Manchester United were supposed to undergo a complete overhaul. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was going to oversee the departure of several players who had passed their sell-by dates around three or four years ago and bring in new players to replace them. The new models would be younger and better with the emphasis on better which, let’s be honest, shouldn’t prove to be too difficult.
The positions flagged as needing strengthening were right full back, centre back, midfield and, possibly, a striker to replace the departing Lukaku.
In one respect we have to be fair to Solskjær who did say that this wasn’t going to be a quick fix and would probably take two or three transfer windows to achieve. That being the case then maybe the signings of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire, along with the bonus of Daniel James, should be welcomed as a very good start to the refurbishment.
It has, however, proven very frustrating for United supporters simply because this was supposed to see the clearance of a lot of deadwood, (assumed to be Smalling, Jones, Young and Rojo for example), and all four, at the time of writing, are still there.
Also, failed attempts at bringing in another midfielder have not gone down well with fans. Whilst the club strenuously denied any interest in Bruno Fernandes, for example, the supporters felt that this was exactly the kind of player in which there should have been major interest and, thanks to the complete lack of communication from United, still do not understand why that wasn’t the case.
On the rare occasions when messages have emanated from Old Trafford they have been decidedly ambiguous. Solksjær himself said that he didn’t want any player who didn’t want to play for Manchester United and yet he is, reportedly, happy to build a team around Paul Pogba, who doesn’t want to be at the club.
When he said, at the end of last season, that he was going to be successful and some of the players wouldn’t be with him, not too many supporters expected or hoped those players would include Ander Herrera and Romelu Lukaku.
Bruno Fernandes waiting for the call from Woodward which, like the new Director of Football, never arrived
So, all in all, the transfer window has been OK. Two positions have been strengthened considerably and a young winger has been brought in for the future. There is, however, still much work to be done and the January transfer window needs to see more additions, (Bruno Fernandes may still be available), and even more departures.
Meanwhile, at Woodward towers…..
For somebody so good at getting companies to agree to hand over millions just to have their name associated with Manchester United, it is surprising how bad the Chelmsford Chump is at negotiating transfers.
By now we are all well aware how much of a megalomaniac Woodward is but even he must be having serious doubts about his ability, or lack of, in the transfer market.
He decided he would take charge again this window and completely ignored all the expert advice to appoint a Director of Football. He then managed to get Wan-Bissaka in reasonably early by not negotiating. Basically he just gave Crystal Palace what they were asking.
He then spent over a month “negotiating” a fee for Harry Maguire which ended up being the £80 million they wanted all along. His mismanagement of this deal meant that Maguire missed all pre-season with United and joined a week before the new season started!
United supporters, of course, vented their anger with Woodward who, as usual, completely ignored them and they also went over his head and wrote an open letter to the Glazers with five key questions they wanted answering.
In much the same way as their puppet-in-power had done, they too ignored the supporters. Manchester United Football Club has become Manchester United Business Club and now exists with the sole purpose of lining the Glazer’s pockets with as much money as possible.
Curly, Larry & Mo. An absolute insult to Manchester United and their supporters
Fortunately, this is not a situation which will last forever but, whilst these vile parasites are the owners of the club, it is a stormy ride for supporters around the world.
At least if the team can be improved there will be something good to watch ON the pitch!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 