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JohnC6

JohnC6

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I'm a Spurs fan but lately have enjoyed watching Man-U win and the reason is that they have a thouroughly decent Ole GS at the helm who will sure be given the full time job. He deserves his success.Like many fans I used to hate (don't like that word really..lol) but hated to see them snatch an undeserved victory from a team, especially an underdog in the last minutes of a game.They did that often. before the recent demise.The VAR decision on that penalty last night v PSG knocking PSG out of the Champions League tournament can be debated...I think the studio panel on BT Sport along with many other pundits didn't think it was a penalty,especially Rio Ferdinand...but that aside I was very pleased for OGS. I think many football fans are.

I wonder what Mourinho is thinking ? Word is he'll get the Real Madrid job.

I've never seen OGS lose his temper with a Fourth official, never heard him bad-mouth another team nor manager.. he's a breath of fresh air.His post-match interviews are calm and measured and gtalkjs positively about the opposing team

On OGS's first day as caretaker manager he arrived with Norwegian chocolate bars and handed them out to staff.His first phone call went to Mike Phelan...Sir Alex Fergusen's right-hand man to get him on board.https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...l-news/man-utd-mike-phelan-solskjaer-15583056

Unlike Mourinho,who,allegedly, walked the corridors head down not speaking to those he passed OGS greets them,talks to all staff. He was presented with the January Manager of the Month trophy and insisted his coaching team was with him when he accepted it.
It's here. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...kjaer-named-Premier-League-manager-month.html

It's not just in football that managers need to take note but outside football. His success lies in his first class interpersonal skills. It's the same team Mourinho had. Just look at Pogba now and especially young Marcus Rashford. He had no hesitation getting hold of the ball to take that penalty despite Lukaku having scored twice and much more experienced. That's confidence instilled by OGS. I think Rashford spent a fair bit of time on the bench under Mourinho.

Now, I enjoy,look forward, to watching Man-U. Spurs don't play them again this season but if they did and beat Spurs I'd just think..Ugh..the antipathy has gone.

To put some balance in my comments here's what Paul Ince had to say https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47111521
 
Lifelong United fan here.

I have to agree that OGS seems to be a thoroughly decent and likeable bloke. Of course he came into the job with a virtually bottomless reservoir of goodwill towards him at Old Trafford, because of 1999 and all that, and everybody wanted him to succeed. And everybody felt that the team was under-performing significantly with Mourinho at the helm, so it was fairly self evident that just getting them playing to their abilities would improve things. But I don't think anybody would or could have anticipated just how well they've done over the last couple of months. Here's a table of Premier League results since Mourinho was sacked:
Code: 
                   P  W  D  L  GD PTS
1  Manchester U   12 10  2  0 +20  32
2  Manchester C   12  9  0  3 +18  27
3  Liverpool      12  7  4  1 +19  25
4  Arsenal        12  7  2  3  +8  23
5  Tottenham      12  7  1  4 +11  22
6  Watford        12  5  4  3  +2  19
7  Chelsea        11  6  1  4  -2  19
8  Crystal Palace 12  5  3  4  +5  18
9  Wolverhampton  12  5  3  4  +2  18
10 Burnley        12  5  3  4  -3  18
11 Southampton    12  4  3  5  -1  15
12 Newcastle      12  4  3  5  -2  15
13 West Ham       12  4  3  5  -4  15
14 Everton        12  4  1  7  -2  13
15 Leicester      12  4  1  7  -6  13
16 Bournemouth    12  3  2  7 -12  11
17 Cardiff        12  3  2  7 -16  11
18 Brighton       11  2  3  6  -7   9
19 Fulham         12  2  2  8 -12   8
20 Huddersfield   12  1  1 10 -18   4

Plus away wins against Arsenal and Chelsea in the FA Cup, and PSG in the Champions League. Remarkable.

Is he the right man for the permanent job? To be perfectly honest, I don't know. He wasn't a conspicuous success in his previous management jobs. He doesn't have a track record of being able to recruit the right players at this level. It's not obvious whether he has a clear philosophy in the same way that Guardiola has. (Or Sarri has, not that it's doing him much good at Chelsea.) I think his tactical acumen is yet to be fully tested. So still lots of questions there. But should he be given the permanent job? Absolutely!
 
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StewartR said:
Lifelong United fan here.

I have to agree that OGS seems to be a thoroughly decent and likeable bloke. Of course he came into the job with a virtually bottomless reservoir of goodwill towards him at Old Trafford, because of 1999 and all that, and everybody wanted him to succeed. And everybody felt that the team was under-performing significantly with Mourinho at the helm, so it was fairly self evident that just getting them playing to their abilities would improve things. But I don't think anybody would or could have anticipated just how well they've done over the last couple of months. Here's a table of Premier League results since Mourinho was sacked:
Code: 
                   P  W  D  L  GD PTS
1  Manchester U   12 10  2  0 +20  32
2  Manchester C   12  9  0  3 +18  27
3  Liverpool      12  7  4  1 +19  25
4  Arsenal        12  7  2  3  +8  23
5  Tottenham      12  7  1  4 +11  22
6  Watford        12  5  4  3  +2  19
7  Chelsea        11  6  1  4  -2  19
8  Crystal Palace 12  5  3  4  +5  18
9  Wolverhampton  12  5  3  4  +2  18
10 Burnley        12  5  3  4  -3  18
11 Southampton    12  4  3  5  -1  15
12 Newcastle      12  4  3  5  -2  15
13 West Ham       12  4  3  5  -4  15
14 Everton        12  4  1  7  -2  13
15 Leicester      12  4  1  7  -6  13
16 Bournemouth    12  3  2  7 -12  11
17 Cardiff        12  3  2  7 -16  11
18 Brighton       11  2  3  6  -7   9
19 Fulham         12  2  2  8 -12   8
20 Huddersfield   12  1  1 10 -18   4

Plus away wins against Arsenal and Chelsea in the FA Cup, and PSG in the Champions League. Remarkable.

Is he the right man for the permanent job? To be perfectly honest, I don't know. He wasn't a conspicuous success in his previous management jobs. He doesn't have a track record of being able to recruit the right players at this level. It's not obvious whether he has a clear philosophy in the same way that Guardiola has. (Or Sarri has, not that it's doing him much good at Chelsea.) I think his tactical acumen is yet to be fully tested. So still lots of questions there. But should he be given the permanent job? Absolutely!
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Thanks. Good to get that perspective and that table speaks for itself. I only knew him as a player there,no other history so a few points to prove,then.having said that he was, in a sense, on home turf ,he knows how Man-U ticks...15 years as a player and a junior coach and he's acknowledged that Sir Alex keeps in touch too.Clearly the old 'boss' wants Ole to succeed there. I wish him well and I'm sure he'll get the job. What could another manager bring that Ole hasn't ? Difficult interview for any prospective manager. It's been noted that he's appeared in ads re next season's season ticket sales so that in itself bodes well. Re his track record on signing players I expect that would be a joint effort.The fact that one of his first moves was to bring back Mike Phelan shows he's willing to listen to and accept experience which is a big plus.
 
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I didn't see it myself, but I read that when Gary Neville interviewed OGS after the game he had three quick questions:
  • How long would you like on your contract?
  • What do you want your salary to be?
  • And where would you like the statue?
I think he's captured the mood there.
 
I am so impressed with him. With managers, its often being at the right place at the right time. I don't think he has put a foot wrong, players like Pogba and Rashford are flying, good football, tactical acumen (v PSG especially). He has had the benefit of following unpopular managers and low expectations, as well as being a legend at the club. I cannot think of any reason why they should look at anyone else.

Don't underestimate having MP as assistant, while OGS has done great, it looks like a team effort.
 
Lifelong United fan here also. He has been a breath of fresh-air, you are right. I desperately wanted Mourinho to succeed and after winning the Europa League and League Cup I thought we were on the right track (winning trophies) however the style of play was getting worse and worse.

OGS knows what's expected of him at the club, he know's what is expected of the players too which is a major step in the right direction. Just hope it lasts and people like Phelan stick around after this season as he will need help. We desperately need a director of football in I believe to take pressure off the manager signing players.
 
I'm hoping that he can steer clear of the current trend for inter-manager spats and the often present "mind games" that have invaded top level football over the last decade or two. It's early days and the results have not provided the need for him to whinge, criticise officials and the media and decisions during ganes....time will tell but I suspect that his demeanour would prevent him drifting towards that kind of behaviour......it'll be a refreshing change.
 
Interesting reads.

Arsenal ahead 1-0 15 minutes into the second half . Be interesting to see what Ole’s half-time talk produces.


Daniel_Paul said:
Lifelong United fan here also. He has been a breath of fresh-air, you are right. I desperately wanted Mourinho to succeed and after winning the Europa League and League Cup I thought we were on the right track (winning trophies) however the style of play was getting worse and worse.

OGS knows what's expected of him at the club, he know's what is expected of the players too which is a major step in the right direction. Just hope it lasts and people like Phelan stick around after this season as he will need help. We desperately need a director of football in I believe to take pressure off the manager signing players.
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Peter Schmeichel gave an interview to The Times for Saturday’s Sport supplement and voiced a keen interest in the Director of football post. Here's a report on it

http://www.sportbible.com/football/...ing-man-uniteds-director-of-football-20181223


Arsenal 2-0 win. Had to come sometime. At least against one of the top of the table teams.
 
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Just stumbled across this thread. How much have things changed over the last 10 games!!

Gone from not fearing anyone to looking like we might not win another game the rest of the season.

Ever since his appointment as full time manager it's got to bits.

It's almost like something has happened on the inside and the players have downed tools (only exception really being the Man City game where we seemed to actually be up for trying to win).

I can't see Champions League being a worry for us next season.
 
At this point I don't want us to be in Europe at all next season, we've no chance of winning the CL and the Europa League requires so many more games over the season. Would much rather miss out and focus on the domestic cups whilst also trying to (hopefully) bed a new squad in. I was aprehensive about us giving Ole the job based on his experience and I still believe he needs to have experienced people around him on the bench too to guide him through it. Interesting season ahead!
 
I won't disagree with your point on Europe. The team isn't in the right place at the moment to challenge for CL so it would probably hurt more than help. Having said that, to attract new players (which we really do need), the Champions League is where you need to be.

I'm more confident with Ole at the helm than any of our previous managers (despite his lack of experience compared to his predecessors) since Fergie if I'm honest. He's got the right history and was with the club at the right time to understand the real core of the club's values. I think if he's given a real chance to build a squad then he'll do well, and I can see him being successful and there long term.
 
Without a European competition you won't get the signings.... All the top players want to play in Europe.
 
Not a football person but the posts here seem sensible so, can someone explain why the “CHAMPIONS” league competition contains teams from leagues that have finished below top spot? After all runners up are 1st place losers etc so why are they included or the competition should be renamed?
 
mj4456 said:
Not a football person but the posts here seem sensible so, can someone explain why the “CHAMPIONS” league competition contains teams from leagues that have finished below top spot? After all runners up are 1st place losers etc so why are they included or the competition should be renamed?
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I've always thought same, should be the Champions only from Leagues across the EU. But it's all about money, they can't sell it so well if they make it easier for teams that top less popular leagues in, there's the UEFA Cup for that! Not many over this way want to tune in to watch Dudelange Vs FK Bodø/Glimt
 
I think a lot of the trouble stems from one man, and it isn't the manager. I think Pogba has huge influence on the majority of the squad and I think it's a bad influence at that. He's clearly out for himself and his own ego and if he goes this summer, I won't be hugely disappointed as lets face it, he isn't as influential on the pitch as he thinks he is/should be!

I'm glad Ole's been appointed full term manager, but he needs the support of the club and the players to make a success of it. Woodward needs to step up big time and get deals done...and more importantly, get rid of the deadwood, which unfortunately is the majority of the first team!
 
Until the power is taken away from the players this will always happen. Unfortunately I don't see this happening anytime soon, and the fact most of the players in question are paid more in a week than the average person in the UK earns in 5 years or so (not sure what the average Man U player earns gets paid but I'd assume it'd work out at around £150K / week) means most of them don't care what happens to the team as some other club will snap them up for millions and they'll also get a lump of cash for that too.
 
Steelo said:
I think a lot of the trouble stems from one man, and it isn't the manager. I think Pogba has huge influence on the majority of the squad and I think it's a bad influence at that. He's clearly out for himself and his own ego and if he goes this summer, I won't be hugely disappointed as lets face it, he isn't as influential on the pitch as he thinks he is/should be!

I'm glad Ole's been appointed full term manager, but he needs the support of the club and the players to make a success of it. Woodward needs to step up big time and get deals done...and more importantly, get rid of the deadwood, which unfortunately is the majority of the first team!
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I'd agree that he looks like he could well be an influence to a number of the young players, which if it's not positive, could easily affect team performances like we've seen recently.

I think it was easy to get carried away when Ole came in and steered the club to a nice winning streak, but to be fair the teams weren't the strongest in the league and we see it so often how teams after removing a manager instantly turn things around.

We have a lot of rebuilding to do for sure and I hope they invest in Ole and stick with him even if he struggles initially. This chopping and changing of managers works for some clubs (Chelsea for instance), but its unsettled United and we're currently in a situation where Ole has a team cobbled together from 2 or 3 different managers.

The summer transfers will be interesting.
 
rick448 said:
Until the power is taken away from the players this will always happen. Unfortunately I don't see this happening anytime soon, and the fact most of the players in question are paid more in a week than the average person in the UK earns in 5 years or so (not sure what the average Man U player earns gets paid but I'd assume it'd work out at around £150K / week) means most of them don't care what happens to the team as some other club will snap them up for millions and they'll also get a lump of cash for that too.
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Sadly, due to the huge amounts of money being paid to players, they will always be in a position of great power. In reality some would only need to be at a club for a month to bank in excess of £1 million, which would set pretty much any of us up for life. There's certainly no financial worries to these guys like there were in years gone by.
 
Crafoo said:
Sadly, due to the huge amounts of money being paid to players, they will always be in a position of great power. In reality some would only need to be at a club for a month to bank in excess of £1 million, which would set pretty much any of us up for life. There's certainly no financial worries to these guys like there were in years gone by.
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Exactly, and thereby lies the problem.
 
rick448 said:
Exactly, and thereby lies the problem.
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It's a problem that's not going away though. No chance of a salary cap now because the wages are bonkers. There's far too much money in the game and the clubs are just operated as businesses now, as long as the money is rolling in it's all good for them.
 
Crafoo said:
I'd agree that he looks like he could well be an influence to a number of the young players, which if it's not positive, could easily affect team performances like we've seen recently.

I think it was easy to get carried away when Ole came in and steered the club to a nice winning streak, but to be fair the teams weren't the strongest in the league and we see it so often how teams after removing a manager instantly turn things around.

We have a lot of rebuilding to do for sure and I hope they invest in Ole and stick with him even if he struggles initially. This chopping and changing of managers works for some clubs (Chelsea for instance), but its unsettled United and we're currently in a situation where Ole has a team cobbled together from 2 or 3 different managers.

The summer transfers will be interesting.
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It's definitely going to be an interesting summer, both ins and outs. It saddens me that one of the players who always gives his all and loves the club in Herrera is more than likely on his way out over stalled contract talks.

Rojo is another, I think he's the best defender at the club but for some reason Calamity Jones and Mike Smalling keep him out of the team (as well as injuries) but yet he's another who gives his all most of the time. We need to sign world class defenders, or else we may be looking at losing De Gea too, although Romero stepping up to number 1 wouldn't be such a bad thing for most clubs, but not when it's replacing our best player for the past 5 or 6 years!

Mourinho totally fell for Pep's trick when he signed Sanchez up to stop him going to City, and what a waste of what, nearly £400k PER WEEK on a so called world class player. He's only there for the money, but where's he going to go? Who's going to give him those wages? Just a wage thief as he's done nothing for us at all and we'll probably be stuck with him.

I could rant on all night to be honest!
 
The reason Arsenal let Sanchez go was because he was so toxic in the dressing room. When he first came to The Emirates we were all so pleased, but 6 months in it started to come out what he was like. If Pogba is of a similar nature, two of them at the club will break it.
 
He’s not doing very well is he? Initial standard new manager results followed by big contract followed by reality.
 
gerry s said:
He’s not doing very well is he? Initial standard new manager results followed by big contract followed by reality.
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Yeah it's gone off the rails. He's got to be given time though, the squad has been hacked and slashed at over the last 5 or 6 years and he just needs to get his own players in and hopefully build some consistency.
 
Jelster said:
The reason Arsenal let Sanchez go was because he was so toxic in the dressing room. When he first came to The Emirates we were all so pleased, but 6 months in it started to come out what he was like. If Pogba is of a similar nature, two of them at the club will break it.
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I didn't know that about Sanchez! Makes sense though as he's done sod all since he came to us!
 
Steelo said:
I didn't know that about Sanchez! Makes sense though as he's done sod all since he came to us!
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Wenger had a major fall out with him as he was trying to get other players to play up. Apparently Ramsey told him to "grow up or F*** off" which didn't go down well with his agent.....
 
Crafoo said:
Yeah it's gone off the rails. He's got to be given time though, the squad has been hacked and slashed at over the last 5 or 6 years and he just needs to get his own players in and hopefully build some consistency.
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Agree, Leigh.

I read that Pogba,who is on £280,000 a week and De Ghea on £200,00 each have a clause in their contract that 25% will be deducted if they don’t make it to the CL which I don’t think they will. Pogba is very interested in Real Madrid and Zidane likes him. De Ghea also has intrest in that direction but needs to tighten up a bit,I think. What a waste of money Sanchez was..both fee and wages.

There are some players not up to it and,as you say, OGS ( & Co.) will be making some changes over the summer. I’m sure he’ll do well.

As an aside. I’m really looking forward to VAR next season. There were a few incidences over the weekend that would have seen a different outcome not least for Rojo who should have been sent off in yesterday's game. At least The Hawk Eye technology awarded a goal to Aguero..an absolutely vital win. Arsenal found wanting,yet again. Ugh.
 
JohnC6 said:
Agree, Leigh.

I read that Pogba,who is on £280,000 a week and De Ghea on £200,00 each have a clause in their contract that 25% will be deducted if they don’t make it to the CL which I don’t think they will. Pogba is very interested in Real Madrid and Zidane likes him. De Ghea also has intrest in that direction but needs to tighten up a bit,I think. What a waste of money Sanchez was..both fee and wages.

There are some players not up to it and,as you say, OGS ( & Co.) will be making some changes over the summer. I’m sure he’ll do well.

As an aside. I’m really looking forward to VAR next season. There were a few incidences over the weekend that would have seen a different outcome not least for Rojo who should have been sent off in yesterday's game. At least The Hawk Eye technology awarded a goal to Aguero..an absolutely vital win. Arsenal found wanting,yet again. Ugh.
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It sounds to me that Sanchez and Pogba could well be disruptive influences in the team which might be related to the sudden downswing in results.

I believe DeGea has brought in his own goalkeeping coach too, which is a bit weird and also most likely a reason he's lost his head and not been on form recently.

I'm a fan of VAR, I like the way it kind of adds another level of excitement to the game when a decision is being looked at. I think it has been proven useful and just needs some small fine tuning.

Nobody seems to want that 4th spot. We've spurned so many chances that it's gone for us now barring some crazy results, I think Chelsea will keep hold of it. Problem with that being attracting players for Ole in the summer transfer window.
 
gerry s said:
He’s not doing very well is he? Initial standard new manager results followed by big contract followed by reality.
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Didn't Fergie have a similar start when he took charge?
Still in those days it was not driven by ££££££'s
 
Im a Liverpool fan, and even thou I kinda liked it, just lately i'm actually starting to feel for Jose and OGS, The problem with them at the moment is, things have been sliding for years, Pogba, Sanchez and co were just poly filler for the cracks, as we all know this soon falls out and the hole is left.

Most of those are overrated/overpriced media heads and the likes of Pogba is just an overpaid shirt seller.

They need big changes, but i feel for OGS as he won't be allowed, they will let him tinker but they won't let him sell or bin the media/shirt sellers, the fact they are one of the lowest teams in the league for distance covered, pretty much explains everything.
 
Crafoo said:
Yeah it's gone off the rails. He's got to be given time though, the squad has been hacked and slashed at over the last 5 or 6 years and he just needs to get his own players in and hopefully build some consistency.
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He certainly was given a long time but today’s world is quite different at the top clubs. It was obvious they were going to improve after JM left as they had stopped playing for him but surely the man who was sacked at Cardiff couldn’t be regarded as the messiah. I just couldn’t understand the ogs adulation. I know he was great as a player there but no way does that make him a great manager.
 
gerry s said:
He certainly was given a long time but today’s world is quite different at the top clubs. It was obvious they were going to improve after JM left as they had stopped playing for him but surely the man who was sacked at Cardiff couldn’t be regarded as the messiah. I just couldn’t understand the ogs adulation. I know he was great as a player there but no way does that make him a great manager.
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It's difficult to say, I mean look at Gareth Southgate, to call him at best an average club manager I don't think is unfair, but look how he's managed to get a tune out of the England team, they're playing better than I can remember for a very long time.

I don't think the managerial history is always the key (just look at the names we've had in that have failed woefully), sometimes people just fit into a role and things work out and progress. I'm hoping that given his long term with the club as a player and being managed by one of the greatest of all time will set him up for a bright future as manager of Manchester United.
 
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