They showed that bit on Sky, but not sure they picked up the subtle hint that Van Gaal is not a nice person. He basically said I won't comment on his character, but you will soon find out why I wouldn't comment.
On Audioboo, he was asked if it was a shock to arrive with all this player stuff to deal with...he replied calmly, 'No, I am an experienced manager.' Made me feel better...doesn't mean he will be able to keep Dani and Dejan, but good that he regards this as just the usual stuff you can expect when dealing with prima donnas.
Is he not a nice guy? You could read into it like that, alternatively Ronnie is a consumate professional and it's not his place to be talking about other managers characters.
I felt like it was maybe a mini-shot, but not really ****-stirring. I think there was an implied acknowledgment that he and Van Gaal don't get along, but no real attempt to say that he was right and Van Gaal wrong and it would be proven. More that it wasn't his place to talk about it and press and fans will soon get the opportunity to judge him for themselves. The press conference reflected this off-season to me. Hard to say things are going swimmingly, but I'm still somewhat optimistic that things are going about as well as we could hope and everything is on the right track. We were not going to get to the next level with that core of players because of the lack of talent and finances. Some of the better players (even if they themselves were CL-level) were always going to have to move. Sell those guys for tons of cash, replace with cheaper players, profit, try to stay in the top half. Eventually we will have stockpiled enough money and have spent enough time as a semi-serious contender that we can attract the guys we need. Obviously, the plan wouldn't be to sell all those players at once and so soon. Or to have them leave the way they did. But at least we are getting good money and bringing in promising replacements at cheaper costs. And Koemann reiterated the commitment to developing youth, and I also liked that he acknowledged the reality that there will always be players that want to go. Sometimes you do have to sell players, but that doesn't mean you are a selling club. He said all the right things, about as convincingly as he could under the circumstances. We'll have to wait and see of course, but that was to me as good a press conference and subsequent interview as we could ask for.
Handled himself well, chose not to answer questions that were potential trip-hazards. Did not hold back on Lovren but spun it in a way that gives wiggle-room if we choose to keep him and Lovren is happy with a pay hike. Lets hope he can match his press conference with what will be produced on the pitch. I know little of what he's done after his playing career (fantastic player) but the record shows that he's been a bit hit and miss. Here's hoping that he has learnt from his experiences. The Pelle signing looks a little risky; his record overall is not impressive and I think I read somewhere that he's 29. I am reminded of MP signing Osvaldo as someone he knew and trusted to do a job. Pelle's goals on youtube had a familiar theme - nearly all tap-in's on the edge of the 6yd box. I would be surprised if he finds that much room in the EPL.
