Look, the crucial piece here is as much cohesion in the Munn-DOF-Manager triumvirate as possible. We've suffered far too much from this in the past, from Baldini openly defying AVB to Commolli stabbing BMJ in the back at half time, to Paratici failing to work effectively with Conte despite an excellent historic relationship between the two, because he clearly had a different remit from the Club to the remit the manager wanted him to have. The stronger this three way bond is, the more likely it is we'll start seeing a unifying style and philosophy permeate every level of the club. And it also increases the chances of us having more than one successful transfer window every four years. Even City with their bottomless pot realised the wisdom of this, and shipped in Barca's backroom executive before bringing in Pep. And as I've said previously, one of the few things I'll praise Pep for is that he rarely signs a dud. Phillips and Torres are the only two that stand out in recent years. For me, that comes from having a cohesive vision from top to bottom, something we've lacked since the final whistle after the CL final.
Was torres even that bad? I see his stats were 28 games, 9 goals 3 assists for a winger. He was bought for around 20m EUR and they sold him for 55m EUR. Stats and profit wise seems pretty alright. Agreed phillips was shocking
I don't think Phillips was shocking necessarily, but injuries and the fact that Rodri is one of the best in the world in that position has meant he has hardly featured. It also doesn't help that Rodri is actually younger than him, so there isn't even a case to be made for a succession plan. Many predicted it would be a dumb move for him and so it has been.
All of his teams have been praised for playing an attractive and very high pressing game, he himself has said that he wants his teams to play in a style that'd make his late Dad proud. Has experience of binning loads of players and rebuilding, won league titles in three different countries and also won tournaments with the Aussie national team and its youth sides but obviously whilst impressive none of those really compare to doing it in any of Europe's big leagues. It's a punt, probably a big one if we're being honest but then whoever takes charge it's gonna be down to how much backing they get, both from the board and the players buying into their vision. I watched this Tifo video the other day which gives an insight into how he set his Celtic team up last season if you or anyone wants to give it a watch:
The split in Paratici and Conte’s briefs always somewhat mystified me. Especially as the intention appear to be to buy the Gils, Spences of the world and have them get minutes at Spurs, not elsewhere, first and foremost. Maybe it’s somewhat explained by the rumours that it was Levy, not Paratici, who went back for Conte second time round and got it over the line. Even the Nuno process (quite aside from the time it took to get a manager appointed) was odd. We signed someone who had done, all things considered, a pretty good job with Wolves, and then appeared to get him to play a completely different style of football. I’m not underwhelmed with Ange, I’m just whelmed. I don’t know enough about him to be anything else. Apparently Celtic play good football and while the level of the Scottish league obviously isn’t the PL, I doubt he’ll be phased by the pressure because the Celtic job is like being under a microscope. I think getting a good DoF will be more important than ever as he seems to have used the Asian markets as a talent spotting differentiator at Celtic and while I’m not at all averse to that, we’ll need more than just that as an edge as we rebuild in such a competitive league. As you say, the most important thing is that Munn, the manager and the DoF have good relationships and a cohesive vision of what the club should be. Ideally all Levy needs to do is sign cheques.
just watched it…cheers for that. sounds good in theory Porro would be good in the Abada role Bentancur/Bissouma would be my midfielders from what we have…need someone who’s smart with breaking the lines. Dele would have maybe enjoyed this formation back when he was a footballer need a quality cb to partner Romero tho its got potential but as usual for me…the tactic working depends on the player’s abilities.
TBH, given we were linked with Genk DoF Dimitri De Conde a week or so ago, he and Ange would have an interesting synergy given De Conde unearthed talents that went on to bigger things in the sort of leagues we should be scouring but always seem to be waiting for a Ligue 1/Eredivisie team to make the first move so we can buy the same player for five times the cost a year or so later Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Serbia Timothy Castagne, Leandro Trossard - Belgium Leon Bailey - Slovakia Wilfried Ndidi - Nigeria Ruslan Malinofskyi - Ukraine Sander Berge, Kristian Thorstvedt - Norway Joakim Maehle - Denmark A few less Davinson Sanchezes and a few more Kim Min-jaes would be a good course correction for our recruitment
And he has a no nonsense character whilst also endearing to his players. He wins wherever he’s been. He’s very much an attacking style manager whilst playing great football. Being Australian and knowing our new Sporting Director would be great for establishing a good relationship between the coaching staff and the Board.
Interesting video @Dier Hard I agree with what many others have said. One positive is the style of football, which from a fans point of view, is absolutely crucial. We’ve been bored senseless for years now and need that to change. It’s exciting to see that he’s not afraid of binning off who he doesn’t want, and completely rebuilding. In theory, that should be an enjoyable experience for the fans as we see much of the dead wood finally leave. There’s obvious reservations though. Why hasn’t he had a job in a major league in 20+ years? Like others have said, will he be cut out for the premier league? Will there be synergy between him, Munn and Levy? Will levy interfere with the incomings and departures he wants? is this more of a business decision to further conquer the eastern markets? An Australian sporting director and manager, and a tour of Australia coming up… Sadly, my gut tells me we’ll be looking for a new manager by about November, but I really hope it works out for him if we appoint him.
It is crucial that this trend stops. We have to stop the knee jerk panicking and actually stick with a plan. That might mean things get worse before they get better, but so be it. Honestly at this stage as long as the football is enjoyable and the players look like they give a damn, I don't think fans will begrudge patience. This whole ****show started because Poch was only given until November to rebuild the bulk of a team and a series of short term, panicked decisions since then and lo.and behold the team hasn't improved one iota in four years.
Martin Jol's CV was barely worth the paper it was printed on when we appointed him, yet Arnesen's judgement was the key to unlocking the top 6 for the first time.
Agreed. But I expect a significant percentage of the fan base will be dubious due to him having not coached in a top league. - and if things go south, with that comes the onslaught on social media and the booing in the stadium, which I feel is likely to come sooner for him than perhaps another candidate. - and Levy won’t like the booing, which means the music will be very very loud before he ultimately pulls the trigger! the key thing here is patience, and using this opportunity to install a proper set up on the footballing side. I’ll believe it when I see it. but the manager will have my support, especially if it emerges once again that the hierarchy are continuing to do things in the same way.
Gallardo rumours doing the rounds from some journalists. I know almost nothing about him beyond doing some reading a couple of weeks back. Frankly I think a lot of the fan noise about him exists because he’s an Argie, won a lot with River, and is a bit of a hipster choice combined with the romanticism of it being a bit like Poch. Maybe it would be fun, I don’t know. I’m leaning more towards Ange out of the two.
Their points total would be handy. But the downside is that you can’t play Ross County four times a season. And ex-League One strikers don’t look like world beaters in the PL.
River Plate built him a statue: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65744002 Just don't ask why it's got... er, proportion issues?
