15 Aug 2026 20:33:00
Typical overreaction. It was only Amorim, be is a crap manager.

Can anyone see what is happening.

We have a manager who has a vision yet when that vision is laid out in front of the owners they baulk at the concept of signing player required to fulfill that vision. Said manager leaves to be replaced with a yes man.

Yes man goes on run, secures Champions League football, which was going to be secured anyway.

However yes man is ecstatic to be here and won't upset the apple cart, as it is his UTD that he played for and why would be do that. The owners are happy, they have the puppet to use what he has and not ask for too much.



They have their fall guy.

Maybe he gets out of the group, maybe he secures top 4 this year.
If he does amazing! If he doesn't they dump him and bring in the next manager to support them financially enough to see progress. That progress leads to a gelled team that nabs Champions League, and the requests for players are turned down and the No man upsets the apple cart. In comes the next yes man.

All becoming a bit too predictable these days.

Or.

We could be fine, take the league by storm and be champions in May!

1.) 15 Aug 2026
15 Aug 2026 21:55:34
Rinse and repeat.
They didn't want to back Amorim, bought in to play a system, but didn't want to invest in making that system work. Are they backing this manager? He's being set up to fail like so many before him.


We've seen our spending go down when we secure Champ League football, and it looks like so far that will be the case in this window.
It's funny how no other club has a problem paying fees for players they want.

2.) 15 Aug 2026
15 Aug 2026 22:08:08
Since 2019 the club has accrued £375m in losses. If the debt is going to be reduced, resulting in lower interest charges, then that has to change. A start has been made, but it's going to take years to rectify the cumulative financial damage caused by incompetence, exacerbated by Covid. The club needs to see a good trend. So, yes, they're going to try and hold the line on transfers and wages, which is not to say there will be no other signings in the next two weeks. There may well be.

Over the last 10 years the club has spent £2bn gross on transfers and £1.35bn net, which is the highest in football. I don't make much of this claim that they make the Champions League and then pull back.

All I see is a decade of managerial incompetence. The club has spent enough money to be qualifying regularly.

That said, you would think that the difference between making the Champions League and not is so financially significant that they would be prepared to splash out on at least one highly significant player this window. They can certainly afford to spend another £100-£150m this window and with a decent Champions League run a proper profit this coming season for the first time in 7 years while putting themselves in a position to continue on the right path the following year.

3.) 15 Aug 2026
15 Aug 2026 23:15:19
That's the point, New Name.
Why do they keep the process going? Why not...

1. Have the transfer and wage structure in place.
2. Build the academy up to be a net positive for players for the first team, or revenue to pay down the debt, or increase spending to develop the first team, or all three.
3. Support a manager capable of delivering the style of football United is accustomed to from their 2 sustained periods of success.

Of course, we, as fans, oversimplify the situation.



In the background, they may very well be executing the above steps, albeit they had a slight rewind due to Amorim imploding.

They could have found a gem in Carrick, and we are at the start of a third sustained period of success. He had the momentum and form at the back end of the season to suggest we could very well be in the mixer this season.

I hope they have done. I'll support the team and manager, as I do at the start of every season, and I'll try not to become negative too early!!

4.) 16 Aug 2026
16 Aug 2026 03:43:20
I feel like this is turning into a perennial complaint, but tragic lack of midfielder and back up striker aside. We really have got pretty crap fullbacks. In the modern game, fullbacks can transform a team, and I really hope we get a first choice leftback. We probably need a first choice right back too, but I don't even think the most irrational fan is expecting that.

Shame.

Shaw has been terrible this pre season, and he cannot play two games a week, or 5 games in 5 weeks in a non World Cup year. Let's hope this game was the wake up call we needed.