The Deadwoods Assassinated by Babyface

[AJ10]

Seriously?

Not long ago, Ole was absolutely slaughtered cause of his post Everton comments about many players no longer being here come the new season.

Now its coming to fruition, we've incredibly got supporters still moaning about selling deadwood... there legitimately is zero pleasing some people, all they want to do is find fault in every single last thing.

This

 

[jackal&hyde]

Somehow i think you will be dissapointed with the next transfer windows..

I think it will depend a lot on how Greenwood and Gomes fair this season. If they become important players for us, then we essentially replaced Lukaku and Sanchez from within. I still see us needing defenders though, a left back is a must and if we get rid of Jones and Rojo then yet another center back.

A lot depends on the youth this season. They have a massive chance to cement a place in the team. Greenwood, Gomes, Tuanzebe, and even Garner and maybe even Laird have the chance of a life time this year. The ones that take it will save us from going in to the market.

 

[lalloyd]

With the news of Smalling going on loan to Roma, it seems as though Ole is the one who finally clears out our deadwood. The following have been sold/loaned out since Ole arrived:

Fellaini
Herrera
Valencia
Lukaku
Sanchez
Smalling

To follow:
Jones
Rojo
Darmian

Are you happy with the clear out? Are you happy the players are leaving but annoyed with the lack of incoming players?

I'm still sad about Herrera to be honest. I really think we'll miss his energy.

Like many I'd imagine I also have a soft spot for Fellaini but understand that he doesn't belong at a top club that wants to play attractive football - but he is/was a good option to lump it forward to in the last minute when you're chasing a goal!

 

[Sanchez7]

Makes giving new contracts to Mata and Jones look even more bizarre. Atleast Smalling doesn't spend half of the season on the injury table.

 

[Slevs]

And who have we replaced them with? We're incredibly light in midfield, wings, and attack.

I'm all for removing deadwood but they have to be replaced. One or two injuries and we're down to the bare bones.

 

[mewnew11]

Oles ruthlessness is a double edged sword. He has let go of the aging players with big fat paychecks who were simply sitting their ass at United without winning much. Some of them were quality players while others were just not United standards.

Two things are happening with the clear out:

1) Standard are being set. The whole idea of United being a good paymaster where players would come for the money and relax has been put to the sword. I was particularly impressed when the club did not even indulge in the nonsense of bale and quickly shut down the dybala deal because he and his agent were asking for more money. We are a big club and have money but the fundamental requirements have to be met before United pays the big bucks. The desire to play for the club has to be more than the want for money. It's also why we bought Maguire and not dybala. Maguire wanted to be here and dybala still wanted to be at Juve. Sanchez also was a terrible buy for United . Of course no one wanted him to flop so badly. Bit keeping him at the club because we are paying big bucks would not send out the right signal.

2) There is nowhere to hide : In Ole's press conference today he hit the nail on the head. He said he wants the players to feel the pressure and he is right. The players who are in squad now have nowhere to hide and have to go through the grind. Players like rashford ,lingard, martial, Shaw etc now do not have big names like Sanchez, lukaku harrera etc to hide behind and say hey the big names are not performing. Every time United doesn't perform it's the big names that face the heat. Pogba still gets the heat. But all the other young players who are equally accountable yet escape criticism now have nowhere to hide as they become big names and the spotlight is on them.

The season will be an intense grind where we either end up with diamonds or just a bunch of losers. Ole has a win win situation. He led the clear out so fans will have a soft corner. Incase the kids turn out alright then ole is brilliant. Incase we fail then ole will then pressurise Ed for more signings to fix the squad and since Ed underspent on the squad he would also have nowhere to hide as the fans are already on his throat.

Hope the kids step up though. I personally believe Gomes Chong garner and Mason will become legends for United

 

[Compton22]

I swear some people just love to moan. It was blatantly obvious that the deadwood and their replacement were not all going to be got rid of/acquired all at the same time and Ole even said as much last season. Some fand were slating him for not shipping out the deadwood at the end of the transfer window, yet here he is, shipping out the deadwood and putting his faith in the youth and still the fans complain.

Now more than ever, is the time to trust in what Ole is doing and back him because he is finally starting to do what most of us wanted him to.

 

[yamo123x]

Ole is responsible for putting Tuanzebe on the bench and making Smalling surplus to requirements so that he could leave.

If Ole had come out and said "they're all shit", then who would've bought them? Do you really think we would've got £70m for Lukaku if Ole had come out, been honest and said "to be fair mate, the lad can't trap the ball, he's fat and a poor influence in the dressing room"?

Yes but is Ole making the decisions?? No he is not.

 

[Eric's Seagull]

I swear some people just love to moan. It was blatantly obvious that the deadwood and their replacement were not all going to be got rid of/acquired all at the same time and Ole even said as much last season. Some fand were slating him for not shipping out the deadwood at the end of the transfer window, yet here he is, shipping out the deadwood and putting his faith in the youth and still the fans complain.

Now more than ever, is the time to trust in what Ole is doing and back him because he is finally starting to do what most of us wanted him to.

It is a process that is going to take time. We need to have faith that Ole can do it. I just don't want to see us falling further behind our rivals during the rebuild.

 

[Oldyella]

With the news of Smalling going on loan to Roma, it seems as though Ole is the one who finally clears out our deadwood. The following have been sold/loaned out since Ole arrived:

Fellaini
Herrera
Valencia
Lukaku
Sanchez
Smalling

To follow:
Jones
Rojo
Darmian

Are you happy with the clear out? Are you happy the players are leaving but annoyed with the lack of incoming players?

I wouldnt say Smalling or Herrera were deadwood, but it is good to see we are slowly refreshing the squad.

 

[OleGunnar20]

Buckle in and join me in the same boat, ride through the next couple of seasons whilst we rebuild.

My thoughts exactly. You don't slap a coat of paint on a Rotten lintel and call it a day - you rip it out and replace it.

Sure in the meantime the house won't be at its best but it's a necessary pain. I just hope they stick with Ole long term and allow him to implement his vision as I believe he has what it takes.

 

[Oldyella]

I wouldnt say Smalling or Herrera were deadwood, but it is good to see we are slowly refreshing the squad.

Quoting myself...

In fact thinking on, are any of the players we have moved on aside from Sanchez truly deadwood? Feels like the true deadwood is still hanging around the squad.

Fellaini - Had his uses when chasing games.
Herrera - 2nd best midfielder? Given Matic's decline we could of used him as DM for a year behind Pogba/McTominay
Valencia - Great in his day but time had come
Lukaku - Decent forward against also rans but was never going to take not being first choice
Sanchez -Ok, hes deadwood.
Smalling - Decent CB still, just looks like Ole wants a refreshed defence

Meanwhile - Rojo, Darmian, Matic, Lingard, Mata, Jones, Fred?, Bailley? feel like the real squad deadwood (Young gets a pass, player who has take the elder statesman role this year)

 

[Dr Fink]

I agree with the post above plus what part of "Herrera did not want to stay" do people not understand? If he didn't want to stay then he goes in to that deadwood category, players that should leave or whatever. He was never going to stay.

 

[romufc]

I swear some people just love to moan. It was blatantly obvious that the deadwood and their replacement were not all going to be got rid of/acquired all at the same time and Ole even said as much last season. Some fand were slating him for not shipping out the deadwood at the end of the transfer window, yet here he is, shipping out the deadwood and putting his faith in the youth and still the fans complain.

Now more than ever, is the time to trust in what Ole is doing and back him because he is finally starting to do what most of us wanted him to.

Pure moaning forum. Whatever the club does some of the fans find a way of moaning.
You cannot expect the club to bring in 6 signings without getting rid of players that the manager does not want.

When you refurbish a house, you don't go buy new things and then put it in the house whilst cleaning it out?

YOu get rid of everything you don't want first. then take a look with what you have left and bring the new furniture in to suit.

Same with players, we don't want players coming in whilst Sanchez and Lukaku are around because that is the precedent.

Once they are gone, new players will come in with the right attitude.

 

[Keefy18]

Last couple of years or even more I'm pretty sure I have had a list in my mind consisting of Jones, Fellaini, Darmian, Rojo, Young, and more recently adding Shaw, Lingard, Matic, Lukaku, Bailly. Now we're not in desperate need to sell all of them but certainly a few of those should have been gone a long while ago but they are still here, while others should have been replaced by signings by now and thereby phased out. Thing is, we are phasing some people out and we have no other players to successfully make us stronger in their position. Replacing good players with good players, then keeping a lot of the deadwood to back them up?

Like maybe if Sanchez was English he would be afforded more time while Lingard would be considered deadwood? Their wages in context with their contribution is probably similar, if we assume that Sanchez would have done a bit more this season. So it is not inconceivable to propose we keep a player like Sanchez based on previous quality while Lingard gets sold. Lingard would probably have more interested parties too?

I'm not saying all our players will struggle, but it is certainly unfair to bank on Tuanzebe making it like you would have to just after realising that Lindelof might not be good enough after all. If he returns to his initial form he had when he came to the club, which seems likely this season, then you have to bank on Tuanzebe for my point to be wrong. There is more hope than realism somewhere in there, and I'm just pointing that out. However, I think this is going to be a really exiting season for us because we'll have to trust the kids a lot. I just hope people don't go overboard in criticising the players and Ole this season because we might not even get in the top 10 if we're really unlucky. Best case scenario is something like Matic being rejuvenated and save our season by just securing top 4. That is not a particularly good prospect for our club.

The most important thing I take away from your sentiments immediately is you are focusing far too much on individuals. Ole is trying to create a team, we've forgotten what one looks like. It's about the sum of the parts and things fitting properly for the sake of the team.

There is no quick fix here and if certain options become available like loaning out Smalling then so be it. I like Smalling and rate him myself tbh, but I'm also extremely happy to see Axel Tuanzebe step up and be given a proper shot now. Smalling has been at a consistent level, there hasn't been a spike in his all round game overall, has there? We might, possibly get that with Axel who is younger and with the right coaching could possible go on to be a better player than Smalling, we won't know that until he is given a proper crack at it.

It's not unfair on the young lads at all if you ask me, Ole said it perfectly earlier. They want their chance and are eager to prove themselves so let them. If they don't make it so be it, we'll of not hurt the club financially and we could still make a few bob on them anyway and we can look elsewhere at buying a replacement.

Our club history is promoting youth, playing attacking football and mixing the two together to win trophies. Our 2 most successful periods came off the back of an intense focus of coaching and promoting youth, it takes time but it's proven fruitful.

 

[Anustart89]

Yes but is Ole making the decisions?? No he is not.

Are you suggesting that the Glazers/Woodward dictate who plays, who is on the bench and who is left out of the squad?

 

[ash_86]

Oles ruthlessness is a double edged sword. He has let go of the aging players with big fat paychecks who were simply sitting their ass at United without winning much. Some of them were quality players while others were just not United standards.

Two things are happening with the clear out:

1) Standard are being set. The whole idea of United being a good paymaster where players would come for the money and relax has been put to the sword. I was particularly impressed when the club did not even indulge in the nonsense of bale and quickly shut down the dybala deal because he and his agent were asking for more money. We are a big club and have money but the fundamental requirements have to be met before United pays the big bucks. The desire to play for the club has to be more than the want for money. It's also why we bought Maguire and not dybala. Maguire wanted to be here and dybala still wanted to be at Juve. Sanchez also was a terrible buy for United . Of course no one wanted him to flop so badly. Bit keeping him at the club because we are paying big bucks would not send out the right signal.

2) There is nowhere to hide : In Ole's press conference today he hit the nail on the head. He said he wants the players to feel the pressure and he is right. The players who are in squad now have nowhere to hide and have to go through the grind. Players like rashford ,lingard, martial, Shaw etc now do not have big names like Sanchez, lukaku harrera etc to hide behind and say hey the big names are not performing. Every time United doesn't perform it's the big names that face the heat. Pogba still gets the heat. But all the other young players who are equally accountable yet escape criticism now have nowhere to hide as they become big names and the spotlight is on them.

The season will be an intense grind where we either end up with diamonds or just a bunch of losers. Ole has a win win situation. He led the clear out so fans will have a soft corner. Incase the kids turn out alright then ole is brilliant. Incase we fail then ole will then pressurise Ed for more signings to fix the squad and since Ed underspent on the squad he would also have nowhere to hide as the fans are already on his throat.

Hope the kids step up though. I personally believe Gomes Chong garner and Mason will become legends for United

Good post.

 

[Keefy18]

Oles ruthlessness is a double edged sword. He has let go of the aging players with big fat paychecks who were simply sitting their ass at United without winning much. Some of them were quality players while others were just not United standards.

Two things are happening with the clear out:

1) Standard are being set. The whole idea of United being a good paymaster where players would come for the money and relax has been put to the sword. I was particularly impressed when the club did not even indulge in the nonsense of bale and quickly shut down the dybala deal because he and his agent were asking for more money. We are a big club and have money but the fundamental requirements have to be met before United pays the big bucks. The desire to play for the club has to be more than the want for money. It's also why we bought Maguire and not dybala. Maguire wanted to be here and dybala still wanted to be at Juve. Sanchez also was a terrible buy for United . Of course no one wanted him to flop so badly. Bit keeping him at the club because we are paying big bucks would not send out the right signal.

2) There is nowhere to hide : In Ole's press conference today he hit the nail on the head. He said he wants the players to feel the pressure and he is right. The players who are in squad now have nowhere to hide and have to go through the grind. Players like rashford ,lingard, martial, Shaw etc now do not have big names like Sanchez, lukaku harrera etc to hide behind and say hey the big names are not performing. Every time United doesn't perform it's the big names that face the heat. Pogba still gets the heat. But all the other young players who are equally accountable yet escape criticism now have nowhere to hide as they become big names and the spotlight is on them.

The season will be an intense grind where we either end up with diamonds or just a bunch of losers. Ole has a win win situation. He led the clear out so fans will have a soft corner. Incase the kids turn out alright then ole is brilliant. Incase we fail then ole will then pressurise Ed for more signings to fix the squad and since Ed underspent on the squad he would also have nowhere to hide as the fans are already on his throat.

Hope the kids step up though. I personally believe Gomes Chong garner and Mason will become legends for United

Brilliant post, completely agree!

 

[Raw]

Can add Darmian to the list now. Guess Ole was right about getting rid of the deadwood, thank feck. Still a few players that should go (with replacements needed for some) but as of now we're fine.

 

[Gator Nate]

Oles ruthlessness is a double edged sword. He has let go of the aging players with big fat paychecks who were simply sitting their ass at United without winning much. Some of them were quality players while others were just not United standards.

Two things are happening with the clear out:

1) Standard are being set. The whole idea of United being a good paymaster where players would come for the money and relax has been put to the sword. I was particularly impressed when the club did not even indulge in the nonsense of bale and quickly shut down the dybala deal because he and his agent were asking for more money. We are a big club and have money but the fundamental requirements have to be met before United pays the big bucks. The desire to play for the club has to be more than the want for money. It's also why we bought Maguire and not dybala. Maguire wanted to be here and dybala still wanted to be at Juve. Sanchez also was a terrible buy for United . Of course no one wanted him to flop so badly. Bit keeping him at the club because we are paying big bucks would not send out the right signal.

2) There is nowhere to hide : In Ole's press conference today he hit the nail on the head. He said he wants the players to feel the pressure and he is right. The players who are in squad now have nowhere to hide and have to go through the grind. Players like rashford ,lingard, martial, Shaw etc now do not have big names like Sanchez, lukaku harrera etc to hide behind and say hey the big names are not performing. Every time United doesn't perform it's the big names that face the heat. Pogba still gets the heat. But all the other young players who are equally accountable yet escape criticism now have nowhere to hide as they become big names and the spotlight is on them.

The season will be an intense grind where we either end up with diamonds or just a bunch of losers. Ole has a win win situation. He led the clear out so fans will have a soft corner. Incase the kids turn out alright then ole is brilliant. Incase we fail then ole will then pressurise Ed for more signings to fix the squad and since Ed underspent on the squad he would also have nowhere to hide as the fans are already on his throat.

Hope the kids step up though. I personally believe Gomes Chong garner and Mason will become legends for United

Level headed thinking right here. We might take our lumps while the kids learn, but they're not going to learn these lessons in the U23's.

Ole got caught last year between a rock and a hard place. The fast start, the lack of fitness, the desire for youth to move up, but a real shot at top-4 set some bad expectations and an outright vile finish. Now he's molding the team in his image and he's going to take heat for that as well. For my part, I like where he's going with this and can put up with the bad moments because I see a direction.

 

[arthurka]

Adding quality while playing a lot of youth is the way to go forward. Hope we add to the squad in January and will get 3 more next summer. But this won´t be only smooth sailing bumps and bruises are on the way.
Since Ole came We have cleared out more than we have done years before.

 

[charlenefan]

Last Seasons Squad (26 + academy players)

GK: De Gea, Romero, Grant
RB: Valencia, Darmian, Dalot
CB: Smalling, Jones, Lindelof, Bailly, Rojo
LB: Shaw, Young
CM: Pogba, Matic, Herrera, Fellaini, McTominay, Andreas, Fred
AM: Lingard, Mata
CF: Lukaku, Rashford, Martial, Sanchez

This Seasons Squad (24 + academy players)

GK: De Gea, Romero, Grant
RB: AWB, Dalot
CB: Maguire, Jones, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Bailly, Rojo
LB: Shaw, Young
CM: Pogba, Matic, McTominay, Andreas, Fred
AM: Lingard, Mata, James
CF: Rashford, Martial, Greenwood

I do wonder what the sweet spot is in terms of squad numbers/depth that Ole is looking for. I think it's safe to say at this point that within the next year we'll look to make another 3-4 signings whilst letting a similar number leave (Young, Bailly/Rojo, Matic, Fred) and that's without touching on the Pogba and De Gea situations

 

[Eric's Seagull]

Adding quality while playing a lot of youth is the way to go forward. Hope we add to the squad in January and will get 3 more next summer. But this won´t be only smooth sailing bumps and bruises are on the way.
Since Ole came We have cleared out more than we have done years before.

Cant see us adding to the squad in January but would like to see it happen.

 

[arthurka]

Cant see us adding to the squad in January but would like to see it happen.

No not getting my hopes up on it but we should..

 

[Scholsey2004]

Rojo and Bailly out in January I reckon. Jones will probably stay as fourth choice CB behind Tuanzebe.

 

[Scholsey2004]

Cant see us adding to the squad in January but would like to see it happen.

I think we'll sign a talented young midfielder, probably British, and move Matic on in January. He's asked to speak to the manager so he's obviously realised his time is almost up.

 

[Ekeke]

So getting rid of our best defending CB and the only defender we've had who scores goals other than Vidic in the past 20 years as well as our only real ball winning midfielder is getting rid of dead wood?

What about players with no such accolades like I dont know, all of our players other than about 6 first team players who might argue that they're somewhere near the better players in the league in their positions?

Martial, Maguire (only a couple of games so far), Rashford, Wan-Bissaka, Shaw and De Gea are the only players in our squad that have performed well enough. I guess we have a squad thats 90% dead wood then?

 

[Eric's Seagull]

I think we'll sign a talented young midfielder, probably British, and move Matic on in January. He's asked to speak to the manager so he's obviously realised his time is almost up.

I would be very happy if this was to happen. As it will give him half a season to get used to Ole's methods and I think it would be good to get Matic replacement in early as even if he doesn't go in January he'll be gone when his contract is up end of season

 

[matherto]

I'm glad.

I'm not glad with the lack of ins but it's about damn time we started getting rid of players, no matter how we do it.

Ole said plenty of players would be gone so let's see where this takes us.

 

[Chicharo]

And who have we replaced them with? We're incredibly light in midfield, wings, and attack.

I'm all for removing deadwood but they have to be replaced. One or two injuries and we're down to the bare bones.

This. It's great we've got rid of some players, but overall this was a terrible transfer window.

 

[0le]

Would have been fantastic if we had signed just one midfielder - a defensive minded midfielder. I think we need to sign on in January if someone becomes available.

 

[RedPed]

So getting rid of our best defending CB and the only defender we've had who scores goals other than Vidic in the past 20 years as well as our only real ball winning midfielder is getting rid of dead wood?

What about players with no such accolades like I dont know, all of our players other than about 6 first team players who might argue that they're somewhere near the better players in the league in their positions?

Martial, Maguire (only a couple of games so far), Rashford, Wan-Bissaka, Shaw and De Gea are the only players in our squad that have performed well enough. I guess we have a squad thats 90% dead wood then?

Ffs he's gone. Let it go!

 

[Tiki-Taka]

Woodward’s deadwood.

 

[Amar__]

Can't help but this clearout reminds me of van Gaal's clearout when he got rid of actually useful players like Hernandez, Rafael, Evans, Hernandez, etc., while signing the likes of Falcao, Darmian, Rojo, etc., playing the likes of Blackett, McNair, etc. and ending up with lack of any good players in some good positions and finishing 6th(or 7th?).
Many folks were quite happy with that clearout too, for some reason people were delighted we got rid of good players like Rafael, useful sub in Hernandez, etc. and their replacements turned out to be massive waste of money. We cleared out our squad without finding half decent replecemant first.

Hopefully Ole knows what he is doing, and I am wrong, but this will have similar scenario, IMO.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

We are certainly trimming the fat. Only ones who are left are Young, Jones, Rojo and Darmian - and we couldn't really have expected all four and the rest to go in one window.

I am hopeful that we buy in January - even if it's for squad depth. If we don't, I see that our squad will slow down big time by March time with the lack of rotation options.

 

[Dread Devil]

Oles ruthlessness is a double edged sword. He has let go of the aging players with big fat paychecks who were simply sitting their ass at United without winning much. Some of them were quality players while others were just not United standards.

Two things are happening with the clear out:

1) Standard are being set. The whole idea of United being a good paymaster where players would come for the money and relax has been put to the sword. I was particularly impressed when the club did not even indulge in the nonsense of bale and quickly shut down the dybala deal because he and his agent were asking for more money. We are a big club and have money but the fundamental requirements have to be met before United pays the big bucks. The desire to play for the club has to be more than the want for money. It's also why we bought Maguire and not dybala. Maguire wanted to be here and dybala still wanted to be at Juve. Sanchez also was a terrible buy for United . Of course no one wanted him to flop so badly. Bit keeping him at the club because we are paying big bucks would not send out the right signal.

2) There is nowhere to hide : In Ole's press conference today he hit the nail on the head. He said he wants the players to feel the pressure and he is right. The players who are in squad now have nowhere to hide and have to go through the grind. Players like rashford ,lingard, martial, Shaw etc now do not have big names like Sanchez, lukaku harrera etc to hide behind and say hey the big names are not performing. Every time United doesn't perform it's the big names that face the heat. Pogba still gets the heat. But all the other young players who are equally accountable yet escape criticism now have nowhere to hide as they become big names and the spotlight is on them.

The season will be an intense grind where we either end up with diamonds or just a bunch of losers. Ole has a win win situation. He led the clear out so fans will have a soft corner. Incase the kids turn out alright then ole is brilliant. Incase we fail then ole will then pressurise Ed for more signings to fix the squad and since Ed underspent on the squad he would also have nowhere to hide as the fans are already on his throat.

Hope the kids step up though. I personally believe Gomes Chong garner and Mason will become legends for United

Great post, I agree completely.


The energy and rhythm of the first team at the moment is brilliant to see. I haven’t seen that for a long time.

Any new signings will have to compete at the same level and with the same hunger. You can see McGuire, Wan Bissaka and James are fully integrated and on-board.

I am sure Smalling would have been on board with the work ethics but he didn’t want to be 4th or 5th choice.

As for Sanchez, he has played too much football to fit this system, Solskjaer has been very professional in his dealings here and both parties have come away with a satisfactory outcome for the moment. I hope he does well in the Italian league and finds his rhythm there.

I think one more central defender could go. We need just four from the first team, and we have 6, one is injured so hopefully Rojo or Jones will find a club that suits them and us....

I find it strange that Manchester United “fans” call Manchester United players Deadwood, some of these players have played their hearts out for the club but don’t fit the new managers system...

 

[utdalltheway]

Back in June there was talk of 10-12 players that needed to go. So far it’s been a good start. 3 or 4 left to go, easily (Rojo, Pereira, Bailly, etc). Our wage bill too will have been reduced by a fair amount which hopefully frees up money for quality.

Hopefully the replacements, when they come (or get promoted) will do a better job for us.


Btw, what’s the news on Fred? I don’t hear much about him.

 

[gulli_G]

Back in June there was talk of 10-12 players that needed to go. So far it’s been a good start. 3 or 4 left to go, easily (Rojo, Pereira, Bailly, etc). Our wage bill too will have been reduced by a fair amount which hopefully frees up money for quality.

Hopefully the replacements, when they come (or get promoted) will do a better job for us.


Btw, what’s the news on Fred? I don’t hear much about him.

Check the press conference thread

 

[Sterling Archer]

Can't help but this clearout reminds me of van Gaal's clearout when he got rid of actually useful players like Hernandez, Rafael, Evans, Hernandez, etc., while signing the likes of Falcao, Darmian, Rojo, etc., playing the likes of Blackett, McNair, etc. and ending up with lack of any good players in some good positions and finishing 6th(or 7th?).
Many folks were quite happy with that clearout too, for some reason people were delighted we got rid of good players like Rafael, useful sub in Hernandez, etc. and their replacements turned out to be massive waste of money. We cleared out our squad without finding half decent replecemant first.

Hopefully Ole knows what he is doing, and I am wrong, but this will have similar scenario, IMO.

Might be a case of PTSD, but that's my fear as well. Time will tell.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Everyone is making up whatever narrative they want. Lukaku and Sanchez and Smalling instigated moves for lack of guarantee of playing time. Darmian has been on the 50 percent off shelf for 5 years and the board just wacked a 99 percent sale sign in him.
There has been nothing from Ole saying he wants rid infact he is saying the opposite.
Maybe he is ruthless behind the scenes but let's face it. Anyone saying it's him assassinating everyone is just making it up.
As a manager with the squad the way it is I can't believe Ole would not want Sanchez, Lukaku and Smalling on the bench if they were happy to do that.