Tag Archives: ole gunnar solskjaer

Round & Round

Although Amorim’s sacking didn’t exactly come as a shock (formerly seismic events like managerial changes are relatively commonplace at United these days), until his mini meltdown following the draw at Leeds I honestly thought there were tentative signs he was finally getting somewhere. Although punctuated by several demoralising home draws against PL strugglers, we’ve only actually lost twice in the 14 league games since the start of October. So no, I didn’t really see this one coming.

One can only assume that despite unease behind the scenes at the perceived lack of progress, things only escalated once he started throwing out thinly-veiled digs in front of the media. I can sort-of see the rationale since both performances and results still left a lot to be desired, I just don’t quite understand the timing or what we’re gaining by dismissing him now. Fletcher taking charge prior to another caretaker before a full time appointment at the end of the season, is it? Months of mindless speculation as to the identity of the new leading man for the never-ending Man United soap opera. Marvellous – that’s just what we need.

I can’t really accept the idea that making a change now improves the chances of European football either. I never felt confident that Amorim was the man long-term but giving him until the end of the season rather than messing about with further interim appointments would have made more sense. By all means, privately decide he’s toast and seek out a successor now but making another mid-season change strikes me as bafflingly ill-advised. We’ve been here before and it only piles on the pressure and invites further media scrutiny.

You can’t appoint a man to undertake a 4 year job on a limited budget and then sack him after 14 months. Rightly or wrongly, he was stubbornly bound to his 3-4-3 but surely that was part of his appeal to start with? He was supposedly the Ineos candidate, the best in class and would receive unwavering support from the club hierarchy. Are they that thin-skinned that all it took to change that was a couple of mildly inflammatory remarks in a press conference? I thought adopting a definitive system was part of the plan as opposed to pursuing vague notions like ‘club DNA’ and ‘the United way’.

Which brings us to the potential appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as interim manager from now until the end of the season. Honestly, I’m speechless that the idea is even being contemplated given his previous stint as vibes controller from 2018 to 2021. The malignant influences in the dressing room were given free rein to run riot during that time as Ole set out to “put a smile back on peoples’ faces” following the tumultuous last few months of Mourinho’s tenure. Certain people must have very short memories if they can’t recall how bad that period was.

After Ten Hag left I can recall saying here it was imperative we ended the cycle of hiring and firing managers every 18 months. Even with unlimited funds it’s almost an impossible task to dismantle and re-build a squad capable of challenging for the title within such a period. If it’s true the likes of Wilcox and Ratcliffe were trying to impose their own ideas on formations and tactics then Amorim had every right to start kicking off. He was unequivocal about the way he was going to play from day one so I’d suggest any fault lies with the Ineos crew for appointing him in the first place.

Amorim’s reign will rightly be remembered for the poor football and abysmal win ratio but I’ll maintain he did some sterling work in weeding out the dickhead contingent. He binned Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho as well jettisoning expensive Ten Hag flops like Onana and Antony. Both the wage bill and the player’s sense of entitlement was reset completely within a few months of him taking over and despite not getting results, at least we’ve re-gained the sense of being a semi-serious football team. I can’t recall any instances of the players wandering round and appearing not to give a shit over the last few months.

Whoever does come in needs to impose themselves quickly or there’s a risk of the freshly-installed sense of discipline evaporating. Mainoo recovering from injury at the precise moment Amorim departed could have been mere coincidence but looked highly suspicious. His brother and sister could do with winding their necks in too – courting likes and attention from fawning idiots on social media. Your brother hasn’t been imprisoned here, he’s a 20 year old kid on the fringes of the Man United team. If you think such a ‘plight’ is somehow unjust then he’s welcome to try his luck at another club – see how that affects your follower count.

Even Bruno was at it just before Christmas, grizzling to Canal 11, a Portuguese Football Federation-owned channel that the club “wanted me to leave” during the summer. Quite why he chose to go public with this now is a mystery, but even more astonishing is the level of self-delusion on display. Bruno mate, of course they wanted you to leave when your Saudi suitors were promising a £100M cheque in return. You were the club’s most sellable asset in transfer window where they desperately needed to recoup funds and were a billion pounds in debt.

I’m not sure why he’s harbouring any resentment because it looks like they simply put the offer on the table and said “it’s entirely up to you”. He’s lucky he was even consulted as I’m certain any other club in United’s position would have ushered him out of the door irrespective of his own thoughts on the matter. Bruno has put in a great shift as a United player and will be remembered fondly once he’s left, but let’s have it right – he’s also been highly remunerated too. Don’t be banging on about loyalty when your employers have just made 400+ redundancies whilst you’re still trousering £15M a year.

What’s now certain is that any lingering hopes of the Ineos management team proving themselves more capable than Woodward and Arnold have now been extinguished. Indeed, the current bunch seems more dysfunctional than ever given that Berrada, Wilcox and Ratcliffe still require ultimate sign-off from the Glazer lair in Florida. Given that both Ashworth and Brailsford have left the club since the last time they were recruiting a manager, I suppose there’s a slightly improved chance of everyone being in full agreement this time out. They have to get this next decision right. (Spoiler alert: they probably won’t.)

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New Dawn Fades

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So new year, new Woodward leaving announcement. Although Ed’s time in charge has been characterised by indecision and incompetence, he saved one of his best until last. After taking an age to pull the plug on Solskjaer’s reign, he then decided to bring in Ralf Rangnick in an interim role. I’m not pouring scorn on Herr Rangnick’s credentials here, it’s just I can’t quite get my head around the decision to appoint an outsider on a temporary basis. Why not just pay any compensation due and bring in the preferred choice now? I don’t see what’s to be gained from recruiting a handful of new coaching staff who’ll likely be surplus to requirements in 6 months’ time.

I know Rangnick has been promised a consultancy role beyond the end of the season, but we all know that’s just window dressing and his input will be negligible once the next manager is in place. I predict now that he won’t last very long because United don’t accommodate football people amongst the nodding dogs holding true positions of power. “We desperately need an overhaul of ze operating structure at zis club.” “Oh, cheers for that Ralf, very insightful. I’ll tell Joel when he calls in next week. He’s scuba-diving in the Bahamas, currently.”

If you think I’m exaggerating, recall what happened last time anyone stepped out of their lane and tried to challenge the power structure at the club. I know Mourinho went quietly bonkers during the autumn of 2018, but there was a time a few months prior to that when he still had all his faculties in place. Mourinho wanted Maguire in and to be rid of both Pogba and Martial that summer, yet the people above him at the club knew better. That turned out well, didn’t it? The pair of them still need bombing out of the place 3 years on and Maguire (rightly or wrongly) was signed 12 months later for a vastly inflated £80M. Do you honestly think the board will do anything other than pay lip service to the recommendations of a consultant? They decided not to listen to a manager who’d won multiple European trophies.

Excuse my cynicism, but if United genuinely desired an experienced director of football to control budgets and make strategic decisions, they would made such an appointment years ago. Instead, they considered it for a while and then chose not to bother. That’s why we’ve suffered nearly 10 years of abject failure under Woodward’s direction, completely out his depth and haplessly veering from one catastrophic managerial appointment to the next. Consider the club’s global standing when he took charge back in 2013 and consider it now. It’s no exaggeration to say his time in charge has been an unmitigated disaster.

So does Rangnick’s proposed consultancy hint at some recognition of this and are changes likely? Of course not. By promoting Woodward’s long-term understudy and fellow Bristol alumni Richard Arnold, the club have signalled their intention to follow precisely the same path they’ve been on for the last decade. It’s a direct like-for-like replacement that shows exactly where priorities will remain until the Glazer occupation eventually ceases. The pursuit of profit trumps any desire to return United to the pinnacle of football. Millions will be squandered on meme footballers and share dividends whilst midfielders remain unsigned and OT becomes so decrepit it’ll resemble a relic from a previous century.

If Rangnick figured he had a job on his hands when taking over, a month later the full extent of the task he’s facing is quite evident. The response of the players to a more demanding regime has been every bit as underwhelming as you might have anticipated. There’s been no upturn in performance levels and the body language continues to speak volumes about the lack of character in the squad. Fair play to the lads, they gave it all of 3 weeks before the whining commenced and leaks began to appear in the press. One only hopes that the (checks notes) 17 players allegedly seeking a move get their wish over the coming weeks and months.

The chances of a mass exodus are non-existent, sadly. Previous years have demonstrated how wildly off-kilter United’s salaries are compared to other clubs, so players are content to see out lengthy contracts without seeking a move. The manner in which we’ve accumulated such a bloated, underperforming collection of entitled “George Clooneys” is just another damning indictment of Woodward’s tenure. Failure and mediocrity have been rewarded routinely. Patience is shown when it’s simply not merited. Standards haven’t just slipped, they’ve been retired completely.

Whether it’s Ralf or the next manger who’s tasked with plotting a course for the club over the next few years, something radically different is required. Signing players in their mid-thirties has to stop for starters. No matter the class of Cavani, I simply don’t see how the overall investment is worth it when the player is pining for warmer climes and constantly injured. Oh so they’ve had a chat and he’s agreed to stay until the end of the season? How very noble of him honouring a contract he only agreed 6 months ago.

This is a more controversial one, but I still don’t see what Ronaldo has brought us aside from a boatload of hype and several last minute goals. You could justifiably point the finger at his teammates, but being totally honest, the lad himself has been largely anonymous in the majority of games this season. He’s not the biggest problem at the club by any stretch, but he’s certainly not improved the team in any way. There’s no sense in buying expensive cake decorations when you don’t even possess the basic ingredients to bake one. Or some such metaphor, I dunno.

One thing we do have to thank Ronnie for is a place in the CL knock-outs, because we wouldn’t be anywhere near there if it weren’t for his timely contributions during the group stage. February’s tie in Madrid now represents the single bright spot on the horizon as the team continues to churn out successive execrable performances throughout these dark winter months. Call me deluded, but I’m clinging to the hope the team might possibly replicate what Chelsea and Liverpool have done previously; sniding their way to the final despite being miles off the pace in the Premier League.

I know, I know… deluded as I said.

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Things Fall Apart

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I strongly suspected things would go pear-shaped sooner rather than later this season, but the speed and manner in which everything unravelled was extraordinary. Barring 45 minutes versus Leeds and half an hour against Newcastle, United have been uniformly abject since August. The notion we’d reached a new low by conceding 5 at home to Liverpool was quickly scuppered by the most decrepit Derby performance I’ve ever seen in person. For benchmarking purposes, note I was present at both the 5-1 at Maine Road and the 6-1 at Old Trafford. As far as worst ever months go, this is right up there.

Games have resembled car crashes in recent weeks. Ronaldo has managed to pull his teammates from the wreckage on a handful of occasions, but more often than not he’s been a traumatised bystander trying to make sense of the carnage in front of him. Quite what has happened to Shaw and Maguire since the Euros is inexplicable. They’ve not just suffered a drop in form, it’s been more of a plummet from several thousand feet. The level of ineptitude on display from the pair has been staggering at times, rivalling anything witnessed in the post-Ferguson era.

Sadly, Ole is done. There was no coming back from what’s happened over the last couple of months and his departure was inevitable. Functioning football clubs would have cut him loose ahead of the funeral pyre at Watford, but this is Manchester (United) and to borrow the words of Tony Wilson, “we do things differently here”. I said a couple of issues back we would regret that 3 year contract and I take no pleasure in being proved right. If I could foresee that, why couldn’t anyone with any authority at the club? Solskjaer had 12 months left on his deal and flunked his biggest test to date in Gdańsk spectacularly, yet Woodward decided the time was right to offer him a new contract. It’s mind blowing, really.

There’s no ire directed at Ole here. He made some progress in developing the squad and took things as far as he could. At times it looked like his methods were paying dividends but the next setback was always around the corner. Despite numerous encouraging signs and tantalising glimpses of consistency developing, United still resemble a collection of expensively assembled individuals as opposed to a football team. It sounds harsh, but it’s difficult to ascertain precisely what influence the coaching staff has over the players. Solskjaer clearly tried his best but ultimately, that alone was not enough.

The idea of accepting the manager was out of his depth yet still being respectful and supportive of the guy proved beyond some people, unfortunately. As the banner spotted in Bergamo correctly asserted, ‘the rot starts at the top’. Despite being fully aware of this, the risible fancam clowns continued to round on Solskjaer with each defeat leading to a fresh round of insults and oleout hashtags. Monetising the misery and inviting toxicity into what was already an embarrassing state of affairs for everyone connected with the club.

It got so bad that a sizeable proportion of the club’s younger online fanbase declared outright war on the likes of you and I. According to a large minority of twitter gobshites, matchgoers were a major contributor to United’s problems because they were guilty of actively supporting the club. There’s no room for nuance or perspective with these lads. The hardline stance they took was admirably bonkers as even wanting United to win became frowned upon. If you weren’t hurling abuse and hanging effigies of Solskjaer off the Stretford End, you were basically a Glazer collaborator.

This isn’t a dig at all United’s overseas supporters. Plenty are knowledgeable and dedicated and have followed the club for years. That said, a large number of the idiots spouting utter drivel on social media currently are deluded if they think their opinion counts for shit. Let’s put it this way: I could quite easily declare myself a diehard fan of the Chicago Bulls tomorrow. I could buy loads of merchandise, join online forums and get up at 3am every week to watch their games. I might become quite opinionated and be able to hold my own in conversation after a while.

To be clear, my disdain for the eReds has nothing to do with age, geography or race. Football is a global sport and United are proud to boast a fanbase from all over the world. Everybody is welcome. However, cultural appropriation is a thing too. Even if I dedicated every waking hour to agonising over the fortunes of the Chicago Bulls, would I ever feel emboldened enough to lecture Illinois locals on how to support their team? Not a chance. Because no matter how hard I tried to become an authority on the intricacies of the NBA and US basketball, I’d always be some English dickhead talking out of his arse.

The precise timing of Solskjaer’s departure was irrelevant and targeting him for abuse would have served no purpose whatsoever. At some point in the coming months we’ll see Zidane, ten Hag or Rodgers appointed and that’ll signal the whole cycle beginning again. No matter who replaces Ole, he’ll inherit a similar set of problems due to the serial incompetence of key decision makers at boardroom level. Despite the supposed ‘cultural reboot’ that took place a year ago, there still appears to be a jarring disconnect between the football and commercial ambitions of the club.

This brings me back to the time-honoured tradition of slagging off Paul Pogba. I know, I’m bored of talking about him too and I sincerely hope it won’t be for much longer. Why on earth are the club still offering a new contract when he’s no longer even worthy of a starting role? The fact he’s now holed up in Dubai infinitely (again) comes as no surprise whatsoever. Imagine being so deluded that you still believe the clown will actually start delivering at some point. I have no idea what he offers the club other than the fact he’s a walking meme who’s unfathomably popular with the kind of fan who provides app downloads and endless re-tweets.

The Jesse Lingard situation highlights another case of financial negligence. After enjoying a career renaissance during his loan spell at West Ham, the player’s stock was probably at an all-time high. The club resisted a number of offers in the summer yet now face the prospect of losing him for free. Lingard was never going to start games so what was the logic in keeping him another year to sit on the bench? Is anyone accountable for these decisions at any point? Don’t even get me started on the subject of Donny van de Beek.

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. With the club on the crest of a slump, there was media CEO Phil Lynch waxing lyrical about United’s use of fan sentiment graphs to gauge player approval rates. We’ve just shipped 7 goals at home to Liverpool and City and they’ve got analysts checking on the feelings of faceless bots and impressionable kids. Rather than racking their brains and frantically composing damage limiting tweets, the people in charge of the club’s social media would be better advised to read the room and maintain a dignified silence for a couple of weeks. Sometimes it’s better just to say nothing.

It’s beyond them though. A few hours after Ole’s departure was announced, there was one final indignity in store as the club published a farewell interview with him looking tear-stained and utterly bereft. Hanging a club legend out on view like a discarded zoo attraction. Regardless of whether Solskjaer was a willing participant, it was a terrible idea which did nothing other than sate the appetite of any passing sadists looking for a quick thrill. It’s been said many times over the last few years, but one can’t over-emphasise the level of dysfunction that exists within this club at present. Widespread change is desperately required, irrespective of who’s sat in the dugout.

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