Possibly the worst result we’ve had in decades as it allowed Spurs to bring in Conte while we kept faith with Ole and then wasted half a season with Ralf. Now the rot is continuing with Ten Hag - a manager I rate quite a lot actually but who is the managerial equivalent of a car coming in off a slip road onto the autobahn with a bunch of drivers who are ruthless.
People will say ‘Conte would have walked already’ but under Levy - someone traditionally harder to get money off than any of our dolts at board level he’s brought in these players in just over half a season.
Bentacur
Kululevski
Bissouma
Richarlison
Spence
Forster
Lenglet
Perisic
Chuck those players into our squad and I’m sure our hard to impress fans would be happy. We facked up not bringing in Conte and I can only hope that if/when Ten Hag walks/is pushed due to the job possibly being too big for him we reach out to Conte and fix the error.
Spurs 0-3 United
posted on 14/8/22
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Striketeam7 - the smartest person you know - Arsenal shat it on 16/01/22 - Todger (U18109)
posted 2 hours, 3 minutes ago
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 7 hours, 19 minutes ago
Lenglet hasn’t kicked a ball straight for two years. I doubt you’d have been too happy with that signing.
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Let’s revisit a couple of months from now, I bet Conte gets this guy purring. Either way it’s a loan with no obligation so not the end of the world for us if he continues his erratic form
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All due respect, but that's unrelated to the point I was making. The situation at the club's has a big impact on the reaction to new signings.
Spurs are riding a high right now, there's a love-in with Conte and Paratici, and the feeling of a club on the rise. All of that has an impact on the reaction to new signings. Some are rightly sceptical about Lenglet, but the general impression is "if Conte/Paratici feel he's right, then who are we to judge before he's kicked a ball". In addition, it comes in what looks, at face value, to have been an excellent couple of windows for Spurs.
Now compare with the situation at United. Basically can't seem to get any major decision right, a squad that's perceived to have weakened rather than strengthened, the club dithering in the transfer market and seemingly incapable of landing their targets ... and now add to a hapless defence a CB who's been walking horror show in central defence for Barcelona over the past couple of years to the extent he'd make Harry Maguire seem like Alessandro Nesta's second coming. Look at the general response to the Rabiot signing. Not hard to imagine the outrage if they'd recruited Lenglet.
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You ignored the rest of my post though - and the general sentiment. In my ‘scenario’ I laid out I envisioned Conte coming in and doing what he’s done for Spurs, not least fixed their midfield. Oh what we’d do for the likes of Bissouma and Bentacur in there. By this point of the Conte appointment (had it been made in 2021 like it should have) the general feeling around the club would very possibly be mirroring what Spurs are feeling now.
So Lenglet coming into United under Conte would be different to the current state which is what you’re implying would be the scenario.
posted on 14/8/22
comment by Slippin’ Robb (U22716)
posted 10 minutes ago
So Lenglet coming into United under Conte would be different to the current state which is what you’re implying would be the scenario.
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Your "what if" scenario is basically "if we'd signed Conte."
If it's the latter, then it needs revisiting, because it was Paratici who signed him and presumably his contacts at Juve are what enabled the two January signings from who turned their season around.
You'd imagine Paratici also has a team working for him that's capable of identifying the appropriate targets to suit the positions and profiles the manager wants to add to the squad.
Basically, without Paratici the most likely outcome is that none of your pipe dream happens.
posted on 14/8/22
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 4 seconds ago
comment by Slippin’ Robb (U22716)
posted 10 minutes ago
So Lenglet coming into United under Conte would be different to the current state which is what you’re implying would be the scenario.
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Your "what if" scenario is basically "if we'd signed Conte."
If it's the latter, then it needs revisiting, because it was Paratici who signed him and presumably his contacts at Juve are what enabled the two January signings from who turned their season around.
You'd imagine Paratici also has a team working for him that's capable of identifying the appropriate targets to suit the positions and profiles the manager wants to add to the squad.
Basically, without Paratici the most likely outcome is that none of your pipe dream happens.
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Conte has been successful everywhere he’s gone and hasn’t had Paratici every step of the way. I admit it helps Conte at Spurs having him there but Conte himself is capable of identifying players he wants and demanding the club signs them.
Sure, getting them out of this current United back room staff is possibly harder than under Paratici at Spurs but not impossible, especially if they buy into what Conte is selling. £1 billion spent by us in the past 10 years suggests that Conte wouldn’t have too much issue getting funds made available for players he wants.
posted on 14/8/22
We would not have gone for Conte if we lost this game.
posted on 14/8/22
Robb, as you are no doubt well aware, demanding the club signs them and the club actually signing them are two completely different issues.
Also, no manager or DoF does these things on their own. As you touched upon yourself elsewhere, United haven't been able to put together a cohesive midfield for a decade or more, and a fair number of managers have tried.
United's structure is and has been a mess since Fergie departed, because he himself was arguably the last of a dying breed of manager who belonged to a different age of football. You're pining for a silver bullet that doesn't exist any more.
posted on 14/8/22
As an aside, Robb,why haven't you done a Satanic Verses / Jerry Sadowitz article yet? Pull your finger out!
posted on 14/8/22
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 20 minutes ago
As an aside, Robb,why haven't you done a Satanic Verses / Jerry Sadowitz article yet? Pull your finger out!
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I couldn’t crystallise exactly how I felt about iu so decided to let someone else take a shot
posted on 14/8/22
I read The Satanic Verses a number of years ago. In my understanding the book's key theme is mental illness, not religion, and the passages about Muhammad are merely the delusions of one of the characters.
It's easy to take offence if you read the passages in isolation or stop reading the book at that point, but if you read the whole thing there's no need to take offence unless you are predisposed to seeking it.
The Sadowitz cancellation is ridiculous. Don't go. As another comedian wrote: '“If the cancelling of Jerry Sadowitz’s Edinburgh show is about nudity, then loads of other shows should get cancelled too … If it’s about content … then let grown adults Google acts before they buy tickets. It’s not difficult.”'
posted on 14/8/22
comment by Neo (U9135)
posted 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
Spot on Robb, we both called it after that game. Real sliding doors moments for both clubs.
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It really wasn't. Rightly or wrongly, there was never any indication that united wanted Conte.
posted on 14/8/22
comment by Neo (U9135)
posted 6 hours, 3 minutes ago
Spot on Robb, we both called it after that game. Real sliding doors moments for both clubs.
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And you were both wrong. We never had any intention of appointing Conte.