Looked back a few pages and couldn't see a thread on the man at the helm. He's cropped up in other threads but thought it worth a discussion. What do we think about his longer term tenure? Only contracted to the end of the season, but if he's going to get the gig longer term, it would be good to get it sorted sooner rather than later if only to let him prepare for next season fully. Maybe words have been had behind the scenes as he seems a bit more bullish when talking about the future, though still caveated with 'if I'm here next season'. For me, while he's had a mixed tenure, for the first time in a while I think I know what he's trying to get the team achieve and what he's building towards. Got off to a good start with what MM had left him, drafting in a load of youngsters who showed promise, but also the shortcomings of inconsistency, lack of battle hardness and occasional error (and we've enough senior pros in that boat). I don't like relying too heavily on loans, but they are a necessary evil. With losing loans and 10 senior pros in the summer, whoever is in charge will need as much time as possible to re-build the squad. No doubt a mixture of contracted players, upcoming U23s, free / cheap signings and more loans. No small feat and one that will take time. Do we think Morison is the man for the job? The longer we maintain our winning ways and the further we get from relegation, the more I feel the answer is yes. He's brought a 'modern' approach to the game, a game plan that players appear to understand and buy into. Some of our players, those that remain after the summer, won't be able to adapt, but there is a core there. Smithies mightn't be with us and not 100% sure how good him and Phillips are with the ball at their feet. The back 3 seem more able to play with the ball. Ok, Flint and Morrison arent mobile or players, but I'm OK with someone doing the dirty work if there is more pace and ball playing either side of them. Both out of contract in the summer, so not a good starting point. Ng and McGuiness either side are ok. WBs, good youngsters coming through but need some first choices in those positions after the loanees depart. CM, Ralls (sign him up) and Wintle are the engine room so need a player in there. Youngsters and Loanees at the moment so a signing needed there. Up front, youngsters coming through but the two loan signings have raised the bar and give a nice blend with the likes of Davis and Harris. What happens to out of contract players, contracted players, youngsters and new signings (perm or loan) will be a whole new thread, so lets focus on the manager. This is more a team that Morison built and looks a better bet than what we've had for the last couple seasons and he must take the credit. His first window as a manager and seems to have past the test. To me he's shown enough to earn the hot seat for another year or two. The other question is, what's the alternative?
Good post remote, I think he should get a longer contract, he and his staff are changing the way we play that will take time. There will be some bad results but overall I believe he is the man for the job.
I think the club must not rush into the mistake of the past e.g. MM. Get some good results, give a longer term contract, performance diminishes. If the current improvement can be sustained, with the odd, inevitable setback, reward him with a deal before the end of the season so he can continue planning for 2022/23. All being well he will want to continue what he has started as it will bode well for us and his cv.
Great thread remote I think he's not only improved our chances of survival but has also introduced a clear ethos for a brand of football that fits current demand. He is clearly a confident manager and it looks like he has the dressing room on board. The worry might have been about how he managed the more senior members, but it seems he has them and the loanies fully committed. Personally I wouldn't draw any comparison with the MM contract situation. Unlike Mick, SM has a vested interest in the club that he has helped to shape through the development of his youngsters. He doesn't strike me as being likely to take his foot off the pedal because he feels safe. In fact, in his case I think a longer contract will motivate him even more. For me, it feels like we have someone that cares about the club, is astute in challenging recruitment process, has a vision and is making all involved play for the club. ,We are in serious transition now and there will be hiccups, but we have a very determined and talented man now. I would be fighting to make sure we keep him at the club and I'd be doing it right now. The positive effect he's had will not have gone unnoticed by others.
Very good thread remote. I think the decision making regarding Morison's future will made and announced once we're mathematically safe from relegation. There are a few games before we go to Fulham that could just about see us hit that initial target. There's no doubt that we need to plan for next season before this one ends. A lot of leg work in the transfer market (options etc) is done well before the summer window actually opens. It's not just about Morison. Players also want to know who's going to manage them next season to make their own decisions. On the evidence so far, the sooner Morison is in place the better - then build from there.
Have to agree with the majority. Despite a slightly rocky patch results wise under SM, we've come quite a way down the road in transitioning from a pragmatic, direct style of football to a much more rounded team. He's instilling a style that sounds very much like a continuation of the way our age group teams play. The disconnect that existed previously from that pathway to the first team was incomprehensible. Why would anyone being kids up to play a passing game and then expect them to play percentage football once they make the first team? SM is correcting that. He definitely appears to have used the transfer window effectively thus far. Losing Keiffer could have been a massive blow (despite his poor form), yet the replacements between them have made us appear stronger. I also saw a piece on Wales online where Drameh makes mention of SMs persistence in pursuing his signature. He appears a very determined man when he wants something. It's been mentioned previously, but he is someone who knows the young players well, and we will remain heavily reliant on them for the foreseeable future, so for me, definitely the right guy at the right time. Also, despite criticism of him for it, I like his brutal honesty when assessing players and their performances. Why not put it all out there? It keeps players grounded that otherwise may begin to believe the hype that surrounds them when doing well... If what he says in public is a reflection of what he says to them in private then there should be no issue. It's just brutal honesty and let's the plethora of "championship manager" fans know that you can't just base performance on 15 minutes of impact if a player isn't also doing his dirty work too or training properly etc. Stevie Morison's Barmy Army....
Wait until the end of the season, and if he avoids relegation and the team continues to play entertaining football then I’m sure he’ll be offered a new contract. His job will then entail sorting out a decent squad for next season and getting rid of some of the dead wood.
My only concern with waiting is the work that needs doing to rebuild the squad. The young loanees have been entrusted to Morison. Will we get that trust with a new manager. Would clubs commit to a loan not knowing who the manager might be. He might actually swing some loans for us. Same could be said for someone like Ralls if we want him to sign a new contract or Hugill or Uche if we wanted to try to sign them permanently. Knowing the manager and how he wants to play could swing their decisions if we can agree their signing from their parent clubs. A leap of faith maybe, but so would a new manager be. Picking up on some of Brizzles comments, and the more I think about it, I see the benefits increasingly outweighing the risks.
I don’t necessarily disagree remote but I question whether the board will want to risk another MM situation if Morison steps off the gas pedal if he’s got the security of a deal. I can’t see that happening and don’t see there’s any real comparison between the pair of them and was encouraged by Morison’s realistic vision for the future in the press this week, but the club is governed by people with no football knowledge whatsoever. You never know they may have lined up a foreign manager doing well in some football outpost like Latvia because Dalman thinks he's the next Guardiola!
I too like this thread....it's all about the future and somewhat exciting times. I'd like to broaden the theme in general to where we are going as a club. We are now bringing through some right good talent ....home grown and doing well. But!!!!! The good talent will be sought elsewhere and we as a club could well end up as a good championship side that survives well by developing and then selling young blood to keep alive. Very much like our country cousins have done for many years now. Indeed, they survive by doing this. That leaves me in a quandary......we can do well as a club but we'll probably never generate the big bucks needed to go to the Promised Land and we will run up big debts to do so unless Papa Vincent dobs up the necessary. SM will be fine to do this limited target....but will he have the skills to take us up and then keep us there? I reckon he probably could with the talent coming through if he's allowed to keep them and if they don't fly the nest of their own accord. It' all a bit like Plug that our cousins didn't want but has done it again in Nottingham!!!!
Weve made too many feck ups. Assess at the end of season. I think hes done ok but jury is out on him for the long term. The only signature on a contract needed is Joe Ralls.
I'd like to think that SM has enough drive and determination NOT to take his foot off the gas, if only because of his own ambitions to keep proving himself. I also think, now we have a young, enthusiastic and open minded coaching team, we could be able to replicate the Brentford model to a degree. Bring through young players, sign promising but raw players and actually improve them. Then, as is always the way for clubs the size of ours, we sell a few to keep paying the bills and reinvest some money back into the squad and repeat, until such time as we have enough about us to go up again.
A few on here have mentioned the need to get Ralls signed up. I don't disagree with that. However, talking to a guy who sits behind me in the Ninian, he said that, from a good source, Ralls wants £28kpw to sign a new deal. If true, then either he has been tapped up or his agent says he can get that elsewhere. While he is a key player, is he worth that in the Championship? I don't think so. Might be his start point and he will come down but he must be after £20k+. Thoughts?
Agree that he’s a decent player and his experience is an asset but against that is his total reliance on his left foot, his lack of pace (which IMO has held his career back) and he’s injury prone. I’m sure if he’s not with us next season there’ll be other clubs at this level who’d be interested but his wage demands may be a problem for him. Overall though I’d prefer him than not have him if the alternative is Vaulks or Pack or Bacuna none of whom surely should be kept on, but one may have to if Ralls goes.
Even though he seems to have been with us forever, he's still only 28, so in his prime. Cant blame him for trying, but wouldnt say he was worth that. He's probably reading to much into the 'Rolls Royce' comments of a previous manager. Worth more than Baccuna who appears to be on silly money. I wouldnt sign any of the others. It would leave a hole, but we cant be held to ransome. I'm sure he'd argue that Baccuna was on more and he (Ralls) is a better player. More that we've been massively overpaying for Baccuna than underpaying for Ralls.
This is the age old problem of salary levels within organisations, and football clubs are probably one of the worst examples you can get. To be fair to Ralls, he's been a good servant to the club this far. If he can see others around him that are paid more, that play less and just don't put the same levels of effort in as him, or care as much then of course he's going to expect parity or close to it. I know if it was me in my company, and I knew others were getting paid far more for supposedly doing the same thing as me but we're clearly useless at the job and/or lazy and not pulling their weight then I'd be pretty miffed too. If we can jettison Bacuna, who, if it's to be believed is on borderline Premier League wages, then that should free up enough money to keep Ralls on AND find a cheaper, more effective replacement for Bacuna himself. Clearly the club will need to negotiate with Ralls, and the current climate will have an impact on how far they can go. It may well end up with a bit of a standoff. Offer on table, take it or leave it and he'll see what else comes up and decide from there. NO player is worth putting the club into jeopardy for and common sense will need to prevail, however hard that may be for us fans if/when we see players go elsewhere.
It's all interlinked. The club, manager, players will all want to know which division they're playing in next season before any major contractual decisions are made. Up till the last couple of weeks, it looked as League One was a serious option. Winning the last 3 league games has shifted the playing field towards the Championship, but that's far from certain yet. We suffered from euphoria over-hype last season with a premature 2 year McCarthy contract on the back of his early results - I don't think that will happen again. Having said that, the indications are there that the club under Morison has made a serious attempt to move away from the prehistoric lump ball game perpetuated by previous managers and condoned by the decision makers at the club. Something has to be sorted and it must happen well before the end of the season. To suggest that the season has be over before it's sorted is ridiculous - things need to be decided well before that. In terms of discussions, contracts, pre-contracts, options etc, next season starts long before the current season ends. We appear to be on the road to change at last and it needs to be followed through. The critical point will be when (if?) we reach mathematical safety - that's when the button should be pressed to carry on with the Morison approach. Anything else could see us lurch backwards again.
That last bit is the clincher for me sparkey. A change of manager would be more unknown, more uncertainty and possibly a change in direction. As you said in another post, the pathway from youth to 23s to first team is a smooth transition with a consistent ethos (provided Morison and Purse stay aligned). Morison has managed loans and promotions well showing he can work on a budget. Not sure how he'll be with money, but we've not been blessed with financially prudent managers of late which is why we are where we are. Sticking with morison won't have us at the top of the table next year, not because he's not up to it but because of the baggage that needs to be sorted. I would see us top half though. Quick fixes havent worked, the Colin took us up and back, and I think the refreshing style and promotion of youth should be persisted with. A period for stability not change.
Thoughts these in the know people with their sources are attention seeking clowns who know feck all. 28k a week.
I'm all for confidence, but I hope there's not a degree of arrogance creeping in..................... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60348957
