed transfer record. Yes Woodward made a mistake giving Mourinho that long contract and I said it back then as well but at the time it did make sense.

Now he has made (in hindsight) the mistake of appointing Ole but put yourself in Woodwards shoes. Imagine not giving Ole the contract back then and getting another manager in who may also have failed. We would have slaughtered Woodward for "what could have been" with how Ole was winning every game. Still, Woodward does take some blame for not giving him a shorter contract or waiting till the end of the season.

When it comes to summer 2019 transfers I simply do not understand how Ed Woodward is getting the blame. Time and time again, press conference after press conference Ole has shown his naive approach when it comes to judging players. Ole truly believed we would be fine going in this season with youth like Greenwood and Perreira. Okay, Wan Bissaka Maguire and James are good transfers but they cost a fortune -- any of us could have known Wan Bissaka or Maguire would be good fits. A top manager would (such as Poch) would find a low price bargain. Someone like a Soyuncu.

Ole chose to let Fellaini and Lukaku go and replace them with youngsters from the academy. If Ole identified targets such as Dybala, Bale and/or Modric and the board failed to get them that is not the boards fault. Identifying world class players can be done by any of us on here. The manager failing to identify realistic targets is another blunder on his part.

Furthermore, Woodward is not to blame for Ole playing Perreira on the wings, Mata on the right and back three's when we don't need it.

Yeah feck Woodward but Ole's failure has nothing to do with him. We can be a very successful club even with a shitty board.

So you agree that Woodward is shite at picking managers, backed managers who bought shite players (and overruled some decent signings), but let's forget him and heap the blame on the managers 'cause maybe he'll appoint the right guy and back him properly next time.

 

[djembatheking]

Manchester United will not win a league title while Glazers/Woodward are running the show no matter who the manager is.

 

[Enigma_87]

Are you saying Real are a better run club than us or not?

what @JPRouve said. Incompetent board, but they also win stuff. In essence they can be successful despite the board.

 

[shamans]

So you agree that Woodward is shite at picking managers, backed managers who bought shite players (and overruled some decent signings), but let's forget him and heap the blame on the managers 'cause maybe he'll appoint the right guy and back him properly next time.

I'm not going to agree with overruling decent signings. That's media speculation as far as we know.

Yes his biggest crime has been picking bad manager but I do think he was a little unlucky. LVG and Mou at the time 100% made sense and it's what the fans wanted. That said it's a results game and Woodward getting fired would be absolutely deserved.

I would love to have someone other than Woodward for the change but to me it's like the house is on fire (Ole in charge) and people are saying "hmm this neighborhood is too prone to fires" (Woodward/Glazers). I mean put out the damn fire first!

 

[adexkola]

You say as if other clubs aren't running through multiple managers. It's only a big deal here because for our fans, the success criteria is for the manager to last 26 years

stop it

Are City and Liverpool overdue for managerial overhauls? Don't you think making the right choice as manager is important?

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

- Let Moyes replace the successful backroom staff and let senior players' contracts expire
- Aimed for Fabregas, Thiago and Bale, ended up overpaying for Fellaini
- Overpaid for Mata and set a precedent that he'd trust the manager (Moyes) for signings even on high wages even if they don't fit in
- Failed to recruit Klopp with Disneyland comments, failed to recruit Pep by laying out a structure for him
- Awarded Wayne Rooney a contract that would collapse our wage structure and haunt us in retrospect for years
- Showed no vision or consistency after we sacked Moyes and hired LVG who played tumescent, boring football
- Continued the precedent to trust the manager for most signings who don't fit in again, but identified targets poorly, didn't get who LVG wanted
- overpaid for those that we did acquire with not much foresight as to if they're long term recruits or if their motivation is simply money (AdM)
- Let go of key players without thinking of a possibility where the next manager could use them, only to sack the current manager within a season
- Lost faith in LVG after boring football and a fifth placed finish and sacked him unprofessionally right after a trophy, less than a season after we let expensive players leave based on his judgement
- No footballing vision or long-term plan when we hired Mourinho, another manager who traditionally doesn't trust youth, leaves teams broken after 3 years and plays conservative football
- Smashed the wage structure again by signing Alexis Sanchez with a contract that left the likes of De Gea with extremely high bargaining power
- Failed to learn from previous mistakes and again let key contracts run down losing bargaining power along the way, and eventually Herrera as well
- Once again, awarded the likes of Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Lingard new undeserved, overpaid contracts, unnecessarily boosting player power
- Gave Mourinho a new contract, but suddenly broke the precedent of trusting the manager with signings with Maguire, Perisic and allegedly Willian
- In the most crucial, marketable summer since SAF (a top manager, a squad with big name players and a 2nd placed finish, rivals strenghtening) we bought an overpriced CM and a backup RB/GK and set the clock back by years again
- After triggering Mourinho's meltdown, signed a rookie manager from Molde on the sole basis of him being a United legend, in another departure from consistency in footballing style
- Ended up signing the previous managers targets for higher, record transfer fees (Maguire)
- Did not have the foresight to at least wait out the rest of the season before hiring Ole fulltime
- Suddenly decided to balance the wages by by stripping the squad down to the bare bones in one go without replacing the big names that have left
- Left the squad massively imbalanced and extremely thin going into the season, despite Ole publicly promising a massive turnover


I don't think Ole is responsible for any of the above.

The bolded point hurts the most for me. We could have pushed on from 2nd place, we could have backed Jose properly and avoided the toxic meltdown. That is a moment to look back on and wonder what could have been if we'd gotten him Perisic and Maguire along with Fred and Dalot, and then spent again next summer. We may have stopped Liverpool's rise if we did that, and possibly stopped them from winning another CL.

Parts of the 'heritage' presser from Jose come to mind:



Jose couldn't use Depay, Rooney, Schneiderlin or Schweinsteiger. And Ole couldn't use Lukaku, Matic or Sanchez. That's 200m without any return right there.
And that's a direct reason for why Woodward is responsible.

Absolutely bang on the money
Woodward is an incompetent meddlesome deluded chinless gobshite who doesnt know the difference between a football and a narwhal. He is a typical money obsessed banker wanker who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing and is almost single handedly responsible for the utter shit show post SAF.

 

[Enigma_87]

Manchester United will not win a league title while Glazers/Woodward are running the show no matter who the manager is.

How do you explain Inter now being on top of the league despite not finishing higher than 4th since 9 years?

Is it because they changed the ownership and made a complete overhaul, or appointed their first quality manager in 9 years?

 

[JPRouve]

How do you explain Inter now being on top of the league despite not finishing higher than 4th since 9 years?

Is it because they changed the ownership and made a complete overhaul, or appointed their first quality manager in 9 years?

To be fair, Inter appointed Marotta and then signed Conte.

 

[I Am Zlatan]

I want to start off by saying, I can’t wait for the day Ed, and the Glazers feck off! They’re destroying our club.

Ed, and the Glazers are cancer to our club, but let me remind everyone, under Mourinho, we came second not too long ago, and had city not have an exceptional season, we could’ve had a decent shout for the title or got really close...We can’t blame everything on everyone else but Ole, or act like he’s not big part of the problem either, True our board and Ed are horrible, but we surely need a much, much better manager.

 

[Enigma_87]

To be fair, Inter appointed Marotta and then signed Conte.

I think there were already rumors of Conte going to Inter when Marotta was still at Juve? They appointed him in December was it and Conte was officially unveiled couple of months later.

 

[JMack1234]

You walk and chew gum.

There's a lot of blame to go around for why we're 10th in the league in December and in my opinion most of the blame lands on Woodward. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that Ole has been in charge for nearly a year now, he's got a win rate below 50% and there is absolutely no evidence that he's up to the task that he's been given from any of his previous roles.

We could get rid of the Glazer and Woodward and appoint the most brilliant sporting directors on the planet and none of it we account for anything if we have a manager who isn't good enough it'll all be nothing.

 

[RedWat]

- Let Moyes replace the successful backroom staff and let senior players' contracts expire
- Aimed for Fabregas, Thiago and Bale, ended up overpaying for Fellaini
- Overpaid for Mata and set a precedent that he'd trust the manager (Moyes) for signings even on high wages even if they don't fit in
- Failed to recruit Klopp with Disneyland comments, failed to recruit Pep by laying out a structure for him
- Awarded Wayne Rooney a contract that would collapse our wage structure and haunt us in retrospect for years
- Showed no vision or consistency after we sacked Moyes and hired LVG who played tumescent, boring football
- Continued the precedent to trust the manager for most signings who don't fit in again, but identified targets poorly, didn't get who LVG wanted
- overpaid for those that we did acquire with not much foresight as to if they're long term recruits or if their motivation is simply money (AdM)
- Let go of key players without thinking of a possibility where the next manager could use them, only to sack the current manager within a season
- Lost faith in LVG after boring football and a fifth placed finish and sacked him unprofessionally right after a trophy, less than a season after we let expensive players leave based on his judgement
- No footballing vision or long-term plan when we hired Mourinho, another manager who traditionally doesn't trust youth, leaves teams broken after 3 years and plays conservative football
- Smashed the wage structure again by signing Alexis Sanchez with a contract that left the likes of De Gea with extremely high bargaining power
- Failed to learn from previous mistakes and again let key contracts run down losing bargaining power along the way, and eventually Herrera as well
- Once again, awarded the likes of Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Lingard new undeserved, overpaid contracts, unnecessarily boosting player power
- Gave Mourinho a new contract, but suddenly broke the precedent of trusting the manager with signings with Maguire, Perisic and allegedly Willian
- In the most crucial, marketable summer since SAF (a top manager, a squad with big name players and a 2nd placed finish, rivals strenghtening) we bought an overpriced CM and a backup RB/GK and set the clock back by years again
- After triggering Mourinho's meltdown, signed a rookie manager from Molde on the sole basis of him being a United legend, in another departure from consistency in footballing style
- Ended up signing the previous managers targets for higher, record transfer fees (Maguire)
- Did not have the foresight to at least wait out the rest of the season before hiring Ole fulltime
- Suddenly decided to balance the wages by by stripping the squad down to the bare bones in one go without replacing the big names that have left
- Left the squad massively imbalanced and extremely thin going into the season, despite Ole publicly promising a massive turnover


I don't think Ole is responsible for any of the above.

The bolded point hurts the most for me. We could have pushed on from 2nd place, we could have backed Jose properly and avoided the toxic meltdown. That is a moment to look back on and wonder what could have been if we'd gotten him Perisic and Maguire along with Fred and Dalot, and then spent again next summer. We may have stopped Liverpool's rise if we did that, and possibly stopped them from winning another CL.

Parts of the 'heritage' presser from Jose come to mind:



Jose couldn't use Depay, Rooney, Schneiderlin or Schweinsteiger. And Ole couldn't use Lukaku, Matic or Sanchez. That's 200m without any return right there.
And that's a direct reason for why Woodward is responsible.

We have the worst of both worlds atm a board with no insight or vision for the on field future.There is no joined up thinking taking place upstairs. No continuity with a bunch of ad hoc pragmatic managers appointed post SAF and the type of players being bought, as mentioned in the past, the managers bringing in their former “past it” or “ not good enough” players along with them in the shape of Fellaini(Moyes),Schweinsteiger(LVG), Matic(Jose) that the manager succeeding them do not want.

Sadly Ole tactic & coaching wise is the least talented and least experienced out of all those following SAF , and looks out of his depth. If the board eventually do decide to sack Ole I was thinking that they might steer away from Poch in fear that he would, unlike Ole would not be a “Yes” man and would start criticising the board if there was a funding issue.
However I’m starting to think that the board may consider Poch’s level of work at Spurs where he actually improved players and did not have a great deal of cash to work with(far less than the Utd Managers had been given).
If Poch can improve with what we currently have plus spend funds where needed then even though things would still not be perfect because of the board’s mindset, at least we would be starting to move in the right direction.

 

[JPRouve]

I think there were already rumors of Conte going to Inter when Marotta was still at Juve? They appointed him in December was it and Conte was officially unveiled couple of months later.

Unless I missed something Conte was appointed in May, almost six month after Marotta's appointment.

 

[clarkydaz]

Ole is already begging for Woodward to do his job properly...but when it doesn’t happen, fans will blame Ole.

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Fair to say this thread backfired?

he wanted new signings in ready for preseason. That went well ( then again it is difficult to pull off 3 signings isn't it)

 

[Enigma_87]

Unless I missed something Conte was appointed in May.

Yes, but rumors got him either taking up Juve or Inter before Marotta was appointed at Inter. He was officially appointed in May, true.