There’s a lot to process here. . .
The cultural reboot was something that he drove. He got Murtough and Fletcher into their roles, he got the data analytics and analysis departments off the ground, he reinstated the use of tech such as GPS in the sports science department after Jose forced us to do away with them.
A ‘Cultural reboot’. Ok. Can you tell me what is
the culture of the United side he left?
Neither Murtough nor Fletcher have proven successes as of yet & the less said about the acumen [or lack there of] in his coaching staff the better. Another example of the lengths people go to finding something to champion him for.
He left a team languishing in mid-table. . . you know, like Jose did but you’d rather focus on intangible phrases than actual successes because there were none.
The club was in a word, a basket case when he arrived with the brand being toxic both inside and outside the club. There was certainly no clamour for the manager's position when Jose left, like there seemingly is and was after Ole left. That Pochettino was apparently actively looking to leave PSG midseason and Rangnick has taken this interim job on when he absolutely didn't need to, should tell you of the quality foundations laid by Ole for the next man, as well as the fact that Rangnick isn't being brought in as someone to undo the work that Ole did, but to build on it.
‘Poch was apparently’ sums up this entire paragraph. We’ve just appointed another caretaker manager, the sudden influx of managers clamouring are where exactly? Oh yes, we’re clutching at more straws to find something to praise OgS for, we’re not actually talking about successes we’re manufacturing them.
He also was the only post-SAF manager who achieved two back to back top 4 finishes. Something that neither Jose or LvG could achieve despite spending more than Ole did at the same point in their tenures.
He finished higher in the league than Jose with less points on more than one occasion, considering how little we all think of Jose what’s the point of finishing 3rd then 2nd to then take a huge step backwards when the pressure is on?
It’s rather disingenuous to mention what he did up to ‘this point in their tenures’ then not go on to mention that having been given more time & a rather sizeable increase in budgets he regressed.
This is my issue with the OgS argument, we all widely accept that LvG & Jose we’re failures but people want to use those failure as barometers for why OgS was successful. All 3 failed, there’s an argument to be made to which degree but OgS didn’t even come near to Jose’s 2nd season which is damning in itself.
Yes, it ultimately went wrong at the end but he absolutely did a good job up to this point. Unfortunately it didn't work out and the blame is going to be laid squarely on him for that, but he wasn't exactly helped along the way either.
What more help did he need? The trouble with your discussion is that you act as if this has been done to him. He was given more than enough rope & he’d still be in a job had he not lost to Watford - this is after an already horrendous run. Could the situation at the club be better? yes but he had enough to do far more.
Not sure where we've been set back by years in either. We have a young team who are continuing to grow and develop with a ready supply line from the academy coming through as well. Literally the only areas which need investment in are found in deep midfield, everywhere else has quality and depth and for the first time since SAF, we actually have a coherently built squad. From GK, to CB, to the wings, to up front. We have legitimately top class players like Varane, Ronaldo, Sancho here. We certainly didn't have that in any of the other managers' time at the club. To hear you say we've been set back years you'd think Ole did what Jose did and proceeded to buy shit on top of the shit purchased by the previous manager and didn't bother to actually rebuild the squad. The fact we all went from looking to break top 4 to actively trying to challenge for the league is proof positive of the job he did. We certainly weren't thinking that in Jose's third season, or LvG's second, for example.
I could take issue with a multitude of things in this paragraph but when were we ‘actively trying to challenge for the league’? Was he not talking down our chances after beating burnley last season to go top?
You then go on again to berate Jose so you can say OgS was good, you keep using the lowest bar. We all agree Jose was horrendous, being shit is better than being absolute shit but you’re still shit.
And then I can talk about the improvement of the likes of McFred and Shaw who were seen as legitimate joke figures among the fanbase. Or the fact we were much more enterprising under Ole than we were with the other guys 5+ goals scored 10 times in c.160 games: the previous 3 managers? twice in 302 games.
The fact you think McFred are not seen as a ‘legitimate joke’, is a bit of a legitimate joke in itself.