gjohnson

They want a Ferguson MKII. Problem is that doesn't exist anymore as there is simply too much competition in the league now. At Ferguson's peak there might have been only one or two teams to trouble them for a title, now there's at least 4 who are as good or better than them every year and not just on odd occasions. It's no longer a case where first or second is guaranteed for them. In theory apart from Moyes their permanent appointments should on paper at least delivered a title. It hasn't worked and now its just panic as to get in the best they can to look good and keep the profits up. They are on a downward spiral at the minute, and it's like watching us since Souness took over in slow motion. Hopefully they go for Bruce or Hughes like has been championed just to accelerate it a bit.

https://www.football365.com/news/schmeichel-insists-bruce-fantastic-appoint-new-man-utd-manager Schmeichel now too....just Pallister, Ince, Giggs, Irwin and Keane to join

About as accurate as drawing straws

Would be the most awesome thing ever. Come the end of the season when Brucie has steadied Man Utd to a solid 10th place, we can listen to all the pundits say his record was actually better than Ole's and he had to work with his hands tied behind his back as he could only spend £70m in the January window, so what was he supposed to do with that squad.

He was cleared out so fast he forgot to pick up that last side of bacon hiding in the back of the fridge though

This is exactly the point though...5/6 years just around 5/6/7 will start to hurt their bottom line eventually. Their sponsors will start dropping, their appeal abroad will start dropping in favour of teams that win things, and before you know it their signing Longstaff on a free to solidify their midfield

Possibly that players who make it to pro-levels are generally (not all) not educated or experienced in anything other than football, so by the time they retire they're generally too old to do anything that isn't football related. Some build property empires and the like, some think they've made enough money to live forever on it and end up bankrupt a few years later. I'd imagine some do take further qualifications and have other careers, but you just don't hear about it as they're not in the public eye all the time.

Problem is, it's not sustainable over a longer period....lack of success on the pitch eventually translates to lower sponsors, less money, and less power to get the players necessary for success. Admittedly it would take a long time for this apply to Man U, but Ashley demonstrated perfectly with us how easy it is to fall behind very quickly when all you're interested in is the profits. A bit more sensible investment from him, along with better choices of advisors at the beginning could have seen us comfortably on par with Tottenham now (new stadium aside)

No you're spot on. If i was capable of running at a jogging speed for 90 minutes I might cover 10Km. Shelvey may have done this in a match and done the square root of sod all, but it makes his stats look good. Allan might have done 8Km while setting up an opportunity, having a shot or even scoring a goal. Fitness stats don't translate to match effectiveness. Pretty sure every other club has monitoring software to see how often players sprint and the like

I can see us taking the lead mid first half, them equalising within 5 minutes, then them getting a 90th minute winner As good as Eddie may be, he cant get a silk purse out of a cows ear.

It's easy to cover distance at a constant speed for a long time...downside is that football requires short distances at high speed regularly with plenty of walking pace. Shelvey could easily cover as much ground as St Maximin without breaking a sweat just by moving around generally as he simply doesn't have the same energy to make it effective. It's pretty well documented that football is the most exhausting sport if done properly

We pretty much always did 442 under Robson

To think...we could have easily ended up with Zenden and Jeffers instead!

Good call...the most transformative additions i've ever seen.....took a mid-table team to championship challengers in a season

How's the bacon did ya say?

Just out of curiosity...why and how exactly are Shearer and Bruce friends?

No-one likes a smart arse

wum

This. Even on his worst day he was still the most influential motivational player weve ever had, and could drag a result out of dire performances. To this day i haven't seen a more effective team leader or an individual who could drag a result out of a bad team...that includes Messi and Ronaldo

Shearer, Lee, Coloccini

They have no long term future with him. If he succeeds, it will always be 'when is he going to Liverpool'. If he fails, he gets sacked and is linked with every low level premier league team/championship team till he's appointed. If he just does ok, then it's a case of when does Klopp get sacked? Someone mentioned earlier, its like Lampard in reverse....he had his big chance and while not being bad didn't do enough to stay at Chelsea. He won't get that chance again, and will have to genuinely prove himself now to get a shot at another big job...which i don't think he ever will

Probably...it was the one where Butt went down the tunnel arm in arm with Ferguson with a beaming smile on his face after we'd just been dry humped 4-1 where more of Butts passes ended up with Man U player than ours if i remember right

It is bollocks...once they see an offer on paper they'll happily bend over like an alley cat on heat to take the money. Only team I can remotely see not dealing with us is Tottenham, as they have the most to lose from us taking their European spots

We need to look for another Tiote/Cabaye combination somehow. The only 2 that could ever dominate a 3

Was definitely in the press at some point that that was the only reason he joined them. Answered my own point really there....in the press..must be balls