Ashley Young has said, reportedly, that he no longer wishes to be considered for selection to Manchester United’s first team squad. Good! As we have consistently said, he should have been sold years ago. So what has been the manager’s reaction to this alleged insubordination? None really. Solskjær, being the teddy bear that he is, has basically told the media to “ask Ash” if they want to know what’s going on and, when pushed, said that he would “sit down with Ash” to discuss it!
Please excuse our ignorance but we were under the impression, (obviously misguided), that it was the manager’s job to know what was going on at the club and, in particular, with his players.
Imagine the same scenario under Lord Ferg. Firstly, it is highly unlikely that the press would have heard anything from Young, certainly never that he didn’t want to play for the club. Secondly, he would have been out of the door so quickly that his feet wouldn’t have touched the ground. Ferguson would have crated him up and had him delivered to Milan before many supporters even realised there was a problem.
The fact that Young leaving means that United would be a player down during times of crisis would have meant nothing to Sir Alex. He would rather that than have an unhappy player in the dressing room. (Meanwhile there are reports that the club are considering offering TWO players as part of any deal for Bruno Fernandes so work that one out)!
But Solskjær is a different animal. He is a yes-man, a puppet who is being tolerated by Woodward and the board despite having a worse record than any of the preceding three managers at the club, (two of whom won trophies and were sacked!).
The reasoning behind this is that Woodward doesn’t want to fire yet another manager as this would not look too good! Guess what Ed? It won’t look too good if you keep this manager and he goes on to win nothing and takes the club backwards which, at present, is what is happening. It seems that he doesn’t wish to be seen as a failure when employing managers. Why not? He evidently is!
Yet again it is a situation crying out for a Director of Football, another promised appointment which has yet to happen. The DoF would be responsible for identifying new managerial candidates as well as players and this would take both of those problems out of the hands of the incompetent Woodward.
Finally, on this subject, all those United supporters who lay the blame for the current malaise at the feet of the despised Glazer family remember one thing: it was Ed Woodward who brought the availability of Manchester United to their attention and it was he who brokered the deal when they bought the club. In fact, virtually every problem at Old Trafford can be firmly blamed on the man from Surrey.
Here’s a decent read on the subject in The Guardian.
And finally…..
Manchester City are not going to win the Premier League! There, you heard it first from us. Well second, behind Pep Guardiola, who must surely now put all his eggs in the Champion’s League basket.
He never managed to win it with Bayern Munich and the fact that he was coaching the best club in Germany meant that his achievements of winning the league and cup were not greatly appreciated by supporters.
Of course he could do his usual and leave at the end of this, his third, season but that would probably be seen as a cop-out if he doesn’t win the Champion’s League.
Also, it begs the question; where would he go? He says he enjoys living in Manchester. He has roots of a sort through his partnership in a restaurant and he is king of all he surveys at The Etihad. Would he be as happy in, for example, Italy, ? Would he go back to Spain and manage a club other than Barcelona?
These questions are not yet relevant and the mini overhaul required at City now that Vincent Kompany has left, David Silva is leaving and Fernandinho and Sergio Agüero are in the twilight of their careers means that there should still be much to keep Guardiola in Manchester for at least another couple of years.
As we always say, we shall see.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 