The College Dropout

If we didn’t stay up - Howe would’ve been sacked and the decision makers would have considered themselves to blame. Relegation after spending so much money would’ve been a catastrophic failure. The decision makers, the manager, the signings - serious errors would have been made. Staying up wasn’t a miracle man. Finishing midtable however was a great achievement. Not a miracle either.

Sorry bro. But this is grade A bollocks. The sliding doors moment in our history is the takeover. That is the number 1 driver behind our recent success. Telling yourself anything else is a lie. Ashley was never going to spend the money. Ashley was never going to hire proper footballing people. Ashley would never try to hire Emery and he wouldn’t have hired Howe - Howe probably wouldn’t even take the job. Ashworth wouldn’t have taken the job. Eales etc. We have the second highest net spend in Europe I believe. I believe we have the highest wages to revenue ratio in the PL. The considerable money we’ve spent means we should be in an upwards trajectory. The money is a huge factor in our success. It is the defining factor. It is also why we have seemingly skilled and knowledgeable business and football people running the club. And why we now have a very good football manager and a pretty good squad too. We’ve spent close to €500m in 3 windows. We are bankrolling our way to victory my friend. Howe has us at 2x speed mind.

We spent more money than any club in Europe in that window. Getting relegated after spending €130m on a squad that finished midtable the year before would have been a catastrophic failure. Again, you can ignore their contributions if you like but Bruno and Trippier scored at least 3 match winning goals iirc in that run. Trippier and Wood started Howe’s first win. And the fact we could sign 2 active Brazil and England internationals is an indication of the direction the club is going. Howe did a great job by having us midtable and basically playing at CL level output for almost half a season. But staying up was no miracle.

You can Gloss over(or ignore) the almost €500m spent on transfer fees in 3 windows if you like. Howe is incredible and the job he has done has been great. None of it is possible without the takeover. That’s the before and after of the most significance. Steve Bruce was manager of a bigger Crystal Palace and that was probably above his ceiling. Howe is manager of Man City with a speedometer. It’s an entirely different proposition

Eddie is great. But this is a comparison in name only. It’s an entirely different club.

I the college dropout would bench those. Eddie Howe is loathe to rotate as we know. But I reckon he goes close to full strength with one or two on the bench. Probably Gordon who def needs it or Livra as we have options back for LB. Howe is starting Bruno aye.

I would rest Tino and Gordon. I would even consider benching Bruno. I think Howe starts a close to full strength team with maybe the players most in the red zone going on the bench like Gordon.

Someone was super against Kudus in the summer. Wouldn’t accept he’s even talented. Who was that? That person doesn’t know ball.

Bowen is more creative. Bowen has a 7 year contract. He would go for closer to £100m than £50m. They would laugh at £50m.

Roy is a bit of a dinosaur tbf.

Waiting for a decision from the PL. Precedent is the game is fully replayed so points will be wiped. Assume PL will confirm route tomorrow.

Infrastructure and youth development isn’t included. That’s part of the club. ‘Only a club's outgoings in transfers, employee benefits (including wages), amortisation of transfers, finance costs and dividends would be counted over income from gate receipts, TV revenue, advertising, merchandising, disposal of tangible fixed assets, finance, sales of players and prize money. Any money spent on infrastructure, training facilities or youth development would not be included.’ Sounds like it is included. Still most executive pay is considerably less than a star player. We’ll already be paying Ashworth top dollar. But if he wants to go, he’ll go.

FFP only includes playing and managerial staff right? We can pay everyone else what we want.

I think Post Pep - Man City might go on a real tear in the transfer market. Pep likes robot boys. They will probably go for a similar mould after but at some point they might splash the cash on big names.

What top players go to Man U? In the last decade I count Paul Pogba (who had already played there). The next closest 2 Sanchez and ADM had taken a step down. Before the advent of the PL Man U were a historically great European side. I give you that. But a similar level to Celtic and Benfica and below Real Madrid and around that time - AC Milan. What has separated Ajax, Benfica and co. from the likes of Juventus and Bayern is the lack of strength of the domestic leagues. They are all European aristocrats of football imo. Man U winning the PL gold rush of the first 15 years is precisely what distinguishes them from everybody else. There are footballing metrics and non footballing that makes us bigger than Wimbledon. West Ham, Everton and others in the PL are in the top 20 for revenue in European football. We might even be in the top 20/25. It’s entirely down to the success of the PL and Man U are at the top of that tree. Man City are the #1 club in the world in terms of revenue - are they the biggest club in the world? And yes Man City have signed a genuine world superstar in Haaland. The next 2 biggest stars of his generation are Bellingham and Mbappe atm. When Serie A was the most popular league in the world - they had the biggest clubs and they signed the best players in the world. Ronaldo, Van Basten, Maradona etc. we’ve had 20 years of the best players choosing Barcelona and Madrid. Ronaldinho turned down Man U to join Barcelona. That does not happen in reverse. Again this is not a personal attack. Just a general point that the common phrase ‘Man U are the biggest club in the world’ is just not founded in absolute fact the way the phrase IS an absolute. The phrase that people use is ‘Man U are the biggest club in the world’ and it often goes unchallenged. Potentially it is true. Commercially it used to be true. But it’s not anymore. In totality - looking at everything - I don’t think it’s ever been true personally. I believe in words. That phrase is myth and legacy building for Man U. It’s not true enough for me to buy into it

He’s just coming back from a major injury. But you do wonder if we could’ve given him more minutes earlier. Trippier’s been running on fumes for some time now. Anyway, glad it looks like he’s a proper option again.

We are talking about being one footed tbf. I’ve been fairly positive about Almiron in recent weeks. He’s been getting more stick for the same level of performance he’s been doing for the majority of his time here. Which I don’t understand.

Like I said - by fanbase it is an argument. That’s because the PL is the biggest footballing brand. But even then - the popularity of Messi and Ronaldo and on pitch success has pushed Real and Barca right up there. Again, the only thing Man U have over Liverpool at this point is a bigger fanbase. Success, revenues, history etc. Liverpool are neck and neck or above. What makes them clear of Liverpool? It’s just fanbase and more commercial potential because of it. The biggest iffy Spanish deal was about 25 years ago when Real sold its training ground to the Madrid council for mega bucks and then it was leased back for pennies. Name the rest of the dodgy deals for Madrid? Again, the premier league is the biggest footballing brand. Real and Barca are scared to death of the PL and they pretty much consider it the super league. Despite taking the lion share of La Liga revenues, PL revenues dwarf them. That’s the biggest driver behind them wanting a ESL. Without it they will struggle to keep pace with the top PL teams. They’ve also changed the la liga model because they’ve realised La Liga needs to become more popular and better exported if they are to compete with the PL clubs. Even with all the PL money, there’s not a metric that they are bigger than Madrid. Im lucky enough to have been to north and South America, Africa and Asia. People love the premier league. People know our players and support a big 6 team and they know the league well. B they don’t know La Liga too well but they know the CL, Messi and Ronaldo, Real and Barca. Man U are the biggest club in the world but never sign the best player(s) in the world. Even Man City have done that.

Back on topic. The Man U job certainly has greater prestige than us. But I think our project is more exciting. I believe the youth and women’s football stuff is excluded from FFP. So there’s just a blank canvas and cheque to build us up on that front. One set of our owners have the blank cheque, and the others seem like decent business people If he wants to join them good luck to him.

It’s not a personal dig mate. I just hear it all the time from the likes of Gary Neville - ‘Manchester United are the biggest club in the world’. And I always wonder - based on what? The difference between them and Liverpool is a bigger fanbase. As a fake madridista, I don’t see how Man U are close to Madrid. In my lifetime, they’ve never been considered a bigger club than Madrid. From Beckham to Ronaldo moving to Real has always been a step up. Yes by every metric they are one of the biggest 2 clubs in the UK. No doubt. But that biggest club in the world stuff has always annoyed me. It’s hyperbolic.

It’s a genuine question. By what metric are they the biggest club in the world? And that’s no longer the case. So what’s the argument? Worldwide support maybe?

The one thing about him here is that he’s truly him for us. He’s the man. He plays like the man. Everyone in the team knows he’s the man. And he embraces it. Go somewhere else and he’ll become a cog. Not sure if that suits him. It’s like the opposite of Gini. Gini is a good player but he’s never ‘the man’ type player. Doesn’t want the responsibility.

He’s a one footed passer but he uses both feet on the dribble and to trap the ball. And uses the outside of his foot well. Like a young Luka Modric. Thats the worst thing about Miggy. He won’t use his right foot to do anything. He’ll awkwardly control the ball with his left to avoid using his right.

By what metric are Man U the biggest club in the world btw ?

RobM On Twitter said he wouldn’t start the game. Wasn’t surprised that he went off. Hopefully it’s a small thing. Give him the week offf