If we don’t sign anyone this window it shows the club lacks ambition

Josep Dowling

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Most people knew our midfield would be a disaster since we didn’t sign a midfielder in the summer. How can you let Herrera and Fellaini go and not bring in a midfielder?

Matic and Mata had shown the previous season they had lost their legs and weren’t up to it. Pereira and Lingard will never be good enough.

If our front 3 is not scoring our only option on the bench is an 18 year old. There simply isn’t any squad depth and there is a serious lack of quality in midfield. Surely we have to sign someone this month?

If the club had any real ambition to make the top 4 they must see these gaps in the squad. Our net spend has been pretty low the last two years. Ole has said post match once again ‘if our targets are available’. I would suggest have more than just a couple of impossible signings who are unlikely to join us without Champions League football. It seems insane to me to keep waiting for players to become available. If they want to join they will push for a move to join us.
 
I'll stop you right there.

The minute we hired Ole as permanent manager showed the club's lack of ambition full stop.

We were promised a change after Mourinho and we all got duped.
 
The club has already shown multiple times they lack any ambition by having an incompetent ceo run things, having Ole managing this club, not spending much this summer. We are just a bug big club by name because of the work sir alex did . Since 2013 we have been acting like a loud mouth who delivers very little on the field.
 
We have a very restrictive almost uncreative transfer policy. This is in addition to January being a hard time to buy which is also in addition to our project being unconvincing to promising players. Can't even begin to imagine who we can get to improve us this January
 
This window? How about the last 3 windows? (not counting the Sanchez swap). The ambition should be to win the league and building a squad with top tier coaching. For a competent club, top 4 would just be a byproduct. This isn't happening. The plan is to have OGS sell reducing costs and becoming Brexit FC as some kind of rebuilding masterclass. And there are enough people that drink that stuff up.
 
The club has already shown multiple times they lack any ambition by having an incompetent ceo run things, having Ole managing this club, not spending much this summer. We are just a bug big club by name because of the work sir alex did . Since 2013 we have been acting like a loud mouth who delivers very little on the field.

Then why do fans keep turning up then? The best thing that fans can do is make a stand against the Glazers again. I don’t understand why match going fans made a stand back then when we were relatively successful. Now we are an absolute mess and nothing is done to make change.
 
If we don't sack Solskjaer this window, it shows the club lacks ambition.

 
Then why do fans keep turning up then? The best thing that fans can do is make a stand against the Glazers again. I don’t understand why match going fans made a stand back then when we were relatively successful. Now we are an absolute mess and nothing is done to make change.

Because the club are giving them what they want. They're backing the manager, and if there's one thing our fanbase loves it's to worship their cult leader.
 
As long as Woodward operates as our "DoF" it's safe to say the club lacks any sort of ambition. As much as I think Ole is blatantly obviously the wrong fit things will never truly drastically change as long as a quality DoF is brought in because ONLY then can we set realistic goals and work towards them with a balanced and well functioning plan put in place.

It's really a simple cycle, one that nearly all top clubs follow.

DoF brings in manager with certain style of play/tactics.

DoF/Manager sign players who would fit into that style.


Only under this recipe will patience be rewarded in the long run and a benefit of working as such is even if you come to the point where a manager needs to be sacked when you are looking for the next one it makes it a lot easier as the candidates looked at will simply be ones who would fit into the idea of how we want to play.

This current strategy of Ed being the main man will never make us compete again. At best we could bring in a manager to steady the ship but to ever compete under such incompetent leadership with complete disregard to any sort of long term plan you can forget.
 
I think we are now paying the price for the vast amounts of money we have wasted personally. There isn't a magic money tree. We have spent £850m since Fergie retired and what do we have to show for it? Not much.

Glazers out. Woodward out. Ole out.
 
I'm not holding my breath.

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I'll stop you right there.

The minute we hired Ole as permanent manager showed the club's lack of ambition full stop.

We were promised a change after Mourinho and we all got duped.

[/THREAD]
 
No ambition, no competence and doubts over the manager so no chance of money being spent.
 
I disagree actually.

Our transfer strategy so far is half the reason we are in this mess. Forcing through a transfer at all costs this month will do absolutely nothing to help our situation in the long run. It's vital we sign the right players of the right quality. Panicking and spaffing a load on a player because they are available is a bad idea, as is paying over the odds or offering a huge contract to make a move happen.
 
It's a sure sign of no belief in the Ole project, that's for sure.

At least that's something.
 
And if we sign players?

Btw who are Ryan and Laurie?
 
I disagree actually.

Our transfer strategy so far is half the reason we are in this mess. Forcing through a transfer at all costs this month will do absolutely nothing to help our situation in the long run. It's vital we sign the right players of the right quality. Panicking and spaffing a load on a player because they are available is a bad idea, as is paying over the odds or offering a huge contract to make a move happen.

It's been clear since last season and the year before and again this season that we need a midfielder. If we've not been looking at anyone 'suitable' at this point then we might as well just pack it in. The idea that you need some sort of 'dna' to be able to be signed by Ole is a nonsense. Our midfield is shite and short of options, go out there and sign a decent midfield player. It's not that hard. We're having to play a footballer in an attacking midfield position who did not score or assist a goal in the entirety of 2019 and we're being told that nobody better is available, feck right off.
 
At this point, a lack of signings and next SEASON will be rinse and repeat, because with injuries in a midfield already light on quality the club will once again not be in the Champions League, and not be attractive to players who could help get the club back to its former glory.
 
if the right players are not available, we should at least try and bring one or two on loan. we can't just sit with these lot and hope to finish in top4. we are slowly losing our identity :/
 
I disagree actually.

Our transfer strategy so far is half the reason we are in this mess. Forcing through a transfer at all costs this month will do absolutely nothing to help our situation in the long run. It's vital we sign the right players of the right quality. Panicking and spaffing a load on a player because they are available is a bad idea, as is paying over the odds or offering a huge contract to make a move happen.

We don’t need to panic buy. The wait and see attitude this season has created the most difficult season in years. We don’t have enough numbers in the squad even if we disregard the lack of quality

And who are we actually targeting as a club?

Sancho? £120m. Has similar attitude traits as Pogba.

Maddison? £80m-£100m. Likely will be playing Champions League football with Leicester. After seeing what happened to Maguire I can’t see him wanting to move to us.
 
I disagree actually.

Our transfer strategy so far is half the reason we are in this mess. Forcing through a transfer at all costs this month will do absolutely nothing to help our situation in the long run. It's vital we sign the right players of the right quality. Panicking and spaffing a load on a player because they are available is a bad idea, as is paying over the odds or offering a huge contract to make a move happen.
Agreed. We've done that far too often of late. We need to stop signing players, and start signing the right players.
 
It's been clear since last season and the year before and again this season that we need a midfielder. If we've not been looking at anyone 'suitable' at this point then we might as well just pack it in. The idea that you need some sort of 'dna' to be able to be signed by Ole is a nonsense. Our midfield is shite and short of options, go out there and sign a decent midfield player. It's not that hard. We're having to play a footballer in an attacking midfield position who did not score or assist a goal in the entirety of 2019 and we're being told that nobody better is available, feck right off.

Exactly.
 
We shouldn't be signing just anyone, or even any of the majority of people who would be improvements on our current lacklustre options. The signings we make have to be the right ones for the long term and if those signings aren't available in January (which many of them won't be) then refusing to sign lesser players for a short-term fix is indicative of good sense rather than a lack of ambition.

It was the last transfer window where we showed our lack of ambition, by failing to even secure the basic number of transfers our manager had set out. Summer windows are always easier windows in which to do business, we had let players go who needed to be replaced and we had a new manager who was in the position of knowing exactly what he wanted as a result of having already worked with the squad for half a season. That was the time to be aggressive and that failure likely can't be rectified in this window, even if the club's ambition were to suddenly jump into overdrive.
 
Then why do fans keep turning up then? The best thing that fans can do is make a stand against the Glazers again. I don’t understand why match going fans made a stand back then when we were relatively successful. Now we are an absolute mess and nothing is done to make change.

Because the Glazers lowered the ticket prices back then and that was good enough to buy their loyalty.
In the thread "When will our match going fans finally crack?", a match going fan replied to me that drinking and singing with his buddies meant more than results so there you have it. We have an unambitious fan base and it reflects on the management.
Like I always say, top reds are the ultimate Glazer enablers.
 
It's been clear since last season and the year before and again this season that we need a midfielder. If we've not been looking at anyone 'suitable' at this point then we might as well just pack it in. The idea that you need some sort of 'dna' to be able to be signed by Ole is a nonsense. Our midfield is shite and short of options, go out there and sign a decent midfield player. It's not that hard. We're having to play a footballer in an attacking midfield position who did not score or assist a goal in the entirety of 2019 and we're being told that nobody better is available, feck right off.

Your reply has absolutely no bearing on what I posted.
 
Its clear we need to bring someone in, but if there's no one out there with the quality to improve us significantly, then I'd rather us wait until the summer to purchase a top class midfielder.

You also mention us getting rid of Fellaini and Herrera and not bringing someone in. Whilst our quality is nowhere near the required level to be challenging for titles, quantity wise, we're not short of numbers. Its been overstated because of the injuries we've had. Going forward, we definitely need more quality. Until then, we'll continue to see inconsistent performances and find it a strugge to create chances.
 
I disagree actually.

Our transfer strategy so far is half the reason we are in this mess. Forcing through a transfer at all costs this month will do absolutely nothing to help our situation in the long run. It's vital we sign the right players of the right quality. Panicking and spaffing a load on a player because they are available is a bad idea, as is paying over the odds or offering a huge contract to make a move happen.

Agree with you. We dug our own grave in the summer (or trusted in ourselves and the players we had-take your pick depending on your perspective) and I just don't see the point in making a panic buy at this stage which will eat into next season's funds.
 
We are not signing anyone. Might as well start blooding in Garner and Levitt, because Matic is finished and wants to leave the club on top of that. Also, the season is done without Pogba and McTominay for the next 3 months (probably).
 
Ole out brigade rushing to find the laptops after Burnley disappointment
 
Its clear we need to bring someone in, but if there's no one out there with the quality to improve us significantly, then I'd rather us wait until the summer to purchase a top class midfielder.

You also mention us getting rid of Fellaini and Herrera and not bringing someone in. Whilst our quality is nowhere near the required level to be challenging for titles, quantity wise, we're not short of numbers. Its been overstated because of the injuries we've had. Going forward, we definitely need more quality. Until then, we'll continue to see inconsistent performances and find it a strugge to create chances.

We are using Lingard as a CAM, a player who hasn’t scored or assisted in one year. Are you really telling me we couldn’t sign someone better than him? Or Pereira who couldn’t get game time at Valencia when he was on loan. Or better than Matic who hasn’t played well for 18 months?

Tielemans was available for £40m in the summer. There are the likes of Van Der Beek who can be obtained. Grealish is much better than what we have.

There are plenty of options available. The likes of Matuidi and Eriksen have contracts expiring.
 
Because the Glazers lowered the ticket prices back then and that was good enough to buy their loyalty.
In the thread "When will our match going fans finally crack?", a match going fan replied to me that drinking and singing with his buddies meant more than results so there you have it. We have an unambitious fan base and it reflects on the management.
Like I always say, top reds are the ultimate Glazer enablers.

Nailed.
Absolutely nailed.