Paid Members Cod Eye Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 38 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: Hearts were impressive yesterday, from what I saw, and more than deserved something. Rangers form looks ominous for them. Rangers have Hearts at home soon, that's a huge game. Yeah, I saw someone say that Rangers had to be favorites now, due to their form(8 on the bounce is it?). I'd always rather be the team with the points in the bag though, rather than the chasing team. Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 2 hours ago, tiger_rick said: However, the signings, bar Sesko, under Amorim have been really good and created a very strong first XI at least. From what I've seen that might be unfair to Sesko. In the games I've seen him in, he's been starved of service. But as soon as they actually gave him service, in the Burnley game, he scored goals. He probably shouldn't have gone to United in the same way Gyokeres shouldn't have gone to Arsenal as neither team are likely to play to their strengths. Quote
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 4 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: From what I've seen that might be unfair to Sesko. In the games I've seen him in, he's been starved of service. But as soon as they actually gave him service, in the Burnley game, he scored goals. He probably shouldn't have gone to United in the same way Gyokeres shouldn't have gone to Arsenal as neither team are likely to play to their strengths. That might be fair. I'd say he's the exception for me because United's signings (ignoring all the young lads) have been Mbuemo and Cunha, who looked incredibly sensible as seasoned, quality PL players and Dorgu and Lammens who were more unknown but have been well-scouted (don't die of shock) and impressive so far. I even liked Dorgu at left wing-back, his strengths were obvious but, he's been even better playing further forward. Sesko doesn't fit either. He was a big-name with a good record in the Bundesliga. Nearly joined Arsenal previously and came in for a huge fee with way more expectation and little experience of the PL or a club the size of United. He's still incredible young so may come good but, would need United to play to him, as you said because if they don't, Mbuemo always looks the better option. FWIW, I'd never have signed Sesko. United were desperate for a central midfielder and I'd have gone for Cunha, Mbuemo and a "CDM" - as the kids say. They could have either kept Hojlund or used Mbuemo as the centre forward. Quote
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 3 hours ago, Cod Eye said: I don't think we have a minor football thread anymore(sorry!), but could this be really be the first time since '85 that the Old Firm's dominance is broken? This is the most I've been interested in Scottish football since that brilliant rangers team was about with the likes of Gazza, Laudrup and McCoist! I'm hurt by the minor aspect of your statement but at the same time we appear to be playing sometimes as the third best team in Glasgow at the moment. I'd say the new lad we had yesterday added something but was still pretty vacant for large parts. 2 red cards in 2 games after over half a season without one and costing us big both times is pretty stupid. It'll be interesting if we can get to the split in the league and realistically still be within 3-6 points. Everyone playing each other one final time could add a bit of spice to the final 5 games. That's if we actually spend some money and get defenders who can deal with crosses. Andy Robertson not going to Spurs has me dreaming of him going to his boyhood club in the summer but I also don't expect that for 3 more years. Anything to rid us of Liam Scales (put Tierney to CB like Scotland does) who I still refuse to believe is as good as people tell me he is. Quote
Mr_Danger Posted January 26 Posted January 26 On 1/25/2026 at 11:53 AM, Browser Brady said: So did Slot overachieve last year at Liverpool or is he underachieving this season ? Yes. Arsenal will still win it by virtue of being the least shit team. If anything this Arsenal team can dig in and grind out results. I don’t think City have one of their runs in them and Villa lost at home to Everton so they will win fuck all. Heard some terrible calls of Slot out and Gerrard in the interim until Alonso takes over. Other than the fact I think Stevie is a shit manager what do they do if he does well? Thats how you end up with Ole at the wheel. Nice to see Carrick has worked out the cheat code of the premier league by getting his team running harder than the other team and trying to play progressive football that the players might actually enjoy playing. Did Klopp no harm. Quote
RedTwoster Posted January 26 Posted January 26 4 hours ago, Cod Eye said: Yeah, I saw someone say that Rangers had to be favorites now, due to their form(8 on the bounce is it?). I'd always rather be the team with the points in the bag though, rather than the chasing team. I would be surprised and delighted if Hearts were to keep this up until the end of the season, but I hope to goodness they do. I expect them to falter somewhat much as Nottingham Forest did with their Champion’s League spot challenge in England last year. But even running it this close is a remarkable feat. The next Celtic/Rangers clash will be very interesting and, I suspect, be the determining factor for who ends up with the title. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 53 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: The interesting thing is now all the "Should Carrick get the job?" posts and videos are popping up. That's natural but surely United have been down this road before and stick to going and getting a big name in the summer? Depends on how well he does. He's not yet lost a game managing United so far. It's very premature to be talking about giving him the job, and all the speculation reeks of the same kind of shallow thinking that's contributed to United's decay, but at this point no solution is particularly worse than the other. We've tried big names, club favourites, foreigners, Brits, managers with and without PL experience, silverware veterans, trophyless up-and-comers, season-starters and mid-season joiners. So many false dawns, the only sensible perspective to have is "each match as it comes". I'm really hoping Carrick turns out to be the unexpected guy we needed, but it's up to him to make his case. I just hope that, if he does go on some amazing run with them until the end of the season, that management land on him instead of bringing in Maresca or trying to coax Glasner away from Palace or Zidane out of retirement (not that I think this would happen, but I can imagine they'd try). Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 Just because they were burned once with Solskjaer, doesn't mean the same thing will happen with Carrick if they choose to give it him permanently. I don't think he will coach with his heart as much as Solskjaer did, and I also don't think he will be as affected by the Class of 92 talking through their arse on podcasts and Sky Sports either. If he gets them in the Champions League, I think they'll keep him, otherwise they'll look elsewhere. I think Glasner has talked himself out of it recently because they'll want a yes man in place. Enter Gareth Southgate, so some praying should be in order that they finish outside the Champions League spots and this happens. Quote
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 When they sacked Amorim, they clearly didn't think what they wanted was available and decide they need an interim. It's important they know what they want and what the solution is. Regardless of results, that isn't Michael Carrick. Clubs as huge as Man United can't make decisions like this based on a few results. They have to go out and get the best. IMO anyway. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 26 Paid Members Posted January 26 (edited) 8 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: When they sacked Amorim, they clearly didn't think what they wanted was available and decide they need an interim. It's important they know what they want and what the solution is. Regardless of results, that isn't Michael Carrick. Clubs as huge as Man United can't make decisions like this based on a few results. They have to go out and get the best. IMO anyway. We ended up with Amorim because they didn't know these things, as highlighted by the Ashworth fiasco. You're right that the decision shouldn't be made based on a few results, but I would argue that precludes completely ruling out Carrick out of hand. As things stand, I'm not hopeful: there seems to be an odd dearth of top-level English managers, plus Carrick hasn't really stood out with his previous jobs. At the same time, you get the odd perfect confluence of timing and circumstances. Perhaps he'll do well at United because he knows the setup and culture of the club. Like I said above, at this point, fuck knows. There is nothing to say other than "wait and see". It's not a satisfactory, insightful, or particularly edifying sentiment, but from a fan perspective, I don't really see much else at the moment. Edited January 26 by Carbomb Paul Dickov Quote
Mr_Danger Posted January 27 Posted January 27 16 hours ago, tiger_rick said: When they sacked Amorim, they clearly didn't think what they wanted was available and decide they need an interim. It's important they know what they want and what the solution is. Regardless of results, that isn't Michael Carrick. Clubs as huge as Man United can't make decisions like this based on a few results. They have to go out and get the best. IMO anyway. Loads of top managers got top jobs without working their way up. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Carrick is going to give them a nightmare now if he doesn’t end up getting the job. Try following club favourite who had a belter of an interim period. It’s funny to laugh at them with the Ole at the wheel stuff but he had a par performance for a post Fergie era United manager. Maybe, like Real Madrid they just need a figure head and change it around every few years. Literally every type of manager they’ve had hasn’t worked. If they had hired their own Arteta and he’d performed for them as Arteta has Arsenal they’d have sacked him. Almost as if their problems run deeper than management level. I reckon Carrick has a better two season run with this lot than Luis Enrique would. It would take him at least two seasons of smelling his own farts and spending £300m on wingers to get them going. Quote
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 27 Paid Members Posted January 27 52 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said: Almost as if their problems run deeper than management level. I completely agree with this and that's what I'm referring to. They've overhauled the senior management, brought in Berreta and Wilcox, etc, and need to have a vision for how they make United the best team in the country again. That surely involves knowing how you want to play, the players you want to bring in and the best manager to handle it all. If that's Michael Carrick, I don't think that would be the worst idea. He's familiar with the club and the standards, he knows everyone and how they should be treated, he coached at United previously and then did a very reasonable job at Middlesbrough. To not appoint him permanently suggests he's not the idea. If they appoint him based on short-term results, I think that just shows, yet again, that the senior management aren't fit for purpose. Quote
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 27 Paid Members Posted January 27 42 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: They've overhauled the senior management, brought in Berreta They got the wrong man in again. Should've got Caylon Croft. As regards Ole, bear in mind that, when he was manager, it was before we knew how bad things would get. At least he had them playing fun football. To be honest, there's a part of me wondering if van Gaal shouldn't have been given more time. Bloody awful football, but he got silverware, seemed to have a long-term vision, and he brought youngsters through. Quote
Members SuperBacon Posted January 27 Author Members Posted January 27 5 hours ago, Carbomb said: To be honest, there's a part of me wondering if van Gaal shouldn't have been given more time I absolutely love him. Quote
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 27 Paid Members Posted January 27 van Gaal was the right manager at the wrong time. He would have been perfect to bring in after Ferguson, getting an experienced and successful manager in on a short-ish term basis to bridge the gap to someone younger. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.