04 May 2026 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - Reddevilfan has posted a new article entitled, How United Get Back to Title Contention

1.) 04 May 2026
04 May 2026 11:04:33
Agree with all of that. For me the biggest issue we have had over the past decade as fans is we have created this saviour complex. Where we are looking for one man to come in and turn everything around and get us back to the top.

But that just isn't realistic in the modern game where clubs are now absolutely massive global businesses.

We don't need one man, we need a team of people who are all experts in their area to come in and work together.

Expecting a manager to run the team, recruitment, balance the books, run the branding, align the youth development, and be our chief of PR is not just unrealistic, it's setting managers up to fail.

We are reluctant to embrace this "head coach" title over "manager", yet that is something that is holding us back.

You either adapt to the changes in the football landscape or you go extinct trying to keep doing things the old way (the way that worked in the past).

Lots of people are overly hung up on who we appoint as manager this summer, but I really don't think it's as important as most fans think.

We now have a proper structure behind the scenes.
A CEO who will balance the books, but understands that we do so to run a successful team and not run the team to balance the books.
We have people put in place to run youth development, to ensure we have a production line of young players ready to move into the first team.
We have a full data analytics team who work closely with the recruitment team, youth teams and first team to identify what we need from players on a far more in depth basis.
We have overhauled the recruitment team, who now have clearer remits and areas to focus on when scouring the world for the best talent.
We also have a DoF/Technical director in Jason Wilcox whose job it is to bring this all together as part of a vision for how the club should play on the pitch. He understands football on multiple levels, and can be the man to keep a level of consistency across many years and potentially several managers.

Several of the key criteria that many fans feel the manager needs to meet are being fulfilled by other people at the club. Which is ultimately what we need to be able to be consistent.

Top clubs cannot be consistent when everything is built around a man who could be 10 bad games away from being fired. Managers aren't typically sacked because they have been poor for multiple years/seasons, it tends to all fall apart in less than half a season. You simply cannot build a club around a man whose position is so unstable.

The key to success is no longer hiring the biggest name or fanciest CV manager available, but about finding the right piece of the puzzle. The right manager who fits the rest of the club and the vision moving forward.

At United we need a manager who'll do three key things.

1. Play attractive and winning football. For a club out size and with our media attention there is an expectation that we entertain when we play.

2. Develop young players by incorporating them into the first team. Both academy and young signings.

3. Manage the clubs image during press conferences. They need to be someone who steadies the ship rather than someone who throws petrol on the fire. Our club attracts a lot of attention, often negative, they need to be the person who calms things down and gives the club space to operate without additional pressure.

That's it, that is all we need from a manager/head coach.

We don't want someone who'll be challenging the club or creating tension within the club.

We don't want someone who'll be overly involved in player recruitment, we've been down that route of signing players on 5 year contracts for a specific manager who has historically not even lasted 3 years.

We don't want a manager who feels the need to change the club to suit them or their vision.

We don't want someone whose ego comes before the club.

Ultimately if we want to get back into title contention then we need a squad capable, until we get that it just won't happen. People point to Pep, Klopp and Arteta but all of them oversaw a huge overhaul of the squads they inherited before they seriously were able to consistently challenge for major honours.

When players are signed on 5 year plus deals and managers on a maximum of a 3 year deal, it's clear that you are hiring a manager for the players and not signing players for the manager.

If the manager is successful then he stays longer, if not then you part ways and bring in a better suited replacement.

I know as United fans we find that difficult to grasp given the amount of time we had SAF as our manager, yet ultimately even he had to be successful to keep his job, to show he was moving us in the right direction.

2.) 04 May 2026
04 May 2026 12:28:29
A long way of saying what has been glaringly obvious. It goes back to Ed Woodward who, as chief executive, rested on United's laurels, a legacy he played no part in creating, believed financial success didn't hinge on playing success, thought he was capable of selecting players even though he had no experience in that realm, and generally let every aspect of the club stagnate. To him the club was only there to make money for his masters, and he was arrogant and/or stupid enough to think that success on the field was not that important.. but of course, in the longer term it is the thing that matters most of all.

The new management team has changed the structure and bought good players. Michael Carrick has brought a sense of calm at the centre of the storm. There's something about him on the sideline that commands his space. The players seem to want to play for him. Of course a series of bad results and that can change quickly, but, for me, I agree that the key to success is the team behind the team. We look like we've made great strides there. Iraola would probably be a great alternative, but that said, Carrick has achieved everything he was required to do. He should be given the job. It's up to the management team to provide him with the tools he needs to continue the upward direction.