Duncan Castles interview

[Denis' cuff]

Christ mate, do you believe everything you hear? I'll take SAF's word over that of Duncan fecking Castles every day of the week. As for the Glazer's being "smart people", they're pretty fecking stupid if what Castles says is true and they squeezed SAF out. How's that lookin' now that we're sitting 2 points out of relegation and going to miss top 4 for the 5th time in 7 years.

Which is it? “Taking SAFs word over that of Duncan fecking Castles” or “if what Castles says is true “. Make your mind up pal. You’re confused.

The Glazers are doing alright for themselves despite their “stupidity”. You obviously are at a higher station than the rest of us.

 

[Denis' cuff]

Watch it again, he said they told him to retire and he said they should allow him to choose his own successor. Given how the man made them so much money by winning on the cheap and thereby keeping the fans at bay I think they would have kept him on forever even to the extent of pushing him in a wheelchair to Carrington. If Fergie could accept to work in the 'no value in the market' era there was no point of conflict between the two, its B.S.

Yeah, that’s my point. I think they just wanted/expected Fergie to dance to their tune and Fergie eventually found it all intolerable. This bollox about supporting his wife/spending time with the family is the oldest one in the book. Expedience. (Scholes used the same excuse for telling England to shove it) He’d had enough and wasn’t getting any younger anyway. I doubt he’d be enjoying his current, no doubt lucrative role if their was any conflict between the two.

Aye, full of bullshit. Journalists.

 

[POF]

I mean you can't really believe much of what he says as he's Mourinho's bitch, but there were some interesting points in the interview.

• It was Mourinho that turned US down in '13 (find that particularly hard to believe)
• It was Mourinho who wasn't convinced by Maguire, (who was suggested by our scouts) Summer '18 - and wanted other experienced options (Boeteng was it?)
• The Glazers WANTED Fergie to retire - they didn't like the power he had at the club and relished the opportunity to take the club in their own direction. Fergie "agreed to retire" as long as he got to pick his successor and have a seat on the board. Fergie chose Mourinho but he turned us down for Chelsea so Fergie scrambled around and ended up hastily picking Moyes.
• Glazers didn't like this but knew they'd be able to sack him sooner or later.
• SOME of the senior players aren't convinced by Ole's training methods (British, Old School, unsophisticated) and Castles reckons it's also caused us to have a massive increase in muscular injuries because of the overemphasis on physical fitness training. (Didn't we have a similar situation with Moyes?)
• Castles portrays Ole as a Yes Man to the Glazers who won't kick up a fuss for not having adequate funds/recruitment.
• Insists Ole is vastly underqualified, not a good enough manager to run a club of United's stature - but the main blame is reserved for Woodward's incompetence in footballing matters.
• Herrera was offered a pay cut for a new contract. Herrera understandably rejected that. He liked Ole but by the time Ole arrived, it was all done and dusted.
• Our top priority in January is to sign a forward. Three candidates at the moment are Moussa Dembele, Ousman Dembele and Timo Werner.
• Allegri is apparently interested but Castles doubts whether we'd even be an attractive option for him.

So there ya go. Some interesting points but whether they're believable or not is another matter.

The Maguire one is interesting because Jose suggested on Sky Sports that United signing Maguire now vindicated his stance last season. It would have been a strange position to take if he didn't want him.

I find the whole dynamic in who selects which players to sign at United really confusing.

Fergie retiring at the time was a huge shock to me and seemed to come completely from left field. With Gill leaving at the same time, I'd be surprised if it was a 100% personal decision as he suggested.

The Ole stuff is clearly agenda driven. United had lots of injuries under Jose too. If you're trying to show Jose in a positive light then the opinion of the playing group is something to steer well clear of.

I hope the transfer stuff is true - although I highly doubt it. Timo Werner would be great if they could get him.