Posts Tagged ‘David Gill’

Manchester United – Ed Woodward Hasn’t Learned Much Over The Last Four Years

Posted: October 10, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
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(You want who?!!! You cannot be serious! C’mon give me a break. I got Fellaini and now he’s your favourite player! What more do you want?)

In another article from years gone by we questioned the wisdom of Manchester United in appointing Ed Woodward as the man to deal with transfer business. This was a particularly onerous task at the time as United had just allowed Sir Alex Ferguson to retire and David Gill to leave the club at the same time.

More to the point, we suggested that, after the debacle of that first transfer window, Woodward should have resigned. Here’s what we said back then. (more…)

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With Specialists In The Role At Chelsea And City, Who Would Be The Ideal Director Of Football At Manchester United?

Posted: July 29, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
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At Manchester City it is Txiki Begiristain, at Chelsea it is Michael Emenalo, at Liverpool it is Michael Edwards and at Arsenal it is Arséne the Omnipotent.

These are the Directors of Football or Sporting Directors or Technical Directors or whatever other fancy name they have been given to justify a very large salary. A salary nobody would begrudge them providing they serve the club and the supporters well.

The two stand-out names here are the ones at Chelsea and City who have been responsible for some excellent signings at the two clubs. They seem to have adopted the attitude that if the manager wants the player enough, then they will pay the price. (more…)

Has Ed Woodward Finally Come Of Age At Manchester United? Or Is It The Jose Mourinho Factor?

Posted: August 13, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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(Ed struggles to convince Mino Raiola that his scarf wasn’t part of the Pogba deal!)

David Gill is a tall man who casts a very large shadow. For the last three years, if you looked very closely underneath this shadow, you would have seen a little man from Chelmsford called Ed Woodward.

Although he had long left his role as CEO at United, the fact that Gill had managed to carry out his functions with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of proficiency, meant that he was always going to be a hard act to follow. (more…)

How Jose Mourinho Finally Made It To Manchester United

Posted: July 13, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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It seems to have been a relatively straightforward appointment. Jose Mourinho became Manchester United manager after a short break during which Ed Woodward dithered, as usual, over what to do about Louis “the loser” van Gaal.

Finally, Woodward’s decision was made for him as United, for the second time in three years, finished outside of the Champion’s League places. Winning the FA Cup was never going to be enough to save the Dutchman, who had produced boringly slow football for the majority of his time at Old Trafford. (more…)

Mourinho To Replace Van Gaal, (Eventually)?

Posted: April 18, 2016 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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So, the big question is: Is Jose Mourinho taking over from van Gaal at United or not?

The answer to this question should be very simple. Even the most anti-Mourinho supporters are now in the “anyone but van Gaal” camp. Mourinho certainly fits the “anyone but van Gaal” criterion.

So what is the problem? What is holding up the proceedings? Is it Woodward? Is he so stubborn that he doesn’t want to sack the second manager he has appointed? Would being removed from overseeing all things football be such a tragedy for him? That is what appears to be his biggest fear.

He has an awful record since replacing David Gill both in management appointments and in transfer dealings. His appointment of David Moyes, on a seven years contract was just idiotic. This was followed by van Gaal. He was, in fairness, appointed for all the right reasons, he just went past his sell-by date very quickly and Woodward seems loathe to accept the fact. (more…)

Does Jose Mourinho REALLY Want The Manchester United Job?

Posted: January 31, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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If Jose Mourinho is serious about the Manchester United job he is remaining very calm and quiet about the fact.

It could be said that, by staying completely out of the limelight, he is adopting exactly the right tactics to secure himself the position.

Whether he likes it or not there are obviously detractors at Old Trafford and these are the people he needs to bring onside.

Of the people who matter the chances are that he would have the support of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill. This would probably be enough to secure the backing of Ed Woodward who, as somebody who knows very little about football, has to rely on the knowledge of others when making managerial appointments. It is also important that he trusts the right people because, at the end of the day, he is the one shouldering the responsibility, hence his reluctance to dismiss Louis van Gaal.

The biggest name in the anti-Mourinho corner seems to be Sir Bobby Charlton, if we can believe what we read in the noble press. Now, however, his dissenting voice is less likely to be heard. (more…)

Is Jose Mourinho Distancing Himself From The Manchester United Job?

Posted: January 27, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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If Manchester United are trying to distance themselves from Jose Mourinho and put him off the idea of becoming their manager, then they are probably being successful.

Mourinho, as manager of Chelsea, has been able to witness first hand the bungling Ed Woodward at work during the transfer windows. In his first one he managed to overpay for Marouane Fellaini, a player a lot of United fans still haven’t got used to seeing in a United shirt. He did this by missing a release clause expiry date in Fellaini’s contract with Everton, which meant paying £4 million more for a player nobody wanted except David Moyes.

In his second window, having announced that United could afford to buy any player, he then proved what a superlative negotiator he was by spending £15 million more than he needed to on Angel Di Maria, a fact proven when he was sold to PSG a year later for, guess what, £15 million less than was paid for him.

At this stage in his career Mourinho, secure in his job at Chelsea, would have just laughed at the incompetence of it all. It probably confirmed to him that he had made the right decision in returning to Chelsea. He would have been aware that the transfer window jokes would not have surfaced had his friend, Sir Alex, remained in charge and that Fellaini would have remained at Everton and Di Maria would probably have gone elsewhere. Ferguson wouldn’t have fallen for buying him for a year while PSG served their transfer ban and then letting him go to them at the first opportunity. (more…)

The Manchester United Circus Needs A Ringmaster, Not This Clown!

Posted: January 26, 2016 in Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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It is not a case of the lunatics having taken over the asylum, not yet anyway. It is more that the clown is in charge of the circus and people are laughing, as they should be when watching a circus.

Manchester United PLC is, to the vast majority of supporters, a massive company such as BP, BT or Natwest Bank for example. Those supporters are not interested in the balance sheets, the profit and loss accounts or the day to day ups and downs of the stock market.

Not in the slightest. There will be some who have shares and therefore take an interest in their performance on the market, but not many.

Manchester United Football Club is different. To the supporters this is THEIR club.
They ARE interested in the day to day goings on at Carrington and Old Trafford, in the same way as, when I was a young supporter, I wanted all the news I could get from the ground and the Cliff.

The point I am making is that, to Manchester United fans the world over, Manchester United is about football and nothing else. (more…)

Is Jose Mourinho The Right Fit For Manchester United?

Posted: December 23, 2015 in Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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A lot of people, when Sir Alex Ferguson retired, were under the impression that Jose Mourinho would be the next United manager.

At that time, people involved in the decision making process would have included Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, Ed Woodward, one or more of the Glazers, another director or two and probably David Gill.

My guess is that Ferguson favoured Mourinho and he would probably have had the support of his friend, David Gill. That the vote obviously went against the “Special One” is probably due to Bobby Charlton and the other directors. This would be particularly true if any of them, like Charlton, were there during the Busby era.

Back in the seventies when Tommy Docherty had an affair with Mary Brown, the wife of United’s physiotherapist Laurie Brown, the club waited for Busby to return from holiday for a decision on Docherty. Within hours of Busby’s return, “The Doc” was fired, even though he later went on to marry her. This way of thinking, whereby nothing can be done to tarnish the image of the club, stays with Charlton, but he appears to be the last of a dying breed. (more…)