Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 12.02.26

I certainly don’t think Amorim was all bad but he was flawed in many ways especially his temperament and mentality.

Wanting to keep Bruno isn’t something I would give anyone much credit for 😅 I said back in May that I was concerned at how so many people on here were so blasé about the idea of him leaving. Now if he actually played a big role in Bruno staying then fair play, thanks Ruben, but despite what was said (by Bruno), I don’t really think Bruno signs that contract, even if Wilcox and Ratcliffe are pushing him to.

Even if there is an argument to be made about cashing in on Bruno while we can, it just isn't feasible.

Losing Casemiro's leadership and influence (not to mention his recent outstanding form), is bad enough. But we can't just ship out the club captain too and expect it to not cause problems.

I just feel we have to maintain some stability in the leadership of the senior players. Imagine Casemiro, Bruno and Harry all leaving in the summer? It leaves too big of a void.

I'd 100% keep Bruno at least a year. Preferably Maguire too if he'll accept a pay cut and the TOTD lads seem to think he would. Casemiro is already confirmed as going.

Plus as mentioned earlier, Bruno doesn't get enough credit.

As much as I dislike him I have to give credit to Jason Wilcox for wanting us to revert away from 3 atb to a traditional formation, we look like a totally new team.

If and it's a big if Carrick is kept on it has to be on a short deal like 2 years with stipulations.

Most of this is fairly sound and it’s probably an argument I’d be more open to at the end of the season depending on what the realistic alternatives actually look like. There’s a big difference in the options being Glasner, Frank & Iraola vs Enrique. I do genuinely like the idea of Michael Carrick becoming Manchester United manager but -

The “club in transition” point is interesting, but I’m not sure that’s the right time to take a punt on someone with Carrick’s level of experience. When a club is in transition, you want the best possible person to guide that transition, not someone learning the job at the same time.

To me, saying “we’re in transition” can almost sound like “we’ve nothing to lose” and I don’t think that’s true. Getting the managerial decision wrong during a transition phase can set you back far more than getting it wrong when you’re already in a strong position. You can recover a lot easier. Otherwise, we might always be “in transition”.

I’m probably like a broken record at this stage, but I still think we need to remember the context of this season. It’s a very favourable set of circumstances and it has to be taken into consideration when judging performances under Carrick, in the same way as with Amorim.

Carrick and Holland do look very good right now and I don’t want it to come across that I’m ignoring that. My posts since he has come in have been full of his praises. If we’re getting into a debate about making him permanent, I think there needs to be a bit of push back on what looks like some people trying to simplify a situation that is not actually that simple.

Its a very good sign that Carrick is looked for an experienced coach to work with and doesn't feel threatened by it. Because his own managerial CV is quite thin, so for him to succeed in a long term role the club will need to bring in a strong staff to support him and he'll need to be willing to listen to them.

The "club in transition" thing is vastly overblown if you ask me. Certainly when it comes to the actual football team.

Its not a bug turning into a butterfly, its just an organisation that wants to improve. Thats not a transition, thats just waking up tomorrow and making better decisions. Nothing fundamental is changing.

You know what the wrong managerial decision was? Hiring a guy who wouldn't use his tools effectively and couldn't keep the motor running while you tried to improve things behind the scenes.

You know what the right decision would be? Hiring somebody who uses his tools effectively and gets you results on the field. Its much easier to improve things when you are taking the pressure off by winning games and qualifying for more money.

Sometimes things are quite simple. If Carrick/Holland win all/most of their next 13 games and storm into Europe, then just give them the job.

It can be known but the club dont have to announce it to the public.

If they did decide to offer it to Carrrick, do so and just carry on. They can then plan the summer transfer window (which shouldn't be affected by who the manager is anyhow) and announce the new manager once the season is over.

So what if the papers and pundits speculate, they will no matter what.

Yeah, there’s definitely no ego with him. As a player he never wanted the spotlight, despite being such a crucial part of the team. He gave credit to Evans for the goal yesterday at the first opportunity, which says a lot about him.

There’s no doubt he’ll listen to those around him. He really fits the head coach model - a quiet leader who empowers his players and staff. Very different to Amorim in that he is calm, good with the players, and not fragile.

It’s hard to stay grounded about him at the moment when the signs are so encouraging, and I can completely see why Buckety views it as a straightforward decision if this continues - I just expect that next season will be a different beast.

Reminded of this time when fans started to say Mainoo didn’t have the stomach for it after the incident with his brother.

He needed to fight to redeem himself like Amad did etc.

Nope - he just needed a new manager. Like Amad. Really amazing how quickly fan sentiment can swing against and then back for a player when a manager takes an active disliking to them.

McCoist and co. were talking about him and the England squad yesterday (personally think it’s too late). Mainoo is exactly the same player he was in December so it turns out he was completely justified in his view that Amorim was killing his career and he needed to do anything to get away from him. Who’d have thought!

I am hoping Bruno is the kind of clever, intelligent player who can play at a high level to 35, maybe longer, like David Silva, Modric etc. He won't lose the quality and if there are runners around him it can work.

He was outrageous yesterday and a joy to watch. He looked like he was in his element too

Hoping for a City win or a draw today, would be great to challenge for 2nd but I'd rather the teams below us drop points, makes CL qualification easier.

We should be aiming for top 5. Anything above that, unless it’s a title win, isn’t important. Keeping the biggest challenger to us finishing top 5, as far away as possible makes the most sense for me.