Will we need to revise our expectations of Ole following this transfer window?

VP89

Pogba's biggest fan
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Dec 6, 2015
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I think it's fair to say that we had expected a plan to bridge the gap between ourselves and the 2 sides above us next season. Perhaps not completely but considerably enough to warrant some sort of challenge, as it's Ole's 3rd season in charge with some transfer windows for him & Ed to work in their players.

As we evaluate the current state of the market, 1) Chelsea, a side that matched us for points last season, have improved massively on paper 2)There is a strong likelihood Liverpool will plug one of their few weaknesses with Thiago and 3) Excluding an outside chance of City getting Messi, we can expect a center back of Koulibali's ilk to be wrapped up which will improve them.

As we revert back to ourselves, we can all agree that we are shy of more than just a star right winger, and even this target is taking it's sweet time to reach some conclusion one way or another. I still think we will get Sancho over the line, but am personally starting to accept that this may be the only piece of business we complete.

If we accept a scenario where we get Sancho, Liverpool get Thiago, City get their center back + 1-2 others, and Chelsea we already know: should we reasonably really expect Ole to bridge the gap as per the progression plan? It might be that we fall further away, given how well Chelsea have recruited.

Is it a reasonable expectation for any other manager if not Ole? Finally if the answer is that we should re-evaluate our expectations in light of how other teams have strengthened/will strengthen, then should we not focus our attention more on the dire state of how Woodward has handled the (lack of) DoF situation? This to me at least is more a root of the problem!
 
If we buy no-one at all, for sure our expectations need to change. But we're not there yet. Knowing United we'll buy someone weeks after the season starts, they'll take time to adjust, and then we'll then spend the whole season arguing whether its Ole or the Board's fault every time we have a bad game.
 
If the board don't back Ole with the very obviously needed injection of player quality then they will be the ones to blame 100%.
 
Honestly I never expected us to bridge the gap this season. It's too big for that. COVID has thrown even more uncertainty into the mix, and it all depends on how the transfer window ends. If nothing else happens we'll be lucky to even get top 4 next season. Hopefully we manage to get in some reinforcements before the transfer windows ends because if not then not even the best manager in the world will get higher than fourth with this squad. Chelsea are lightyears ahead on paper now. We'll be fighting the likes of Arsenal, Leicester, Spurs and Wolves for places 4-6.

Let's wait and see what happens. There's still time.
 
If we fail in this window top 6 would be a good achievement by him.
 
Yes, absolutely, if he's not backed. But a lot of fans will still turn on him if results go sour.

Whatever happens though, we should be in the hunt for top 4, even if we had exactly the same squad as last year.
 
If we don't get anyone, a reasonable expectation is to get around 75 points next season. Last season we only had Bruno from February onwards and Pogba missed two thirds of the season. With them in the squad, we should, realistically, do better than last season even without transfers.
 
Can we not just wait until the window is over before moaning, plz ?
 
Even if we don't buy anyone, which I'm sure won't happen, I would still expect the team to perform, points wise, way better than last season.
 
If no incoming transfers Ole should differentiate between competitions. The league should be the absolute priority together with CL. Reserve team in League Cup and FA Cup. Our first 11 is strong and they should not be overplayed.
 
I'd still hope for more points than last season. We had title winning form for nearly half a season, we are a far better side than our points total showed. We are very young but now one year older.

Also, if we sign nobody... Is part of that oles fault ? Ole could always lower his own expectations of our targets. As some people have pointed out we need depth and not just starting quality. But if we can get starting quality in more than one position ole should push and push for that... At the end of the day though not sure there is any excuse not to add depth of we can't get the big targets. 70 PTS plus for me
 
The problem is if there are no investments when our immediate rivals seem to be investing heavily will leave the club rightly open to criticism. It's unfair on Ole when he has publicly highlighted the need for new players but the fans will flood message boards complaining about him instead of targeting the owners ie not buying kits, Man United merchandise, deleting the app, not engage in official social media channels etc. The fact is the hierarchy is happy to trundle on with a simple target of reaching the CL each season.
 
Siorac said:
If we don't get anyone, a reasonable expectation is to get around 75 points next season. Last season we only had Bruno from February onwards and Pogba missed two thirds of the season. With them in the squad, we should, realistically, do better than last season even without transfers.
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Injuries can still happen though, they're considered part of the game
 
No. I don't see fans revised their expectations when previous managers hadn't got the players they want.
 
Glorio said:
Injuries can still happen though, they're considered part of the game
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Sure but the initial expectations are usually set with the assumption that no key player will have a significant, long-term injury, the kind that Pogba had last season.

If that assumption proves to be incorrect, we'll have to revise the expectations as well, of course. But until then it's reasonable to say that we should do better than last season in terms of points and goals scored.
 
As of right now I think the goal is yet again to be fighting for top 4.
The squad isn't good enough for more than that due to the lack of a right wing and any sort of quality in our rotation players.

I believe that anyone who thinks we'll be fighting for trophies next season is deluded, even if we got Sancho.
We need 2 or 3 summers of good progress of the squad to be competing for the big two.
 
Yes it does. We can’t expect anything more than the 19/20 season without strengthening the squad while our rivals add to theirs.

If we falter next season the blame will not be on Ole’s feet. The fans will not turn on a club legend.

Woodward and The Glazers will feel the full heat and blame.
 
There's zero chance that we end the window without signings.
 
Yes, as a fan base we should readjust our expectations somewhat if credible signings are not made this window. In reality, and knowing not just United's fanbase but the 'internet fan'*, then there will be no readjustment, just fuel on the Ole out fire, when in reality it is the board who sanction the signings. Ole has gone on record stating that he and the team provide the senior management option a, b and c, so if one falls through the net then they can focus on the next player suggestion. I think he does his bit with the identification of targets. The board need to act and bring them in.

*By internet fan I mean the people who cause mad ructions by having a meltdown at every dropped point, demanding 100% win records all year and generally posting crap for retweets and likes.
 
Ed Woodward has said the club's ambition is to challenge for trophies.

As fans, we should not downgrade our expectations because of the fools that run this club, as soon as we do that, they will continue to do so.

Ole has to stand up for himself against the board, if we do not reduce the gap, I am sorry Ole has to go.

I know it is unfair on him, but he has to stand up to the board too.
 
It depends on what signings we make. We've just seen how one player like Bruno can impact the team so much, as well as the points total. I think Sancho would've been such a player. The way its going, my thought of making moves to bridge the gap to the top 2 seem unrealistic.

I'll decide on my expectations once the window is shut. But so far im not too encouraged.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
Wait until transfer window is closed before setting expectations.
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Exactly. Plus we should be able to judge how well the manager is doing irrespective of how strong the likes of Chelsea, City and Liverpool are next season. It wasn’t points dropped against those teams that knocked us out of the title race in 2019/20.
 
romufc said:
Ed Woodward has said the club's ambition is to challenge for trophies.

As fans, we should not downgrade our expectations because of the fools that run this club, as soon as we do that, they will continue to do so.

Ole has to stand up for himself against the board, if we do not reduce the gap, I am sorry Ole has to go.

I know it is unfair on him, but he has to stand up to the board too.
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How?

"Get me these players else I walk?" he hasn't built that sort of weight at the club.
 
In worst case scenario, if we linger around 8th, we should see that as a good season and club should keep supporting Ole. Wish we just had same idea in the past with other managers.
 
Of course. Our squad isn't capable of handling CL and PL football without basically taking it easy in Europe just so we can scrape top 4 in the PL again. We're clearly behind the top 3 right now after all of Chelsea's signings, City might get Messi, Liverpool will probably get Thiago... its a battle for 4th place and hoping Arsenal and Spurs are still shite and that Leicester don't progress at the moment. Our starting 11 is very decent, but its offset by no serious quality depth of similar quality. Until we get that, the best we can aim for is basically 4th.
 
Let's wait till the end of the window.

Regardless though, we should expect excellence from our manager with whatever he has.
 
Unless we add significant upgrades (more than just Sancho alone) I don't see how we can expect to keep up with Chelsea nevermind City and Liverpool
 
Lynty said:
How?

"Get me these players else I walk?" he hasn't built that sort of weight at the club.
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Frankly, I think he has. It would throw the club in to turmoil if he left, he’s united everyone. He won’t walk anyway, because it would be petty and would achieve nothing good. He will get on with his job.
 
If he doesn’t get the signings he will fail. The board should be blamed but he doesn’t get an expectation pass because of it.
 
Lynty said:
How?

"Get me these players else I walk?" he hasn't built that sort of weight at the club.
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Arteta done it well prior to the season end.

There is no point Ole coming out saying we can take advantage etc..

I will support Ole but if we finish outside it is not acceptable.
 
VP89 said:
I think it's fair to say that we had expected a plan to bridge the gap between ourselves and the 2 sides above us next season. Perhaps not completely but considerably enough to warrant some sort of challenge, as it's Ole's 3rd season in charge with some transfer windows for him & Ed to work in their players.

As we evaluate the current state of the market, 1) Chelsea, a side that matched us for points last season, have improved massively on paper 2)There is a strong likelihood Liverpool will plug one of their few weaknesses with Thiago and 3) Excluding an outside chance of City getting Messi, we can expect a center back of Koulibali's ilk to be wrapped up which will improve them.

As we revert back to ourselves, we can all agree that we are shy of more than just a star right winger, and even this target is taking it's sweet time to reach some conclusion one way or another. I still think we will get Sancho over the line, but am personally starting to accept that this may be the only piece of business we complete.

If we accept a scenario where we get Sancho, Liverpool get Thiago, City get their center back + 1-2 others, and Chelsea we already know: should we reasonably really expect Ole to bridge the gap as per the progression plan? It might be that we fall further away, given how well Chelsea have recruited.

Is it a reasonable expectation for any other manager if not Ole? Finally if the answer is that we should re-evaluate our expectations in light of how other teams have strengthened/will strengthen, then should we not focus our attention more on the dire state of how Woodward has handled the (lack of) DoF situation? This to me at least is more a root of the problem!
Click to expand...

Is it? Have I missed a season?

I don't think we'll end up with no signings, but will they be the ones that Ole wants and how many? They are the questions.

I'm sure as well that Ole would also ideally like them in before or at least soon after the season restarts so they can be integrated within the squad quickly. That is another point.

Those asking for him to walk, how easy do you think walking would be? I doubt anyone here would walk given the choice.
 
Our position in table reflects how good our squad is in relation to other clubs. Better than 6th 5th 4th, but far away from Liverpool and City. If we could add 2 quality players and two squad players, AND start rotating with a little bit of faith in our midfielders, we could challenge City for second. It will be more difficult for them to upgrade than for us IMO. We are not challenging for title next season for sure anyway.

If we don't make any transfers in, then I believe it'll be the same for all clubs so we will probably be challenging for top 4, targeting 3rd.

If we don't make any transfers and other clubs improve their squads, nothing changes in terms of target but the chances are getting lower.
 
romufc said:
Arteta done it well prior to the season end.

There is no point Ole coming out saying we can take advantage etc..

I will support Ole but if we finish outside it is not acceptable.
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Oh I agree. Top 4 is minimum expectation even without signings.
 
The issue with Ole is he extremely unlikely to say "either we buy players or I walk" because when will he ever manage a club like this again? It certainly wouldn't happen right now if he quit over the summer.
 
Siorac said:
If we don't get anyone, a reasonable expectation is to get around 75 points next season. Last season we only had Bruno from February onwards and Pogba missed two thirds of the season. With them in the squad, we should, realistically, do better than last season even without transfers.
Click to expand...
That's expecting no other important player gets injured
 
kouroux said:
That's expecting no other important player gets injured
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Well, at least not to the extent of Pogba's injury issues last season. Minor injuries are inevitable during a season but major ones aren't - just look at Liverpool, their key players have been mostly fit for the last two seasons.

Of course if any of our key players miss half the season again, the expectations will be different.
 
Last season Ole was allowed to buy a player to save his season in January when other managers couldn't. It seems we're comparing with other clubs only when we're going to come out unfavourably.

I don't like the idea of lowering expectations, they should remain the same as last year and if he does get his transfer, they should increase.
 
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