Sacking of LVG not surprising, but drama shows lack of class at club

By Hilton Yip Source:Global Times Published: 2016-5-23 23:48:02

The FA Cup final took place on Saturday night, but it was anything but a joyous season finale for winners Manchester United. Despite winning their record-tying 12th FA Cup, United's managerial controversy erupted once more as reports said beleaguered manager Louis van Gaal would be axed and Jose Mourinho appointed as his replacement. By the time this article is published, Van Gaal will very likely not be United's manager anymore, but one thing is clear: United's managerial situation has once again become a fiasco.

Despite reports surfacing Saturday night, the whole situation became a drawn-out saga that was still ongoing as of press time on Monday.

I am no defender of Van Gaal, but it is sad to fire a manager right after a Cup final, especially after United won. It is disrespectful to keep a manager in the dark over his firing, so much so that he had to endure days of press rumors before actually hearing from the club ­directly. Van Gaal has had to manage for over half the season with persistent ­rumors and possible attempts to sack him, leading him to accuse the press of sacking him several times already.

While Van Gaal was not without his flaws during the past two seasons, having displayed a lot of haughtiness in his behavior to the press and to some of his players, United should never have let it come to this. Especially when one considers previous United manager David Moyes, whose term came to a sad end by being sacked just 10 months into his first season, which he first learned of from the press.

Perhaps United top management had that in mind when prolonging Van Gaal's tenure rather than sacking him earlier this season, when United played some atrocious soccer and got knocked out in the Champions League group stage. Back in December, there were already rumors that Van Gaal was to be fired and Mourinho would replace him. Van Gaal survived that as well as further low periods in January and in later months, though fan dissatisfaction and criticism from the press and former United stars never left him.

On the weekend, Van Gaal refused to go down without fighting and at the post-match press conference on Saturday night, he defied reporters who suggested he was facing the end of his reign. But despite his intransigence, Van Gaal seemed to indicate he was done for on Sunday when, according to the Guardian, he told a ­reporter, "It's over."

United should have either fired him earlier or let him finish out the season. And they should have been decisive about it. Either way, they have shown they did not learn from the Moyes firing debacle. It is not what one would expect from one of the world's biggest and most storied soccer clubs.

The author is a Hong Kong-based freelance writer. hcpyip@gmail.com

Posted in: Extra Time

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