Having Phelan on the bench again

17 Van der Gouw

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Where was he since fergie left. Looks like we just beckoned him and he just appeared out of nowhere and it's as if he never left
After Moyes sacked him, he had a brief stint as manager of Hull.

He's been unemployed since then.
 

Hughie77

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Moyes should have kept him, and Rene, he's a calming influence on players, who stood in technical area most if Cardiff game? Phelan did, watching everything seeing what was different to training be same today at home to Huddersfield . It's a good 4 we got , not 1 making decisions 4 heads and all good.
 

Bojan11

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Bringing Phelan back makes Moyes error in his decision to get rid of him even more naive.
Why?

Why do people think Phelan would have made any massive difference to Moyes? Moyes barely listened to his own staff and was indecisive. You could have put Pep as his assistant and we still would have had a disastrous season.

Having Phelan by Moyes side would not have prevented that season. Moyes was always the wrong man for the job.
 

jymufc20

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After Moyes sacked him, he had a brief stint as manager of Hull.

He's been unemployed since then.
I can't be bothered to research this but i am sure he worked at Norwich for a while and he is now on some sort of loan to us from a technical director role from some Australian club.
 

wolvored

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Worst thing Moyes did was shelve Fergie's backroom staff. Utter moronic decision.
Agreed. If he had have kept them for at least a season and learned the ropes, I believe we would have finished top 4, and maybe things would have been different for Utd and him.
 

RonW

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Yeah, Phelan is our own. But it just reminded me of the good old days with SAF, Rene and Mike sitting on the dugout at OT :drool:. I can't believe how time flies, since its been 6 years since we last saw Phelan who is our own :cool:
 

Eric's Seagull

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Worst thing Moyes did was shelve Fergie's backroom staff. Utter moronic decision.
Agree fully with this. Why dismantle something that is doing well? I can understand he wanted his own guys but he should have had enough intelligence to realise he should have kept as many 'United' guys on board.

Even Sir Alex about Moyes said "I think he should have kept Mike Phelan, he was a United man; loyal, hard-working and a good judge of the players.
"My advice to David was that he should maybe keep Mike Phelan."
 

wolvored

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I can't be bothered to research this but i am sure he worked at Norwich for a while and he is now on some sort of loan to us from a technical director role from some Australian club.
Central Coasters I read last week or something like that. He did say he was only staying till the end of the season here, whatever happens. If we do make top 4 and they offered him and Ole the job, surely he would stay.
 

jymufc20

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Central Coasters I read last week or something like that. He did say he was only staying till the end of the season here, whatever happens. If we do make top 4 and they offered him and Ole the job, surely he would stay.
Ohh definitely, he loves us too much.
 

RedPed

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Central Coasters I read last week or something like that. He did say he was only staying till the end of the season here, whatever happens. If we do make top 4 and they offered him and Ole the job, surely he would stay.
Don't know what he's been doing at Central Coast Mariners. They've been pretty shit....even with Usain Bolt tearing down the wing!
 

Eric's Seagull

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Our new DoF then after this season
Stranger things have happened in football mate but I read somewhere he has an agreement to go back to them. But due to his affiliation with the club it could happen.

Phelan said this about the situation "Part of the discussion with Manchester United was that I will still be available for the Mariners, this is a dual role,” Phelan said. “I will take the first opportunity possible to get back to the Central Coast. I’m not going anywhere, I am one phone call away from anyone at the Mariners. “I will be back on the Central Coast as soon as I can."

Here is an article I found quite interesting on Mike Phelan being appointed by the Mariner's https://www.ccmariners.com.au/news/mariners-appoint-mike-phelan-sporting-director
 

Jules_T

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He's not doing a great job at the Mariners this year. They have imploded and only have 2 points after 9 games.

They made some fairly average decisions during the close season while recruiting players.

I watched them 2 weeks ago play my local club, Wellington Phoenix and they were very ordinary.

Not sure what Mike's doing
 

Tiber

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I would have been more happy if it was Carlos Quiroz instead of Phelan
Same. Infact I would have been open to him returning as caretaker manager.

One of the most recurring complaints on this site is that Moyes had the nerve to bring in a support staff that he trusted and had worked with for years (plus Giggs and Neville) instead of relying Phelan, Steele and Rene.

However, none of them have done anything of note since we let them go and I often wonder what it is the Cafe sees (especially with Phelan) that the rest of the football world simply doesn't.

Phelan was a coach at Norwich and caretaker manager at Hull for about 3 months taking some sort of sporting director job in Australia. Steele took a job at Derby after United sacked him and now coaches goalkeepers for some of England's youth teams. Rene (probably the best coach of the 3 and someone I have long respected) went to Russia as a coach, managed Fulham for a very short period then headed to work for footballing superpowers in India and Oz.

Some on here will call me crazy - but please hear me out. Is it possible that the success of the United teams of that era was actually due to fact that the club had greatest manager of all time? A manager that heavily overhauled his coaching staff numerous times during his time at the club - and did so without ever missing a beat.
 

wolvored

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Don't know what he's been doing at Central Coast Mariners. They've been pretty shit....even with Usain Bolt tearing down the wing!
Thats the team! Think he was DOF TD or something. Dont think he was a manager there.
 

royboy16

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Why?

Why do people think Phelan would have made any massive difference to Moyes? Moyes barely listened to his own staff and was indecisive. You could have put Pep as his assistant and we still would have had a disastrous season.

Having Phelan by Moyes side would not have prevented that season. Moyes was always the wrong man for the job.[/QUOTE]
Your probably right but it was stupid to get rid of him in the first place and not listen to him as he had the respect of the players,years of knowledge and success in the club.
 

Revan

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Why?

Why do people think Phelan would have made any massive difference to Moyes? Moyes barely listened to his own staff and was indecisive. You could have put Pep as his assistant and we still would have had a disastrous season.

Having Phelan by Moyes side would not have prevented that season. Moyes was always the wrong man for the job.
I actually think that it was good that Moyes sacked them. If he had kept them, the damage could have been bigger, cause they might have masked his errors, and he could have survived for 2-3 years.
 

Green_Red

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whoooa sometimes, I get a good Phelan, yea
I get a Phelan like I neva neva neva nava had before, I get a good Phelan, yea
 

devilish

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In my opinion, one of our biggest mistakes was for the board not to insist that Phelan is kept at the club. The guy could easily be our version of Tassotti or Beppe Baresi ie an experienced coach who knows the club inside out and who doesn't seem to have any dreams/illusions of ever becoming our next manager thus providing no threat to any new manager whatsoever. Instead we opted for Giggs an inexperienced and ambitious coach with huge connections with the media and whose family history doesn't exactly portray him as loyal to anyone.
 

Cloud7

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I didn’t think that seeing him back would make me as happy as it did, but it really has. There was a moment yesterday, I think it was after Dalot missed the chance off of Rashford’s cross, they cut to the bench and Phelan had this wry smile on his face, that moment for whatever reason just took me back to the Sir Alex era. It really is good having him back. That is probably just as, or even more of a master stroke then getting in Ole as caretaker.
 

devilish

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I don't understand some of the guys here. Phelan has been loyal to the club for years. He went up the ranks, he's got SAF's praise and we've been shit ever since he left. Once he's back we've been playing good football again and that despite being managed by someone who was clearly out of depth at Cardiff.

I am not saying that Phelan = SAF's success because that would be silly. What I am saying is that he deserves his share of respect by now. All SAF's no 2 had their share of brain farts from Brian 'Hartson is better then Yorke' Kidd right to the great Rene 'Eikrem is the new Modric' Meulensteen who took over our very successful youth academy from Harrison's capable hands and produced, the likes of, erm, John OShea but not Phelan. Yet, he's the one whose ridiculed not them.
 

devilish

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I guess Ole would have brought back meulensteen too had McKenna and Carrick not been there.
Rene is good in what he does but he strikes me as a man with a huge ego. His argument with SAF regarding Eikrem and his unsuccessful stint as a manager are clear examples of someone constantly trying to mess into things that he doesn't really understand about. That's fine under someone like SAF whose got the CV to put any person back in his box. However, Ole doesn't have that CV. The last thing Ole needs is to have SAF's version of Brian Kidd at his side. I don't see Phelan meeting with the CEO behind the manager's back to try and override the manager's decisions. I can't say the same with Rene though.
 

vidic blood & sand

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Phelan seems to be far more active during the games than I remember him with SAF. Ole, Phelan, and Mckenna really seem to be enjoying themselves. Carrick doesn't seem to contribute much during the games though.
 

MacabbiUnited

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I think in a club like man united it's important to have someone who knows the identity of the club. A lot of managers today have huge eggo's and want their teams to play in their way, and don't umderstand that the club is bigger then them. Thats why the club should hire perople with a philosophy similar to the club's.

Obviously Phelan is one of those people, which is why Fergie brought him back in the day, and Ole is like a dream in the manner of speaking about how to team should look and play. It's not realistic to expect us to score 3-5 goals every game, but if we keep looking good, theres no reason why we cant atleast get a cup out of this season. And hopefully smash Liverpool 4-0 at OT and Spurs to pip them to the title