KaKa

What a clown man.

That child has been cooking Dalot

Terrible miss from the big man.

This Southampton child on the right looks really decent. Everyone else gets to have a decent right winger.

Ugochukwu bullying them in midfield.

Not if the other team is good enough to respond, which I'm not sure this Man Utd team would if Southampton get on top.

Agreed. This game is going to come down to whether Southampton take their chances.

What century do you think this is?

While they spent £60 million on a fourth choice centre back.

I wish you all the shots and possession in the world man. And yet another early season loss. With De Ligt hopefully continuing his impressive Maguire impression.

I can accept our difference of opinion on this. I don't think the all conquering manager setup works nowadays, and having Howe involved in so many things will ultimately take away from the club's progress. I think if Howe can just relax and at least give things a chance he'll ultimately benefit from it and be an even better manager.

Maybe you should look into the work he's done elsewhere then. Besides, I don't care who the sporting director is. Whoever has that position is in there to do a job. You can't just have the manager doing what he wants because he has been successful previously, if that is not his remit. Everyone needs to play their position, simple as that.

Man Utd central midfield is Mainoo and Eriksen. Yikes ...

I disagree completely I'm afraid. This is how problems start. This kind of thinking is likely what got Amanda and Mehrdad out of the club. Everyone has their role and responsibilities to fulfil, and should carry those out, as well as respect others positions too.

They've been quite competitive in their games. What's killed them is the daft goals they give away playing out from the back They're definitely awkward enough to upset Man Utd at their place.

Eddie's interview just after Mitchell arrived, and prior to them even sitting down to fully discuss things, invited all of this speculation and drama in the first place. It was a terrible move. And I'm sure Mitchell did not appreciate having to deal with that right off the bat, prior to having even done an interview at the club himself, or having even spoken to Howe properly. Not very emotionally intelligent at all, actually.

Oh my God ... Keep forgetting about this. I bet this is what is behind all this. Might even be the FA trying to rock the boat behind the scenes as well.

Eddie's interview before even sitting down with Mitchell, started all this drama to be fair.

You tell em Rafa!

Maybe the guy that brought him in knows what he's doing!

Yes, I agree that this is being blown out of proportion. However, with these articles from Hope the discussion has just developed regarding the importance of the DOF role. All I'm simply stating is that IF there are issues with that at any point, I'm not really in favour of any manager that can't work within that setup.

Ah, well yes, that is me speculating on their thinking based on what was reported, as that is all we have to go on. Nickson had a lot of support internally apparently, and would have been best placed to work with Howe in the manner he wanted. Instead, despite him being considered, he wasn't appointed, and they brought in someone else without consulting Howe allegedly. Then you have the CEO and the new DOF speaking about Howe not being as involved in other areas and focusing on his managerial/coaching role. I don't get the impression any issues behind the scenes going forward will see them decide to move Eales and Mitchell to accommodate Howe with a Nickson appointment at DOF.

None of that was even rumoured? One factor in the equation is that his period at Newcastle has not been entirely smooth behind the scenes, with moments of friction coming from Eddie Howe’s already-established authority, a blurring of responsibilities, plus managing the high expectations of owners in Saudi Arabia’s PIF, although Ashworth strengthened relations with chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan during the trip to Riyadh at the start of this year. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5275694/2024/02/15/why-manchester-united-want-dan-ashworth/ Toon talent spotter set for promotion in wake of Dan Ashworth's exit, new stadium plans suffer a blow... and former winger misses out on academy role https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13146825/NEWCASTLE-NOTEBOOK-Toon-talent-spotter-set-promotion-wake-Dan-Ashworths-exit-new-stadium-plans-suffer-blow-former-winger-misses-academy-role.html

I'm still not certain how much of an issue there really is. It's the international break, and hypotheticals are being discussed with every new doomsday article from 'Hope'. IF there is an issue I'm just not really wanting a manager that doesn't seem to want to work with a DOF, again, IF Hope's speil is accurate. It's not about backing Mitchell specifically. It's about wanting a DOF and structure that gives us a better chance of success IMO.

When Ashworth left there were reports he was being marginalised by Howe. Easy to dismiss at the time because Ashworth was a snake, but looks like that was indeed an issue that may have even influenced Ashworth's move. After Ashworth left, there was talk of Nickson getting promoted to DOF, but it didn't happen. And so someone higher up didn't seem to want that, and opted for someone of a higher calibre. That decision probably means they are not prioritising Howe over everyone else. It was also reported Howe wasn't consulted in the hiring of the new DOF, which seemed to get his back up, hence the interview shortly after Mitchell came in.