Manchester United Board

[TwoSheds]

'He knows huge mistakes were made' - assessing Ed Woodward's Man Utd reign

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59898608

The passive feck up tense. Naturally. fecking boil yourself in a vat of piss you corpulent lemming.

 

[wolvored]

How is it a good idea? We assembled an expensive but slightly ageing/lethargic squad....

The only hope is that with Woodward replaced and thankfully not going to be a consultant, that the running of the club at the top end will change. This Arnold bloke has said he will leave the football side to Murtough for football decisions, and he has Fletcher as well. Although we dont know a lot about Murtough apart from he rebuilt the academy from when Moyes was here, and we at least know Fletcher is a football man.
We can at least hope.

 

[clarkydaz]

interesting the main positive in that is they didnt sack staff during a pandemic. what a low bar

 

[red thru&thru]

Not really. They put in the work for LVG, our recruiting was just dire and we never got any good attackers but you could see the tactics plain as day. They also put in the work for Mou for two seasons, then it stopped and never really came back for more than the odd game. Until that summer when Mou took on the board and lost, it was a bit of a circus but on the whole the team was likeable and we’d won trophies. Since then it’s been the fecking Cirque du Soleil.

I just realised what a trick all the shitty newspapers missed with the pun on cirque de sOLEil

So when were the players rubbish for Ole?

 

[JebelSherif]

Man you must really hate SAF, you've been posting a lot of nonsense in loads of threads. Complicit in the takeover ffs, give your head a wobble.

Well you are entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. The funny thing is when I first started to state my views - I can't remember exactly when, but the club had just botched the signing of Rojo, so it was awhile ago - I used to get massive pelters for saying this stuff.

Not so anymore. In fact just after I read your comment, I read a supportive message from someone else who agrees with me in the 'Why have we been so crap for so long' thread. 'Great stuff' they said.

So more and more people are coming round to the viewpoint that yes, it is wonderful if you build an amazing fortress, but if towards the end of your reign you fail to keep the battlements in good order, don't be surprised if your enemies take advantage & the whole thing comes crashing down. If you hang around and try to prop things back up with behind-the-scenes meddling and it fails, you run the risk of undermining the wonderful things you did in the glory days. Consequently, perhaps it would have been better, for all, to stay out of it and just enjoy watching the games. But some people are addicted to power and they can't do that.

That is all I'm saying and maybe if I was wrong about the 'complicit in the take-over' comment (but having read about 'The Rock of Gibraltar' thing in Keane's biography I don't think I am) can you honestly say: has SAF ever spoken out against the Glazers? of course not, because he still gets well paid by them for his Ambassadors role which in my opinion he has exceeded the parameters thereof.

 

[tomaldinho1]

So when were the players rubbish for Ole?

That’s not what you said, you said when have we not been saying the players are oppressed and lazy since SAF. They were fecking lazy under Ole, there was an initial burst of them trying and then we settled down to be one of the worst pressing teams in the league. A lot of fault for that is on the coaches but you could see the pattern under ole like clockwork - good spells, followed by a really bad run, Ole under pressure/talk of the sack, come out like a new team and play well, then lapse back into being rubbish, rinse repeat for three years.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

But what makes you think he's capable? He's an interim manager who's scraped a few results against rubbish teams. So far I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest he's a capable short term appointment.

I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on the guy, but the fact he is lauded for the counter pressing style that we all begrudgingly admire from the clubs that seem light years ahead of us just now, and is so hghly regarded by Klopp and Tuchel, is enough really.

Personally I'm not expecting much between now and the end of the season, because even wth a top manager it'll be a long process, and Rangnick seems better suited behind the scenes, but if he can at least have got some way down the road at getting his philosophy accross to the players who are worth keeping, and identified the players that need moving on, then it's not 6 months wasted.

Unless I misunderstood Rangnick is having a big say on the next manager, so it's not like we'll be rippping it all up again in the summer, more the next guy picks up where he left it, with Rangnick then helping build the new team.

 

[TwoSheds]

I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on the guy, but the fact he is lauded for the counter pressing style that we all begrudgingly admire from the clubs that seem light years ahead of us just now, and is so hghly regarded by Klopp and Tuchel, is enough really.

Personally I'm not expecting much between now and the end of the season, because even wth a top manager it'll be a long process, and Rangnick seems better suited behind the scenes, but if he can at least have got some way down the road at getting his philosophy accross to the players who are worth keeping, and identified the players that need moving on, then it's not 6 months wasted.

Unless I misunderstood Rangnick is having a big say on the next manager, so it's not like we'll be rippping it all up again in the summer, more the next guy picks up where he left it, with Rangnick then helping build the new team.

I just don't get this logic at all of hiring an average manager who seemingly doesn't particularly like management so that he can hire the next manager. But maybe he's not an average manager. Then it would all make sense. Probably.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

I just don't get this logic at all of hiring an average manager who seemingly doesn't particularly like management so that he can hire the next manager. But maybe he's not an average manager. Then it would all make sense. Probably.

We clearly want to go down the road of changing things properly this time, not just throwing the job at any old manager who is available at any given time.

I'm happy to write the season off just as long as we see through the Rangnick plan, ie him start the changes now, pick the next manager, and be allowed to have a big say on incomings and outgoings thereafter. If that doesn't work then at least we tried something more likely to succeed that what we usually do.

 

[TwoSheds]

We clearly want to go down the road of changing things properly this time, not just throwing the job at any old manager who is available at any given time.

I'm happy to write the season off just as long as we see through the Rangnick plan, ie him start the changes now, pick the next manager, and be allowed to have a big say on incomings and outgoings thereafter. If that doesn't work then at least we tried something more likely to succeed that what we usually do.

But what other club with a director of football and technical director needs to bring in a consultant to recruit a manager? And makes that recruitment consultant the manager until that time! It's a bizarre way to work and would be in any industry never mind football.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

But what other club with a director of football and technical director needs to bring in a consultant to recruit a manager? And makes that recruitment consultant the manager until that time! It's a bizarre way to work and would be in any industry never mind football.

What club hires a completely uproven caretaker manager fulltime, lets him spend hundreds of millions, and then is surprised when it goes wrong, or hires a manager who is the opposite of what United fans want to see, with their best days so clearly behind him, or hires a manager who's main qualification for the job is that he is Scottish.

We are a disaster, and much as it will probably fail, this plan seems better than the rest.

 

[TwoSheds]

What club hires a completely uproven caretaker manager fulltime, lets him spend hundreds of millions, and then is surprised when it goes wrong, or hires a manager who is the opposite of what United fans want to see, with their best days so clearly behind him, or hires a manager who's main qualification for the job is that he is Scottish.

We are a disaster, and much as it will probably fail, this plan seems better than the rest.

I disagree. None of them were great plans but the problems get worse every time we flip flop between "philosophies". Mourinho flopped because we got him too late after Real had already broken him. We should have appointed him the moment Fergie announced his retirement - he was the only man who could have made a success of it at the time. Ole did ok when he played slightly Mourinho-ish counter attacking 4231/433 football with the added spice of not being a miserable cnut. Again it fell apart because he wasn't a good enough manager and the transfer business wasn't good enough, not because he was playing a style the players were unsuited to. Carrick seemed like a relatively continuous style again but it looked like there was a bit more clear direction on the pitch than with Ole (albeit a tiny sample size).

So after 2 and a bit managers who seemed to try to set up not really playing possession football, playing with 3 CMs, quite deep and direct, we've now brought a guy who's supposedly a high press, weird narrow 442 guy. Despite the fact we've paid God knows how much money out on developing a squad that doesn't really play like that. And then in the summer we're going to go out and find a manager in the same mould apparently, whatever that mould is. I can't think of many managers who play high press 442 (Simeone?), and I certainly can't think of many who'd want to do it with this bunch of players. So inevitably we're going to switch styles again in one way or another in the summer. Can't wait.

 

[alexthelion]

Why start this thread when, for the first time in ages, there actually does look like there's a plan?

 

[alexthelion]

We do exactly what we do when were unhappy with players and managers...show our dissatisfaction at the games, social media etc. We stop blaming the players and managers, because they are the symptom of the problems...not the problem!

So which big club has been successful with having incompetent owners?

Please explain how it's the owners' fault that the players on the pitch cannot even pass the ball 5 yards to a teammate?

The board/players/manager are all major parts of the problem, come on, be realistc.

 

[captain666]

Why start this thread when, for the first time in ages, there actually does look like there's a plan?

Looks like the seeds of a plan have been planted and hopefully by the summer window we can see some positive improvements.
However we need to shake up the composition of the Board,can anyone tell me what Kevin,Bryan,Darcie and Edward Glazer contribute to our Club?Getting them to stand down would be a good start.

 

[VictoriaRed]

It’s business, sure, but like any business, if the product is good, I’d like to get behind it! Alas, I am stuck to support this dross…

 

[red thru&thru]

Please explain how it's the owners' fault that the players on the pitch cannot even pass the ball 5 yards to a teammate?

The board/players/manager are all major parts of the problem, come on, be realistc.

The current issues are the symptoms of the problem, not the problem! The mismanagement of the footballing side has been terrible for number of years.

Yes of course all have to take their share of the blame, however, you have to look at the source of the problem!

 

[Coops73]

The current issues are the symptoms of the problem, not the problem! The mismanagement of the footballing side has been terrible for number of years.

Yes of course all have to take their share of the blame, however, you have to look at the source of the problem!

Why don’t people understand this? It’s baffling.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

interesting the main positive in that is they didnt sack staff during a pandemic. what a low bar

Its pathetic isn’t it. The owners still withdrew their dividends non stop through the whole pandemic but constantly said we can’t spend money on transfers because the club is struggling.

These days they seem to focus on PR stories like giving to charity and employing people as you say. Real clubs like Chelsea just do those things as standard and don’t even need to boast about it. The Glazers run us more like a brain washing cult than a football club.

 

[choccy77]

Manchester United Board

Not as bored as us fans.

 

[steffyr2]

The only hope is that with Woodward replaced and thankfully not going to be a consultant, that the running of the club at the top end will change. This Arnold bloke has said he will leave the football side to Murtough for football decisions, and he has Fletcher as well. Although we dont know a lot about Murtough apart from he rebuilt the academy from when Moyes was here, and we at least know Fletcher is a football man.
We can at least hope.

We know that Fletcher played football for Utd. We don't know what his job is now, what qualifications are required for that mystery job, or which of those mystery qualifications for that mystery job Fletcher has. But he played football at Utd, so no one asks about that.

Seems like there's the board to manage the financials and set up a structure of people to run the football operations. But the people who are chosen for the football operations are always ex-players or relatives of the ex-managers. Or Scottish. Or they're LVG/Ralf/Mourinho who are experienced and had (have) a plan, but the plan wasn't/isn't sufficiently "Utd Way" enough to survive the growing phase.

 

[NewGlory]

I don't get this post. It ends with "Really wish people would realize [that our board is shite]". But who doesn't? Everybody fecking knows it. So? We can't change the board.

Also, if you want to know how bad our board is, just look up who is on the board. None of them know anything about football. A bunch of Glazer family members, and accountants. Of course they suck. And then what?

 

[berbasloth4]

Because our board is such a circus do ya think Citys board are sitting laughing. They tricked us into signing Sanchez, Maguire and fred probably more. We need alot more football men in. Majority of the big clubs throughout europe have ex players basically running it. We need that and not just fletcher.

 

[copen1945]

One cannot fault them for not spending the money. Despite the dividends, etc., they have spent a lot. They need to spend as much and more wisely.

 

[Noc-Z]

Yeah I don't have a problem with the level of spending, but what I see is inadequacy from top to bottom, meaning that decisions made, particularly around recruitment/appointments have been awful. Due to this we are in serious danger of dropping out of the top 4, never mind winning trophies. The club needs restructured but I don't know who has the acumen and power to do it. City, Chelsea and Liverpool look nailed on for top 3, possibly for years to come. Is our future fighting it out for fourth? Are the board happy just to get 4th every year and Champions League football? I'd hope not but it's where we're headed. Conte is showing ambition at Spurs, not sure he will get what he wants but he's incredibly ambitious, Arsenal seem to have it together under Arteta, West Ham seem well run and are doing great. If we don't get it together we are in danger of 5th - 7th place finishes. We need to stop the rot and it does start with the board - the structure of the club needs to be right with the best appointments in place for each role.