I prefer to sometimes get things wrong through my propensity for thinking the best of people, rather than from always thinking the worst of them
Is it quite as drastic as that Rick? The structure of the Club has not been changed, the board remains the same, the finance and other structures remain the same - all that has changed, and I do not underestimate that change, is a product change to be pursued by a new senior employee following the resignation of the previous job holder. The safe option is to employ an experienced Coach with a squad made up of seasoned Championship players bolstered by a few ageing ex-Premiership players but does that work any more in the long term? Like any product change it can go wrong and just because it has worked at Ipswich and Brighton does not mean it will work here but on balance I think it is worth a try. Last season we manged to scrape into the play-offs but - and I will leave it there in respect to different opinions.
I think it is quite drastic. Knapper is unproven, Hoff Thorup has no experience of the English leagues and the squad has been stripped down to 17 senior players with relatively little money available for new players. The situation may improve over the coming weeks, but right now it seems to be moving into the unknown. Knapper communicates even less than Webber in the later stages, so it's likely to be some time before we really know what our prospects are likely to be. Like everybody, I hope it works but it's hard to back up that hope at the moment and I am fundamentally an optimist.
I fully accept that it is a gamble but I feel it is one that the Club has to take. Many other Championship Clubs who have spent time in the Premiership - Stoke, QPR, West Brom, Cardiff, Sunderland etc etc - have stuck to the tried and trusted method of experienced Coaches. experienced players etc etc and where has it got them? I am one of those who accept than in the current environment we will never be able to establish ourselves in the EPL but we need to get there for a season or two as often as possible to survive financially. Would we get there by employing the likes of Wagner and Duffy? I don't think so but that can only be my opinion. What I saw last season was what I recall happened in the 1960's and it took Sergeant Major Saunders to drag us out of it. McNally had a plan and stuck to it. Webber had a plan and then, in my opinion, lost interest in it when Farke went. Having had original concerns that Knapper was just going to be a 'puppet' with no long term plan I now feel that it now seems that he has been doing a lot quietly in the background since he was appointed and he has to be given a chance to force through the changes he wants. It will be a lot more interesting if nothing else.
I agree with much of what you say. My first year with City was in Saunders' promotion season, having arrived in the fine City that year. His teams were tough, but somewhat lacking in technical finesse. I think where we may disagree is the extent of the gamble. My concern is that we know very little about this new 'project' and those behind it. Knapper communicates very little, which makes developing a new 'culture' very difficult. Hopefully Hoff Thorup will communicate his vision more clearly. At the moment my expectation is a mid-table finish similar to the 14th place in Farke's first season but we'll have to see how things develop from here. Signing Frese and Córdoba would be a good start.
Holy crap who hacked Rick's account
I fully accept that it is a gamble Rick but in my opinion it is one they have had to take, We did, of course, have the period when the local press were too close to the Club and we got used to that. I fell foul of the new policy by thinking that as nothing had appeared in the local press very little was being done when in fact a new plan was swinging into action. You also might be right about next season but perhaps, as with Farke, it is a transition we have to go through but I suspect the crowd will go along with it as long as the entertainment value, effort and enthusiasm improve. To end with the stock phrase - only time will tell
I think this is more long term than Christmas, he may need a season to bed in ideas, to blood some young players before we really see the results the following year
I don't see "a new project" at all, only a return to the project from which the club has veered over the last season and a half. As for Knapper, he can't be expected to give a running commentary of what's going on. He said what needed to be said about how he sees the game and how he sees the club developing football-wise in the interview he gave in November when he took over from Stuart Webber, and in the interview he gave in January. Indications (Pink'Un) are that he will be giving another interview shortly. Meanwhile, Thorup, judging by his interview, sings from very much the same hymn sheet; if he didn't, presumably he wouldn't be here. What we are left waiting to see is what the squad looks like in two month's time, and how Thorup's ideas translate into action on the pitch.
