rumour is pep is going to be president of barca within the next 2-3 years with xavi taking the managers role source: guillem balague
Redknapp changed to a 442 to rescue the FA cup game against Chelsea and they ended up getting twatted. Good man manager, but his tactics and transfer policy certainly leave something to be desired. Frank Lampard being played by uncle Harry until he's 40 doesn't bear thinking about either.
They are living proof that a good manager does not have to have a big reputation in the game as regards to playing at a high level. Lawrie Mac never really made it as as a pro and he is arguably the best Saints' manager ever. I think that West Ham made a big error going for an 'old school' manager with a big reputation, i'm certain that they would've walked the league with NA or McDermott as their manager, still their loss is our gain....
Adkins and Saints is just the perfect storm. He did well at Scunthorpe but was held back by the money available and quality of squad. At SFC, he has the Chairman and resources to carry his plans through.
Thing is, though, we we re in a position to take that kind of calculated risk. West Ham had serious pressure to go straight back up, and so it is no surprise that they went for a bigger name that had the experience. I doubt we would have gone for Adkins if we had been in that position, though I like to think we would have.
What I meant was that if you swapped one of these younger managers with a more experienced one at Arsenal or Spurs etc we cannot tell how well they would get on because noone is willing to take the risk. Di Matteo is a good example of suddenly getting a break at a wealthy club and look how well he is doing.
Part of the problem is the big clubs can't give any-one time to build. They demand instant success which is never easy!
Makes you wonder whether the top cubs will still be the top clubs in 5-10 years time or whether at least one will do a Leeds United.
