Solskjaer's legacy and his future

TheGame

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But if they do that then everyone’s going to say “the manager’s job is to select the targets and the board have to back him”. It seems very much like he locked in on the most expensive target in pretty much every position that he signed players in, apart from James, and then complained about not having squad depth. Go figure.
The board refused to sign players for Mourinho I believe. If the board didn’t want to pay the price, they should have said. Ole is not the negotiator, to blame him for the fee is ridiculous.
 

OrcaFat

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I hope the remaining hardcore Ole supporters here will realise some day the damage he did at this club. Hands down the worst appointment post SAF, no contest really. How he has survived for 3 years dragging this club down is beyond me.
I don’t think any manager will have much luck under the current ownership they interfere and they don't invest aggressively.

Ole is not in the Pep class but this hyperbole about him being the worst thing to ever happen to us is nutty. I certainly enjoyed his tenure more than any since SAF. That’s why I watch football - for enjoyment.

I’m all for “patterns of play” and “seeing what he’s trying to do” but if you can’t get a win out of Middlesbrough or Burnley you have to wonder what’s the point. I wouldn’t say I want Ole back but I am sure he would have done no worse.
 

Anustart89

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The board refused to sign players for Mourinho I believe. If the board didn’t want to pay the price, they should have said. Ole is not the negotiator, to blame him for the fee is ridiculous.
To great criticism from the people on here. They surely weren’t going to do that to a United legend in his first transfer window, were they? Like I said, the fee wasn’t his fault but he decided on the target and it can’t have been a secret how much he was going to cost seeing as everyone who followed the transfer saga knew it was 80 million quid.
 

Ralph1386

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If the board didn’t want to pay the price, they should have said. Ole is not the negotiator, to blame him for the fee is ridiculous.
The board and Ole are both to blame as they both should have balked at the fee and realized we could get 2 or 3 players at that price. It’s not rocket science.
 

LJJT

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Ralf has got Solskjaer’s squad playing much better football than Solskjaer could this season to be honest. Its just a shame that the recent results can’t reflect that. We won 1-0 against West Ham and created a lot that game too to justify it being a potentially bigger margin.

And while you can argue that transfers are decided by a committee at Utd so that ‘Solskjaer didnt buy AWB’, Solskjaer’s much preferred RB which was AWB, is now sitting on the bench as we now look much better going forward without him in it, and I’m not saying Dalot is amazing in case you jump on me for that.
Sorry but it’s results that matter, you can’t say Ralf has the team playing better but ole got better results: in regards AWB- I think he was a good signing for first season or two when we were counter attacking defensive team, as soon as we go front foot attacking he’s poor. So think the AWB signing needs to be looked at in right context
 

Max_United

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Ralf has got Solskjaer’s squad playing much better football than Solskjaer could this season to be honest. Its just a shame that the results can’t reflect that. We won 1-0 against West Ham and created a lot that game too to justify it being a potentially bigger margin.

And while you can argue that transfers are decided by a committee at Utd so that ‘Solskjaer didnt buy AWB’, Solskjaer’s much preferred RB which was AWB, is now sitting on the bench as we now look much better going forward without him in it, and I’m not saying Dalot is amazing in case you jump on me for that.
Yes, not that Dalot is very good and not a fan of Jose at all, but the fact is - he bought a RB that was 2.5 times cheaper, younger and is starting over AWB at the moment and you cannot say that it is not on merit.

Yet Jose never got any credit for Dalot, but Ole got quite a lot of credit for AWB. And for summer 2019 transfer window in general, for our brand new, "well thought-out" and "coherent" transfer strategy - just based on the fact that all
the signings were relatively young and British. Now of course the very people that lavishly praised him shifted the goalposts and are saying that transfers are not his fault or that the players were "board signings" :)
 

SirScholes

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Very odd how people keep coming back to blame ole. If it’s not clear now 7 managers in who’s to blame then I don’t know what to say.
Ole was backed a lot
He fecked up and left us with a full squad of dossers
Minus a couple
 

Iker Quesadillas

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Ralf has got Solskjaer’s squad playing much better football than Solskjaer could this season to be honest. Its just a shame that the recent results can’t reflect that. We won 1-0 against West Ham and created a lot that game too to justify it being a potentially bigger margin.
It sounds like Ralf has them playing ineffective football.
 

HailtotheKing

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People sat on their keyboards playing football manager thinking it resembles real life. Bless them.
He wanted the player. I'm sure he had a rough idea of price. He's building a squad. He could've chosen a cheaper option. I know he didn't negotiate the transfer, but I think he's a little more culpable than you think.
 

Max_United

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I don’t think any manager will have much luck under the current ownership they interfere and they don't invest aggressively.

Ole is not in the Pep class but this hyperbole about him being the worst thing to ever happen to us is nutty. I certainly enjoyed his tenure more than any since SAF. That’s why I watch football - for enjoyment.

I’m all for “patterns of play” and “seeing what he’s trying to do” but if you can’t get a win out of Middlesbrough or Burnley you have to wonder what’s the point. I wouldn’t say I want Ole back but I am sure he would have done no worse.
The point is that if you are building towards something with a competent manager over time things will "click" as players adapt to the style and you reshuffle the squad. Even Klopp had a fair share of shifty results over the first years at Liverpool.

Of course Ralf does not have Klopp's CV and whether he will have done a good job remains to be seen. And if we hire a permanent manager with different style, then yes, what's the point. But at least under him our performances are improving and we do look a lot more coherent than a month ago. And he has been here for 2 months and did not make any signings.

Yes, Ole started well as an interim (since he took over a team that was actually coached decently and was hampered by toxic atmosphere), but then the performances have been steadily declining and we were awful at the end of the season, losing 5 out of 9 and no wins in last 5 games. Yet there was hardly any criticism of Ole (only some doubt about his credentials), and his interim stint was still overwhelmingly praised, despite us turning really bad after a rosy period of 10 games and us not really going anywhere (from 6th to 6th in the league, crashing against Barca anyway after - great but lucky - PsG night).

There was talk of "players run out of steam, Ole needs preseason", "he needs ro buy his own players" etc etc. Yet with Ralf after 2 months, and no transfers knives are already out by a significant part of the forum. I feel Ralf is unfairly treated more harshly compared to Ole.
 

Chairman Steve

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Sorry but it’s results that matter, you can’t say Ralf has the team playing better but ole got better results: in regards AWB- I think he was a good signing for first season or two when we were counter attacking defensive team, as soon as we go front foot attacking he’s poor. So think the AWB signing needs to be looked at in right context
If Ralf was hired as permanent manager with a 3 year contract, I’d agree with the results first stuff… but we’re in a weird and unique situation that we’ve never been before and very few clubs get into, where we have an interim manager who we’ve actually hired to go upstairs into the boardroom but he’ll work with the squad for these 6 months and advise us from there.

I‘ll argue that the expectations are somewhat different for an interim manager than a permanent manager. The permanent manager who started the season, near 3 years on the job was expected to make a title challenge really, but the results nosedived into humiliation and he was rightfully sacked. It looks like we’ve deliberately not taken on Conte due to that being such an obvious open goal at the time, so I get the feeling Utd have decided to lower the expectations for this season and try a short term pain for long term gain approach… hence the hiring of Ralf.

I get the feeling that Utd are willing to forgo CL next season in the attempt to try something different. The Utd press releases when Ralf got appointed, talk more about his abilities of being a great footballing director rather than a great manager (which is true really). I get the feeling that CL qualification is seen more as a bonus objective this year, rather than an absolute necessity.

My guess is Ralf’s main objective is probably more around evaluate the squad, see which ones can stay and go, get them playing a style of play that Utd can build on for next season and then advise accordingly from upstairs.

Regarding AWB and correct me if I’m wrong on this, I’m pretty sure Solskjaer said that he wanted to play free flowing attacking football with emphasis on full backs being the actual wingers like is the fashion now. I don’t think he ever said he wanted play counter attacking football that he ended up falling into, so him buying and using AWB doesn’t really match up with what he wanted to do.
 

Anustart89

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If Ralf was hired as permanent manager with a 3 year contract, I’d agree with the results first stuff… but we’re in a weird and unique situation that we’ve never been before and very few clubs get into, where we have an interim manager who we’ve actually hired to go upstairs into the boardroom but he’ll work with the squad for these 6 months and advise us from there.

I‘ll argue that the expectations are somewhat different for an interim manager than a permanent manager. The permanent manager who started the season, near 3 years on the job was expected to make a title challenge really, but the results nosedived into humiliation and he was rightfully sacked. It looks like we’ve deliberately not taken on Conte due to that being such an obvious open goal at the time, so I get the feeling Utd have decided to lower the expectations for this season and try a short term pain for long term gain approach… hence the hiring of Ralf.

I get the feeling that Utd are willing to forgo CL next season in the attempt to try something different. The Utd press releases when Ralf got appointed, talk more about his abilities of being a great footballing director rather than a great manager (which is true really). I get the feeling that CL qualification is seen more as a bonus objective this year, rather than an absolute necessity.

My guess is Ralf’s main objective is probably more around evaluate the squad, see which ones can stay and go, get them playing a style of play that Utd can build on for next season and then advise accordingly from upstairs.

Regarding AWB and correct me if I’m wrong on this, I’m pretty sure Solskjaer said that he wanted to play free flowing attacking football with emphasis on full backs being the actual wingers like is the fashion now. I don’t think he ever said he wanted play counter attacking football that he ended up falling into, so him buying and using AWB doesn’t really match up with what he wanted to do.
He also said he wanted to play a high line and ended up buying one of the slowest centre halves while having a goalkeeper who’s rooted to his line 90% of the time. That, combined with his comments about not really being into tactics and football being very simple and mostly about wanting it more than the opponent, tells me that Ole was a bit clueless right from the start of his first full season in charge.
 

OrcaFat

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The point is that if you are building towards something with a competent manager over time things will "click" as players adapt to the style and you reshuffle the squad. Even Klopp had a fair share of shifty results over the first years at Liverpool.

Of course Ralf does not have Klopp's CV and whether he will have done a good job remains to be seen. And if we hire a permanent manager with different style, then yes, what's the point. But at least under him our performances are improving and we do look a lot more coherent than a month ago. And he has been here for 2 months and did not make any signings.

Yes, Ole started well as an interim (since he took over a team that was actually coached decently and was hampered by toxic atmosphere), but then the performances have been steadily declining and we were awful at the end of the season, losing 5 out of 9 and no wins in last 5 games. Yet there was hardly any criticism of Ole (only some doubt about his credentials), and his interim stint was still overwhelmingly praised, despite us turning really bad after a rosy period of 10 games and us not really going anywhere (from 6th to 6th in the league, crashing against Barca anyway after - great but lucky - PsG night).

There was talk of "players run out of steam, Ole needs preseason", "he needs ro buy his own players" etc etc. Yet with Ralf after 2 months, and no transfers knives are already out by a significant part of the forum. I feel Ralf is unfairly treated more harshly compared to Ole.
Seems the opposite to me - loads of people saying RR is great despite the shit results, whereas loads of people judged Ole before he started, credited the players when we won and criticised Ole when we lost.

I like RR and he seems like a smart man. If and when everything clicks I will be delighted (but also rather surprised).
 

Max_United

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Seems the opposite to me - loads of people saying RR is great despite the shit results, whereas loads of people judged Ole before he started, credited the players when we won and criticised Ole when we lost.

I like RR and he seems like a smart man. If and when everything clicks I will be delighted (but also rather surprised).
I remember wildspread skepticism and doubting of Ole's credentials when we was hired for an interim, yes. But that run and the night in Paris really got into people's head (myself included). First real doubts started to appear toward mid-season of 19/20, which was completely fair given the performances, results and Ole's credentials. But very well may be that I am biased and misremembering, won't insist here.
 

R'hllor

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People should drop whole Ole thing, its behind us, with time and money wasted, while winning feck all in the process. Lets remember positive things he gave us and move on.
 

Rampant Red Rodriguez

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If the board weren't so stupid and gotten us the desperately needed DM, we'd have Ogs still at the wheel.
 

Rampant Red Rodriguez

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We've marginally improved our performances but still faced with the same issues as under OGS. Can't defend a lead, struggling to score, getting beat up in midfield and its all a shitshow.
 

city-puma

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If the board weren't so stupid and gotten us the desperately needed DM, we'd have Ogs still at the wheel.
This is so true! VDB purchase is one of the main reasons led to the disaster this season. I can imagine the board just saying we have enough midfielders already and cm is not a priority!
 

Seij

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Seems the opposite to me - loads of people saying RR is great despite the shit results, whereas loads of people judged Ole before he started, credited the players when we won and criticised Ole when we lost.

I like RR and he seems like a smart man. If and when everything clicks I will be delighted (but also rather surprised).
I was actually happy to see Ole as the interim manager and thought we hit the jackpot during his first few weeks. He certainly had my support and benefit of the doubt in the beginning. However, he gradually lost my support until it became clear to me he needed to go.

It feels to me that Ole actually got a ton of leeway because of his likability among the fans rather than being judged before he started.
 

anant

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For the solkjaer crew, if we had been winning = "foundations!"
If we play crap = "vindicated!"
And similarly for the outers
winning=this is what good coaching does
losing= Ole didnt coach in the 3 years

It's been almost 4 months since he's left us. If people are blaming Ole for not managing to beat Boro, Burnley and Newcastle, then they need to get their heads checked.
 

ti vu

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It's rich that Ole **** is saying like after x months the issue is all on Ragnick. Go back at the end of 18-19 season, and read what Ole himself and his backers said about not having a clean slate inheriting mid season from Mourinho.

Too used with double standard approach ain't it? Talk the talk but not walk the walk.
 

OrcaFat

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I was actually happy to see Ole as the interim manager and thought we hit the jackpot during his first few weeks. He certainly had my support and benefit of the doubt in the beginning. However, he gradually lost my support until it became clear to me he needed to go.

It feels to me that Ole actually got a ton of leeway because of his likability among the fans rather than being judged before he started.
He got leeway from many and none from others.
 

pratyush_utd

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If people think current set of result some how vindicates Ole, then they are delusional about Ole time here.

As a player, I will always admire and remember him fondly. As a manager not so much
 

OrcaFat

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I remember wildspread skepticism and doubting of Ole's credentials when we was hired for an interim, yes. But that run and the night in Paris really got into people's head (myself included). First real doubts started to appear toward mid-season of 19/20, which was completely fair given the performances, results and Ole's credentials. But very well may be that I am biased and misremembering, won't insist here.
I won’t insist either but I think the reality is that everyone saw it their own way. There was certainly a lot of Ole out sentiment early on and even when we were winning there were loads of “individual brilliance” and “counter attacking” and “no patterns of play” comments.
 

anant

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It's rich that Ole **** is saying like after x months the issue is all on Ragnick. Go back at the end of 18-19 season, and read what Ole himself and his backers said about not having a clean slate inheriting mid season from Mourinho.

Too used with double standard approach ain't it? Talk the talk but not walk the walk.
I doubt people are blaming Rangnick here. It just happens to be one of those phases where you can't blame either of the 2 managers. Just like it would be stupid to blame Mou for our loss to Cardiff at the end of 18-19 season.

The side Mou built was for himself not his successor. The side Ole built was keeping in mind his style of play not his successors'.