Expectations under Ole: 2019/20

[Pogue Mahone]

Realistically, what are the expectations for Ole next season? I'm interested in how far down the table he is allowed to finish (+/- how deep we should go in cup competitions) and remain in charge for 2020/21.

I have a feeling the calls for his head will start very early next season, so am curious what the consensus on here regarding what is and isn't a sackable campaign.

If some clever cnut could turn these options into a poll that would be great.

Minimum expectations are:

• League Title
• Top Two
• Top Three
  
• Top Four plus at least one cup
  
• Top Four plus at least one cup final
• Top Four plus at least one cup semi final
• Top Four (out of all cups before semis)
  
• Top Five plus at least one cup
  
• Top Five plus at least one cup final
• Top Five plus at least one cup semi final
• Top Five (out of all cups before semis)
  
• Top Six plus at least one cup
  
• Top Six plus at least one cup final
• Top Six plus at least one cup semi final
• Top Six (out of all cups before semis)

To be clear, minimum expectation means he's sacked if he doesn't achieve it (realistically, would need to sacked if it looks likely he won't achieve minimum expectation, before it actually happens).

 

[UncleBob]

Top 4

Decent cup runs

 

[tomaldinho1]

Top 4

/thread

 

[Zoo]

Top 4 with an established style of play is the minimum expectation.

 

[DoctorEvil]

Play better football. Meaning more movement, teamwork, and workrate. I will be OK if we show some signs that we have an idea what we are doing as a team, even if we miss the top four again.

(Honestly, I will probably complain if we miss the top four next season, but this is what I want to see.)

 

[Cassidy]

Depends for me, if the squad is not gutted then Top Four (out of all cups before semis) is the minimum with clear style of play, however if we gut the squad and play good football and bring through some of the younger players I'd be happy with Top6 and winning Europa League

 

[Jib]

Top 4

 

[AndersB]

Hard to say, as - like you point out - the calls for his head will likely start early, barring a good start. Therefore, this will all be based om what it -looks- like we will achieve, rather than what we will actually achieve.

That said, for me, give the current state of the squad and the club, I'd be happy with top four, or top five and a FA or EL final. That would, however, require obvious signs of progress in terms of quality of play and having a clear in-game strategy.

(Not selling Rojo would be a sackable offence no matter what though.)

 

[trafford1980]

Top Six plus at least one cup final for me. Providing he's allowed to Thanos the feck out of the squad, buy four or five younger players and promote the likes of Tuanzebe, Garner and Greenwood.

If he keeps Martial, extends Pogba's deal for Alexis money and then tops up with a few highly paid mercenaries like Bale or Dybala then Id expect a title challenge and will be calling for his head if he doesn't deliver.

You can probably tell from my response that I'm happy to take the longer road. Sick of quick fix attempts.

 

[Casanova85]

Summer transfer window first.

The whole 19-20 season depends on it.

Our current squad is a struggling Top4 unreliable mess.

 

[Marcelinho87]

As long as we see an established style of play and some improvement I don't really care.

 

[Infra-red]

Top Four (out of all cups before semis) should be the baseline minimum level of performance for next season.

Judging by the board's decisions vis-á-vis managerial sackings in the last six years, it seems clear that the above also represents their minimum expectations.

 

[dove]

TOP 4 but I think we will finish 5th.

 

[MetoTTT]

Top 4. Let's pray together!
I just don't bilieve this board is capable to bring the right players to improve. Anothe summer of wasting the money. Hope to be wrong.

 

[roonster09]

Top 4, clear the deadwood, play attacking football.

 

[King7Eric]

More than the league position (which is not solely in our hands), we should in the short term focus on targets that are in our hands. Since SAF retired we have only got more than 80 points once (last season). I would like to see us get between 75-80 points and score more than 70 goals in the league and concede no more than 40 goals. These metrics will show tangible signs of improvement. I recognize being in the Europa League will make achieving this difficult as the deeper you go into the competition, the more your league form suffers. To that end I would like Ole to use the EL as Chelsea have done to a large extent, using their fringe players even in the latter stages. Play the likes of Greenwood, Gomes etc in almost every match in the EL and focus the first 11 solely on the league.

 

[Bobcat]

Honestly, as things have panned out, what happens in the summer is more important than our league position next year. Our "rebuild" has been postponed ever since Fergie retired, and the situation is so dire now that any talk of taking up the battle with other top teams becomes meaningless.

• He has to sell or demote most of the deadwood in our squad. Young, Jones, Rojo, Sanchez, Darmian etc should be shipped out or the very least demoted to back ups only. Honestly, the likes of Young won't probably leave, and imo i think hes a good influence in the dressing room, as long as he stays of the pitch i'm happy
• Has to get rid of the bad attitudes in the dressing room. Either sell them or put them in the reserves
• He has to bring in the right players. No more of these braindead signings. Young, hungry players who actually want to be here is what we need
• Ole needs to show he can build a squad with a tactical identity. Imo, we saw glimpses of it his first couple of months. High press, wide and high fullbacks and fast paced, precise counters and attaking players actually moving instead of just ball watching. Either that was just a fluke or the players simply lacked the legs to play that style, either way, he needs to show he can get the right personnel to play his way

When it comes to league standing, context as always matters. If our rivals all have terrific campaigns next year and we end up 5th, missing out on 4th by one point, but show massive improvement and promise i would see that much better than looking clueless and somehow end up 3rd because the other top teams fecked up.

 

[norm87cro]

With no CL football i expect us to finish third playing good football. And since we we're not much worse than Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs despite everything this season its a realistic excpectation

 

[Kemizee]

Will Manchester United, the purported richest club in the world continually be in 'transition'?

When will we as a club get our acts right and demand the football equivalent of our status?

I expect us to always win the league every year or at most mount a credible challenge.

None of this top four nonsense. Just my opinion.

 

[Toddler]

With the current state of the club only top 4 and that will be a hard fought one.

 

[Raees]

I’ll have to see what the summer brings. If it goes the way I expect it to with more statements rather than action, deadwood not staying, losing big players and building the side around the likes of Rashy.

I can’t see us finishing top 6.

But a summer where right decisions are made then we are looking at a top 4 finish.

Big summer ahead.

 

[shamans]

Title challenge or comfortable top 4. Both the same. Another struggle to get top4 ain't gonna cut it for me

 

[haram]

Chelsea have a transfer ban. Top 4 minimum.

 

[dove]

Will Manchester United, the purported richest club in the world continually be in 'transition'?

When will we as a club get our acts right and demand the football equivalent of our status?

I expect us to always win the league every year or at most mount a credible challenge.

None of this top four nonsense. Just my opinion.

The thread is obviously what our expectations are based on the situation we are in. Expecting to win the league (which means winning 100+ points) with this team and the manager is really deluded.

 

[Invictus]

Given the lack of direction we've grown accustomed to in recent years (where any progress is negated in the medium term because we're in a perpetual state of transition and don't have a common purpose), I'll be content with a non-competitive season (like finishing outside of Champions League qualification spots or even the Top 6) as long as he has a coherent (and readily apparent) plan for the club, improves the players (yes, some of them aren't of the highest grade but they can still be improved via good training, especially with regard to mental acuity), and coaches a brand of football that is consistent in terms of principles and carries on from week to week (so you can build momentum/automatism) because then you can actually improve further with suitable modifications/signings. There's no point in setting benchmarks like qualifying for the Top 4 or going far in Cup competitions or dreaming of title challenges if we retain our scatter-gun approach (on and off the field, we've been equally bad in both aspects) which brings us back to square one in a couple of seasons and the core of the institution isn't revitalized, players stagnate or worsen at the club because they're not buying into the learning process, and we're not going in the right direction (doesn't have to be unrealistic linear progression, but something sustainable and markedly positive). Anything else would be a bonus, in my estimation.

 

[Roboc7]

At this point in time I would say a battle for top four. I don’t expect him to be in the job in a years time, genuinely think he’s screwed irrespective of his ability purely because of how the club operates.

There’s been a lot of talk about us reaching rock bottom, it wouldn’t shock me if that still to come.

If he can start clearing out the dross, buy some decent young players, finish 4th and win a cup that’s best case scenario.

 

[JPRouve]

Top 5 competing for the fourth position and playing coherently throughout the season.

 

[Infra-red]

Will Manchester United, the purported richest club in the world continually be in 'transition'?

When will we as a club get our acts right and demand the football equivalent of our status?

I expect us to always win the league every year or at most mount a credible challenge.

None of this top four nonsense. Just my opinion.

We won't be anywhere near that in the next two-to-three years (and possibly substantially longer). We are miles off it.

 

[Woodzy]

Progress is enough for me.

Don’t care if we finish 6th again if at the end of the season we are seeing signs that we are beginning to the look part.

The situation we are in now there’s barely anything to be excited about.

 

[PoTMS]

Top 6. Pretty much this season again - fighting to get into the CL places and ultimately failing.

 

[berbatrick]

Increase the points total.

Play better and more cohesive football, improving as time goes on.

 

[red4ever 79]

Top 4 and just to see players playing who actually give a flying duck. Also I dont want to see him persist with Young, Jones, Smalling, Lingard. He needs to drop the pals act and be ruthless

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Right now my expectation is top four. We can't afford to miss out on CL again.

 

[meamth]

I want a youthful squad.

Sign all the wonderkids, play exciting football, doesn't matter if we get top 4 or 6, I just want an exciting young team. The Busby way.

 

[Smores]

Champions league qualification, either top 4 or winning the EL don't care which.

It really does depend on how much he's backed and who comes and goes though. If we keep everyone together and strengthen in much needed positions then I'd expect to be 10-15pts from the leader at most. Which is what i set for the season gone so seems fair.

 

[sincher]

We are pretty fecked so looking for evidence of a path back more than anything.

It has been a disaster of a season.

 

[harms]

Top 4. Hopefully top 3, depending on the transfer window — with Chelsea losing Hazard & facing a transfer ban and Arsenal being Arsenal we'd only have Spurs as serious contenders. I feel like a Liverpool fan with this next year shit though.

If we're losing Pogba and/or De Gea, I'm not hoping for much.

 

[Zlatattack]

For me;

We have to finish at least third.
We have to finish with single digits of the top 2.
We have to have a defined playing style.
We need a first team without clear short comings.
We need a squad that can actually challenge first team players for a spot in the starting XI
We need to continue with a culture of winning, which means taking a proper run at EL and the cups.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Club Owner's Minimum Expectation -- Top 4 or Win Europa League.
CL qualified is always the target for every manager hired so far, or else risk getting sacked eg. Moyes, LVG and Mourinho (see Jose 1st and 3rd season, his final is us slipping further and further mathematically per fixture, away from top 4).


My personal minimum expectations of Ole the manager are way different, don't care about these CL or even match results. Yeah, I don't even mind if we get relegated.

1. Consistency of everything below.
2. Clear Identity -- team playstyle, system, players preferences, etc. Need to make sure it's good and United-ish eg. the early months of Ole's reign have nice ring of identity, so fun and I don't mind we lose that PSG 1st leg.
3. Top Fitness level + Top Work-rate by players, basically United become a top fit and hardworking team that give it their all every game.
4. Competitive decision makings in tactics, squad management and player selections. eg. during Ole's caretaker manager months. Basically Ole need to make brave and bold but right decisions eg kick the many deadwood players out ruthlessly, younger players preferred more, drop problematic, lazy and shit players, no blind favoritism, etc. His words since then are sweet, but mostly lies later on.

Missing even just one of the four is a bad sign. Need to have all four together, only three is not enough.
Damn it, I just want to feel proud of my team every games for giving it their all, that's just it!
Better and deserved results will eventually and naturally come to that kind of fit, competitive and hardworking team driven by competent leader.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Top 6 with a style being shown. I am not setting my expectations too high so I won't get disappointed. If they do better and compete well in the cups even better. Just think there might be too much turmoil round the club. Just think some are expecting too much too soon. This is going to take time.