General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

That change won't save city. The PSR rules didn't even exist in some of the seasons they're accused of breaking rules, and they're accused of fraud, not just overspending.

Utd are terrible. But I’m a little surprised at the lack of hype around Garnacho. He’s only 19 and he’s really improved this season. Looks like he’ll be a player. But considerably less hype around him than Mainoo and our own Evan Ferguson even. Maybe it’s because he’s been around a little longer than them.

I can't stand that rag either but I did here Kieren Maguire mention something similar and he's usually on the ball when it comes to this type of stuff.

Mainoo looked tired last night. I’d agree with that the second one wasn’t a penalty, but the first one appears to show contact between Antony’s thigh and Cucurella’s leg. Soft though.

The last word I'd use to describe Utd's season to date is "unlucky". They've actually ran really well in terms of game to game variance, and are still where they are. Your faith in ETH was misplaced I'm afraid.

Utd have structural problems that need to be fixed, I think everyone and their mother agrees with that. But the manager is the biggest single point of influence on results after raw budget, over and above all the other things like DoF / individual players / backroom staff / youth systems / etc. You can confidently say Utd have not had the right manager since Ferguson because you can look at every single one of Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho and Ole and see that they haven't done anything better since they left. ETH will be the same, make no mistake. So what is there really to debate?

I get it, Utd fans hate this process repeating but it will repeat and repeat until you get the right one. You can have chicken and egg arguments till the end of time, but in the mid 80's Utd were known to have a banter squad of talented underachievers under a flashy manager before the GOAT was identified and came to create the "United way".

FSG were considered a failing entity when Hodgson, Dalglish and Rodgers were the managers. The debate raged around budgets, transfer committees, individual signings, value for money and on and on and on. 4 years of Klopp later and the New York Times is doing lengthy magazine pieces on how forward thinking the data analytics department is and how the club is run like clockwork.

It's the budget and the manager, they are the biggest component of sustained success in football. And it was always thus.

The players he managed previously, sure. The others, people will look to find links or discredit links to suit their own agenda/perspective.

Is Foden still eligible for YPOTY? These awards are strange, like when Messi won POTY again this year instead of Haaland.

What changes next season? Having a new man in a suit in the boardroom doesn't change some of the biggest issues on the pitch and the dressing room in one transfer window.

Do you think bringing in the cycling lad is going to somehow change Rashford's attitude towards hard work and leaks to the media. Will a new commercial director that was poached from City stop Bruno whining non-stop and instead appoint a new captain that doesn't pack it in when the going gets tough? Will the DOF magically make the large gaps that appear between the midfield and defence go away? Is Dan Ashworth going to get Mainoo to stop over-running the ball very often leaving big holes behind him. Will the new head of marketing work on preventing that run-to-byline-and-cut-back goal that Man Utd seem to concede every other week? Will the new head of academy liasion officer stop recommending new signings that share his agent or who he worked with previously? Well, that one may the stay the same!

There is only so much that the 'office' staff can do. ETH manages the on-pitch stuff and he is failing bad at that. Whatever about tactics and transfers, his managing of players appears to be very bad with over-playing some players, and rushing back others from injury leading to further injury.

If you think of those ETH issues wil all change because some Brailsford lad comes in to a place on the board, then more power to you.

Music to the ears of the other clubs wanting to get into European spots then. IMO.

Yeah I think this is spot on, and I do get it. Emotions were running high at the end of last season - just as they were during moments under Ole and Mourinho. It's naturally very difficult to accept it is wrong, again, and to forget all that optimism. It is what it is, in the end.