''Soccer'' 2017-2018

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I'm confused and need an explanation. Man U was spinning their wheels in quicksand and was basically in the middle of the standings when they replaced Jose Mourinho with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and since then, the Red Devils have gone undefeated in their last ten matches (9 wins, 1 draw), and done so with basically the same players Mourinho had. So tell me, was this turnaround really as simple as having sent Jose packing? I don't understand it.

[FluffySheep]

I'm confused and need an explanation. Man U was spinning their wheels in quicksand and was basically in the middle of the standings when they replaced Jose Mourinho with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and since then, the Red Devils have gone undefeated in their last ten matches (9 wins, 1 draw), and done so with basically the same players Mourinho had. So tell me, was this turnaround really as simple as having sent Jose packing? I don't understand it.

The players had pretty much given up/refused to play to their full potential under Mourinho. Pretty much a tactic to get him sacked, and it worked. Player power shouldn't be a thing but it's always the easier option for a club to sack a manager than to sack/sell the players causing the problem. Once Mourinho left, all the players got their mojo back and upped their game for Ole.

[DebkoX]

Say Fluffy, what happened with you guys and Leeds?!

[FluffySheep]

Say Fluffy, what happened with you guys and Leeds?!

Well...

This came about because of our owners just selling everything at Swansea City that had any value so that they could pay their hedge fund clients a return on their investment. When Leeds showed an interest in Dan James, the owners thought "SELL!!". This goes against everything they've promised the fans and Graham Potter, because he took the job after being told it was a long term project to focus on youth and build a new team. Now the owners seem keen to sell the youth, as well as any experienced players we've got. On deadline day, we were set to lose Fer (our captain), Bony, Montero, Van Der Hoorn and James in other cash raising scheme by the owners. What the fans THINK happened, was either our chairman Huw Jenkins thought "enough is enough with all this selling", and cancelled deals without the owners approval OR Graham Potter said he'd resign if we sell even more of the squad. Jenkins has now resigned, so it's obvious the relationship between him and the owners is dead.

Dan James was badly treated that day though, because he traveled to Leeds, had the medical, and apparently waited there for 5 hours for Swansea to approve the deal and sign on the dotted line, but they never did. Awful for a young player to go through that but hopefully Graham Potter can bring him round. The club is in a right mess and there are protests planned in the coming weeks. We sold 19 players in the summer, and signed 5. In January we let Bony, Carroll and Montero go and didn't bring anyone in again. Potter is performing a miracle getting us to where we are in the league with barely any players.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The players had pretty much given up/refused to play to their full potential under Mourinho. Pretty much a tactic to get him sacked, and it worked. Player power shouldn't be a thing but it's always the easier option for a club to sack a manager than to sack/sell the players causing the problem. Once Mourinho left, all the players got their mojo back and upped their game for Ole.

Wow! that's remarkable stuff!

[DebkoX]

Well...

This came about because of our owners just selling everything at Swansea City that had any value so that they could pay their hedge fund clients a return on their investment. When Leeds showed an interest in Dan James, the owners thought "SELL!!". This goes against everything they've promised the fans and Graham Potter, because he took the job after being told it was a long term project to focus on youth and build a new team. Now the owners seem keen to sell the youth, as well as any experienced players we've got. On deadline day, we were set to lose Fer (our captain), Bony, Montero, Van Der Hoorn and James in other cash raising scheme by the owners. What the fans THINK happened, was either our chairman Huw Jenkins thought "enough is enough with all this selling", and cancelled deals without the owners approval OR Graham Potter said he'd resign if we sell even more of the squad. Jenkins has now resigned, so it's obvious the relationship between him and the owners is dead.

Dan James was badly treated that day though, because he traveled to Leeds, had the medical, and apparently waited there for 5 hours for Swansea to approve the deal and sign on the dotted line, but they never did. Awful for a young player to go through that but hopefully Graham Potter can bring him round. The club is in a right mess and there are protests planned in the coming weeks. We sold 19 players in the summer, and signed 5. In January we let Bony, Carroll and Montero go and didn't bring anyone in again. Potter is performing a miracle getting us to where we are in the league with barely any players.

That sounds awful. It did strike me as odd that you let Montero go to WBA.

[DebkoX]

City completely bullied Chelsea today.

So gladwe have Son back!

[FluffySheep]

Sarri didn't shake Pep's hand after the game either. Sore loser lol.

Swansea had a good win 1-0 at home against Millwall. Graham Potter is doing an amazing job at Swansea. It's frustrating to think about how good we could be under him if he was given a decent transfer budget.

[FluffySheep]

Wow! that's remarkable stuff!

This is partly my opinion on what happened at Man Utd rather than actual fact, but I find it difficult to believe that Solskjaer is a tactical genius and is far superior tactically to Mourinho, so that can't be the reason why Man Utd are flying now. It has to be down the players not playing at their best under Mourinho.

I always felt that Mourinho never wanted the Man Utd in the first place though. I felt like he wanted the Man City job because he'd have more money to spend, and the Man Utd job was kinda second choice for him. I never felt like his heart was in it, so you could argue it was his fault that the players heads went down and didn't perform for him, but players should always give 100%, no matter what they think of the manager of his tactics.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This is partly my opinion on what happened at Man Utd rather than actual fact, but I find it difficult to believe that Solskjaer is a tactical genius and is far superior tactically to Mourinho, so that can't be the reason why Man Utd are flying now. It has to be down the players not playing at their best under Mourinho.

I always felt that Mourinho never wanted the Man Utd in the first place though. I felt like he wanted the Man City job because he'd have more money to spend, and the Man Utd job was kinda second choice for him. I never felt like his heart was in it, so you could argue it was his fault that the players heads went down and didn't perform for him, but players should always give 100%, no matter what they think of the manager of his tactics.

Well, that should hold true in ANY sport, but, that doesn't always happen. Meanwhile, if Solskjaer leads Man U to a top 5 finish, would he be considered the front runner to keep the manager's job, or is the club still lusting after Mauricio Pochettino?

[DebkoX]

Sarri didn't shake Pep's hand after the game either. Sore loser lol.

Swansea had a good win 1-0 at home against Millwall. Graham Potter is doing an amazing job at Swansea. It's frustrating to think about how good we could be under him if he was given a decent transfer budget.

That did miff me. Very immature of Sarri. I don't like to see that.

I feel for Swansea. Really should be in the PL. The days of Bony, Siggy, Dyer and Hernandez [and Guzman] seem so far off.

[DebkoX]

Well, that should hold true in ANY sport, but, that doesn't always happen. Meanwhile, if Solskjaer leads Man U to a top 5 finish, would he be considered the front runner to keep the manager's job, or is the club still lusting after Mauricio Pochettino?

Footballers have so much power and they know they can 'sulk' and get what they want. I mean, I'm not sure if Pogba did it on purpose or if Jose tactically stalled him, but he plays far better now.

[FluffySheep]

Manchester United paid Jose Mourinho and his staff £19.6m in compensation following his sacking in December.

Get a job, do badly, get sacked, become a millionaire. I chose the wrong career path lol.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Manchester United paid Jose Mourinho and his staff £19.6m in compensation following his sacking in December.

Get a job, do badly, get sacked, become a millionaire. I chose the wrong career path lol.

Same here. I'm envious!

[DebkoX]

Damn success is failure lol.