He’s actually in an ideal situation. It either goes tits up when season starts which he can then blame on Ashley or he does surprisingly well again with a limited squad and enhances his reputation further. Only a principled fool would walk now.
Btw I am not trying to insinuate that ACS is a principled fool. Having met him I know he has no principles.
Its a great headline. However Rafa (as Rafa always like to) is ambiguous. He says you can get your first and second choice targets if you are early. If you go late, then you move deeper and deeper down the list. At no point does he state where we are now - however The Chronicle happily interpret this for all of us. Its just Rafa using the press as always to put pressure on the club. The mistake we have made is signing players who we now can't get a decent fee for or at least a fee which we feel is akin to their value. If we under sell them then Rafa will have less money meaning he has to go down his list anyway. Unfortunately we are paying for McClaren's 'mistakes'. They're in inverted commas because I don't think Mbemba and Mitro are massive mistakes. Rafa has to take his medicine here too with Hayden, Sels and Lazaar. Shifting Sels, Lazaar, Colback and Saivet was never gonna be easy. Colback was Pards error of judgement. To be fair to Rafa I'd be surprised if we can't get our money back at least on Hayden.
This type of comment also makes it harder to attract players. It's hardly the welcoming noises you'd want to hearing coming from a club that is trying to tempt you. Is this what is said to players so that we don't get over the line? Handing them the pen and contract, "You were the 7th right back on the list! Now think that over before you sign!"
It’s the Rafa way though isn’t it. He does it at every club, some would say it’s been his undoing at some of them.
Nah just stating that Rafa has a documented history of using the press to piss and moan about transfers. Every window at every club. He is seen across Europe among the press and those he has worked for as a ‘political’ manager. It’s just his way of working and probably a trade off for his talent as a manager. Ashley would have known what he was getting into so I don’t think it will be an issue. Certainly not a reason to get rid. However it’s no good happy clapping pretending there is not a downside to supporters moaning, managers moaning in the press. It’s not enticing and it’s not morale boosting for those already in the squad. If you can’t see that then you don’t really understand modern footballers and their sensibilities. He may well manage it behind the scenes for all we know saying “look lads I’m going to put pressure on through the press to improve us, don’t take it as a slight”. I’m just not sure if that’s the case as he like all managers is selfish and huffy.
Nah you are probably right he is an exception to the rule. What was it they were saying about him on here prior to his exit? Mikes puppet? Boring football? Honestly he did a cracking job and was a cracking bloke to boot. Fans were turning and Sleazy Derek wanted more pzazz
Honestly think you're wide of the mark there. If anything I recall quite a bit of backlash from the fans when he was booted far more than anything prior to him going. He certainly did a cracking job.
Quite a few on here were turning on him and didn’t really see the big deal. I just always liked him and his honesty while remaining professional. He had little experience doing the job and you can see he’s gone from strength to strength.
Not sure what people have against Joselu - he is a workhorse! However he is a workhorse with a 1 in 3 goal ratio. May well become the new Haidara!
