Don Robbie

Can Donny van de Beek save his Manchester United career? By Oli Dickson-Jefford In the aftermath of Manchester United’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa, the club’s official Twitter account shared a post celebrating Donny van de Beek making his 50th appearance for the Red Devils. As you would expect, the post received a rather mixed response. Van de Beek’s time in Manchester has not gone well; though he has played in 50 matches, his combined minutes are equivalent to just 20 full matches in total. The Dutchman joined for around £40m in August 2020 amid much hype and excitement from Man Utd fans, though he has failed to secure a regular starting XI spot. With his once incredibly promising career now flagging, does he have a future at the club or is time for van de Beek and Man Utd to part ways? What has gone wrong? The main issue here is that no one is quite sure why the former Ajax ace has not been able to force his way into the starting line-up. At Ajax, the 24-year-old largely played as ...

Have Manchester United left it too late to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer? By Jonny Bray The most common criticism of Manchester United’s decision to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been about the timing. Some have said that the United board left it too late to sack the Norwegian. Antonio Conte is gone, the international break is over, and the Red Devils have been left with Michael Carrick as caretaker boss. Had they made this decision after the 5-0 home defeat against Liverpool, they would have had more managers to choose from, a few weeks to play with during the approaching international break and more games to play. But it is not that simple, and there were many advantages to waiting. Solskjaer had become a master of saving his job just as he seemed to be on the verge of getting the sack while in charge at United. If he could have recovered from the recent poor form, the board at Old Trafford could have waited until the summer to make their decision. Who could replace him? One of the reaso...

Who could Manchester United replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with?   By Tom Masters Manchester  United  have come under increasing pressure from their supporters to remove Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from his role as  United  boss following a disappointing run of results.    United  suffered back-to-back home losses against rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, losing those games 5-0 and 2-0 at Old Trafford, whilst the 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur seems to have been yet another false dawn under the Norwegian manager.    With Antonio Conté taken by Tottenham last week, their options have dwindled, but there are still several managers that the  United  fans could see appointed should Solskjaer get the sack in the coming weeks.    We look at three likely candidates that might take over from the Norwegian forward.  Brendan Rogers    Rogers has worked wonders at Leicester City, transforming them back to being a t...

Can Manchester United still challenge for the PL title? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rebounded from the horror of losing 5-0 to Liverpool by beating Tottenham 3-0 on Saturday but can the Norwegian really still mount a title challenge at Manchester United? Solskjaer may have survived a crunch game labelled ‘El Sackico’ and rightly so after Nuno Espirito Santo lost his job on Monday morning. But can the former Old Trafford super sub really get his Red Devils back in the title frame given they now sit fifth in the table, eight points behind leaders Chelsea? No Most rational observers would count United out of the running for the Premier League crown with the general consensus suggesting it is now a three-horse race between Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. Thomas Tuchel’s Blues keep marching on after a 3-0 triumph at newly mega rich Newcastle and have shown no signs of slipping up. Daniel Levy may think otherwise, but one result should not be terminal for a football club. And by that very s...

After a difficult start to the season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces a Sancho/Greenwood conundrum By Oli Dickson Jefford When Jadon Sancho signed for Manchester United this summer, it ended a transfer saga that had dragged on for two seasons. After impressing at Borussia Dortmund, the England international was expected to hit the ground running at Old Trafford as Man Utd looked to surge into title contention. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, that hasn’t quite been the case. They currently sit seventh in the League table - eight points off leaders Chelsea - with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under pressure. And Sancho has struggled, with the 21-year-old yet to score or provide an assist in his 11 appearances. Sancho’s poor start comes at a time when Mason Greenwood has been one of the side’s most consistent and impressive performers. With the two both young, attacking, and highly talented English forwards, the comparisons made have been endless yet it seems hard to find a system that will allow bo...