19 Feb 2016 09:34:11
There is no passion.

It starts with the Board. Their primary interest is money, not football.

The CEO, the same.

Next comes the manager who seems to have no ability to motivate these players. Whatever is going on on the training field and in the changing room is clearly destructive of any morale. LVG sits there jotting things down in a notebook during the game. Is he the only manager in the world who does this? Get up and lead! Get up and show you care about your players and this club. STAND UP.

I have had my say about the assistant manager. He is clearly clueless. Great players do not necessarily make great managers, and whatever passion he exhibited whenever he stepped on the field of play has now disappeared into glazed befuddlement.

The players. They must take their share of the blame. Strong men will not allow themselves to give up whatever the circumstances, but every time this team concedes a goal, it seems their disappointment deflates them rather than inspires them. After Carrick's bad pass, and Herrera's weak challenge led to their first goal, did we stiffen? No. We repeated the error and nearly conceded again within a few minues. I believe our injuries occur not so much as a result of bad luck but because the players are not fully and properly engaged in the job.

The fans. You can feel it coming. We may always love our club, but it is hard to feel passion about an entity that does not reciprocate. In the words of that great blues classic, "The Thrill is Gone". Last night's chanting of "We are shyte" says it all. We were/ are. The fans are starting to rein in their emotions, and to treat the decline of our club with ironic acceptance.

I'm not a great fan of Mourinho, but he does have the one quality we are in desperate need of, and that is passion. He will leave his emotions out there for all to see. Passion can be constructive or destructive, but without it the future is undoubtedlly mediocrity. The present already is.

1.) 19 Feb 2016
19 Feb 2016 10:10:02
He will seperate the wheat from the chaff.

Rojo, Valencia, Young, Fellaini, probably Mata would all leave. Jones, McNair, Carrick, Blind and Lingard would all be under threat if they could be suitably replaced.

2.) 19 Feb 2016
19 Feb 2016 10:54:14
I won't care if they all left as of now. We need players who want to play for the club and not the manager. With Mourinho, atleast we know he wants to be here at the club and win. Players will most certainly be motivated to play for best in the business special one.

3.) 19 Feb 2016
19 Feb 2016 12:35:20
I feel the owners the board, especially Woodward, who, to be honest is a good commercial negotiator bit just lacks experience of sport, don't really care what us fans think. First and foremost is profit and as long as the money keeps coming in from sponsorship deals and shirts at the being sold, the massive money from television nothing will change. The ordinary, everyday fan, the ones that go to every home match, regardless of who the opposition is, seem to be an irrelevance.

It is sad but the game has changed, it is no longer the same, Murdoch and Sky ruined it. Now it is all about corporate entertainment and corporate money.

I have been going (season ticket holder) since I was 5 years old and this is the first time I feel the club is failing it's fans.

I don't know whether or not sacking LVG will address the issues as I think it is a wider issue that effects the sport at higher levels, the corruption of FIFA, the sugar daddies buying clubs, it has become endemic.

The money now involved has turned everyone into mercenaries.

{Ed025's Note - thats a fair point gibbon..

4.) 19 Feb 2016
19 Feb 2016 14:43:33
Sooner or later the performances or lack of have to effect the profit making side and sponsorship side of things. So surely the 2 sides are intertwined you need performances on the pitch to attract the big sponsors because I'm pretty sure adidas would not of committed such a high sum on what we've seen so far. Just my opinion.

5.) 19 Feb 2016
19 Feb 2016 16:13:16
Absolutely agree The Funky Gibson, it's about making money, however it's not looking good, the United fans are heading towards the "rioting" stage in a verbal sense, next will become the boycotting stage and refusing to buy merchandise part, personally the club and members needs a good kick up the backside, even with the current squad, it should be a top 4.

6.) 19 Feb 2016
19 Feb 2016 17:44:39
@Shane88

It is all about the money. While I agree sponsorship is toed to success, even limited amounts of success brings the sponsorship and as lo g as they bring in a marquee signing to sell millions of shirts in the Asian market, the team will be deemed a success.

Success now is not just about how the team performs on the field and how many championships or trophies the team win, it is now about how high the share price can go and how much money the club can take in, hence the appointment of a CEO with no experience of football but lots of experience in the corporate world.

I have been a season ticket holder since the mid 70's and now, we the fans have the least amount of power ever. Revenue is not just dependent on us coming to the game, it is a tiny part of the overall income, the vast majority comes from other interests.

Luckily we still are the Theatre of Dreams and have a great legacy, bit if you look at how City are doi g in foreign markets, while they may not be at our level yet, with some shrewd business deals, they are certainly on their way.