Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROBBIE FOWLER Ole deserves a break, Ed... and Poch sighting was another own goal
ED WOODWARD isn’t doing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer any favours.
For all the briefings coming out of Manchester United that they are going to stick by their manager as he tries to rebuild the team, a single picture really can say a thousand words.
And the image of Woodward’s new PR man, Neil Ashton, striding alongside Mauricio Pochettino as the Argentine walked into Brentford’s Griffin Park ground on Wednesday night was pretty damning.
Pochettino was probably there to lend his support to Marcelo Bielsa.
The Leeds boss was facing a tough promotion clash against the Bees and the pair have been close since Bielsa was working for the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys 35 years ago and he signed 13-year-old Poch for the club.
But why the hell was Woodward’s new PR man accompanying him?
There might have been a simple explanation.
And if I was in Ole’s shoes, I would have been knocking on the door of my boss to discover just what it was first thing on Thursday morning.
Even if the meeting was innocent, the sight of a United employee alongside an elite manager, who just happens to be on the job market, was not a good look.
Solskjaer is facing a period of games that will make or break United’s season.
They go into tomorrow night’s clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge sitting eighth in the Premier League, only by virtue of having a better goal difference than Wolves. If they beat the Blues for the third time this season, they will move to within three points of Frank Lampard’s fourth-placed team.
And their hopes of finishing in the top four will be revived after a poor run of results that has seen them pick up just four points from five games in 2020.
A defeat would virtually leave them needing to win the Europa League to qualify for the Champions League.
Ole (right) has got his dream job –
LEEDS UNITED need the Premier League. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the Premier League needs Leeds United.
But I am starting to get worried that my former club have once again hit the wall towards the business end of probably the most gruelling season in world football. Nineteen points from a one of the biggest in football – but he inherited a squad that had no identity.
There are players there who have been signed by Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
So it was always going to take Solskjaer time to put his own mark on the team. He clearly has the backing of the possible 42 in 14 games is not the form of a team that will win promotion from the Championship.
And, as West Brom have opened up a four-point advantage at the top, Leeds are now looking over their shoulders as Fulham, Brentford, Forest, Preston and Bristol City have started to believe that second place is now up for club’s owners to clear out underperforming players and put his future in the hands of a younger generation made up of new signings and academy graduates.
And Woodward (below left) has been steadfast in his stance that United’s fifth manager in seven years will be allowed to see the job through.
But didn’t Mr Woodward give Moyes a vote of confidence?
Didn’t he sack Van Gaal 24 hours after the Dutchman had won the FA Cup because he already had Mourinho lined up?
Senior football club executives are paid the big bucks to take tough decisions.
And it must be tempting to make another change when top managers such as Pochettino and Max Allegri are available for hire.
But Woodward also has a duty of care to the man he appointed less than a year ago with a promise to stick by him through the tough times that were clearly on the horizon. Solskjaer deserves a full and frank explanation why his boss’ new PR guru was in the company of a man who is being touted to replace him.
And, if a certain Argentine does walk into Old Trafford as the new manager in the summer, then more questions need to be asked on whether Mr Woodward is a little too naive to be United’s kingmaker. grabs. It was a similar tale for Marcelo Bielsa (left) last season, when a team that looked a cert for the top flight ended up losing to Derby in the play-off semi-finals.
The fact that Bielsa gets namechecked as a big influence by virtually every top manager in the game illustrates how difficult it is to question him. But when a season lasts 46 games and you are virtually playing every three days for 10 months, you need a bit of stamina to go with the stardust.
I really hope they can find a second wind in the weeks ahead.
Leeds tick almost every box when it comes to the Premier League – history, fan base, stadium and manager.
KEITH COOPER was the referee who made me realise that sometimes the best thing for a player to do is keep his mouth shut and concentrate on his own game.
Mr Cooper had dropped a right clanger – and I think he knew it by the reaction of both teams. I let him have it with both barrels and he could have booked me for dissent and paved the way for a club fine and a suspension later in the season.
Instead, he leaned into me and said: “I might have got that one wrong, Robbie, but you’re having a f ***** g nightmare.” He said it with a big grin on his face – and I couldn’t help but laugh.
And so a potentially explosive situation had been defused and we got on with the game without another cross word.
Now I know that a lot of people sneer whenever they hear the phrase “old-school” and I accept that it wasn’t always better in the good old days. But when I read that Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling (above) had branded referee Jon Moss “a disgrace” for the way he went about his business during the Cherries’ 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United, I was intrigued.
Had Moss been abusive? Had he crossed the line with an insult?
Not at all. Apparently, he had responded to some criticism by the Bournemouth players by sarcastically reminding them that they’re involved in a relegation fight.
Is this really what the modern Premier League footballer has been reduced to? Players complain that you can’t talk to referees, that officials have become robotic and lack a human touch.
It’s much better, in my opinion, if a show of dissent is met with a withering riposte from the man in the middle rather than a yellow or red card.