14 Nov 2021 08:39:00
Duncan Castles reporting utd trying to convince Zidane.
Other reports rodgers house hunting in Cheshire and has verbally agreed to take over.
What are peoples thoughts?
I think rodgers would suit united's structure they have in place ( all be it a shakey one )
Very impressed with ten hag but he has a great team at ajax.
Always fancied poch for the utd job but would he be willing to work with how we are set up.
Personally think ragnik for 6 months and then moved to a advisory role would be the way to go but he would want to shake things up, unfortunately the powers to be won't want that.

1.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 09:45:11
The club has options, which option is best depends on your perspective.

Like Red Man has said it seems Murtagh and Fletcher were chosen for their roles not on their past experience or expertise but to support the manager. That is the problem with places the cart before the horse.

The club had a similar issue trying to appoint a DoF when Jose was manager as they seemed to be trying to find a candidate that would work well with Jose specifically rather than finding the right candidate for the clubs vision.

Maybe that is why people like Southgate feature highly on the clubs wanted list. A manager who is similar to Solskjaer. Maybe his profile suits Murtagh and Fletcher as they were brought in to work with Ole, so it makes sense they look to hire someone similar to who they have worked well with in the past. At least from their perspective.

Someone like Rangnick could be an excellent option to come in and start to set the team up how he thinks they should be. He then moves into the DoF role and hires a manager with a similar philosophy to him making the transition between managers much more fluid. He'd probably look to someone like Marco Rose or Jesse Marsch.

Another option would be Erik Ten Hag, his style of play and his philosophy also closely align with our club. Offensive football, trust in youth, development of players. While maybe his more dominating technical style of play is possibly better suited to a club of our size. Ideally this option would see VDS come in and replace Ed Woodward and Marc Overmars replace Murtagh and Fletcher. Giving the club a better balance between football club and business.

Or there is the option of keeping Murtagh and Fletcher, replacing Ed Woodward with Richard Arnold (his mini-me) then looking for a manager who fits that set up. Ideally by the sounds of it someone who won't rock the boat or upset the apple cart.

Personally I think the VDS, Overmars and EtH route is best as it not only brings in possibly one of the best options for a new manager, it also goes someway to fixing the imbalance at our club and gives us hope that we will be run as a football club more than as a trust fund.

The ironic thing is the more successful the club is the greater the clubs scope is to make money. Meaning the trust fund performs better. Also a better run football club would not only make more money, but potentially save expenditure by properly running the youth set up to feed directly into the first team. Reducing the need for a bloated squad of players on high wages, while also potentially reducing the need to splash out huge fees on as many signings.

Look at clubs like Leicester who on a fraction of the budget have won the FA cup and the League in the past 9 years. A well run club can achieve success on half of what we have spent.

2.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 09:55:01
First choice the Ajax trio . Overmars, VD Sar, Ten hag -pipe dream never going to happen.

second choice Rangnick - let him come in coach the team until the summer then let him appoint a manager and coaches with the same vison and he can move upstairs and have full control of football matters. playing style, academy, recruitment of players, selling of players . The current Ajax model really . also never going to happen

3rd choice Appointment of Poch or Rodgers both better than Ole both respectable choices but not a patch on option one or two.

3.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 10:18:02
The challenge with option 1 is you can’t just lift a whole club’s infrastructure (as in Ajax’s) in a two week international break mid season. If that is the best long term option (and I’m not sure it is) and if that is the way the club will go, then that is a summer job.

Either way, leaves us with the question of what to do with OGS now? That’s why he’s sticking around for the season in my opinion.

4.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 10:33:00
I think out of the rumoured names I'd be happiest with Rogers. Poch is still to win anything, but is a nice guy (sound familiar? ) .
I am a little wary that those who seem most in favour, Ten Hag and Rogers, have 'smaller' clubs with brilliant structures. How would they fare in ours? Leicester have been forced to find the likes of Kante, Soyuncu, Fofana, Daka, Soumare et al. Maybe it's because of the smaller set-up that it does work.
Would love the Ajax dreamteam but so many reasons it wouldn't work, least of all Ajax not allowing it. We might get Ten Hag alone, but it's the structure that makes it successful. Even then if we did things their way, it would take time. That Ajax team has been painstakingly put together from the ground up, meaning that even when they lose 4-5 top players in recent years as they have, they still look incredible.
Not convinced by Zidane but who knows. The communication barrier can be overcome (see Bielsa) and we have a few French players for now at least, even if two are always on the brink of leaving.
Whatever happens it seems only Zidane is available now, and probably isn't keen on a six-month contract while we wait for a preferred target them replace him, unless he has clear goals and is reworded with a longer contract if he meets them. Sounds familiar.

5.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 10:34:15
Bfbw, that's probably my order of preference too.

6.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 11:49:43
Spenno- I think the Leicester set up is also a good one behind the scenes- the recruitment of players is as you say very very good. I wonder if we got Rodgers would his philosophy change from still scouting (obvioulsy LCFC has a network team doing this) in the same markets or would he only look at the "big names" to play at UTD.

Its something that's always intrigued me, would UTD fans be happy seeing an unknown Kante, Fofana, soyuncu arrive and get behind them when they expect a Varane or Rice - I wonder if this affects a managers choices when moving to a bigger club?

7.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 11:57:53
BFBW,

I agree with your post as they would also be my preference in order of appointment.

8.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 12:58:04
Bfbw, I think the Leicester set up is excellent. They know what they want and they have a great network set up.

That said I don't think it's something we could replicate at United. Our club, and the expectations of players coming into our club and what we need in a player.

At Leicester they can afford to try and pick out those rough diamonds, then spend a couple of season's polishing them up and developing them into superstars.

While for those players a club like Leicester offers a perfect stepping stone. A club with pedigree of developing players, an atmosphere that doesn't place huge pressure on them, while still at a level where they can complete against the best.

If a club like ours came in for players like Fofana then the price would be twice what Leicester paid. Then there is expectations that he hits the ground running and does well immediately. That atmosphere probably isn't best suited to players at that level.

It's a massive step to go from a small provincial Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 club with a stadium that holds 10-15k people to playing in the EPL for Manchester United at a packed Old Trafford.

Same thing with Jude Bellingham, he is able to make that step at Dortmund without the same pressure or expectancy. He plays regularly, at a club that has a great record of developing players, and he plays at a great level.

If he signed for us he'd have played maybe 10-12 games at most and would be looking for a loan like Amad.

Our club has to look for those half-polished diamonds, players who are ready to step up to the highest level and perform consistently at that level.

A player like Fofana or Maddison would have had the same trouble playing regularly as Bailly or Lingard have had at United. Two players with a similar level of ability when they started playing for United as Fofana and Maddison had when they signed for Leicester.

9.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 13:24:33
You make some good points there Shappy I think the expectation level on a player coming to O. T is huge and is worth considering -Rice is another player living in his home city and has been able to mature at WHU, a big move 2 yearsa go might not have benefited him.

10.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 18:55:49
No point bringing in Rodgers if you don't bring in the team in Leicester that identify and make decisions on recruitment.

Rodgers isn't the man for me but he and his coaching staff are a significant upgrade on Ole and his team.
I still think the Lad at West Ham is doing a cracking job.

11.) 14 Nov 2021
14 Nov 2021 19:00:41
I would go for Bielsa if I could pick anyone. At least OT would be fun plus no way Pogba survives Murder all.

12.) 15 Nov 2021
15 Nov 2021 09:29:36
Oakbark, we don't need the Leicester recruitment team. We just need a competent scouting network, have a clear idea about what we want, and have good quality negotiators.

While Rodgers was able to be very successful in Scotland winning back to back trebles and utterly dominating the SPL. Now I know some people will rubbish that achievement because he was managing Celtic. Yet he managed to dominate the league far more than his predecessors and he even had Rangers back in the league for the time he was there. Would Gerrard have won the league with Rangers had Rodgers stayed at Celtic? Probably not.

Rodgers has his faults, notably for me his defensive organisation isn't great. Which considering our issues on the pitch is slightly baffling that he would feature so highly on our wanted list. That said he got a tune out of Maguire with lesser players than Varane alongside him. While most fans would prefer a "you score 1 we'll score 2" mentality than a "we'll score 1 and shut up shop" mentality.

I think more is made about whether he can handle "big names" than is needed. Could he handle Ronaldo? Well he handled Suarez and Gerrard. While you don't get many bigger ego's than Stevie Me at Liverpool. Gerrard also speaks in glowing terms about Rodgers.

{Ed001's Note - Rodgers is a spoofer and won a one horse race, then jumped ship as soon as Rangers got back somewhere near competitive.}

13.) 15 Nov 2021
15 Nov 2021 13:03:06
A spoofer, nonsense. A very good coach.

14.) 16 Nov 2021
16 Nov 2021 06:23:29
Doesn't do too bad for a spoofer Ed ?.

{Ed001's Note - you mean he won a 1 horse race and then jumped ship when it turned into a 2 horse one? Then he failed repeatedly to get Leicester the top 4 place that they had in their hands. The only achievement he has actually got is the cup, which is not a lot for a team that is as strong as Leicester's.}

15.) 16 Nov 2021
16 Nov 2021 08:54:58
Little bit harsh Ed001. Leicester on paper have the 5th best squad in the league, and that's where he's got them. So doing about par really, plus won an FA cup.

While at Celtic he dominated the league and the cups in a way that none of his predecessors could. While he did that with Rangers in the league.

{Ed001's Note - if you say so, but you are forgetting Rangers were not in the same league, they were only just promoted and having to rebuild, it is absolute crap to suggest that he beat anyone while up there. As for 5th best squad, I disagree but you are only going to do your usual and twist everything to suit your agenda, now you have decided Bodgers is not a useless manager in case he becomes your next flop in charge.}

16.) 16 Nov 2021
16 Nov 2021 10:39:26
Ed001, out of interest where do you rank Leicester's squad compared to that of Chelsea, City, Liverpool and United's?

Personally I'd prefer EtH and probably Pochettino over Rodgers, but he is in the conversation because he has done well as a manager. You don't consistently get offered good jobs by being useless.

My only real concern over Rodgers suitability at United is his team's are often defensively suspect and rely too heavily on individuals winning there battles rather than a collective defensive set up. Which in light of the problems at United with our defence doesn't really inspire confidence.

I'm not saying he didn't have by far and away the best team in Scotland during his time up there. Just really pointing out that he got more out of them than the previous Celtic managers. Anyone else win the treble? Or do so back to back? Having the best side is one thing, getting them to stay motivated and consistently perform is another.

He was also just a Steven Gerrard slip away from winning the EPL with Liverpool.

{Ed001's Note - rank their squad? I don't, I am talking about how their squad was in terms of what he had available throughout the season and it should have been good enough to finish 3rd last season.

As for doing better than anyone else, no one else ever had a complete absence of competition before.

As for that nonsense about a Gerrard slip, your ignorance is astonishing you just regurgitate media nonsense time and again. That slip was not the difference, there were 37 other games and 89 minutes more in that game. One slip was not the reason.}