It's amazing how the body language experts always manage to interpret things exactly in line with what they're hoping for. It's even more amazing that they can establish such firm interpretations from a few photographs or two second long clips of footage. Hats off to them, they have a remarkable skill set.
Mike Phelan signed a contract extension in late 2021
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I mean, sneer at the idea if you want but Sults has already told us that he sits a couple of rows behind the coaches, so unless he's watching the game on his phone, while at the game, I don't think that's an issue.
And for whatever it's worth, Sults is one the soundest, most sensible blokes on here. He's been watching United for a lifetime and is one of the most clear-headed supporters you'll ever meet. If he says he's seen it, it won't be because he''s wishing for it to be true.
State of this post. Depressingly bad.
Yer, that's Mike phoning OGS. Not the other way around. Either way, we have a new manager.
I didn’t mean the tweet. I meant the lazy commentary and vitriol spouted by the poster to accompany it.
Yeah I didn't follow the whole conversation so wasn't directed at Sultan, and my post wouldn't apply to what he said. It was merely a general rant about body language experts, poorly timed as luck would have it, I hadn't even read Sultans post. No hard feelings Mr Sults.
I think on the 22nd Rangnick will find him a club in Qatar happy to have him put out cones for the remainder of his contract.
Have your say! #MikePhelanSackBingo
Have your say! #MikePhelanSackBingo
A matter of not if but when Mike will he shown the exit door. Rangnick has quietly but efficiently already cleared out the Ole era coaching staff
You seem to be framing half baked opinions as fact.
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This aged well.
I'd heard that Phelan generally stands apart from Ragnick and looks a bit isolated?
Mike Phelan, a man bought back to Utd to support and mentor Ole... with Ole now gone Phelan's role is now somewhat irrelevant. I think he still partly does his role in Australia too.
It is clear Ralf isnt sure what he is doing either..... other than chewing profusely and modelling a whole catalogue of shorts per season- so i would expect him to leave shortly with a nice fat pay off.
It is clear Ralf isnt sure what he is doing either..... other than chewing profusely and modelling a whole catalogue of shorts per season- so i would expect him to leave shortly with a nice fat pay off.
Thanks for the nice words.
He really did have a face like a camel eating a lemon during the Palace game. I never claimed it could be for anything related to the club or his job. We all have such days when things have not always been to our expectations. No, I don't wish for Phelan to lose his job.
That disinterest in the Atalanta game after Ole was sacked rubbed me off the wrong way. He reminds me of Boomers I've worked with in more junior roles who thought they were too good and have nothing much to learn/prove/adapt.
In most cases, you know that's their ceiling.
In most cases, you know that's their ceiling.
You sometimes get the feeling that considering what he appears to be doing (whatever that is besides the 'cones' business) Mike Phelan must have the 'inside track' on too many people, or perhaps he 'knows where all the bodies are buried'... so removing him may have to be done surgically! 
That’s certainly….an opinion.You sometimes get the feeling that considering what he appears to be doing (whatever that is besides the 'cones' business) Mike Phelan must have the 'inside track' on too many people, or perhaps he 'knows where all the bodies are buried'... so removing him may have to be done surgically!
Then just pay him off and send him off with a nice post on the website and a cringe vid.You sometimes get the feeling that considering what he appears to be doing (whatever that is besides the 'cones' business) Mike Phelan must have the 'inside track' on too many people, or perhaps he 'knows where all the bodies are buried'... so removing him may have to be done surgically!
He's that guy.
Are people still baffled by what he does or has done for the last few years?
He’s essentially a player liaison officer. When the changing room was absolutely toxic, he was the eyes on the ground and an opinion that was trusted by both players and staff alike.
I think it was probably quite an important role under Solskjaer’s regime and helped micro manage player relationships and galvanise the squad. He’s an ex-player who understood them.
The position clearly doesn’t exist under Rangnick though which is why he was a bit bemused about his role. Rangnick has no previous relationship with Phelan so why would he trust him to continue that role when he’s not necessarily going to help get his ideas across or even sing from the same hymn sheet.
He’s essentially a player liaison officer. When the changing room was absolutely toxic, he was the eyes on the ground and an opinion that was trusted by both players and staff alike.
I think it was probably quite an important role under Solskjaer’s regime and helped micro manage player relationships and galvanise the squad. He’s an ex-player who understood them.
The position clearly doesn’t exist under Rangnick though which is why he was a bit bemused about his role. Rangnick has no previous relationship with Phelan so why would he trust him to continue that role when he’s not necessarily going to help get his ideas across or even sing from the same hymn sheet.
This alongside the recruitment of an actual sports psychologist, means he probably has no part to play. Pretty weird situation to be in, but again the writing was on the wall for Ole when these contracts were handed out, so...
The changing room was never that toxic after the Toxic one left. There is no way he was micro managing player relationships whatever that even means. I reckon he was more of a liaison between the coaching staff and the other areas of the club ( kit man, ground staff etc) Basically helping with the day to day and being someone Ole wanted around him to hep with random problems outside of coaching. All speculation of course but I think he was basically Ole's personal assistant hence his job title of assistant manager.
Also can someone change the thread title so people don't get a heart attack everytime the thread resurfaces.
Since he has signed the contract extension, could he just wait for the contract to run out ? Like a player running down the last year of his contract.
As a former player with connections to Ferguson, I think it would be hard for the club to just kick him out of the room.
Mckenna actually got an offer. I don't think there will be clubs coming in for Phelan.
As a former player with connections to Ferguson, I think it would be hard for the club to just kick him out of the room.
Mckenna actually got an offer. I don't think there will be clubs coming in for Phelan.
I'd assume he got the same amount of time in his contract that Solskjaer had, which is for two and a half seasons from now. That's a lot to just run down if you're not needed.
I think the targeting of Phelan needs to stop. As a player he helped us win the first Premier League. As a manager he worked with SAF to deliver a lot of success.
He may not be management material, but he is clearly not without use! Its been confirmed he didn't do on field coaching for Ole and when he did do it under SAF the players liked the sessions.
In absence of being able to adequately judge what he is doing I think he need to leave him be and show some respect, if for nothing else for all he has done for us for many years!
He may not be management material, but he is clearly not without use! Its been confirmed he didn't do on field coaching for Ole and when he did do it under SAF the players liked the sessions.
In absence of being able to adequately judge what he is doing I think he need to leave him be and show some respect, if for nothing else for all he has done for us for many years!
How has Phelan been targeted? Asking questions about what exactly he does after 3 years isn't unfair nor is it abusive especially when our current manager doesn't even know 
It's also relevant when he's the only one left from the previous managers staff.
It's also relevant when he's the only one left from the previous managers staff.
I don’t think any of the geniuses on the cafe know what goes on inside Old Trafford…so this thread is more pointless than most.
It's classic fickle fan stuff isn't it.
Doesn't seem that long ago people were desperate for him to pack his job in to join Ole.
How do we know that some of the problems aren't the fault of the dietician or the stretching coach? We need to start blaming them as well. Also can't we blame the old facilities at Carrington, I hear it is now a bit of a dump and may not make the players feel loved; and therefore demotivated.
Also is the grass still the same at Carrington and Old Trafford and of consistent length at both places -it may well be the grounds man's fault.
We need to start pointing some more fingers.
Also is the grass still the same at Carrington and Old Trafford and of consistent length at both places -it may well be the grounds man's fault.
We need to start pointing some more fingers.
What's with this ole i dont do training, now phelan doesnt join the training etc.
They're coaching staff, what else they should be doing. Even if ole doesnt handle the details he should be in charge of the training.
They're coaching staff, what else they should be doing. Even if ole doesnt handle the details he should be in charge of the training.
I think you have a false concept of delegation.
Delegation is when you're too busy and the task is impossible to handle or too big to realistically control personally or too menial to waste your time with.
E.g. managing a war, 1000 branch Multinational company CEO, Elon Musk, a CEO isnt going to compile data he'd delegate that to his intern.
Training a football team that consist of 20 men is not something you delegate as manager. That's about the brunt of the work you're paid to do. It's like a stripper who delegates her stripping. It's like a CEO who delegates everything and playing mascot, like Bruce wayne when he's not batman.
SAF delegation is not the same as Ole i dont do training.
And technical director does the coaching occasionally but not the actual manager
No wonder we're such a mess
That was the biggest issue with Solskjaer. Not only was he not good enough himself as a coach (in my opinion) but he trusted the inexperienced Carrick and McKenna way too much.
The likes of Tuchel and Klopp don't delegate, they are very hands on and so is Rangknick. Solskjaer was acting like an established manager with a genuinely world class coaching staff and it proved to be his undoing
That would be a weird appointment indeed. First of all Phelan was by far the most experienced staff member Ole had at his disposal. The guy was already an assistant manager when Ole was still at Molde as a player. Secondly I can't see how a 59 year old man who was hardly a top player himself could connect with 20-25 year olds.
I believe that Phelan was signed to do what many expected him to do ie add much needed experience on the training pitch. Ole couldn't be bothered training his players and McCarricky were ridiculously inexperienced which means they needed an experienced head around. If you read SAF's autobiography you'll learn how much the old geezer rated Mike so if Ole went to SAF's office asking for a person who could provide experience to his coaching staff then I am sure that SAF would suggest Phelan.
Anyway Phelan was quite happy with his sporting director job in Australia. He joined United as a favour to Ole and to SAF + he also believed that it was a temporary job. In fact he kept both jobs at the same time.
When Ole was made permanent manager, Phelan probably thought that he couldn't see himself drilling the team at his age and would instead love to move to sporting director in the near . Comparing Mariners to Man United might sound silly but don't forget that at the time all it counted was United's DNA. Promotions were given out like candy to the right people. Fletcher for example was appointed U16 coach in October 2020, he was promoted to first team coach in January 2021 and in April 2021 he was promoted again as Technical director. So Phelan probably thought that if Fletcher could get what he wanted in record time then why can't he who had the experience and had done all the donkey work?
Turned out that Woodward had other plans and he preferred Murtough over him. At the time rumours of Nicky Butt's unhappiness followed by his departure monopolized the scene but there were more subtle rumours of Phelan not being too happy about the appointment as well. Anyway Ole probably did what Ole seems so able to do. He gave Phelan a cushy job, away from the training pitch and closer to what Phelan wanted to do as a sporting director. Which kind of defeated his signing in the first place (ie that of adding much needed experience to a coaching staff team that was so green that it pissed grass).
Rangnick doesn't need Phelan, not even as a coach. Phelan understands gegenpressing as much as a gorilla would understand nuclear fusion. As a former sporting director himself Ralph probably struggles to see why United need a DOF and a 'shadow sporting director' especially since the coaching staff is so ridiculously inexperienced. So after trying to gently nudge Phelan out as he did with McCarricky he raised his voice a notch by exposing him in the media. However I very much doubt that it would work. At age 59, Phelan probably knows that this is his last big contract in the game. He'll stick to it until he gets sacked.
These sort of power struggles are very common when a new manager comes in. He would want to bring in his men and often that can only happen by getting rid of the old guard. Its also relatively common for someone to get a job simply because he's the manager's pet. Back in Moyes time the joke at United was what Jimmy Lumsden actually did. I am confident that Phelan turned out to become Ole's version of that.
You are aware that SAF rarely ever took training during his time as United manager aren't you?
https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/11/sir-...anchester-united-reveals-ryan-giggs-12683612/
True.
Is he still at club? may be its a decent thing to leave the place with some compensation
I'm aware of that, but
1. He's 60+ , he doesn't run around in the pitch, doesn't mean he doesn't do meeting, instruct, listen, analyze and decide whose does what. Nobody needs the manager to run along in the pitch, but I do expect them to oversee the whole thing. There's delegation, and there's I don't care, you do this for me.
2. SAF didn't focus only on training, he's basically our DOF and he undersee a lot more aspect on top of first team football. So it's understandable that he delegates a lot of the tiny details. Ole main job is coaching, if he doesn't coach than what good is he?
3. SAF got the result, he could be home playing minecraft for all I care but if he keeps on winning, nobody would care. Ole doesn't, it doesn't matter if he's the hardest working longest distance runner in the training pitch, off he goes. The point that we aren't doing so well and he comes up with this "I don't do training" only exacerbates the issue.
4. Ole is not SAF
So tell me again, if he doesn't coach, what is it that he does at United?
Compensation is never an issue, those sacked or resigned will get what they're owed to, probably not a penny more but definitely not a penny less than agreed in their contract.
Never have an issue with it.
Tuchel is haemorrhaging points like a Norwegian