It was a forgettable season for "The Great" Manchester United. The former manager Niall, who took the club from Division 3 to Division 1 in 3 seasons, had to leave the job mid season due to his personal commitments. From the day I joined as the manager, I knew the pressure, responsibilities and expectations placed on my shoulder. Of course, the greatest club in the world, once winning trophies was their day-to-day casual thing, now fighting relegation – not a good picture for any football fan, let alone Man Utd supporter.

From the day 1, my thought process was to improve the squad depth so that we don’t have to field low rated players in crunch time of the season while fighting to save the club from relegation. Initial transfers reflect my words. We sold off Mitoma for Nelsson, Buendia and Diop – 3 88 rated players in different positions, Goncalo Guedes for Aboukhlal, Ribeiro and Assadi, Otavio for Arana, Roca and Wolfe, Ozcan for Al-Dhakil and Gomez. Through these 4 transfers we strengthened our depth and put a hold on our first team transfers as the players need time to gel and form a bond, to have better understanding among them which might come handy in the tail end of the season.

Everything was set as per the plan and me along with my coaching team, backroom staffs and our players worked tirelessly to survive the battle. We had some best moments beating super giants like Chelsea, Porto etc and some bad moments like losing through narrow margins. As I believe, success is 99% hard work and 1% luck. We had put in our 99% but 1% was not in favor as we came close but pushed down to Division 2.  

As soon as our fate was decided on the final day of the season, I sat along with the Chairman and Board of Directors and briefed my ideology and requested to give a free hand in regards to transfers. I explained that going for senior - higher rated players (I’d rather use “Senior” than “Old” as it sounds offensive and insult to their illustrative careers they had) may get us a result in short term but it will affect our squad building in our long term as the players lose their value over time and we may not able to find the suitors. The relegation has come. We should take advantage of this opportunity. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Now we can reshuffle whole deck and build a team that may not win games immediately but definitely. This way, our team’s value will improve over the time, not in the reverse way. I convinced the whole room full of businessmen who are just looking to pocket the profits about my strategy and got the approval to go ahead.

During post season, we gave the players off as they needed rest after what they had through physically, mentally and emotionally. They just turned up for mandatory friendlies just to keep their fitness. Meanwhile, I had a busy 2 weeks with our transfer team of the club. We decided to trade off all senior players for younger ones who are waiting for that one opportunity to show their talent to the world. Don’t worry guys; Manchester United is the one for you all. And that’s why we play in The Theatre of Dreams. It’s going lengthy and may bore you all. So I’m going to breakdown the transfers under my era into tables which will be easy to understand.

(Not a world class transfers but it's start of building a strong foundation.) The above pattern of transfers proves my strategy regarding the player buys. We are also planning to tweak some changes in tactics and formation which is a work in progress. The average age and rating of the first team has reduced a lot which surely can have impact in our team’s performances in the season. (We hope for the positive outcome of course.)

I’m happy with the squad and we are all set for the new season that starts tomorrow. No major changes expected until the end of the season and we’re good to go. Our plan (my plan) is to stay in Division 2 for few seasons and build a team which is strong enough to compete against the big boys in Division 1 and stay there forever rather than going up and down the leagues every other season. One step backward, two steps forward. I’m not saying everything will happen as per plan; we’ll have some hiccups on the journey and we’ll try to adapt to it and move forward. Thanks and good luck to everyone.

It's almost 2 weeks since I joined Manchester United but it was some busy 12 days. As soon as, myself along with my coaching team officially took over the reigns, we analyzed the squad in detail, backend staffs and existing techs and identified the key areas to be improved - academy scouts, nutritionist-slash-chef, are some examples.

The objective placed before me from the management was to avoid relegation. For a club like Manchester United, this sounded crazy but it was the fact. 13 games into the season, we are fighting relegation and we are already written off and are expected to drop. Although we tried at first to go for ratings as short term and stay up, it didn't seem to be the Man Utd way. So, we decided to build for long term, even it means we drop. As people say, one step backward, two steps forward. We felt it's better to stay in Division 2 for a while, improve the ratings and come back to top flight and fight for glory. It's a sustainable strategy and it'll help anyone who follows me if in case, I were sacked. But that doesn't mean, we already gave up the league. We're not going down without a fight.

I just follow the footsteps of my mentor Sir Alex Ferguson. As soon as I heard the news from the United board, I went straight to him. At first, he gave me a warm hug and congratulated me. He did see the future of Man Utd in me. He said to me,

The first thought of 99% of newly appointed managers is to make sure they win—to survive. So they bring experienced players in. That’s simply because we’re in a results-driven industry. At some clubs, you need only to lose three games in a row, and you’re fired. In today’s football world, with a new breed of directors and owners, I am not sure any club would have the patience to wait for a manager to build a team over a four-year period.

Winning a game is only a short-term gain—you can lose the next game. Building a club brings stability and consistency. You don’t ever want to take your eyes off the first team, but our youth development efforts ended up leading to our many successes in the 1990s and early 2000s. The young players really became the spirit of the club.

The hardest thing is to let go of a player who has been a great guy—but all the evidence is on the field. If you see the change, the deterioration, you have to ask yourself what things are going to be like two years ahead.

I was questioned when I listed players like Aymeric Laporte, Monteiro Otavio, Daniel Carvajal and Renato Sanches. It's risky and bold step but I went for it as our squad lacked depth and quality in many positions. Here is what the first team and backup team looked like :

The first team does look like strong squad with many 90s but the depth was very poor. One long term injury or multiple suspensions mean we have to field a low rated player. We addressed the issue by targeting quality depths even if it means sacrificing few first teamers. Thanks to few managers, who came in contact readily and tried to negotiate fair deals for both the sides. At first we sold Monteiro Otavio to RCD Espanyol (Glen Mullan) and we welcomed Gulherme Arana, Marc Roca and David M. Wolfe thus filling the hole in the middle of the park and a decent backup for our first team left back Antonee Robinson.

Our next deal did took us sometime to get what really wanted rather buy what's offered. After lenghty negotiations with multiple managers, we came into an agreement with Valencia CF (Mark Deadman) for Aymeric Laporte and Albert Gudmundsson. The old but strong CB along with the rising star forward joined the Spanish side while Ethan Ampadu, Kyle Walker-Peters, Riquelme Fillipi joined in return. KWP, who can cover both the flanks of defence, will be a valuable backup to our ageing Daniel Carvajal while versatile Ampadu will be covering our CB and DM spot. Signing of Fillipi shows the our emphasis on building for long term.

I also convinced few of my former players, Everton Ribeiro, Zakaria Aboukhlal, Lucas Assadi to join me in Division 1 for an exciting project while we bid adieu to Goncalo Guedes who will be joining Stuttgart (Feargal Hickey). Riberio will fill the vacant spot left by Otavio while Aboukal will provide enough quality depth in wings and up-centre.

We also signed few youngsters Keisuke Goto, Calixte Ligue, Sam Tickle from the free agent market (a.ka. cash deals) thanks to Espanyol, Leicester City (Doug Earle) and Wolfsburg (Fredrik Johansson). With these new additions, this is how we'll be lining up for rest of the season :

It may not look attractive in many managers' eyes but it is work in progress and we'll eventually be there. In terms of ratings, we lost 91s and replaced with a 87 and a 89 (temporarily), I'm sure it won't affect our results much and we'll fight with everything we got. I hope the transfer business for the season might have reached an end and we may not see any major overhauls at Old Trafford before the season break.

We definitely will be focusing on restructuring our academy and tried to build a one that will act as a conveyor belt of talents moving from youth system to first team.

I got to agree to a fact that I may have made a mistake. Selling a 91 CB without proper replacement might be that error and I'm sure I regret it. But it's okay, We'll learn from the past and move forward rather dwell on them. We do find it difficult to sign a quality CB to partner Dunk but as one great manager once said, It's a marathon. Not a sprint. We won't panic and won't be forced into buying a player which may not suit our style or which might disrupt the whole team structure to accommodate a single player.

One good thing about these busy 12 days, I sure got many friends who genuinely wished us to succeed. We may chat (negotiate) for days but may not finalize a deal but we sure find good people to talk with. It's more important. It's not the destination but the journey it matters.

I thank all the managers whole heartedly whom I've contacted in last few days for their patience and response. I'm really sorry if I've annoyed / offended you in any manner in this whole process. It's purely unintentional. I'm just trying to do the best for my team like everyone does. Thanks again and good luck to all. Glory Glory Man Utd!!!

The hot news around the corner is that Mr. Niall Taylor has left the Manchester United manager citing the pressure of the job and personal commitments as the reasons to call it an end. The huge speculations were spread about who will fill this hot spot. Some big names were linked but it was Mr. Tharanidharan, native of India but Mancunian by heart, given the nod to lead this great club.

Tharani, coming from a small town in India, didn’t have glittering career as professional footballer. Infact, college football was the best he did. He was not gifted with football skills to make it big. But his love for the game pushed him to continue doing something else in the most beloved sport and that’s how he took on managerial position 12 years ago. Fast forward, he is now the manager of Manchester United. It’ll befitting to say he has achieved his life’s purpose and destiny.

Journey in Top 100 started in 2022, when he joined Real Sociedad in Top 120. After proving his potential in non-league level, he was given a job at Athletic Bilbao in Div 5 in Top 100. After 1 and half seasons and over-achieving all the expectations in Div 5, he became the hot candidate for top jobs in the town. He could have joined any top club but he understood it’ll be too early and undeserving, so took on a challenge at then fellow Div 5 club Stuttgart – a club filled with potential but never able to break into top half of the table consistently.

Tharani, grateful to work done by Mark Scott, did some tweaks to ratings and tactics. Boom. He achieved two consecutive promotions and brought Stuttgart to Div 3. Currently they were expected to fight relegation battle instead they are in mid table spot. He publicly declared Stuttgart will be his last and only club he will manage at Top 100 unless Manchester United board comes knocking at his door. Out of nowhere, his dream came true and after learning the trade, he felt it’s the right time to jump ship and lead his dream club to top where it belongs and bring back the glory days to Old Trafford.

Tharani in his first interview as Man Utd manager :

I’ve spoken before about how I’ve prepared more or less my whole adult life, to be a manager somewhere and I have always been stupid enough or naive enough or daft enough to dream about this job.

I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t looking forward to it and if I didn’t believe in the club and in the potential. I feel, and I hope, that I can do this job justice, that’s the first thing I asked myself when I got the call.

It’s truly an honour. I think everyone knows, and I’ve spoken about it in the last few months, that this is the dream job for any football-interested man, especially anyone who has been involved with Man United. Being given the opportunity now to move the club forward, with all the potential there is, it’s fantastic.

I understand the mood has been down as we are fighting relegation. This is not us. We don’t belong here. It can’t be done overnight. It’s a long tiring process and we have to roll-up the sleeves, do the dirty work and get the work done. But first thing we just want to get the players enjoying football. I’m looking forward to seeing the supporters and bring the happiness and cheer in their face.

 I’ve seen the last few games and I observed some players not performing up-to the expectations. But it’s alright. Everyone will get a chance. Everyone starts with a clean slate. You’ve got to start somewhere. We’re in a results business and we want to win games. That’s our main focus.

Squad depth and quality are also a concern, which will be attended on priority keeping Man Utd DNA philosophy in mind. That’s all for now. I’d like to be man of action rather than man of words.

We wish Tharanidharan a good luck in his new adventure and hope Manchester United reach greater heights.