Manchester United Banter Mobile

30 Apr 2024 14:55:25
On the announcement that all the squad is up for sale except some of the young players that have broken into the first team seems a case of a complete re boot .
Looking at the vast first team squad I see up to 36 players some obviously out on loan .
Contract end dates will be crucial as part of the exercise and previous years have proven difficult to move players on especially when they are on good salaries compared to other clubs but still in contract for a year or more.

I suggest that the exercise falls into three categories if my information is correct

Category A
Contracts or loan finish June 2024 .
Heaton, Evan's, Amrabat, Martial ( at last ) . Suggest at best we obtain £5m for Heaton .

Category B .
Contracts that finish summer 2025.
Lindelof, Maguire, Varane, Van-Bissaka, Erickson, Ahmad, Von -Beek, Mctominay, Hannibal, Greenwood . Suggest in the region of best £100m to £130m if all sold this summer .
This is the important category because many at present will attract some sort of fee but if we fail to move on this summer by following year they are able to walk away free!


Category C .
Various contracts that finish between 2026 and 2028!
Salaries range from £20k to £350k a week that includes some young players and then the likes of Casemero, Rashford, Fernandes, Anthony, Mount etc.
Difficult category this one not many clubs will be attracted to match salaries and offer MU the transfer price required .

Obviously some players in category B will possibly be offered one year extensions to try and safe guard the asset.

The new managerial team have a vast task to try and clear suggest up to approx twelve players then recruit possibly four automatic first team players so reducing the squad size.
Additionally as part of the mix the possibility of a new coach / manager with their staff if ETH is seen to run out of time.

What's everyone's view trying to take away any personal grudges on any certain players?

30 Apr 2024 08:53:22
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, West Ham United v Liverpool - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

28 Apr 2024 18:35:51
Marco Van Basten: “I saw Rashford play against Coventry. What was this guy doing? It was an unbelievable sight. Didn't make any runs, didn't try anything on the ball, passing every ball he received straight back. He looks like he is playing indoor football with his buddies. "
I wonder, is this abuse as well?

28 Apr 2024 19:43:42
Rashford seems to not recognise that the issue isn't his form, it's that his workrate for his teammates is appalling. He is highlighted because he is doing less with more.
However no player should get taunted by anyone. I'd count myself as a critic of Rashford. However if I saw him on the street I'd either go about my own business or I'd wish him well. It'd never enter my mind to remonstrate with him. The same of his social media profiles. That anyone does that is an awful reflection of themselves. Keep it to places like this.
Ideally that philosophy would extend to game attendance - though that is hard when he's making no effort - as that's what support should be; it's easy to support when winning.

28 Apr 2024 20:38:42
Marco Van Basten is spot on.
Hopefully Rashford take this onboard. Were all fed up with the woe is me act now.

Had this been 6/ 7 games where he had been poor then I could understand him complaining about getting criticism.

28 Apr 2024 21:46:43
He won’t though will he. Just expect everyone to sit quietly now out of guilt. Clever pr ploy to blame the fans rather than self reflect. Pathetic and a symptom of many a modern footballer sadly.

28 Apr 2024 22:22:21
Rashford is a victim here. Do people not understand abuse from fans makes you not track back or put effort in.

This "abuse" is just a smokescreen for him to use the fans as an excuse for wanting a move.

29 Apr 2024 08:04:30
We can all see the lack of effort. I likened watching him and Martial playing together once like playing with 9 men as they simply jog around, don’t press, and make few runs. So temperamental in terms of mood and effort.

They’re all tracked during matches, the data will be clear to see for everyone at the club. So the question again is why is he starting every match for us in this form? There are zero implications for him. Play well and score goals, here’s a huge contract. Jog around, make no effort, put your team at risk, oh well you can start again anyway next week on your whopping new contract. Makes no sense, unless there is a ridiculous clause meaning he has to play.

I know he’s injured and didn’t play this weekend, and the available options up front for a club our size is an absolute embarrassment and testament to the amateurs in charge, but even so.

29 Apr 2024 10:26:50
The whole thing is a conundrum.
What's going on in the player's head, his lack of spark or energy this season.
Ten Hag picking him throughout much of that.
The complete media meltdown and outright hostility towards Rashford.

29 Apr 2024 18:55:27
Spenno,

I think part of the problem is that Rashford gets picked by Southgate regardless of his form. The same went for Maguire.

Were all hoping for Garnacho on the left and Diallo on the right but that won't happen as Anything will always be picked over Diallo l.

29 Apr 2024 20:11:46
I was never going for that and I don't think most people were.

29 Apr 2024 21:26:45
Maguire amd McT got plenty of stick last year, their reaction to knuckle down and fight for their place and we as supporters appreciate that even if they aren't that great.

What annoys the fans in the lack of effort, opposition players walking passed him with the ball and he still strolls around.

Show some effort Marcus and the criticism will stop.

30 Apr 2024 11:09:44
I don't appreciate mctom or maguire at all.
Sure they try but they are not good enough.
Get them out and down the road.

27 Apr 2024 22:30:35
Cannot beleive for a minute SJR has put money into the club to sit and watch that turgid dross - If he is anywhere close to being this pro active clever businessman he is supposed to be from any angle he looks at the club ETH is toast.

27 Apr 2024 23:42:56
What you on about…we are one of the most exciting and dynamic teams in the league! 🤷‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️.

28 Apr 2024 07:15:52
ETH is seriously losing it or smoking that Dutch stuff too much!

To say openly that we will be lucky to finish top 3 is not exactly motivational, nor good business when we will struggle as it is to attract players.

To say we are one of the most dynamic teams. WHAT THE?

Sorry clog stomper but I’m now officially on the get you out bus.

28 Apr 2024 07:44:48
Remember when RR gave that speech about open heart surgery and needing 8-10 players.

A year later everyone said oh look RR was right after all.

Let's be honest EtH is right. With a fully fit squad we would be in a fight for the top 4. We are so far from competing with City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

28 Apr 2024 08:15:00
Clog stomper Keefy, really? 🤦‍♂️
Honestly the casual racism that gets through on this site not a good look. This is the third time in the past couple of months I’ve read something like this.

28 Apr 2024 08:34:39
Agreed Mad Hatter.

The manager tells the truth at a press conference and he's put to the sword. In 12 months time under when we are no better off under Southgate people will look back and say EtH was right.

28 Apr 2024 09:09:20
No Man Utd manager should say that out loud Mad Hatter ever ever 🤣.

28 Apr 2024 09:21:46
He might be right…infact we know he is. That doesn’t mean he isn’t part of the problem also. Tactics? In game management, player decisions, recruitment all things he’s in control of and they’ve been poor. His style might work in Holland where Ajax are the big boys and the opposition doesn’t punish you, but in the premier league he’s been found out. The players are poor so that exacerbates the tactical flaws even more. We’ve seen the same thing happen all season but still things stay the same, that’s very telling for me.

28 Apr 2024 09:29:29
Whoa you can’t be slinging around such offensive terms as clog stomper and accusing people of drug use just because they’re Dutch, angry and clueless.

28 Apr 2024 10:22:29
Wow. Calm down. It’s legal in Holland.

You just called them Dutch, angry and clueless! 😂

FYI one of my best mates is Dutch. We met when I lived in Holland. He often says he is a cloggie or clog s*****r when asked where he is from.

He calls me a dirty Manc, a Pom and a pasty ginger but I don’t get offended.

28 Apr 2024 11:02:34
ETH has puzzled me with his comments and some decisions but I think I'm just frustrated the team is not doing well, but I want ETH to stay. He has started from zero and had a lot to contend with. I don't want someone new come in and start again from zero. I think he's a smart man and will have success with time. I think the players he has at the minute are mostly poor in quality and maybe only has 3 or 4 players ready to play for Man Utd along with some young players with potential.

28 Apr 2024 11:49:58
But he’s not trying anything new. Him and his coaching team persist with the same tactics that clearly don’t work, and same training methods that are resulting in multiple injuries.

Now there is an argument that they were so unfit, that his regime is taking its toll as they adjust. We saw Liverpool under Klopp go through the same as they adapted to high energy and high press football. So confused on how to judge his work at the club. All I know is, Southgate cannot be the answer.

28 Apr 2024 12:02:42
Keefy if that’s how you and your mate speak to one another privately that’s your prerogative but a public forum isn’t the place.

In roughly 14 years of contributing to these pages under this username and one or two lost logins, I haven’t seen the levels of casual racism been accepted as has been recently. Each time I’ve called it out and my post has received several likes, so it’s not just me.

I get that many people are frustrated and want the manager out. That’s fine. But it doesn’t need to get personal, and casual racism should never be accepted.

28 Apr 2024 12:49:30
Completely agree Eric79. That's where I am with it.
I sway from keeping him to getting rid.
I do think tuchel would be the best appointment, Southgate would be another mistake.
The pros to keeping ten hag unfortunately are out weighed by the cons.
He hasn't got the best out of any player. His purchases have all been woeful, I don't think I'd keep one. 2 seasons in there's no patterns of play, no defined style.
The question I ask myself is, can ten hag get us closer to the top teams. I don't think he can.

28 Apr 2024 13:45:03
Tuchel, the pound shop Klopp :D
I'm sure this place is going to be a mess of everyone stating/ restating their stance on EtH for the rest of the season, if not after every game. Looks like it's all ramped up again today, fueled by some admittedly bizarre comments in his post-match conference.
Still hangs in the balance for me although with each dropped point or concentration-blip leading to a goal it swings away from him. No manager has implemented an enjoyable style post-Fergie, and few if any have covered themselves in glory with their signings. It hasn't 'clicked' for any of them.
And I think that's why they'll keep him, at least through the summer window. SJR said at the very start that if the same thing keeps happening to different managers, they're not the problem - it needs to be dealt with above them. They've literally only just started doing that, and arguably barely at all as two of the people they want can't even sit at their desks.

28 Apr 2024 15:05:40
Hatter. I think most of us agreed with Rangnick when he said that we needed 8-10 signings straight away, not one year later. The problem is, here we are two years on from him saying that having brought in 16 new players (10 permanent), yet we’re still an absolute mess with no recognizable style of play.

We needed open heart surgery, but trusted somebody who was and still is woefully under qualified to carry it out.

28 Apr 2024 15:13:57
Let's be honest, the club replacing the manager has been an open secret for months.

They haven't come out an said they are backing EtH for next season, and with all the speculation that is running around that silence is as good as an admission that they will look to replace him.

They have been exploring potential managerial options, gathering information and according to rumours (almost certainly true ones) even speaking to a few agents to gauge interest.

The media know that the manager will be replaced, people within football know it, the fans know it, the players know it, while the manager will know it too.

EtH has been a dead man walking for months, nothing more than a placeholder until the club can replace him as smoothly as possible.

Absolutely no doubt that it has impacted the final third of our season. The players performances look like players going through the motions full in the knowledge that the man leading them won't be managing them next season.

When the going is easy everything is fine, but the moment they have to dig in or find some resilience there is nothing there. They are struggling for motivation to fight for a lost cause.

There is no chance of UCL football next season, there is no chance that performances could save the manager, while many of them are probably aware that their own time at the club is coming to a close and they will likely be moved on in the summer. I'd imagine most have been told as much through their agent who will have been told by the club that they should look for a new club for their client. That sort of thin takes time, and can't be held back until after the end of the season.

So exactly what do the players have to play for other than maybe a little professional pride? They can't get UCL, they can't save the manager, and they can't save their own United career.

This is now an impossible situation akin to Rangnick's final few months when it was clear he wasn't going to be staying in any authoritative capacity. Nothing to play for, but games to just get through.

For context look over at Liverpool and their collapse this season under one of the best managers around. Players know the manager won't be there next season, we've seen Klopp and Salah fall out the other day, 100% that wouldn't have happened if Salah knew Klopp was going to be there next season. They had a few injuries and dropped out of the cups, fell behind in the league and the players know they don't really have anything to play for left. Several probably realise that the new manager will make changes and that their time at the club is probably soon ending.

It's not as bad as it is at United, but players motivation and drive does naturally drop a little when they know the person they are playing for is leaving.

Probably United's worst season under SAF was the year he said he'd be retiring early on in the season. He then went back on it and our performances started to pick up. That was SAF, arguably our greatest ever manager seeing his side's form drop once they knew he was leaving.

Th reality is at the top of the game even a 5% drop in effort will see a massive drop off in performance.

The only way our season had any real chance of turning around would have been for the club to offer EtH a new deal when SJR took over. Even if it was a deal with a clause or something. Just a show of faith to make everyone believe EtH was going to be the manager next season.

When that didn't come it quickly became apparent that EtH was a dead man walking, that filters down to the players and we get these limp performances we are seeing. We've seen it happen to some of the very best managers, there really is very little any manager can do once his players know he's a goner.

28 Apr 2024 15:32:11
Why is tuchel a pound shop klopp?

28 Apr 2024 15:32:37
Is ten hag a pound shop van gaal?

28 Apr 2024 15:42:59
Mad hatter RR laid into United and their dysfunctional operations in an interview a few years before he came to United, he continued to do it when he was at the club, many fans thought he was right at the time and regret he wasnt given a position upstairs - once again the suits got it wrong.

When ETH leaves what will he actually be remembered for? very little I would say - and the fact that the last 6 weeks he is soumding more and more like Potter in his last days at Chelsea and Ole in his last days with us is very worrying but an indicator of him knowing the jig is up.

28 Apr 2024 16:00:29
No, it doesn’t flow as well Tom!

28 Apr 2024 16:06:08
I hadn’t seen it as a secret for 6 months he’d be leaving at all Shappy. Really wouldn’t surprise me if they give him another shot backing him properly. But maybe you’re right, I’m obviously out of touch. Can’t say any mooted replacements other than Nagelsmann fill me with joy. Trouble is (like Southgate) he has obligations. There’d be no preseason again, and how often is a poor preseason used as an excuse for a poor following campaign.
On the plus side, maybe Poch or Wilder will be available!

28 Apr 2024 17:17:51
ETH utterings are also helping him out the door. Throwing 19-year-olds under the bus, the entertaining comment and then we won’t win the league next year. That is all whilst senior top level football people, best in class, are trying to persuade players to sign and the manager they might play for is waving the white flag. I would be amazed if the new senior management didn’t think that was not helpful. Maybe it is true but should never be said like that.

30 Apr 2024 07:11:00
Regardless of what the manager thinks, he needs to keep it behind closed doors.

Careless comments like that would seem to suggest that he knows he won't be here next year and feels more free to make RR style statements.

I for one am disappointed it didn't work out. When he came in I thought he was ideaL for us, taking a tougher line, clearing our some of the dross and bringing in some exciting players. He had a good first season, but season two has been a shambles at times, and yet we still have an FA Cup Final.

As Shap said, if the new management had come in and extended his contract then that would have given him more power in the dressing room and maybe we would have had a different second half to the season.

Understandably they decided to take stock and assess how to move forward, and unfortunately the performances haven't warranted a new contract for Ten Hag. I assume that a decision will be based on Wilcox's assessments, but he can have no arguments if we part ways.

27 Apr 2024 21:31:48
Sir Jim has apparently met with “super-agent” Jorges Mendes, whose clients include:

Gonçalo Ramos

Diogo Costa

Jaoa Neves

Ruben Neves

Lenny Yoro

Rayan Ait Neuri

Wonder if he’s using his charm to grease the wheels for a deal or two?

28 Apr 2024 00:26:15
Utd are interested in Joao Neves out of that list and maybe Ait-Nouri.

Could be talking about being back JM or Ronaldo 👀😂.

28 Apr 2024 09:13:27
Why would Ratcliffe meet with agents when he's nothing to do with the football structure 🤦‍♂️.

28 Apr 2024 09:44:32
Could he be meeting him for sales?

I’m sure he represents some of our players too.

28 Apr 2024 11:51:22
I guess because our CEO and Ashworth are not yet legally in place at the club?