The management team…

[upthemaggies]

Maynard took the bulk of the criticism when things were going south, he should be getting the bulk of the praise when things are going well.

We can talk about recruitment but you have to man manage a squad full of egos, get the best out of them and get them working together on a day to day basis and it won't be the head of the recruitment that's doing that. As for the management team, Maynard will have the final say. Everybody is important at the club but ultimately it comes down to the manager/head coach as to whether you're going to be successful or not, otherwise Manchester United would not have been struggling (relatively) for the past decade. They've spent the cash, had the players, but never had the right fit where it matters.

[jackal2]

Maynard took the bulk of the criticism when things were going south, he should be getting the bulk of the praise when things are going well.

Fair comment.

I felt that Maynard desperately needed a strong start to this season otherwise the fan disquiet really would have begun to grow, and a strong start is exactly what he's delivered.

Five games is too small a sample size to start drawing any conclusions, but perhaps the most noticeable thing so far is that we are looking much more solid defensively. In fact, we would be even more solid if we cut out some of the overplaying and unnecessary risk-taking in our own third of the field.