First Team Squad
1K
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1.7K
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over 15 years

paulm wrote:

Read some rumours that they were looking at Solsjkaer (sp) with Phelan as assistant, for the rest of this season, as an interim measure. 

From an outsider looking in I think that's a good way to go. Give him a crack, see if he can bring "the old united" back in 6/7 months, and if things go well give him another year. 

If it isn't really working out, then go all in for Pochettino in the off-season? 

Seems like a decent plan to me if true. 

Absolutely. And Phelan as assistant would be massive, especially if Solskjaer plays it right (like SAF did) and let Phelan handle training etc.

The need for someone with a UEFA Pro License seems to be an issue, which actually rules out Carrick. 

Phoenix Academy
190
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370
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over 10 years

20 Legend wrote:

I don't buy the argument that Ed Woodward can be held solely responsible for footballing decisions at the club. I think that's naive to the amount of process that would be involved. As you've said Martial, yes Manchester United Limited is run by Ed with a board of Glazers, but Manchester United Football Club is headed by David Gill, SAF, Bobby Charlton, and Michael Edelson.

I always thought United's so-called football board was around merely for appearances sake, with the real power being wielded by Woodward and Arnold. Otherwise why the sudden clamour for a DOF, and why was Woodward leaking to the press in summer a blow-by-blow account of why all of Mourniho's transfer targets bar Fred were deemed unsuitable.

Ferguson and Charlton are surely there in an ambassadorial capacity, and I'm not sure what qualifies Gill and Edelson to be making football decisions.

Marquee
1.2K
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over 16 years

Leonardo Jardim and Lucien Favre are a couple of decent shouts that have gotten less attention from what I've seen.  In addition to Mou finally beingg gone, the other thing that gives me hope are the rumours we're going to look to hire a Director of Football.  We're not likely to see a long-term manager in the SAF mould again, so to get long-lasting success and continuity I think the club definitely needs to move to the sort of structure that City have adopted. 

Marquee
1.2K
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8.2K
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over 16 years

As much as I love Solskjær I would be very nervous about hiring someone who has only really succeeded as a manager in Norway.  Remember his Cardiff stint??

First Team Squad
1K
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1.7K
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over 15 years

Solskjaer accidentally announced on MUTV website. (In a caption of a highlights video!)

As an interim manager, I'll take it.

Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-game/...

Interesting commentary on Mourinho's time at ManU. If even half of that is true then it paints a pretty sorry picture. 

Marquee
1.1K
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7.6K
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over 12 years

42 million for cutting contract short sound good.

Phoenix Academy
140
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330
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almost 11 years

Oska wrote:

Leonardo Jardim and Lucien Favre are a couple of decent shouts that have gotten less attention from what I've seen.  In addition to Mou finally beingg gone, the other thing that gives me hope are the rumours we're going to look to hire a Director of Football.  We're not likely to see a long-term manager in the SAF mould again, so to get long-lasting success and continuity I think the club definitely needs to move to the sort of structure that City have adopted. 

Favre is gonna win the Bundesliga in his first season so can't see him coming.

First Team Squad
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1.7K
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over 15 years

@Paul - wow that sounds bad. Exposing youth players to the first team is the best way to motivate them and show them that the goal is real. Also that stuff article has question marks all through it where it hasn't been edited properly. Terrible.

@Blew - highly doubt that's the actual figure. Still large sums of money, but I'm sure they negotiate an exit package and in return pay him out much sooner and allow him to find a new job as opposed to if they let the contract run out.

WeeNix
760
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750
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over 9 years

Martial wrote:

I think its incredibly important to give it to someone who knows the club. I wouldn't have Zidane. I'd be happy with any of Blanc, Keane and Solskjaer and wouldn't be a dumb move to try and get Phelan or Meulensteen back in as assistant with whoever is appointed. These footballers aren't bad players. They need to be given the confidence and freedom to just get out there and play with width and flair, the United way. That's why I reckon we give it to someone who knows the club.

If you're looking for an "outside man" the only realistic and proven candidate seems to be Pochettino who I think would be a good choice if we do go that way. 

Keane would be a disaster, he couldnt manage his way out of a wet paper bag. He simply doesnt have the brains or the people skills.  Knowing the club is far down my list of requirements, number 1 for me is football style. It has to be a manager who wants to attack, values skill and flair and has a steady head on his shoulders. We have tried 3 managers in a row who's teams have played dull football based on restricting the opposition. We need someone who wants teams on the front foot. There are very few available right now and Utd fans always seem to have the view all we have to do is ask an a manager will up sticks and join us.  No matter who we get we are still 2-3 seasons at best from being a force again.

Starting XI
2.1K
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4.3K
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over 11 years

Surely someone in that usual group (Hughes, Pardew, Hodgson, Bruce, Allardyce, Pulis, McLaren etc)  who continuously rotate around the EPL teams and are always up for every vacant job must be available? I believe Hughes and Bruce both are currently and are both United Old Boys....

Marquee
1.5K
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over 16 years
One in a million
4K
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9.5K
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almost 17 years
Phoenix Academy
140
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330
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almost 11 years

Haven't been this excited for a match in a number of months. Granted, we could go out and lose 2-0 to Cardiff but at least we know there is at least the potential for change now. I'd expect to see Pogba straight back in the XI and given a bit of freedom. 

First Team Squad
1K
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1.7K
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over 15 years

A lot is spoken about how terrible the board is and all the bad decisions we've made.

But I think by a long long wya the worst decision was Moyes dropping SAF's backroom staff. In hindsight, the goal should have been to allow Moyes to come in and have free reign over man management, but keep the continuity of what was a very successful footballing setup.

Mike Phelan isn't the answer to all our problems, but it's like we're pushing the reset button back to when Moyes did come in.

Legend
2.3K
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17K
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almost 17 years

I'm looking forward to the Solskjaer reign very much.

Marquee
1.7K
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over 16 years

20 Legend wrote:

A lot is spoken about how terrible the board is and all the bad decisions we've made.

But I think by a long long wya the worst decision was Moyes dropping SAF's backroom staff. In hindsight, the goal should have been to allow Moyes to come in and have free reign over man management, but keep the continuity of what was a very successful footballing setup.

Mike Phelan isn't the answer to all our problems, but it's like we're pushing the reset button back to when Moyes did come in.

As the Moyes situation unfolded this was clear. It seemed a lack of thinking and succession planning was in place. I'm grateful you guys went through it though as I'm sure if it was Wenger who left before SAF we would have had the same issues. Instead we've used his departure for a full re-structure which is starting to work. The difference for us is we're starting this process with a squad who battled to 5th place last season, not having just come of winning the title like Moyes inherited.

Budgie lover
620
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2.2K
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over 16 years

Ole ole ole ole

So you're saying Declan Edge? A bit far fetched isn't it...

Legend
6.8K
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14K
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over 16 years

liberty_nz wrote:

Ole ole ole ole

So you're saying Declan Edge? A bit far fetched isn't it...

Be a great watch- Boyd and Thomas to United 

First Team Squad
1K
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1.7K
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over 15 years

paulm wrote:

"uncharacteristic error"???

I would say those types of errors are absolutely characteristic of this Liverpool side. It doesn't all disappear in less than half a season... 

Alisson has made several howlers, and already had a reputation for the odd one when you signed him. Now Lovren is back in the side with Gomez and Matip being injured and we know what he can do... I don't think basic errors are a thing of the past just yet... even if the defence is looking much-improved so far this season. 

I couldn't help but notice Alisson spill the ball this morning and pass it straight to an attacker.

LG
Legend
5.5K
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23K
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over 16 years
First Team Squad
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1.7K
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over 15 years

Starting 11 players in their best positions with a mentality that actually suits the players and they pull out 5 goals.

So refreshing to NOT sit deep and let Cardiff play themselves into the game.

Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years

Did that change any minds about Mourinho?

I know it's only Cardiff, but sheesh, bit of a difference eh

Starting XI
1.4K
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4.5K
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over 16 years

Sounds like you might be splashing out on Milinkovic-Savic for £90m or so. I'll be cheering you on in England if you do, he's fab!

Phoenix Academy
240
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360
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over 10 years

Amazing what happens when we have a manager who allows the players to play rather than making the whole thing a sideshow to satisfy his ego. Yes it's 4 teams that United should always be comfortably beating but that hasn't been the case for a long time

One in a million
4K
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9.5K
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almost 17 years

Rashford shining

LG
Legend
5.5K
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23K
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over 16 years

Ole ole ole oh lay! New manager good luck or just showing he actually can do the job??

Marquee
1.2K
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8.2K
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over 16 years

Getting rid of the old manager more than anything IMO

Marquee
3.3K
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5.1K
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almost 13 years

Would anyone like any of these shirts, I'm open too all offers as I'm having a massive clean out. 

NOTE: These have all been worn, some in better conditions than others. 

https://imgur.com/a/wJz00wo

Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

Phoenix Academy
140
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330
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almost 11 years

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

Not really when you consider the managers in that time have been Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho ...

Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years

Surprising for a club of ManU's stature, regardless of manager. 

Starting XI
99
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3.7K
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over 14 years

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

An unrelated yet also very surprising stat is that the last United player to score a premier league hatrick is RVP back in 2013. Since then City have had 10, Harry Kane 8, Liverpool 7, Chelsea 6 and Arsenal 3.

Phoenix Academy
81
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260
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over 7 years

Downey26 wrote:

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

An unrelated yet also very surprising stat is that the last United player to score a premier league hatrick is RVP back in 2013. Since then City have had 10, Harry Kane 8, Liverpool 7, Chelsea 6 and Arsenal 3.

Sobering stat that. Shows how far we have gone backwards since SAF lect

LG
Legend
5.5K
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23K
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over 16 years

Ahhhhh, the ghost of SAF lives on.

Marquee
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over 16 years

Downey26 wrote:

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

An unrelated yet also very surprising stat is that the last United player to score a premier league hatrick is RVP back in 2013. Since then City have had 10, Harry Kane 8, Liverpool 7, Chelsea 6 and Arsenal 3.

Sobering stat that. Shows how far we have gone backwards since SAF lect

Agree that we've gone backwards but don't really see how a lack of hat tricks demonstrates it
One in a million
4K
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9.5K
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almost 17 years

Oska wrote:

Downey26 wrote:

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

An unrelated yet also very surprising stat is that the last United player to score a premier league hatrick is RVP back in 2013. Since then City have had 10, Harry Kane 8, Liverpool 7, Chelsea 6 and Arsenal 3.

Sobering stat that. Shows how far we have gone backwards since SAF lect

Agree that we've gone backwards but don't really see how a lack of hat tricks demonstrates it

demonstrates it more than accumulation of own goal stats would
Phoenix Academy
81
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260
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over 7 years

Oska wrote:

Downey26 wrote:

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

An unrelated yet also very surprising stat is that the last United player to score a premier league hatrick is RVP back in 2013. Since then City have had 10, Harry Kane 8, Liverpool 7, Chelsea 6 and Arsenal 3.

Sobering stat that. Shows how far we have gone backwards since SAF lect

Agree that we've gone backwards but don't really see how a lack of hat tricks demonstrates it

Yeah, tbf, not the best stat for that, but the lack of hat tricks is a symptom of our defensive football

Legend
3.6K
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15K
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almost 17 years

Yes agreed, hat tricks, or scoring 5 goals in a match, only show that a team are not scoring as much as they used to. Theoretically they can still be as successful despite those stats (obviously not in this case though). 

Phoenix Academy
180
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480
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over 16 years

Oska wrote:

Downey26 wrote:

paulm wrote:

Just read that the 5-1 victory in Solskjaer's first game in charge was the first time ManU had scored 5 goals in an EPL game since Ferguson's last game in 2013. Quite surprising.

An unrelated yet also very surprising stat is that the last United player to score a premier league hatrick is RVP back in 2013. Since then City have had 10, Harry Kane 8, Liverpool 7, Chelsea 6 and Arsenal 3.

Sobering stat that. Shows how far we have gone backwards since SAF lect

Agree that we've gone backwards but don't really see how a lack of hat tricks demonstrates it

Yeah, tbf, not the best stat for that, but the lack of hat tricks is a symptom of our defensive football

More relevantly shows that non "Manchester United" styles of football have not worked. Moyes's battling football, Van Gaal's excessive possession football and Mourinho's defense first football all have their places in football but it seems not at United. Early days but Ole and Phelan have brought a United style back very quickly with success so far. 

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