Ole's last stand - the saga continues.

We drew at City and well, you know how the Aston Villa game went for us, and I was still warm and fuzzy from your Spurs game when us v Villa kicked off, totally ruined my buzz that

Villa are a weird anomaly this season.

 

Absolutely suits the away teams and lower teams to have no fans there.

But... after a few good results, those lower teams get hit with the sudden unwelcome plight of expectation.
Everton were flying right up to the point where you expected them to do well.

 

I just think we should be beating Arsenal if those teams are. Games like those against Arsenal and Chelsea show a lack of ambition.

 

yeah, and more so in a normal season.

Arsenal were largely playing with no real pressure, if they lost no real biggy.

There's a lot of pressure at OT this season

 

You’ve been entitled cry-arses since at least 1976, so on balance I’d say no, you’re just being true to form.

 

Ole is luckiest man alive to stay in his job so far
dose anyone still want him to stay?

 

Yep

 

I've joined the "if we don't finish top 4 and have a good cup run then he should go, followed in August by, if we aren't challenging for the league and winning a trophy he should go, followed in December next year by, if we don't finish top 4 and have a good cup run then he should go... ad infinitum" brigade.

Yes those amnesiacs actually do exist

 

What is it with some ****ing so called fans?

we are 5 points from the league leaders with a game in hand. We have an 8 away match win run. We are a point away from going into the next CL round in the toughest group by far (of course in the CL you can go out too or drop into the Europa. Happened before in a less tough group!)

yet some **** fans are still calling for his head. What is ****ing wrong with these ****ing fans? Do they really understand football?

 

Think it's the slow starts that's killing em mate, we seem to need the threat of losing before we start playing.

 

**** happens especially in football.

The manager of Manchester United is arguably one of the toughest in football with possibly the exception of Real Madrid. We’ve had the likes of Van Gaal and Mourinho who were top managers at the time and they couldn’t hack it. What makes people think that the likes of Allegri or Pochetino (who himself got bested by Mourinho at Spurs) would definitely do a better job than Solskjaer?

He has ****s like Pogba and his agent to deal with. I think we are now in a position to get rid without the team being affected too much as long as we get a top midfielder as replacement.

 

The thing is, at the end of the day, football is a simple thing. Whether you're Manchester United or Sheffield United. It's 11 vs 11 and the outcome depends largely on the quality of the players and manager. So I'm not entirely convinced about it being the toughest of jobs when I see the likes of CFC making some astute purchases and Lampard showing some genuine progress which you can track over the course of 15 months.

 

So it should be. But at United the toughness is amplified by fans having high expectations (winning with boring football is not good enough. We want exciting attacking football too). The press/media stirring all sort of **** when the team loses a match. I still remember when Fergie retired most fans thought we were in a good position to win again and again. I said it would take many years and several hundred of millions to reset the club after such a long reign. Look at Arsenal, they are suffering the same **** as us. United sell papers whether the news is good or bad. Solskjaer is never more than one defeat from the sack. It is also tough because the likes of Woodward and the GGs look out for the dividends first.

Spurs are winning but many fans here criticised Mourinho when his football got unbearable. Sensible fans will know when it is time for Solskjaer to go. It is not now when we are still in contention in the league and in the CL.

 

I have watched the Spuds last 3 games, i would estimate that in total they spent 25 mins in the opposition half. That would not be tolerated here but at the moment the Spuds have swung 180 from "trophy's aren't everything, it's entertainment that counts" to "Jose is a master tactician that will win us trophy's"
Let's see how long that lasts when the 0-0 draws start.

 

I won't deny the circus around United especially when most of the football media are ex-livpl players, supporters or ABUs, but anyone watching us play can see we lack consistency and have done for years. Consistency builds confidence - in the players AND from the fans. Can we honestly watch us put in a winning performance and say that we'll win the next game? If we thrash Leipzig tomorrow does anyone think it will have any bearing on the game against City?

Fans of clubs are happy with Mourhino's football, they won't mind the negativity of it... as long as it works and is effective. They'll accept the low possession, counter attack football when they see a solid defence and a prolific strike force. Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan all demonstrate this. But when he was at United, we didn't have either of those. Eventually it became toxic for reasons off the pitch which were linked to what he was trying to achieve on it. And that was down to some mercenaries playing for us and the board, as much as it was down to him. His comment about finishing 2nd being one his biggest achievements was a clear dig at those around him at the club.

Ultimately if I was to sum it up, all I want to see is progress. What else is there? I want to be able to say we are better now than we were a year ago. As a squad no doubt about it, we are. But our performances... no. And the progress has to have a purpose, it's a linear process which eventually leads to challenging for a league title or a major trophy.

 

I can promise you one thing. The constant sniping will not end and the manager whoever he is will remain insecure and suffer huge pressure until we win that league title. Not before. All our managers from O’Farrel to Fergie via Docherty, Sexton and Atkinson all went through it. Fergie suffered 6 years of fan discontent and was close to the sack until he was saved by the FA cup.

 

If we lose tonight it shouldn't lead to the sack, agree with that. It should be tucked away though, as something to consider when there is a proper assessment of the manager at the end of the season.

We are currently in a position to win the league and we have a squad with players that are good enough to do that, which would include keeping Pogba. It's now over to Ole and his coaches.

There can't be any more 'we're getting there, we're United, Stretford End, the lads did well' bollocks when we throw another game away.

Solskjaer should now be stating clearly that the intention is to win a wide open league. He needs to change the narrative completely.

Have you seen the squad? It's excellent, it's not weak. Maybe a couple more players here and there but it's his squad and he needs to make it tick.

He's got the rest of the season to win something I'd say, there can't be any more excuses. Only Liverpool are superior squad and manager wise. City and Spurs, Leicester and Arsenal are not.

Second thoughts, Chelsea have a really strong squad but we should still compete with that.

No excuses.

 

I was listening to Rene Meulensteen on the radio. Such an intelligent bloke, no surprise we did so well with him as Fergie's first team coach.

He basically said what I believe. Individual results mean little in the long term, what United lack is consistency. He said nobody knows which United will turn up on any given day. United have got themselves into the top 4 and if they can be there or there abouts in March, then it will come down to consistency as to what they achieve at the end of the season (I think he was hinting at the league).

He said that consistency comes from the manager having high standards. He spoke of Fergie always instilling high expectations from his players but good leadership in doing so without heaping pressure on the players, by constantly instilling in them the belief they were the best players out there. He said this was a constant with Fergie.

 

Consistency must also mean the manager feeling security in his job. Isn’t ironic for people who call for consistency to make the manager insecure to achieve that aim? How do we achieve consistency if we are replacing the manager every 2-3 years? A new manager wants to bring his own new coaching team and new players to suit his style. This is why we’ve been calling for a DOF to provide that constant.

 

I don't think Rene was calling for Ole to be sacked tbf