I decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself as you've been on my ignore list for months, and what do I see? A beautifully articulated post full of wisdom and interesting points to debate. No wonder you are the only Poster I, and others on the Board ignore. Wonder why your Posts rarely get quoted & often ignored completely? It's because you contribute a big fat square nothing to this board. PISKIE, Oxo, Gunner, 87, Suker all express opinions of worth. You seem to only want to insult & belittle. You add nothing. Back on the Ignore list you go. I truly hope one day you'll learn to express an actual opinion, and above all, some manners.
You were going to give me a chance? How gracious of you. How rarefied is the air you're breathing on top of that tower of sanctimony? Anyway, I knew my asking your type to quit the polarization would upset you, but hey ho, I'll live
I'm still surprised about the strength of feeling over Wenger. Surely the evidence shows that the difference a manager makes is not really significant, compared to the financial clout of the club. However you feel about Wenger, I just can't see it making a massive positive difference, although (obviously perhaps) if we get the wrong man, it could make a huge negative difference.
Compare Mourinho at Chelsea to Rafa now. Calmness, consistency, defensive drilling under Mourinho...very different now. The Manager assembles the squad, employs the coaches or coaches directly, signs off on transfers, is a reason for players to want to go to a club. The buck stops with the Manager. As with all big companies, he is your boss, the one you should respect. Certainly the one you answer to. In a Footballing sense, he is more important than the board or any player.
To be fair to Rafa, he hasn't been given a proper go with all this interim manager crap being banded about. Also the conditions have got worse since Maureen departed. Abe has gone over board nowadays. But the pressure is really on Chelsea now. Anyone of 3,4 and 5 can swap places at anytime. Everton's loss against Norwich has deeply hurt their chances and with a tough line of games for them to play, they have an outside chance. Spur's have a tough away game against West Ham. I feel the pressure will really be on them today. Playing an away game against one of Fat Sam's teams is never anyones cup of tea. Maybe a draw or loss is on the cards today?
My point was mainly that the Manager has a huge impact on the team. Tactics, team selection, substitutions etc. are all his doing. The pressure is very much on Spurs now. A win today & they'll be 3rd on merit. A loss & they could be 5th in a week.
Funny how things can change in an instant. Right from here it's who can hold their nerve more. Spurs in the past (last year especially), have capitulated under pressure. We will see how much AVB can do to stop them from falling apart. Team wise they are good enough, but is their mental strength there? We've consistent shown that we've been good enough to take that coveted position. But who knows, it might not be Spurs but Chelsea falling away.
You can't compare Chelsea before the rise of Manchester City and now, it makes a huge difference. The last two managers have ben virtually identical though. Benitez was supposed to be a tactical genius, but not erribly good at assembling a team, if anything he has done slightly worse than his predecessor. Liverpool have been roughly the same with a succession of managers. I think a manager that is good will help you punch above your weight, but, at the top, financial muscle is the most important thing. I think once you have a manager that isn't bad, you should stick with him. While there are very few managers that will allow you to play above your financial station at the very top, Wenger and SAF being virtually the only two, there are many that can't play to a team's financial station.
