Hold on. Simply going by what you’re saying, you think we should never ever not renew a player’s contract no matter what, even if said player (Phil) is the 6th choice CB. In that case, the club should be paying someone 80K per week give or take even if he serves no more purpose to the first team? If you had your wish, we’d have about 300 players in our team now, including the likes of Obertan and Bebe. Lingard would still be here in 2030 as 5th choice RW if you were in charge. How will we even register them, or allow them all to train if we do this? I don’t think keeping Phil here is beneficial for him as well. He’s a footballer. He needs to play, and unfortunately he won’t play another game for us due to us having 4 better CBs.
Also, you say fans aren’t part of the family. Let’s not be nonsensical and over dramatic here. Ole has made United a tight-knit club again and has restored the connection with the fans. Thus, we are a tight-knit family again. From 2014 to 2018, we were fractured. Without the connection with the fans, there is no United family. Sir Matt and Jimmy Murphy’s philosophy was to reward our hardworking, passionate fans with entertaining, swashbuckling football every Saturday. They are the metaphorical fathers of this family. Along with that, without fans money and support, there would be no Manchester United, just like if we had no playing staff or manager. We’re all as important as each other. Ask Ole and he would say the same.
Finally, real ‘human aspect’ would be letting Phil go on a free to someone where he would play, writing him a lengthy farewell statement on social media where fans can thank him and giving him a testimonial anyway, encouraging all United-supporting locals or tourists to go. I respect Phil as he has been a good servant to the club and has won two titles here, so he would deserve all this. However, as a mutually beneficial thing between club and player, let’s not advocate the club giving fringe players long-term contracts rather than shifting them and upgrading so we can progress. This helps both the club and the player, Phil in this case as he can play regularly, move forward.
Manchester United is not a charity. Saying fringe players who offer far less than others on the pitch should be let go does not express a disconnect with the human aspect of the club or a non-family feel. We never furloughed a single staff member during the first lockdown, and I know for a fact all us fans were proud of the club for that. Liverpool, Spurs, Bournemouth and Newcastle did. Those aren’t families. We are, and have been since Newton Heath LYR were formed in 1878.