Is Ed throwing Ole under the bus?

[sugar_kane]

There‘s a new article today from The Athletic which is blatantly sourced from someone inside the club, it has to be either Ed or someone close to him.

There is a telling quote early on it it:

The Athletic has been told that Solskjaer urged Ed Woodward to keep trying, and financial concerns meant other signings were pushed to the periphery until the final 48 hours of the window.

Implicit in this is the suggestion that Ole shares the blame for pushing for the signing and delaying other transfer dealings.

Regardless of whether this is true (and you’d argue those in charge of negotiations at our end should have made clear it 100% wasn’t going to happen way earlier) it’s not a great look for them to be shifting some of the blame onto the manager who already takes the flack for what happens on the pitch.

Think it just goes to show that Ed will do anything to save his own skin, and that things are already souring behind the scenes.

 

[UnitedSofa]

The Athletic has been told that Solskjaer urged Ed Woodward to keep trying, and financial concerns meant other signings were pushed to the periphery until the final 48 hours of the window.

100% no.

This has been known (Ole wanting to be focusing on Sancho until the very end) since the very start of the window.

Nothing to see here.

 

[Skills]

We're a strange club, where holding the manager accountable for his own decision making somehow means throwing him under the bus. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I mean, even if Ed wasn't trying to, he's so incompetent that anything he does will naturally be throwing a manager under the bus in some way.

 

[romufc]

Ed knows what he is doing. It is a win win situation for Woodward.
Spend £150m on transfers and get top 4.
Spend £45m and sack Ole and hope for new manager bounce to get top 4.

The later means £100m dividend pay out.

As a business, the decision is simple.

 

[Tom Cato]

The only takeaway anyone should have from this transfer window: Is that we bought 0 players that immediately replace anyone in the current best XI.

We're back in the champions league, in year 2 of a so-far successful rebuild - And they do not strengthen the best team, only add squad depth in the most crucial window since 2013.

The club kept paying its staff and players in full during the pandemic to give the impression of a club whose foundation is beyond solid, yet immediately jump to "covid has hurt everyone" when it's time to go spending.

We will likely never get Jadon Sancho now, and I hope no on ever forgets who is responsible for it.

 

[Abhinav]

There‘s a new article today from The Athletic which is blatantly sourced from someone inside the club, it has to be either Ed or someone close to him.

There is a telling quote early on it it:

The Athletic has been told that Solskjaer urged Ed Woodward to keep trying, and financial concerns meant other signings were pushed to the periphery until the final 48 hours of the window.

Implicit in this is the suggestion that Ole shares the blame for pushing for the signing and delaying other transfer dealings.

Regardless of whether this is true (and you’d argue those in charge of negotiations at our end should have made clear it 100% wasn’t going to happen way earlier) it’s not a great look for them to be shifting some of the blame onto the manager who already takes the flack for what happens on the pitch.

Think it just goes to show that Ed will do anything to save his own skin, and that things are already souring behind the scenes.

Its despicable that Ed & Judge are trying to pin this on Ole when we know that the issue of transfer incompetence predates Ole and has been evident ever since Ed took charge. Managers before Ole have complained about not getting their primary or even secondary targets but having to be satisfied with third/fourth choice.
Its in Ole’s cultural values not to air dirty linen in the press but if it were Jose or even Poch, there would definitely be some explosive comments being made to the media right now.

 

[UnitedSofa]

The only takeaway anyone should have from this transfer window: Is that we bought 0 players that immediately replace anyone in the current best XI.

We will likely never get Jadon Sancho now, and I hope no on ever forgets who is responsible for it.

Telles is replacing Shaw before January 100%

No need for the doom and gloom RE: Sancho, we’ll be back in for him

 

[Siorac]

I mean, even if Ed wasn't trying to, he's so incompetent that anything he does will naturally be throwing a manager under the bus in some way.

If he was trying to throw him under the bus, he'd probably accidentally seat him in a limousine instead.

 

[romufc]

The only takeaway anyone should have from this transfer window: Is that we bought 0 players that immediately replace anyone in the current best XI.

We're back in the champions league, in year 2 of a so-far successful rebuild - And they do not strengthen the best team, only add squad depth in the most crucial window since 2013.

The club kept paying its staff and players in full during the pandemic to give the impression of a club whose foundation is beyond solid, yet immediately jump to "covid has hurt everyone" when it's time to go spending.

We will likely never get Jadon Sancho now, and I hope no on ever forgets who is responsible for it.

Good post, highlights everything that is wrong.

0 players that improve the first 11, that is something. Arsenal signed 3 players that can get in our first 11. Spurs have signed players that would get in our first 11.

Apart from Donny, no one we signed gets in any top 7 first 11.

 

[Skills]

Why is our fanbase so incredibly obsessed with the clubs CEO?

I still haven't seen anything that suggests he has anything to do with our 'football' decision making outside of hiring and firing poor managers - even there I'm unconvinced he's the sole decision maker on a board that includes Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton and the rest of the Glazer clan.

Ed Woodward's job as the CEO is to run Manchester United the business. The decisions he makes are on the boards suggestion and he's held accountable for them by the clubs shareholders. In our structure, the managers in charge of the football decision making. Our manager last summer wasted a lot of money on players that have ultimately turned out to be poor signings. Had he not spent £80m on a player of Harry Maguire's quality (all money we had to pay up front), we might have been able to meet Dortmund's valuation of Sancho.

 

[Number32]

There‘s a new article today from The Athletic which is blatantly sourced from someone inside the club, it has to be either Ed or someone close to him.

There is a telling quote early on it it:

The Athletic has been told that Solskjaer urged Ed Woodward to keep trying, and financial concerns meant other signings were pushed to the periphery until the final 48 hours of the window.

Implicit in this is the suggestion that Ole shares the blame for pushing for the signing and delaying other transfer dealings.

Regardless of whether this is true (and you’d argue those in charge of negotiations at our end should have made clear it 100% wasn’t going to happen way earlier) it’s not a great look for them to be shifting some of the blame onto the manager who already takes the flack for what happens on the pitch.

Think it just goes to show that Ed will do anything to save his own skin, and that things are already souring behind the scenes.

You add a point that is nothing we can find on that article and it's called 'framing'. Woodward is his boss, he could just said there are no enough money, then everything would be off.
The problem is Woodward wouldn't do that. Even LVG and Mourinho though we could buy any player on this planet at any cost, they never said we are running out of money in the transfer market.

 

[Revan]

We're a strange club, where holding the manager accountable for his own decision making somehow means throwing him under the bus. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

We are Manager United, to be fair. The club’s sole reason of existence is to worship the manager.

 

[Greck]

Doesn't play into people's prefered narrative of who should get scapegoated. God forbid the pinata picks a stick and fights back. If any of this is true, it confirms what many already know, that Ole was part of the process

It says the club didn't do anything contrary to the manager's wishes but people already convinced themselves the opposite was true based on made up narratives. The only way this throws Ole under the bus is if you've already made up your mind that someone was to blame

 

[UnitedSofa]

Its despicable that Ed & Judge are trying to pin this on Ole when we know that the issue of transfer incompetence predates Ole and has been evident ever since Ed took charge. Managers before Ole have complained about not getting their primary or even secondary targets but having to be satisfied with third/fourth choice.
Its in Ole’s cultural values not to air dirty linen in the press but if it were Jose or even Poch, there would definitely be some explosive comments being made to the media right now.

I really don’t understand how this:

The Athletic has been told that Solskjaer urged Ed Woodward to keep trying, and financial concerns meant other signings were pushed to the periphery until the final 48 hours of the window.

Means that Ed is pinning any blame whatsoever on Ole

It’s a throwaway innocent comment which states what we all knew anyway since thr start!

Football fans are a fickle bunch, they’ll take anything and run with it, whilst spinning it to fit their own narrative

 

[romufc]

No need for the doom and gloom RE: Sancho, we’ll be back in for him

Sky and other sources have said this may never happen.

You pursue a player for 12 months, tell him it will happen, agree terms, get him to push for a move and then never attempt to sign him

As a player, why would he would he want to come to United after we fecked him around?

Finally, he wants to join a club with ambition, we finished 3rd and probably finish 5th and below, why would he join without CL ?

 

[Listar]

Why is our fanbase so incredibly obsessed with the clubs CEO?

I still haven't seen anything that suggests he has anything to do with our 'football' decision making outside of hiring and firing poor managers - even there I'm unconvinced he's the sole decision maker on a board that includes Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton and the rest of the Glazer clan.

Ed Woodward's job as the CEO is to run Manchester United the business. The decisions he makes are on the boards suggestion and he's held accountable for them by the clubs shareholders. In our structure, the managers in charge of the football decision making. Our manager last summer wasted a lot of money on players that have ultimately turned out to be poor signings. Had he not spent £80m on a player of Harry Maguire's quality (all money we had to pay up front), we might have been able to meet Dortmund's valuation of Sancho.

Is that you Ed?

 

[lysglimt]

In a way I can understand what United are trying to do - because if we can stay afloat for 2 more years, our youngster should start taking us back to the top. Yes in my opinion they are that talented

The problem is - we aren't getting enough reinforcements now to stay near the top. Others are improving more than we do.

But if you look at the youngsters we have signed or promoted over the last 2 years - there is simply too much talent for it not to be a success.

The best example is central defenders - Fish, Tuanzebe, Bernard, Kambwala and Mengi (that is a sick amount of talent)

Add to that : Jurado, Hansen, Galbraith, Garner, Chong, Hannibal, Traore, Pallistri, Elanga, Laird, Fernandes, Levitt etc etc etc

So I am not concerned long term - but a bit, short-term. Because we had a chance in this transfer window and Ed failed again

 

[Number32]

Why is our fanbase so incredibly obsessed with the clubs CEO?

I still haven't seen anything that suggests he has anything to do with our 'football' decision making outside of hiring and firing poor managers - even there I'm unconvinced he's the sole decision maker on a board that includes Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton and the rest of the Glazer clan.

Ed Woodward's job as the CEO is to run Manchester United the business. The decisions he makes are on the boards suggestion and he's held accountable for them by the clubs shareholders. In our structure, the managers in charge of the football decision making. Our manager last summer wasted a lot of money on players that have ultimately turned out to be poor signings. Had he not spent £80m on a player of Harry Maguire's quality (all money we had to pay up front), we might have been able to meet Dortmund's valuation of Sancho.

Because we are not in FM mode, where a manager being told their transfer budget and do the negotiation. Woodward does it all, and the manager just being told which player do you want?
There are tons articles how Moyes, LVG and Mourinho reveal their incompetency in the transfer market, don't be lazy to read one.

And one more thing, did you see any name of Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton here? Hell no, They are just part of PR strategy.
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/MANCHESTER-UNITED-PLC-11217013/company/

 

[lysglimt]

Why is our fanbase so incredibly obsessed with the clubs CEO?

I still haven't seen anything that suggests he has anything to do with our 'football' decision making outside of hiring and firing poor managers - even there I'm unconvinced he's the sole decision maker on a board that includes Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton and the rest of the Glazer clan.

Ed Woodward's job as the CEO is to run Manchester United the business. The decisions he makes are on the boards suggestion and he's held accountable for them by the clubs shareholders. In our structure, the managers in charge of the football decision making. Our manager last summer wasted a lot of money on players that have ultimately turned out to be poor signings. Had he not spent £80m on a player of Harry Maguire's quality (all money we had to pay up front), we might have been able to meet Dortmund's valuation of Sancho.

Do you seriously want us to Believe that OGS' wishlist was v.d Beek, Telles and Cavani ? And of course we could afford to sign Sancho - but we chose not to. I am not saying its wrong - but we could have, if we wanted to.

 

[sugar_kane]

You add a point that is nothing we can find on that article and it's called 'framing'. Woodward is his boss, he could just said there are no enough money, then everything would be off.
The problem is Woodward wouldn't do that. Even LVG and Mourinho though we could buy any player on this planet at any cost, they never said we are running out of money in the transfer market.

Assuming you mean the bolded comment, I don't think that's true. It's just a rewording of 'pushing over transfers to the periphery' which is in the quote directly above.

My broader point here is that even if Ole was being naive, then someone in the transfer team should have made clear months ago that it wasn't happening and that he needed to get a grip. Based on everything in the article it's clear Dortmund never, ever intended to change their mind and whoever was in charge of dealing with them refused to believe it and interpreted it as brinksmanship. That's just basically being shit at business.

My other broader point is that Ole fronts up to what happens on the pitch and does his best to shield his bosses from criticism, this is a slap in the face in that respect.

 

[Falcow]

Ed knows what he is doing. It is a win win situation for Woodward.
Spend £150m on transfers and get top 4.
Spend £45m and sack Ole and hope for new manager bounce to get top 4.

The later means £100m dividend pay out.

As a business, the decision is simple.

Ever heard of Covid? You could not be more incorrect with your maths here. The clubs income has taken a massive hit. The same funds are not available this year as there was last year.

Last summer and this summer is like night and day in terms of affordability. I'm glad we didnt spend Eur120m on the guy who misses training as he has 'sleep issues' and breaks covid rules due to being a moron.

I'm just annoyed we were stupid to even try in the first place.

 

[Skills]

Do you seriously want us to Believe that OGS' wishlist was v.d Beek, Telles and Cavani ? And of course we could afford to sign Sancho - but we chose not to. I am not saying its wrong - but we could have, if we wanted to.

I'm sure you'll be saying they were all his doing if they start to look the part.

I think as a club we're much better off listening to the bloke who made this season's wishlist going forward than the one who put Maguire and AWB at the top of his. With hindsight, last summers windows looks worse with every passing game.

 

[georgipep]

The only takeaway anyone should have from this transfer window: Is that we bought 0 players that immediately replace anyone in the current best XI.

We're back in the champions league, in year 2 of a so-far successful rebuild - And they do not strengthen the best team, only add squad depth in the most crucial window since 2013.

The club kept paying its staff and players in full during the pandemic to give the impression of a club whose foundation is beyond solid, yet immediately jump to "covid has hurt everyone" when it's time to go spending.

We will likely never get Jadon Sancho now, and I hope no on ever forgets who is responsible for it.

First, wasn't this window more for adding depth to the squad so Ole wouldn't have to rely so much on the starting XI?

Second, I would argue that Telles has a very real chance of replacing Shaw, but we need to see him in action first.

And finally, about Sancho, initially I was also disappointed but now, after reading all the BS media articles who claim they know what happened, I feel the club made the absolute correct decision not to overpay and succumb to Dortmund's demands. We have been hemorrhaging money since March and this season we are expecting no crowds already. That kind of crazy amounts for a single player are something to seriously think about. On top of that having to deal with arrogant ar$eholes like Zorc and the BVB directors is unnecessary, given how they force us to basically pay them a king's ransom.

Good luck to them and to Sancho. We might come back next season, we might not. I'm excited by the prospect of seeing Pellestri and Diallo. Also, can't help but be excited having a striker that can provide a real plan B since Ighalo hasn't worked out since the restart. Of course, we are yet to see if Cavani can still be that striker but one can hope.

 

[Skills]

Because we are not in FM mode, where a manager being told their transfer budget and do the negotiation. Woodward does it all, and the manager just being told which player do you want?
There are tons articles how Moyes, LVG and Mourinho reveal their incompetency in the transfer market, don't be lazy to read one.

And one more thing, did you see any name of Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton here? Hell no, They are just part of PR strategy.
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/MANCHESTER-UNITED-PLC-11217013/company/

There's tonnes of articles where the likes of Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho have tried to pin their own failures on the club itself.

Fact is with every managerial change our transfer targets have changed. It's part of the mess we're in yet I'm supposed to believe it's woodward who's been signing the players all along. If that was the case we'd have some consistency.

 

[Number32]

Assuming you mean the bolded comment, I don't think that's true. It's just a rewording of 'pushing over transfers to the periphery' which is in the quote directly above.

My broader point here is that even if Ole was being naive, then someone in the transfer team should have made clear months ago that it wasn't happening and that he needed to get a grip. Based on everything in the article it's clear Dortmund never, ever intended to change their mind and whoever was in charge of dealing with them refused to believe it and interpreted it as brinksmanship. That's just basically being shit at business.

My other broader point is that Ole fronts up to what happens on the pitch and does his best to shield his bosses from criticism, this is a slap in the face in that respect.

How could you assume Ole is only talking about Sancho's transfer? How could you expect Ole is the new Jose Mourinho who always criticize everyone on public?

 

[sullydnl]

Why is our fanbase so incredibly obsessed with the clubs CEO?

I still haven't seen anything that suggests he has anything to do with our 'football' decision making outside of hiring and firing poor managers - even there I'm unconvinced he's the sole decision maker on a board that includes Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton and the rest of the Glazer clan.

Ed Woodward's job as the CEO is to run Manchester United the business. The decisions he makes are on the boards suggestion and he's held accountable for them by the clubs shareholders. In our structure, the managers in charge of the football decision making. Our manager last summer wasted a lot of money on players that have ultimately turned out to be poor signings. Had he not spent £80m on a player of Harry Maguire's quality (all money we had to pay up front), we might have been able to meet Dortmund's valuation of Sancho.

Unless our structure has changed without me noticing, Ferguson and Charlton are not on the board. They're on a separate, advisory board that has no actual power.

As for why we focus on Woodward, it's because he's the one with the power to change the structures around our football decisions. Even if he's not the one driving our failures, he is the one responsible for making sure those failures don't keep reoccurring. But they have, again and again, even as he cycles through various failed managers he appointed.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Do you seriously want us to Believe that OGS' wishlist was v.d Beek, Telles and Cavani ? And of course we could afford to sign Sancho - but we chose not to. I am not saying its wrong - but we could have, if we wanted to.

If Ole thinks Sancho would solve all our problems then Ole is a problem as well. It's not knowing how much money was available. I am not upset about getting Cavani as some are. We needed an experience striker in there. What does bother me is that we needed a CB, a good CB not a kid. He has now also still got to deal with the RW problem. We have signed two, one a kid who will not be a starter yet and another kids who has barely played for Atalanta and isn't coming until January. If you are not going for Sancho then make sure you address that area properly. I suspect we will go back in for Sancho, but I think we might have just p*ssed Sancho off enough that he will go elsewhere. If results and performances do not improve Ole might not be here anyway.

 

[Wheato]

What a load of nonsense. Sancho could have been signed at the start of August, but they insisted on playing the "lets see who blinks first" game. Contrast this with how Chelsea conducted their business this summer. The first we knew that Chelsea were in for someone was when they were holding up a Chelsea shirt. That's how you do your transfer business. Behind closed doors, planned months in advance, executed to perfection. And out of the public domain. If we as much as google a players name, the whole world knows about it. We are a shambles of a club with these numpties in charge.

 

[Number32]

There's tonnes of articles where the likes of Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho have tried to pin their own failures on the club itself.

Fact is with every managerial change our transfer targets have changed. It's part of the mess we're in yet I'm supposed to believe it's woodward who's been signing the players all along. If that was the case we'd have some consistency.

Yes, I agree. Consistency in failure and Consistency to ruin a football club. It's kind of funny if every manager has the same transfer target mate.

 

[blackhawk747]

financial pov, the whole saga throughout the summer didnt make sense at all. The chevelot deal ends in the summer and no new sponsor has been lined up yet. I seriously question under this circumstances how can Ed find a new deal.

 

[Sky1981]

Any other ceo worth their salt wont give ole any time of the day , let him spend 220m on top of it no sir.

Ed's an idiot but he's ole savior and benefactor.

 

[Greck]

edit Someone link the article.

 

[UnitedSofa]

Sky and other sources have said this may never happen.

Please show me articles/tweets that highlight this. This would be all over the news and this place would be in uproar

 

[Pretzels81]

Five new signings. Fails to buy an overpriced-overrated RFW. But for some reason, Ole is not backed-up; ok...

 

[sullydnl]

Anyway, the other key part from that article is:

United did not believe Dortmund would stay firm on the price-tag of €120m or their deadline of August 10, embarking on a long-running game of poker without realising that BVB weren’t even at the table.

Which isn't down to the manager, it's down to whoever decides negotiating strategy.

 

[fezzerUTD]

Because we are not in FM mode, where a manager being told their transfer budget and do the negotiation. Woodward does it all, and the manager just being told which player do you want?
There are tons articles how Moyes, LVG and Mourinho reveal their incompetency in the transfer market, don't be lazy to read one.

And one more thing, did you see any name of Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton here? Hell no, They are just part of PR strategy.
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/MANCHESTER-UNITED-PLC-11217013/company/

Post needs pinning and nothing more to be said. Ole will be gone soon, the mail already has articles he's been told to sort the team out, otherwise Pochettino is coming in.

 

[11101]

After this window it's inevitable Ole will be gone soon. I really do hope he comes out guns blazing when that happens, he should know the fans will never turn on him for speaking out against Woodward and the Glazers.

Every season after another feck up we see these planted articles in the press about how it's not our fault, Ed did everything he was supposed to do, we plan to change our structure to address it etc. etc. As CEO Woodward is ultimately accountable, and we've been lurching from disaster to embarrassment ever since he took charge.

But that's what the article addresses (purportedly). That game of waiting at Dortmund's door was the manager's insistence, not the club officials wanting to play chicken. We clearly could not have had him by August because Dortmund would continue to refuse any offer that wasn't unrealistic through till october

All clubs work roughly the same way, LVG and Mourinho have both confirmed it for us. Manager and scouts draw up a wishlist, and Ed and his team go out and try to sign as many as possible. Ole only wanted to continue pursuing Sancho because Woodward kept telling him it was possible. Had he said we couldn't afford the asking price and Dortmund won't budge, we would have gone after our other targets.

 

[Skills]

Unless our structure has changed without me noticing, Ferguson and Charlton are not on the board. They're on a separate, advisory board that has no actual power.

As for why we focus on Woodward, it's because he's the one with the power to change the structures around our football decisions. Even if he's not the one driving our failures, he is the one responsible for making sure those failures don't keep reoccurring. But they have, again and again, even as he cycles through various failed managers he appointed.

Yet I bet they still hold a considerable amount of influence on the clubs footballing decision making.

Overall I do think Woodward/Higher ups are to blame for the last 7 years overall simply like you said he hasn't acted to change the clubs structure to stop the low level failures keep repeating. But to blame him for each one our transfer windows is reductionist.

If Oles £80m CB from last summer actually lived up to his price tag, we wouldn't have desperately needed reinforcements at CB this summer - a problem he's compounded by freezing out and now selling Chris Smalling. If his £50m RB wasn't completely useless in attack, nobody in their right mind would be talking about kicking Mason Greenwood out of the first XI. These are exclusively Oles failures.

 

[Dr. StrangeHate]

There‘s a new article today from The Athletic which is blatantly sourced from someone inside the club, it has to be either Ed or someone close to him.

There is a telling quote early on it it:

The Athletic has been told that Solskjaer urged Ed Woodward to keep trying, and financial concerns meant other signings were pushed to the periphery until the final 48 hours of the window.

Implicit in this is the suggestion that Ole shares the blame for pushing for the signing and delaying other transfer dealings.

Regardless of whether this is true (and you’d argue those in charge of negotiations at our end should have made clear it 100% wasn’t going to happen way earlier) it’s not a great look for them to be shifting some of the blame onto the manager who already takes the flack for what happens on the pitch.

Think it just goes to show that Ed will do anything to save his own skin, and that things are already souring behind the scenes.

Ed's skin does not need saving. He is safe. He is not throwing anyone under the bus. He signed players which he could sign, obviously not enough. Regardless, it is now up to the manager to make it work.