Massive pay rise, a huge budget, a chance to redeem himself at a big club.
Poll Ole at the wheel choice...
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Rodgers undoubtedly has a big ego. But I've always thought he doesn't quite have a big enough personality for a big club.
Don't get me wrong, I think he can be thoroughly likeable and well respected. There's just something small time about him.
Like Moyes, who's a very decent manager for the right kind of club, I think the United job's too big for him. He won't think that though.
Don't get me wrong, I think he can be thoroughly likeable and well respected. There's just something small time about him.
Like Moyes, who's a very decent manager for the right kind of club, I think the United job's too big for him. He won't think that though.
I agree I don’t think he’d succeed but he’d 100% take it.
...redoubled by the fact that they should have signed him themselves, and they know it.
This is funny, well worth reading:
Ole gunnar solskjaer meets with Klopp. He asks him, "Your team wiped the floor with us 5 - 0 I cant get over it, how do you run such an efficient team? Are there any tips you can give to me?"
"Well," says Klopp, "the most important thing is to sign intelligent players."
Solskjaer frowns. "But how do I know the players in my team are really intelligent?"
Klopp says. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to answer an intelligence riddle."
Then Klopp phones Mo Salah. "Please Join me and Solskjaer in here, would you?"
Salah walks into the room. "Yes, boss?"
Klopp smiles. "Answer me this, please, Mo. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"
Without pausing for a moment, Mo answers, "That would be me."
"Yes! Very good," says Klopp.
Back at Old Trafford, Ole gunnar Solskjaer asks to see Harry Maguire.
"Harry, answer this for me. Your mother and father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"
"I'm not sure," says Harry. "Let me get back to you on that one."
Harry goes to to the whole Man Utd squad and asks every one he can find, but none can give him an answer. Finally, on the way out he bumps into Paul Pogba
Harry says, "Paul! Can you answer this for me? Your mother and your father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?
Paul Pogba says, "That's easy. It's me!"
Harry says. "Thanks!" and goes back to the Managers Office to speak with Ole gunnar Solskjaer.
Harry Says, "I did some research I asked the whole team and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Paul Pogba."
Ole gunnar Solskjaer, stomps over to Harry Maguire, and angrily yells into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Mo Salah!"
Ole gunnar solskjaer meets with Klopp. He asks him, "Your team wiped the floor with us 5 - 0 I cant get over it, how do you run such an efficient team? Are there any tips you can give to me?"
"Well," says Klopp, "the most important thing is to sign intelligent players."
Solskjaer frowns. "But how do I know the players in my team are really intelligent?"
Klopp says. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to answer an intelligence riddle."
Then Klopp phones Mo Salah. "Please Join me and Solskjaer in here, would you?"
Salah walks into the room. "Yes, boss?"
Klopp smiles. "Answer me this, please, Mo. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"
Without pausing for a moment, Mo answers, "That would be me."
"Yes! Very good," says Klopp.
Back at Old Trafford, Ole gunnar Solskjaer asks to see Harry Maguire.
"Harry, answer this for me. Your mother and father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"
"I'm not sure," says Harry. "Let me get back to you on that one."
Harry goes to to the whole Man Utd squad and asks every one he can find, but none can give him an answer. Finally, on the way out he bumps into Paul Pogba
Harry says, "Paul! Can you answer this for me? Your mother and your father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?
Paul Pogba says, "That's easy. It's me!"
Harry says. "Thanks!" and goes back to the Managers Office to speak with Ole gunnar Solskjaer.
Harry Says, "I did some research I asked the whole team and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Paul Pogba."
Ole gunnar Solskjaer, stomps over to Harry Maguire, and angrily yells into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Mo Salah!"
It's quite funny... except there's no way Pogba would give the right answer. He's possibly the thickest of the lot over there.
Copy & paste. I'm not signing up to The Telegraph just for that! 😗
How long more before they revolt?
Massive ego.
Hilarious
Its quite funny watching Ole now fumbling around with a back 3 in a desperate attempt to make something work. Apparently they're training Sancho to play right wing back.
Its like watching Rodgers last 15 months with us.
Its like watching Rodgers last 15 months with us.
Andy Serkis is already in line for the title role in the movie.
I hope he keeps on losing. And his replacement does too.
amen
Manchester United survey: 69% of fans want to see Solskjaer leave his post immediately
Andy Mitten 6h ago
158
Not even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would deny Manchester United are in a slump.
Having again spent heavily in the summer, the 20-time champions of England are out of the League Cup, at risk of going out of the Champions League and sixth in the Premier League having won just one of their last six league matches, that victory coming against an out-of-sorts Tottenham side who promptly sacked their manager.
It appears United won’t be following suit just yet, but the pressure on Solskjaer shows no sign of easing.
Is he the cause of United’s ills? Just how bad a job has he done? Which kind of manager would be best suited to coming in to replace him? Would the decision-makers have it in them to make the right call?
The Athletic has surveyed over 4,000 of our Manchester United-supporting subscribers to gauge their views on these issues and more — below are the results, with added context from Andy Mitten.
Just over half the voters think that Solskjaer has done “a good job” overall since taking over late in 2018, while only five per cent think he has done “a bad job” and one per cent “a terrible job”. This is perhaps fair enough given last season’s second-place finish, although it’s still quite surprising given the mood among supporters following Saturday’s derby defeat.
It is a result that looks at the last three years rather than two months and Solskjaer can argue that he has done much good. Few expected United to finish as high as second last season, but that’s part of the issue for Solskjaer now. Continual improvement is expected, as is the idea that United will return to trophy-winning normality. But rivals see it differently.
One issue for Solskjaer is that “good” had to become “excellent” (four per cent of the vote) at some point and it was hoped that the point would be this season. Trophies need to be won, titles challenged for. That looks a long way off.
A whopping 91 per cent think Solskjaer is doing a “bad” or “terrible” job right now. It’s all about results and results have been largely terrible. Performances have also been poor in a lot of games, and even though wins can mask certain shortcomings, United’s form has been abysmal. The team have picked up one point from their last four home league games, form that a side fighting relegation wouldn’t be happy with.
Solskjaer might argue that he is not doing anything differently, but he’s the boss and the buck stops with him. He’s brought in the players he wanted and a lot of money has been spent. And United keep losing. As for the 0.8 per cent who think that Solskjaer is doing an “excellent” job – it feels possible they were in the away end at Old Trafford in recent weeks singing “Ole’s at wheel” and “Ole must stay”…
That “a lack of tactical awareness” gets two-thirds of the vote is damning. Solskjaer and the coaches would dispute this, of course. They would argue they have years of experience in football at the highest level and ask for the credentials of their critics. They would also no doubt point to times when their tactics have been spot on, when victories have been earned at City or Chelsea away, but this is a poll for now and what lies ahead after Leicester City put four past United, Liverpool scored five and Manchester City dominated the Old Trafford derby.
United have been unable to control games, look unbalanced, struggle to keep a clean sheet, keep going behind and are awful at home. When Villarreal and Atalanta rock up at Old Trafford and go into half-time leading, it reflects on the tactics of the team. That Ronaldo saves the day and United win is an aside. United made a significant switch in tactics against Spurs, playing five at the back, and it worked. But against a City side that are technically and tactically superior, it didn’t.
That “leave immediately” is the top answer tallies with my experiences at games. I said on The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast after the Everton home draw on October 2 that the manager was now starting to lose support from “the moderates”. And by that, I mean people who are not always angry and reactionary, who would not sell players after one bad game amid knee-jerk emotion. It was sad that it came to this point but I kept hearing fans saying: “I love Ole, but…” There was always a “but” and that “but” was usually followed by something along the lines of, “I’m not sure he’s the man to take us forward.”
Six weeks ago when Ronaldo came back, I suspect less than 10 per cent would have wanted the Norwegian to leave immediately and if United were to win their next 10 games the numbers would change dramatically — not that United look like doing that…
The Glazers gave Louis van Gaal until the end of the season, six months after he’d reached the kind of (dis)approval ratings Solskjaer is getting now. David Moyes went after United failed to get in the Champions League and Jose Mourinho, who admitted that he should have been sacked, went in December.
A massive 65.4 per cent of subscribers lay the blame at the door of the Glazers rather than the manager (24.6 per cent) or the players (4.6 per cent). A flag in the away end at Atalanta last week read, “The rot starts at the top” and the Glazers have never been popular among fans. Nor was the previous chairman, Martin Edwards. Fans will always go for the people at the top when things go wrong — especially if those owners used a leveraged buyout to take control of the club in controversial circumstances and take millions in dividends — over a popular former player. Lingering memories of April’s Super League sign-up only add to the mistrust.
The Glazers have been praised for their commercial acumen and the club for their actions in lockdown — and those orders came from the top — yet Old Trafford has not received sufficient investment since they took over in 2005. That said, the club have spent hundreds of millions on players. Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Ronaldo arrived this summer alone — all signings that were greeted enthusiastically by fans. Some of this is on the players and the manager who picks them.
A marginal majority would want any new manager to be “a long-term builder, even if it meant waiting longer for success”, rather than “someone experienced who could win things quickly”.
Solskjaer hoped — and still hopes — to be the former and fans have largely been patient and supportive. They sang his name as recently as last week in Bergamo, but there were boos from the Stretford End amid the applause when he left the pitch on Saturday.
This brings back memories of 2016 when Ryan Giggs and Mourinho were the two favourites to succeed Van Gaal. Mourinho, who would eventually take the role, was polling 85 per cent among fans, with Giggs just eight per cent. That was damning against Giggs, who would have seen himself as a long-term builder. His case wasn’t helped by his inexperience, nor association with Van Gaal, and Mourinho was seen as the closest thing to a guarantor of success. The Portuguese delivered the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League in his first season, 2016-17, but a title challenge was beyond him and the mood soured in 2018 when he lost his job.
In contemporary terms, this is maybe an argument more akin to Mauricio Pochettino (builder) versus Antonio Conte (serial trophy hoarder).
Over half voted Joel Glazer, which is correct. He is the ultimate boss, by far the most active of the Glazers, the one who watches every United game — though seldom in person.
Everyone else works under him. None of the Glazers communicated with fans for 16 years but Joel attended the last two fans’ forums remotely. The outgoing Ed Woodward polls 36 per cent since he’s the leading executive. He would far prefer to leave with the club on an even keel, looking as if they are on the way back, than walk away from a disunited carcass.
Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson is on 7.6 per cent. He has a peripheral influence but attends games and came into action when Ronaldo was about to join City. That wasn’t just in talking to Ronaldo, which was widely reported, but in telling United’s officials to act or face unhappy consequences from fans. Solskjaer talks to Ferguson, as you would if you were him.
Richard Arnold, the main figure for the day-to-day operations at Old Trafford and the man most likely to take over from Woodward, polls 0.9 per cent. He is the commercial engine, engages with fans and attends dinners for former players and disabled United fans, but has no input into football-related decisions, nor any inclination to be seen as a Woodward-like figurehead.
A landslide. Nearly all of you said “no” — most supporters didn’t say no when the same people appointed Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho or Solskjaer, but fans can change their tune — executives are hammered for their decisions if they don’t work out.
The perception is that there’s a lack of football nous at the club. Those at the club would strongly disagree with this and have the CVs to match, but are they making the decisions? Or are the club — specifically Woodward — speaking to leading agents, some of them with self-interest for their clients, and being guided by them?
More than two-thirds were happy for Ronaldo to return. He’s done what he’s always done and carried on scoring goals, several of them world-class strikes that have saved United from dropping more points, especially in the Champions League. That’s why Ronaldo’s name is sung more at games than any other player.
Over two-thirds say challenging for the league title. This is fair, yet United haven’t looked like winning for the league since winning it in 2013. That was supposed to change this season. On the evidence so far, it hasn’t — hence the disharmony among fans.
Nearly a quarter say “winning a cup and finishing in the top four” and just 3.6 per cent say “winning the league”. Those doubles and trebles were really special, weren’t they?
Only two per cent of fans polled deem a trophyless season without a proper title challenge up to scratch.
A massive 80 per cent blame a poor tactical approach, with just under a fifth blaming players’ performances. It all leads to fans thinking that the manager is out of his depth and after the recent hammerings the results are so damning. This is completely refuted by those who work with him, from those who see him in action every day and who have worked outside United within football, yet it’s hard to push back when the team are performing so badly.
Comparisons are made with serial winners Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Thomas Tuchel and any United manager will rightly be judged against the best in the league.
The players? What could any manager do about Paul Pogba or Harry Maguire giving the ball away at Leicester, Aaron Wan-Bissaka against City or Eric Bailly turning the ball into his goal? You could say he shouldn’t have picked Bailly as he hasn’t before, but with Varane out, it was needs must…
The manager gets the blame for this one too, with 72 per cent of the vote. Donny van de Beek has been identified as a possible saviour and the Stretford End chanted his name loudly on Saturday — and he was then brought on. The chants were a dig at Solskjaer as much as support for the player.
Van de Beek was excellent at Ajax and fans were pleased when he signed for United.
There is little to suggest he was bought to be a firm starter — more a versatile squad player who was offered to the club at the right time for the right price. The Dutchman has had chances but done little when he has. If you can’t stand out at home to Championship side Watford in the FA Cup then what chance against a top team?
Ultimately, though, the manager approved his transfer and Van de Beek’s failure comes back to Solskjaer. There was interest in Van de Beek before the last transfer United window and United would have let him go, too.
Now, with things so bad and midfielders such as Fred derided, he might get a chance to properly prove himself.
Andy Mitten 6h ago
Not even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would deny Manchester United are in a slump.
Having again spent heavily in the summer, the 20-time champions of England are out of the League Cup, at risk of going out of the Champions League and sixth in the Premier League having won just one of their last six league matches, that victory coming against an out-of-sorts Tottenham side who promptly sacked their manager.
It appears United won’t be following suit just yet, but the pressure on Solskjaer shows no sign of easing.
Is he the cause of United’s ills? Just how bad a job has he done? Which kind of manager would be best suited to coming in to replace him? Would the decision-makers have it in them to make the right call?
The Athletic has surveyed over 4,000 of our Manchester United-supporting subscribers to gauge their views on these issues and more — below are the results, with added context from Andy Mitten.
Just over half the voters think that Solskjaer has done “a good job” overall since taking over late in 2018, while only five per cent think he has done “a bad job” and one per cent “a terrible job”. This is perhaps fair enough given last season’s second-place finish, although it’s still quite surprising given the mood among supporters following Saturday’s derby defeat.
It is a result that looks at the last three years rather than two months and Solskjaer can argue that he has done much good. Few expected United to finish as high as second last season, but that’s part of the issue for Solskjaer now. Continual improvement is expected, as is the idea that United will return to trophy-winning normality. But rivals see it differently.
One issue for Solskjaer is that “good” had to become “excellent” (four per cent of the vote) at some point and it was hoped that the point would be this season. Trophies need to be won, titles challenged for. That looks a long way off.
A whopping 91 per cent think Solskjaer is doing a “bad” or “terrible” job right now. It’s all about results and results have been largely terrible. Performances have also been poor in a lot of games, and even though wins can mask certain shortcomings, United’s form has been abysmal. The team have picked up one point from their last four home league games, form that a side fighting relegation wouldn’t be happy with.
Solskjaer might argue that he is not doing anything differently, but he’s the boss and the buck stops with him. He’s brought in the players he wanted and a lot of money has been spent. And United keep losing. As for the 0.8 per cent who think that Solskjaer is doing an “excellent” job – it feels possible they were in the away end at Old Trafford in recent weeks singing “Ole’s at wheel” and “Ole must stay”…
That “a lack of tactical awareness” gets two-thirds of the vote is damning. Solskjaer and the coaches would dispute this, of course. They would argue they have years of experience in football at the highest level and ask for the credentials of their critics. They would also no doubt point to times when their tactics have been spot on, when victories have been earned at City or Chelsea away, but this is a poll for now and what lies ahead after Leicester City put four past United, Liverpool scored five and Manchester City dominated the Old Trafford derby.
United have been unable to control games, look unbalanced, struggle to keep a clean sheet, keep going behind and are awful at home. When Villarreal and Atalanta rock up at Old Trafford and go into half-time leading, it reflects on the tactics of the team. That Ronaldo saves the day and United win is an aside. United made a significant switch in tactics against Spurs, playing five at the back, and it worked. But against a City side that are technically and tactically superior, it didn’t.
That “leave immediately” is the top answer tallies with my experiences at games. I said on The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast after the Everton home draw on October 2 that the manager was now starting to lose support from “the moderates”. And by that, I mean people who are not always angry and reactionary, who would not sell players after one bad game amid knee-jerk emotion. It was sad that it came to this point but I kept hearing fans saying: “I love Ole, but…” There was always a “but” and that “but” was usually followed by something along the lines of, “I’m not sure he’s the man to take us forward.”
Six weeks ago when Ronaldo came back, I suspect less than 10 per cent would have wanted the Norwegian to leave immediately and if United were to win their next 10 games the numbers would change dramatically — not that United look like doing that…
The Glazers gave Louis van Gaal until the end of the season, six months after he’d reached the kind of (dis)approval ratings Solskjaer is getting now. David Moyes went after United failed to get in the Champions League and Jose Mourinho, who admitted that he should have been sacked, went in December.
A massive 65.4 per cent of subscribers lay the blame at the door of the Glazers rather than the manager (24.6 per cent) or the players (4.6 per cent). A flag in the away end at Atalanta last week read, “The rot starts at the top” and the Glazers have never been popular among fans. Nor was the previous chairman, Martin Edwards. Fans will always go for the people at the top when things go wrong — especially if those owners used a leveraged buyout to take control of the club in controversial circumstances and take millions in dividends — over a popular former player. Lingering memories of April’s Super League sign-up only add to the mistrust.
The Glazers have been praised for their commercial acumen and the club for their actions in lockdown — and those orders came from the top — yet Old Trafford has not received sufficient investment since they took over in 2005. That said, the club have spent hundreds of millions on players. Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Ronaldo arrived this summer alone — all signings that were greeted enthusiastically by fans. Some of this is on the players and the manager who picks them.
A marginal majority would want any new manager to be “a long-term builder, even if it meant waiting longer for success”, rather than “someone experienced who could win things quickly”.
Solskjaer hoped — and still hopes — to be the former and fans have largely been patient and supportive. They sang his name as recently as last week in Bergamo, but there were boos from the Stretford End amid the applause when he left the pitch on Saturday.
This brings back memories of 2016 when Ryan Giggs and Mourinho were the two favourites to succeed Van Gaal. Mourinho, who would eventually take the role, was polling 85 per cent among fans, with Giggs just eight per cent. That was damning against Giggs, who would have seen himself as a long-term builder. His case wasn’t helped by his inexperience, nor association with Van Gaal, and Mourinho was seen as the closest thing to a guarantor of success. The Portuguese delivered the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League in his first season, 2016-17, but a title challenge was beyond him and the mood soured in 2018 when he lost his job.
In contemporary terms, this is maybe an argument more akin to Mauricio Pochettino (builder) versus Antonio Conte (serial trophy hoarder).
Over half voted Joel Glazer, which is correct. He is the ultimate boss, by far the most active of the Glazers, the one who watches every United game — though seldom in person.
Everyone else works under him. None of the Glazers communicated with fans for 16 years but Joel attended the last two fans’ forums remotely. The outgoing Ed Woodward polls 36 per cent since he’s the leading executive. He would far prefer to leave with the club on an even keel, looking as if they are on the way back, than walk away from a disunited carcass.
Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson is on 7.6 per cent. He has a peripheral influence but attends games and came into action when Ronaldo was about to join City. That wasn’t just in talking to Ronaldo, which was widely reported, but in telling United’s officials to act or face unhappy consequences from fans. Solskjaer talks to Ferguson, as you would if you were him.
Richard Arnold, the main figure for the day-to-day operations at Old Trafford and the man most likely to take over from Woodward, polls 0.9 per cent. He is the commercial engine, engages with fans and attends dinners for former players and disabled United fans, but has no input into football-related decisions, nor any inclination to be seen as a Woodward-like figurehead.
A landslide. Nearly all of you said “no” — most supporters didn’t say no when the same people appointed Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho or Solskjaer, but fans can change their tune — executives are hammered for their decisions if they don’t work out.
The perception is that there’s a lack of football nous at the club. Those at the club would strongly disagree with this and have the CVs to match, but are they making the decisions? Or are the club — specifically Woodward — speaking to leading agents, some of them with self-interest for their clients, and being guided by them?
More than two-thirds were happy for Ronaldo to return. He’s done what he’s always done and carried on scoring goals, several of them world-class strikes that have saved United from dropping more points, especially in the Champions League. That’s why Ronaldo’s name is sung more at games than any other player.
Over two-thirds say challenging for the league title. This is fair, yet United haven’t looked like winning for the league since winning it in 2013. That was supposed to change this season. On the evidence so far, it hasn’t — hence the disharmony among fans.
Nearly a quarter say “winning a cup and finishing in the top four” and just 3.6 per cent say “winning the league”. Those doubles and trebles were really special, weren’t they?
Only two per cent of fans polled deem a trophyless season without a proper title challenge up to scratch.
A massive 80 per cent blame a poor tactical approach, with just under a fifth blaming players’ performances. It all leads to fans thinking that the manager is out of his depth and after the recent hammerings the results are so damning. This is completely refuted by those who work with him, from those who see him in action every day and who have worked outside United within football, yet it’s hard to push back when the team are performing so badly.
Comparisons are made with serial winners Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Thomas Tuchel and any United manager will rightly be judged against the best in the league.
The players? What could any manager do about Paul Pogba or Harry Maguire giving the ball away at Leicester, Aaron Wan-Bissaka against City or Eric Bailly turning the ball into his goal? You could say he shouldn’t have picked Bailly as he hasn’t before, but with Varane out, it was needs must…
The manager gets the blame for this one too, with 72 per cent of the vote. Donny van de Beek has been identified as a possible saviour and the Stretford End chanted his name loudly on Saturday — and he was then brought on. The chants were a dig at Solskjaer as much as support for the player.
Van de Beek was excellent at Ajax and fans were pleased when he signed for United.
There is little to suggest he was bought to be a firm starter — more a versatile squad player who was offered to the club at the right time for the right price. The Dutchman has had chances but done little when he has. If you can’t stand out at home to Championship side Watford in the FA Cup then what chance against a top team?
Ultimately, though, the manager approved his transfer and Van de Beek’s failure comes back to Solskjaer. There was interest in Van de Beek before the last transfer United window and United would have let him go, too.
Now, with things so bad and midfielders such as Fred derided, he might get a chance to properly prove himself.
I'm curious - why so much Glazers hate over there?
There's been considerable ongoing investment in the squad, unlike us. Where they've failed has been in coaching and on-field strategy - i.e. hiring a decent manager.
There's been considerable ongoing investment in the squad, unlike us. Where they've failed has been in coaching and on-field strategy - i.e. hiring a decent manager.
That makes sense. It has been pretty dreadful decision making for a few years over there.
😀
All I see is City clearly invoking the devil with a pentagram....
... and Utd all over the place.
It's not owner investment. The owners are taking regularly dividends out of the club. Even if they had owners who refused to put a penny in, but also refused to take a penny out they would be better off than the Glazers.
And as Woland says, they've allowed the a set of clowns to run the footballing operation for years.
- Status
