Ole's clear-out

[Bastian]

The first sign of this in my view was when at the start of last season we saw Tuanzebe promoted to third choice (shame about his persistent injuries). Smalling ended up leaving, of course he'd moved Romelu on by then and Sanchez was an obvious headache to solve.

We've gone from trying to offer Young a new deal when he was wanted by Inter, to seeing Lingard completely frozen out, and Ole publicly saying Romero, Rojo and now Fosu-Mensah won't be offered new deals, with Pereira sent out on loan (after really getting far too many games to prove he doesn't have what we need). And a few have taken their chances with both hands, like Fred.

It's looking promising.

He's actively gotten rid of Fellaini, Lukaku, Darmian, Valencia and Sanchez, with Herrera, Young and Smalling leaving of their own accord. Now it seems he's added 3 more players to the list, possibly 4/5 if Lingard and Jones are in that group.

This is very healthy. Would be great to see us managing to get into the summer window without a bloated squad.

 

[M Bison]

I think he’s done a phenomenal job in that regard and it was badly needed, I really don’t think we can overestimate the size
Of that task which sets us up for better investment in the market in future.

We’ve bought and contracted badly post-SAF and it’s great to see us clearing the decks rather than just layering on top, and as you say a number of players have stepped up.

 

[2 man midfield]

Where did he say TFM was leaving?

 

[Samid]

Where did he say TFM was leaving?

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[RedDevil@84]

Where did he say TFM was leaving?

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[2 man midfield]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Cheers guys. I was worried we’d cave and offer him a new deal. Maybe we did and he wants more game time, who knows?

Either way I’m glad Ole is continuing his good work revamping the squad. He’s doing what Jose and LVG were too short term to attempt.

 

[crossy1686]

We all knew this was needed. I’m just glad we’ve got a manager that’s actively doing it instead of giving these guys more time to be ‘assessed’.

No matter what happens to Solskjaer, this clear out has to be completed if we’re ever to have a healthy squad.

 

[crossy1686]

Cheers guys. I was worried we’d cave and offer him a new deal. Maybe we did and he wants more game time, who knows?

Either way I’m glad Ole is continuing his good work revamping the squad. He’s doing what Jose and LVG were too short term to attempt.

I think we most likely did offer him a new deal, as well as second choice we also need pure squad players who will play 5-10 games a season when we’ve got a ton of injuries. TFM fits that mould of someone who can do a job when we’re desperate but he obviously wants to play more than that which is fair enough.

 

[wolvored]

Grtat news as he really wasnt good enough. Should have let Lingard go as well instead of extending. Periera and Jones need to be persuaded to go as well. Still cant get my head around who gave Jones a 5 year contract

 

[TwoSheds]

Cheers guys. I was worried we’d cave and offer him a new deal. Maybe we did and he wants more game time, who knows?

Either way I’m glad Ole is continuing his good work revamping the squad. He’s doing what Jose and LVG were too short term to attempt.

Van Gaal got rid of loads of players - Rafael, Nani, Evans, Welbeck... Unfortunately he got rid of ones who were better than some of the ones he kept.

 

[wolvored]

Cheers guys. I was worried we’d cave and offer him a new deal. Maybe we did and he wants more game time, who knows?

Either way I’m glad Ole is continuing his good work revamping the squad. He’s doing what Jose and LVG were too short term to attempt.

I read we did offer a new deal but he wasnt happy with it. Didnt say whether it was down to money just playing time, so on this one we havent learned. LINK

 

[SpanishMain]

We all knew this was needed. I’m just glad we’ve got a manager that’s actively doing it instead of giving these guys more time to be ‘assessed’.

No matter what happens to Solskjaer, this clear out has to be completed if we’re ever to have a healthy squad.

Still think that OGS would make a good Director of Football.

 

[acnumber9]

Van Gaal got rid of loads of players - Rafael, Nani, Evans, Welbeck... Unfortunately he got rid of ones who were better than some of the ones he kept.

And better than many of his signings. We still can’t get rid of Rojo, 7 years later.

 

[Matt851]

We have managed to get rid of some dead wood but have still made sone ridiculous decisions e.g. extended jones and lingard contracts. We seem to have passed up opportunities to get rid of sone players only to end up paying their wages for nothing

Can't decide whether we have actually improved in terms of squad management

 

[USREDEVIL]

Ole will never get rid of Phil Jones. Does he have a 100 year contract or what?

 

[crossy1686]

Ighalo leaves at the end of January as well. That’s 4 players potentially out this month.

 

[crossy1686]

Ole will never get rid of Phil Jones. Does he have a 100 year contract or what?

I actually think he’ll retire and become a member of the coaching staff in the next couple of years

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Van Gaal got rid of loads of players - Rafael, Nani, Evans, Welbeck... Unfortunately he got rid of ones who were better than some of the ones he kept.

exactly. Expensive replacements, who were largely shit.

Rafael - Darmian
Nani - Memphis
Evans - Rojo
Welbeck - Falcao

Welbeck was actually the only one we did well on. Got a decent fee, and he needed to go.

we sold Rafael, Nani and Evans for less than £10m. And spent 3-4 times as much on utter crap that stunk up (and continue to stink up) the place.

 

[Chicharito_]

Ole will never get rid of Phil Jones. Does he have a 100 year contract or what?

How can you get rid of someone on £90k a week when he is probably a lower prem level player that should be on about £25k a week?

 

[Tom Cato]

Ole will never get rid of Phil Jones. Does he have a 100 year contract or what?

Phil Jones is actually an AI controlled by Ed Woodward.

 

[crossy1686]

We have managed to get rid of some dead wood but have still made sone ridiculous decisions e.g. extended jones and lingard contracts. We seem to have passed up opportunities to get rid of sone players only to end up paying their wages for nothing

Can't decide whether we have actually improved in terms of squad management

The decision to extend lingards contract is to force him out instead of allowing him to sit on the bench for another year and walk out on a free next summer, which is almost certainly what he’s been advised to do in the current market.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

TFM
Romero
Ighalo

these should all go, and go perm this window. All done a job, and leave with best wishes.

would love to see Rojo finally feck off.

Jones won’t be going anywhere, and perhaps Lingard might go on loan.

 

[el3mel]

Ole has done pretty well in building up the current squad, it's no doubt for me our best since Fergie retired and by far better than the squad that finished 2nd 3 years ago.

But it's now really the time this squad wins something. They are good enough to defeat big teams, challenge for the league and progress in the cups. The only thing remaining is them winning something big.

 

[crossy1686]

It’s worrying that Pereria can’t get a game at Lazio. There’s no way they’re going to follow through on that £25m fee and keep him in the summer so expect him back

 

[SAFMUTD]

Great decision to be honest, I feel for Romero but with Henderson here there's no much point on having him. Still I think we disrespected him, we should have allowed him to leave for a low price.

The only thing that bothers me is that we keept Rojo and TFM for so long even knowing they were not good enough until the only way to get rid of them is letting them leave for free. Any decent team would have known after 1-2 years of seeing them that they wouldnt make it and would have got at least 10-15M for each one.

 

[USREDEVIL]

How can you get rid of someone on £90k a week when he is probably a lower prem level player that should be on about £25k a week?

I'm with you chich..just sayin.

 

[Matt851]

The decision to extend lingards contract is to force him out instead of allowing him to sit on the bench for another year and walk out on a free next summer, which is almost certainly what he’s been advised to do in the current market.

Fair enough, if it works i will be happy

However i am definitely concerned they we have an expectation that a club will pay an unrealistic fee for him whcih we wont get and he will end up staying to sit in the stands

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

The first sign of this in my view was when at the start of last season we saw Tuanzebe promoted to third choice (shame about his persistent injuries). Smalling ended up leaving, of course he'd moved Romelu on by then and Sanchez was an obvious headache to solve.

We've gone from trying to offer Young a new deal when he was wanted by Inter, to seeing Lingard completely frozen out, and Ole publicly saying Romero, Rojo and now Fosu-Mensah won't be offered new deals, with Pereira sent out on loan (after really getting far too many games to prove he doesn't have what we need). And a few have taken their chances with both hands, like Fred.

It's looking promising.

He's actively gotten rid of Fellaini, Lukaku, Darmian, Valencia and Sanchez, with Herrera, Young and Smalling leaving of their own accord. Now it seems he's added 3 more players to the list, possibly 4/5 if Lingard and Jones are in that group.

This is very healthy. Would be great to see us managing to get into the summer window without a bloated squad.

he’s done well in getting rid of players that are not Man Utd material.

the biggest ones were Lukaku and Sanchez. Both appalling signings, shocking attitudes. Neither will be remembered with any affection. One could eat a lot, the other could play a piano.

Fellaini, despite all his obvious shortcomings, had the right attitude - and whilst I cringed with him in the team, he did everything that was ever asked of him. I’d take him every day of the week over Lukaku and Sanchez.

a few more to go.

we always need squad players, that’s healthy, and not everyone has to be a top player - but they need to have the right attitude.

 

[USREDEVIL]

he’s done well in getting rid of players that are not Man Utd material.

the biggest ones were Lukaku and Sanchez. Both appalling signings, shocking attitudes. Neither will be remembered with any affection. One could eat a lot, the other could play a piano.

Fellaini, despite all his obvious shortcomings, had the right attitude - and whilst I cringed with him in the team, he did everything that was ever asked of him. I’d take him every day of the week over Lukaku and Sanchez.

a few more to go.

we always need squad players, that’s healthy, and not everyone has to be a top player - but they need to have the right attitude.

I never thought Lukaku was that bad. Sanchez though

 

[redmanx]

Ole will never get rid of Phil Jones. Does he have a 100 year contract or what?

It really does beggar belief how Jones is still on our books, he was given a new contract about 18 months ago, why? Jones has never fulfilled the promise Fergie saw in him; I believe Fergie once claimed Jones could be our best player since Duncan Edwards! Usually Fergie was spot on with his player assessments, but he must have come out with that the morning after, probably the morning after Hogmannay!

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

It’s worrying that Pereria can’t get a game at Lazio. There’s no way they’re going to follow through on that £25m fee and keep him in the summer so expect him back

zero chance. Even if he played a blinder, they weren’t paying that fee for him in this climate. He’s a £10-15m player MAX. He can go on and have a good career - but Lazio have just got a cheap squad player for the season, they had no intention of buying him.

 

[redmanx]

he’s done well in getting rid of players that are not Man Utd material.

the biggest ones were Lukaku and Sanchez. Both appalling signings, shocking attitudes. Neither will be remembered with any affection. One could eat a lot, the other could play a piano.

Fellaini, despite all his obvious shortcomings, had the right attitude - and whilst I cringed with him in the team, he did everything that was ever asked of him. I’d take him every day of the week over Lukaku and Sanchez.

a few more to go.

we always need squad players, that’s healthy, and not everyone has to be a top player - but they need to have the right attitude.

I was never over keen on Fellaini but his character and attitude were never in doubt and one or two of our current players could do with some of his spirit.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

It really does beggar belief how Jones is still on our books, he was given a new contract about 18 months ago, why? Jones has never fulfilled the promise Fergie saw in him; I believe Fergie once claimed Jones could be our best player since Duncan Edwards! Usually Fergie was spot on with his player assessments, but he must have come out with that the morning after, probably the morning after Hogmannay!

he also thought Moyes could be a good manager... unfortunately even the greats make some bloody awful decisions/ statements.

having said that, Jones was a great prospect when we bought him. Clearly any comparison with Edwards was absurd - however, at that point he looked like he was going to be a bloody good player for United and England.

 

[Andycoleno9]

We got rid lots of them and it is great to see but meanwhile we gave long term contracts to some average players. So in some way we replaced deadwood with lesser deadwood.

 

[Bastian]

he’s done well in getting rid of players that are not Man Utd material.

the biggest ones were Lukaku and Sanchez. Both appalling signings, shocking attitudes. Neither will be remembered with any affection. One could eat a lot, the other could play a piano.

Fellaini, despite all his obvious shortcomings, had the right attitude - and whilst I cringed with him in the team, he did everything that was ever asked of him. I’d take him every day of the week over Lukaku and Sanchez.

a few more to go.

we always need squad players, that’s healthy, and not everyone has to be a top player - but they need to have the right attitude.

I may not agree with every individual call (especially not extending some contracts after he took over - though its hard to gauge whether he was on board with that or just had no leverage at that point). Fellaini could have been a valuable squad player to have and Herrera too if persuaded to stay in time. But the team is starting to look more streamlined and getting in professionals with a winner's desire in Bruno and Cavani will significantly help the spirit of the group.

I'd rather see 3-4 players with new clubs in January than a single signing. It will bode well for summer too.

 

[Mainoldo]

Cheers guys. I was worried we’d cave and offer him a new deal. Maybe we did and he wants more game time, who knows?

Either way I’m glad Ole is continuing his good work revamping the squad. He’s doing what Jose and LVG were too short term to attempt.

Maybe go Google who those managers removed. Your talking like they kept everyone. I mean LVG had a big clear out.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

I may not agree with every individual call (especially not extending some contracts after he took over - though its hard to gauge whether he was on board with that or just had no leverage at that point). Fellaini could have been a valuable squad player to have and Herrera too if persuaded to stay in time. But the team is starting to look more streamlined and getting in professionals with a winner's desire in Bruno and Cavani will significantly help the spirit of the group.

I'd rather see 3-4 players with new clubs in January than a single signing. It will bode well for summer too.

I agree. A good January would be getting rid of the players with no future. It’s a difficult climate to move players on, especially those who are overplayed and who have underperformed for so long.

in an ideal, and not unrealistic world, if we could move on Rojo, Igahlo, TFM and Lingard perm and Jones on loan - I would be happy with zero recruits.

 

[city-puma]

exactly. Expensive replacements, who were largely shit.

Rafael - Darmian
Nani - Memphis
Evans - Rojo
Welbeck - Falcao

Welbeck was actually the only one we did well on. Got a decent fee, and he needed to go.

we sold Rafael, Nani and Evans for less than £10m. And spent 3-4 times as much on utter crap that stunk up (and continue to stink up) the place.

When they left, I felt really really bad. And I hoped we could turn out to be a LVG-designed team...

 

[Matt851]

I agree. A good January would be getting rid of the players with no future. It’s a difficult climate to move players on, especially those who are overplayed and who have underperformed for so long.

in an ideal, and not unrealistic world, if we could move on Rojo, Igahlo, TFM and Lingard perm and Jones on loan - I would be happy with zero recruits.

I would like to think we are capable of both offloading players and signing new ones.

Given that this season seems inherently unpredictable and the position we are in i think we shoild try and improve on a good position

 

[redmanx]

he also thought Moyes could be a good manager... unfortunately even the greats make some bloody awful decisions/ statements.

having said that, Jones was a great prospect when we bought him. Clearly any comparison with Edwards was absurd - however, at that point he looked like he was going to be a bloody good player for United and England.

Jones had everything required of a great centre back or defensive midfielder but he was very unlucky with injuries in his early days with us, but later he became accident prone on the pitch and made some horrendous mistakes, especially when paired with Smalling who, with other partners was very good. As for Moyes, I cant really believe Fergie let us be saddled with him....they must have been at the same Hogmannay party lol!