Manchester United Seasonal Blog 2021/22

[SUZYKINS]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... gWhkxXzYAw 47 & still the most dangerous & feared forward on Old Trafford

[Darbyand]

Yep. It's Groundhog Day....

When do we get to: "Where does Pogba fit in?"?

I've got another Ralf quite for that and this one is a sad reflection on the messes United get themselves into:

Rangnick: "He [Pogba] wants to show the fans of mufc, the board, the whole world, what kind of player he can be. Even if it’s for only showing up for a new contract elsewhere, he will be highly motivated to do that, so why should I then not play him?"

As for where he'd play in this self designed shop window period.... I don't care any more.

[thebillfella]

Martial and Pogba - the two main protagonists of the "down tools when I don't fancy the Manager" in the dressing room and the baddest of bad apples. Getting shot of both of them won't be a day too soon - Fergie would have had them out long ago (in fact with Pogba he did!).

[forestfan]

Martial and Pogba - the two main protagonists of the "down tools when I don't fancy the Manager" in the dressing room and the baddest of bad apples. Getting shot of both of them won't be a day too soon - Fergie would have had them out long ago (in fact with Pogba he did!).

Surprising he’s not pulling a few strings behind the scenes to make them get rid of such players.

If they give Pogba another big contract just to keep him from walking away for nothing, it shows where football has got to and they deserve everything they get.

[thebillfella]

Indeed. I can only assume from Ralf's perspective that he's been told there will be no signings in January so he probably thinks better to have him for 6 months rather than lose him and have no replacement?

[SUZYKINS]

Indeed. I can only assume from Ralf's perspective that he's been told there will be no signings in January so he probably thinks better to have him for 6 months rather than lose him and have no replacement?

Will do wonders for an already fragmented dressing room

[Bob Newhart]

Will do wonders for an already fragmented dressing room

Martial's gone... that can only help. Now to get rid of Pogba.

[forestfan]

Will do wonders for an already fragmented dressing room

Martial's gone... that can only help. Now to get rid of Pogba.

You know they’ll give him a new mega-deal just to avoid the embarrassment of letting him walk away for nothing again

[Darbyand]

So they're trying to screw a £12m "survival clause" out of Newcastle for Lingard. They'd have been better off getting, say, £12m for him last summer AND not paying him a few million quid to sit on the bench for an extra 6 months.

Their ability to let saleable assets run down their contracts while giving new contracts to dead wood is the only area in which United still lead the field.

[forestfan]

So they're trying to screw a £12m "survival clause" out of Newcastle for Lingard. They'd have been better off getting, say, £12m for him last summer AND not paying him a few million quid to sit on the bench for an extra 6 months.

Their ability to let saleable assets run down their contracts while giving new contracts to dead wood is the only area in which United still lead the field.

Arsenal have always been pretty good at that as well… there’s few better indicators of a poorly run club than bad contract management.

[Darbyand]

Arsenal were at least trying to run a strict wages policy for a lot of those mistakes (to pay for their white elephant stadium but that's another thread which hosts the ghost of GroomyD). United throw wages around like confetti.

[blahblah]

£12m for half a season?

[forestfan]

Arsenal were at least trying to run a strict wages policy for a lot of those mistakes (to pay for their white elephant stadium but that's another thread which hosts the ghost of GroomyD). United throw wages around like confetti.

Was more their habit of letting key players get into the last year of their contract and being forced to sell them or let them walk that I was referring to…

A new stadium may be something of a financial white elephant, when gate receipts are a drop in the ocean, but would they really be better off now if they had stayed at old Highbury? One of the United fans’ other gripes at the Glazers seems to be the crumbling Old Trafford that hasn’t had any development for 20 years or so. A bit different to America where NFL owners say to their city authority “build us a new stadium or we’ll move to another city”. Do you think Andy Burnham would oblige if Joel Glazer gave him such a call?

[Bob Newhart]

£12m for half a season?

For Jessie??

You'd have to be a right Jessie to pay it!

[blahblah]

£12m for half a season?

For Jessie??

You'd have to be a right Jessie to pay it!

And a tad deranged to ask for it

(He is out of contact in the summer?)

[Darbyand]

Arsenal were at least trying to run a strict wages policy for a lot of those mistakes (to pay for their white elephant stadium but that's another thread which hosts the ghost of GroomyD). United throw wages around like confetti.

Was more their habit of letting key players get into the last year of their contract and being forced to sell them or let them walk that I was referring to…

A new stadium may be something of a financial white elephant, when gate receipts are a drop in the ocean, but would they really be better off now if they had stayed at old Highbury? One of the United fans’ other gripes at the Glazers seems to be the crumbling Old Trafford that hasn’t had any development for 20 years or so. A bit different to America where NFL owners say to their city authority “build us a new stadium or we’ll move to another city”. Do you think Andy Burnham would oblige if Joel Glazer gave him such a call?

My take on Arsenal isn't that they shouldn't have moved but that managers don't build stadiums at the cost of them team. They tell chief execs to get on with that and ring fence the 1st team to protect it. Arsenal could've taken out a 50 year mortgage and paid it off by now with the boom in finances. Wenger was well meaning but mis-guided IMO.

United have stayed at Old Trafford and let it rot which feels different.

[forestfan]

Highbury would certainly have been left to rot had they stayed, there was no room to expand it and they’d have been left with a lower half of the PL standard/capacity stadium by now, at best?

Whether it was Wenger, Kroenke/predecessors or a combination, they did neglect the team though - maybe Vieira and Henry had to be allowed to move on to “bigger” things but they didn’t adequately replace them (and never have done since, in the former’s case…) and Wenger’s misguided faith in his pound-shop La Masia was his downfall but convenient for the owners.

[murf]

OT is huge. They must lead the league in gate receipts.

It may not be 2020s modern but it is surely perfectly adequate (at least as good as Anfield and Stamford Bridge in that respect???).

[forestfan]

Well yeah, obviously not the capacity but seemingly the state of disrepair that’s the issue. Probably not the only major ground largely untouched since the post-Taylor Report redevelopments, but still gives a poor impression of the club and can be symbolic of what’s happening on the field. Even if gate receipts are less of a contributor to share price and profits than Myanmarese noodles…

[blahblah]

Yeah, it's more than a tad neglected, and maybe the only Prem ground with no screen.

[forestfan]

Yeah, it's more than a tad neglected, and maybe the only Prem ground with no screen.

They need a JerryWorld/LoFi-style screen for the keepers to hit with their goal kicks

[blahblah]

That might be the only way to do it, with a roof....

[thebillfella]

Well I guess I may have to rethink my predictions over Mason Greenwood's future success with United and England! What a total knob (if true of course, but what is out there is pretty damning - if not fake which it doesn't appear to be) and I hope the girl is ok. Glad the club has taken swift action; and what a waste of a talent if this plays out as anticipated.

As for the transfer window, Martial, Diallo (both loan) and potentially VDB, Lingard, Henderson and Jones out of the door along with Greenwood gone; with no signings in to replace. Not sure if that counts as a good window (!) but the Glazers with be happy as costs will be reduced.

[blahblah]

I think that I've decided that I'm now too old to care about the courting techniques of wannabe gangsters and ho's.

There have been plenty of moans about not getting enough players out, so it must be a good window?

[blahblah]

Is Jesse being kept because of Greenwood not being available?

[Darbyand]

I thought the same.

[murf]

And Pogba is being kept because DvdB is off!

[Darbyand]

Unlike Lingard I don't think think there's been a serious offer for Pogba.

[murf]

Unlike Lingard I don't think think there's been a serious offer for Pogba.

...yet they think there will be if they tie him to a longer contract and so push up his price tag.

[blahblah]

Unlike Lingard I don't think think there's been a serious offer for Pogba.

...yet they think there will be if they tie him to a longer contract and so push up his price tag.

If/when France win the WC again it might?