Mic09 Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 23 minutes ago, Genie said: I wonder how tempted over the years SAF has been to get back involved. I think he knew exactly what he was doing leaving at the time he did. Obviously he was getting old, but with Man City coming up and Man U team slowly degrading, he was smart enough to know when to say bey bye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 21 minutes ago, Mic09 said: I think he knew exactly what he was doing leaving at the time he did. Obviously he was getting old, but with Man City coming up and Man U team slowly degrading, he was smart enough to know when to say bey bye. I do agree, but it must have been really difficult for him to watch coach after coach gradually chip away at what he built and now they look every bit a mid-table side, but with a wage bill of an elite one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 22 minutes ago, Genie said: I do agree, but it must have been really difficult for him to watch coach after coach gradually chip away at what he built and now they look every bit a mid-table side, but with a wage bill of an elite one. If what I'm inclined to believe reading between the lines of a few old pros he'll be revelling in it because it makes him look better. Fergie only cares about Fergie and did what was good for Fergie. Allegedly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 If Radcliffe is going to go in there and sort out the structure to align it with what the other clubs have done for years then Ten Hag might just be the right man to take charge of the team, or at least given the first opportunity. Their main problem is they have had no concept of value for money either when buying players or giving them contracts. It's hard to turn that kind of wastage in the transfer market around until they have a massive clear out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Mic09 said: I think he knew exactly what he was doing leaving at the time he did. Obviously he was getting old, but with Man City coming up and Man U team slowly degrading, he was smart enough to know when to say bey bye. Would say he is loving it. He began the mess but his reputation is now built higher each dreadful season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 19 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: If what I'm inclined to believe reading between the lines of a few old pros he'll be revelling in it because it makes him look better. Fergie only cares about Fergie and did what was good for Fergie. Allegedly. I disagree, I think he loves the club that’s why he still follows them home and away and is involved with them. He could have just disappeared if he wasn’t bothered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sharkyvilla Posted December 13, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted December 13, 2023 20 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: If what I'm inclined to believe reading between the lines of a few old pros he'll be revelling in it because it makes him look better. Fergie only cares about Fergie and did what was good for Fergie. Allegedly. I mean, do people really think Fergie need a Utd decline to make him look better? He won 13 **** Premier League titles for Christ's sake. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adman Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 The owners need to keep ten Hag, make him make the unpopular decisions, clear the dross, which will mean the team and results will suffer short-term, but will mean after he gets the sack the next bloke starts reasonably fresh. There's a term for it I'm sure, oh yes - getting f****d over. That's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitvilla Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 44 minutes ago, Genie said: I do agree, but it must have been really difficult for him to watch coach after coach gradually chip away at what he built and now they look every bit a mid-table side, but with a wage bill of an elite one. Hmmn? My reading was that the team was in sad repair when SAF retired. They scraped home the Premier in that year. Since then the rot has set in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: I mean, do people really think Fergie need a Utd decline to make him look better? He won 13 **** Premier League titles for Christ's sake. People say he left a load of junk as a squad but he’s just won the league with that junk, and I’m certain he could have kept that level going if he stayed on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 minute ago, fruitvilla said: Hmmn? My reading was that the team was in sad repair when SAF retired. They scraped home the Premier in that year. Since then the rot has set in. Yep was a team on the downslope. RVP was a leaving gift from the board but a lot of players 30 or over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 minute ago, fruitvilla said: Hmmn? My reading was that the team was in sad repair when SAF retired. They scraped home the Premier in that year. Since then the rot has set in. I’m not sure how a league winning squad can be described as being in disrepair, if so then it’s even more miraculous. Not something to beat him with a stick about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic09 Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Well they still have Evans to think back to the olden better days! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 8 minutes ago, Genie said: I disagree, I think he loves the club that’s why he still follows them home and away and is involved with them. He could have just disappeared if he wasn’t bothered. Pretty sure he was selling youth players for not signing up to his sons agency plus the Rock of Gibraltar saga. Fergie cared about Fergie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 minute ago, Zatman said: Pretty sure he was selling youth players for not signing up to his sons agency plus the Rock of Gibraltar saga. Fergie cared about Fergie It’s possible to care about more than 1 thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitvilla Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 3 minutes ago, Genie said: I’m not sure how a league winning squad can be described as being in disrepair, if so then it’s even more miraculous. Not something to beat him with a stick about. Was the team in poor shape compared to previous years? I would answer yes. Did they scrape home the title that year? I would say yes. Did Man United bounce back after after SAF's retirement? Not really. Where am I beating SAF with a stick? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 5 minutes ago, Zatman said: Yep was a team on the downslope. RVP was a leaving gift from the board but a lot of players 30 or over I just looked up that title winning squad, I’m not sure the myth that it was poor is really justified. Lots of quality players in their prime. Rooney 27, RvP 29, Valencia 27, Young 27 Quality young players. Zaha 20, Lingard 20, Smalling 23, de Gea 22, Wellbeck 22, Chicarito 23. Then again, the old heads were also quality. Berbatov 32, Carrick 31, Evra 32, Ferdinand 34, Vidic 31. Then the OAP’s, Scholes 38 & Giggs 39. They’d kill for that blend of top drawer youth and experience now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 (edited) 12 minutes ago, fruitvilla said: Was the team in poor shape compared to previous years? I would answer yes. Did they scrape home the title that year? I would say yes. Did Man United bounce back after after SAF's retirement? Not really. Where am I beating SAF with a stick? You can’t scrape a title with a squad in “poor shape” regardless of which point you compare it too. They won the league by 9 clear points, and scored 20 more goals better than Man City in second. The City squad had Aguero, Ballotelli, Tevez, Nasri, Silva, Yaya Toure, Zabaleta, Kompany. “scraped” the league with a squad in “poor shape” Edited December 13, 2023 by Genie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 5 minutes ago, Genie said: I just looked up that title winning squad, I’m not sure the myth that it was poor is really justified. Lots of quality players in their prime. Rooney 27, RvP 29, Valencia 27, Young 27 Quality young players. Zaha 20, Lingard 20, Smalling 23, de Gea 22, Wellbeck 22, Chicarito 23. Then again, the old heads were also quality. Berbatov 32, Carrick 31, Evra 32, Ferdinand 34, Vidic 31. Then the OAP’s, Scholes 38 & Giggs 39. They’d kill for that blend of top drawer youth and experience now. Cant agree with that. Them quality young players plus Phil Jones didnt really amount to a level near United standards except De Gea. Rooney was definitely on the decline at this stage so was Ferdinand who only played about 20 more league games in his career Berbatov played for Fulham that season 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 10 minutes ago, Zatman said: Cant agree with that. Them quality young players plus Phil Jones didnt really amount to a level near United standards except De Gea. Rooney was definitely on the decline at this stage so was Ferdinand who only played about 20 more league games in his career I’m not sure what it means to not reach United standards when holding down a place in a title winning side, and winning more trophies afterwards? Rooney scored more goals the following season, and the same over the next 2. RvP scored 89 more goals after that season for United, Fenerbache and Feyenoord. 1 in 2 for United over the following 2 seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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