Who is still available?

Quote: Wigan6/Leeds1 Andy "It's funny you mention Man Utd, because I was thinking about how the two clubs seem to be travelling along similar lines in terms of underperforming given their status and resources, For me, they both seem to be stuck (in part) because of two things, nostalgia (even recent) and entitlement, you could even say they are linked.

United have turned to Solskjaer and have even re-signed Ronaldo (who while scoring again low to mid team hasn't had a sniff against a good team like Liverpool and City). We've done the same in terms of the stupidly large number of ex-player we continue re-sign. We've even gone back to Wane in some form. We were successful when these players / coach were around, so we'll go back to that, which doesn't seem to appreciate that other teams have moved on and are looking to / have improved. The number of ex-players we've re-signed could be a case study for future sports leadership / psychology degrees.'"

I’m a Wigan rugby league fan and a Wigan Athletic fan but I do also have a passing interest in United and watching the Liverpool and City games recently felt like sitting at the Saints and Wire home games this season. That feeling of just being totally devoid of even a crumb of hope that the side could compete and just knowing the outcome within the first 5 minutes. That sinking feeling became combined with the realisation as the games went on that the opposition weren’t even having to play that well to win at a canter.

Now United have been in a lull far longer than us and the fix is way harder because of the sheer volume of teams awash with cash and World Class managers but we need to make sure we don’t keep drifting and falling further behind. I’m probably a bit different to you in that I see Wane coming back as a real positive. I think unlike United we’re fortunate that we can bring back a legendary leader like Wane because he’s young enough, unlike Fergie, who was too old even at the start of this poor period for United. I’m more worried that his role won’t give him the total control needed to make the difference that we need him to make. To me Wane is our Fergie and certainly not our Solksjaer. Ole was a great player for United and a youth coach before moving on. He has no history of managing huge clubs and no history of top level success as a manager. That job is too big for him but that won’t be the case with Wane here.

All interesting stuff and the similarities are certainly there. The big thing that sticks out for me is what a difference one man can make. I watched a documentary recently about Matt Busby, Jock Stein and Bill Shankley and it was fascinating. Three absolute legends, all born within a few miles of each other and then Fergie also came from a similar area. It has to be more than coincidence that all four became World Class managers. I see Wane as a man who has similar values and like those guys, he puts a big emphasis on the players knowing they’re in a fortunate position and are representing working class people. He drives that culture and I just hope he can help do that again from this new position.