I seem to recall Mr Warnock last season saying to Nigel Clough something along the lines of..... 'enjoy it while you can Nigel, you'll never see a performance like that again from my team' He's right, we've seen MANY performances like that since then. He talks a good game but clearly can't play a good game. One dimensional, clueless huff and puff merchants - Get De Canio in, he'll give them a kick up the backside !!
Paul Lambert, Di Matteo, Di Canio, Gus Poyet. Someone young, positive and forward thinking, give them 3 years to get the Premier League with the only minimum requirement being to not get relegated from the Championship - allow them time to build a young, attacking team that gels together well and plays free flowing attacking football with consistency. Allow them the time to make the mistakes that are inevitable when building a team from the ground up. If they aren't cutting the mustard after that then get rid and get someone else in, and do the same. And also, bring the academy up to grade 1 standard to give the new manager a youth set up that's going to keep producing a steady supply of top quality players to build the team around.
Paul Lambert - ain't going anywhere. Fits in well at AV, 'cos he ain't spending money and AV appear to have been given him the very task you're speaking of. Why drop a division to do the same with a club with fewer resources? Di Matteo - only has experience with top players. How would he cope with crap players? No track record of building teams (he used all the oldies at Chelsea!). Huge risk, even if he was to consider us. Di Canio - seems to already have started the job you're proposing, only doing it with Swindon! Lots of love for him down there, so why risk coming up here & starting all over again with no guarantees of being well received (lets face it - we're not the most patient bunch of fans, are we?). Gus Poyet - is he all he's cracked up to be? Working with limited resources, and made a great start, but his team seems to have peaked. He's already shown his lack of loyalty to us, so if he does start showing some signs of success, do you think he'll stick around this time? Doubt it. I like the idea of what you're suggesting in principal, but unless you have success quickly, like Norwich, Southampton & Swansea, then the plan will be screwed. Your good players will have their contracts nearing their end, and will leave us for greener pastures when the big boys wave their wads of cash. A constant and persistent problem, tbh. Whilst I'm on the subject, let me throw another name into the ring. Billy Davies. Personally, I hate the little bastard, but I do believe he has what it takes to get us up there.
'Here here' to that in the main - the trouble is it's now all down to money and the funds the Premier League boys readily receive, even for failing. On the latter point, any team that's relegated from the PL should NOT get any parachute payment what so ever, why should they? It only serves to inflate the transfer market in the Championship and gives the 'losers' a much better chance of going up again. What once used to be a relatively level playing field is, by definition, no more, the Championship should be re-named the 'Keeping up with the Jones's League'
Agree with you re. the parachute payments. Clubs should now all have relegation clauses in their contracts. If they don't - then sod them! That's why the parachute payments came in in the first place, and it was understandable, especially for the teams that historically wouldn't really expect to go down (like us!). But those days are over & the lesson should have been learned by now. It introduces 2 tiers to the championship, revenue-wise.
This idea that we'll lose our best players so easily is one that seems to have been beaten into a lot of our fans as part of the "small club mentality" that bates would have us all adopt. It's not that big of a problem. Building the team from the ground up doesn't mean having to do that every season because your players run away to greener pastures at the first opportunity. It is inevitable that one or 2 of your best players will leave over a period of, say, 5 years, if they are THAT good and the sum of money is too much to refuse, or if you fail to offer them a contract that reflects their growth. I'm tired of hearing this as a reason why slowly building a team from the ground up over a number of years doesn't work, because it only doesn't work if you have someone like ken bates is in charge who salivates at the idea of receiving a transfer fee, cringes at the idea of spending the same money on a transfer fee, and throws a massive tantrum and tells players to **** off when they refuse to sign the first insulting contract offer they are given. If players are shown respect when contract negotiation comes around then they will often stay, unless top, top teams are knocking, and how often does that happen? It takes patience to do what we want to do, which is build for sustainable success. Southampton and Norwich weren't lucky, they kept the same teams that had walked League One and built on them sensibly, then continued to build on them sensibly. They've not struggled to keep hold of their better players because they've respected the players wishes and built an environment that encourages players to stay. Players WANT to be there, which makes it a damn sight easier to fight off other clubs interest.
Btw, Swansea didn't get immediate success - they put in place a long term vision and strategies to meet that vision. I was wrong about Warnock. After Grayson I thought he might strengthen things to get us doing the right things, the basics. He certainly talks the language of it, but he has been unable to deliver in practice. We are miles behind in terms of how football needs to be played to be successful.
I understand what you mean, but this concept of football having to be played a certain way to be successful baffles me. West Ham were promoted last year, they hardly play like Barcelona do they? Football simply needs to be played to the strengths of the players you have at your disposal. It's the reason why Stoke are successful playing a direct style, and the reason why Barcelona would be terrible at playing long ball. You can play football however you like, and as long as you have the right players for the system, it will be successful.
We don't have the players for long ball, but he's playing that style. We have the players to expose teams on the wings, but we don't play wingers. It's ridiculous.
I agree completely, but Sheldon suggested there was a way to play football in order to be successful. There isn't, at all. Just play to your strengths, or capitalise on the opposition's weaknesses. Look at Liverpool, they play all that lovely possession football, and yet they're mid table and were outplayed by big, direct Stoke. There isn't a correct way to play, that's all I'm saying. Although you're right, the way we play simply does not suit us in the slightest.
I disagree kiwi. I am not advocating Barca football for all; on the contrary, I advocate fast football, crisp direct early passing (either short or long - long does not equal hoof), ball control, movement into space to either exploit it or make more for others, strength and ability under pressure, speed and stamina, players on their toes and ready to challenge at all times, and playing to your own strengths. The clubs you mentioned do all of that. Stoke are a specific example that do it brilliantly, so are Swansea, Arsenal, Manure etc, but success is always relative to the standards of your opponents. Over 85% of goals are scored with 5 passes or less and one of the most surefire ways ofscoring is by stealing the ballfrom the opposition in their third of the field
Bit of passing, bit of movement, bit of running with the ball and bit of directness, mix it up a little, just not the hoof ball we are playing. We get hold of the ball and if it is a defender it is hoof it forward. If it is a midfielder wins the ball 9 times out of 10 it is three sideways passes, back to defender, to keeper, hoof it long. Teams know they are going to get more possession with us so they play their normal game knowing chances will come.
