Have to admit Still doesnt fill me with excitement. Obviously I am in a minority and it goes without saying I will be behind him 100%. Now it appears, judging by folk on here, he is coming in, I wanted to see if I could turn my opinion on him around a bit. Plenty on here are keen on him and we are full of posters who know their football so I am likely wrong. My starting point is I think his record is over inflated. The Reims thing, in my opinion, is based on a run of unbeaten games and a game against PSG off the back of which he has done some of these tactical voicd videos (which I have a deep distrust of as they are only 1 side of a story). I have watched some highlights of the PSG game and they were poor and played with 10 men for 50 mins. Reims were defensively well set up, but lacked bravery imo when they had an extra man. Reims arent really a minnow in France and arguably the league position is ok, nothing exemplary. The run of form before he left is pretty awful. I looked at his style of play. The pressing 1v1 over the park is impressive and the defensive organisation and shape out of possession is excellent. They are hard to play through. In possession there are some good things and I am keen to see if he can implement here. He plays around a hard running 9, they hit channels and try to get high quickly. That worked with Balogun, but not every side can get one of those. Then he has a CM running hard into the box to make a second striker. That could be tailor made for Jobe or Rigg. He relies on full backs in a back 4 that can go outside the front 3 and create overloads in the middle. That might well be tailor made for Pembele and Cirkin (if fit). He does though, in my opinion, to be a bit too direct. Now coaches adapt all the time, he will I am sure. I just hope he builds on the players we have who are possession orientated. I do like how he talks (although as I have said I dont like the tactical videos). He explains things really simply and well. Players like simple guidelines in my experience. He doesnt seem to overcomplicate too much, not trying to be overly clever. All in all I am likely to be proven wrong and he has the core tools. I hope so. The club, if this is their man, and they get him, need to sit tight on him for at least a couple of seasons. He will make mistakes, so will young players. No more shirt sighted sackings please. I trust the clubs judgement more than mine, so appoint him, back him, and be patient. First thing he will be demanding is that hard running number 9. Maybe that is something we will thank Still for.
Good analysis here mate Still loves his teams to press and he likes his wingers to go at their opponent, both i think suits us He is still the game so no doubt he will tweak his tactics as he goes along, i just think hes worth the risk from what I've seen of him
Probably. He had a £180m team and blew it just at the wrong time ... ... they'll be an £80m team next season and they'll need some momentum. Farke is too much about himself for my liking.
same here but if looking likely he becomes our head coach will back him 100% and hope the recruitment team give him the players needed
Im with you. Not 100% sold on him, but hope we appoint him as he’s clearly first choice and I want the club to get the one we want agree with those coaches voice videos. Not only are they one side of the story, but they’re also told completely with hindsight. Things that happened by accident can easily be pretended as intentional as well
Is rhe biggest plus of a younger hesd coach is that they don't have a "style" but are more adaptable? That is what I am hoping they bring, the ability to change tactics to suit players, games, opposition but with a core tactic that we adapt as we see fit
A lot of hype has been whipped up around him, no doubt to set him up in his next job. If he can connect with the players and get them playing like Mowbray did it makes him better than Beale and Dodds. The huge amount of support from our support is over the top but importantly the opposite of the reaction to Beale. We don't need a tactical mastermind which is just as well because I don't think Still is one. He looks like a confidence manager to me based on his form at Reims.
Cracking post @FellTop. I’m optimistic about Still but not as excited as I would have been by Svensson. There are coaches who have been dismissed and derided by large number of fans who I don’t think k are too far off Still in terms of skill set and ability. Having said that I will be pleased if we get him. I prefer more possession based style over the pressing and direct style is arguably more aligned to what a lot of our fans like. If he is the Head Coach we do recruit the exciting thing for me is the board have got their target and it will show ambition and flex to his needs as well. Agree on the centre forward. We need to find another Stewart as he would be perfect for how Still had Reims playing.
Agree with this. Of all those linked my preference would have been Svensson but he would also have likely required the biggest churn in playing staff to get players for his system had he been on our list and willing to come in, the latter seemingly unlikely. As others have said Still would get my backing and it sounds like he is getting the backroom support he wanted if he does come. Let's get it done over the next week or two and then look forward to the start of next season, hopefully with the longstanding squad deficiencies being rectified.
He’s been talked about for a long time to be fair, it isn’t just recently. I’d disagree re not needing someone who’s tactically astute. Not having a plan B and changing things during a game is what a lot of people have complained about in the last year.
I'm not totally sold on him either, find him a tad annoying based on what ive seen, to be honest, but it seems like he just fits right now, highly rated by folk who know more than me and, if nothing else, seems like it might unite the fans and that on its own would be worth it, I reckon. Getting out the championship is often just a case of momentum. You weren't a fan of Keane but i think it's a similar situation, the timing might just be right.
I'm excited mate, I think he'll surprise a few people. He's different to Lee Johnson because his players know exactly what's required ... ... but he's different to Mowbray because he's more adaptable and can communicate with a young multinational squad. We have very talented players like Ba, Aouchiche, Jobe, etc, who are either underused or asked to play in half a dozen different positions.That's fine for the likes of O'Nien but it's draining the spark and confidence out of these young lads. He wasn't given a great squad, to work with, at Reims and I'd expect there to be quite a turnover in players there now. It does make me wonder if any will follow him here, there's a few candidates. I've only watched them a few times this season but they seem to have a good spread of ages although I'd guess our squad is worth more. It's hard to know what we'll need because we have some very good players out injured like Neil, Cirkin, Seelt, Huggins, etc. Get some of those back and things would look a lot different imo.
Seriously mate, how many aren't a tad annoying ... ... managers are egomaniacs and quite often attention seekers. Roy Keane is a prime example, annoying as f*ck if he's not on your side.
There's been a lot said about Still for sure. I wasn't interested in him being very young, not having a licence, playing Football Manager etc. I was interested in him favouring an attacking approach and how well he communicates with and inspires players which reminds me of another famous NE manager. He had a bubble perm, wasn't a fan of SAF, didn't like laybys but most importantly nearly won the Premier League.
