Erik ten Hag named new United manager

[Mr C]

Yes, he was in a meeting today re: targets

 

[jsp]

He's finished his season at Ajax and will be at the club this week meeting the players and existing staff to familiarise himself with the club.

He won't be involved in the training or any decisions for the game at the weekend but he wants to get a head start on the recruitment decisions on and off the pitch and some of the planning for pre season.

Sounds like McLaren will be joining as part of his backroom staff.

 

[RichH2016]

Sounds like McLaren will be joining as part of his backroom staff.

Have to say I don't really understand that move.

 

[SuperRash]

Don’t really see an issue with ETH wanting McLaren to be honest. If he is someone he is comfortable working with and trusts him then that’s fine.

 

[jsp]

Have to say I don't really understand that move.

I'd be guessing but he probably wants someone familiar with the club and the league within his staff and they've worked together previously.

I think all the managers post Fergie have had someone in the staff who's worked in the club previously. Phil Neville, Giggs, Carrick, Phelan.

 

[Mr C]

Mclaridge has no experience of this league, 6-7 years ago he had an awful season with Newcastle. Take on Mata or something. At least it wouldn't add to the wage bill. Or at least get some recent more current. Van Persie, Rooney, there must be someone.

I have no problem with him coming along if that's what TH wants. But to me it's a stupid choice. He has no experience of this league as it is, has proven he's not that much of a coach, and to be honest just seems old and out of touch. His last coaching role was an absolute shower at QPR 3 years ago.

It makes me doubt TH

 

[SuperRash]

Mclaridge has no experience of this league, 6-7 years ago he had an awful season with Newcastle. Take on Mata or something. At least it wouldn't add to the wage bill. Or at least get some recent more current. Van Persie, Rooney, there must be someone.

I have no problem with him coming along if that's what TH wants. But to me it's a stupid choice. He has no experience of this league as it is, has proven he's not that much of a coach, and to be honest just seems old and out of touch. His last coaching role was an absolute shower at QPR 3 years ago.

It makes me doubt TH

Neither do ETH or van der Gaag.

And McLaren does have some decent experience of managing and being the assistant in the PL. Also he has been an International manager. Obviously his success has been varied in all his roles but he is an experienced guy. ETH could bring his entire coaching staff over from Ajax and none would have any experience of the PL but I doubt you would be that outraged as he’s bringing his own men who he trusts - it’s no different with McLaren.

 

[Mr C]

I was arguing the point JSP said he was being brought in becasue of his prem experience

I'm saying he's not a great coach from back in the day let alone now. And he has no experience of the Pep/Klopp era

if that is the reason for bringing him in, it's an odd one, there are loads more people with experience of the league even if that is just as a player

 

[Lordkluivert]

I was arguing the point JSP said he was being brought in becasue of his prem experience

I'm saying he's not a great coach from back in the day let alone now. And he has no experience of the Pep/Klopp era

if that is the reason for bringing him in, it's an odd one, there are loads more people with experience of the league even if that is just as a player

Agree, if i was ETH i would call Carrick back.

 

[Justin Cider]

Let Erik bring who he wants, it's his gig, his job on the line.

 

[jsp]

Mclaridge has no experience of this league, 6-7 years ago he had an awful season with Newcastle. Take on Mata or something. At least it wouldn't add to the wage bill. Or at least get some recent more current. Van Persie, Rooney, there must be someone.

I have no problem with him coming along if that's what TH wants. But to me it's a stupid choice. He has no experience of this league as it is, has proven he's not that much of a coach, and to be honest just seems old and out of touch. His last coaching role was an absolute shower at QPR 3 years ago.

It makes me doubt TH

Mata needs to do one. he knows nothing about what it takes to win the premier league he’s never done it and he’s just sat back cashing his pay cheque for the last 2 seasons I’m sick of hearing reasons to keep him on the payroll because he’s a nice guy.

ETH likely wants someone he can totally trust and he’s worked with him before at Twente so he likely thinks he’s a good person to work with and has something to offer in his plan. McLaren was always rated as a coach so maybe going back to that will serve him well and play to his strengths especially if we are trying to bring some kids through

He also knows something ETH won’t know which is just how big the club is he will be able to prepare him for what is coming.

We also don’t know how long it will be for he might only want him for 12 months while he settles in just wants someone who knows a bit about the 19 other clubs in the league and there may be some language barriers that McLaren can help him overcome.



Give the bloke a chance to fail.

 

[SuperRash]

Agree, if i was ETH i would call Carrick back.

What’s the fascination of having ‘one of the boys’ at the club at all times? Plus he was one of the main coaches of a failed regime.

Seems so much negativity already and he probably hasn’t even sat in his office yet!

 

[Lordkluivert]

What’s the fascination of having ‘one of the boys’ at the club at all times? Plus he was one of the main coaches of a failed regime.

Seems so much negativity already and he probably hasn’t even sat in his office yet!

Carrick proved in is little time as head coach that he was not just a follower of Ole. He had us play decent football when we were free falling. I will not judge him so quickly. He deserve a chance to learn the proper way with a good coach like ETH.

 

[Mr C]

Mclaridge is a step into the past for me. I'd rather we moved forward.
But it doesn't matter what I want, ETH wants him, but it does put doubts in my mind, he thinks an out of work, pretty poor coach is what we need. His time has gone

 

[O-Dog]

ETH is coming to a new club in a new league. Surely having someone he's already worked with who is very familiar with the league and the club is a benefit?

Stop looking for problems.

 

[Mr C]

That's fine, it's the person he chose that bothers me, not the reason.
They worked together for 1 season, roles reversed. It's not like they have some long standing partnership.
I think we should be doing better personally

 

[SuperRash]

That's fine, it's the person he chose that bothers me, not the reason.
They worked together for 1 season, roles reversed. It's not like they have some long standing partnership.
I think we should be doing better personally

There is a big difference between being a coach and a manager though. McLaren is a very good coach but did struggle at times as a manager. Saying that though, he did have some success with Middlesborough and Twente from what I can remember.

If you want to beat McLaren with the ‘he only worked with him for a year’ stick, then van der Gaag only started being his assistance in 2021.

 

[RichH2016]

I'd be guessing but he probably wants someone familiar with the club and the league within his staff and they've worked together previously.

And whilst that makes sense to have someone who knows the club and the league I'm not sure McLaren is that guy? He was only with United for a couple of years and he's not been in the PL for a long long time. So I'm not sure how connected he really is with either to be honest?

 

[Mr C]

I'm beating him with the out of all the coaches you could have picked you picked a fossil. It's poor judgement.
How many managers go back to be a coach. Not many, Keane, I think maybe Howe. And how many of those were a success.
In fact Keane would be better, at least he'd have impact in that dressing room, even it is fear. Mclaridge is such an underwhelming appointment, especially on that dressing room. He commands 0 respect.
He had success as an assistant to the best manager in football, left 20 years ago, and has not proven himself as a coach. And has been out of work for years.
In my opinion it's not a good sign.
Are we saying he's the best coach we could get? Because we should be getting the best we can in every role.

 

[SuperRash]

It could prove to a bad appointment, it could prove to be an astute one. No-one knows how it’s going to turn out.

I’m not in on this total negativity before the manager has even started work! Got to be positive he knows what he’s doing - after all he’s the man which we have tasked with getting us back to the big time. Got to at least give him time to fail in real life before condemning his decisions!

 

[jsp]

And whilst that makes sense to have someone who knows the club and the league I'm not sure McLaren is that guy? He was only with United for a couple of years and he's not been in the PL for a long long time. So I'm not sure how connected he really is with either to be honest?

Just think he can offer something relating to the small details about certain clubs. A new manager might not realise some of the history we have with other teams and why they'll raise their performance levels against us. Potential travel issues that come with certain games like getting to Crystal Palace for a night game or under estimating just how much Leeds hate Utd.

Someone on a podcast made a very good point about Guardiola keeping Brian Kidd on as part of his coaching team when he came into City as he felt he needed someone with that link to the club as part of his setup.

He's been given a chance to pick his team of people around him and he must feel McClaren has something to offer him that he needs.

 

[Mr C]

It's not condenming anyone.

We should be appointing the best person we can get in every role in the club. And if he is the best we could get, it's a worry. His last job was 3 years ago in an awful period at QPR, and I know about it, my brother is QPR fan.

Lets not go overboard on posters here, saying they are saying things they are not, no one is saying Ten Hag is going to fail before he's even arrived at the club, and we all hope he does well. But it doesn't detract from how poor this appointment, if it happens, is.

 

[jsp]

It's not condenming anyone.

We should be appointing the best person we can get in every role in the club. And if he is the best we could get, it's a worry. His last job was 3 years ago in an awful period at QPR, and I know about it, my brother is QPR fan.

Lets not go overboard on posters here, saying they are saying things they are not, no one is saying Ten Hag is going to fail before he's even arrived at the club, and we all hope he does well. But it doesn't detract from how poor this appointment, if it happens, is.

Stop calling the guy McClaridge then judge him fairly.

We don't know if McClaren was the new bosses first pick, second pick or third pick we don't even know what he'll do and we all know he had a pretty up and down managerial career. He did great at Middlesbrough won the league cup and got to a european final, failed with England, went abroad and won the title with Twente.

QPR were a car crash of a club long before McClaren arrived there and he couldn't sort them out many a manager has failed at that club.

For me the bloke gets a chance to pick his own coaches and he'll be judged by his performance.

I never get why fans obsess over the coaching team we literally have no idea what they do and if they are any good.

 

[Mr C]

Why should I stop calling him Mclaridge? I've always called him that, because that's how he was introduced at the press conference, I don't need you to tell me to stop.

If we signed say Pukki as our new striker, would I not be able to say we should be signing better?

He's a poor coach and we should be able to sign better. This awful team will just look at him and down tools like they did with this current coaching set up.

 

[Mr C]

QPR were a car crash of a club long before McClaren arrived there and he couldn't sort them out many a manager has failed at that club.

You didn't give Ole that benefit with Cardiff, and lets not forget you had it for him since he started. So don't give it the holier than thou give the guy a chance nonsense

"Maclaren" (idge), so we rule out QPR on that basis, is that the same for Derby, Twente spell 2, Forest, Wolfsburg, Newcastle, England.

Not sure why I'm getting grief for saying we should be getting better, It's not like i'm coming from left field, look at the guys record.

 

[jsp]

You didn't give Ole that benefit with Cardiff, and lets not forget you had it for him since he started. So don't give it the holier than thou give the guy a chance nonsense

"Maclaren" (idge), so we rule out QPR on that basis, is that the same for Derby, Twente spell 2, Forest, Wolfsburg, Newcastle, England.

Not sure why I'm getting grief for saying we should be getting better, It's not like i'm coming from left field, look at the guys record.

I've never heard that reference before until you started using it.

I said all along with Ole there's nothing from his past to really judge him on I never used Cardiff as a stick to beat him with same reason I never used his success at Molde as a reason to big him up. I gave Ole plenty of praise when he deserved it but I admit from day one I thought making him permanent manager was a mistake as up against the like of Klopp and Pep he was out of his depth and the lack of support around him at the club would make the job almost impossible for him to succeed. He was given a much bigger job than the one McClaren is being given at Utd.

McClaren is coming in to play a back room role we don't have a clue what ETH wants him to do but given his experience at Utd it could be a smart move. I agree his record as a manager hasn't been great but his record as a coach is good and most players who worked with him as a coach have plenty of good things to say some people are just better coaches than they are managers.

Just think taking the p*ss out of his name isn't really on he deserves some respect especially given he's done good work at the club in the past in the job he's now being given again.

Even using your Pukki example if we signed him to be backup to Ronaldo next season is that the end of the world? If we signed him to replace Ronaldo that's a different story.

Ten Hag has been given the keys the kingdom and like every other manager he gets the pick his coaches and he is playing safe picking people he knows.

 

[Mr C]

It's not taking the piss out of Mclaridge, if anything it highlights another inept board where the chairman introduces the coach to the media and doesn't know his name. I remember it clearly, it's a standing joke and I always call him that. It's taking the piss out of our senior management at the time if anything. Embarrassing really.

That aside, if TH wants him fair do's, it's up to him. Doesn't take away the point I wished/hoped we would be trying for better and I shoud be able put that point on a Man utd board without be made out to be some kind of traitor.

I'm not going to rate TH on his coaching appointments, I just want better, and I get the feeling from what we know about this group of players, they probably will be thinking the same. I have gone from a high of TH and the potential, to an underwhelming coaching appointment.

We'll see how it goes.

 

[jsp]

It's not taking the piss out of Mclaridge, if anything it highlights another inept board where the chairman introduces the coach to the media and doesn't know his name. I remember it clearly, it's a standing joke and I always call him that. It's taking the piss out of our senior management at the time if anything. Embarrassing really.

That aside, if TH wants him fair do's, it's up to him. Doesn't take away the point I wished/hoped we would be trying for better and I shoud be able put that point on a Man utd board without be made out to be some kind of traitor.

I'm not going to rate TH on his coaching appointments, I just want better, and I get the feeling from what we know about this group of players, they probably will be thinking the same. I have gone from a high of TH and the potential, to an underwhelming coaching appointment.

We'll see how it goes.

Who even said it? Where is it from? I googled McLaridge and nothing came up.

 

[Mr C]

Martin Edwards

it happened, I remember it clearly

The rise and rise of United's No2

For all the unseemly chaos at Lancaster Gate over the past couple of weeks, at least the Football Association managed to get its lines right yesterday. And for that at least, Steve McClaren should be grateful.

www.theguardian.com

 

[jsp]

I mean I've listened to various football based podcasts, talkshows etc that have absolutely ripped into McClaren down the years and I've never come across that story.

I thought we all settled on Schteve as his name anyway when he put on that silly Dutch accent.

 

[IDFD]

I think we definitely sign Anthony. In the media last week he said if Erik needs be then I'm there.

In his goodbye message to ETH on Monday he said 'Know that I will always stand with you if you need me.'

 

[jsp]

He's one I've seen bits of looks a very exciting player but I'm still scared by Memphis and VDB anyone that comes from the Dutch league looks about half as good as they did there when they hit the prem.

I think there's pretty good relations between Utd and Ajax everything we've done seems to be pretty amicable and they're used to selling players so if we do want him I'm sure a deal could be reached.

To me the more important thing is he's clearly leaving a lasting impression on his players from his time at Ajax suggests to me the guy is a top coach who is improving his players.

 

[Mr C]

Timber rumours are quite strong too

 

[SuperRash]

Timber rumours are quite strong too

Seems to be a fair amount of negativity about his lack of height though. Conflicting reports but he’s around 5ft 10/11. Obviously it’s ideal if you’ve got some height but I guess guys like Puyol and Cannavaro managed to carve out glittering careers.

Sounds like a fantastic prospect who can also play at right back - maybe that’s the position for him going forward if there is a worry on his aerial prowess.

 

[Lordkluivert]

He's one I've seen bits of looks a very exciting player but I'm still scared by Memphis and VDB anyone that comes from the Dutch league looks about half as good as they did there when they hit the prem.

I think there's pretty good relations between Utd and Ajax everything we've done seems to be pretty amicable and they're used to selling players so if we do want him I'm sure a deal could be reached.

To me the more important thing is he's clearly leaving a lasting impression on his players from his time at Ajax suggests to me the guy is a top coach who is improving his players.

He is nothing like Memphis, he is more like Nani when he came here. Explosive and full of skills. For me, Antony is the best RW we can get. Hopefully for a reasonable price.