Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 1, 2021 - November 7, 2021

Even before the English Premier League (EPL) became football’s “klondike”, and sheikhs and shysters alighted on its clubs, Manchester United was often accused of being “a business first and a football club second”. A pioneer of stock exchange floats and global merchandising, it also became a dominant force on the field under Sir Alex Ferguson.

But since its greatest manager retired in 2013, what its owners call the “core business” — playing football — has struggled to match its commercial success. Put bluntly, it can sell fridges to Eskimos but can’t defend set pieces. After the most humiliating day in its history on Oct 24, Ferguson’s latest successor stands on the brink. How it deals with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will tell us where the club’s priorities now lie.

The 5-0 annihilation by bitter rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford would have been enough for the manager’s head to roll almost anywhere else. Booed off the field at half-time, United’s hapless players picked up six yellow cards and one red, and when the fifth goal went in, fans left the stadium in numbers that most clubs would be glad to see entering theirs.

Solskjaer admitted it was his “darkest day” and although the scale of the capitulation was a shock, the Norwegian had long been considered as being out of his depth by many fans and media although not by the club hierarchy. Initially appointed as a caretaker, he was given a new three-year contract last summer.

Despite lavish spending on players that topped £110 million (not counting Cristiano Ronaldo’s £500,000-a-week wages), United has failed to convince and won just two of its last seven games. The gleeful visiting Scousers didn’t hold back their taunts, chanting: “Ole must stay.”

But the “Sack Race, so beloved of rumour-mongers, is a “competition” that United has always regarded with lofty disdain. Having been run by two knights of the realm — Sir Matt Busby was the other — whose combined reigns total almost half a century, they have bequeathed the office a reverence that is unheard of in today’s game. But after a defeat of this magnitude, such deference is coming under severe strain.

Match commentator Peter Drury hit the spot when he asked: “What will this [defeat] do to United as a global entity?” Love them or loathe them, United are not a normal club. They claim three billion followers and are valued at £4 billion. If they were “normal”, they would surely sack their managers more often and enjoy what’s known as “the new manager bounce”.

But United stood by Fergie through three painful years, with fans calling for his head, before he won a trophy. Since he retired, 23 more years and 37 more trophies later, the next three bosses — David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho — were all afforded more time than they deserved and more than they would surely have been granted anywhere else.

Watford have had 15 permanent managers in 10 years and six since 2017. Thomas Tuchel is Chelsea’s 13th permanent boss since 2003 but Roman Abramovich’s ruthless regime has brought the greatest era in the club’s history.

But where Watford look for the quick fix and Chelsea won’t tolerate even a hint of failure, United’s needs are more complex. The American owners, the Glazers, are not just looking at the league table — they are thinking of their share price and how it might be affected by wanton changes at the helm. Regardless of team performances, they are anxious to portray an image of corporate stability.

Conversely, embarrassing failure in a high-profile game such as the recent one was unacceptable to the United diaspora around the world, let alone a disgruntled crowd at home. After decades of success, United has built a remarkably loyal fan base but it will not last forever — particularly with less dyed-in-the-wool millennials. It has not won the EPL since 2013 and has been superseded not only by the nouveau riche duo of Chelsea and Manchester City but also by old nemesis, Liverpool.

Days before the Liverpool game, Solskjaer seemed safe. After an abject defeat at Leicester, senior figures on the board made it clear to him that they “still have complete faith in him moving forward”. Then came a rousing 3-2 win over Atalanta in the Champions League after being 2-0 down at half-time. With a stunning late winner from Ronaldo, it suggested United’s legendary powers of recovery had not deserted them. Old Trafford was rocking.

But Liverpool exposed the failings of a manager who was parachuted in as a temp after Mourinho was finally put out of his misery in December 2018. A favourite son, the Norwegian put a smile back on the club’s face during his first months in charge by reverting to its traditional values: attacking football and playing youngsters.

It was still a surprise, though, when he was offered a long-term contract as he lacked the pedigree of a top club manager. After coaching United’s academy kids, he managed Molde in the modest Norwegian league with some success but failed miserably at Cardiff City, taking them down. Compared to the glittering CVs of rivals Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp or Tuchel, he’s a pony among thoroughbreds.

And now, despite a huge outlay, the team doesn’t look properly coached. £73 million Jadon Sancho can’t get a start and Ronaldo appears an expensive misfit. The manager does not take training, is passive in the dugout and his substitutions can resemble deckchair rearranging on the Titanic. Solskjaer may be too nice a guy to lose the dressing room, but has he ever had it?

Fortunately for him, the highest-profile manager currently available may not be to the board’s liking. Antonio Conte has won titles at Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan but, a volatile character, he may be considered too high-maintenance to lead a club of United’s size and complexity.

Whatever it decides, it won’t want to appear to be panicking. The trouble with this approach is that United have tough games coming up: away at Spurs and Atalanta followed by the Manchester derby against City, then Chelsea and Arsenal. Another humiliation — this time by the noisy neighbours — might be the tipping point if it has not already been reached.

If United were to finish in their current seventh place, they’ll be in the European Conference League with minnows they’ve never heard of. The mere mention of their opponents’ names could damage the brand as much as that 5-0 home loss.

The only way out is to remember that United is a football club first and foremost, and will not succeed on the field if it pretends to be anything else. Forget Wall Street, what’s needed now is a giant helping of “new manager bounce”.


Bob Holmes is a long-time sportswriter specialising in football

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