Six wins out of six for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The “Baby faced assassin” has come in and seemingly transformed the fortunes of a team that looked destined to finish sixth (at best) under Jose Mourinho. I referred to José as a square peg in a round Man United hole not so long ago. The exact opposite is true for Solskjaer. He is what you might call the perfect fit. He understands the culture of the club, understands the inner workings and has a strong relationship with the man who built the club in to what it is today. With each passing game, and positive result it gets harder and harder to insist on Pochettino or Massimo Allegri replacing Mourinho... For me the shortlist should feature those three names solely. Solskjaer, Allegri and Pochettino. I would be happy with either one of them. I suspect trying to pry Pochettino from Tottenham is going to be as painful as trying to pry Dimitar Berbatov from them some years ago. Incidentally, luring Allegri away from Juventus is likely to be as difficult.
Nothing about Ed Woodward and his negotiation skills in football related matters gives me any kind of confidence that he'll be able to make either deal happen. Some thing happened though the day after Mourinho was fired. There was very little reporting on it, and hardly any fuss if any, but I thought it was significant. David Gil was pictured driving out of Carrington. As an administrator Gil was worth his weight in gold, and the combination of him and Sir Alex was unstoppable. Seeing him drive out of Carrington made me wonder whether he was taking his rightful place back at the helm. That would really be a masterstroke were the Glazers to insert Gil back as CEO of football related matters with OGS managing the club...
Jose Mourinho wasn’t a fit for this period at Manchester United. Those doing the hiring and firing at Manchester United must hold their hands up in defeat. They have got it all wrong. Jose should actually have been given the job right after Sir Alex. At that time we had a strong squad of experienced players. With one or two additions Jose could have taken that squad on to one more league title and a deep run in to the Champions League in his traditional three season run. United could then have had a look at a manager who’s job it would have been to rebuild. Perhaps a young Pochettino. As it is, that’s not what happened. Instead we’ve had the hit or miss years of Messer’s Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho. That has unfortunately meant that this next managerial decision has to be spot on. There is very little margin for error now. This is how I know for certain that neither Diego Simeone nor Gareth Southgate should even be considered for the United job.
Much water must run under the proverbial bridge still, and there will surely be many ups and downs as we head towards the end of the season. My suspicion is, United will finish third in the league and will go deeper than we could ever have imagined in the Champions League. If I’m right about either or both of these predictions, then surely Woodward and his board will have no choice but to give the feel good factor of OGS a deal? Should I be off the mark, and United finish outside the top four, and get knocked out by PSG, then Allegri (more than Pochettino) must come in to sharp focus!
Thursday, 17 January 2019
Thursday, 10 January 2019
New Year dem...
My first blog in 2019. I hope I will write with more consistency than I did last year. I wonder why I fell off the writing? And whenever I wrote it seemed like I was bemoaning Jose Mourinho and his wayward ways. Ed Woodward too came in for some derision. Hopefully there will be less of that with club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer having come to steady the ship. Five wins out of five at the time of writing this, suggest he certainly has, particularly when you consider the plus eleven goal difference Man United have now attained. Well and good...
But I’m not interested in writing about football just at the minute. Instead, I went to celebrate the narcissism that is having one’s own blog. I want to talk about this past festive season. My first sober one in Lord knows how long. Jeez! Who knew that one could stay sober and still have a good time over the festive period? It was such “a jump” as the young people would say. Loads of time with the family. Just on that, I saw on various social media that those of us who are fortunate enough to count time with the family as a good time are in the minority. What a shame! I can’t imagine not treasuring time with my kinfolk. It's even better now that my niece’s are in their teens. They are all the entertainment a guy could ask for! The youngest one is actually a pre-teen but she kept us all in stitches with her various life theorems and predictions for the future. Her very demure, lady like sister was often left exasperated by the lunacy. My poor sister-in-law rolled her eyes so often it became a common sight. I won’t even go in to her constant reprimands and scolding. All the elements that make for a merry festive period.
As ever geo-politics, economics, “internet of things”, football, rugby, basketball as well as a host of other things were discussed and debated with great gusto. My dad is the best in these matters. The other day the death of Tupac was being discussed. His only addition to the conversation was “wow, this is higher grade...” All the while the matriarch is there directing traffic. Even at our big (bigger, biggest) ages my mother is still scolding us. I’m told by some life experts that it'll likely never stop... Shout out to the disciplinarians!
We hosted people, friends who have become family over the period as well. Some came over for drinks, others for games, others just to chill and I suppose soak up the madness. That my family enjoys a tipple is neither a secret nor a negative mark against them! Au contraire! It is often the reason we have so many awesome passers by. They always add value to our chill sessions do our friends-cum-families. This year, my girlfriend spent a decent amount of time with my family and the experience didn’t see her call it quits on our relationship thankfully. I kid. My ebullient and effusive family made her feel as welcome as possible which was great to see. She really is all the awesome, and spending as much time as we did together this holiday really reinforced my deep appreciation for her.
The one rude awakening I got was how to do sober new year’s... You don’t just go with the flow of what the drinking people are doing. Nope! You don’t stand to be the winner when you do that! I have ducked and dived the question “did you enjoy your new year’s?” because in truth I didn’t. The vibe at the “club” we were at wasn’t the kind of vibe I enjoy. So it seems facetious, when I say I would rather have slept, but, I mean it... I was so tired from the whole festive that I really would rather have slept that night. As it is, I got to see some fireworks and more importantly spend some time with my girlfriend (always a winner). But I’m better prepared for the next sober New Year!
I'm looking forward to this year. It will have its ups and it’s downs. There'll be moments of activity and others of boredom, all the while it’s my hope that I’ll maintain the same sunny disposition that has carried me through thirty odd years of life. It's been a grand ol' time! Here’s to many more!
But I’m not interested in writing about football just at the minute. Instead, I went to celebrate the narcissism that is having one’s own blog. I want to talk about this past festive season. My first sober one in Lord knows how long. Jeez! Who knew that one could stay sober and still have a good time over the festive period? It was such “a jump” as the young people would say. Loads of time with the family. Just on that, I saw on various social media that those of us who are fortunate enough to count time with the family as a good time are in the minority. What a shame! I can’t imagine not treasuring time with my kinfolk. It's even better now that my niece’s are in their teens. They are all the entertainment a guy could ask for! The youngest one is actually a pre-teen but she kept us all in stitches with her various life theorems and predictions for the future. Her very demure, lady like sister was often left exasperated by the lunacy. My poor sister-in-law rolled her eyes so often it became a common sight. I won’t even go in to her constant reprimands and scolding. All the elements that make for a merry festive period.
As ever geo-politics, economics, “internet of things”, football, rugby, basketball as well as a host of other things were discussed and debated with great gusto. My dad is the best in these matters. The other day the death of Tupac was being discussed. His only addition to the conversation was “wow, this is higher grade...” All the while the matriarch is there directing traffic. Even at our big (bigger, biggest) ages my mother is still scolding us. I’m told by some life experts that it'll likely never stop... Shout out to the disciplinarians!
We hosted people, friends who have become family over the period as well. Some came over for drinks, others for games, others just to chill and I suppose soak up the madness. That my family enjoys a tipple is neither a secret nor a negative mark against them! Au contraire! It is often the reason we have so many awesome passers by. They always add value to our chill sessions do our friends-cum-families. This year, my girlfriend spent a decent amount of time with my family and the experience didn’t see her call it quits on our relationship thankfully. I kid. My ebullient and effusive family made her feel as welcome as possible which was great to see. She really is all the awesome, and spending as much time as we did together this holiday really reinforced my deep appreciation for her.
The one rude awakening I got was how to do sober new year’s... You don’t just go with the flow of what the drinking people are doing. Nope! You don’t stand to be the winner when you do that! I have ducked and dived the question “did you enjoy your new year’s?” because in truth I didn’t. The vibe at the “club” we were at wasn’t the kind of vibe I enjoy. So it seems facetious, when I say I would rather have slept, but, I mean it... I was so tired from the whole festive that I really would rather have slept that night. As it is, I got to see some fireworks and more importantly spend some time with my girlfriend (always a winner). But I’m better prepared for the next sober New Year!
I'm looking forward to this year. It will have its ups and it’s downs. There'll be moments of activity and others of boredom, all the while it’s my hope that I’ll maintain the same sunny disposition that has carried me through thirty odd years of life. It's been a grand ol' time! Here’s to many more!
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