Manchester United banter 10

18 Sep 2026 22:01:15
Keith Andrew's anyone??? (Joking btw) What a job he's done at Brentford. Tipped to go down last season, fancied by some to step back this season yet they keep going. What a performance tonight funny thing is if we win on Sunday (huge if) then we are level with 'title challenging Chelsea' lol.

19 Sep 2026 14:37:31
I think Kevin Schade is a great player Tim.

19 Sep 2026 17:19:54
Brentford work so well because they don't rely on everything to come from the manager. As a club, top to bottom they are well run.

They know the markets they can operate in to get the best value for money. They have a clear identity as a club, they bring in players and managers to suit that.

We have seen how when you do that, you can get the best out of everyone. A team greater than the sum of its parts.

19 Sep 2026 22:32:28
Agree banjoe. Damsgard is a very neat and tidy player too.

18 Sep 2026 14:24:12
Ladies and gentlemen, the Man United manager after the club's joint worst league start and being knocked out of a cup at home after going 2 up within the first 10 minutes.

"It's not a catastrophe or a disaster. It's not the end of the world."

"We're not in a place where we've got an awful long run of horrific results. We've lost a couple of games recently, and we feel that we've started and been in all the games that we've played, if not being a better team at the start of a game."

"It's not like we're having a real struggle all the time. We've done a lot of good things in them. Put ourselves in really good positions in the games that we're in."

"So the belief certainly comes from that. The good things that we've done get totally lost by, in some ways, the surrounding feeling, but it doesn't get lost by us."

Carrick thinks these performances have been good. That we've just been unlucky. This is the man some people believe is the best possible choice to lead the club to success.

18 Sep 2026 15:39:35
What do you want him to say exactly in a public press conference.

"It's all gone to shreds and there is no hope" let's be serious now, we had the exact opposite of Carrick in Amorim who was refreshingly honest in public press conferences, for example labelling the team as one of the worst in the clubs history. didn't help with results either.

18 Sep 2026 15:55:27
At a very minimum I'd expect him to acknowledge that the performances haven't been good enough. To say, 'look we know it's a terrible start, but we have identified the reasons for this, and are working to rectify this.'

What Carrick did is treating the fans with contempt. Telling supporters that what they've witnessed with their own eyes didn't happen. We haven't actually seen a string of pathetic performances. No, the team have actually been playing really well, and have just been unlucky.

There's a happy medium between saying everything has gone to shreds, and trying to gaslight the fan base.

18 Sep 2026 20:09:35
Sorry but Danny is right. They didn't run, they don't show fights they don't show aggression. They don't show desire. They roll over. They show their belly

And all he wants to talk about is we did some good things. Wrong man for the job. He stood on that touchline like a lemming. Clueless. Not a word to any player. No coaching, no direction no advice, no instruction.

Passive. Demanded no standards and doesn't give any confidence. If Gabriel has been told he would play, despite me believing its outrageous the way him and his father are behaving, it shows a total lack of trust, intellect or capability. Fletcher we know is a clown. He could and should have played him, and so should Carrick in pre season.

Idiots all of them and cannot be trusted.

19 Sep 2026 08:09:25
I have to agree with Danny and Captain Obvious.

18 Sep 2026 12:56:46
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Liverpool v Fulham - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

18 Sep 2026 12:29:43
I think it should be a collective blame for all of them.
Technical directors not backing Carrick with 2 or 3 more players we clearly needed.
Holland and coaching staff not getting them fit enough for new season. Sunday league stuff that, and there's no excuses.
Players not performing or making sure they're fit enough.

Minimum expected on the wages they get I would say.
And Carrick for not finding a way to win these games, having no tactical plan B and leaving it too late to change something when it's clearly not working.
They still might turn it around, not calling for his head but we need improvements across the board.

18 Sep 2026 12:03:39
{Ed's Note - Kurtis has posted a new article entitled, United Under INEOS: Best in Class or Reactive?

18 Sep 2026 12:43:14
INEOS is £18 billion in Debt, they also only own 28.94% of the club. The Glazer family owns 48.9% and 67.9% of the overall voting rights, Public Shareholders own 22.2% of the club.

INEOS is an investment vehicle, they invested £1.54 billion, the company will have an obligation to turn a profit on that investment. The profit will come from the regeneration project.

We as fans really really need to get into our heads that the football club which means the fans will pay for this. The club will be run like a any other company within the confines of cash flow forecasts and projections that will take into account the regeneration project from a long term financial planning prospective.

We fans keep looking at this through a lens based on INEOS wanting what we want, footballing success. INEOS want financial success, their motivation is aligned with the objectives of the Glazers.

The clubs ownership structure means its highly unlikely any parties are putting their own cash in, the idea they would put their own cash in to pay off the debt is laughable.

The reality is this, the club will be run on a tight budget, they will try to use data models, like Brighton do to increase the odds of success. The question we need to ask is what does success look like? Well, if your objective is increasing profits and revenue, success is top 5 with a wage budged substantially below the top 5 teams.

We are currently the 6th highest wage bill in the prem, if we removed Rashford in the summer we'd of been 7th. We've significantly cut the wage bill for playing staff and Man United PLC wages/Salaries with the headcount reduction. All evidence points to significant cost cutting.

18 Sep 2026 13:22:06
Bang on there. INEOS have quickly shifted from best in class to best in budget. After last season, the question was could United push on to compete with City and Arsenal. The answer was an overwhelming no. They people running the club have calculated that the cost of competing is less profitable than being a club with the primary ambition of achieving Champions League.

18 Sep 2026 14:41:15
The debt, and the annual cost of servicing it is a serious impediment, particularly because the stadium still needs to be renovated or replaced. There's lots of speculation as to how the £2bn currently estimated will be raised, but clearly it will involve a large element of debt.

Meanwhile it's been reported that interest costs after the debt refinancing this summer could be around £60m a year (I think it will be a bit less). Never mind the outcry about dividends, that's where the most significant cost is, the equivalent of 2x £100k player on £200k a week. Paying dividends is an option if you're making profits, financing the debt is an obligation whether you are or not and United hasn't made any in 5 years.

The only meaningful way to bring the current debt load down is for the club to issue more shares, but, depending on the amount they want to raise, it would run the risk of Avram and Joel losing voting control. We talk of the Glazers as a single entity but there are 6 siblings and some might prefer to sell out completely, especially if the business is not profitable and not paying any dividends. So ni-omina control could fall apart if there was a family split.

Against that, the Glazers are traditionally a real estate concern, and clearly have a significant long term financial stake in regeneration of the area. So talk of rifts between them may be overstated. I know or have known a number of real estate investors in my time and the most successful ones have simply bought low and held on for extremely long periods of time. Kind of like McDonalds which is primarily a real estate holding company that finances its acquisitions through its food brand franchises.

I don't see any chance of them being able or wanting to raise capital by issuing stock, which means there's essentially no way out of the current debt bind other than gradual reduction through the retention of +ve cash flow from profitable trading. So, I agree with you they're going to try and make 2+2=5, hoping that somehow or other they can create a club that cheapskates its way into Europe every year, but failing that, even without Europe the club will remain profitable.

In other words we may as well just try to chill out and accept that for the foreseeable future we've become firmly cemented as the #2 team in Manchester, the whining, not remotely noisy neighbours. A team whose past glories are drifting out of memory or were never even known by new fans around the world. Liverpool had 30 years during which they didn't win the title. I don't see us faring any better. Berrada's words about winning the title by 2028 ring very hollow after the events of this summer. Clearly financial realities are taking precedence over doing what's necessary to win titles.

18 Sep 2026 11:37:03
Rashford back in the England squad suggests that Tuchel feels he is playing decently enough.

18 Sep 2026 13:20:37
Rashford was in the England squad for the WC too. Mainoo in the England squad too. Doesn't suggest anything imo. Mainoo is over rated atm but has potential to be very good.

18 Sep 2026 17:00:32
Mainoo is the only one who can actually pass a ball.

18 Sep 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 4 - Quick Round Up

17 Sep 2026 22:46:12
Last night we had 2 FBs in Dalot who is always an accident waiting to happen, and Mazraoui who is decent in a decent team, like Morocco, but is nowhere near good enough to lead a defense with 2 very young CBs in it. Besides which, I read that he really wants to give up football and study to be an imam, so - if this is the case - I wonder if his heart is in it. Symptomatic of the poor mental approach was high 5ing a player who jhas just made a bad error nearly leading to a goal.

The club failing to invest where it was absolutely obviously needed was a dumb risk which looks like it won't pay off. Maybe having a more aggressive and stronger midfielder like Baleba and the return of MdL when he gets back up to speed, will improve things, but in the meantime these losses sap the confidence of the whole team, and especially the young ones. Speaking of which, Rashford has started the season brightly but his final product has been terrible. He should have scored last night. Again, he's in danger of losing confidence and then effectively downing tools.

The cost of not getting into Europe is maybe £100m a year in revenue. The cost of a top FB is maybe £25m a year in salary and amortization.

A classic example of penny wise pound foolish.

18 Sep 2026 06:26:06
Our bigger problem is we seem to back and place people in roles who want to learn on the job. These sort of people are usually yes men and would work with whatever they are given. Nothing wrong with the above but you can't have all departments with these type of people.
Our backroom, coaching and managers are filled with these types of characters.

Basic things like conditioning and fitness of players should have been sniffed out by somebody competent in the backroom.

Wilcox seems to be the main culprit as he was the man backed by the owners and berrada after fumbling with amorim a manager who knew what he was doing.

Hope carrick can turn things around as it is still early in the season but chances and evidence of this happening is very less as he is surrounded by incompetent fools above.

18 Sep 2026 11:29:56
He wouldn't be in the job right now if he didn't have incompetent fools above him.

18 Sep 2026 12:28:45
Wilcox out.

17 Sep 2026 22:42:53
Wheres Shappy?

18 Sep 2026 00:14:40
He's been typing since yesterday, about to hit send!

18 Sep 2026 08:42:23
It'll be a cracker when it comes!

18 Sep 2026 09:41:31
Dodgy and Keefy ????.

18 Sep 2026 10:12:47
Him & Ken planning the next assault. oh wait they are both quiet. strange that!

18 Sep 2026 12:07:17
Why it isn't as bad as people think - Part 1

A novel by Shaps Shaplewprth, coming this international break with a foreword by Jamie Carrigher.

18 Sep 2026 12:32:16
Ive posted everyday jsu. Why would i be quiet?

18 Sep 2026 14:02:38
I don't always agree with Shappy but he is here in the good and bads. He is a good and a positive voice. He chooses to see things from a more positive perspective and you can't blame him.

17 Sep 2026 19:55:52
Having watched Yoro over the past few years, I think we can all agree that he isn’t a centre back. Not strong enough. Too many positional mistakes. Too many mistakes in general.

However, one of the easiest decisions is to play him at right back. Play to his strengths, his pace and his ability on the ball. He can’t be any worse defensively than Dalot, and the only attacking threat he gives us is hoofing the ball over the bar.

There are plenty of examples of promising centre backs being moved to full back because they’re not good enough to do it in a competitive league. I’m not saying he’ll be the next Timber, but after paying £60m for Yoro, it’s worth giving him a shot when the alternatives have proven themselves to be s****.

17 Sep 2026 21:31:30
I think playing two inexperienced cb together prob wasn't a smart move from carrick, also they haven't played much together if at all. I thought when yoro played last season with de ligt they seemed to complement each other. Yoro and heaven are young players, yes they were awful yesterday but there are players in this squad that have no excuse.
Yoro was I think being used at rb in preseason I'm not sure why he hasn't been used there during this season.

To keep rewarding dalot with a starting spot makes no sense, after that city performance he should have been left out completely.
I've been saying for a while how unfit we look, watched sky breakdown of the numbers and we are basically bottom of the table in those metrics. Carrick needs to address this and revert from shortening training times etc.

17 Sep 2026 21:37:02
Reminds me a bit of wan bissaka, has some really good qualities but don't think his reading of the game is the best and has a mistake in him.

Also we bought him as a young French prodigy similar to Saliba/Jacquet and now he's switched allegiance to ivory coast, bit like how Wan Bissaka was an up and coming english right back and now represents DR Congo.

Perfectly fine to switch nations, no problem with that, but probably shows he's not quite at the level we thought he was if he doesn't think he has a chance of making the france team.

17 Sep 2026 21:53:17
Saliba was signed and then went out on load which helped him progress as he wasn't ready, just like Yoro isn't ready yet. It's easy to forget he's only 20, Heaven is only 19, they will make errors like a lot of young players, both of them need time but won't be allowed it at United.

17 Sep 2026 22:07:51
Agree GDS2. Young players need an established pro to talk then through games and play either side of them in defence.

Also helps to have a strong keeper and I didn't see Darlow organising his defenders. We all remember Schmeichel and Edwin VDS bollocking players when nec. Even top feisty defenders like Bruce Pallister and Rio.

Not sure Yoro has the positional awareness to be at right back.

18 Sep 2026 10:05:05
The term 'generational talent' isn't one that should be banded around willy-nilly, and I reckon it was here.