2021/22 Premier League & General Football Discussion

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OooAhh Cantona
The Glazers do own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers... a team that literally has the worst total win percentage in NFL history. Just looking at the 25 years of their ownership, the Buccaneers have gone to the playoffs 8 times. So I'm sure they know how to run a successful team. :rolleyes:
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Indeed, credentials to be proud of, as is thier hugely successful ownership of United.

The kicker is, even if Ole goes, and he should and it sounds like he actually might based on tonights chatter, the Glazers will remain.
 
Dave A
Indeed, credentials to be proud of, as is thier hugely successful ownership of United.

The kicker is, even if Ole goes, and he should and it sounds like he actually might based on tonights chatter, the Glazers will remain.
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That’s my frustration. Ole is accountable for team results and his decisions, and he should be sacked (or rewarded) based on those results and decisions. But he has a ceiling in his ability and he can only perform to that ceiling. So who is accountable for retaining Ole this long and all the other managerial and transfer decisions?
 
Live footage coming in from the board room at Old Trafford....

cannonball GIF
 
Plenty happened today!

Leicester 0-3 Chelsea
Villa 2-0 Brighton
Wolves 1-0 West Ham
Norwich 2-1 Southampton
Burnley 3-3 Palace
Watford 4-1 Man United
Newcastle 3-3 Brentford
Liverpool 4-0 Arsenal

Liverpool and Chelsea both dominant against opposition who did do much...and you can add Watford to that too! A couple of goal-fests in there as well.

United are reportedly having an emergency board meeting where Ole's future is being discussed, for me there is no debate and that he has to go, he definitely should have gone after the derby defeat and I was surprised that he survived after that. I think he has done a job up to now but we have clearly gone backwards since the start of the season. He has taken us as far as he can.
 
Goals galore in the Premier League. Not often you get two 3-3 results on the same day, as well as lots of goals in other games. 😲 The three new managers all got good results, and at least didn't lose in their first games at the new clubs. ;) I watched the Villa v Brighton game, which was maybe not the best choice, and both teams were pretty poor. Watched most of Chel$ki, and they looked impressive, and maintain their lead at the top of the table. Great result for Liverpool in a good display. :)
 
Unless people are jumping the gun, I think Ole got sacked. Zidane is supposedly the preferred replacement.
 
dacc10
Unless people are jumping the gun, I think Ole got sacked. Zidane is supposedly the preferred replacement.
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I think my Mum would be preferred over OGS by now
 
Zidane wants a season break from management though, unless we make him an offer he cant refuse.
 
Touring Mars
I think my Mum would be preferred over OGS by now
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If her phone rings tomorrow, make sure she answers it. Just in case...

(it'll probably be an automated spam call about the "accident she had 2 weeks ago", but if the caller has a Scottish accent and says his name is Alex something...)
 
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Fab Romano is reporting that Ole has been sacked and the announcement it due soon, assistant Mike Phelan will be gone too, Carrick and Fletcher will take over on the interim.
 
MUSC4EVER
Fab Romano is reporting that Ole has been sacked and the announcement it due soon, assistant Mike Phelan will be gone too, Carrick and Fletcher will take over on the interim.
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Ole is officially gone, Carrick and Fletcher will take over while an interim manager is appointed to the end of the season.
 
Dave A
Carrick and Fletcher will take over while an interim manager is appointed to the end of the season
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Anyone got any idea what's actually going on at Old Trafford? This is batcrap insane.

They give OGS a 3y (plus optional year) contract in July 2021.
They give Mike Phelan a 3y contract as assistant in October 2021.
They sack OGS and promote Michael Carrick (what) above Phelan as caretaker.
They won't make a permanent appointment until July 2022, but they will make an interim appointment between presumably December and July.


If they're looking for a permanent manager, why not now and why do they not know who they want? Why squander the January transfer window with an interim boss who doesn't know what the team will be like in August and can't recruit accordingly? If they only want someone in charge until the end of the season, why sack OGS now and not give him - the guy who's been working with the players and has them 4pt off European places despite apparently being terrible - until the end of the season (and a transfer window); he can't be a worse prospect than whoever is willing to manage the team for a maximum of six months and will come in without knowing the players. And what if the interim guy is good, and they'll appoint them (like they did OGS) but they've burned one transfer window and clearly doesn't need to recruit too many in the summer window?

And why sack him first game back after a break for internationals rather than what Norwich, Newcastle, and Aston Villa did, giving their new managers two weeks to work with with the squad before a competitive game?


Also you're getting Steve Bruce. Six months and no more suits him perfectly (last lastest job ever ever ever ever ever ever), and the club association will be too much for the Glazers to ignore.

It's going to be beautiful.
 
Famine
Anyone got any idea what's actually going on at Old Trafford? This is batcrap insane.

They give OGS a 3y (plus optional year) contract in July 2021.
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1. Nope. And those inside the corridors also have no ideas.

2. I was shocked by the contract extension as an outsider. It's not like Fleetwood Town was going to jump at the opportunity to sign Ole. (I know, Fleetwood Town supporters be like "don't insult us.") However, there may be other reasons (outside of football results as there have been no trophies) for the contract extension such as showing stability for current players to extend their contracts or for next Summer's transfer targets (e.g. Haaland), or business reasons such as valuation of the club/assets.

The Glazers had an easy job when they purchased the club... stay out of the way. David Gill and Sir Alex were in charge. Now eyes are on Ed Woodward and the Glazers. 4 managers hired, 4 managers sacked, no league titles. Common denominator?
 
Well its been coming of course and after yesterday Ole can have no complaints. He is still a club legend IMO and I have nothing against him whatsoever, he stablised the club after Mourinho and took us forward and he just couldn't take us any further and that's all.

The way the club is handling this is pretty shambolic, perfect opportunity during the international break which was somehow squandered, they did sack him but not his backroom staff so they've thrown Ole to the wolves, Carrick in charge for now then hiring an interim before maybe someone permanent in the summer does seem sensible also sounds confusing.

Where the interim manager is going to come from I have no idea but I can see Carrick doing it if he does well in next couple of games, we do have big games ahead too both away to Villareal and Chelsea, My choices for permanent manager would either be Zidane, Pochettino or Ten Hag.
 
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Famine
Anyone got any idea what's actually going on at Old Trafford? This is batcrap insane.

They give OGS a 3y (plus optional year) contract in July 2021.
They give Mike Phelan a 3y contract as assistant in October 2021.
They sack OGS and promote Michael Carrick (what) above Phelan as caretaker.
They won't make a permanent appointment until July 2022, but they will make an interim appointment between presumably December and July.
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Nope, I don't think anyone does. What goes on in Manchester United board meetings, stays in Manchester United board meetings, along with whatever logic was used to come up with any final decisions. There is a history of bad decision making going way back before Solskjaer.

Whether it's failing to offer a contract to a regular starter only to see them confirm they've already decided where they're going next by the time you finally do offer said contract to offering new long term contracts far too soon. We gave Moyes a 5 year contract before sacking him in his first season remember.
Famine
If they're looking for a permanent manager, why not now and why do they not know who they want? Why squander the January transfer window with an interim boss who doesn't know what the team will be like in August and can't recruit accordingly? If they only want someone in charge until the end of the season, why sack OGS now and not give him - the guy who's been working with the players and has them 4pt off European places despite apparently being terrible - until the end of the season (and a transfer window); he can't be a worse prospect than whoever is willing to manage the team for a maximum of six months and will come in without knowing the players. And what if the interim guy is good, and they'll appoint them (like they did OGS) but they've burned one transfer window and clearly doesn't need to recruit too many in the summer window?
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The only logical reason would be that behind the scenes we already know who we want and they've agreed to come at the end of the season but no sooner.

Solskjaer had to go, keeping him any longer was suicide as far as results and performances go. He'd clearly lost the dressing room and once that happens time has to be called. Not sacking him after the Liverpool result was a show of loyalty that he didn't deserve, not sacking him after the derby was insane. It was the ideal time to make the call and get an interim or permanent manger sorted.

We should be doing what we can to bring in a new permanent manager, I only hope (though I doubt that hope is well founded) that we have someone great lined up for the summer and that's why we aren't doing it now.
Famine
And why sack him first game back after a break for internationals rather than what Norwich, Newcastle, and Aston Villa did, giving their new managers two weeks to work with with the squad before a competitive game?
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Because.
Famine
Also you're getting Steve Bruce. Six months and no more suits him perfectly (last lastest job ever ever ever ever ever ever), and the club association will be too much for the Glazers to ignore.
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That's.

Just.

Cruel.
Famine
It's going to be beautiful.
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It is for Ole, he fails and walks away with £7.5m. I love my job, but I'd happily take being sacked for that.
 
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The fact that an interim manager is even needed shows that Manchester United have no plan at all.
 
We are still making bad decisions away from the management situation.

How about letting Lingard go on a free next summer when we could have got money for him last summer, and letting Pogba go on a free nearly a decade ago, resigning him for £89 million and then letting him go on a free again which sounds like the most Man united thing ever...
 
MUSC4EVER
We are still making bad decisions away from the management situation.

How about letting Lingard go on a free next summer when we could have got money for him last summer, and letting Pogba go on a free nearly a decade ago, resigning him for £89 million and then letting him go on a free again which sounds like the most Man united thing ever...
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Indeed, there are questionable deciisons all over the place. I'm sure some are down to Ole, not using Van de Beek or Sancho for example, promising players game time and not providing it etc. But we're certainly well versed in throwing money away, whether it's refusing to sell fringe players and lose them for free or making Sanchez the highest plaid player in the league.
 
He had to be sacked. No other coach got as many chances as he did. Playing defensive, and the only thing they can do consistently, is conceding a ton of goals. Something is wrong and needs to change. If you have players that are great on the ball, why is giving it away and playing defensive the playstyle? It's actually quite similar with our national team, great players, great talent, yet giving away the ball and try to "survive" even against weaker teams.
 
Liquid
The fact that an interim manager is even needed shows that Manchester United have no plan at all.
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Exactly. Fission mailed.

And if they hire Pochettino in the Summer... when he was available after leaving Tottenham... :banghead:
 
Not that I keep a close eye on what goes on at Man Utd, but it is a bit hard not to atm. The lack of planning ahead seems astounding for such a big club. 😲 Villa, Newcastle and Norwich boards could see the writing on the wall as far as prospects for the season were, and took decisive action, at the right time. They also seemingly had plans in place when they took the decisions to change managers. Utd's form is not a sudden occurrence, so where is the plan!

What they have come up with seems baffling, and I can't see how a caretaker manager, followed by an interim manager till the end of the season, when a new manager will supposedly come in, is any recipe for never mind success, but changing anything in any positive way with such, you would think, continued uncertainty going through till the end of the season, and with all the speculation that will inevitably be about to come.

That they are not trying to get a permanent manager now, and will fumble along till the end of the season may indicate they have someone who they may have to wait for. But with this Utd board, I wouldn't put money on that being the case. 🙄
 
Man City 3-0 Everton
Spurs 2-1 Leeds

Very comfortable win for City, Sterling with the first goal right before half time with a stunning assist from Cancelo, Rodri scored a 25-yard banger for the second and Bernardo Silva got the third. Spurs came back to win, Dan James put Leeds in front at the end of the first half but Spurs were much better in the second half with Hojbjerg and Reguilon with the goals to give Spurs the win.
 
Dimitri Payet receiving another filled bottle on his head as he was about to take a corner, just a couple of minutes in as Olympique de Marseille played Olympique Lyonnais away. Match aborted for over an hour, decision comes to resume it, OM refuses and eventually the match is cancelled.
 
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Steve Bruce trending on Twitter, apparently "interested" in the interim role and posited by some pundits as a good fit...

homer simpson licks lips GIF
 
Famine
Steve Bruce trending on Twitter, apparently "interested" in the interim role and posited by some pundits as a good fit...

homer simpson licks lips GIF
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Not exactly the solution most Man U supporters have in mind, I bet...
 
"Williams looking to replace George Russell with Jacques Villeneuve."
 
Man United have reportedly spoken to Erneste Valverde about becoming interim manager until the summer, I like Valverde and think he will be a good choice, he managed Barcelona a few years ago of course and Valencia on an interim basis as well, never managed in England but does speak good English.

Pocchettino in the summer looks likely, cant really get him now even if he wants the job, would cost £8 million...
 
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MUSC4EVER
Man United have reportedly spoken to...
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... Steve Bruce's agent.

Admittedly that's from MailOnline, which is a bit like getting tips from a racist howler monkey, but no less enjoyable for it.
 
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