Football (Soccer)

[Bobber]

Very strange departure of Dan Ashworth a mere months after his appointment after months of pursuit to land him. Hard to really tell what's went on with the standard news media & social media bombardment of unsubstantiated rumours & theories.



This is instantly what I thought as soon as I read about this earlier.

It seems like a very strange lone reason to effectively sack a Sporting Director in that he preferred one managerial appointment over another. There had to be other mitigating circumstances involved, I don't have a problem believing he was the voice pushing for Southgate or Potter, but unless he threw an almighty wobbler when the club went with Amorim instead, I find it hard to believe this was the only reason for him leaving.

Am I remembering wrong, or weren't there a LOT of articles about Ratcliffe wanting Southgate to take over the job? Or maybe that was just the media spouting nonsense to get some clicks.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[B]

Am I remembering wrong, or weren't there a LOT of articles about Ratcliffe wanting Southgate to take over the job? Or maybe that was just the media spouting nonsense to get some clicks.

Allegedly after the FA Cup final, the board were reviewing ten Hag's position & one of the names to potentially replace him should they decide to sack him, was Southgate. It's hard to say whether that was directly what Ratcliffe wanted as he claimed the decision(s) regarding the manger wasn't his call & was effectively left to those running the club.

I'd be inclined to believe Southgate's name was maybe mentioned as a potential replacement, as well as maybe a dozen others, the stories were more than likely repeatedly published to generate clicks & interactions on social media particularly after the media learned that the majority of United fans were up in arms about him potentially getting the job. Nothing generates clicks more than an upset fanbase.

 

[Iceman]

Am I remembering wrong, or weren't there a LOT of articles about Ratcliffe wanting Southgate to take over the job? Or maybe that was just the media spouting nonsense to get some clicks.

Might be nonsense but I definitely remember the articles too.

 

[PepS]

Sounds like Ashworth could wind up at Arsenal. Don’t know what to think of that. On the one hand he signed the likes of Trossard, Mitoma and Caicedo at Brighton and the likes of Isak, Tonali and Gordon at Newcastle which sounds promising. But then he seeems to have been the driving force behind wanting Southgate at United and signing the likes of Ugarte and Zirkzee who don’t look very promising at the moment, which is concerning.

 

[Iceman]

Liverpool win again in the CL (away to Girona) to keep up their 100% record after 6 games.

 

[B]

Sounds like Ashworth could wind up at Arsenal. Don’t know what to think of that. On the one hand he signed the likes of Trossard, Mitoma and Caicedo at Brighton and the likes of Isak, Tonali and Gordon at Newcastle which sounds promising. But then he seeems to have been the driving force behind wanting Southgate at United and signing the likes of Ugarte and Zirkzee who don’t look very promising at the moment, which is concerning.

He's got a credible record so I wouldn't be too worried, the only real oddity is the circumstances surrounding his departure from us. It honestly could be something as simple & normal as the working relationship between him & the other INEOs appointments wasn't working, we have appointed 4 or 5 new faces behind the scenes & it might have been a case of too many cooks.

The Southgate & Potter rumours, I could believe, because he's worked with both & I'm sure he speaks very highly of both. Transfer dealings, I mean the best thing I can say about our dealings in the summer is we didn't significantly overpay for anybody at the time of their purchase & I think all in all our window was good on paper. Hard to really judge if any will work out & be here long term as the whole team has played poorly & with another change in manager, change in shape, it's hard to say.

 

[PepS]

He's got a credible record so I wouldn't be too worried, the only real oddity is the circumstances surrounding his departure from us. It honestly could be something as simple & normal as the working relationship between him & the other INEOs appointments wasn't working, we have appointed 4 or 5 new faces behind the scenes & it might have been a case of too many cooks.

The Southgate & Potter rumours, I could believe, because he's worked with both & I'm sure he speaks very highly of both. Transfer dealings, I mean the best thing I can say about our dealings in the summer is we didn't significantly overpay for anybody at the time of their purchase & I think all in all our window was good on paper. Hard to really judge if any will work out & be here long term as the whole team has played poorly & with another change in manager, change in shape, it's hard to say.

Yeah, I hear ya'.

I've seen quite a few of the United fan accounts on social media running with the story 'according to their insider info' that Ashworth was the problem and that INEO's weren't impressed with his performance and behavior with things so far, which is giving me red flags. However, it's hard to say if it's true, or whether they are just trying to spin it so as to make the club not look bad. I don't seem to recall there being any problems concerning him when he was working for Brighton, England and Newcastle, but I don't know.

 

[B]

Yeah, I hear ya'.

I've seen quite a few of the United fan accounts on social media running with the story 'according to their insider info' that Ashworth was the problem and that INEO's weren't impressed with his performance and behavior with things so far, which is giving me red flags. However, it's hard to say if it's true, or whether they are just trying to spin it so as to make the club not look bad. I don't seem to recall there being any problems concerning him when he was working for Brighton, England and Newcastle, but I don't know.

It's really difficult to know what's went on as there have been so many rumours & theories for his departure, the statement the club put out didn't really embellish on reasons, only that it was by mutual consent.

If I was to take an educated guess, I would imagine that his departure was perhaps connected to his performance/the working dynamic between him & the other directors/CEO, perhaps he wasn't bringing what they thought he would bring to the club in terms of new ideas, recruitment & whatever else the role entails. Wouldn't really be an indictment on him either if that was the case, just that it didn't work out. But again, that's all just purely an educated guess, could be a number of reasons.

If anybody would perhaps look bad out of this, it's more Brailsford, whom you hardly hear a word about anymore, as unless he's left or been sacked & I've missed it, I believe he's the person that appointed a the CEO & a lot of the new faces as he's basically Ratcliffe's right hand man.

 

[B]

2034 World Cup: Saudi Arabia wins right to host men's tournament with 2030 World Cup to be held in three continents

 

[PepS]

It's really difficult to know what's went on as there have been so many rumours & theories for his departure, the statement the club put out didn't really embellish on reasons, only that it was by mutual consent.

If I was to take an educated guess, I would imagine that his departure was perhaps connected to his performance/the working dynamic between him & the other directors/CEO, perhaps he wasn't bringing what they thought he would bring to the club in terms of new ideas, recruitment & whatever else the role entails. Wouldn't really be an indictment on him either if that was the case, just that it didn't work out. But again, that's all just purely an educated guess, could be a number of reasons.

If anybody would perhaps look bad out of this, it's more Brailsford, whom you hardly hear a word about anymore, as unless he's left or been sacked & I've missed it, I believe he's the person that appointed a the CEO & a lot of the new faces as he's basically Ratcliffe's right hand man.

I agree. It's hard to know who to believe.

 

[B]

Lucky escape tonight, first half was a dreadful game of football. We had practically all of the ball & did nothing with it, second half was better particularly after Antony, Mount & Hojlund came on, seemed to give us a burst of energy that we were lacking badly in the first half.

Another massive error for Onana after arguably two blunders against Forest. I'd be keeping a tab on goalkeepers available in the market if I were Amorim & the club, Onana is literally costing or nearly costing us games more often than he is winning us them.

 

[BlackFox]

Lucky escape tonight, first half was a dreadful game of football. We had practically all of the ball & did nothing with it, second half was better particularly after Antony, Mount & Hojlund came on, seemed to give us a burst of energy that we were lacking badly in the first half.

Another massive error for Onana after arguably two blunders against Forest. I'd be keeping a tab on goalkeepers available in the market if I were Amorim & the club, Onana is literally costing or nearly costing us games more often than he is winning us them.

His strong point was meant to be playing out from the back and his passing, was meant to revolutionize us, seems no better than De Gea at that and his shot stopping is haphazard at best. Complete flop signing need to get shot of him.

 

[B]

His strong point was meant to be playing out from the back and his passing, was meant to revolutionize us, seems no better than De Gea at that and his shot stopping is haphazard at best. Complete flop signing need to get shot of him.

Before I made that post earlier, I had typed out a line in it that I deleted before I posted that I think he's one of the poorest pieces of business we did during EtH's reign. Mainly because we had a solid, mostly reliable goalkeeper already at the club in de Gea, whom we let walk & paid £50m for his replacement, who thus far hasn't been good enough.

It's not so much his technical ability, the biggest issue he has is mental, things like concentration, decision making, if there's a wrong decision to make ie coming for a ball when he shouldn't, play a very dangerous pass (like tonight), he'll make that poor decision. Even a good side would struggle when their goalkeeper puts them in the **** & we're not a good side.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[blueharvest]

 

[BlackFox]

Liverpool dropped a couple more points against Fulham 2-2 but Arsenal didnt take their chance to close the gap as they drew 0-0 at home to Everton.

Chelsea could close within 2 points tomorrow of the top if they win.

 

[BlackFox]

Probably sacked then as Ipswich won 2-1

 

[B]

For a 17 year old he certainly has a very stocky build from what I've seen of him, you could liken it to Rooney at that sort of age, a teenager with a man's body.

Never heard of him before, watched a few little snippets of him on YT, looks rapid & another tackle enjoyer judging by how forceful some of the challenges looked. Hard to know if he makes it into the first team & it is risky having that sort of player as a fullback ie one that's a potential foul/red card risk if he gets it wrong, but personally I like that sort of more old school fullback that would immediately hit the tricky winger with a hard, but fair, challenge early on to let him know he's in for a game.

 

[Iceman]

Newcastle dominated today in a 4-0 home win against Leicester and could have had a few more. Great to see that in an inconsistent season so far.

Forest came back to beat Villa 2-1. They’re now in the top 4 above City!

 

[BlackFox]

Manchester derby today, yikes. A midtable clash for the ages.

Can see this being the game City get their season back on track though, they will be well up for it and we will be us.

 

[blueharvest]

Manchester derby today, yikes. A midtable clash for the ages.

Can see this being the game City get their season back on track though, they will be well up for it and we will be us.

I think Manchester City will win, too. But both teams have been kind of terrible lately, so you never know.

 

[BlackFox]

I think Manchester City will win, too. But both teams have been kind of terrible lately, so you never know.

Even Man City have beaten some of the trash sides so I dont think we have enough to go to their place and turn them over, they will look at as a game to get back on track but we shall see. Would be a good game for Amorim to get a big result in, he could do with something to kick start things.

 

[Iceman]

Bit of a lucky deflected cross from City after a corner that landed on Gvardiol’s head, but a good header still to put City in front. Utd not good defending at set pieces again.

 

[BlackFox]

1-0 City from a corner.