Posts Tagged ‘Sir Alex Ferguson’

Amorim Takes Up The Poisoned Chalice At Old Trafford

Posted: November 1, 2024 in Football, Managers, Manchester United, Opinion
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Manchester United will have a new head coach in situ by the 11th of November. The significance of this, apparently, is that he is the first ever head coach to be appointed by the club. All his predecessors were, in some cases rather generously, given the title of manager.

As is the case these days at Old Trafford the previous coach/manager was sacked after a long run of poor results and performances.

This exalted little collection of misfits also includes once-great managers such as Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho, a good manager in David Moyes and a pretty bad one in Olé Gunnar Solskjær, (although the totally deluded amongst the Manchester United supporters still pine for a return to the days when the Norwegian spent an absolute fortune to win precisely nothing over a three year period, playing some abysmal football along the way).

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What Ten Hag Must Do To Stay In His Role At United

Posted: November 9, 2023 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Eric ten Hag, Football, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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The best James Bond, by a country mile, was Sean Connery. So good in the role was he that Ian Fleming changed his parentage to reflect the fact he spoke with a Scottish accent.

Jeremy Brett, no doubt to the chagrin of Basil Rathbone fans, was the ultimate Sherlock Holmes and nobody, but nobody, has quite mastered the voice and mannerisms of Hercule Poirot anywhere near as well as David Suchet.

The point here is that, although many actors took on the aforementioned roles, only the very best are remembered. The ones who became the character.

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United’s Decline Stems From The Appointment Of Woodward, Not The Retirement Of Ferguson, (But It’s Still All On The Glazers)

Posted: September 28, 2023 in Arsenal, Eric ten Hag, Football, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Ed Woodward was employed by the Glazers. It was, in many ways, a thank you for the part he had played as an enabler when Malcolm Glazer bought United with very, very little of his own money and a lot of borrowed money. Unfortunately, the collateral for the borrowed money was Manchester United Football Club who, fairly soon afterwards, became plain old Manchester United.

Woodward soon became, in his own mind at least, the most important person at the club. Some good sponsorship deals and profitable alliances were coupled with shocking football decisions which, as he had never kicked a ball in his life, was hardly surprising.

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Ten Hag’s Uphill Battle Involves Nearly Everybody At United

Posted: September 18, 2023 in Arsenal, Eric ten Hag, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Erik ten Hag is considered to be a modern coach. He was successful at Ajax and he should, if given time, be successful at Manchester United. Having bought himself a modicum of longevity by winning the Carabao Cup and finishing third in the Premier League, he is now finding out what it’s really like at a big club.

Comparisons with Sir Alex Ferguson in his early days are inevitable yet unreliable. Ferguson’s main problem was the drinking culture which had spread around Old Trafford back in the eighties as well as the form and discipline.

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Pogba Or Fernandes? Which One Is Really Worth The Money?

Posted: February 14, 2021 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Paul Pogba has been in and out of the Manchester United team through injury, bad form or, occasionally, to suit one of his managers strange tactical decisions. He has been inconsistent over the last four years with most of his games falling well below the standard expected of an £89 million player. He hasn’t scored as many goals as he should have and he hasn’t created as many goals as he should have.

He has stayed silent as his brother and his agent have spewed disrespect on the club suggesting that Pogba was too good for them and should move on when, in actual fact, he has only very recently started to show that he IS good enough to play for Manchester United.

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Ed Continues To Annoy Everyone As Do The England Men’s Teams

Posted: June 23, 2019 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, International Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur, Transfers
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It’s official! Ed Woodward really is an expert on football. This may come as a bit of a surprise to the vast majority of United fans, Louis van Gaal and all the ex-players who hang around Old Trafford these days. They think he is clueless. They think he keeps buying the wrong players and failing to buy the right ones.

Wrong! Ed knows what he is doing and disagreeing with the club’s most famous manager will prove that to be the case.

On the one occasion he probably should have disagreed with Sir Alex Ferguson, he didn’t, and David Moyes was appointed as manager. We all know how that one turned out. (more…)

How Can Manchester United Close The Gap On City Next Season?

Posted: June 8, 2019 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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What a season it turned out to be for both Manchester-based soccer clubs in 2018/19. We all know the story with City – keeping Liverpool at bay with a staggering run of wins under Pep Guardiola to claim the league title.

But where does this leave Manchester United? Once, they were the team that everyone feared in English football, but this has slipped over the years since Sir Alex Ferguson left. 2018/19 was a frustrating season for them – certainly for the first part of it under JosĂ© Mourinho. The latter part of the season did pick up somewhat once new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær took his seat in the dugout. A sixth-place league finish is not what United fans expect though, and they are certainly not happy about the gulf between them and City. (more…)

Squeaky Bum Time Again For United Fans While City And Liverpool Should Trade Places

Posted: May 9, 2019 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Manchester United v Crystal Palace - Premier League

So the season is all but over. We have now reached the time of year when, finally, Manchester United fans have something to look forward to. No longer must they suffer their team underperforming on the pitch. Some of those “players” may even be sold if anybody is clueless enough about football to actually buy them. The fact that Chris Smalling, Matteo Darmian, Phil Jones and Ashley Young are still there suggests that there aren’t as many clueless people around outside of Old Trafford as there used to be.

No, now is fast approaching the time when United fans can look forward to their “team” of transfer gurus underperforming OFF the pitch. These will include, probably for this gig only, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Mike Phelan, Michael Carrick, (because surely he must do something!), some fresh faced kid who looks like Phil Neville and good old uncle Ed overseeing things to make sure the club only overspends on galacticos they don’t need. (There may be a Director of Football involved but, as it has taken about six years for the club to even admit they need one, don’t hold your breath). (more…)

Solskjær Is Proof That Woodward Should Stick To The Homemade Recipe And Pochettino Is Failing The Audition Anyway

Posted: January 25, 2019 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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Ed Woodward likes a superstar. He likes to associate with them and he likes, whenever possible, to buy one for the club. He is typical of one suffering from “little man” syndrome. He has power at Old Trafford, of that there is no doubt, but he wields it as many little men have done over the course of history, just without the violence.

He tends to be dictatorial as was shown by his immediate rush to recruit firstly Louis van Gaal and then JosĂ© Mourinho after proving, to himself anyway, that following Sir Alex Ferguson’s advice with David Moyes wasn’t the way to go. (more…)

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Named On United Bench Again!

Posted: December 22, 2018 in Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Managers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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He’s back! Having failed in Cardiff to which the general reaction was “so what?”, the Norwegian returns to Manchester United as caretaker manager until the end of the season at which stage the seat will be judged to have been sufficiently warmed for the derrière of Mauricio Pochettino, (unless, of course, Solskjær can win the Champion’s League, the FA cup and finish in the top four).

He will be assisted by Mike Phelan who has the undoubted experience of having assisted Sir Alex Ferguson but the dubious experience of having failed in any managerial role he has taken on, (much like the vast majority of Ferguson’s assistants). (more…)

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