You’re spot on about the generally clickbaity nature of the traditional press due to digital commercialisation. I also agree that (if true), it wasn’t best practice from the journalists to not offer the
However, I seriously doubt that somebody like Luckhurst, with the backing of his editor, would put their professional neck on the line like that if their sources were not credible. Ultimately, reliability is the most important thing for a news journalist to be credibility, and if they are exposed using phoney sources then they can consider themselves to be unemployable as nobody will read their articles and they will be a liability to an outlet like MEN that brands itself as a trusted source of news (whether you personally trust MEN or not is down to you).
It is also in the interests of journalists like Luckhurst to maintain good relations with the club. Such negative stories of player revolts are already a risk for them given that the club can, for example, overlook them for exclusives or in this case, totally revoke access.
But it is also in the interests of the club to maintain good relations with the MEN and the local media. The club will need exposure for positive stories or briefings they want to put out in order to control the narrative. I suspect that, when this all blows over, the club’s comms team will say that they pushed to take action in that manner by Ten Hag and now that he’s gone their relationship can go back to normal.
Have you considered that supporting the team and the club is dependent on having a capable and competent manager who is not hated by his playing staff? Have you considered that is not feasible to get rid of every single player Ten Hag has fallen out with and instead get a manager who can get the most out of the players already there? Have you considered that, even if we did get rid of every player that is considered problematic, Ten Hag is the last person who should be trusted with a rebuild given his shambolic tactics, treatment of players, training methods and signings are the cause of the crisis we are currently in.
I use terms such as Ten Hag cultists because in the eyes of some posters, he can do no wrong. Ten Hag is portrayed as a victim and every excuse under the sun is made for . This is why I question whether your loyalty is to the club or the manager. Loyalty to the club does not equal loyalty to the manager if the manager is one of the largest controllable factors for these issues.
I am fully aware of the obstacles he faces that are beyond his control: the Glazers, the lack of football structure and the ego of modern professionals.
But there are things within Ten Hag’s control where he is failing miserably: the signings, falling out with players, illogical and inconsistent team selections, arduous training sessions and the persistence with the same disastrous tactics (the 3-1-6 and the man-to-man press) despite the same pattern of problems (we regularly concede the same of type and we let in too many shots every game).
You can keep blaming the players and their ego all you like. No amount of effort and dedication can mitigate for Ten Hag being tactically outmanoeuvred almost every single game. This is why this squad mutiny is in the best interests of the club. Ten Hag’s decisions are truly a liability at this point.
The issue with the Ten Hag cultists is that they have already imagined him taking the club back to its old heights and they don’t want to let go of it. Personally, I don’t care who takes us back to the top. It could be Steven Gerrard or John Terry for all I care, as long as it is Manchester United at the top of the league. I am 100% convinced that Ten Hag will take us further away from this ny manager in our post-SAF era. We didn’t even look this bad under Moyes.
The cultists may argue that this is just a blip. Indeed it may be. But I have seen enough to conclude that, should we recover and reach another blip, this manager is either: a) too stubborn to change a clearly failing tactic or b) he can’t even read the game well enough to diagnose the issues and apply the corrective measures.
Whichever one it is, I have seen enough. As we say in Arabic - you need not drink all of the sea’s water to know that it is salty.
