Why the negativity against Ed and the Glazers? Sorry I don't follow

[Lord Vader]

What ails Manchester United:

1) The belief that simply spending hundreds of millions on the latest "can't miss" players and celebrity managers will translate to winning League trophies.

2) The usual United fans' unwarranted sense of entitlement. Which goes hand-in-hand with their inability to grasp that past glories do not in any way portend future glories.

 

[JB7]

No it is wage bill. The best measure of a club's financial muscle is their wage bill. And it takes in account transfers like Zlatan. Zlatan was technically a "free" transfer but, few clubs would be able to afford the wages we paid him.

It’s all well and good having a £150k a week contract sat waiting for a centre half but if the football club won’t pay the £50m the selling club wants then it’s a waste of time.

The clubs financial muscle has never been in doubt. The willingness to actually utilise it is and always will be the issue while we are owned by parasites.

 

[Hawks2008]

Their only failure is not sacking José soon enough.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Their only failure is not sacking José soon enough.

I would not go that far. I think there is plenty of things you can criticize the Glazers for. But, I really do not think you can say they have not given the manager enough to spend.

 

[Patrick08]

Well, all I'd say as a Liverpool fan is that, yes £400m is a lot and roughly what klopp has spent in the slightly longer period of time that he has been at Liverpool vs mourinho's time at United.

However, during that time the glazers have taken at least that much out of the club for themselves, if this figure was spent on transfers then who knows.

Although getting the right manager in might help, Eddie Howe? Or Poch?

Are we going to ignore the fact that they are also responsible for the revenue generated and revenue growth each year making the club massive marketing juggernaut and just look at one end of the coin?

What could have 800m possibly bought us that 400m plus proper proactive scouting could not have achieved if there was a right direction and planning go to with the money spent.

Look at Tottenham for instance, they haven't spunked that kind of money like 400 m or something but the recruitment and planning was way better than this, is the reason they are consistent in top 4.

The managers and the board have made mess of it themselves and putting blame on the owners for taking their share does not hold much water. The style of play with Lvg Mourinho and moyes is responsible coupled with the reactive attitude of the board we find ourselves in this position as a club.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Because we lost to a side with a smaller wage bill?

Because Ed got no clue how to run a football club. Transfer is in messed, we are all over the place in term of spending money, club has no direction and philosophy & giving Mourinho another year of contract last season without winning major trophy was shocking.

 

[Sultan]

Although it will certainly not all be down to his management, however, Woodward has presided over 3 managers and 100's of Millions in player purchases. The club has never been in a bigger mess for the last 30 years both on and off the pitch. So, yes, to and answer the thread openers question its right to point a few fingers in his direction.

 

[fellaini's barber]

If Pep came here he'd probably have had two seasons like Van Gaal's (which his first season at City was incredibly similar too) and have been sacked

and labelled a fraud.

The reason he's been successful at City (besides the fact he has had no financial constraints whatsoever even compared to us) is because off the pitch they have spared no expense whatsoever to create a club in his image. They prepared for his arrival years in advance, bought players that would suit that style, appointed a DoF who shared his vision, they set about identifying players that would suit his style, and they've given him complete free reign to make decisions. The entire club bought in to his ethos from top to bottom, and they're reaping the rewards for it.

City aren't just a stupidly rich club, they're a club with a clear vision and everyone pulls in the same direction in order to achieve it. If people genuinely think you could drop a Pep in to the situation and it would solve all our problems they're insane and completely blind to the issues we have.

Bolded is bollocks based on absolutely nothing. We let managers like Moyes and LVG stay past their due date while afflicting us with soul destroying football, disgraceful performances, just to see if they can make our only bloody managerial requirment, 4th place. Hell, for all the damage Jose has done and how useless he's been for us, we are still waiting to see if he can make 4th place,every other top club in world football including City would have sacked him long ago, so why the feck would we have sacked Pep after two seasons? And you keep bringing LVG into it, do you think we should have kept him? Was he doing a good job to you? Do you think he's a top manager and do you want him back?

You've gone on and on serenading City ok explain Liverpool being top right now or Chelsea winning the league some months after being 16th. Do they have an amazing DOF too? Wonderful structure? Prepared for Klopp or Conte in advance? Bought into their 'ethos'? You think if Pep came here and got us Stones,Laporte,Walker,Sane,Silva,Mahrez,GUndogan etc instead of Lindelof,Bailly,Dalot,Lukaku,Matic, Mkhitaryan,Fred etc some magical force would have us still playing hoofball to Fellaini or something. What's was so fantastically terrible with our 'situation' when Jose and Pep finished in almost same place in their first seasons, that would be making us worse in his 3rd season after spending 400m? What super outrageous spending or free reign has Pep had more than Jose, please explain?

What are these fecking 'issues' we have that a manager who spends right and coaches the players well cannot solve? What is this deep mess we're in that hiring a good manager will not solve?

 

[fellaini's barber]

@fellaini's barber
Not that I'm particularly defending Jose here, but I think it's lunacy to think Pep would have come in here and made the same impact he's had at City. For one thing, City prepared for his arrival. They put a vision in place and worked towards it. They buy the players he wants.

So what, you think we just need the right managerial appointment and we'll be laughing on our way to the next batch of titles? I get the criticism Mourinho gets, but to think our problems aren't much broader is cluelessness.

They buy players Pep wants? Oh really? And what have been doing? Spending record fees on players Jose didn't want right? What will you be saying if Liverpool win the league or CL then? Did they prepare for Klopp's arrival too? Or the Liverpool board now have amazing vision too all of a sudden. What about Conte winning the league months after Jose left them at 16th? Simply hiring good managers seems to be doing wonders for other clubs, maybe we just need to stop hiring past it managers and keeping them for way too long

 

[MoskvaRed]

I can only conclude that the club is up for sale and nothing constructive will happen until that sale goes ahead. This season, starting with the failure to spend in the summer and the seeming disengagement from what’s happening on the pitch (19 points off the top in mid-December!) has a Mike Ashley at Newcastle feel about it.

 

[fellaini's barber]

Just a few brief points, though I thought this was obvious:

Laporte 57m. Stones 48m. Mendy 52m. Walker 45m.
Bailly 30m. Lindelof 32m. Shaw 30m. Darmian 13m.

They already had world class players.

If something doesn't work, they bring out the wallet asap (Ederson).

Go on then, do the same for midfield and attack,why are you being selective? People keep going on about how much they've spent on defense... We've spent 89m on Pogba and 50m on Fred who are now on the bench. 75m on a shit striker and and 40m on Matic so what exactly is your point? That we're willing to spend in attack but not defense or something? As for bringing out the wallet when it doesn't work what do you call what we did with Mkhi and Sanchez? We replaced a dud with a much more expensive dud, so err maybe it's how both managers spend the money that's the issue? Because they're both spending loads?

 

[crossy1686]

I can only conclude that the club is up for sale and nothing constructive will happen until that sale goes ahead. This season, starting with the failure to spend in the summer and the seeming disengagement from what’s happening on the pitch (19 points off the top in mid-December!) has a Mike Ashley at Newcastle feel about it.

Surely we'd sell in a heartbeat if we were actively being floated on the market? I know many people don't have that kind of money but the ones that do like expensive toys, like owning one of (formally) the biggest clubs in the world.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Surely we'd sell in a heartbeat if we were actively being floated on the market? I know many people don't have that kind of money but the ones that do like expensive toys, like owning one of (formally) the biggest clubs in the world.

As you say, there aren’t that many potential buyers to start with, and maybe the Glazers are holding out for an excessively high price.

 

[Dan_F]

If you ingore the footballing side of things, they have clearly turned the club into a huge money making machine, but let’s be honest we had been at the top of the pile for a while before that too. You’d have to be pretty incompetent to do anything other than make a lot of money considering what happened to the league, and how much success we had during that period.

How much has that really helped us in the last ten years? How much money has been sucked out of the club into their own bank accounts? Old Trafford is in need of big investment, at the same time City and Liverpool have expanded. Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea have, or will be, in new stadiums. City have cleared jumped way ahead in terms of youth recruitment and training facilities, despite lots of people at United saying they tried to warn people higher up it was happening. Sure, we’ve spent a lot of money on players in the last few years, but that was after a decade of underinvestment. Even this summer, to spend 50 million on a midfielder and think that’s enough to compete, when it was quite clear that City and Liverpool had clearly strengthened more.

I will never understand fans trying to defend the Glazers. Ed is clearly a great businessman, but his ego won’t see him step aside from making the footballing decisions, which is one of the main reasons we’re in this mess.

 

[crossy1686]

As you say, there aren’t that many potential buyers to start with, and maybe the Glazers are holding out for an excessively high price.

They technically don't have to sell, it's printing money for them. Wouldn't be surprised if they wanted something stupid. When the pool of potential buyers is that small though, you can almost guarantee we will get an owner that has no idea what they're getting in to. No one will be happy to spend the amount of money we need to fix the issue unless money has absolutely no meaning to them, and that's what really worries me.

 

[KingCantona87]

I can only conclude that the club is up for sale and nothing constructive will happen until that sale goes ahead. This season, starting with the failure to spend in the summer and the seeming disengagement from what’s happening on the pitch (19 points off the top in mid-December!) has a Mike Ashley at Newcastle feel about it.

Do you think that is what the meetings with the Saudi Prince were about? I know we're only speculating, but I agree completely that it does have a Mike Ashley feel to it all.

 

[blue blue]

Bolded is bollocks based on absolutely nothing. We let managers like Moyes and LVG stay past their due date while afflicting us with soul destroying football, disgraceful performances, just to see if they can make our only bloody managerial requirment, 4th place. Hell, for all the damage Jose has done and how useless he's been for us, we are still waiting to see if he can make 4th place,every other top club in world football including City would have sacked him long ago, so why the feck would we have sacked Pep after two seasons? And you keep bringing LVG into it, do you think we should have kept him? Was he doing a good job to you? Do you think he's a top manager and do you want him back?

You've gone on and on serenading City ok explain Liverpool being top right now or Chelsea winning the league some months after being 16th. Do they have an amazing DOF too? Wonderful structure? Prepared for Klopp or Conte in advance? Bought into their 'ethos'? You think if Pep came here and got us Stones,Laporte,Walker,Sane,Silva,Mahrez,GUndogan etc instead of Lindelof,Bailly,Dalot,Lukaku,Matic, Mkhitaryan,Fred etc some magical force would have us still playing hoofball to Fellaini or something. What's was so fantastically terrible with our 'situation' when Jose and Pep finished in almost same place in their first seasons, that would be making us worse in his 3rd season after spending 400m? What super outrageous spending or free reign has Pep had more than Jose, please explain?

What are these fecking 'issues' we have that a manager who spends right and coaches the players well cannot solve? What is this deep mess we're in that hiring a good manager will not solve?

Yes. Chelsea had a Technical Director called Michael Eminalo. He was at the club for 10 years up until he resigned November last year. During that time he oversaw transfers and made sure the squad didn't have too many holes and scouted new talent. His input to the clubs success over that period cannot be overlooked. If Utd had someone of his ability or even someone looking at the bigger picture for the squad they wouldn't be in the position they are. Chelsea's success while changing manager on a regular basis is because the team/squad has remained of a high standard.

Mourhino has to carry his share of blame as well. I suspect he has lost the dressing room.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Do you think that is what the meetings with the Saudi Prince were about? I know we're only speculating, but I agree completely that it does have a Mike Ashley feel to it all.

I don’t know any more than you do but it wouldn’t surprise me if they had been discussing a potential sale to the Saudi ruling family during their visit to Riyadh. That’s not a prospect that fills me with joy either to be honest but that’s for a different thread.

 

[Mainoldo]

Yes. Chelsea had a Technical Director called Michael Eminalo. He was at the club for 10 years up until he resigned November last year. During that time he oversaw transfers and made sure the squad didn't have too many holes and scouted new talent. His input to the clubs success over that period cannot be overlooked. If Utd had someone of his ability or even someone looking at the bigger picture for the squad they wouldn't be in the position they are. Chelsea's success while changing manager on a regular basis is because the team/squad has remained of a high standard.

Mourhino has to carry his share of blame as well. I suspect he has lost the dressing room.

So why did he fail to improve José squad that summer before the implode.

There’s a simple common dinomintor to our not so complex equation.

 

[Stepney73]

I wouldn't be surprised if at least 4-5 of the glazers even bothered to watch the game.

The sooner these parasites are gone the better for the club.

 

[blue blue]

So why did he fail to improve José squad that summer before the implode.

There’s a simple common dinomintor to our not so complex equation.

He bought in Pedro and brought Victor Moses back from loan. There were other signings that weren't so successful such as Falcao but Pedro has been a successful signing and continues to be a valued member of the squad. I can't think of too many successful Utd signings from the same period.

It's not all Jose's fault but he has to carry a lot of the blame. Utd need a new manager yes but without a plan to manage the squad depth and quality in all positions they will continue to have failing managers. The world has changed and it's time Utd did. Jose will not change. He's a cantankerous old style manager who plays defensive football when all the successful teams are attacking.

 

[Mainoldo]

He bought in Pedro and brought Victor Moses back from loan. There were other signings that weren't so successful such as Falcao but Pedro has been a successful signing and continues to be a valued member of the squad. I can't think of too many successful Utd signings from the same period.

It's not all Jose's fault but he has to carry a lot of the blame. Utd need a new manager yes but without a plan to manage the squad depth and quality in all positions they will continue to have failing managers. The world has changed and it's time Utd did. Jose will not change. He's a cantankerous old style manager who plays defensive football when all the successful teams are attacking.

I don’t see how Pedro and Victor Moses are success stories. Pedro was linked to us at the time. Thank god that fell through he’s average at best.

Conte had the same problems last summer look at his signings. I can rave about DOF but the Chelsea guy. No thanks.

 

[NinjaFletch]

Bolded is bollocks based on absolutely nothing. We let managers like Moyes and LVG stay past their due date while afflicting us with soul destroying football, disgraceful performances, just to see if they can make our only bloody managerial requirment, 4th place. Hell, for all the damage Jose has done and how useless he's been for us, we are still waiting to see if he can make 4th place,every other top club in world football including City would have sacked him long ago, so why the feck would we have sacked Pep after two seasons? And you keep bringing LVG into it, do you think we should have kept him? Was he doing a good job to you? Do you think he's a top manager and do you want him back?

You've gone on and on serenading City ok explain Liverpool being top right now or Chelsea winning the league some months after being 16th. Do they have an amazing DOF too? Wonderful structure? Prepared for Klopp or Conte in advance? Bought into their 'ethos'? You think if Pep came here and got us Stones,Laporte,Walker,Sane,Silva,Mahrez,GUndogan etc instead of Lindelof,Bailly,Dalot,Lukaku,Matic, Mkhitaryan,Fred etc some magical force would have us still playing hoofball to Fellaini or something. What's was so fantastically terrible with our 'situation' when Jose and Pep finished in almost same place in their first seasons, that would be making us worse in his 3rd season after spending 400m? What super outrageous spending or free reign has Pep had more than Jose, please explain?

What are these fecking 'issues' we have that a manager who spends right and coaches the players well cannot solve? What is this deep mess we're in that hiring a good manager will not solve?

What's the point? You don't have the slightest knowledge of what you're talking about.

The point you're refusing to grasp is Pep isn't solely responsible for identifying players and never had been in his career. Your assumption that he would come here and sign those players because City signed them is utterly groundless. He might be involved, but it isn't his job.

And yes Liverpool are miles ahead of us off the pitch too, as are Chelsea. But hey, why didn't you spend the time it will take you angrily replying to do some of your own research in to how those clubs are run?

My point r.e. LVG (who I mentioned once) was not that he was a good manager for us, or that his football was interesting, or anything of the sort. It's that he's an incredibly similar manager to Pep and would do well in City's environment, with their club structure, and with their talent ID, all areas where he struggled with this club, than he did at ours. As well as Pep? Almost certainly not, but I'd be far more confident of him winning the league there than Pep winning the league with us with Fellaini at centre-mid and Young and Valencia at full back.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

When he was past it and already been sacked by Chelsea. I agree upper management is an issue but the fact is at all clubs the manager either makes them look good or not.
Spurs looked like a club that didn't know what it was doing after the Bale sale, till they hired Poch, Liverpool were a shambles before Klopp...

Past it seems arbitrary since he won a title 9 months before

 

[blue blue]

I don’t see how Pedro and Victor Moses are success stories. Pedro was linked to us at the time. Thank god that fell through he’s average at best.

Conte had the same problems last summer look at his signings. I can rave about DOF but the Chelsea guy. No thanks.

Pedro is not average at best. He does a good job and doesn't always play because Chelsea have alternatives. He is very pacy, chips in with important goals and is a good player to bring on from the bench. It's important for any successful team to have players like him. Moses was an integral member of the 2017 PL winning side. Utd could do with some players who have the same level of impact. I don't think this can be seriously argued against with the poor performances seen this season. I'm not here to diss Utd players and I know a lot of Utd fans are calling for a Director of football. Michael Eminalo was very successfully at Chelsea and Utd would do well to attract somebody of his calibre.

 

[Westerkerk]

In my opinion we have given too much control of transfer targets to our managers in a vain attempt to show that we trust them, as opposed to other big clubs where there is this perception that the managers don't have a say and all transfers are dictated by their billionaire owners.

Yes it's ironic. It's ironic that in doing this we have actually made the problem worse because we have put the decisions on players in the hands of three managers who had roughly sod all idea of what they wanted to achieve with the squad or what direction we needed to be taken. It's ironic because a lot of people now blame Woodward for interfering with transfers while having no clue about football. It's ridiculous.

The penny dropped with Woodward last season when Mourinho wanted millions for Perisic (to replace Martial) and another center half.

I fully support and understand the club's decision to say no to that. Mourinho already bought Bailly and Lindelof. These were his buys, not Woodward's .

Mourinho didn't even try to develop them before looking to replace them and that's the sign of a manager that is incapable of building and developing a squad and only knows how to buy himself success. Well tough.

Woodward's main flaw is not sacking Mourniho last summer when he basically destabilised and belittled the existing squad in preseason.

 

[Siorac]

What ails Manchester United:

1) The belief that simply spending hundreds of millions on the latest "can't miss" players and celebrity managers will translate to winning League trophies.

2) The usual United fans' unwarranted sense of entitlement. Which goes hand-in-hand with their inability to grasp that past glories do not in any way portend future glories.

First point, sure. I agree.

Second point though. What fecking entitlement? United fans are the most patient fans ever, basically. The players are not being booed. The manager is not being booed. No white hankies in the stands. No hostile songs, no protests. What exactly are the fans doing that is such a disease, that ails the entire club?

 

[Mainoldo]

Pedro is not average at best. He does a good job and doesn't always play because Chelsea have alternatives. He is very pacy, chips in with important goals and is a good player to bring on from the bench. It's important for any successful team to have players like him. Moses was an integral member of the 2017 PL winning side. Utd could do with some players who have the same level of impact. I don't think this can be seriously argued against with the poor performances seen this season. I'm not here to diss Utd players and I know a lot of Utd fans are calling for a Director of football. Michael Eminalo was very successfully at Chelsea and Utd would do well to attract somebody of his calibre.

We have Lingard for Pedro and Jose was not going to use Victor Moses who has been no different to say he’s an upgrade on Valencia or Young on form.

Michael Eminalo responsible for Bakayoko; Cuadrado; Barkley; David Luiz; Cahill etc. I don’t see what United fan would have been amazed with them. Obviously I’m pointing out the average but I don’t see what’s so special about Chelsea’s recruitment that would make us envious. They was trying to sign Andy Carrol in January FFS.

 

[blue blue]

We have Lingard for Pedro and Jose was not going to use Victor Moses who has been no different to say he’s an upgrade on Valencia or Young on form.

Michael Eminalo responsible for Bakayoko; Cuadrado; Barkley; David Luiz; Cahill etc. I don’t see what United fan would have been amazed with them. Obviously I’m pointing out the average but I don’t see what’s so special about Chelsea’s recruitment that would make us envious. They was trying to sign Andy Carrol in January FFS.

I can't take your comments seriously. Take a look at what is going on at your club. There isn't a transfer policy that builds a functioning squad. There have been gaps in the squad for a number of years. When a club changes manager and each manager picks and chooses different players you end up with a mix of players and not a planned squad. Jose has had time and he has cocked it up as well.

 

[Mainoldo]

I can't take your comments seriously. Take a look at what is going on at your club. There isn't a transfer policy that builds a functioning squad. There have been gaps in the squad for a number of years. When a club changes manager and each manager picks and chooses different players you end up with a mix of players and not a planned squad. Jose has had time and he has cocked it up as well.

The last point is all that matters. There is no gaps in our squad except we don’t have a right winger. Rightfully so you haven’t had a decent striker since Costa or a back of striker of any worth since Anelka. So don’t tell us about out transfer policy. This is the club that spent fortunes trying to get a stable youth policy to have Hazard, KDB and Shalah all in one team. Where are they now?

 

[UnitedFan93]

They appointed Moyes, we blamed Moyes
They appointed Van Gaal, we blamed Van Gaal
They appointed Mourinho, we blamed Mourinho

At what point do we start blaming the ones responsible for these appointments and how the club is run? The reality is that the Glazers and their puppet (Woodward) are the root cause of the problems at the club. The Glazers are ultimately responsible for every appointment at the club, whether its the Executive Vice Chairman, the Manager or the cleaners at the Aon Training Complex. It is the Glazers that need to be held accountable for the current mess at the club.

 

[fellaini's barber]

What's the point? You don't have the slightest knowledge of what you're talking about.

The point you're refusing to grasp is Pep isn't solely responsible for identifying players and never had been in his career. Your assumption that he would come here and sign those players because City signed them is utterly groundless. He might be involved, but it isn't his job.

And yes Liverpool are miles ahead of us off the pitch too, as are Chelsea. But hey, why didn't you spend the time it will take you angrily replying to do some of your own research in to how those clubs are run?

My point r.e. LVG (who I mentioned once) was not that he was a good manager for us, or that his football was interesting, or anything of the sort. It's that he's an incredibly similar manager to Pep and would do well in City's environment, with their club structure, and with their talent ID, all areas where he struggled with this club, than he did at ours. As well as Pep? Almost certainly not, but I'd be far more confident of him winning the league there than Pep winning the league with us with Fellaini at centre-mid and Young and Valencia at full back.

The irony of the guy claiming we would have sacked Pep in his second season talking about groundless assumptions,hilarious. If you think Pep sits around and waits for someone to find players who fit his perfectionist style of play then you are trolling yourself. So as soon as he went to Bayern the club got a hard on for Spanish players like Thiago,Reina and Alonso or as soon as he came to City they suddenly start buyingr a former Barca keeper or players from the German league he just came from,yeah right. Isn't his job my arse,guess the bastard just gets lucky every club he goes are experts at identifying and buying players.

Liverpool being miles ahead of us ,Liverpool who haven't won a major title in more than two decades, Liverpool who we have won more trophies than even post Fergie(our worst period in decades),Liverpool who spent years signing and millions on duds upon duds like Andy Carrol,Sakho,Rickie Lambert, and Danny Ings etc,Liverpool who hired Hodgson as manager,Liverpool whose first and second choice keepers where Mignolet and Karius at some point,Liverpool who consistently have to sell their best players,Liverpool where we had threads mocking them on this forum....that Liverpool is suddenly 'miles ahead of us off the pitch'. When did this happen?Oh wait let me guess, as soon as they started looking decent under Klopp right? Maybe you could help me with that research because I'm definitely missing something here. Not suprised though,some have suggested even Arsenal have a better board too. As for Chelsea, they have have very little patience and will hire 3 managers per season if they have to to get their results. Their best manager ever has not lasted 3 years there

Your point re LvG being more likely to win the league with City than Pep here after conceding he was not a good manager for us and that his football was not interesting but because of their 'environment' is the sort of idiotic shit the most deluded Jose apologists used to post in his thread which I've stopped bothering to reply to long ago. What a clusterfeck of a paragraph, LvG would sideways pass his way to a league title at City because of their environment while we would have forced Pep to use Fellaini and Young.

 

[fellaini's barber]

Yes. Chelsea had a Technical Director called Michael Eminalo. He was at the club for 10 years up until he resigned November last year. During that time he oversaw transfers and made sure the squad didn't have too many holes and scouted new talent. His input to the clubs success over that period cannot be overlooked. If Utd had someone of his ability or even someone looking at the bigger picture for the squad they wouldn't be in the position they are. Chelsea's success while changing manager on a regular basis is because the team/squad has remained of a high standard.

Mourhino has to carry his share of blame as well. I suspect he has lost the dressing room.

What about Conte though,did he have anything to do with it?

 

[House Mkhitaryan]

Management at a club like United has 3 basic tasks to ensure on-field success:

1. Money - Provide enough for signings and salaries
2. Signings - Sign the proper quality players, sell existing players at the right time/price & extend contracts or delegate all these tasks to someone who can
3. Coach - Hire (and fire!) coaches

As for money, management has provided enough money, especially over the past 3-4 years, for us to be a lot better. Sure, they messed up this Summer but prior to that, they provided Jose with anything he could have asked for. Also, they didn't spend as they should have during Fergie's last few years or shortly after he left. Grade: C+

As for signings, we have signed a number of quality players who have proven outside of United to be competent and successful before they got here, after they left and/or for their national team. On the other hand, some new signings have been total busts and the overall strategy seems to be reactive, not fitting any sort of system and we tend to pay even more than standard England/big club tax. They haven't sold many of the players who should have been sold 5 years ago and seem more committed to extending contracts of our average players than the ones we really need to keep. Grade: D

Coach management is where United has really missed the boat. All 3 coach signings were awful and all 3 have lingered well past their expiration date. It would hard to envision any organization managing this process any worse than what United have done. Moyes was not even close to being up for the job. Van Gaal was way past his prime. And Jose has been left clueless as football has rapidly evolved. This was obvious last year yet they inexplicably extended him for no reason and then also refused to back him in the summer transfer market! Absolutely diabolical. Grade: F---

The positive thing is that virtually all our on-field problems can be solved by hiring the right coach. Just look around the EPL and all 5 teams ahead of United signed a proper, modern coach and massively improved their on-field performance. Just this year, Chelsea and Arsenal made great strides almost instantly. Liverpool were floundering until they brought Klopp in. Spurs and City also miles above where they were at prior to Poch and Pep. United have the money to spend (and have shown they will spend it). Get a coach in who can instill a modern system, coach up our current players and bring in what he needs.

Unfortunately, United have shown in the past, and continue to show by not pulling the trigger on Jose, no indication that they have any fecking clue at all what they are doing. All we as fans can do is hope (despite evidence) that they have learned something or that we eventually luck into a great, modern manager who will move the club forward.