I suspect it would be both. That would be harsh on Still, because he's so new to the job. But I can see there being very minimal patience within the stands, and so if we do start poorly, I can see Still and SR and the players all getting stick. I do agree though that this has to be SR's last chance. (And if they think that too, it might just scare them into rejecting all offers for Fernandes unless a ludicrously high one is received.)
This times a million. Great opportunity for Still to get the fans on side. Losing it would be unthinkable.
Wanted by Juventus... https://www.sky-sport.ch/fr/article...nes-spors-pour-le-poste-de-directeur-sportif/
I do find it weird how quickly teams always come in for our sporting directors or whatever title they get,...given our downward trajectory as a club in the past 5+ years. Why not Bournemouth, or Brighton or Brentford etc. Or maybe theirs are all taken too and we just don't hear about it and they are just much better at replacing them?
SR get a lot of blame but ultimately the 3 football guys they put in charge in their tenure (Shields, Wilcox and now Spors) all are clearly highly thought of with Shields and Wilcox moving on to much bigger clubs and Spors being linked with a much bigger club. They all could possibly leave after a couple of months or a season in Wilcox’s case. The failures have really been when there hasn’t been a DoF or whatever title you want to give those 3 (first season we went down when Shields left we didn’t replace him when he left in like October, last season we didn’t replace Wilcox) Clearly it’s not just SR who think these guys are good, and I’ve said before that they take too long recruiting replacements when they leave. Whether that’s because they are aiming too high and waiting for the “right” appointment (which with the 3 mentioned they possibly have appointed) or they think we can get by for a while without one I don’t know. If it is the latter then hopefully they’ve learnt from the 2 seasons we didn’t have one that that is not going to work. Whoever is appointing these guys clearly has some sort of eye for it based on where they have left to/being linked with
Whilst it's too early to say how good a job Spors has done, this would be ****ing annoying. There is so little stability at the club with constant changes, whether they be managerial or director level. Feels like everything is going against us at the moment.
I think it would be a huge shame. Yes, he dropped a stinker on the striker side, but it’s the first time there’s been a coherent strategy to our recruitment in ages, and he’s brought in some very good players, rather than a bunch of misfits. We just haven’t worked out how to play them yet (which is the manager’s job).
Plus that would likely mean Rasmus back in for January, so you know, be very careful what you wish for here…
Except we'd be looking for yet another DoF. This would undoubtedly be a blow and would set us back months. We need stability there.
I was waiting for that! But in my defence, Spors has gone out and got players that Still wanted in terms of being able to fit his style of play. With the exception of Downs, I think it's fair to say the signings that Spors would have more input in look good (Scienza, Jander and Quarshie) and it's still too early to write Downs off.
The revolving door of football execs and coaches is bad news, whatever you think of the isolated recruitment of a striker in the summer
His job to appoint the manager as well though? So if the manager fails that also reflects on him? I still think it's too early to judge someone in that position. Been some good and some bad but ultimately I'll reserve judgement until 3 windows have passed (if he's still here of course).
For me the good outweighs the bad so far but it is a little early to judge yet. Good: getting excellent prices for outgoing players and all of the signings except one. Bad: Jack's contract extension, letting Dom Ballard go, Downs (although he might come good, he was not the striker we needed now). Undecided yet: Will Still's appointment.
I think he made a lot of good signings (on the face of it at least, early days still) but it struck me on Tuesday night just how small a side we are and how much we lack physicality and we didn't really address that this Summer. Can't remember if it was Spors or not but I'm sure somebody at the club mentioned physical profile would be a priority in the Summer?
Yeah there was definitely an acknowledgement that our squad lacked physicality and that we would be addressing that in the window. I think Martin even mentioned it on his MNF appearance. It started quite well with Quarshie but we somehow ended up with an attacking united of Armstrong, Archer and Scienza.
