I still trust him, especially as a DOF type figure. It just seems that his hands are tied and, week by week, it appears as though his spirit and authority is waning. The biggest problem is that so many of our squad are overpaid. It's not a simple situation because we need to get these guys shifted for morale and financial reasons but 1) to realistically get rid of them we need to accept terrible deals (and maybe that is what ends up happening), such as paying big percentages of their wages which, of course, sets a bad precedent and 2) we lose bodies in a time when, say, 17 players can be ruled out at once with COVID.
Rangnick is playing it subtly in the media - alluding to big problems while being professional yet not especially positive. I'm not hearing any "I'll sort this mess out" type rhetoric which kinda implies to me that Ralf isn't sure he can because there's too much opposition/apathy/foolishness from upper management. I suspect he's been told to express desire to keep Donny, Henderson and co because the club wants to keep negotiating leverage; not because he actually wants them. He may also be being pragmatic there. Let's say he sells Donny but Ten Hag comes in - chances are, VDB is a big part of the latter's plans.
I don't doubt that some of the reported 'injuries' are actually Ralf dropping the players for disciplinary reasons.
Unfortunately, years of mismanagement, especially when it comes to wages and poor scouting, are hamstringing the club dramatically. I think this one is beyond Ralf. He won't be allowed to do the job that he could actually do really well. He'll not do a great job as an interim manager due to all the problems and this will undermine his already weak and token consultancy position. I bet he walks in the summer. Hate to be so pessimistic but the club seems so badly run and I'm not seeing anywhere near enough signs of hope.
