MANCHESTER UNITED'S BOARD TO STAND BY THEIR MANAGER BUT WHO WILL BE BLAMED FOR DIFFICULT SEASON ?
The news continues to flow thick and fast especially news which has Manchester United as the center of attention.
For all the Football ( Futbol in this case and not the American version of football) lovers out, especially for Manchester United supporters, the chances that you missed the news of yet another disappointing result delivered by the Manchester United squad in last weekends loss away to Newcastle United will be impossible to believe. The news has been the main talking point of any major sports newspaper and sports media across England at /least and possibly across the world with the repercussions coming in the way of Manchester United's retired players and Manchester United fans openly questioning the methods of current Manchester United manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer to point of near criticism believe it or not.
The recent trend of abandoning the ship or giving up on new managers as soon as the first sign of trouble shows which has been the trend made popular at Manchester United has not really evaporated completely from Old Trafford. Barely one year ago Manchester United had serenaded Ole Gunner Solskjaer as the right manager whom enforces the right style of football, who utilizes the youth system at Manchester United by promoting youth players into the Manchester United first team and lets not forget that this is the same fan club that carried banners with the signs “20Legend” which undoubtedly was meant to bring the legendary status of Ole Gunner Solskjaer and the support the complete support the fans for their new Manchester United manager. As expected, there will be some negative response huddled towards the manager during difficult times such as the current period Manchester United is currently experiencing. However, the suggestion of replacing the Manchester United manager in January should be considered utterly ridiculous. Right? maybe not!
According to recent trends involving Manchester United's concerning the longevity of managers, the club appears to favor the choice of letting go of managers when the results on the pitch start to really affect the clubs overall market value. Having Manchester United qualify for the UEFA Champions League competition tends to generate a massive rise in the clubs profits. However, for the moment as we prepare to entire the middle of the season in December 2019 up until February 2020, the final say on which club makes the UEFA Champions League competition for next season and which club comes up short is generally until the second half of season. Furthermore, the news that has made its way from the Manchester United board of directors office down the media states that Manchester United remain fully committed to supporting manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer and his ongoing long term project on the Manchester United team.
“It’s important that we are patient while Ole and his team build for the future,” Woodward said last month. “We will continue to focus on the long-term strategy and won’t be influenced by short-term distractions.”
(Ed Woodward,Telegraph.co.UK. 8 Oct 2019. James Dutcher.)
With this most recent quotes coming straight from one of the main body holding a major influential role amongst the primary owners at Manchester United, the painted picture will hence suggest that manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer will remain assured that he is in no danger of losing his job anytime soon. In all honesty, supporting the manager and his long term project appears to be the right road for Manchester United football club to take. The inner working of the minds of some ex-Manchester United players and how the minds of some Manchester United's fans work never seizes to show signs of inconsistency which leads to nothing but pure astonishment in the minds of outside observers. Last season Manchester United witnessed a volume of support from various retired Manchester United players as well as a high volume of Manchester United fans in the wake of the appointment of current manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer.
From Solskear's transition from the position as interim manager up until the conclusion of Solskjaers' first term as manager, the general theme amongst the Manchester United fans appeared to be that Solskjear is the right man for the job. However, as we slowly make our way to the middle of the season, is the pendulum of support from the fans showing signs of swinging away from the Manchester United manager? At the moment the support from the fans remains with Ole Gunner Solskjaer but should the recent accumulation of poor results remain the same after December 2019, the Manchester United fans might be singing a different tune come the month of February 2020. Over the past couple of seasons, the fans have shown that while they are a patient bunch, patience tends to dry out with time at Manchester United especially when match results do not turn out as expected.
The most interesting part of the conversation is surprisingly not comments and accusations hurled at the Manchester United boss from the Manchester United fans but comments and accusations brought up against the Manchester United boss from retired Manchester United players. For the most part of September, the news had circulated around the thoughts of one of Manchester United's most prolific captain of arguably all-time in Roy Keane.
The ex-Manchester United captain is well known to openly question some decisions of each Manchester United player, each Manager and each decision taken by the Board of Directors of the club. While the Manchester United fans appear to enjoy each of the comments made by the charismatic Roy Keane the Irish captain was not the center of attention this month of October but rather another player who became an instant legend during his one season at Manchester United Robin Van Persie.
The Dutch striker was recently in conversation with analysts on MetroNews about the current situation at Manchester United were the Dutch legend gave an honest comment regarding Ole Gunner Solskjears current situation speaking along of quotes such as this one:
‘It’s my responsibility. I need to sort their heads out,’ said the United manager. ‘Young boys lacking confidence, they need some help from experienced players and staff.’
Words of Ole Gunner during his post-match interview after Manchester United's defeat at the hands of Newcastle last weekend. After the interview ex-Manchester United striker Robin van Persie dropped some of his thoughts regarding the Manchester United managers interview hinting that Solskjaer might possibly be out of his element as the manager of Manchester United.
"You can see here’s struggling there, if I’m really honest, during that interview.’ And I get it if you’re the manager of Manchester United during this period. ‘So he’s searching for words, maybe he chose a few wrong ones there. ‘Because as a player, what does that mean, ‘sorting the players’ heads out’, what does that mean? "
‘If you’re a player you’re a little bit like, ‘my head is fine’. ‘Even though you can see the players are low in confidence, he needs to find a way to reconnect again and to get their confidence high. ‘As a manager, when you’re team is low in confidence get them up, when your team is too high in confidence, when they are becoming a little bit too much, you have to get them back to the middle again. ‘At the moment, based on this interview, and based on what I’ve seen in the game, I’m not sure if he really knows how to find the buttons there.’
(Robin Van Persie, MetroUK.com. Oct 7, 2019.)
The reality remains that while some of the criticism placed on Ole Gunner Solskjaers back might be a little heavy these are the criticisms and demands that come with managing a massive club. While the Glazers have ultimately put there a lot of faith in Solskjaer, faith is usually expected to be rewarded with positive outcomes on the pitch. Solskjaer position as a manager might be safe for now but without the right results on the pitch being delivered who know how long the safety insurance granted to Ole Gunner Solskjaer will last?
Only time will tell.
