08 Jun 2020 12:44:04
Hi Eds. I know Ed002 has said several times Man Utd are poorly run and getting the crucial decisions wrong. I can agree with that.
However, just for a glimmer of hope what in your opinion are they actually doing right in the last say 2-3 years?
Thanks in advance for your views.

{Ed002's Note - The obvious "right" thing has been the signing of Bruno Fernandes. Aside from that I can see little on the footballing side. They still need a proper Director of Football and they need to make sure they do not slip up next season. Not paying down the debt and keeping cash back may not have been the best idea if they do not make it to the Champions League. They revamped the scouting network three or four years ago and did not put enough thought in to it. Mr Mourinho wanted it reworked again under a proper structure with a DoF and that might have paid dividends going forward as the club needs to be finding the Bellinghams and not paying significant fees for them when so young. They also need to deal better with "agents" via a DoF and not an accountant.}

1.) 08 Jun 2020
08 Jun 2020 13:16:18
Sounds like the club are denial ED002. Surely they must be looking at other successful clubs and thinking why can't we be like that.

Do you think the club under the current set up will ever appoint a DOF? I know in the past yiu haven't spoken fondly about Woodward and co.

{Ed002's Note - They are not looking to at the moment.}

2.) 08 Jun 2020
08 Jun 2020 18:45:26
Hi Ed002.

{Ed002's Note - No. You need to stop asking for names.}

3.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 09:06:10
you have to laugh you really do. we have not got with the times.

stubborn fools at the helm, poorly run behind the scenes. outdated stadium.

ive said it enough times, but until we stop making the money nothing will change behind the scenes.

shambles of a club.

4.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 11:34:24
You can kind of understand the thought process though.

The difference between winning the UCL and merely being in the UCL in monetary terms is maybe as much as 20m if your knocked out at the group stages, make the quarters or semi's and that figure might drop down to a few million.

Same with the league, the difference in prize money from finishing 1st or 5th is as little as 5m.

The difference in prize money between a season where the club finishes 1st and makes the UCL final or 4th and makes the quarter finals of the UCL might be around 10m.

We could sign a sponsorship deal that guarantees more money each year than winning the league.

If I was an investor I know where I'd want my money spent. As a club we have spent the best part of 1 billon pounds in 7 years without winning the league. While in the same time for just the wages of a few people working on sponsorship deals the club have earned more money back for its investment.

From an investment point of view the club has been a shining light, from a football point of view we are lost at sea.

There is no excuse though, for the amount of money spent we should be achieving far more on the pitch. The money has been spent poorly and key footballing decisions have been poorly made. We have outspent many sides finishing above us. The issue is that the money hasn't been spent wisely.

Our main target this summer is Jadon Sancho, he is clearly a top level talent, yet we are supposedly having a free run at him because no one else thinks he is worth the asking price. Yet the club are looking to spend the best part of 200m in total to bring in a player for who we aren't even his first choice. He wants to go to London, ideally to Chelsea. Yet Chelsea have pulled out of any deal due to his asking price. They have spent 38m on Ziyech in January, are looking at 50m on Werner and possibly following that up with around 60m on Chilwell. While they are also looking at another wide player if possible.

So they made the choice improve one area of the side or strengthen the entire squad. While Sancho might have had a bigger individual impact at Chelsea next season he is unlikely to match the kind of impact Werner, Ziyech and Chilwell would have.

I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy if we signed Sancho. I would be over the moon. But we could sign 2 or 3 players who would between them have a bigger impact. Maybe if we signed a different wide player we would also be able to sign someone like Upamecano and solidify our defence, or a top level CDM such as Partey, or maybe we could have brought in Werner as competition for Martial.

Sancho is a top young talent who will improve our side. Yet I can't shake the feeling that he is being prioritised over other options because he is far more "marketable", and our side might be weaker overall for it.

5.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 13:17:49
Shappy i think you are overthinking the sancho deal.

He is one of the best young attacking players in the world, which is the obvious reason to sign him. Having him rashford, martial and greenwood means our attack could be set fair for a decade near enough.

If we just signed sancho this summer as our only signing, i think that would be a great window for the club.

6.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 14:54:23
DSG, like I said I wouldn't be unhappy if we sign Sancho, and I agree that if signed he could form part of our forward line for the next decade.

However, all I'm suggesting is putting all your eggs in one basket can backfire.

We could spend our entire budget on one player then that player might struggle or get injured. While other areas of the side that needed strengthening go on without.

At Chelsea if Werner struggles or gets injured then Ziyech and Chilwell will still make them a stronger side, increasing their chances of a top four finish next season.

7.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 18:06:47
From the original post, 002 I want to ask. Obviously oles pedigree does not bode well, do you personally see any improvement since day one on his part? If no, do you see any way he can learn and handle the mantle of being united manager? Do you think he’d be helped by having a dof?

Obviously it’s very easy for us united fans to back who will always be a club legend but red tinted specs off I do worry. The general demeanour of the club on the surface seems okay and the players seem to have camaraderie but I do believe he should only be the stop gap. I think bringing phelan back was also an error, during fergies latter years we went more and more defensive with him as assistant.

{Ed002's Note - Manchester United have improved with results. Recruitment remains an issue. If there was a DoF (like Marcel Brands at Everton) with the skillset to instill a styale across the entire club and get the youth coming through then it would be a great improvement. Really should have left OGS as a temporary manager, sorted out the structure, eased Pogba on etc., and then looked to the future with a new coach.}

8.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 18:11:41
Shappy I agree to an extent, the money involved for Sancho I think could get us Chiesa or Adama obviously cheaper. Chiesa as a young Italian I’d worry as to settling and adama although very much improved only works again to our counterattack style. But it would leave funds elsewhere to strengthen. Much depends on pogba allowed to leave or not imo, I think if he goes we’ll sign Grealish and also another mid. CB I don’t think is pressing personally.

9.) 09 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 20:25:26
I know you don’t like to speculate but who do you think that person should have been ala future with a new coach?

{Ed002's Note - They screwed up the deal with Allegri, did not support Mr Mourinho. Jorge Jesus would have been a good choice.}

10.) 10 Jun 2020
09 Jun 2020 23:50:37
Has ole got full backing off the club?

{Ed002's Note - I doubt it.}

11.) 10 Jun 2020
10 Jun 2020 08:05:49
Well ole hasn't done that bad of a job has he.

Love the slating yet he's took the club on 2 unbeaten runs that neither of the previous 3 managers could manage.

I'm not sure combined.

And this is the worst united team in the past 30 years apparently.

12.) 10 Jun 2020
10 Jun 2020 13:17:39
Bolger, I've asked all the Ole out brigade numerous times to list the mistakes he has made, and no one can come up with any. Recruitment has gone well under Ole, the players who have left are players everyone has wanted moving on for a long time, Ole has the record for longest unbeaten run, generally we play better football, most of our squad have improved, we now have a captain who seems right to be a United captain, he has given many academy lads game time and has seen a couple make their mark in the squad. All this while changing the feeling around the club and bringing the right attitude back to the dressing room.

Also before the break we were the most in form team in the league, reeling in those above us and going for a top four finish and in good stead to challenge for the FA cup and the Europa League.

All in all pretty good. The things against him is he isn't Pep or Klopp, and he doesn't have a fantastic CV (although he has more titles won as a manager than Pochetino) .

While I sadly doubt he has what it takes to be a title winning Manchester United manager, he hasn't as yet done anything but take the club forward, so we can't really sack him without making the managers job at United untenable.

If we can make 2 or 3 good signings this summer and our young players continue to improve and kick on then next season could be our best season since Sir Alex retired. If we do poorly next season then we might have grounds to move Ole on.