Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's interview

Patience

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Then don't sell 4 potentially useful players all at once.

It's not really rocket science.

How are you not getting this mate?

Our dressing-room was toxic. Top-to-bottom toxic.

The first thing Ole has done is try to rid the toxicity.

Which makes perfect sense.. This is exactly what Sir Alex did when he came in.

Fans like you were up in arms when Whiteside, Moran and McGrath were shunted out the door.. without even replacements being brought in. But this is because Fergie was playing a long-game.. he didn't care about 1987 or 1988 or even 1989 - he was building a whole new culture at the club and looking to the future.

And it's clear to see that this is what Ole is doing. Stop bleating on about what is going on on the pitch right now.. this is ALL about building towards a future. Not a quick fix.
 
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They're the only two players who can make an impact that would be available in January I can think of.
Not sure they come off though.
I think Dembele and Maddison would more likely. Eriksen and Dybala don't want to come here imo.
 

Eric7C

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Yeah, when the question is about SAF, manager he worshiped all his career, he will say "it is irrelevant". This kind of fantasy should stop. No one gives that answer, not even Jose who was full of himself said something like that. He said he will always be open to suggestion from SAF and said he invited SAF to training/dressing room.
Hang on, I am not arguing about this particular instance; I've already admitted I didn't see the question posed to him, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have made the post.

However, I am also trying to make a larger point about Ole's personality. He's a nice guy and he's a a bit of a romantic with regards to United. He refers to past players as "Robbos" and "Keanos" and present ones as "Rashys." He says he tells players off in the dressing room when they are not performing, and that this is not information for the media (fair enough), but this is hard to believe because of the way he is on the touchline. Almost every successful manager is animated during a game, but Ole is not. He is not proactive with his substitutions and his in-game tactics are nonexistent. If you take all these factors into account, he comes off as a person who does not have the personality to lead a club like United - and his genuine and continuous reverence for the club's past, while not a problem in itself, is indicative of his lack of individuality. When they look at Ole, the players of this club can look up to neither a magnetic persona nor an astute tactician. That is certainly a problem.

I cannot provide hard evidence for these observations; they are more impressions of the man - but that does not mean they are not valid.
 

VP89

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Moyes wasn't a rookie: he was a well established and respected Premier League manager who most pundits agreed had over-achieved with Everton.

After Moyes' failure, we played safe and went for a highly experienced big name manager in Van Gaal, and that didn't work out that well either.

After Van Gaal's failure, we played even safer and went for another highly experienced big name manager, and Premier League and Champions League winner to boot, and that worked out arguably even worse.

The one thing we hadn't really tried was a comparative rookie, and now we have. Given the serious damage wrought by his 3 predecessors and the now obvious need for a major overhaul, I'm happy to give him a lot more time. He's already started to get rid of some of the dead wood in the squad, and has so far made good decisions on incoming transfers. There have also been developments behind the scenes to restructure both the coaching and scouting setups (this somewhat reminiscent of what SAF did shortly after his arrival).

We've had 3 failed managers in 6 years since SAF's retirement, and it now seems that some are keen to increase that number to 4. I'm pretty sure that anyone who came in now, faced with the present set of circumstances, would very soon find they were in line to become number 5... and who would we get anyway? The downsides of the job are clear for all to see, and it's a bit of a poisoned chalice right now.
How are you not getting this mate?

Our dressing-room was toxic. Top-to-bottom toxic.

The first thing Ole has done is try to rid the toxicity.

Which makes perfect sense.. This is exactly what Sir Alex did when he came in.

Fans like you were up in arms when Whiteside, Moran and McGrath were shunted out the door.. without even replacements being brought in. But this is because Fergie was playing a long-game.. he didn't care about 1987 or 1988 or even 1989 - he was building a whole new culture at the club and looking to the future.

And it's clear to see that this is what Ole is doing. Stop bleating on about what is going on on the pitch right now.. this is ALL about building towards a future. Not a quick fix.
Herrera - not toxic. Just wanted a better contract.
Fellaini - not toxic. Just wanted to play it seemed. He left as soon as Ole dropped him.
Sanchez - silly wages but professional, tenacious and hungry in training, by his managers own admission.
Lukaku - toxic once Ole showed him he has no place in the team. Poor man management but I agree once Lukaku was dropped, he had to go from how he reacted.

So yeah. Literally none of those 4 are like the players you named. You're basically drawing loose parallels with the past to try and show some sort of correlation. It's not the case.
 

romufc

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I have got to a point where I don't believe a word Ole says anymore.

I have seen plenty of people who have got the gift of the gab, and can talk very well and convincingly but after that only results matter.

Chelsea have lost their main man, no transfer window, new manager and still looking alot more dangerous than we are.

There can be 0 excuses now, he can talk all he wants about not going to be easy but that is to challenge, not top 4. This squad should finish top 4.
 

JamesCurran

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How many people on here actually attend Old Trafford regularly or even semi regularly? I know you can still be as much as a fan as anyone who attends every week if you don't. But criticising a manager who is 6 league games into his first full season behind a computer screen is a joke. What goes on here is nothing like it is in and around OT. Andy Tate done a interview last week which sums up the supporters online who are writing Ole off already. So catch your selves on and back your manager!
 

roonster09

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Hang on, I am not arguing about this particular instance; I've already admitted I didn't see the question posed to him, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have made the post.

However, I am also trying to make a larger point about Ole's personality. He's a nice guy and he's a a bit of a romantic with regards to United. He refers to past players as "Robbos" and "Keanos" and present ones as "Rashys." He says he tells players off in the dressing room when they are not performing, and that this is not information for the media (fair enough), but this is hard to believe because of the way he is on the touchline. Almost every successful manager is animated during a game, but Ole is not. He is not proactive with his substitutions and his in-game tactics are nonexistent. If you take all these factors into account, he comes off as a person who does not have the personality to lead a club like United - and his genuine and continuous reverence for the club's past, while not a problem in itself, is indicative of his lack of individuality. When they look at Ole, the players of this club can look up to neither a magnetic persona nor an astute tactician. That is certainly a problem.

I cannot provide hard evidence for these observations; they are more impressions of the man - but that does not mean they are not valid.
Ole isn't good enough based on the results and what we have seen on the pitch but this analysis of his interviews, body language is hilarious and looking for a stick to beat him with, when there are plenty already.

Almost every successful manager is animated? One of the most successful manager thinks it's a pointless exercise.

But significantly, Van Gaal has left his dug-out seat only once since taking over as Manchester United last summer – and that was during a substitution – because he thinks it is a pointless exercise.
He says players either cannot hear his instructions or understand them properly while referees will ignore any comments.
"I don't see that I can have any influence when I am standing there shouting from the sidelines," he said.
"Sometimes I've done it in the past but that has been more of an emotional thing than the content of what you are saying actually being heard by the players.
"I have never had a fight. I only use my voice, never my hands or something like that. They [the players] do not understand you or can't hear you because of the noise from the crowd. That's why I'm always on the bench.
You have trained them all week to read the game by themselves. It is much more important that they are more involved with the game, that they make their own decisions. It is like a child - you educate.
"Sometimes they don't read the games well but then at least you have half-time to put things right or you can make a substitution.
"Then you can say to the player who is coming on how they have to play in their position. You have to transfer that.
"I also don't think I can influence the referee. When I was in my first year [at Ajax] I tried everything. But I learned over the years to be quieter."
When it was pointed out Ferguson used to tap his watch to pressure referees into adding more time, he said: "You think the referee was looking at Ferguson? On television you can see that because every television station is recording the manager, I know.
"But the referee is not looking at the television. Maybe he is after the match but then he can't change anything any more."
Van Gaal also explained his copious note-taking during matches is all about bullet-point presentation in his half-time team talk.
He added: "I do it for half-time when I can say the things that can influence the match. I write because the sequence has to be always the right way because the players remember the moments of the game in sequence. It's [the talk] more efficient then."
 

Eric7C

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Ole isn't good enough based on the results and what we have seen on the pitch but this analysis of his interviews, body language is hilarious and looking for a stick to beat him with, when there are plenty already.

Almost every successful manager is animated? One of the most successful manager thinks it's a pointless exercise.
I don't think it's hilarious. A manager's personality is certainly a relevant point in their impact on a club or a group of players. Every successful manager has something unique about them, whether is is inspiring, scary or eccentric. Yes, including LvG.
 

MisterLupus

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Your views are well registered but I definitely have a problem with his coaching. That is the fundamental basis of what we have been discussing. Do we need quality strikers? Yes.
That is not in doubt. He's said we needed the right striker; why did he sanction Lukaku's departure before the right one came along? Couldn't he have waited till next summer? That is amateurish decision making. Who were his targets before the window opened? Why did he have to wait untill the closing of the window to say this when he clearly stated that all departing players would be replaced. Just smacks of a man who plays it along as things go with no adequate plans. I believe the greatest compliment you can pay to a coach is the ability to raise the performance levels of those around him and get them playing better as a unit more than individual entities.

OGS has not shown me this and if his version of being a Man United manager is to spend on big strikers before convincingly defeating the likes if West Ham, Soton, Rochdale and Astana, then anyone could do it including Mark Hughes or Steve Bruce. He is not a good manager. Period. Doesn't matter how you wanna spin it about him needing time and bla bla bla. He is a very poor manager and we both know that if he wasn't an ex-player, your views about him would have been completely different. The earlier we get rid, the less damage he will do. You either have it or you don't and I'm afraid he doesn't.
I'm sorry mate I can't take you serious. To me - this is how a child argues. You're pretty much saying "This is fact because reasons I've fabricated - and it doesn't matter what you or anyone says it's just bla bla bla and also you're sheep". I really can't be bothered repeating myself to every knee-jerking delusional simpleton on this forum though - so I'll just elaborate through a couple of quotes I feel to be spot on in regards to why a lot of us think dismissing this project at present is way premature - and also why making Ole out as some clueless amateur or presenting our current development as if nothing's changed since he took over downright moronic:

The negativity, revisionism and lack of objectivity on this forum is ridiculous. If you can't see any development since Solskjaer took charge then quite frankly either your eyes or your brains - probably both even - are betraying you.

The players who left are players everyone agreed last year needed to go - so Ole's done that right at least. The players brought in have all proved great improvements so far - so that part too is covered he obviously knows what kind of players we need. Mentality and morale has definitely improved within the squad - the players we have now at least try their best (even if their best may be inadequate for a top-side) and looks emotionally invested in what they're doing something I've not seen for years (with a few honorable exceptions of course). Passing and movement have definitely improved and we're attempting to create chances playing attractive football rather than relying on the opposition making a mess of themselves so that too is a positive. We're focusing on youth again and building for the long term - for the first time in ages - which is delightful to observe and also our defense is looking solid again - another step in the right direction.

Also Ole is drawing the right conclusions whenever we do mess up - so apparently he's not in the dark as to which areas needs strengthening.

Our lack of results is down to things that cannot be instantly fixed - and hence must be endured. At least two of the games we lost points from this season were games where our dominance warranted three points - so yeah bad luck but luck usually evens out over time so even though it's bitter I'm not particularly worried about it. Our squad is probably the thinnest and least experienced in the league and we really should have had two more seasoned midfielders and a top-class attacker to replace those who left - in the final third we're something of a mess (though still improved from last year where we were absolutely abysmal in that area) and our attackers are far from being clinical enough - but is that down to Ole? I doubt it - he said he wanted five signings during the summer and even identified the weak areas of our team correctly - yet he only got three (of which one was an unproven youngster even) - so something tells me this was more down to either lack of available talent or the board not acknowledging how urgent it was replacing those who left (Lukaku and Herrera in particular).

And like I said we're a young and inexperienced side - Solskjaer himself included - so to judge this as a finished product is beyond moronic. We won't win the league this year - get over it nobody in their right minds would expect this not from any manager. We might make top-four if this team manages to grow as the season progresses and we're lucky to avoid an injury crisis (like the one we're suffering from at present) - but like a lot of people said at the end of last season a top-six then hoping to win the EL is a more realistic way back into the CL. However if we keep progressing and building on what they've done so far during our January and summer windows - I think we'll be able to solidify a top-four next season and then step back up as potential challengers by 2022.

Personally I don't know yet if this project is what will get us back into the top flight but neither can anyone in here and truth is we won't know until Christmas 2020 because that's how rebuilding a shattered team works - it takes time. I'm encourages so far though because every step taken up until this point has been in the right direction - and my only grief is that we should have made one more step (reinforcing our midfield and attack as mentioned above). But like I said - I don't think this is down to our current manager as he himself too identified these issues already during our last campaign so he's obviously aware of them.

Either way - this is where we are at present. Let's not pretend it's Ole's fault because it's not - he's doing his best with what he's inherited and from an objective view you couldn't expect more from him or anyone else than what we're currently seeing. I bet most of the people who are slagging him off would be way more nuanced in their views if his name was Klopp or Pochettino - then suddenly as if by some stroke of magic you'd all be able see what the rest of us are seeing. This is Manchester United Football Club as of 2019 - get behind it or feck off to be honest. Supporters turning on their own team are harmful to that team - and that's the last this club needs right now.
And this (much better than mine to be honest):

Personally, i'm at the point of fecking off from everything related to online discussions about football. This will be my post number 1992, if you do a quick, but low, estimate and say that each post takes 5 mins, we're talking a minimum of 166 hours, which is clearly not healthy in any perspective whatsoever.

Unfortunately there's not much room for intelligent debates with a bit of perspective, hoping for the majority to notice that everything isn't black and white is apparantly a bit too much to hope for. There's too many, and lets be somewhat blunt here, complete idiots presenting absurd theories as facts without even getting the basics right. So you can't even register what we're doing on the pitch, but you do have all the answers for that the club should do next, mint, join the lot of taxi drivers wo have all the answers to Brexit and everything related to immigration. You'll have people who claim we aren't pressing high, that teams are happy to allow us to have the ball, that we're only a counter attacking side, that we don't actually play as a team and that all the goals we've scored so far this season are down to individuals, grass is always greener on the other side. There's the moaning about how it's going to be difficult to find a decent manager as anyone coming in will have to accept not being backed.

I mean, really ? Last time i checked, we've invested over £850mill in transfer fees alone since Fergie retired, spread over 4 managers, and our squad still resembles swiss cheese in terms of holes...Every one of them has been given full autonomy, to the point where we still have a solid core of players from Fergies days while the managers have mostly been replacing the players that the previous manager brought in..But yeah, we're most certainly not backing them, great logic there. At times, reading some of the shit that gets posted here reminds me of the Clayton Bigsby sketch by Chappelle.

In terms of the style we're trying to play, naive or not, good enough manager to get it working or not, it's still pretty damn obvious what we're trying to do on the pitch. We generally stick with a high defensive line where we try to win the ball back high up the pitch with close distance to the oppositions goal so we can take advantage of players out of position. We want defenders that are comfortable on the ball, both in terms of getting forward with it and being able to stay calm and pass our way out of trouble if the opposition presses us high up the pitch. Our goal against Crystal Palace is a pretty decent example, win the ball back high up the pitch and play quick one touch passes. Crystal Palace isn't in balance whatsoever, when James gets the ball inside their box we have as many attackers inside the box as they have defenders (3), with passing alternatives as well because they haven't had time to get back in position, their entire right hand side was completely exposed. Essentially it's the result of two things, we stand high up the pitch and when we lose the ball we immediately try to win it back by collective pressure instead of falling off to form a tight defense. Obviously it has it's risk, easily visible for Crystal Palace's second goal. For the vast majority of the match against Leicester we were high up the pitch, essentially giving them no passing options go forward to the point where they just kept giving the ball away without getting close to the midfield. The majority of this is visible in stats, how high up the pitch we stand, how much we press and how much we sprint, but people still argue against it and pretend we're doing something else. Weird. Do we struggle against compact teams ? Sure as hell, but we're still trying to form triangles out wide where the player with the ball should always have two passing options close by, where we try to outnumber them wide in order to force them to move another player out of position. Great success so far ? Nah, but that's hardly expected either, we're just getting started and we've been without two key players for too many matches, we'll be without 3 given Rashfords injury, expecting a squad that was already thin with attacking options to instantly cope with that is just absurd. Playing against teams that defend deep is one of the most challenging aspects of modern football, i'm hardly surprised that we haven't unlocked that bit yet, for a long period it was an easy tactic for teams in the league to stiffle Liverpool under Klopp by simply staying deep and compact, allowing Liverpool to dominate the ball without being a threat. It took Klopp a long time to get the right players, balance their playing style in order to last the full season and adapt to different type of oppositions. By all means, it's highly unlikely that Ole will ever get us that far, but people are comparing present day Liverpool with what we're doing and completely ignore that it took Liverpool a long long time to get there, and during that time plenty of fans in here took the piss out of how Klopp was never going to achieve anything with Liverpool.

Ref the structure of the club and the overall situation we're in, it's another black and white scenario that i don't fully understand. Again, since Fergie retired we've given every manager full autonomy to improve the squad, we've spent over £850mill on transfer fees, wages have been increased a lot. The notion that it's our current owners (and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon) holding us back has certainly nothing to do with the amount of money we spend both on transfer fees and wages ( a lot ). That they are refusing to change how the club functions, that Woodward is blocking things because he wants to hold all the power, stooges etc, seems to be very naive given the money involved here. As if it's some divine plan to spend absolute mental fees on transfers and increase our wage bill to the 4th highest in football with about feck all to show for it, but apparently all they think about is the dividends :lol: People need to take into account that the club has operated in certain ways for a very long time. Fergie needed, and had, full autonomy at the club, we then gave the job to a similar type of manager in Moyes, someone who refuses to give the go to sign a player unless he's had ample time to scout the player himself, then to Van Gaal who has no issues with allowing someone else to make decisions on player signings, happy that the club had already done extensive scouting on Shaw and Herrera, then over to a manager that needs full autonomy, and then some, in Mourinho. I mean, it's hardly a surprise that things haven't progressed in terms of how the club operates when we've generally viewed finding the right manager as the solution to a bigger problem, and the majority of them have had the same stern view on having full control. Things take time. Lets not forget the amount of people in here who took the piss out of Liverpools transfer committee when Rodgers was around...

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...utd-sporting-director-ed-woodward-van-der-sar

We need to be realistic and accept that there will be plenty of downs and a few ups. The first 11 isn't bad, but there isn't much depth at the moment and we desperately need our key players to stay fit. Given the uncertainty surrounding Tottenham and Chelsea, it's hardly impossible to finish in the top 4 and hopefully build on that.
 

JamesCurran

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Hang on, I am not arguing about this particular instance; I've already admitted I didn't see the question posed to him, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have made the post.

However, I am also trying to make a larger point about Ole's personality. He's a nice guy and he's a a bit of a romantic with regards to United. He refers to past players as "Robbos" and "Keanos" and present ones as "Rashys." He says he tells players off in the dressing room when they are not performing, and that this is not information for the media (fair enough), but this is hard to believe because of the way he is on the touchline. Almost every successful manager is animated during a game, but Ole is not. He is not proactive with his substitutions and his in-game tactics are nonexistent. If you take all these factors into account, he comes off as a person who does not have the personality to lead a club like United - and his genuine and continuous reverence for the club's past, while not a problem in itself, is indicative of his lack of individuality. When they look at Ole, the players of this club can look up to neither a magnetic persona nor an astute tactician. That is certainly a problem.

I cannot provide hard evidence for these observations; they are more impressions of the man - but that does not mean they are not valid.
So you think if Ole acts like a lunatic on the touchline, Pogba will score his penalties, De Gea won't make a goalkeeping error, Scott McTominay will play a match winning through ball like Paul Scholes?

What do you want him to do substitute himself on and score a 92nd minute winner?
 

roonster09

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I don't think it's hilarious. A manager's personality is certainly a relevant point in their impact on a club or a group of players. Every successful manager has something unique about them, whether is is inspiring, scary or eccentric. Yes, including LvG.
You can't judge Manager's personality without meeting them and that too based on whether they are acting like lunatics on touchline. The players who played with him talks about his personality in the exact opposite way of what you posted.
 

Eric7C

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"I also don't think I can influence the referee. When I was in my first year [at Ajax] I tried everything. But I learned over the years to be quieter."
When it was pointed out Ferguson used to tap his watch to pressure referees into adding more time, he said: "You think the referee was looking at Ferguson? On television you can see that because every television station is recording the manager, I know.
"But the referee is not looking at the television. Maybe he is after the match but then he can't change anything any more."
Also, LvG does not understand the sway Ferguson had over everyone including referees. It's also ridiculous to argue that SAF did not have an impact on players standing on the touchline as often as he did.
 

Eric7C

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You can't judge Manager's personality without meeting them and that too based on whether they are acting like lunatics on touchline. The players who played with him talks about his personality in the exact opposite way of what you posted.
Of course you can, you don't have to meet a manager to see how they are managing a game and their ability to inspire or change performances during a game. Players can say all they want to in interviews, but the effect of a manager is seen on the pitch.
 

roonster09

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Of course you can, you don't have to meet a manager to see how they are managing a game and their ability to inspire or change performances during a game. Players can say all they want to in interviews, but the effect of a manager is seen on the pitch.
You can judge manager's ability not their personality.

So you are judging personality based on results. Good results - good personality or unique, bad results means manager lacks one. Nice logic.
 

roonster09

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Also, LvG does not understand the sway Ferguson had over everyone including referees. It's also ridiculous to argue that SAF did not have an impact on players standing on the touchline as often as he did.
Its to show different managers have different style, not every successful manager were shouting instructions from the touch line.
 

roonster09

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Sky asks a work in progress or no improvement?

Jose in his first 27 PL games achieved 52 points, Van Gaal achieved 50 points and Solskjaer achieved 48 points. There isn't much difference in how their term started.
 

Eric7C

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You can judge manager's ability not their personality.

So you are judging personality based on results. Good results - good personality or unique, bad results means manager lacks one. Nice logic.
No I am not - you are totally misunderstanding. I am talking about his ability to influence players during games, which is very much linked to his understated personality. More often than not, he sits there and does nothing.

Its to show different managers have different style, not every successful manager were shouting instructions from the touch line.
Which is why I used the term "usually" in my original post. I had thought of LvG before you mentioned him, but he is one of the few exceptions.
Edit: I used "almost every"
 

MisterLupus

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Bollocking about fluently.
Hang on, I am not arguing about this particular instance; I've already admitted I didn't see the question posed to him, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have made the post.

However, I am also trying to make a larger point about Ole's personality. He's a nice guy and he's a a bit of a romantic with regards to United. He refers to past players as "Robbos" and "Keanos" and present ones as "Rashys." He says he tells players off in the dressing room when they are not performing, and that this is not information for the media (fair enough), but this is hard to believe because of the way he is on the touchline. Almost every successful manager is animated during a game, but Ole is not. He is not proactive with his substitutions and his in-game tactics are nonexistent. If you take all these factors into account, he comes off as a person who does not have the personality to lead a club like United - and his genuine and continuous reverence for the club's past, while not a problem in itself, is indicative of his lack of individuality. When they look at Ole, the players of this club can look up to neither a magnetic persona nor an astute tactician. That is certainly a problem.

I cannot provide hard evidence for these observations; they are more impressions of the man - but that does not mean they are not valid.
He's a nice guy and definitely something of a romantic - all true those are his preferences - but don't think of him as naive or someone unwilling to do whatever it takes for his team to succeed. He'll throw himself under the bus long before that happens - that's never been an issue for him not as a player and not as a manager either. To be fair I think we've seen that as well since he joined - he's obviously not happy with where we're at - he's even identified our weak areas correctly over and over again and he's already made some tough decisions in order to remedy the situations promising us more of that in the future. Even though he won't admit it I'm also pretty sure he knows this transfer window was only fifty percent adequate for him to fulfill his ambitions during this campaign - and the fact that he's presenting the media with a few rose-tinted assessments now and again in order to dampen the negative buzz surrounding this club is also proof of his ruthlessness. He knows whining to the press causes more harm than good - even if the whining is warranted - so he sucks it up and keeps his frustrations from leaking into the public domain putting most of the responsibility on himself even.

He's well capable of getting down and dirty when called upon - always has been. If you doubt that - don't forget that time he saved the title for us:

 
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roonster09

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No I am not - you are totally misunderstanding. I am talking about his ability to influence players during games, which is very much linked to his understated personality. More often than not, he sits there and does nothing.



Which is why I used the term "usually" in my original post. I had thought of LvG before you mentioned him, but he is one of the few exceptions.
Edit: I used "almost every"
No, his ability to influence the game has nothing to do with his personality. It's related to his ability to coach, otherwise we have to conclude only successful managers have personality, which is just wrong.

And again, so him not acting like a lunatic has noting to do with his quality as a manager.

This is the problem, when manager isn't good enough, people will start to build their own narrative. If Ole was good enough, we would have seen posts like 'he observes everything sitting on the touch line and corrects them during HT'. Every narrative is built on results.
 

Ziggy Starduster

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Moyes 2.0, never thought we’d make the mistake of hiring another rookie, but we did.
Moyes was hardly a rookie when he joined us. He was one of the longest serving PL managers at the time and had won MOTM many times. He was just a bad fit.
 

Wolff

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I have got to a point where I don't believe a word Ole says anymore.

I have seen plenty of people who have got the gift of the gab, and can talk very well and convincingly but after that only results matter.

Chelsea have lost their main man, no transfer window, new manager and still looking alot more dangerous than we are.

There can be 0 excuses now, he can talk all he wants about not going to be easy but that is to challenge, not top 4. This squad should finish top 4.
Sometimes you have a streak of sensible posting. Then it just go tits up again.
 

Eric7C

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No, his ability to influence the game has nothing to do with his personality. It's related to his ability to coach, otherwise we have to conclude only successful managers have personality, which is just wrong.

And again, so him not acting like a lunatic has noting to do with his quality as a manager.

This is the problem, when manager isn't good enough, people will start to build their own narrative. If Ole was good enough, we would have seen posts like 'he observes everything sitting on the touch line and corrects them during HT'. Every narrative is built on results.
I, of course, mean the right kind of personality.

I am not arguing for him to act like a lunatic - you are stretching what I have said. I am arguing for him to be more proactive, both in his tactics and in his attempts at inspiring players (both of which SAF did aplenty during games).
 

MisterLupus

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Bollocking about fluently.
Sky asks a work in progress or no improvement?

So an inexperienced Solskjaer still learning his trade who inherited a complete mess of a team and even saw parts of this team gutted without getting replacements is already equal to a seasoned Mourinho who had thirty months to shape his own fortunes... To me that doesn't sound too bad :lol:
 
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roonster09

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world
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I, of course, mean the right kind of personality.

I am not arguing for him to act like a lunatic - you are stretching what I have said. I am arguing for him to be more proactive, both in his tactics and in his attempts at inspiring players (both of which SAF did aplenty during games).
What is this right kind of personality? Again you are linking results with personality. If Pep fecks KdB's wife, does that mean he has right kind of personality considering he is the best manager in the world?

Personality is different from ability. You are mixing them up.

He can inspire players, motivate them but when he can't coach the players and get what he wants from them then it all counts for nothing. Right now you are coming to conclusion that he can't inspire, motivate based on results when it could easily be the problem with his coaching.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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I largely agree with his recent comments. Lukaku and Sanchez needed to be moved on for the good of the squad, and we managed to get good money for the former while the financially dubious deal for the latter at least got him closer to the exit, which is where he needs to be without question. It's clear to me Ole feared the negative influence keeping them around would cause and so the club took the best deals it could get to remove them from the dressing room. I'm also choosing to read into his 'not rocket science' comment that Ole wanted replacement forwards and was disappointed not to be able to get them. From that standpoint I don't think the Lukaku and Sanchez-shaped holes in the squad reflect poorly on Ole.

Suspicions persist that Ole may not be the right man to take the club forwards, that he is either not experienced enough or downright not good enough a manager to do it. I can't blame fans for feeling that way, as while there are some improvements you can point to from Jose's time both the football (game management, team structure, patterns of play) and results have left much to be desired this year. Even if you take the view we should give Ole a clean slate this year and that the state of the club would give any manager problems his chances of making a success of his time here look to be at best in the balance.
 

Superden

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so regardless of the manager, the tactics, the ambience in the dressing room, the amount the manager jumps up and down and swears at the 4th referee, what side of bed lingard has got out of (or more pertinently, where), results have pretty much (with the odd exception) followed a familiar pattern. so who/what else could be responsible for the malaise, and has been a constant since fergie left? i wonder.
 

Tom Cato

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In a crunch game like today. Let’s see what we do shall we. Feel free to @me after the game too.
It must be so easy sitting on a high horse and just ramping up the negativity. But tell you what, if we win, why should you celebrate? If we lose, you get to feel right for taking the easy route and complain about everything, and if we win you can pretend you're happy. Either way you are setting yourself up to feel good about your opinions no matter the outcome.
 

Denis79

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Yeah fair enough, oles tactics control how a ball is kicked into the box, how players run into the box. :D

as Juan mata quite honestly says - it’s down to the players first as they’re the ones playing. If you can’t even execute simple football moves maybe you just aren’t good enough.
Honestly think it's a mix of the two. Thin squad with an inexperienced manager. No I don't want Ole out but things have to improve significantly by the end of the season. I don't expect results, I knew we would struggle the second the transfer window closed. I do however expect us to improve our performances.
 

Patience

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Herrera - not toxic. Just wanted a better contract.
Fellaini - not toxic. Just wanted to play it seemed. He left as soon as Ole dropped him.
Sanchez - silly wages but professional, tenacious and hungry in training, by his managers own admission.
Lukaku - toxic once Ole showed him he has no place in the team. Poor man management but I agree once Lukaku was dropped, he had to go from how he reacted.

So yeah. Literally none of those 4 are like the players you named. You're basically drawing loose parallels with the past to try and show some sort of correlation. It's not the case.

Don't think you know what toxic means.. Herrera left because he was demanding figures close to Sanchez. That signing alone made our dressingroom toxic. We were doing well under Mourinho until Sanchez's signing made the whole dressingroom pull apart....

You probably think 'toxic' means 'bad behaviour'.. I am talking about the dressingroom losing it's togetherness because the players were all signed for different managers and different styles on all sorts of bizarre contracts. It meant the dressingroom was split/splintered...

Totally the fault of Ed Woodward.

But something he has realised is NOT the way to get a club back to the top.. so he hired a young manager who will SLOWLY regain an identity at the club; has got rid of those on stupid contracts and those demanding stupid contracts and splitting the dressingroom - and now we ALMOST have everybody in it together. It will take time - maybe three more years - for this to come to full fruition... so pipe down with the negative attitude; realise that if you were a United fan in 1988 you would have wanted Fergie out the door and if you were a United fan in 1951 you would have wanted Busby out the door; get your self some patience (I don't know; can you do Yoga, do a meditation class) and give Ole your full support.
 

Rafaeldagold

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How many people on here actually attend Old Trafford regularly or even semi regularly? I know you can still be as much as a fan as anyone who attends every week if you don't. But criticising a manager who is 6 league games into his first full season behind a computer screen is a joke. What goes on here is nothing like it is in and around OT. Andy Tate done a interview last week which sums up the supporters online who are writing Ole off already. So catch your selves on and back your manager!
You’re right it doesn’t make a difference at all.

It’s not just criticising him for his awful & boring football this season it’s end of last too. We have no identity, wake up!

You’re not being a top fan by accepting a mediocre manager who would struggle to get a Championship job, you’re harming the club by tolerating this
 

VP89

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Don't think you know what toxic means.. Herrera left because he was demanding figures close to Sanchez.

That signing alone made our dressingroom toxic. We were doing well under Mourinho until Sanchez's signing made the whole dressingroom pull apart....

You probably think 'toxic' means 'bad behaviour'.. I am talking about the dressingroom losing it's togetherness because the players were all signed for different managers and different styles on all sorts of bizarre contracts. It meant the dressingroom was split/splintered...

Totally the fault of Ed Woodward.

But something he has realised is NOT the way to get a club back to the top.. so he hired a young manager who will SLOWLY regain an identity at the club; has got rid of those on stupid contracts and those demanding stupid contracts and splitting the dressingroom - and now we ALMOST have everybody in it together. It will take time - maybe three more years - for this to come to full fruition... so pipe down with the negative attitude; realise that if you were a United fan in 1988 you would have wanted Fergie out the door and if you were a United fan in 1951 you would have wanted Busby out the door; get your self some patience (I don't know; can you do Yoga, do a meditation class) and give Ole your full support.
Stop making comparisons to Ferguson. He didn't shaft your named players out because they were earning a lot of money. He shafted them out because they had a poor attitude and didn't want to buy into his vision.

Ole meanwhile dropped Lukaku for Rashford which made Lukaku rightly think, feck this. Lukaku obviously didn't handle the media comments well so he made his bed. But Herrera was a money issue, he wasn't contributing to a toxic dressing room or lack of togetherness. DDGs deal would have happened regardless and we were still offering Rashford silly money beyond his worth. You can't talk about Ole making the right move in pay and then ignore how silly Rashfords wages are under his watch. Then you have Fellaini who outright wasn't in Ole's plans. Nothing to do with being toxic.

You make up so much tripe with parallels to a different time. The only consistency is that players left. You can't just assume everything else from there.
 
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Highfather_24

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Yes Sanchez left but we brought in Dan James. We didnt replace Lukaku though, and we need to do that this winter.

Also, sure we didnt replace Herrera, but we switched our formation and have promoted the likes of Gomes and Greenwood, and also given McTominay and Pereira bigger roles. We still need to replaced Matic and get another creative mid in though.

Oh and replace Lingard with a proper RW.
 

Mainoldo

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It must be so easy sitting on a high horse and just ramping up the negativity. But tell you what, if we win, why should you celebrate? If we lose, you get to feel right for taking the easy route and complain about everything, and if we win you can pretend you're happy. Either way you are setting yourself up to feel good about your opinions no matter the outcome.
I’ll be happy when he’s gone. There’s no inbetween or hypotheticals. He’s a boarderline Championship manager doing a championship manager job.
 

VP89

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What is this right kind of personality? Again you are linking results with personality. If Pep fecks KdB's wife, does that mean he has right kind of personality considering he is the best manager in the world?
:lol:
 

Kostov

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Enough with the talking and do it, let's see it on the pitch. Let's see it in your in game changes and make the obvious decisions. Tired of all the talk from top to bottom. This shit show is going on for far too long, and I'm not sure how anyone is buying this crap.
 

JustAGuest

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Enough with the talking and do it, let's see it on the pitch. Let's see it in your in game changes and make the obvious decisions. Tired of all the talk from top to bottom. This shit show is going on for far too long, and I'm not sure how anyone is buying this crap.
It's part of the job to take part in these interviews. I suggest you ignore them if they annoy you.