Just listened to the 1904 Club podcast. Cooper sounds a lot like a man who has had his nose put out of joint by Walter’s recent press conference responses and is letting that colour his opinions. Poor show, in my view.
Yeh it's hilarious and so obvious the way he's just went off a cliff with his negativity. The frustrating thing is that he will fuel so many fires with that crap.
I’m going to give it a listen. It’s probably just a culture change within the club going from a young, smooth-talking coach to an older, blunt German who isn’t fussed about being pally with his players or local journalists too much.
Yeah it is just a culture change really. Players used to get Wednesdays off under Liam, and a good few days in international breaks as well. Walter thinks ‘a day off is a day wasted’ (his words not mine) which I can sort of agree with when he’s trying to implement a new style. Most foreign managers are similar in their style so I wouldn’t read too much into it.
On the one hand, I can understand why double or even triple training sessions with no days off since July might piss off a few of the players. It is extreme but it’s also quite common with some managers. On the other hand, a lot of them make more in a week or two weeks than I do in a year so sympathy only stretches so far. It’s also quite common for certain industries with important deadlines like the video game industry. Rockstar is notorious for overworking their developers when they’re about to release a game like Red Dead Redemption II or the next Grand Theft Auto. They’re also some of the most polished and quality-checked games on release day and make tens of millions of dollars in sales in the first week of release. I imagine Walter wants to get this squad up to speed with his philosophy as quickly as possible so Wednesdays off isn’t feasible.
Not sure if no wins and not even taking the lead once in eleven games gives the players the moral high ground when it comes to negotiating time off. Maybe introduce a night shift?
Just watched the 1904 Club podcast. Baz and Fletch hinting Slater isn’t happy. Maybe the new manager is demanding more from him in games than he’s capable of and he’s frustrated. Slater was one of Rosenior’s first names on the team sheet but he coasted for nine games out of every ten and did nothing but run around to look busy. All he’d do was play safe passes but very rarely took the game by the scruff of the neck and imposed himself in games and bossed the midfield. He’s still doing it now but unlike Rosenior, Walter isn’t afraid to sub him off early to bring on another attacker. Being a mainstay and the blue-eyed boy under the previous coach to then being regarded as little more than a water-carrier might be a shock to him. Wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a bench player this season whilst more technical players like Ömür or Puerta are preferred in his position. Baz also seems a bit bitter that Walter’s a lot more blunt in interviews and doesn’t give much away. The ‘you’ve asked me the same question four times now worded slightly differently’ comment to Baz by Walter seems rude or harsh but I think that’s just the typical Germanic lack of tact. My experience with Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians is largely the same. They tend not to mince words. The early English/Anglo-Saxons were probably the same as our continental Germanic cousins originally but several centuries of Norman-French rule and culture filtered down and created the modern British form of etiquette. In short, there seems to be a culture change at the training ground, the dressing room and press room and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Rosenior’s flowery waffling where he talked a lot but said little used to get on my tits anyway.
I can't see how mentioning he'd asked the same question in different ways is rude or harsh. I watched that interview and Walter said he won't answer questions on transfers or any particular transfer, Baz proceeded to keep asking the same question in different ways so Walter told him so, to me that's not being rude it's just correcting him.
I think the law protects the players from needing to negotiate time off. I’d suggest that failing to communicate & implement a playing system in over 3 months would point to the Manager not being up to the task rather than the players getting arsey over wanting to have their legal rights upheld.
He started July 1st so it’s not been over three months. It’s just over two months and most of the new signings arrived in the last two to three weeks.
I wasn't being entirely serious and wouldn't actually suggest that players work beyond their contracted hours. I've got to say though that I don't actually understand how contact hours work in a footballer's contract? Maybe someone on here does? I guess that a player is contracted to be available to play in any games the club' schedule commits them to in any location and must be available for a specific number of designated training sessions. How does it work beyond that? For example, if the club deems it necessary that a player must attend medical sessions as an aid to injury recovery outside the agreed schedule of games and training? Or if the manager requests additional training sessions following a defeat. Are the players legally obligated to attend such arrangements (regardless of whether it's in the player's best interests to or not). There's obviously some contractual requirements otherwise players couldn't be fined for being late to training or whatever but to what extent can the club make additional demands on players within the standard contract arrangements. Whole new debate if we have any contract law experts on here.
but tbf, that wasn't to do with them exercising their "right to demand progress" but instead to do with, as you say, the Allam's been ****s
He’s had 11 games, used the same core of players & failed to project his style of play in any of the games
Six were pre-season. You really are scraping the barrel to justify your dislike of the new coach, Ben. It’s a bit sad.
