Our transfer activity was very small time IMO.
United in this Summer transfer window
- Thread starter LawCharltonBest
- Start date
This. Jamie Jackson's piece in the Guardian too.
I always thought Moyes was a good operator in the market when he was at Everton, finding all sorts of good players on the cheap. What happened..?
I hope the embarrassment teaches them how to conduct transfer business in a proper way.
We've been poor all Summer but yesterday was something else. Sheer incompetence. We usually get to laugh at other clubs for this.
I'm not usually arsed about how much we spend on players but this business with Fellaini's buy out clause is unbelievable.
I'm not usually arsed about how much we spend on players but this business with Fellaini's buy out clause is unbelievable.
Yeah I thought we'd get some shrewed and cleverly buys this summer. Hopefully this is just a one off screw up and not a sign of things to come.
So, what's the deal with Coentrao? Our thread says it's collapsed, but everywhere else says that it's awaiting confirmation? Anything official on it?
The summer we bought O'sh... I mean Jones and Young was far worse. Delighted with Fellaini and I'm sure next summer we'll be better prepared.
Stop sulking lads, if you think about it, two midfielders would have been overkill, one would have to either sit it out or take Kagawa's place (and yes, he WILL play an important role for us, just not fully fit yet for Moyes to risk him in big games like Liverpool/Chelsea), a player we've only bought last season.
Rooney, RVP, Kagawa, Nani, with Carrick (Brains and skill) and Fellaini (Brawn and skill) doing their defensive work to let them roam... only three teams in Europe could field a better team and we still could beat them.
We will buy another midfielder next summer when Carrick is 33 and probably going to start getting slowly phased out of the first team.. for now 1 midfielder is more than enough.
We need to get to the bottom of this summers failures and ineptitude, was it poor planning/strategy in the transfer market, Woodward's lack of experience or possibly we didn't have the money but either way we need to address this and then look at the option of hiring director of football to help Woody etc.
Obviously still thinks he has to get them on the cheap, then pays over the odds on Fellaini. Amateurish.
Hope so, as long as Woodward is not involved. They need to make a statement by getting rid of him and bringing in an experience Chief Executive/DOF. People will be wary of doing business with us after this shambles.
To be honest I'm sick of hearing people suggest a Director of Football. Firstly they take responsibility away from the manager, not the chief exec. Secondly, it's never been needed before so if Woody really does need one now I'd suggest brining in a CEO to replace him rather than someone to hold his hand.
If we brought in a director of football who'd we get? Rod Hull's Emu? feck that.
No director of football. Moyes needs full control. Just get a competent CEO please. Woodward can defect to city.
This morning I went into McDonalds, offered them £1 for a £3 burger, haggled a bit, walked out, came back an hour later and ended up paying £5 for it. I call it Breakfast, the Man United way.
Under Fergie, he was the DOF, Manager, coach basically numerous roles rolled into one, with the added benefit of having a really good CEO in Gill. Yes we missed out on deals but we were never perceived as shambolic.
Also, we have lost our main scouts and backroom staff so it may be an ideal opportunity to look at the possibility of hiring a DOF to assist Moyes with targeting players and also to alleviate some of the pressure off Woody who is clearly inexperienced.
We have seen DOF roles in many European clubs and also at City and Spurs recently, i'm not saying it is the answer but one thing for sure is we cannot experience the same shambolic situation next year.
This summer may be a watershed and make United seem like an ordinary club now, run by amateurs -- in the future, players will wonder why we have been rejected by a host of other players in the summer of 2013.
I didn't want two midfielders, I wanted one midfielder who could actually strengthen our squad, not bloody Fellaini. And for that kind of money?! Disaster. But that's not all of the reason why people are angry and disappointed. It's because of the way we have behaved this summer, and especially last night, looking like utter fools.
Theres no reason that can be given for not triggering Fellani's release clause other than he was a plan B and everyone knows it. Now he's cup tied in one competition, needs time to settle in and joins under more pressure than there needed to be.
Our dealings for Herrera were an embarrasment. Not to mention everything with Thiago, Fabregas, Ozil to Arsenal, and all summer long bigging up how we have as much money as we need and can go after whatever player Moyes wants.
We look out of our depth now competing for the best players.
Our dealings for Herrera were an embarrasment. Not to mention everything with Thiago, Fabregas, Ozil to Arsenal, and all summer long bigging up how we have as much money as we need and can go after whatever player Moyes wants.
We look out of our depth now competing for the best players.
We spent all summer haggling, trying to penny-pinch and save a few million. Our insistence on trying to save money has been the undoing of us this summer despite being the second richest Club world football. It's a ridiculous level of tight-fistedness and Woodward and the owners need to learn a big lesson here.
The hesitancy over Thiago was beyond stupid.
Waiting until Thiago left (remember Bayern paid OVER his release clause) before bidding for Cesc was pathetic.
The Fabregas bids were shockingly insufficient and wouldn't even have given Barcelona anything to think about - not forgetting that they had to give Arsenal a percentage of the fee.
Waiting until Fellaini's release clause had expired to try to get him on the cheap, despite him being available the entire summer, then paying well over the odds for him is the one I can't get my head around.
And everything about Ander Herrera screams ineptitude. I feel sorry for the lad himself more than any disappointment about not getting him.
Serious questions need to be asked about our conduct in this transfer window.
The hesitancy over Thiago was beyond stupid.
Waiting until Thiago left (remember Bayern paid OVER his release clause) before bidding for Cesc was pathetic.
The Fabregas bids were shockingly insufficient and wouldn't even have given Barcelona anything to think about - not forgetting that they had to give Arsenal a percentage of the fee.
Waiting until Fellaini's release clause had expired to try to get him on the cheap, despite him being available the entire summer, then paying well over the odds for him is the one I can't get my head around.
And everything about Ander Herrera screams ineptitude. I feel sorry for the lad himself more than any disappointment about not getting him.
Serious questions need to be asked about our conduct in this transfer window.
Couldnt catch the last hours of the window madness and was wondering the same. Most people on here obviously dissapointed with our market dealings as apparently we have only confirmed Fellaini.
At the end of the day midfielder is what we needed most and we got one. Whether its the right choice or not only time will tell.
You would have thought they had learnt quickly after the 1st screw-up with Thiago but no... we proceed to do the same with Cesc and then..
£27,5m for Fellaini 
Funny thing is how at the start everyone was giving our management the benefit of the doubt at the beginning. "Oh we don't know that we were ever interested in Thiago", "Oh Fabregas must be giving encouragement behind the scenes", "I'm sure Moyes has a gentleman's agreement not to trigger Fellaini's release clause, and "we can probably get him for a lower price". All these excuses we made for them, wanting to believe the club is not run by idiots. How wrong we were.
On the footballing side, signing Fellaini is a good thing. But on the other hand, it confirmed what we refused to believe at first. That we stupidly allowed a release clause to lapse for a player we wanted/needed to sign in the first place. Asking Everton and Martinez to "Do the right thing!" Seriously Dave?!? Was that really the game plan? I don't even believe that he was second choice after Fabregas. Nor do I believe that the Herrera deal collapsed because we no longer wanted him after we secured Fellaini's transfer. Woodward didn't seem to have a proper appraisal on the situation surrounding Bilbao, and Moyes doesn't seem understand the new environment/market he is operating in.
At best, they seem to be utterly incompetent. At worst, they are trying to mask that incompetence with excuses and actions that make us look even worse.
On the footballing side, signing Fellaini is a good thing. But on the other hand, it confirmed what we refused to believe at first. That we stupidly allowed a release clause to lapse for a player we wanted/needed to sign in the first place. Asking Everton and Martinez to "Do the right thing!" Seriously Dave?!? Was that really the game plan? I don't even believe that he was second choice after Fabregas. Nor do I believe that the Herrera deal collapsed because we no longer wanted him after we secured Fellaini's transfer. Woodward didn't seem to have a proper appraisal on the situation surrounding Bilbao, and Moyes doesn't seem understand the new environment/market he is operating in.
At best, they seem to be utterly incompetent. At worst, they are trying to mask that incompetence with excuses and actions that make us look even worse.
Yes, it was around the time of the Fábregas farce that people started suspecting things. The general feeling was, at that time, that we must have had some encouragement; those who thought we just went in blindly were often confronted with the question 'Do you think Manchester United are run by total idiots?' to which the answer was usually no, we all wanted to believe that the people high up knew what they were doing.
Now we know that United are in fact run by totally incompetent idiots. It's better than not knowing, as we at least know what to expect in the future. I'm fairly certain now that we just went in blind for Fábregas with shitty bids.
And that fee was still a few million less than what we paid for Fellaini, no? I don't understand why we didn't make serious waves over a player we have enquired about before, a player who has only improved since then, and a player who was very much available at a very good price.
Bah.
Our strategy has been pretty obvious. Submit a low bid in the hope that it will unsettle a player, who then asks for a move and leaves his club in a weak position. Clearly, it hasn't worked, although the end result is that we have bought a midfielder who could be very good for us, and it was the only position that we really needed to fill.
I'm sure this has been a huge learning process for the club.
I'm sure this has been a huge learning process for the club.
I don't blame Moyes for any of this, but it has been a complete clusterfeck. I couldn't believe what I was reading last night. Coentrao, Herrera, Khedeira, Ozil, Baines, Fellaini, de Rossi...it was ridiculous stuff.
I'm glad we got Fellaini though, he provides vital cover for Carrick and a bit of tenacity to our midfield. He improves us so I'm pleased with that.
I'm glad we got Fellaini though, he provides vital cover for Carrick and a bit of tenacity to our midfield. He improves us so I'm pleased with that.
I dont blame Moyes for any of it either. The buck for the football stops with Moyes, the buck for the business stops with Woodward.
I wish it wasnt an international week now, I just want to see Fellaini out there playing for us so I can begin to put this whole sorry summer behind me.
I wish it wasnt an international week now, I just want to see Fellaini out there playing for us so I can begin to put this whole sorry summer behind me.
Apparently a £22m bid for Özil to Madrid is being prepared right now.
They never know and everyone on here knows it. 27.5 for Fellaini is, in Kanye's words, f*cking ridiculous. Why are we always overpaying? I thought we learned from the Berbatov case but nada, niente.
Well, thank god that is over. I am not a transfer muppet and am stunned by the amount of muppetry that goes on in here.
Its as embarrassing as Manchester Uniteds attempts in the transfer market this summer, I even got the feeling that some on here would stop following their club unless big players came in.
Of course its exciting to sign quality players, Fabregas would have been a top signing.
Fellaini is a good player, but doesn't really excite me and is not worth £27.5m, although we do need to strengthen midfield.
That has been obvious for a while and was in evidence against Chelsea and Liverpool.
Carrick and Cleverley are good players but neither of them go past players and neither of them get ahead of our strikers, I mean how much times do you see the wide players put crosses in and only 2-3 players in the box.
I hope Moyes gives Zaha a chance as Valencia, Young and Nani need a good kick up the arse.
Oh, and just to finish Jones is not a full back.
Its as embarrassing as Manchester Uniteds attempts in the transfer market this summer, I even got the feeling that some on here would stop following their club unless big players came in.
Of course its exciting to sign quality players, Fabregas would have been a top signing.
Fellaini is a good player, but doesn't really excite me and is not worth £27.5m, although we do need to strengthen midfield.
That has been obvious for a while and was in evidence against Chelsea and Liverpool.
Carrick and Cleverley are good players but neither of them go past players and neither of them get ahead of our strikers, I mean how much times do you see the wide players put crosses in and only 2-3 players in the box.
I hope Moyes gives Zaha a chance as Valencia, Young and Nani need a good kick up the arse.
Oh, and just to finish Jones is not a full back.
So many things done wrong I dont know where to start, missing out on Thiago exactly the player we needed with a ridiculously low release clause, not signing Fellaini when he had a release clause and then paying more than that to get him, not going for Ozil, even if we didnt need a player in that position, he is 24 and could of become a United legend for us over the next 10 years, completely fecking up the Herrera deal and wrecking the boys personal life, leaving all transfers so late when we knew what a difficult schedule we had early on, not braking the bank for Fabregas instead of offering insulting bids, Moyes publicly saying we definitely need to strengthen our midfield only to later state that we dont need any more players in and so on and so on.
Im not sad we didnt sign Ozil, we already have Kagawa and Rooney fighting for that position. Stopping Arsenal from getting him is not a good enough reason to buy him. Yes he is a quality player but so is Rooney.
Did you refuse to pay the 1 pound for the fries you really wanted because of said extra expenditure on burger?
You should have seen my reaction when they asked me if I wanted to "go large for 30p". They wont be asking me that again next time, that's for sure.
Good man. You might have missed out on what you wanted, but at least you have your dignity.
I bet Moyes is relieved that there is no press conference this week!
Not buying a guaranteed world class player available at 24 years of age because you have Kagawa who may or may not make it doesn't seem right to me.
We could have played Kagawa on left to accommodate a better player Ozil, after all thats what we did with Rooney. Not having enough money to go for Ozil and a CM makes more sense to me.
I guess, I mean obviously if money is no object we could buy Ozil, a great player. But my logic is based on the assumption that money is an object, if we buy Ozil that is less money to spend on the position that actually needs strengthening. Im quite happy with our options up front and would like to see Kagawa given more of a chance to demonstrate he can make it. So it comes back to not being disappointed we didnt sign Ozil.