Last season after 9 games we were rooted to the bottom of the Championship with 5 points and Manderac's axe fell for the last time - I along with many others rejoiced, buoyed further by the appointment of ex England manager SGE. The man Mandaric's decision looked to have been a masterstroke as almost immediately our fortune and results took a turn for the better and after a fantastic run which ended with an undefeated 9 match run our fingertips were reaching for the play-off's - They were just within our grasp, a marvelous achievement which seemed unobtainable just a few short months earlier. Of course history tells us we then took a dip in form and ended up a then disappointing mid table. So, to my point - I do not as some may have assumed intend to suggest appointing Sven was a mistake - Far from it the man is a giant in the game who I fully believe will thrust us into the Premier League, then make us an ever present positive contributer in the best league in the world with the support of our visionary owners. But as for poor Sousa - I knew him well (actually I didn't but it fitted the theme of my article) - You cannot deny during the first 9 matches last season we had an incredible number of outrageous decisions go against us - It seemed though it must be a conspiracy, the officials could not have been that inept, they must have been ruling good goal after good goal out deliberately, OK they weren't (I better put that bit in to protect me legally) I can't remember just how many gaols and points were incorrectly chalked off, but I do know we would have been up in the play-off mix had fair play and officiating been applied. On top of the terrible misfortune with officials - Sousa tried to develop a new style of game at The Walkers - A new beautiful passing style to grace the arenas we would be performing in once we had achieved promotion - The problem here was he hadn't the players to keep possession and gently flow the ball around the pitch - I left The Walkers too many times during his reign thinking "we have the start of something great here - I can see the beautiful side of it - but too many weak links have seen us lose again"! Sven has continued Sousa's revolution as they have similar ideals, but Sven has been far more successful with the benefit of investment and better fortune with officials decisions. Ladies and gentlemen - I put it to you that Sven was unlucky and would have eventually succeeded - Although I ain't half glad we got Sven
Sousa totally lacked the ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his players. He was not unlucky but arrogant and insisted on playing to an ideology rather than capability. Sousa tried knocking round pegs into square holes. We can all dream about playing a certain way but if you haven't the players to do so then it's impossible. I hated the man for his inability to understand and quantify his squad.
Sousas main downfall was to produce a squad on the first day of the season that was unfit. He spent preseason trying to instill his ideals into (at times unwilling and unable) football brains. I too was bowled over by our new refreshing style of play and I agree that the 6 or 7 perfectly good goals we had disallowed in those first 9 games put us at the bottom when we might easily have been in the top 6. Paulo though seemed unable to stoip the concession of soft goals--and actually sven also had the same problem. lets hope this new crop of players will give us the slick passing football we crave coupled with a steel at the back---and please refs give andy king a fair deal this season and he may get the 20 goals he deserved last year
One day Sousa will be a top manager in somewhere like Spain, Italy, Portugal. His style just isnt suited to this league
I don't think Sousa was a leader. Sven seems to motivate playser, they want to play for him. But under Paulo the players seemed to just be dossing about waiting for their next pay check. We played well under Paulo, but nobody wanted to win. They we're happy with draws and a defeat didnt matter too much. Winning is what Sven has been about his whole career thats why he is successful.
Because Paolo only had 9 games and totally changed the style of football it was always high risk. I feel as a club we let him down by not giving him more time and the funds for the players he probably wanted. Anyway we are were we are! And I for one wouldn't swap Sven for any other manager!
Sorry DF, but I think the only person you may convince (and not totally I believe) is yourself. Any manager who doesnt use a pre-season to get his players match fit is completely naive. We heard from the Jacks that we would play some nice passing football, but most of it would be sideways. That is precisely what happened. We totally dominated the ball, but the play was slow. It was refreshing to see us have so much possession, but we were getting nowhere fast. As the season progressed we would have been totally found out. One of the first things Sven did was to bring in a fitness coach. Then completely changed the line up in defence (Vitor excepted) to players who were acrtually capable of playing that style of football. Dont think Sven has ever played a direct game such as NP. Svens hand were pretty much tied without the benefit of having pre-season, so the only signings that he could make were young players from Premiership teams. It was that lack of experience at the back that cost us at the back end of the season. Yes, we did have decisions go against us, and they invariably did cost us a few points, but to push us into the top 6 ? NO! (my capitals work). I have a lot of respect for Sousa for what he did as a player. If we had kept him, he would have rivalled Peter Taylor as the worst City manager ever. MM made the right decision - football and commercially.
The players wasnt fit enough that was the main problem under Paulo, we couldnt defend and all the players have lost confidence in him Thats the main reason why we wasnt getting the results and he left.
Barwell - You have sussed me - I didn't believe Sousa could have succeeded at Leicester - I was just trying to get a debate going on it - I did say I was trying to do the impossible
Agree about the decisions going against us. However that is where the hard luck story ends. All managers have a philosophy, but as others have said, you have to have the means to achieve it. Sousa tried to transform a successful squad into something completely different, and it was unrealistic to expect it to work. Looking at it in a more basic way though - the majority of his signings were awful, he didn't strengthen in the areas neccessary (centre back for example), he played players out of position, the team were unfit, and the most damning thing of all, the solid defence we had the season before was the worst in the league when he left, and this is a manager with a reputation of having solid defences. It was clear he'd lost the dressing room by the time he'd left, as well as the fans. I just got the feeling he was clueless - the Portsmouth match was one of the worst managerial performances I have ever seen. There were absolutely no positives whatsoever. And whilst we did play brilliant passing football in some games without the final ball - we were mostly plain ****. It's possible that given more time he would have turned it around and got us challenging for the play-offs, but I'd say it's far more likely we would have let our top players go as they were unhappy, and finished lower midtable.
That Portsmouth game was horrific. Hobbs and Wellens was on the bench and Morrison started and gave a stupid peno away and Vitor got sent off. Conrad Logan made quite a few decent saves and still let in 6.
