25 Apr 2022 04:54:28
It may well be that missing out on champions league football will proves to be a real blessing. The type of big name big fee players who are only looking for self glory will not want to play in the Europa league. If instead we get players who want to play for the manager and the shirt then we might get proper team.

1.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 11:00:37
Honestly, I don't think it is ever a good thing to miss out on Europe. Maybe a bit more training time, but when we have been out of the CL we have still made rubbish signings for big money and big fees.

2.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 11:02:10
Media just throwing names out as per Kane/ Rice/ Bellingham but Im more excited and interested in the names ED002 mentioned recently 90% id never heard of except Hadaria even now i've spelt his name wrong. get hungry players in and make them into superstars don't buy "superstars" needs the right mix of experience and young players who are technically adept and want to fight and run for 90 minutes every game. Hopefully none of them will have an instagram / tik tok / facebook account either.

3.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 13:17:46
I'm not so sure. All players want to play in the UCL, regardless of whether they are a big name already or not. So not being in it definitely hurts our chances with any signing we look at regardless of who they are.

Personally I'm a little skeptical of players in their late 20's and early 30's who have been successful at the highest level being "happy" to move to a side not playing in the UCL.

I just ask why when they are in their peak would they want to waste a year of it at a club not competing for the biggest honours.

The reality is if you don't qualify for the UCL in a league that has 4 UCL places then not only are you not competing at the highest level in Europe, but clearly you are a couple of years away from competing domestically as well. You don't see teams that finish 5th or 6th make a jump to league champions the following season very often.

For me I wonder whether a player has the right attitude and appetite for success to move to a club in a situation like we are in while they are in their peak years. Players have 4-5 peak years at most. Why would you want to gamble spending your best years at a club that isn't competing for top honours. Lack of ambition, lack of self-belief, or because it's the biggest paycheck. None of them are good traits in a potential signing.

Missing out on the UCL just means we miss out on those players with sporting ambition, those that want to compete at the highest level. We could still sign those who just want a big paycheck, or lack ambition or self-belief.

4.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 15:33:05
So what your saying there shappy is that players who sign for a club without cl have a lack of desire to compete at the top level?
What a load of bolloxollogy.
They may see a greater challenge in helping awaken a sleeping giant and take more satisfaction and reward from that than playing for a team in the cl that have little change of winning it.
It's a bigger challenge helping to restore united and one that players should welcome.
Your thought process is like most of our squad negative insular and cowardly.

5.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 15:37:46
Problem is we would have probably qualified for CL even if we had kept Ole or even Carrick, I know you lot don’t blame Ralf for anything and blame every other teams manager who don’t do well but Ralf seems to have sidestepped it all, he is clever he deflects all the problems and blames everyone else, lowest win rate 40% of any united manger for years, even Ole who was not even a manager done better with the same players…. Really lads I know we got some poor players but Really are they this bad, I don’t think so! Now your all saying Ralf is saving the club getting them to by this player he got them TH, well maybe it’s nothing at all to do with him and it’s Woodwards replacement but because Ralf so clever he takes the praise! Come on a little bit of realism needed here!

6.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 18:26:06
Not at all Ken, read what I wrote.

I'm SKEPTICAL of top level players at their peak choosing to come to a club that is 2-3 years minimum away from a league title.

Moving away from being a United fan ask yourself this. If you were a top level footballer, in their peak years with the next 2-3 years likely to be your best as a footballer. Would you want to join a club that hasn't won a league title in nearly 10 years, is out of the UCL and is likely 3 years away from truly competing again?

Younger players who are 3-5 years away from their peak years are (in my opinion) more likely to see United as a step up and not a sideways step or step down, and they are probably more prepared to join a club that is supposedly on the up with a highly regarded manager at developing young players.

If the club gets back to challenging for titles then great. If in 4 years time they still don't look like getting back to the top then you can look to leave and join a top side for your peak years, with a year or two left on your contact.

What is your level of expectancy for winning major trophies over the next 2-3 years?

Do you expect a league title? A UCL title? An FA cup or League Cup.

Personally I expect improvement in effort, in style, in performances. I expect to see players develop and improve. I expect comfortable top four finishes, closing the gap on City and Liverpool and a few domestic cup runs, maybe a FA or league cup win. Maybe a genuine title challenge in EtH's third season (finishing within a few points of the winners if not sneaking the title) .

As I see it next season is clearing the decks, and setting the foundations. The following season is building the squad in the managers image. With the third season hopefully adding the final couple of pieces to complete the team.

Someone like Harry Kane would be 31 before a serious title challenge.

My point is what drives a player to spend their best years at a club who won't truly be challenging?

7.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 19:04:44
But let’s be fair Shappy you said when RR came in that he would improve some players, but now in reality he made everyone go the exact opposite way, even the ones you said he would improve have got worse, in fact is there a player who he as improved!

In my book anyone could have done what he done, made everyone worse still got no pattern of play, devalued everyone and somehow managed to deflect everything from him……. Everton in turmoil and was before Lampard arrived yet Lampard getting dogs abuse, how comes it’s his fault not the players but with RR it’s not RR it’s the players! RR is as much to blame for this as anyone.

8.) 25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022 21:10:48
Ed's what's the odds that Juicer has the same IP address as our Romanian friend?.

{Ed014's Note - as far as I’m aware Shappy the Juicer is a Liverpool poster and been around a fair while.

Not seen our Romanian friend in a new guise yet.

9.) 26 Apr 2022
26 Apr 2022 09:01:06
Ken, I think Shappy's comment is aimed only at players in their peak years, which is fair.

For a younger, up-and-coming player the challenge and romance of being at the heart of bringing a fallen giant back to the top could be quite appealing. They could spend a few years helping the club get back to the top and hit their peak just in time for the club to actually be competing for honours again.

For a player already at their peak though? Does an ambitious player really want to spend his peak years pushing a club back to the top, only to be past his best by the time they are actually winning stuff? Maybe some would be happy to be remembered for their role in getting the club back to the top, but for most I would say they want to be winning trophies in their peak years, not sitting on the bench and being a "voice of experience" in the dressing room while younger players win the glory.

It doesn't mean every player in their peak lacks ambition if they're willing to come to us, but it is a question worth asking.