On a scale of 1-10, how optimistic are you feeling about the rest of the season?

[Irrational.]

Ole and Carrick are gone, we’ve just had our first press conference with the interim manager who has outlined his and our plans for the future.

How optimistic are you feeling about the rest of this season, and possibly moving forward beyond that? Can we get into top four or win a trophy?

I think there were a lot of positives about yesterday’s press conference and we have reason to be optimistic. I think we’ll probably finish fifth - there will need to be a lot of adapting to the new philosophy. FA cup would be nice.

Optimism levels: 7/10

 

[V.O.]

We're twatting the scouse boom/bust cycle. Already into our second 'IT'S ON!' of the season and it's not even Christmas.

If we carry on at this pace it'll only be about another twelve years before we win something worth a feck again.

 

[Strats]

I would say 7. The way Ole managed the team was destructive in so many ways. Excited and optimistic about what Rangnick will bring to the table the coming years.

I hope he won't wear players out and rush them back from injures like Ole did. Also have hopes that young players like Amad and Hannibal more chances to prove themselves

 

[spiriticon]

How does finishing fifth fill anyone with optimism? It will be a disaster.

 

[smi11ie]

8.

I don't think Utd can challenge for the League this year but I do expect them to be 3rd or 4th and I also expect a good run in the CL and FA cup.

 

[tomaldinho1]

How does finishing fifth fill anyone with optimism? It will be a disaster.

Exactly this. Fans have gone a bit loopy recently - all that’s happened when you wade through the media smog is an underperforming manager has been binned and new one has come in. 4th is minimum expectation.

 

[Athlon]

7 for me although we need to wait and see how the players react to the new manager. The title has gone but there is still time to put a good run together in the league and the cups.

 

[AlexUTD]

10.

Because i know we will finish top 4 and go far in champions league.

The main reason for the 10 is that we will play a style that is fun and attacking with great pressing instead of giving other teams waaay too much respect and defend with 7.

 

[stevoc]

5

 

[Idxomer]

I went from 0/10 before Ole's sacking to 4/10 now.

 

[sullydnl]

7 I guess?

I think we'll get top four, which is the priority after the nightmare start to the season. But I don't expect us to win Cups really as there's so much luck involved and I see Rangnick as a better long-term influence than actual manager. And the games are coming thick and fast atm, so there's a limit to how quickly he can get the team playing the way he wants anyway.

Really the upside from this appointment for me is what happens beyond the end of the season if a permanent manager is appointed and we have Rangnick and (tbf) the guys who rightly thought it was a good idea to appoint Rangnick working together above the manager.

 

[Leftback99]

6. I think progress will be slow.

 

[hungrywing]

If...

1. Rangnick is anywhere near as good as made out to be
2. and Ole was anywhere near as bad as it seemed in terms of on-pitch coaching
3. AND our midfield isn't actually that bad and someone like Rangnick can actually sort of cobble-together a semi-effective temporary solution, or even revitalize it with VdB and Mejbri, for example (point 3 is related to point 1)

...we might see a pretty dramatic turn around. I wouldn't rule out an 8/10, comfortable top 4 and a fight with whoever for 2nd-3rd.

If point 2 was really as bad as it seemed, then we were in a situation where one had a decently competitive car but a very sub-par driver. Switch drivers and one doesn't have to wait; the improvement in performance is relatively immediate.

 

[robinrooney]

7.5/10

We will finish 4th

 

[Borys]

7
I lowered my expectations to just playing good football and getting 4th. There's no way we're getting between Chelsea, City and Liverpool so I hope Ralf focuses on building the team for the future. I'm glad Ole and Carrick are gone, but with the number of fixtures coming and injuries I don't expect much progress in the next month.

 

[RedBanker]

8/10. This is a step in the right direction which should have been taken years back.

 

[Ralph1386]

7

 

[the_cliff]

6. I think a lot of people here are downplaying the severity of our bad start to the season. It will be a real battle for that 4th spot, most people here seem to think it will be a walk in the park.

 

[PoTMS]

5/10. I think we'll get top 4 but only just and that Rangnick has been desperately overrated. I'm just hoping he does enough by the time the new man comes in.

 

[united_99]

We should and will finish 4th. That’s it for this season.

 

[spiriticon]

6. I think a lot of people here are downplaying the severity of our bad start to the season. It will be a real battle for that 4th spot, most people here seem to think it will be a walk in the park.

It won't be, but there's 2/3 of the season left and plenty of time to change it. Rangnick can consider himself lucky no one realistically expects him to win the title now, as we all did for Ole at the start of the season.

I'm a 5 /10 for now. Let's see the performances on the field first.

 

[Maticmaker]

Well if we cannot feel optimistic when a new manager takes over... then when can we?

The appointment of RR and the conditions of his employment, now and possibly for the future, suggests that at long last the owners may have got to grips with a proper succession planning model for a football club, and not just a multi-million pound business, lets hope so!

The proposals would seem to indicate RR is tasked, within the rest of the season, in getting some discipline and planning into the training that presents a 'better fit' on the field and more consistency in performance. Top four and CL would as always seem to be the minimum, but we have been starved of silverware now for almost four years, so a 'pot or two' would not go amiss!

Longer term a real shake up and shake out is required, but RR has to put in place the systems within the club that become necessary to once again entrench ongoing success, this is likely to be his biggest contribution. From what we know of his record RR's man-management of players has a limited shelf life, once he has trained the players in his way he steps back and controls things from further back.

In the short term my optimistic score would 5/6 out of ten; for the longer term its more like 8 or 9 or even 10, out of ten.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

It's only up from here, expecting some proper coaching and we have talented players.

 

[AjaxCunian]

8 or 9.

We still have a squad with quality players and should be making 4th, with quality coaching we might have a decent FA Cup run / CL run dependent on the draw.

I have much more faith playing against big teams under Ralf than under Ole. Let's see if he can meet the expectations.

The Ole fans and LvG have made it seem like it take years to coach a team and make them adapt, I don't think it is the case at all. In a few weeks/months this team can look totally different than what we have shown the past few months and years.

 

[Jacob]

We'll win the CL and finish 3rd in PL.

 

[Back To Madeira]

We'll win the CL and finish 3rd in PL.

More hope than expectation from me but I agree. Just have that feeling, Ronaldo comes alive under the lights at Old Trafford. A kind draw and we could realistically get to the semi-final.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

8

 

[wolvored]

Depends what you want from the season.
I think if the players start playing to the strengths of RR
To finish top 3 is 1/10
To finish top 4 is 9/10
To win FA cup 6/10 as it depends who you draw.
To reach last 8 Ch Lge 5/10 as it depends who you draw.
To finish top 4 and win FA cup 6/10 as it depends who you draw.
I will be disappointed if we dont finish 4th, but that depends on how quick the players adapt to a proper structure and coaching. The rest is a bonus.

 

[ThehatchetMan]

Has to be a 7 right now but a couple of poor opening results for Ralph could easily drop that to a 5 or 6.

 

[Kajus]

8.

I don't think Utd can challenge for the League this year but I do expect them to be 3rd or 4th and I also expect a good run in the CL and FA cup.

We’re currently 3 points off 4th. Finishing fourth would barely be an improvement.

 

[ROFLUTION]

3

I just don't understand the hype about an interim manager who mostly is technical, but can he actually win stuff? All this gegenpressing seems a bit over our heads still, as big spaces will appear around Fred. Just not sure the likes of Fred, Maguire, Lindelof and maybe even Ronaldo can play his way continually for a hole season.

 

[el3mel]

7 seems about right. Ralf will need some time before he fully implements his ideas and coaches them into the players but if everything goes well, I'm expecting a strong second half of a season for us.

4th and a good run in CL will be nice.

 

[DOTA]

To finish top 3 is 1/10

I'd go higher than that. Maybe 3/10. It doesn't seem that unlikely to me that out of the three of them one will have a prolonged dip in form and the ten point margin disappears.

Agree that 4th is very much our most likely finishing position though.

 

[smi11ie]

8

Utd have been disorganised and kind of lazy defensively this season. I expect a massive U-turn in those two departments. Established players will lose their place if the don't adopt a high octane style. I feel almost certain that, with the quality Utd have, there will be an improvement straight away.

 

[Ali Dia]

7 but it depends on how much juice the owners give RR. He’s going to be managing us in the January window and you’d imagine his say on recruitment present and future will carry a lot of weight. Let’s see what we do, especially for midfield. I think we’ll make top 4 and get the quarters of the CL. It’s progress but it’s very slow. I just hope he can turn us into a much more compact aggressive and hardworking unit.

 

[wolvored]

We’re currently 3 points off 4th. Finishing fourth would barely be an improvement.

Carrick did a decent job getting us close. RR to finish the job.

 

[clonsolar]

I'm extremely optimistic. Three good results in a row. League fixtures look great for months. Ralf Ragnick at the helm, Varane back and hopefully maintains injury free status. I'm a full on 10/10 and reckon we could be surprise Champs League Contenders.

 

[smi11ie]

We’re currently 3 points off 4th. Finishing fourth would barely be an improvement.

Finishing 4th would be an improvement this season. To mount a title challenge then 3 teams would have to collapse and I don't think that will happen. One or two of the top three will possibly fall away but right now 4th place for Utd would be decent.

 

[arthurka]

Don't know about this season but this is clearly a step in the right direction.

 

[Bestofthebest]

If we don’t sign at least two players in January I would say only a 4/10. If we do sign a couple of decent players, especially mid fielders I would take that to 7/10. If RR does do better than I think he can with the squad as it is then I would give him the job full time.