21 Jan 2019 21:58:05
Evening. Going to offer my opinion on the manager situation. For me the reason has nothing to do with tactical knowledge, experience or previous managerial success. It is to with the players and although we all agree players are not bigger than the club, in today’s football the players are assets both on and off the pitch. And what Solskjaer has done since coming in in my opinion is address issues with our 4 biggest assets, De Gea, Pogba, Martial and Rashford.

If rumours that all 4 are close to signing new contracts it sends out a big message:
1 - Top players are happy playing for Solskjaer .
2 - Top players feel that Manchester United is again a club where they can achieve their football ambition which I assume would be to win trophies.
3 - Top players are enjoying the style of Football Solskjaer is encouraging.

People will come back with his tactical knowledge but he comes across as a student of the game who studies teams, tactics and training methods and has shown in 1st half v Tottenham that he can get a team going out with a specific approach which proved successful.

My only thing would be if Solskjaer is given the job is that Mike Phelan HAS to remain as part of his staff and I think his role has been so important too and getting a DoF in at the end of the season.

So that’s my thoughts, really happy with the whole feel about the football side of the club at the moment and never thought beginning of December there would be talk and hope of getting 3rd let alone 4th.

1.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 07:53:10
Its a managers job to get players playing well.
Jose couldn't ole has .

2.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 08:29:23
For the me the key to any managerial appointment is the director of football. Lvg and mourinho both failed when it came to recruitment.

Every time we looked like we had turned a corner we had a nightmare in the following transfer window.

Lvg 15/ 16 - depay, bastian, morgan and darmian all look to have been poor signings 3 years on.

Jose 17/ 18 - lukaku, matic and lindelof, only really lindelof you can say has a future at the club.

Taking recruitment out of the hands of the manager will make it easier for someone like ole to focus on getting the best out of the players at his disposal.

3.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 08:49:41
I like your Post Ports, all your points echo my thoughts and I am sure many of the followers here. Personally though, I have decided not to dwell on the managerial status much until I have seen enough. As in CL displays, progress in the Cup, reaction to 1st loss (if ever :P ) etc.
For now I just enjoy watching Man Utd games again, more for pleasure than as an obligation.

4.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 10:23:44
I don't think you should take recruitment out of a managers hands entirely, after all it is his head on the block if that signing fails.

What we need is a DoF to bridge the gap between the board / money men and the manager / football side. It seems that we have had a scatter gun approach to transfers because some have been who the manager wanted, some have been who the club wanted and some it seems might have been a compromise between the two.

The lack of cohesion has meant we have ended up with players who don't build on what we have or complement the squad.

A DoF would hopefully bridge that gap and bring stability and cohesion to our transfer policy. But that very much includes the manager and what they feel they need to improve the squad.

5.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 10:44:03
Im not saying to take it completely out of the hands of a manager and no player should be signed without the managers approval.

But allowing a manager to bring in his own type of players then sacking the manager but leaving his players there just leaves a disjointed squad put together by 4 different managers.

Weve signed two back fours since ferguson retired but last season our best back 4 was valencia smalling jones and young. Clearly something is clearly wrong with our recruitment strategy.

6.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 14:08:29
There are problems with recruitment, but it is linked to poor man management, and an inability to help players develop.

Take centre back.

Jose signed Lindelof and Bailly. Two players he scouted, and obviously rated. They’re young, and would have benefited from having an established cb to guide them, but have bags of potential. Jose treated the pair very poorly, publicly questioning their ability to play at this level, and dropping them for long periods. Two promising young players whose confidence was decimated by the manager who signed them. Lindelof is starting to show what he’s capable of, and Bailly has everything needed to be a very good central defender (as evident in his first season) . But their development stalled under Jose, and that’s directly down to management.

7.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 14:55:38
Not defending Jose as his man management was crap. But "and would have benefited from having an established cb to guide them. " And he didn't get that. Unless those above thought Smalling was enough to guide them.

8.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 16:48:18
Whilst i agree with the sentiment and the overall thought process but i think people are forgetting that we won 3 trophies in the first season and finished second to an almighty city team last season and both would not have been possible if the players didn't play well enough. So just generalising that Jose couldn't get the players playing well seems inaccurate. Yes, a few turned on him and that led to his downfall but it wouldn't be right to put all the blame on his door.

I firmly believe that we have put a temporary stoppage on the leakage and someday soon it will again start dripping. To put it in Jose's terms, we have used a medicine or a vaccination to subside the viral infection rather than operate it to remove it forever. Someone posted the other day on what would happen when a Lukaku or a Sanchez starts infecting the dressing room because they are benched.

What happens when Pogba has a few bad games, would he be benched and then would he start the circus again? Now most of you may disagree with it, but only the first 3 games were good, Spurs first half was good. But other than that, we have been subpar. So, i don't see Ole being all that. Yes, the thing that he has going for him is the positivity around the club which Jose couldn't, most of it due to his own doing.

Its not about Ole or Poch or whoever gets the hot seat, its about getting the structure fixed first so that the power or the authority remains rather than it being be "who is the boss" and everyone, player or the manager trying to get one up on the other.

9.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 17:09:21
Well said. SHAN.

10.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 19:20:12
Good post Shan. Could be argued that Joses first 2 seasons were the most he could get out of the players. Ole has been there for 7 games, bit premature to say that he has. He needs a bit more time.

11.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 19:30:32
Absolutely angel, agreed. And that has been the precedent with Jose throughout his career. So the real question should have been asked of the board that why was his contract extended in the first place if he weren't going to be backed. He wanted a CB and a right winger and even after he is gone, we are looking for those only. So he must have been right somewhere, isn't it?

12.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 19:32:14
Pressed send too soon. Just to add angel, Ole can't be assessed on 7 games. The end of the season would probably a better barometer on where he is and more importantly, where we are.

13.) 22 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 19:46:59
I’d say it’s got to be Ole’s to lose now although I still think Poch is the board’s first choice.

14.) 23 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 23:42:26
Shan, personally I don’t believe that If Pogba has a bad game and is benched, justifiably if out of form then Solskjaer will handle the situation better than Mourinho by not calling out players and almost ridiculing them in the press. This was Mourinho’s downfall. Same with the others. Solskjaer was a top player at the top level, played for the best manager ever so knows what top players need and what makes them tick.

People may point at his time at Cardiff but the players, with all respect were not of a level or standard that Solskjaer would be used to or probably expect from a premier league side. This is why I don’t believe that young managers necessarily have to drop leagues to gain experience, working with lesser players, lesser facilities that they are accustomed to. Would Zidane or Guardiola been successful at an Elche or Getafe?

Now you may point out Molde not being at the standard he would expect but he was a player there so expectations could be better managed of what he could do there.

15.) 23 Jan 2019
22 Jan 2019 23:46:09
The only time to assess OGS is at the end of the season. We will have played every team. I would love him to get the job because if he does we will have finished in the top 4.
I still don't think that would guarantee him the job but imo a good cup run and top 4 should be enough to secure him the job. We will know more in a moths time.