09 Aug 2018 14:23:39
This place has been very doom and gloom over the past 6-8 weeks. It has caused a very clear split. Now maybe those dissenting voices are the loudest and those contented people less vocal. However, there does appear to be more people unhappy than happy with our club atm.

Now on the surface there is little to be unhappy about, especially when we compare our situation with that of the majority of clubs. We spend big sums on some of the best players in the world, we don't finish outside of European qualifying positions in the league, and last season we finished second.

However, there is still a feeling of unease for many people. So where does that sense of discontentment come from?

Are our fans just spoiled? Too much of a good thing under Sir Alex has created a high level of expectation.

Maybe it was Sir Alex who was extraordinary and not the club. Maybe we were a decent club with a phenomenal manager lifting us beyond ourselves and now he has gone we can see ourselves in the cold light of day. Like the guy waking up with the worst hangover and looking in the mirror unable to recognise that awesome guy from last night.

I don't quite believe that, we had success before Sir Alex, and since he has left we have maintained a position as one of the wealthiest and most powerful clubs in world football.

However, we seem directionless, drifting with no real intent. The owners have their part to play. How them bought the club left a bitter taste in many a fans mouth. It probably stopped us from competing at a European level due to financial restrictions when the side was arguably approaching our peak, and it certainly restricted the rebuild of the 08-10 side that did so well in Europe. Great players allowed to leave and few great players coming in to replace them. No value in the market we were told, yet since then we have signed players like Shaw, Herrera, Mata, Di Maria, Bailly, Lindelof, Pogba, Matic, Lukaku and now Fred for fees in excess of 30m. A couple three times that 30m figure.
When "no value" was trotted out, what they meant was the clubs debts were too demanding to make such figures available for investment.

This caused a level of stagnation within the squad which has taken serious investment to clear out and replace.

This though, is in the past. The owners have shown intent to invest (albeit money the club has made itself) on players.

For me though, the biggest blessing with the owners is also the biggest problem. They allow the club to run itself, they do not interfere with footballing matters. Which we have seen from many owners is destabilising and damaging. However, this is also a serious problem as it leaves it very ambiguous about who is directing the club and in which direction. Woodward isn't a football man, he has learned quickly and done his best. Yet, he still lacks the contacts and know-how of the inner workings of the game.

This is why I am a big advocate of having a director of football, someone to build for the future of the club with a vision in mind and a level of continuity that gives a stable platform for growth. Someone who knows what the clubs footballing profile is, and who can match that profile with the kind of manager that is in touch with our footballing philosophy.

That brings be back to why so many of us have a feeling of dread this summer. Nearly everyone on this site was in agreement that last season we lacked quality in the full back positions, stability in central defence, someone to link midfield with the forward line while we also lacked creativity on the right hand side. So most thought we needed a LB, RB, CB, CM and RW. Jose himself has spoken about wanting five players.
So far the club has signed two of the five most think we could do with.
I don't think it is this in itself that makes people concerned, I think for most this is a sign that something isn't quite right behind the scenes. Jose has been very vocal in the media and he hasn't been positive at all. Whether he is trying to pressure the club to get the players he wants, or whether he is trying to engineer a way out of the club, or whether he is trying to create an us Vs the world mentality or just unhappy with life. It is not a good sign.

We have players who are reportedly unhappy, a manager who is reportedly unhappy and a board who don't seem to want to spend on Jose's targets for whatever reason.

All of this points to a tense and unstable landscape behind the scenes.

My interpretation is that the board aren't as confident in Jose as they were last summer, they don't seems to want to back him and Jose is kicking up his usual stink. This will only end one way. Either Jose will force our side (flaws in all) to win the league next season or it will all implode. Looking at the personalities within our dressing room I feel imploding a far more likely outcome. Especially if we don't see the unhappy players leave this summer.

It's a shame, I am normally one of the happy, optimistic posters. I have much to be happy about outside of football, with buying a house, getting married and starting University all happening or have happened over the next couple of months. Yet, I can't help but feel the unease at our club. And try as I might, I can't see a happy ending to the Jose saga this season.


1.) 09 Aug 2018
09 Aug 2018 15:00:19
Couldn't have said it better myself shappy, great post.
We are a directionless club at the minute, with absentee owners and a chief exec who is not a football man. I know a lot don't like Jose, I didn't agree with him becoming manager of our club either but I fear that the same outcome may occur no matter who the manager, that being said the football may be better.
I cannot see any alternative to save (please don't pick up on just this word SAVE as I know we finished 2nd and got 80 pts last season but I feel there is something not right) our great club, other than to inplement a DOF type model.

I also just read something this morning showing how Liverpools transfer activity this summer has been a plan 4 years in the making. I wish I was reading these kind of stories about our great club.

Either way I will support this club until the day I die. GGMU!


2.) 09 Aug 2018
09 Aug 2018 16:29:54
Top post Shappy.


3.) 09 Aug 2018
09 Aug 2018 16:20:39
Excellent post Shappy. It is the way i feel at present too. I know some people think we are spoilt due to Fergie era, but I've been watching United when we were good in late 60s, then in early 70s when we weren't very good, then the gradual up and downs in 80s before Fergie came. But this is the first time i have felt no excitement at the season starting.
I think the general mood of the manager, and the lack of enthusiasm from our owners, is putting a dampner on things. I can't see light at the end of this tunnel, and i think a big shake up is required, and i mean in the shape of new owners with different ambitions for the football side of the club. Only then we will start to get back on track.


4.) 09 Aug 2018
09 Aug 2018 16:49:53
What did we win in the 5 year before fergy?
How long did we go with out winni g the league?
People starting to see that we have no god given right to win things, that it's not as simple as they though ( ask any Scouser) .
Fergy was the difference.