My point was the next coach doesn't need to be there first few days to instil any ideas or theories or formations... it's all about welcoming back and seeing what we have
The fitness work is part of the tactical work in this day and age. Some head coaches are big on it because of their desired style of play whereas some just want players at a general decent level of fitness. Bielsa and Poch are known for running their squads into the ground during pre season and you can see that with how both coaches set up within games. Lets say we come back for pre season and Dodds is in charge and he decides the players need to be at a certain level of fitness and to start prepping the squad to play in a certain style then in the upcoming weeks the new head coach comes in and realises he wants the squad at an even higher level and to play a completely different style that means we have wasted time and have to start all over again. People can think we don't need a head coach before pre season starts but if you think that you are wrong. They need to be there to oversee everything, get their ideas across from day1 and be involved with analysis with both the squad and individuals. Running any training session, whether it be purely fitness or tactical, without the oversight of the head coach for the upcoming season is absolutely pointless. It's not the 80s anymore.
Dunno who I'm agreeing/disagreeing with re pre season, but the optics of starting the new season/pre-season without a Head Coach are minging.
If I was a player I’d have went away thinking we will have a new head coach for when we come back. Now if you’re in Clarke or Rigg’s situation if I arrived back and still didn’t have a new head coach or any clue on how the future is going to look and the transfer window is open. I’d be looking for options elsewhere rather than gamble my future anymore at Sunderland
It’s just an absolute shambles really and surely the players won’t feel any reassurance if there’s no head coach on day one considering the amount of time they’ve had to find someone
I think Clarke will be away regardless. The club are probably banking on that happening to fund this season's youth recruitment drive in France
First hand knowledge here. No it isn't. These are professional athletes playing at an extremely high level against other professionals. Detail will be instilled from day 1. Prep should've already started so I hope the new coach likes whatever Dodds has planned.
If it is an ex-midfielder, as suggested by someone OTR, the obvious one would be Alex Rae. He's been a manager a couple of times before and seemed to do well, cretainly at Dundee. While hardly an appointment to set the pulses racing but he's someone the fans could get behind.
There would be hell on it we’ve waited this long for that level of appointment like edit, he’s not even managed since 2016 at st mirren if we were up in arms about the current st mirren manager imagine the backlash if this
Bashing the club? It’s an accurate feeling to feel. It’s a joke. If this was any other profession it would be looked at as a disaster. They have this week to get a head coach before it becomes a major major problem imo. A load of players will be reconsidering their options if it gets closer to day one of pre season and still no head coach
Ten laps of the pitch to blow away the hangover and then off to the bookies before the pub opens again man. Tactics are for birds and ****ters. If we're going full on 70s
Also the longer this takes and the more stupid it becomes it’ll not be long before the football world starts judging us from it. Potential players wary of what they would be going into etc. uncertainty all over the place especially for a club that wants to attract young talent. Not good at all
