Dinostar77 wrote:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Don't the winners automatically qualify? Edit @dino

lolol. What you reckon moot in regards to mourinho? I cant see who would come in and improve things on the pitch. Zidane would be a huge risk. I would want poch if mourinho went, but i think we should stick with him for now.

I'm not even sure if I have an opinion on it at the moment. I'm quite drunk, but earlier in the day I wasn't and I didn't know then either. Will try to post some thoughts tomorrow.

Make Super Sunday Super Again.

This Burnley Cardiff game looks like a lot of huff and puff

We win with a cheeky baclheel and the Huns lose, that's my kind of weekend

I assume you mean Dino not my v brief TLDR.

D’oh!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45730077

Blocks100 wrote:

Time to make way for a team who knows how to do Europe, properly.

It's unorthodox, but I'm willing to cede our place to Nottingham Forest.

At this stage Jose might as well do post-match interviews with 'sack me already' written on his forehead. He clearly hasn't much interest in turning it around, would no doubt welcome the massive pay-off and his players blatantly aren't interested in rallying around him.

It's brilliant entertainment obviously, (not for United fans) and I hope it drags on for a good while yet. On paper the squad isn't bad but the football's awful and the endless bickering and squabbling doesn't help.

Ideally he'd somehow hang on till January and blow yet more money on players United are lumbered with for years to come (on Sanchez-like bloated contracts). It's weird that United have a reputation and fan expectation for attacking, exciting football and yet all their most recent managers have specialised in tedious, attritional dourness and scraping over the line. But then, as long as the money rolls in the board don't give a fuck.

nick_md wrote:

Dinostar77 wrote:

WorKid wrote:

Woman says Ronaldo raped her in 2009. Put gagging orders in place and paid her off. Now she's telling her story.

Typical america isn't it? Everyones out to make a buck. She took the pay off years back, probably spent it all and now wants more.

Sorry this is worth calling out again, not to start an argument as such but because it's a shitty fucking thing to say that needs challenging.

 

I've just read this and they were my thoughts exactly.  Doesn't really matter who took what back in 2009 if shit like that has taken place.  This is exactly how Weinstein fucking operated showering people with payoffs tied to unenforceable NDA's and threats from massive law firms that actually meant sweet FA.

There's some really interesting stats kicking about on percentages of false abuse claims.  They're basically really really really low, fall into a few sub-set categories of accuser type and are almost impossible not to spot as fake.  The upshot seems to be that if someone is accused of such a thing then its miles more likely to have happened than not.  Fucking superstar ex man utd football favourite or not.

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

nick_md wrote:

Dinostar77 wrote:

WorKid wrote:

Woman says Ronaldo raped her in 2009. Put gagging orders in place and paid her off. Now she's telling her story.

Typical america isn't it? Everyones out to make a buck. She took the pay off years back, probably spent it all and now wants more.

Sorry this is worth calling out again, not to start an argument as such but because it's a shitty fucking thing to say that needs challenging.

 

I've just read this and they were my thoughts exactly.  Doesn't really matter who took what back in 2009 if shit like that has taken place.  This is exactly how Weinstein fucking operated showering people with payoffs tied to unenforceable NDA's and threats from massive law firms that actually meant sweet FA.

There's some really interesting stats kicking about on percentages of false abuse claims.  They're basically really really really low, fall into a few sub-set categories of accuser type and are almost impossible not to spot as fake.  The upshot seems to be that if someone is accused of such a thing then its miles more likely to have happened than not.  Fucking superstar ex man utd football favourite or not.

Not wanting to dog pile, but Dino looks a right cunt with his comment.

I don't think you are a cunt mate so please come back, and massively backtrack on this.

The stuff with Utd is just a fucking mess. JM should have been heavily and publicly backed by the club over the Pogba stuff. It was part of the whole identity of the club under fergie that no one person was bigger than the club and he showed that on loads of occasions. The team now just looks like an expensively assembled hodgpodge of top level names who’ve never fully justified the hype - and this includes all managers since Fergie.

It was always gonna come to this at some point as no club will win - or be expected to at least - for ever and ever and ever. It just feels like the club has tumbled from the top pretty fucking gracelessly. Choice of past two silly ego driven mangers don’t help.

Fuck it, I'd take a shot on target right now.

Warning, long and meandering, if you can't be bothered reading it I don't really care.

United are broken, and I don't know how to fix it.

People can say Jose needs to be sacked, but it's massively apparent that the man in charge doesn't matter post Fergie. I've been trying to put my finger on what the problem is, without success. This article just solidified my thoughts though.

The problem is the Glazers. Throughout Fergies career, he accumulated power over almost the entirety of the club. He's probably the most powerful manager in the history of football. From 2005 to 2013, this was largely left alone, as pissing off Fergie was not worth their time. It was a battle they'd have lost, and in any case he didn't threaten their asset stripping so why bother?

After he left though, there was suddenly a massive power vacuum. This could have been diffused somewhat if David Gill had not left at the same time, but as it was, the two most powerful men at the club left at the same time, and into that gap they thrust David Moyes, a manager who had never managed a club of that size, and was therefore limited in what he was allowed control over, and Ed Woodward, a man with sharp business acumen who could negotiate a hell of a noodle sponsorship, but was an incompetent buffoon when it came to matters of football.

Moyes came and went having been completely hamstrung by Woodward, in came Van Gaal, who received more backing but still suffered from incompetent transfer dealings and complained that the clubs commercial activities were causing the football to suffer.

A curious appointment from the start, he left under a cloud as an FA Cup winner, but some dour, negative displays combined with the failure to qualify for the Champions League saw him off.

It was against this background that Mourinho was brought in. The ultimate short term solution with a reputation for not developing youth, buying short term success and parking the bus was brought in. He delivered trophies, Champions League football, and established the club as second best behind an outstanding Man City side. He presented his list of targets to Woodward, who overruled the man who has won league titles in four different leagues, Champions League's with two different clubs and the Europa League at United on footballing grounds. The idea that Ed Woodward is more qualified to judge this than Mourinho is utterly laughable.

Even if he made a financial argument, Mourinho who's track record is clear to all and had been handed a new contract the year before would be able to reasonably point out that he's not doing anything different to what he's always done which delivered success everywhere he has been, and United's financial position should be far better than it ever was under the all conquering Fergie.

If people moan about not playing youth, he can point to picking Rashford over 100 times, Lingard nearly 100 times, and promoted McTominay to the squad, and has continually talked him up even when he's not been picked, as well as the fact he was backed by the club last season on his record with a new contract, so again this shouldn't really matter. If any of this is a problem he should never have been appointed in the first place and who appointed him? Glazer stooge Woodward.

Mourinho has certainly spent the season trying to prove points, which is definitely not the greatest idea, but if it forces the hand of those above him then he'll feel it's worth it in the long run. I can't really argue with back me or sack me. If he has been given certain expectations, but financial considerations over-ride this, or people begin to second guess him it's not tenable. That wouldn't change if we sacked him and appointed Zidane.

Which brings me to where do we go. I honestly think that of all the managers who are without a club, Blanc is the only one who would have a chance of success, but I don't think the current setup of the club allows anyone to succeed. I hate the position of director of football, but if it gets Woodward the fuck out of football dealings it might help. If Woodward still holds a veto we're fucked though, because his priority is lining the Glazers pockets, and we only need to be hanging around the top 4 for that, not competing at the top. You could get rid of him, but he'd be replaced with another lapdog.


In the end, the Glazers are killing the club, but not in the way people thought they would. They should never have been allowed to buy the club without having any money and then loading the debt used for the purchase on to the club, but by ruthlessly exploiting the commercial potential, they've actually managed to render the debt irrelevant. The problem is they just don't care about the club being the best in England, let alone the world. Manchester United is just something that exists for them to extract cash from. 

We'd probably have been better off with Michael Knighton.

Jose out, Bruce in right?

Good post Dante. Well written bud. Blanc is an interesting idea. Glazers are a law unto themselves. However im probably in the minority here now, i want mourinho to stay and suceed. If that means buying 29yr old wingers so be it. If we are gonna judge him, lets do it with the team he wants over a course of a season.

Would we have been in this situation if this summer woodward had delivered perisic, alderweild and sandro as mourinho wanted?