1.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 13:05:38
"Many won't want to hear this but I believe any success this season will come from our ability to keep clear sheets and the free flowing attacking football will have to wait. For the first time in years we appear to have direction and a coherent plan and strategy. "

I am sure i read this wrong so please explain this to me. If the above is true, then why was Jose fired in the first place? Name me one manager who can keep clean sheets using the above mentioned strategy better than Jose Mourinho.

You say fans don't believe in Ole and they need a manager with a CV. Do the players believe in this manager? If you were a player, would you look to sign for a club that is managed by Ole Who? You want to sign Maddisson and Sancho but do they want to play for Ole? Who is Ole the manager?

If you say that yes the players believe in Ole then all you need to do is go back in time and see when did we drop off in our results (forget performances because those were crap after Ole's first 3 games) . It was precisely the time when Ole was made permanent. So, if the players believed in Ole then the results should have been better but we have lost more games than we have won over that period.

2.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 13:07:53
Iâ€™m sorry, but what is the clear and coherent direction?

Off the pitch, we know that the club made a mess of the transfer window.

Fernandes wasnâ€™t signed due to amateur behaviour.
Herrera, who Ole described as a key player, wasnâ€™t replaced.
A rw wasnâ€™t looked at despite having zero players for that position.
We sold our highest scoring striker without giving us any chance to replace.
We put a ridiculous price on Pogba, and dicked about his potential replacement.
Gave Mata, who you regard as dead weight, a new contract.
And didnâ€™t bring in a DOF/ SD, or make any change to our recruitment team and structures.

On the pitch, youâ€™re saying that the goal should be to rely on defensive strength to grind out victories.

A. Our defence isnâ€™t that great.
B. Isnâ€™t this one of the reasons Jose was sacked? Is he not the master of carving out these type of results?

I donâ€™t see any coherent plan or philosophy to Oleâ€™s football. If anything, the longer he has had, the worse we have played. The problem is, I donâ€™t even trust the club to bring in the right manager when they get rid of him.

My view is that Ole will be sacked before the season is out. He will be the fall guy for all the systemic issues the club refuses to address. But he is a willing fall guy.

Like I said to Tony yesterday, patience is fine, but it needs to be balanced with genuine improvement on the pitch. The likes of Maddison and Sancho wonâ€™t sign if we continue our recent form. Why would they? Weâ€™re a step down from Dortmund, and these players will have options if theyâ€™re made available.

The club made a massive mistake appointing Ole when they did. The second half of last season should have been spent planning and identifying the right people to overhaul our failing club. They didnâ€™t, and weâ€™ll be back in a similar position by next summer, slipping further and further away from City and Liverpool.

3.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 13:55:55
Unless our club's structure is fixed, we will just be stuck in mediocracy.

It really saddens me because we don't have a genuine proven striker.
Our main striker Martial, a 21 year old player with an attitude problem and another 21 year old in Rash who is hugely inconsistent.

We are now relying on another 21 year old James who is playing his first season in EPL. Another one is Greenwood.
Too much burden on these youngsters imo.

Our best midfielder is Mctominay who has 22 starts under his belt.
Sums up our recruitment.

There is a huge improvement in defence. But is that enough?

4.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 14:03:49
Danny, what a post that was!

5.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 14:39:53
its all well keeping clean sheets.

by the way we have kept 3 in 7 games. all 3 at home we haven't managed to score more than 1 goal in our last 6 in all competitions

keeping clean sheets doesn't win you games scoring goals does.

which is what we won't do.

we have arsenal newcastle liverpool and Norwich next, can you really see us winning any of these games? we don't win at least 2/ 3 of these games OLE will get the chop and we will be sitting near the bottom 3 wondering wtf is going on.

6.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 14:50:04
Football has become a world of panic and over reaction. It's easy to criticise that shower of rubbish yesterday but harder to identify the cause or find a solution.

I think most agree our squad was littered with mercenaries and mediocrity and replacing them all during one window was never going to happen.

The long term aim must be to return us to the top and not just the perceived comfort of the top 4. Like I've said in previous posts finishing 4th is not success so why do we all crave a top 4 finish?

Surely nobody is mourning the loss of Lukaku, Sanchez, Fellaini, Smalling, Darmian or even Herrera. Many of these players were symptomatic of the problems at the Club.

It is my belief that Ole wanted to cleanse the squad of such players and look to recruit a different type of player. I think Ole recognises that the best teams are built from solid foundations therefore he signed a CB and RB to try and give the team a platform to play.

Ole is no fool and of course he will have wanted replacements for Herrera, Sanchez and Lukaku but money doesn't grow on trees . The attacking players we need will cost millions and that amount of expenditure was just not feasible over one window even for a Club with deep pockets like Utd. Ole obviously prioritised other areas of the pitch hoping the likes of Rashford, Martial, Pogba and even Lingard could carry the creative and goal scoring burden.

It is my belief that if the correct players can be signed at No10 and RW this team will look a lot different and be in a much better position to challenge moving forward.

I think Ole's three signings have arguably been our best players. I think he needs time to cleanse and manipulate the squad.

I believe he's trying to do the right things and he deserves some time and patience. He's suffered key injuries to Pogba and Martial and I think Lindelof has let him down with some of his abject early season performances. I think he's made some mistakes in relying on the likes of Mata and Matic and I'm not sure what Pereira brings to the table but I also recognise that his options are limited. In my opinion he must keep the energy, pace and intensity in our game which has slowly ebbed away in recent matches.

I don't see the merit in replacing yet another manager until he's been given sufficient time and funds to reshape the squad but recognise the frustrations of many.

7.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 15:50:57
Good post that danny.

8.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 16:33:29
Jose was sacked because he spent 4 months trying to get sacked.

9.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 16:42:31
dlib i think if we would have had shaw, pogba, martial playing we would have beaten them.

our actual first 11 is not that bad.

sure it lacks experience but its not all that bad.

we have shot ourselves in the foot 6 games in without replacing what we lost.

10.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 16:57:22
So we should be playing a high intensity energetic football geared toward grinding out 1-0 victories?

This kind of shows the confusion in what Ole is trying to do. When he came he was all about bringing back high tempo attacking football. Then people said that the players lacked the fitness to do this, but would be primed after Ole had a preason.

The reality, of whatâ€™s been on show, is that the team isnâ€™t being told to press. The team is set up for counter attacks which means sitting deep to conserve energy, then hit quickly on the break. This is the exact opposite of the high intesity style that Klopp and Pep play, and is literally the Jose method. Heâ€™s even playing to holding mids.

Am I just not seeing it, but can anyone point out how Ole is getting the team to play with intensity and energy?

As for the players we lost.

Of course it was stupid to sell Lukaku and allow Herrera to leave on a free without replacing them. Lukaku was our only genuine centre forward, if Ole doesnâ€™t rate him, fine. But you canâ€™t just let your highest scoring forward leave without replacing them. Herrera, as I said, Ole said he was key, and he was our most consistent midfielder last season. Again, dumb dumb dumb to think he didnâ€™t need to be replaced. Even Fellaini and Darmian offered something.

As for â€˜money doesnâ€™t grow on treesâ€™.

We are one of the richest and most profitable clubs on the planet. Last season Ed001 linked to an economic analysis that highlighted how the reinvestment of profits into the club lags well behind the teamâ€™s challenging for titles. We had targets this summer who werenâ€™t signed purely because we thought we could bully smaller clubs into taking low ball offers. At a minimum both Lukaku and Herrera needed to be replaced with quality players. We could have coped with letting Sanchez, Smalling, and Darmian go, even held off with a rw until next summer. But our abject failure to invest has resulted in a squad bereft of quality and depth. We are already struggling to field a single striker, and as TRD points out McTom is our most reliable cm with 22 starts under his belt.

You might not see any merit in replacing Ole, but that wonâ€™t stop it happening. Last season Jose wasnâ€™t backed and couldnâ€™t bring in the players he needed. The team wasnâ€™t good enough, and he was sacked. Exact same this summer. The club covered a few of the problem areas Jose wanted to address a year ago, and put the rest on the backburner. We donâ€™t have the quality or consistency to challenge for top four, and itâ€™s only a matter of time before Ole is jettisoned. The only difference is Ole will still thank them for the opportunity.

11.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 17:00:03
The same mercenaries that finished second the season before or the ones that won the Europa League or the ones that won the Carling cup? Why were they let go? The squad is short of quality because Ole just sat there doing nothing. If he had the balls he would have stood up to the board like Jose did one of two things would have happened. Either he would have gotten replacements or he would have gotten the sack. None of those happened because Ole took the salary to sit there doing nothing.

12.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 17:11:53
Mort he got sacked because the club was movining in the direction it is moving now.

13.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 18:44:22
DLIB, it's a good post, but you point out that neither Martial nor Rashford are natural CFs.

Then you go on to say that with a front four of Sancho, Maddison, Rashford and Martial will cause a lot of problems for other teams.

Neither Sancho nor Maddison are CFs, so there would just be more chances being created with very few being put away, surely?

14.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 18:52:05
It's stupid to think OGS didn't want replacements for Lukaku and Herrera or an attacking midfield/ No10 and a right sided winger/ forward. Of course he did!

The problem was to recruit such players with the quality needed to help us challenge in addition to signing a centre back and right back would have cost north of Â£300m and this was just not realistic in one window. It's obvious to me Ole prioritised a CB and RB with the money he had available. It's certainly not Ole's fault that more players didn't arrive yet ultimately he will pay the price.

I warned earlier in the window of re-building too quickly when many wanted rid of Pogba, Lukaku, Sanchez, Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Darmian etc all in one window on top of losing Herrera and Fellaini. The Club was never going to invest enough money to replace all those players and believing they would was wishful thinking, fantasy football land.

Most people agree that the team and squad is short on quality but are surprised when results are inconsistent.

Most people love to talk in hindsight, they love to criticise and highlight our inadequacies yet rarely offer an opinion on how the Club can improve or more forward.

I'm yet to be fully convinced that the appointment of a director of football or technical director is the answer. I believe Ole has a plan he just needs time to bring in the players he needs.

No doubt our reactionary, alarmists fans will have him sacked by Christmas and the merry go round will start again. As the old proverb proclaims you get what you deserve.

15.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 19:08:00
Epicpotato - I'm taking about the accumulation of goals pal. If we have a No10 and RW that can contribute a similar number of goals as Rashford and Martial or certainly hit double figures and bring more creativity to the team then the burden on them is less and we don't necessarily need a striker capable of scoring 20-25 goals.

At the moment we have Lingard, Mata and Pereria playing in those positions. Mata has never hit double figures in nearly 7 seasons at the Club and is now well past his best. Lingard's goal scoring record is terrible, in his best season he only managed 8 league goals and in the others he hasn't managed more than 4, Pereira and James are embarking on their maiden seasons in top flight football and Greenwood is only 17. Pogba is now playing in a deeper role so It's hardly rocket science that we're struggling to score goals. In fact I think we'll struggle to score over 50 goals this season hence my comment about clean sheets.

16.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 19:25:28
We had a net transfer spend of about Â£80m, thatâ€™s less than Villa who spent the last three years in the Championship. And this is on top of a Â£50m net spend last season when the club failed to back Jose.

Are you saying that the club couldnâ€™t afford to buy Fernandes or bring in a replacement for Lukaku with the Â£60m plus they got for him?

Absolute nonsense. The club tried to bully Sporting into accepting a lower fee, and then pretended they were never interested. And they dragged out the Lukaku deal so they could get a few extra million, knowing that this wouldnâ€™t leave enough time to bring in a replacement.

We finished sixth last season, and you seriously think that an Â£80m spend is enough to get us back into the top 4?

Know what fantasy football is? Thinking that one of the richest clubs in the world canâ€™t afford to spend more Â£120m in two seasons.

17.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 19:26:21
I keep seeing some people, reducing as people start to realise, saying give Ole time but not what that this is based upon, perhaps some nice thoughts that he has, sentiments that match supporters. A manager who has no qualifications in running or rebuilding a team or club of our size. They want to trust our whole future to someone who scored an important goal 20 years ago, not someone who has the ability to form a team in a cohesive effective style, or has proven they can do it.

This isn't alarmist, this is protecting our future. Ole should realise this role is too far above him, do what is right for the club and resign so he doesnâ€™t have to be sacked. It would be the right thing for the club.

18.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 19:29:40
Well DLIB, if you're forcing me to choose then I say 'no, I don't back him'.

If you put aside the irrelevent distraction that he is an ex-player, then he is simply a guy who got Cardiff relegated and managed a team in Norway for a couple of seasons.

Who in their right mind thinks this qualifies him not just to manage Man Utd but to rebuild the whole squad and with a set of cluless idiots running the club at that?

It's what we see on the pitch that counts and I see no philosophy, strategy or discernable tactics coming from the manager and I see no imagination or effort from the players which tells me he can't motivate them and/ or they have no clear plan about what they should be doing.

Throw in the pointless 88 minute substitutions, the lack of plan B, picking useless idiots like Lingard every week and it's plain as day that he's not the man for the job.

In fact the more I think about it, your question isn't even a question. It's so obvious he shouldn't be our manager I'm now wondering why I've taken the time to explain why I think he shouldn't be.

19.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 20:09:56
Redman - my assertion is based on the following -

In my opinion he is attempting to rid the squad of the mercenaries and mediocre. His transfer strategy is to target younger predominantly British based talent with the potential to develop and grow. He's prepared to promote youngsters from the academy and give them a chance. He is attempting to promote a more energetic and attacking style of play. His first three signings appear to be good. I'm pleased he has prioritised the defence and made two very good additions in that area. I think next summer we'll definitely see a RW, attacking midfielder and possible another striker and if he gets the correct players I think we'll be much improved. This season will be up and down, we'll struggle to score goals especially if we have injuries to the likes of Pogba, Martial and Rashford but I believe the direction is clear. In my opinion he should be give another summer window to address those areas before we hit the panic button. I can't do anything about his CV.

Danny - The fact the Club didn't sign more players is nothing to do with Ole. Your anger should be directed at the accountants not the manager. I fully agree more players were needed specifically an attacking midfielder and a RW which in my opinion would have significantly improved our and brought balance to our team. It would have cost well in excess of Â£100m to bring those players into the Club meaning a summer outlay somewhere north of Â£250m. I just don't think the Club had the appetite to spend this kind of money which wasn't helped with Lukaku being so late into the window. I'm furious we didn't get more players but I don't blame Ole for this failure.

20.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 20:26:41
I missed the game yesterday, did we win? Canâ€™t tell from the posts.

21.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 20:42:18
I just can't be arsed anymore.

Sack him, don't sack him

Back him, don't back him

It's worse than ab episode of Eastenders. just awful drama.

22.) 23 Sep 2019
23 Sep 2019 20:58:58
DLIB

You still believe time is the answer, but based on what talent or experience that Ole has shown in his career? Please can someone tell me what this patience is based on? You would put our future on the line, into another summer wasted, into yet another season, based on some ideas Ole has expressed which any of us could have said. Can the give him time brigade not see the massive risk in doing that?

You donâ€™t blame Ole for not getting more players, yet he said he was happy with the recruitment.