How Long Does Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer Have Left As Utd Boss?

[Redcanuck]

8 hours ago, Chaaay AFC said:

Still can't believe Woodward has his job, I'd love to know the reasons why. Ole has and always has been out of his depth, he has had a couple of brilliant runs but once they end United do nosedive into some shocking form. Both need to be gone, but with the Glazers in charge I'm not sure how much will ever change. 

You can say they have spent a lot of money but when there is no thought or repercussions to underperforming it won't make a difference how much you spend. 

Woodward makes the Glazer's big money.  You can say what you want about how bad he is at the football side of the business,  but he sure knows his way around the financial side.  That's why United need to bring in a football man as DOF and leave Woodward to concentrate on doing things like finding us an official hot dog sponsor.

[RandoEFC+]

Then why don't they allow Woodward to be in charge of the bits he's good at? You can say fair enough when they sign Pogba for globetrotters money and he's average but because of marketing it actually makes the Glazers more money, but there's no way that spending £70m on Maguire or paying Sanchez £300k+ a week to do fuck all is making good business sense even if you forget about how badly the signings have turned out on the pitch.

If Woodward is great at bringing in sponsors and selling shirts in South Korea then let him carry on with that. Get your Michael Edwards figure in to deal with the transfers effectively. That results in a better footballing outfit and less wasted money even if the latter is all they care about.

[Dr. Gonzo]

27 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Then why don't they allow Woodward to be in charge of the bits he's good at? You can say fair enough when they sign Pogba for globetrotters money and he's average but because of marketing it actually makes the Glazers more money, but there's no way that spending £70m on Maguire or paying Sanchez £300k+ a week to do fuck all is making good business sense even if you forget about how badly the signings have turned out on the pitch.

If Woodward is great at bringing in sponsors and selling shirts in South Korea then let him carry on with that. Get your Michael Edwards figure in to deal with the transfers effectively. That results in a better footballing outfit and less wasted money even if the latter is all they care about.

I don't think Woodward was the guy who brought in sponsors for them? I'm pretty sure Liverpool actually just hired the guy who was in charge of their "sponsorship partnerships."

In terms of what Woodward does well... I think that's a question the Glazers should really be asking themselves. Because yeah, while they are leaches that are holding the club back and have saddled United with debt... they have a profitable side and they've still got the funds to build a side that can compete.

If he's the man that landed them big money with weird shite like the tractor sponsorships, then that's fine... they just need to hire someone like Edwards/Brands - an actual football director that works with the manager. If he's not even the man that brings in the money at United... I think the question needs to be asked: what the fuck does he actually do?

[Redcanuck]

I believe that Glazer's loyalty to Woodward goes back to when they were in negotiations to take over the club.  The negotiations weren't going very well and it seemed the deal was going to fail. Woodward came in and revived the deal and restructured it so the deal went through.  He also got a lot more favorable terms, one story is that he was able to remove a condition that would have seen their shares being repossessed if they missed any repayments.  

I don't know about Liverpool hiring the person responsible for United's sponsorships, as far as I know Woodward oversees all the commercial activity at United.  (I could be wrong mind you)  That commercial activity as a portion of revenue has more than doubled under Woodward's time at United and as long as the money continues to roll in Woodward's job is safe.   Unfortunately , as long as Woodward controls the football end of things, United will suffer on the pitch.

[Dr. Gonzo]

8 minutes ago, Redcanuck said:

I believe that Glazer's loyalty to Woodward goes back to when they were in negotiations to take over the club.  The negotiations weren't going very well and it seemed the deal was going to fail. Woodward came in and revived the deal and restructured it so the deal went through.  He also got a lot more favorable terms, one story is that he was able to remove a condition that would have seen their shares being repossessed if they missed any repayments.  

I don't know about Liverpool hiring the person responsible for United's sponsorships, as far as I know Woodward oversees all the commercial activity at United.  (I could be wrong mind you)  That commercial activity as a portion of revenue has more than doubled under Woodward's time at United and as long as the money continues to roll in Woodward's job is safe.   Unfortunately , as long as Woodward controls the football end of things, United will suffer on the pitch.

Here's the guy I was talking about: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fsg-matt-scammell-news-18700217

Don't get me wrong, I legitimately have no idea what Scammell did for United... just like I've got no idea what Woodward does for United.

[ScoRoss]

New deal for Solskjaer

[Stan]

@CaaC (John) is going to be absolutely over the moon with that. 

[Danny]

He’s certainly done better than most expected, I think he’s benefitting a lot from really bad seasons at Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs. Don’t think he’s the long-term option at all but he seems to be the yes man the board want 

[Devil]

It doesn't really matter what we think on the matter with this one, Ole is getting that new contract regardless of winning the Europa or not. 

Personally it's hard to make a case for sacking someone if he finishes 2nd in the Premier league with such a limited squad, having said that he's let us down badly in several cup competitions over the last few years and you'd have to say that has to be taken into consideration. 

Negatives & bad decisions

• Complete collapse after he signed his first contract, people seem to forget once the contract was signed we went into complete free fall and couldn't buy a result. He could have been potentially sacked for the Cardiff defeat alone in my opinion. 
• Lack of squad rotation towards the end of last season, now certain people will say he qualified for the Champions league but the lack of rotation actually costs us the FA Cup semi final where the players were exhausted against Chelsea. 
• Europa league Semi final, we'd dominated the game from start to finish and then Sevilla sneaked a goal with ten minutes remaining. People might not agree but they were making defending look easy against our attack and we needed something different to ruffle their feathers, that something Ighalo wasn't introduced until the 91st minute!!! fair enough he wasn't the most skilled or fast striker but I would of thought his strength could have opened the door for someone else. Basically he should have been used as a target man. 
• Allowing Lukaku to leave without sourcing a direct replacement, what football club allows their main striker to leave before they have a replacement in place. No club does only United. 
• Donny Van De Beek, it's either one of two things, he's either underplayed him because he doesn't rate him or underplayed him because he didn't choose to sign him. Either way he has a player that was fantastic for Ajax yet looks totally destroyed of confidence at United. Worst thing is it's actually quoted that DVB spoke with Ole on the phone regarding his plans at United. 
• FA Cup tie with Leicester, rotating five key players out of the eleven against the team sat one place behind you in the Premier league. Leicester must have felt disrespected and that for me must have been a huge motivation for them on Sunday. 

Positives & good decisions 

• Qualification for the Champions league in his second season, he did qualify and it's looking odds on he will do it again. 
• Clearing of the deadwood and unwanted players. I like this because he's not trying to play crap or finished players just because they are part of the squad. If they are out of his plans they are gone and that's good for me. 

[CaaC (John)+]

1 hour ago, ScoRoss said:

New deal for Solskjaer

FFS, as long as the clowns Woodward and the Glazers are at United the sun will shine out of the back of Ole's arse, fuck, I need a whisk(e)y after reading that, the 3 stooges Ole, Woodward and anyone of the Glazers.

[Mpache]

According to Football Manager 2021, the next 20 years at least.

[Stan]

30 minutes ago, Mpache said:

According to Football Manager 2021, the next 20 years at least.

Nice to know you care more about Ole's career than ours in your FM game. We know where your priorities lie Brian... 

[Rick]

We all keep saying “he’s not the long term option” but this is what? His third year in charge now, and here is another contract. If the higher ups are really believing he can push them on to the title then I’m all for that.

[Danny]

26 minutes ago, Rick said:

We all keep saying “he’s not the long term option” but this is what? His third year in charge now, and here is another contract. If the higher ups are really believing he can push them on to the title then I’m all for that.

Technically 2 and a half seasons, but look at it like this. It’s been 3 years since United finished 2nd under Mourinho and Ole still hasn’t put a team together that’s done as well as that, even though he was given essentially the same team and finances to improve it.

I know people go on about it being like Mourinho won a title finishing second, but that’s bollocks that Mourinho used to throw a group of players under the bus 

[Scouse_Mouse]

4 hours ago, Stan said:

@CaaC (John) is going to be absolutely over the moon with that. 

As will most of us who don't support manu.

[Dan+]

14 hours ago, ScoRoss said:

New deal for Solskjaer

Pitiful lack of standards. How can the self proclaimed biggest club in the world come out with stuff like that

Solskjaer is complicit. It's all very similar to Steve Bruce. He's quite literally only in the job because he won't challenge the bullshit going on at the club.

[DeadLinesman]

Anyone would think the bloke was in full time employment like the rest of the universe. How many of us here work, are pretty much complicit with the shite that goes on at senior management level, but just get on with it because you’re employed and earning a salary? Yes, fucking everyone. Jesus.

I’m not massively into him as long term manager, but there’s a complete lack of reality from some posters on here. Last year, we scraped third because Leicester bottled it and everyone else was shite. This year, we’re in second because everyone else is shite. If he happens to do decent next year, you’ve got the excuse ready lads. Bores me to fucking tears reading it. He’s being compared to Steve Bruce ffs. Steve. Fucking. Bruce.

I’m out. I said a while back you can’t have a decent conversation with people that are so blinded by some weird hatred/bias/negativity that they can’t even post a response that has some balanced judgment in it.

The bloke could run into burning orphanage, save 30 kids and it would be the flames fault for not killing them quickly enough.

[Danny]

1 hour ago, DeadLinesman said:

Anyone would think the bloke was in full time employment like the rest of the universe. How many of us here work, are pretty much complicit with the shite that goes on at senior management level, but just get on with it because you’re employed and earning a salary? Yes, fucking everyone. Jesus.

I’m not massively into him as long term manager, but there’s a complete lack of reality from some posters on here. Last year, we scraped third because Leicester bottled it and everyone else was shite. This year, we’re in second because everyone else is shite. If he happens to do decent next year, you’ve got the excuse ready lads. Bores me to fucking tears reading it. He’s being compared to Steve Bruce ffs. Steve. Fucking. Bruce.

I’m out. I said a while back you can’t have a decent conversation with people that are so blinded by some weird hatred/bias/negativity that they can’t even post a response that has some balanced judgment in it.

The bloke could run into burning orphanage, save 30 kids and it would be the flames fault for not killing them quickly enough.

This is a strange post mate, the whole full-time employment argument never seems to be heard with other managers, but is now? Not like Ole’s a multi-millionaire or anything who’s biggest financial threat won’t be job security, also not like we’ve seen other managers hold dodgy boardrooms to account either because of the standards they set for themselves and the club. So it’s fair to accuse him of going along with the board if that’s what’s happening, or appears to be.

You talk about a lack of reality, he took over a team that half a season before comfortably finished 2nd with 80+ points and he’s yet to come close to replicating that, which is the job he was hired to do. Whenever United begin to look decent they fall away with no hope or game plan, losing or drawing consistently to teams you’ve no right to drop points against so often. He’s spent £300m since taking over and you still don’t look the team Mourinho had you playing like. That deserves criticism, heavy criticism. Over the last two seasons he’s spent as much as or more than Chelsea and Liverpool.

Last season you finished 3rd on 66 points, that’s less than what the old Arsenal sides who bottled the league and would end up fighting against 5th place would finish on. This season you’re looking good to end up on around 70-75 points, which again is what those Arsenal sides used to finish on in 4th place. Looking at these points totals it’s fair to say that you are fortunate that there isn’t a lot of quality around you and that you are just the best of a bad bunch, at least with Leicester you can say they haven’t spent anywhere near what the rest of the top 4 have and so they’re actually achieving something.

Don’t do a CC Is Klass, everyone else can handle criticisms of their team, in fact youve probably dug into Madlad or whoever for not being able to handle criticism of Liverpool, whether they’re right or wrong, but there seems to be some sort of “don’t talk about United unless it’s 100% accurate and is approved by us” mentality going on here, lighten up and have a conversation 

[Devil]

1 hour ago, DeadLinesman said:

Anyone would think the bloke was in full time employment like the rest of the universe. How many of us here work, are pretty much complicit with the shite that goes on at senior management level, but just get on with it because you’re employed and earning a salary? Yes, fucking everyone. Jesus.

I’m not massively into him as long term manager, but there’s a complete lack of reality from some posters on here. Last year, we scraped third because Leicester bottled it and everyone else was shite. This year, we’re in second because everyone else is shite. If he happens to do decent next year, you’ve got the excuse ready lads. Bores me to fucking tears reading it. He’s being compared to Steve Bruce ffs. Steve. Fucking. Bruce.

I’m out. I said a while back you can’t have a decent conversation with people that are so blinded by some weird hatred/bias/negativity that they can’t even post a response that has some balanced judgment in it.

The bloke could run into burning orphanage, save 30 kids and it would be the flames fault for not killing them quickly enough.

100% get this.

I've been a big supporter of Ole from day one, the main thing I love is how he's got the clubs best interests at heart and there is no personal agenda involved like there was with self obsessed Jose. As I said in my post earlier in the thread it doesn't matter what people think if I'm honest, he's getting a new contract and the board can say progression has been made again this season, trophy or not. 

As a fan I was of the opinion he needed to win a trophy this season but that's my opinion and it's more than likely not the same for the board members. Covid will have no doubt been in their thinking, investments that might have been made haven't and that's stunted the development of the team. I personally think if Covid hadn't have been a thing the Sancho deal would have gotten over the line and we'd have been a lot more competitive this season. I'm hoping it happens this summer so we can have no more excuses next year. 

In terms of fans never giving him a chance, well that's something we've all encountered over the last two and bit years, I've had mates who've said from day one he's not the man for the job.

My personal favourite is the "he did shite at Cardiff" brigade. I'm sorry to burst any fans bubble who like to use the Cardiff excuse but that was simply a case of poor decision making from a young manager, Pep or Klopp would have taken Cardiff down that season. Then you have the "he's only managed Molde" crew, who again forget to think logical. He's Norwegian, his family are Norwegian, why wouldn't he manage in Norway where his family can be at home. 

[DeadLinesman]

19 minutes ago, Danny said:

This is a strange post mate, the whole full-time employment argument never seems to be heard with other managers, but is now? Not like Ole’s a multi-millionaire or anything who’s biggest financial threat won’t be job security, also not like we’ve seen other managers hold dodgy boardrooms to account either because of the standards they set for themselves and the club. So it’s fair to accuse him of going along with the board if that’s what’s happening, or appears to be.

You talk about a lack of reality, he took over a team that half a season before comfortably finished 2nd with 80+ points and he’s yet to come close to replicating that, which is the job he was hired to do. Whenever United begin to look decent they fall away with no hope or game plan, losing or drawing consistently to teams you’ve no right to drop points against so often. He’s spent £300m since taking over and you still don’t look the team Mourinho had you playing like. That deserves criticism, heavy criticism. Over the last two seasons he’s spent as much as or more than Chelsea and Liverpool.

Last season you finished 3rd on 66 points, that’s less than what the old Arsenal sides who bottled the league and would end up fighting against 5th place would finish on. This season you’re looking good to end up on around 70-75 points, which again is what those Arsenal sides used to finish on in 4th place. Looking at these points totals it’s fair to say that you are fortunate that there isn’t a lot of quality around you and that you are just the best of a bad bunch, at least with Leicester you can say they haven’t spent anywhere near what the rest of the top 4 have and so they’re actually achieving something.

Don’t do a CC Is Klass, everyone else can handle criticisms of their team, in fact youve probably dug into Madlad or whoever for not being able to handle criticism of Liverpool, whether they’re right or wrong, but there seems to be some sort of “don’t talk about United unless it’s 100% accurate and is approved by us” mentality going on here, lighten up and have a conversation 

This is about as far off the mark as you could possibly be. Well done.

[Danny]

Just now, DeadLinesman said:

This is about as far off the mark as you could possibly be. Well done.

Well keep on posting in here about how you're not going to post in here 

[DeadLinesman]

4 minutes ago, Devil said:

My personal favourite is the "he did shite at Cardiff" brigade. I'm sorry to burst any fans bubble who like to use the Cardiff excuse but that was simply a case of poor decision making from a young manager, Pep or Klopp would have taken Cardiff down that season. Then you have the "he's only managed Molde" crew, who again forget to think logical. He's Norwegian, his family are Norwegian, why wouldn't he manage in Norway where his family can be at home. 

Add the ‘Arsenal used to get these points and finish 4th years ago’ crew. Ferguson must have been shite because Klopp and Pep have won the league with more points than he ever did. Shut the club down.

[DeadLinesman]

1 minute ago, Danny said:

Well keep on posting in here about how you're not going to post in here 

Will do. Cheers.

[Inverted]

I think he’s done alright but it feels bizarre to talk about CL qualification as an accomplishment when he’s got one of the most expensive squads in history. The base line for a United manager should be CL qualification and at least challenging for every cup.

I don’t think he’s done a bad job, but I also don’t think he’s ever going to be able to bring that team close to the levels of City’s or Liverpool’s title winning sides in the past 5 years. 

As long as Guardiola and Klopp are where they are, I don’t see United winning the league - so is the plan to keep him in the job until they clear off?

[Danny]

3 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

Add the ‘Arsenal used to get these points and finish 4th years ago’ crew. Ferguson must have been shite because Klopp and Pep have won the league with more points than he ever did. Shut the club down.

If pointing out that he spent £200m+ in his first full season and only accrued 66 points makes you touchy then I can see why you "don't" post about United