Manchester United Banter Archive August 21 2018

 

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21 Aug 2018 20:40:44
As one or two have alluded to, shouldn't old ed deadwood be being looked at?

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21 Aug 2018 22:00:55
Do you find him handsome as well?

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21 Aug 2018 22:20:17
But not touched, no touching.

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22 Aug 2018 01:58:30
Lol-i think need to scarper down to specsavers quick.

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21 Aug 2018 10:53:48
I've seen reports that the club are evaluating mourinhos position. Is there any truth to this or is it made up to sell papers?
Do any of the Ed's know if the club have considered moving on from Mourinho and if they have any idea of a replacement?
I don't want this to turn into another Mourinho bashing post, just want to see if there is any truth to this and if the club know what direction they want to head in as I can sense the fan base is a couple more bad results away from getting toxic again.

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{Ed002's Note - I don't really understand what "evaluating" his position means. Mourinho remains the manager and the club are not going to look to sack him after one loss.}

21 Aug 2018 11:57:58
I understand they aren't going to sack him after one loss ed002 and i don't expect them to
I'm guessing it's more made up stuff, thanks.

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21 Aug 2018 12:13:32
Why does it feel like it all needs ripping up and starting again?

Why the Club are reluctant to sell players like Martial and Shaw is beyond me. It appears the thought of them going elsewhere and reviving their careers is somehow a terrifying prospect that can't be entertained. Martial blew his audition on Sunday and only reaffirmed what the manager already knew. Make no mistake when Valencia is fit Young will return to left back and Shaw will be benched. Jose will not use them, he's doesn't trust them or want them. Neither will perform consistently whilst Jose remains at the Club. Their contracts will run down whilst their value plummets. You either back the manager or the players this halfway house situation is nonsense.

What we have at the moment is a Club is disarray. A Club unwilling to sell players that the manager doesn't want. To compound matters the Club have refused to release the funds to buy the players the manager wants. Woodward's leadership is shambolic. His decision making unfathomable. We now have Martial, Shaw, Darmian, Rojo possibly Smalling and Jones not to mention Pogba that the manager would have been happy to see leave in order to raise the funds to buy other players. All those players remain at the Club and we now expect him to get the best out of them and try to mount a serious challenge to this brilliant City team.

If the Club believes in the players more than the manager then they should have replaced him and not extended his contract. What Woodward is doing is basically saying he's believes in the players and the manager at the same time. It's patronising, condescending and arrogant to tell the manager all those players you wanted we haven't got but I think we've already got great players in our squad and I believe you'll find a way to get the best out of them. This position is utter nonsense and ultimately untenable.

How we have ended up in this situation is unbelievable. We now have a manager in charge of our Club steering a rudderless ship. He doesn't rate half the players, they all know it and we can't bring anyone else in. The CEO has refused to buy or even sell players so we are now in a position of stalemate, treading water with absolutely no chance of challenging a brilliant City team and success will now be judged on finishing in the top 4.

For those of you that think this is an over reaction let's just wait and see how this all pans out.

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{Ed004's Note - I have probably been one of Jose staunchest defenders on here but I cant fault or critique this post}

21 Aug 2018 12:36:13
Many managers at many top clubs are given the task of managing coaching a squad.
Pep says he is not a manager he is a coach .

Simple question is Jose getting the best out of the players he has?
Never mind city barce Madrid we got stuffed of Brighton?
We have regressed since the start of last season, the team is not improving its going backwards . Brighton beat us the end of last season .

Everyone said we needed a cb the club bought 2, they were awful at the weekend and haven't Been great from the start .
Me needed a cm, we broke the world transfer record for pogba. That hasn't been a great success.
We needed creativity we made the world class Sanchez the highest paid player in EPL history . He has been average.

Never mind the other 100 of millions spent .
The club would look in far better shape and no one would be talking about the board the CEO if our manager was getting the best out of our players .

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21 Aug 2018 12:37:30
Brilliant post, mate.

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21 Aug 2018 12:39:36
Good post DLIB.

I don’t understand Woodward not backing Jose. If we had sold Rojo, Darmian, plus either Smalling or Jones in addition to Blind. Then why couldn’t we of brought in 2 CB’s that Jose wanted.

The wages would of worked plus if the new players cost £120 plus we would of recovered a proportion of that money.

Who would care about the money for Alderweireld now if he was in our team? Don’t think the board would be particularly bothered if it meant we were challenging at the top.

More reason for transfers to be the responsibility of a DoF working with a Head Coach with the CEO responsible for setting the budget prior to the window opening.

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21 Aug 2018 14:04:04
Jred - Buying players is not an exact science. Some work others don't. Just because some players underperform is not a valid reason to stop investing. (Unless of course you've lost faith in the managers judgement therefore he should be sacked) .

Pep signed Bravo, he was rubbish, the board didn't tell him your not getting the best out of him, so we're not getting you a new keeper. Pep signed Nolito, he didn't work out, the Club didn't say your not getting the best out of him so you can't have Sane or Sterling. City had spent millions on Otamendi and Mangala before Pep arrived. Both underperformed in his first season. They didn't tell him we're not signing Stones or Laporte get the best out of what you've got.

You make the point about other Clubs but at Utd the manager identifies the players. If he doesn't then who does? Are you suggesting that Woodward thinks he's knows better about Mourinho regarding football matters? If that's the case Ed 2 has told us he would be sacked immediately.

It doesn't matter if you or I believe Mourinho is getting the best out of the players the only opinions that matter are the managers and the CEO. Mourinho honestly believes that he IS getting the best out of the players and that many simply aren't good enough to sustain a title challenge. He even said finishing 2nd last season was probably his greatest achievement in management. You'll no doubt dismiss this but those are his words not mine.

The point I'm trying to make is you either trust the manager or you don't. If you do then you sell the players he doesn't think are good enough and buy the players he does. If you question his investments, don't support his targets and don't think he is getting the best out of what he's got then surely you have to part company. How can the Club move forward otherwise? This is not rocket science just sensible common sense rational thought.

The cynic in me tells me that the Club have invested heavily in recent years. We have reached a level of performance they are content with. They have gambled that with the investment already made a top 4 finish is relatively safe therefore the purse strings have been tightened. What they hadn't anticipated, which they should is that we have a fiercely competitive manager who wants to win. He's not interested in finishing second. This is a clash of ambition more than anything and no matter what we think of Mourinho we should all be thanking him for bringing this to the surface so we can all make our own minds up about the ambitions of the Club. Their failure to back our manager will in my opinion ultimately cost us far more money trying to pick up the pieces than it would just to have got the players he wanted in the first place. They have basically said your good with what you've got, we're happy with second, more of the same please. In doing so they have gravely under estimated Mourinho, his ambition and his reluctance to be their mouthpiece mouthing the immortal words "no value in the market".

Many will not agree, they will point to significant investment over the past few windows but nobody can give a reasonable explanation as to why this has suddenly stopped despite finishing 19 points behind City. All of us know we needed new players to compete. They haven't arrived and I want to know why? I have my own views I'll leave the rest of you to form yours.

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21 Aug 2018 14:34:55
DLIB
We have continued to invest 50 mil on fred .
Moved for Sanchez on a massive deal when we were 2nd in the league
the ed has told us we tried to obtain further players during the summer .

60 mill offer for Maguire, just one example .
If targets are not available should we just buy anyone?

Let's forget city etc who much money do you think we need to spend to beat Brighton?
Or have a squad of players that resemble a team?

Spending 100 mil on pogba was going to sort out our cm issues, Sanchez our creative issue, I could go on .
But your answer to us buying players for 100 millions that are not playing well is to continue to buy players?

Maybe the challenge is " Jose your on 10 mil a year you been given half a billion worth of players, go do your job ".

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21 Aug 2018 13:47:25
Great post DLIB. Completely agree. I too have supported Jose, and despite the pain from Sunday I will continue to do so with even more fervour. Jose is arguably the best 'club-manager' we could have right now. He is not a "yes man" even though he is visibly and audibly toning down his post match interviews. Right now the only options are to find the next genius man-manager such as Sir Alex (who was nothing short of an alchemist) or change the ownership of the club in to the hands of people that appreciate and align with the traditions of the club. It really is that simple even if the process of doing so is nothing short of impossible right now or in the near future.

As such the only battle that matters right now is in the boardroom, and anybody on this site who does not support Jose 100% is playing in to the Glazer's hands. The last thing we need is a weak manager who is happy to site behind 'that' desk to get his new Facebook profile pic.

The best thing that could happen is Jose fights 'our' corner until his position is beyond untenable. It probably already is in some people's eyes, and I fail to believe that the board are not actively discussing successors in smoked filled rooms as we speculate. It would be absurd if they were not. Maybe the difficulty of finding a replacement amid the current chaos is what keeps Jose in an untenable position for longer than many may expect.

As an outside bet, and an ironic replacement if it happens, I would take Antonio Conte. He did a fabulous job at Chelsea whilst playing entertaining football.

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21 Aug 2018 13:57:23
Great thread and agree with all the posts.

Ultimately the manager is losing the confidence of the fans, the players are losing the confidence of the manager and it seems the board are proving to be typically indecisive.

For over 2 years we have seen the performances be very inconsistent in terms of results and almost perfectly consistent in terms of entertaining football. The players were signed because they were seen as quality players for their previous clubs, be they turn into shells for us. Youth players are not kicking on.

We were very poor pre-season and people were saying it's only pre-season. But we were dominated by Leicester and then abysmal against a Brighton team that most people would predict will be relegated this season. We are not getting better, other teams are getting better.

We also see City destroying teams like Brighton immediately before our game which adds insult to injury. That shouldn't matter so much, but it painted a very vivid picture of where we are.

It all needs ripping up and starting again, should have happened last season, but letting this season drift could spell real danger for our top 4 place. For once we need to be decisive and make the change now, so a new manager can come in during the Intl break and sort this mess out. Bring back Utd.

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21 Aug 2018 14:55:56
He has got the best out of this group. We finished second.

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21 Aug 2018 14:57:22
Jred do you honest think all of the players in the squad are good enough or do you accept that some aren't.

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21 Aug 2018 15:23:18
Mort they are all good enough to beat Brighton.

No team has 11 superstars I'm not a big fan of otemendi danilo delph .
People on here told me time and again sterling stones aren't good enough. City are a fantastic team tho .
Which of our players do you think are playing really well?
Do you think over the last 12 month we have improved as a team?

Are bailly and lindelof a good example of buying players is the answer?

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21 Aug 2018 16:50:07
Mort does getting the best out of them include losing to each of the promoted teams and getting beat at home by the worst team in the league. Win 3 of those 4 last season and we're at 90 points.

It was those types of games where we looked absolutely devoid of creativity and fluidity which generated a lot of the negativity amongst the fan base toward Jose.

He always talks about how we train well and he sees what he wants to see in training and then it all disappears on matchday. The only matches where players look motivated to execute Jose's defensive tactics are the games against the top 6.

Perhaps the players get so fed up of preparing to park the bus and let a pub team dominate us that when they know they're in the starting XI they lose focus and aren't mentally prepared for the game. That all comes down to their belief in the manager and I just don't think it's there anymore.

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21 Aug 2018 16:50:07
Mort does getting the best out of them include losing to each of the promoted teams and getting beat at home by the worst team in the league. Win 3 of those 4 last season and we're at 90 points.

It was those types of games where we looked absolutely devoid of creativity and fluidity which generated a lot of the negativity amongst the fan base toward Jose.

He always talks about how we train well and he sees what he wants to see in training and then it all disappears on matchday. The only matches where players look motivated to execute Jose's defensive tactics are the games against the top 6.

Perhaps the players get so fed up of preparing to park the bus and let a pub team dominate us that when they know they're in the starting XI they lose focus and aren't mentally prepared for the game. That all comes down to their belief in the manager and I just don't think it's there anymore.

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21 Aug 2018 16:33:34
City have done it time and time again. Player doesn't work, buy a new one. But apparently pep is getting the best out of them. It that's the case he wouldn't have had to spend 600m and should have worked with the fantastic players that were already at his disposal.

Great posts DLIB, really were.

It's all a bit of a joke, give the manager an extension in January but basically refuse to back him in the summer.

We came 2nd last year, very obvious we needed to invest in better players as the majority of those at the club now have been there for many years consistently not performing.

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{Ed0333's Note - Poch got a new contract and didn’t get any new players I didn’t hear him complaining, on the contrary. Everybody is jumping on the Garry Neville bandwagon and all of a sudden Mourinho is the good guy and it’s Woodwards fault your players were gutless against Brighton. You have some insanely talented personnel at your club, blindly indulged Mourinhos whims in the transfer market and should be challenging for the title. Woodward doesn’t humiliate your players publucly, Woodward doesn’t make Sanchez crap overnight, Woodward doesn’t produce turgid, industrial football every week. Pep, Biesla, Klopp, Nagelsmann would in my humble opinion have the same players producing better results. There’s only one person to blame in this debacle and it’s not Woodward. Your club is a laughing stock and that’s down to Mr José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix.

21 Aug 2018 17:05:15
I think ed makes a good point .

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21 Aug 2018 17:14:29
Its not about superstars. When 3-4 of your star players are underperforming but 3-4 of your average players are overperforming what does that say.

Its no one persons fault.

Mourinho has to carry some of the can for not getting the bigger names to perform.

Woodward has to for not delivering.

Glazers because they simply don't care as long as the $$$ flow.

And the players because its the same half hearted piss poor displays from some of them for years now under multiple managers.

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21 Aug 2018 17:36:10
Your bitterness is coming out strong Ed0333

Poch isn't complaining because nobody expects him to do better than last season or win anything. He's won nothing with a very talented Spurs side yet gets plaudits. Jose finishes second, above Spurs and has won trophies with this team, gets criticized.

He is expected to beat City. Poch is not.

As for only Mourinho being responsible for where the team is its quite laughable. Is he responsible for getting the club back to back UCL qualifications, winning the Europa league and League Cup, a second place and an FA cup final too then?

If the board don't believe in him they should sack him, get a manager whose philosophy they believe in and give him the money. They can't have it both ways by giving Jose a new contract and then keeping players he doesn't want and not buying the players that are key to his plan because they don't rate them as highly.

Its very clear that with or without Jose, this group of players will not beat City to the League title. If you believe otherwise then I really can't argue any further. Did Liverpool say to Klopp you already have a very talented group of players work with them? Did they tell him well you've signed Karius so get the best out of him? No. They went out and broke the world record for a keeper, broke the world record for a CB, signed Keita for an exhorbitant amount of money and signed Fabinho.

Klopp and Pep both made mistakes in the market like Jose has with his CBs. But they were given the funds to rectify those mistakes and ship out players they didn't want and their board believed in them. The problem at United is the board that wants it both ways.

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21 Aug 2018 17:02:44
It's the players fault ed33. Enough of blaming every manager that comes to this club.

Jose is no saint at all, in fact some of his antics have been horrible. But don't give him a new contract then, don't extend it. Either give him that, continue to back him or just sack him and get in someone new who is willing to work with what he has got.

In all respect to poch and spurs, we are not spurs, we are Man United who should be challenging and winning leagues, champions league etc.


BTW, was Neville not right with his assessment?

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{Ed0333's Note - the arrogance in your words in palpable. Your Man Utd therefore you have a devine right to be challenging? Did you really just type that? I hope you don’t have the same attitude with your social interactions with family and friends. Spurs may not have your ‘Eritage’ but they are better at football than you are currently. Your manager got a new contract to coach/manage the football club, he has a plethora of talent there to challenge, why doesn’t he stop botching and do his job? I’ll tell you why because he knows he’s not as good as he once was, there’s far better managers out there that have overtaken him and his answer to his insecurities is to spend money and not coach his way out of trouble. He’s on borrowed time if he makes it to January I’ll be shocked.

21 Aug 2018 17:03:57
Down to Jose alone is it ed33, gimme a break 😂 there's a lot more issues than the coach at this club.

Somebody dislikes Jose a lot methinks.

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{Ed0333's Note - I don’t know the man so I can’t say I dislike him but what I do dislike is his attitude and what I really dislike in life is when people throw other people under the bus to save themselves. That’s cowardly.

21 Aug 2018 17:42:13
Good debate. I honestly think the truth is sonewhere in the middle. Fact is the owners have backed the manager, but he bought:
Bailly : not great
Lindleof: disaster
Pogba: doesn't want to be here
Mkhitaryan; lasted a few months.
Lukaku : good.
Fred and dalot : we don't know.
Not a great transfer record if i may say so.
Fact is Mourinho has not improved any player apart from Lingard possibly. Our players look lost. The system and tactics, whatever they are, ain't working I'm afraid.
So the board gave him an extension but had seen a decline in performances towards the end of last season. So they didn't back him.
Jred is right, our players should be beating Brighton, but the desire, commitment, tactics and work ethic were non existent. The manager has to be the one to blame.

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{Ed0333's Note - Post of the day!

21 Aug 2018 17:58:43
Jose has been given funds .
He has spent over 400 mil over the last couple of years not including the very expensive deals for ibra and Sanchez.
Where has this idea come that he hasn't?

Klopp is a decent example built a team that is improving and I think will challenge city, players he has bought have made a real difference, Players he had have stepped up .
Will do well this season improved over the course of last season and look the real deal

Jose has done well but he looks no were near capable of challenging city .

Poch for me has done a great job at spurs . Players in the spurs team all perform . Sign of a good manager.

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21 Aug 2018 17:56:14
@Ed0333

How are Spurs better at Football than us currently? They finished below us in the league, lost to us in the FA cup and made it exactly as far as we did in the Champions league.

Jose has won two more trophies than them in the last two years and reached one more final.

I'm sorry but Spurs in no way shape or form are better than us at football.

Also what angelred was hinting at is simple. Nobody expects Spurs to win the league, Man United on the other hand are expected to challenge every year. That's not arrogance but just simple facts that everyone expects that.

That point is pretty clear from how you think Spurs are better than us when they actually are not. Its all about expectations and putting things in context.

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{Ed0333's Note - Spurs have got 6 points and haven’t lost any matches this season. You are living in the past let’s talk about the current. I’m willing to bet money Spurs will beat you in the league this season. Wanna take the bet? I’f I win I’ll donate my winnings to charity. If I lose than...it will be a miracle. What say you?

21 Aug 2018 18:25:31
Spurs have bearly spent a penny in years and you have spent £400 million in a similar time frame, I have spurs to finish fourth and United fifth. I don’t take any particular pleasure in saying that I just think spurs have a better 11 that play for each other. Pogba and Sanchez are prime examples of how superstar names don’t always work in every system, mourinho is not only not the getting the best out of them, he’s bearly getting anything out of them.

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21 Aug 2018 18:40:32
If klopp doesn't win anything this season that will be interesting.

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21 Aug 2018 18:46:45
If the scouse continue to perform like they are they will be fine .

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21 Aug 2018 18:55:06
Forget klopp mort just keep on focusing on Jose. You've got audacity to say klopp needs to win something this season at other hand you keep on defending Jose who has spent over 400M lol.

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21 Aug 2018 18:55:35
Well boys what a brilliant debate let's not spoil it by mud slinging.

Maybe AAA is right and the truth lies somewhere in between my ranting posts and Jred's staunchest view that Jose can do better.

I can't argue with the Jose detractors I even find myself losing patience on days like Sunday. Ultimately Utd have the talent to beat the likes of Brighton yet the attitude and desire not for the first time was sadly lacking. The buck often stops at the manager
he's sets the tone and the tactics and I can't defend the standard of football.

If we are ever to regain our former glories Ed Woodward must present a clearer vision of how he wants the Club to move forward. I remain a deep cynic or this board and our owners but I can't in all honesty say money hasn't been invested in the squad. My view remains they will spend enough to keep us competitive in top 4 and whilst this is achieved I'm not convinced they will commit to releasing the necessary funds to really help us challenge for the title. I hope I'm proved wrong. This line is blurred at the moment as many don't believe Jose has spent the money wisely and is not getting the best out of the players at his disposal. Paradoxically most will agree that we still needed new full backs, a CB and a right winger to take us to the next level however no of theses players arrived. We've spent the whole afternoon debating why not and are we are closer to the answer?

As great as SAF was he left us with an ageing squad and having to replace world class players such as Rio, Evra, Vidic, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney and RVP who all left the Club at a similar time. Replacing such talent and experience was always going to be challenging to say the least. What is evident is there was a lack of investment in the squad between 2009 -2013 for which we are still trying to recover. Whether you believe SAF actually believed in the "no value in the market" rubbish or just acquiesced for whatever reason is probably another debate for another day.

Great reading guys thoroughly enjoyed reading all your views.

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21 Aug 2018 18:37:22
Ed33 spurs may well finish above united and more power to them. Leicester won the league not to long ago, anything can happen in this game.

But this club, is a mammoth and the levels of expectation placed on Man United are far greater than spurs. Sorry if that upsets you, but it's the truth.

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{Ed0333's Note - why would I be upset if you think Man Utd are a bigger club than spurs? I have no regard for either club.

21 Aug 2018 19:33:33
DLIB
Do you honestly think Jose is the man to knock pep and city of there perch in the way that fergy did with the scouse?

In all honesty I don't, I think he has taken us as far as he can been a great manager done well at United but I don't think he is the man to take us to the next level .

The club have backed him, he has been given money he has been given a new contract but there are still so many issues and question around the squad .
I think he may of had his day and is maybe past his best, I guess we will find out this season.

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21 Aug 2018 19:25:00
Completely disagree with you Ed0333.

I know you don't like how Mourinho plays but itsnt fully down to him the below par performances.

I completely agree with Redfaith and Angel and couldn't really have put it better myself in terms of what Redfaith has posted.

Let there b3 a level field and then we can start comparing who is doing a better job until then we have to disagree on this.

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{Ed0333's Note - how much more of a level playing field do you need my friend? Mourinho has spent £300 million, that’s enough money to build a team to win the champions league and premiership. The club has backed him to the hilt more so than they did LVG and Moyes these excuses are just pathetic and patronising and insulting the intelligence of your United fans because they think the manager is The Pope and have blind faith.

21 Aug 2018 19:42:36
I’m a bit late to this debate, some great posts and opinions. If Woodward has refused to buy or sell players then it is very odd that he gave Jose a contract extension, those 2 things do seem to grate.

My view is we need some new players, but the players we have should be able to compete. Our lay was better on Jose’s first year, we may have finished second but our play regressed. It’s only 2 games in but it isn’t looking good.

I think Jose has forgotten how to coach or his methods don’t work anymore. We have signed a Manager on a downward slope and I only see things getting worse. I’ll be amazed if he lasts the season.

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{Ed0333's Note - I changed my mind you win post of the day mate.

21 Aug 2018 19:54:50
AJH, Jose has obviously told a few players they can leave, and whilst the squad is coming back from the summer, some of them players have to play.

Now let me ask you this, if the manager said you can leave, would you still play 100% for him?

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21 Aug 2018 19:54:50
We saw what happened when fergy entered the last year of his contract. Remember all the talk about Jose third year etc what if the new contract takes the pressure off, shows the public the managers is backed bla bla bla .
No one knows the terms etc of the contract.

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21 Aug 2018 19:57:36
Kopman, your club has spent over a billion pounds trying to win the premier league and failed to do so.

Also you haven't touched a piece of silverware in over 10 years, so pipe down coming on here throwing your terrible opinions about.

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21 Aug 2018 19:47:53
spurs utd next game ed. put your money where your mouth is. also double it up for dippers winning the title if you like.

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{Ed0333's Note - Ok FZZ. How about we bet £100 each league game between United and Spurs this season. If United beat Spurs home or away in the league this season Ill give you a £100 and if Spurs beat United home or away in the league this season you donate my winnings to the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity. If it’s a draw nobody wins or loses. And as for your derogatory comment about Liverpool fans. I’ll rise above your cheap jibes and say I’m not sure well win the league but what I’m adamant about is we will finish above you so how about another £100 bet that you’ll finish below us in the league this season? And if I win you donate the money to the aforementioned Alder Hey hospital and if I lose I’ll give you £100 so you can buy some class. What say you FZZ?

21 Aug 2018 19:51:52
I want someone to give me 1 reason why we should keep mourinho the guy is poison he slaughters the players
at every opportunity he gets which turns dressing room against then he wonders why they won't play for him he plays crap football I used to love watching my team not now because it's just negative boring dross and the buck lies with him i want rid SACK JOSE MOURINHO please board.

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21 Aug 2018 20:02:32
I don't think anyone has blind faith in him. I also don't think anyone here expects him to still be in charge by May. However I do think its simplistic to say 100% all the blame is on Jose when there are other factors. i'd probably put 50-60% on Jose an parcel the rest between the players, owners and the unequalizer.

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21 Aug 2018 20:10:20
FZZ, the issue is why has he told Pogba, a player he wanted, that he can leave? As Schmid pointed out his transfer dealings have been pretty dire. Pep may have spent money but he has also improved players. Jose epitomises a chequebook Manager right now, he bought 2 CBs, both of whom looked like Bambi on Ice at the weekend. If a was only ever short term, Miki came and went, I even think Matic was a bit of a knee jerk, there were better long term options out there.

If you consistently tell people they are crap, they will struggle to play to their potential. Last year, Jose lauded Shaw and then immediately dropped him. Explain the psychology behind that to me because to me it doesn’t make sense.

I think the stress and pressure of managing so many top teams has taken its toll on Jose, he needs a proper break and possibly a job where the pressure is a lot less, perhaps a division down. I don’t think his ego would allow him to do that but I don’t see where he goes next.

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21 Aug 2018 20:17:32
£100 spurs beat man utd, and £100 pool win the league.

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{Ed0333's Note - no thanks.

21 Aug 2018 20:19:05
Mort its the style of football I hate and that is 100 percent on him he's had ample time and money to have us playing expansive football he would rather not lose than try to win and that's just not the United way.

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21 Aug 2018 20:22:55
I see what your saying AJH. It looks a mess and has done for years now. If it was up to me I'd put the footballing board in charge of the footballing side, where they hire and fire. Leave the money men to there side and go from there.

Then at least the true football men will make the calls regarding managers.

Would I sack Jose now? If it ment like I said above, but for me for Jose to go Woodward has to follow. Woodward seems all over the place.

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21 Aug 2018 20:34:55
Woodward is possibly in the wrong job. He seems star struck and is not possible a football man. He makes money for the club which should be applauded buy anyone who wears a suit with trainers deserves a public flogging.

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{Ed0333's Note - lots of people wear suits with trainers it’s called style anyone with a modicum of fashion sense knows that. If Woodward should be publicly flogged it’s for not having the courage to say no to Mourinho sooner.

21 Aug 2018 21:28:45
I see after one bad game that apparently bailly is now terrible and a bad buy. A few months ago he was being mentioned as our best CB. Its funny how much can change after one poor game.

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21 Aug 2018 22:54:09
Level playing field in terms of backing the manager. Everyone and his fog knows Mourinho pr3feres old experienced players then he shouldve let him buy what he wants.

UTD was in a worse state then City or Spurs when Mourinho took over and they shouldve back3d him what ever he ne3ded. When Guardiola needed to rip. the team he was fully backed and bought two goal. keepers and bought a whole new defence as well as attack.

With Utd they are half hearted and shouldn't have signed Mourinho if they weren't going to back him.

You might think Mouirnho plays megative football and a style you don't like but you. must remember he just won the league few years ago playing th3 same. type of football.

We got bellends like Pogba and Martial and a defence which i will do better then them yet we reached second position last year.

I don't know if Klopp or Guardipla wpuldve done a better kob but all i can say is some of these players need to look at their faces in the mirror and man up and accept they r not playing 5o their potential or just leave the club.

Mouinho isn't a bad manager but he is the type of. manager you n33d to fully back in terms of players otherwise don't bother signing him because this is exactly the type. of scenario he would be in for his next club.

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21 Aug 2018 23:23:19
Dlib your posts are great
There's flaws however my friend, utd were 23 points behind then 19, utd to be honest look more like the team so far behind than the one about to overhaul it.
JM hasn't been astute in the market nor has he made utd look like a heroic effort to beat city has been made . City have no doubt spent more but then again they are a country mile ahead of us .
JMS downfall will be the how as much as the why . I know many of our fans don't care about the how but we won nothing last season and to be realistic we aren't getting the majors this season .
Have we enough in the locker to challenge city, probably not but enough to beat Brighton, Huddersfield ect of course we do.

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21 Aug 2018 23:50:51
Ed033, thank you for your vote of post of the day and thank you for letting me down gently by donating it to Ajh. Only joking. But truth is you're absolutely right and truth hurts sometimes. Dlib and Ajh agree that he doesn't improve players, in fact, he's lost the art of management in my opinion. A good manager, gets the best from his staff by knowing what makes each individual tick. Can anyone honestly say that Mourinho does that with his players.
As ScottRonaldo says, I'd rather sack him now and get a caretaker and start making decisions for next year.
We are fast becoming a laughing stock, this is the time for strong clear management, not some half hearted weak management. It is clear that we lack any form of style in the team, i watch United and I'm confused, so God help the players.
One last point, why are we being coached to retreat and play lazy football when most teams are putting their heart and soul into chasing, winning the ball and attacking. Our work rate as a team is so bad that it is embarrassing. Teams know that if they put a shift against us, then they'll outfight us, and that to me is the most criminal fact of Mourinho's team.

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{Ed0333's Note - post of the day mate 😂

22 Aug 2018 08:37:48
Jose is ready to make the step into international management and take over Portugal in my opinion.

Bring back LVG - at least there was a recognisable pattern to our play and you could see that the coaching methods were taking effect.

Our attacks look like a bunch of strangers who have never worked together before.

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22 Aug 2018 13:08:24
I agree, Eric. Apart from the LVG bit 😁.

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22 Aug 2018 18:28:26
I love LVG. You may even say I’m anti-toxic 😁.

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21 Aug 2018 10:49:42
We should flog Pogba as soon as possible and get as much of what we paid out back . Him and Raiola are toxic for the club, regardless of the short term hit of losing a midfielder .
We'd be better of with Herrera in the team, at least he'll put in the effort

And maybe in future buy players who actually want to be at the club instead of mercenaries like Di Maria, Pogba and Sanchez .

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21 Aug 2018 11:00:34
Tbh I don’t see what Pogba brings to the team, ok he’s scored 2 pens but his impact is very minimal to the point Herrera or McTominay have a greater influence for me. I mean at least them to don’t lose the ball and then fall over flapping there arms expecting a free kick because they was not good enough to keep the ball. Raiola should take his client and himself elsewhere as this club has become unrecognisable from the one we have always been.
I said the other day I felt sorry for Jose and I do, undermined by his players and seemingly by Ed Woodward, and the media love it btw, unfortunately in a situation like this the manager does not win and for the record as poor as our style is under Jose he does not deserve this from his players and CEO or the media saying ‘see he lost the plot again’ stories that no doubt will be the headlines.
Shame it has come to this but the writing seems on the wall and the players need to take a lot of the responsibility for this but going forward we need our identity back and I’m not so sure I trust Woodward with that job again.

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21 Aug 2018 13:31:16
Feel sorry for Mourinho having to deal with Woodward and not getting the players he wanted in the summer but it’s hard to feel sorry for him in other ways .
He causes a lot of crap with his toxic attitude and let’s face it what we’re beginning to see now is a re - run of previous similar episodes at Chelsea and Madrid .

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21 Aug 2018 10:29:19
Still time to enter my predictions competition

You have until Friday to get it done.

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21 Aug 2018 09:16:38
There has been a lot of talk regarding United/ Mou and Pogba in the press. Why? Well it is an easy sell as a club you dominated the 90’s and 00’s (hurts me to say that but you did) and now you have the noisy neighbours threatening a period of dominance.

Mou is a winner but a divisive one, if he has his way it’s good but if it goes the opposite way toys come out of the pram. Also everything he says is taken far to literal, most what he says is designed to take away from the team. He needs to be backed to succeed but I think the writing is on the wall.

Then there is Pogba and his super leech (sorry agent) one of which I feel has been misquoted and the other just needs to keep quiet.

Pogba, who let’s not forget English isn’t his first language. Was brave to say what he said, and I think he meant that the attitude was wrong of how they approached the game rather than his head being elsewhere. He is a great player but his agent is trying to engineer a move for a big pay day, and is everything wrong with the modern game.

So my point is the media are whipping up a frenzy because it gets people talking but I don’t think it is as bad as it’s being made out. Although ex players need to stop adding fuel to the fire, I. e. Sharpe saying that they players go out with little instruction, these ex players should represent the club not say something to get a bit of air time!

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21 Aug 2018 08:56:22
Play it forward. I doubt he would be considered by I'd go for bielsa. That Bilbao game was one of the best attacking performances I've seen for years.

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21 Aug 2018 11:38:38
I would love Bielsa at United, if his relationship with the board at Leeds remains steady he will get them back to the prem playing some awesome football along the way.

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21 Aug 2018 15:13:01
Still remember that game, couldn't believe Bilbao that day.

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Review Of The Day 21st August 2018

21 Aug 2018 07:29:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 21st August 2018

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21 Aug 2018 17:10:50
Love the wife's quote, Ed001. Might be a different story now!

Grew up with my granda (a Glen's fan) telling me how lucky he was to have seen him play before he went to England. Told me he always knew he's be a top player, though all the aul boys always say that, don't they.

You'd be surprised how many Burnley fans there are over here as a result of Jimmy playing there. Same with Wolves and Derek Dougan. First top my mum ever bought me, classic gold Umbro. It's nice to see their tops all over the place again, here.

Anyway, nice to see you mention him. Brought back some good memories of football chats with my granda. Cheers.

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{Ed001's Note - glad to hear that mate. His wife sounds like a human being rather than a WAG. How times have changed! Glad it brought back some good memories for you.}

21 Aug 2018 00:06:13
Looking forward and jose eirher leaves or gets the boot?

Who could take over? Has the mental ability to cope with the club pressures and does not look like a puppet at team interviews.

I don't think Zidane could do it and if push came to shove i would take a punt on Wenger? He would not park the bus and players like him.

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{Ed0333's Note - That would be a delicious irony if Wenger took the job.

21 Aug 2018 06:28:32
Fully expect it to be Zidane or a move for someone like Ancelotti.

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21 Aug 2018 07:17:12
I think we should move on from this list of big names and has beens, I’d give it to Eddie Howe. Young British manager, hungry, wants to play football the right way. And accept it could take 3/ 4 years before we’re challenging the top clubs again.

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21 Aug 2018 07:30:08
I would have welcomed Ancelloti. Experience, nobody's fool. I he also knows when a player needs an arm round the shoulder. Some players now need this. Carrot AND stick. One on its own will give us spoiled brats, the other total demoralisation.
Having said that Ancelloti is probably now thinking of retirement rather than a long term project.

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21 Aug 2018 08:21:48
Ancelotti is at Napoli, meaning De Laurentias, meaning a nightmare.

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21 Aug 2018 08:29:00
Plenty of young head coaches to pick on under a DoF: Jardim, Ole Gunnar, Neville G, Howe, Marcelino, Rangnick, Carrick, Giggs, Poch, Blanc, Zidane.

Larry White just seems an obvious fit for me as he plays to his team’s strengths, has experience of huge egos, and has won trophies.

I’m a big Jose supporter but it’s not working for him here and some people just don’t suit certain clubs. He was always a marriage of convenience but it’s clear we are not getting any better and the players have had enough, let alone the fans like me who are paying to watch this tripe.

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21 Aug 2018 10:21:25
Throw whatever money it takes at Poch.

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21 Aug 2018 10:29:56
Why do people carry on mentioning Howe? He's poor, bloody hell. Will definitely go into a sustained period of mediocrity with him. From Eric's list, Jardim would be the no brainer.

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21 Aug 2018 10:43:01
I'd take wenger for the rest of the season and take some time to pick the new manager and dof for next season.

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21 Aug 2018 11:00:40
I said Wenger weeks ago. Problem is no manager is going to leave a job at this stage of the season to cone here. And of what's unemployed nit much stands out.

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21 Aug 2018 11:31:34
Big Sam's available.

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21 Aug 2018 11:31:42
Wenger would be a massive no from me .
Well past his best.

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21 Aug 2018 17:21:09
Bet he'd be a massive yes for Woodward though.

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21 Aug 2018 18:03:58
Mort
I will be absolutely amazed if Wenger is our next manager.

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AW won't be the next Manchester United Manager.}