If we go down...

Who would stay on?

Who would leave?

How the hell from the rabble of talent we have can a manager get us back up again?

Welcome back to mid table Championship football where we probably belong. Even if we do manage to stay up, we need a real good transfer window to avoid the same struggle next season.

Maybe it is just because it is Monday, but I am finding it hard to find positives for the drop or not.

 

Would be an 'interestting' season with the drop money....Yes some would leave asap.... sadly those who are perhaps not best suited may stay....
I wonder whether it would suit Andre Grey, TD, Holebas ,Hughes and co who prefer a more direct game

 

I seem to remember reading that Holebas will be leaving anyway. I'd hazard a guess that retaining AG and possibly TD may be a problem due to wages - both rather high for a Championship club. And Hughes has recently stated his ambitions for an international call-up - less likely if he drops down a division.

 

Well Holebas, Mariappa and Gomes are out of contract.

Doubt they would stay.

We'd have to cut the wage bill so Gray, Doucouré and even someone like Sarr might be off.

GD might have gone too if he wasn't injured.

Let's hope the likes of Hughes and Masina want to stick around.

 

The trouble with Gray, like Ellington, who would want to play the wages he gets here...??

 

He's got two more years left on his contract too. After basically sitting out the last two years, he may unfortunately be willing to sit out the next two.

 

It's always worth remembering 2 things
1) The great GT said that WFC are a top 30 club -and that was in the days when staying in the (1st) division was much easier.
2)The only way we can 'guarantee' a place in the top flight is by a sale to some very rich people (a country overflowing with oil for example) , building a stadium for 50000+ (which we would have to fill) and in so doing completely losing the ethos that has sustained us for many years. I really hope we stay up, rebuild and consolidate - which is possible. But if not, then a season or two rebuilding would be fun.
The only disappointment I have had over the Pozzo years is the absence of an youngsters actually making it from youth to first team. I thin that's partly due to the fact that in the Championship, you don't get diamonds at the age of 14. So it takes 5+ years after arriving in the Prem before a diamond can be recruited and coached up. But now we should be seeing some - and we would if those greedy muppets in Manchester hadn't snatched Sancho - the one diamond we did have.
But hey - we have a great chance of staying up - at the moment!

 

Is not Sarr a diamond?

 

He is but needs a bit of polishing
A front three of Delafoue Wellbeck and Sarr might be good next season

 

Regarding 'diamonds' I was referring to players who have come through our youth system. Perhaps 'recruited' appeared to include the likes of Sarr, Stuparevic (I am really hoping to see him) .Seems Cassidy and Blu lo everton might be 1st team material.

 

That is 4 times I have heard pundits criticising our full backs.

I wonder if the powers that be at our club agree ?

Otherwise we'll be in the same mess next season unless there is improvement in that area and defence generally.

 

It might pay to go back to a 3 - 5 -2 formation or even 5 - 4 - 1
We did not concede many under Florres it was scoring that was the problem.and still is, we need to not concede soft goals and take our chances when they come our way
Arsenal showed today how to stifle city. 3 centre backs with 2 defensive wing backs and midfielders who did not take prisoners

 

Sadly we don't have the right team balance..
Up front TD is not enough
Midfield too many flaky passes
Defensively now shipping goals

Might be ok in the championship.. Grey even might come good..

 

Unfortunately, although we need a clear out, I can't see many Premiership clubs being interested in any of our players. At any rate I want us to take the pre season seriously this time so that we are up and running for the first game - last time we played half as many warm up games as our competitors. The same thing happened during the Corona break - we were not up and running for the restart. In fact I got the impression that we were dragged, kicking and screaming, back onto the pitch. NP says that we have a fitness issue, but where does the responsibility for that lie other than with the manager ? It is time for the Pozzos to realize that the role of manager or 'head coach' needs to change - they need to pay out for a top manager (one that earns more than the players) and give him time to find out what has gone wrong at our club and to change it. It should't be forgotten what Ranieri did at Leicester with, more or less, the same players that NP had had. We do not need anymore journeymen managers, or those trying to salvage their reputation, or those who are Pozzo yes men - the job needs more than that.

 

Well they like to pretty much control the manager in terms of transfers and watch his every move it seems.

The Director of football always seems to be hanging around at the training ground and after the games ready to talk to the players.

Wonder if that will be a factor in Pearson staying or not - how much influence he has over new players and who goes.

 

You get the feeling that he does not have the power he needs......

 

Many people at Leicester say that Ranieri struck lucky as he took over a side that Pearson had built. Ranieri was what you might call a top manager, but looking at his record as a manager there have been more low than high points. Marco Silva had a reputation as being good, but seems to be looking for a job still since Everton removed him last December. Would we say that Chris Wilder is a top manager? He has certainly done well with Sheffield Utd. but that is where he started his playing career, and he has a special bond with the club. I don't think that you can be sure that getting a certain manager in because he has been successful elsewhere can give you any security that he will be just as successful at a different club.

 

I get what you say about special bonds Frenchie - we know that first hand from Dave Bassett who was a hero at Wimbledon and a disaster for us. Managers like Kloppo and Pep are also at the right clubs for their individual personalities - if they swapped clubs it wouldn't work half so well. Having said that I would love to see Diego Simeone unleashed on our players (and on the Pozzos) for a while ! So, we are looking for managers which fit the Pozzo way of working ? This doesn't really give us much choice other than to look for a journeyman to fit in with journeymen players.

 

Maybe some of our stars* will be either sold or loaned to Udinese.


*(Stars as in the least rubbish of our squad)

 

Probably that guy we brought from them who hasn't played...