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Post by Mr_DaftBurger on Apr 26, 2023 7:15:25 GMT
Are we seriously talking about replacing AN? I have never seen so much knicker wetting since joe jordan took over from Lou. His signings in January, whilst not fully dependable 100% of the time, have all contributed towards a great run and its obvious the improvement in the team when they play. When they are out the team the prior members are proving the reason why we were struggling in the first place. The fact that certain players dont like him is because he actually makes them work in training and not fanny about taking it easy like they have been able to for so long. He's not the messiah, he's simply trying to deal a bad hand that was given to him and the club has obviously waited until the summer before the Coates' member is taken out to start swinging. He has shown enough nous to get this team in and about the play offs next year and with some shrewd signings to come along with getting rid of the poor and expensive performers in ending their contracts we should give him the full season. None of this gone by October or Xmas.... Whilst I agree with you come October, even with a mostly new team, this place will be in uproar if we're not there or thereabouts! 😂
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Post by wilcopotter on Apr 26, 2023 7:16:34 GMT
Long enough to make a real difference, but not as long as Jones or O,Neill when we have realised we are flogging a dead horse moment. Instinctively the fans generally seem to get this, but sadly not the owners.
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Post by stokie1947 on Apr 26, 2023 7:24:31 GMT
we have had about 7 years of crap so what's a few more
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2023 7:35:17 GMT
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Apr 26, 2023 7:45:12 GMT
Long enough to make a real difference, but not as long as Jones or O,Neill when we have realised we are flogging a dead horse moment. Instinctively the fans generally seem to get this, but sadly not the owners. If the fans were in charge we'd make Watford look like a model of calm continuity. Fans believe there are two types of manager. The one we have - who is useless - and the next one - who will be brilliant. However once the next one becomes the one we have they become useless after the first defeat. Fortunately the next one will be brilliant.
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Post by idle on Apr 26, 2023 7:46:29 GMT
And every single one of those 17 would walk straight into our squad, except we cannot afford them. He spent what? 25-30M? You can't seriously compare a recently relegated PL team with a world famous former player as manager to the tiny budget, has-been club that pissed away all the parachute payments on journeymen. AN didn't do that. We're lucky to get a player on loan from the PL, never mind buy anyone. It's possible we can hit the ground running, but I'm not counting on it. He has next season, unless we're deep in the relegation zone in February. We need to see improvent though, so below a top half finish is unacceptable. Preferable 6th-10th. Playoffs is pure bonus. Without checking, as I recall about 6 of his signings were under 1 million. And we will probably have about 20 million to spend if we wish. The real question is will AN be trusted to spend that amount. Regarding Burnley, They probably will come straight back down, unless they take a big financial gamble. If they do gamble,the likelihood is that they will be broke within a couple of years. I think Kompany will be out of there as quickly as possible. Most of the signings where in the £2.5-4M range, some were below £1M. And of course a couple of loans. But you can't underestimate the network of contacts, agents, scouts, managers and players Vincent Kompany has. AN isn't close to that, all he has are british contacts. 10 of the signings were from abroad, but we don't do those, do we? But you may well be right that they'll go broke if they fail to establish themselves in the PL again and Kompany leaves.
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Post by wilcopotter on Apr 26, 2023 8:01:10 GMT
Long enough to make a real difference, but not as long as Jones or O,Neill when we have realised we are flogging a dead horse moment. Instinctively the fans generally seem to get this, but sadly not the owners. If the fans were in charge we'd make Watford look like a model of calm continuity. Fans believe there are two types of manager. The one we have - who is useless - and the next one - who will be brilliant. However once the next one becomes the one we have they become useless after the first defeat. Fortunately the next one will be brilliant. Edit - I meant the sensible ones👍
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Post by callas12 on Apr 26, 2023 8:34:25 GMT
It's all a case of what ifs and maybes. If we started the season diabolicaly ie bottom 4 or 5 & struggling for form and wins then mid to late September would be enough for me. This is the kind of timeline Chris Hughton had at Forest before he was sacked after an abysmal start, but still gave a new appointment time to come in and change things up including having a full transfer window.
I get the 'can't keep changing manager'comments but by the same token we can't afford to go down the route of keeping someone on who isn't having the impact we at most need and at least expect. I don't think we'll start off this poorly but just say we did, for me he'd have to go & a change would be welcomed.
He naturally remains in post if we make a great or even an indifferent start to the season, providing of course we can all see the shoots of hope and that we are at least heading in the right direction. That's for me where we remain patient and let the season take its course and hope we can become a firm fixture in the top 6.
I'd like for us to actually being aiming above the play offs & for the top two automatic positions, why shouldnt we be aiming high, afterall we've put up with absolute dross for the last 6 or so seasons. While everyone craves & targets the play off positions they are ultimately a lottery and only 1 out of 4 clubs who finish the season in them prized places actually gain promotion! Finsishing 3rd in the table and not getting promotion, potentially losing out to a club finishing 6th proves whilst the play offs are another way to gain promotion, & dont get me wrong, can be exciting, its such a gamble that a whole 46 game season boils down to essentially 3 matches.
Is there anything wrong with having such high expectations, possibly so but I think as a club of our stature we should be aiming higher than we are. Why can't we be next seasons Burnley or Sheffield United? There's absolutely nothing to say we couldn't be. It's been a poor league this year and on our day when we've played at our best we could beat anybody in this league, I haven't seen any team who was outstanding this season, to leave the Stoke-Burnley game thinking we deserved a victory & at least a draw confirms this belief for me.
Whilst I'm hoping for some stability and a degree of success next season, & hoping AN and his newly assembled behinds the scenes team do give us hope and optimism for a successful season, we can't keep someone in post if they're not producing, that would be detrimental and risky thing to do.
Fine margins, but as a club, Stoke City has been under-performing for too many seasons now, its time to hit the ground running & to aim high, I'm a believer that being positive breeds positiveness & let's not just aim and hope that we can end up in the play off positions, let's see if we can go all out for promotion & the top two. To end up in the play offs with a feeling of disappointment inadvertently means that we'd had a good season as we were challenging for automatic promotion right to the end.
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Post by Roger Everyone on Apr 26, 2023 8:34:48 GMT
I guess it all depends on how we start The season and what's available during the summer. We need to give the guy a chance and some good transfer dealings will do him no harm. I don't care if they are all free transfers as long as we are challenging for the top 6. That's the aim or so we said when we let the last manager go.
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Post by haway on Apr 26, 2023 9:17:21 GMT
From an outsider looking in, I think you need to look at the impact the January signings had for you.
From what I remember, prior to January it was largely awful for you and you seemed to regularly get beat. The signings in January managed to make a positive impact overall, and even had some of your fans discussing the possibility of the play offs after an impressive 4 or 5 game run.
The run of good results meant you were effectively safe, and then the players seemed to drop off for some reason.
From reading threads on here, the January signings seem to be rated as follows:
Pearson - quality player at this level with injury issues. Sterling - good full back option (not sure if this was January) Hoever - see Sterling, also scored some goals. Sarkic - solid enough but then got injured. Celina - shit.
That’s a pretty good success rate overall and shows he needs trusted with a full transfer window and get to Christmas at least to see if any impact is being made.
The problem you’ll have is replacing the loan players. There’s a fair few at Stoke this season.
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Post by apb1 on Apr 26, 2023 9:20:35 GMT
The record is diabolical really isn't it. When MON came in we were in a far worse position with more of the season gone, and with a 'squad assembled by someone else' (interesting this never stops other managers having a good start) and he turned us round, with goals and some decent performances. AN has shown glimpses of amazing, but could potentially be leading us to our worst finish in this 5 year Championship shitfest - we need a win to beat 2018-19's points tally and other results to go our way if we're to avoid 16th or even 17th place, should Birmingham pull off a shock or two in their last fixtures. I could forgive the stats if we were finishing with momentum, but we are looking a bit crap at the moment. For the original question, I think if we've made modest acquisitions and we can start to see a new shape and spine to the team, with results a bit patchy but glimpses of a good future, that would be ok, even if we're say 11th or 12th at Christmas. If we've spent a lot and we're crap from the off, and only 12th at Christmas, you will have to wonder if Neil is the right man for us, or if Stoke is the right club for anyone
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 26, 2023 9:24:13 GMT
The record is diabolical really isn't it. When MON came in we were in a far worse position with more of the season gone, and with a 'squad assembled by someone else' (interesting this never stops other managers having a good start) and he turned us round, with goals and some decent performances. AN has shown glimpses of amazing, but could potentially be leading us to our worst finish in this 5 year Championship shitfest - we need a win to beat 2018-19's points tally and other results to go our way if we're to avoid 16th or even 17th place, should Birmingham pull off a shock or two in their last fixtures. I could forgive the stats if we were finishing with momentum, but we are looking a bit crap at the moment. For the original question, I think if we've made modest acquisitions and we can start to see a new shape and spine to the team, with results a bit patchy but glimpses of a good future, that would be ok, even if we're say 11th or 12th at Christmas. If we've spent a lot and we're crap from the off, and only 12th at Christmas, you will have to wonder if Neil is the right man for us, or if Stoke is the right club for anyone It does stop plenty of other managers to be fair. The issue with us is that we continually appoint managers who are essentially the opposite of the last bloke, for whom the existing squad was shaped. That's why we have to basically start almost from scratch every time.
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Post by prestwichpotter on Apr 26, 2023 9:27:58 GMT
We shouldn't panic if we start slowly providing we have a plan and there are positive signs. Whether MON or AN were in charge this summer because of the contract situation the overhaul was always going to be massive. In the Championship you just need to be in touching distance at the halfway point as you're only ever a few games away from the Play Offs, if we bring in 10/12 players (which I think we will) then it may not click immediately.......
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Post by apb1 on Apr 26, 2023 9:48:32 GMT
The record is diabolical really isn't it. When MON came in we were in a far worse position with more of the season gone, and with a 'squad assembled by someone else' (interesting this never stops other managers having a good start) and he turned us round, with goals and some decent performances. AN has shown glimpses of amazing, but could potentially be leading us to our worst finish in this 5 year Championship shitfest - we need a win to beat 2018-19's points tally and other results to go our way if we're to avoid 16th or even 17th place, should Birmingham pull off a shock or two in their last fixtures. I could forgive the stats if we were finishing with momentum, but we are looking a bit crap at the moment. For the original question, I think if we've made modest acquisitions and we can start to see a new shape and spine to the team, with results a bit patchy but glimpses of a good future, that would be ok, even if we're say 11th or 12th at Christmas. If we've spent a lot and we're crap from the off, and only 12th at Christmas, you will have to wonder if Neil is the right man for us, or if Stoke is the right club for anyone It does stop plenty of other managers to be fair. The issue with us is that we continually appoint managers who are essentially the opposite of the last bloke, for whom the existing squad was shaped. That's why we have to basically start almost from scratch every time. True, and the use of 'never' was hyperbolic. But it didn't stop MON - his points per game that season would have meant 71 over 46 games, which might have got playoffs this season! He was wank later obvs, despite the mitigation of crucial - and cruciate - injuries to key players, but I'm just trying to give some perspective on Alex Neil, who has done considerably worse over the season than we'd have expected. I'm still for giving him a chance but mainly through fatigue as opposed to him proving he can show consistent improvement.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 26, 2023 9:55:56 GMT
It does stop plenty of other managers to be fair. The issue with us is that we continually appoint managers who are essentially the opposite of the last bloke, for whom the existing squad was shaped. That's why we have to basically start almost from scratch every time. True, and the use of 'never' was hyperbolic. But it didn't stop MON - his points per game that season would have meant 71 over 46 games, which might have got playoffs this season! He was wank later obvs, despite the mitigation of crucial - and cruciate - injuries to key players, but I'm just trying to give some perspective on Alex Neil, who has done considerably worse over the season than we'd have expected. I'm still for giving him a chance but mainly through fatigue as opposed to him proving he can show consistent improvement. I think that's fair. MON did an excellent job when he came in, one of the things that frustrated me so much about him ultimately was that he established a strong blueprint in those first few months and then seemed determined to flush it away in favour of something much worse. Neil absolutely should have done better than he has and some of his thinking is hard to fathom, especially when it comes to the approach at home. The crumbs of comfort are that little by little there were signs of aspects of his message get though, he used his window fairly well to fashion something resembling the kind of side he wants and we did have that burst of free-scoring performances which give some hope for what we're looking for. It reminded me a little bit of 2006/07 in terms of seeing some of the foundations being laid. Hopefully it produces the same kind of outcome, although we're starting from further back with a lot more work to do.
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Post by cousindupree on Apr 26, 2023 10:13:24 GMT
From an outsider looking in, I think you need to look at the impact the January signings had for you. From what I remember, prior to January it was largely awful for you and you seemed to regularly get beat. The signings in January managed to make a positive impact overall, and even had some of your fans discussing the possibility of the play offs after an impressive 4 or 5 game run. The run of good results meant you were effectively safe, and then the players seemed to drop off for some reason. From reading threads on here, the January signings seem to be rated as follows: Pearson - quality player at this level with injury issues. Sterling - good full back option (not sure if this was January) Hoever - see Sterling, also scored some goals. Sarkic - solid enough but then got injured. Celina - shit. That’s a pretty good success rate overall and shows he needs trusted with a full transfer window and get to Christmas at least to see if any impact is being made. The problem you’ll have is replacing the loan players. There’s a fair few at Stoke this season. Not sure I agree with your assessment of Neil's recruiting. Pearson and Hoever were good signings and had an impact on the whle team. Pearson expecially as he balanced the midfield and allowed Smallbone and Laurent to flourish. But just about everyone on this board knew we have been desperate for a holding midfileder since Whelan. So Pearson was a no brainer. Two of our best performing loanees, Smallbone and Sterling were summer signings. The rest of Neil's january signings have made little or no contribution due to poor form or injusry. In the summer we have a massive rebuild and we can't afford to have half the signings making little or no contribution. So for me the jury is out on Neil/Martin recruitment, they were fired from Norwich for poor recruitment. He has to get it right in the summer and if he doesn't I wouldn't give him another window.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Apr 26, 2023 10:19:05 GMT
From an outsider looking in, I think you need to look at the impact the January signings had for you. From what I remember, prior to January it was largely awful for you and you seemed to regularly get beat. The signings in January managed to make a positive impact overall, and even had some of your fans discussing the possibility of the play offs after an impressive 4 or 5 game run. The run of good results meant you were effectively safe, and then the players seemed to drop off for some reason. From reading threads on here, the January signings seem to be rated as follows: Pearson - quality player at this level with injury issues. Sterling - good full back option (not sure if this was January) Hoever - see Sterling, also scored some goals. Sarkic - solid enough but then got injured. Celina - shit. That’s a pretty good success rate overall and shows he needs trusted with a full transfer window and get to Christmas at least to see if any impact is being made. The problem you’ll have is replacing the loan players. There’s a fair few at Stoke this season. Not sure I agree with your assessment of Neil's recruiting. Pearson and Hoever were good signings and had an impact on the whle team. Pearson expecially as he balanced the midfield and allowed Smallbone and Laurent to flourish. But just about everyone on this board knew we have been desperate for a holding midfileder since Whelan. So Pearson was a no brainer. Two of our best performing loanees, Smallbone and Sterling were summer signings. The rest of Neil's january signings have made little or no contribution due to poor form or injusry. In the summer we have a massive rebuild and we can't afford to have half the signings making little or no contribution. So for me the jury is out on Neil/Martin recruitment, they were fired from Norwich for poor recruitment. He has to get it right in the summer and if he doesn't I wouldn't give him another window. That's a bit harsh. Pearson was indeed a 'no-brainer' but he's nevertheless actually gone and signed a genuine holding midfielder, which the last bloke was adamant we didn't need. Likewise with Sarkic - hardly Neil's fault he got injured and he recognised a goalkeeper was needed, something our summer window resolutely didn't. Sterling was a Neil signing.
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Post by nottsover60 on Apr 26, 2023 10:56:44 GMT
You have to give him until Xmas. Even then if the signs are good but results/position in the table are not what you want, you still stick with him. I think you got a feeling with Hughes, MON and, I would include Pulis, that things had gone stale and players weren't enjoying playing, that there was no togetherness, but we stuck with all of them a season too long. October is too early to judge a new squad, you've only had a month which has included an international break with players who don't sign until deadline day or even those who sign after the season starts. I like to look at Coventry and QPR during October. Even taking into account Coventry not having played home games itt looked like QPR were playing for promotion and Coventry would be in a relegation battle.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Apr 26, 2023 11:00:08 GMT
You have to give him until Xmas. Even then if the signs are good but results/position in the table are not what you want you still stick with him. I think you got a feeling with Hughes, MON and I would include Pulis that things had gone stale and players weren't enjoying playing, that there was no togetherness but we stuck with all of them a season too long. October is too early to judge a new squad, you've only had a month which has included an international break with players who don't sign until deadline day or even those who sign after the season starts. I like to look at Coventry and QPR. During October even taking into account Coventry not having played home games. It looked like QPR were playing for promotion and Coventry would be in a relegation battle. Ultimately I think longer than Christmas but I don't think that's the reality of the situation. But I also get the feeling not many would be arsed if he was sacked now. And if we don't start well then I don't think he has the credit MON did. People are fed up and want quick wins.
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Post by nottsover60 on Apr 26, 2023 11:20:07 GMT
You have to give him until Xmas. Even then if the signs are good but results/position in the table are not what you want you still stick with him. I think you got a feeling with Hughes, MON and I would include Pulis that things had gone stale and players weren't enjoying playing, that there was no togetherness but we stuck with all of them a season too long. October is too early to judge a new squad, you've only had a month which has included an international break with players who don't sign until deadline day or even those who sign after the season starts. I like to look at Coventry and QPR. During October even taking into account Coventry not having played home games. It looked like QPR were playing for promotion and Coventry would be in a relegation battle. Ultimately I think longer than Christmas but I don't think that's the reality of the situation. But I also get the feeling not many would be arsed if he was sacked now. And if we don't start well then I don't think he has the credit MON did. People are fed up and want quick wins. I am one who wouldn't be bothered if he was replaced now. I can't see his potential to do anything than at the best get us in the play off or at his ultimate get us promoted. I did however feel the same about Pulis's second coming at the time so am prepared to be proved wrong again. If he stays and spends all the kitty we have to stick by him. He shouldn't be sacked during the season unless it is a complete disaster, relegation on the horizon and a clear candidate who we have already sounded out ready to take over. Whoever comes in in that situation should be ready to work with what we''ve got, be able to get more, different out of the players and not be promised money to spend even the ' sell to buy' sort. Squad stability is so important. Things have changed due to the loans market I know but I always feel that a team that bring in more than five players struggle at least up till Christmas. I do worry that if none of our current squad stay here (be they loanees or out of contract players) we will limp to a lower mid table position in the first half of the season again.
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Post by estrangedsonoffaye on Apr 26, 2023 11:20:47 GMT
If the season had ended 3 weeks ago, I imagine he'd have a lot of credit in the bank with the memories of 5-6 excellent performances ringing loud in everyone's ears. Unfortunately since that time we've resorted back to extremely dull, extremely negative, extremely disappointing results and displays which I think means he's going to be under pressure to bed in his transfers very quickly and produce the results and type of football he's been very eager to speak about.
I think how keen the club were to cash in on those results with big words and big promises could definitely back fire if we don't get off to a good start which will put him immediately under pressure from the fanbase. But the club have basically give AN free reign to change whatever he likes so I wouldn't be shocked if they feel they have to give him more time than they would potentially like or is wise.
One thing is clear, if and when he does leave we will deconstruct the structure he has put in place at the behest of the next manager, and likely have to go through this process again as we seemingly have with every manager post relegation.
My concern is his record outside of being an impact manager is pretty mediocre, despite all the noise and fury about it.
I think after 5 years of this shit and not threatening the playoffs even once in that time, people are beginning to lose patience and voting with their feet and I honestly can't blame them. It's up to AN and the squad to prevent that otherwise it's going to be like the entire period between 2008-2016 never happened.
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Post by independent on Apr 26, 2023 11:24:51 GMT
Without checking, as I recall about 6 of his signings were under 1 million. And we will probably have about 20 million to spend if we wish. The real question is will AN be trusted to spend that amount. Regarding Burnley, They probably will come straight back down, unless they take a big financial gamble. If they do gamble,the likelihood is that they will be broke within a couple of years. I think Kompany will be out of there as quickly as possible. Most of the signings where in the £2.5-4M range, some were below £1M. And of course a couple of loans. But you can't underestimate the network of contacts, agents, scouts, managers and players Vincent Kompany has. AN isn't close to that, all he has are british contacts. 10 of the signings were from abroad, but we don't do those, do we? But you may well be right that they'll go broke if they fail to establish themselves in the PL again and Kompany leaves. To be fair to AN, I seem to remember him bringing in some foreign players at either Norwich or Preston. Now whether that was down to him or the club,Who knows? There seems to be great value available on the Continent in Grade 2 players who would be ideal for us. But whether we can get work permits for them is another matter.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Apr 26, 2023 11:27:41 GMT
Ultimately I think longer than Christmas but I don't think that's the reality of the situation. But I also get the feeling not many would be arsed if he was sacked now. And if we don't start well then I don't think he has the credit MON did. People are fed up and want quick wins. I am one who wouldn't be bothered if he was replaced now. I can't see his potential to do anything than at the best get us in the play off or at his ultimate get us promoted. I did however feel the same about Pulis's second coming at the time so am prepared to be proved wrong again. If he stays and spends all the kitty we have to stick by him. He shouldn't be sacked during the season unless it is a complete disaster, relegation on the horizon and a clear candidate who we have already sounded out ready to take over. Whoever comes in in that situation should be ready to work with what we''ve got, be able to get more, different out of the players and not be promised money to spend even the ' sell to buy' sort. Squad stability is so important. Things have changed due to the loans market I know but I always feel that a team that bring in more than five players struggle at least up till Christmas. I do worry that if none of our current squad stay here (be they loanees or out of contract players) we will limp to a lower mid table position in the first half of the season again. Re this "If he stays and spends all the kitty we have to stick by him. He shouldn't be sacked during the season unless it is a complete disaster", I completely agree. But I don't think that's what the crowd will think. Its why this whole having a big budget worries me. Its why letting a manager who the fans aren't that arsed by have such control worries me. Its why having a manager who doesn't (and why should he) think medium to long term worries me. We shall see though but he needs a good start because there's no patience there.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 26, 2023 11:45:11 GMT
Fuck him off November if we don't look like getting in the playoffs at least.
He just has to deliver a team that can compete and not capitulate, can win at home and look a serious promotion threat. Anything else is failure.
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Post by nottsover60 on Apr 26, 2023 11:53:22 GMT
Fuck him off November if we don't look like getting in the playoffs at least. He just has to deliver a team that can compete and not capitulate, can win at home and look a serious promotion threat. Anything else is failure. Omit your first sentence and I agree but I think November is too soon to judge a complete overhaul. We should expect the signs at least that we will compete rather than capitulate but I would rather see a Middlesbrough than a Luton team which takes time to build compared to Luton's defend at all costs then boot it straight down the middle and have a forward who can outpace and out muscle the opposition. That is no foundation for the Premier.
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Post by haway on Apr 26, 2023 12:20:43 GMT
From an outsider looking in, I think you need to look at the impact the January signings had for you. From what I remember, prior to January it was largely awful for you and you seemed to regularly get beat. The signings in January managed to make a positive impact overall, and even had some of your fans discussing the possibility of the play offs after an impressive 4 or 5 game run. The run of good results meant you were effectively safe, and then the players seemed to drop off for some reason. From reading threads on here, the January signings seem to be rated as follows: Pearson - quality player at this level with injury issues. Sterling - good full back option (not sure if this was January) Hoever - see Sterling, also scored some goals. Sarkic - solid enough but then got injured. Celina - shit. That’s a pretty good success rate overall and shows he needs trusted with a full transfer window and get to Christmas at least to see if any impact is being made. The problem you’ll have is replacing the loan players. There’s a fair few at Stoke this season. Not sure I agree with your assessment of Neil's recruiting. Pearson and Hoever were good signings and had an impact on the whle team. Pearson expecially as he balanced the midfield and allowed Smallbone and Laurent to flourish. But just about everyone on this board knew we have been desperate for a holding midfileder since Whelan. So Pearson was a no brainer. Two of our best performing loanees, Smallbone and Sterling were summer signings. The rest of Neil's january signings have made little or no contribution due to poor form or injusry. In the summer we have a massive rebuild and we can't afford to have half the signings making little or no contribution. So for me the jury is out on Neil/Martin recruitment, they were fired from Norwich for poor recruitment. He has to get it right in the summer and if he doesn't I wouldn't give him another window. Fair enough, my view is from an outsider looking in. Didn’t realise Sterling was a summer signing. From what is obvious though, he identified a glaring weakness in your lack of defensive midfield and wanted a better goalkeeper. He was obviously limited given the amount of loans you had already, and tight FFP regulations apparently. If those regulations are more relaxed next year, and some loans go back it would give him an opportunity to strengthen other areas. Up top and at CB possibly? Depends how much money he has to play with.
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Post by shakermaker on Apr 26, 2023 12:45:51 GMT
It'll be too late by then. Money will have been spent and more underperforming players on the books we're stuck with who nobody else will buy. This is our Mark Hughes moment - do we stick and hope he can build on those five exemplary games, or do we take stock and consider that a flash in the pan of a very mediocre season and get rid now? He's been here 7 months and one transfer window, how is this remotely comparable to Hughes 7 months is long enough for a manager to make an impact, as Cooper showed at Forest last season. We had a squad that should undeniably have performed better than they have under Neil, and a lot of the failings behind that rests with Neil - for instance, our best performance of the season was against Sheff Utd. He rarely deployed that system again, preferring instead to follow MON's obsession with a back three. And yes, we know Baker has been off the boil this season... but constantly playing him as a holding midfielder did not help one bit. The parallel with Sparky is that we could see results weren't working under Hughes and we should have got rid the summer before we were relegated. Same here, results have generally been poor under AN and the purple patch aside, I have seen nothing that warrants him being given the summer war chest which is so important to our short-term future. Furthermore, Neil has no experience or reputation for building a side. He typically comes in and builds on the squad he has at his disposal, like he did with Norwich and to a certain degree with Preston. It then tails off badly with abysmal signings and poor tactics (Ricky van Wolfswinkel at Norwich anyone? That was a Neil and Ricky Martin masterstroke).
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Post by spiderpuss on Apr 26, 2023 13:39:59 GMT
It wouldn't bother me in the slightest if he left in the Summer. Bar a handful of notable results and it's a pretty small hand, the rest has been forgettable and the home form unforgivable. The disaster again Wigan and the double 2-1 defeats doesn't lead me to believe it's going to be any better next term. The real worry is we should have been consistently improving since January and yet we've struggled to beat relegation fodder.
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Post by Ron on Apr 26, 2023 21:36:18 GMT
If a better option was available I’d go for it. He’s led us to our lowest league finish since relegation. He came in early season. His approach at home is shocking. One month papered over the cracks.
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Post by generationex on Apr 26, 2023 22:17:03 GMT
His signing success rate has been better than anyone since Pulis.
He’s got to have a proper window with less of the baggage attached.
If he gets it wrong we’ll know by Christmas and it’s back to square one admittedly; it’s all about recruitment and he’s shown enough to deserve a chance. It’s not as though we have any obvious alternatives.
Had the form prior to these last three weeks continued there would not be this discussion. After the Bristol game the season became pointless (hopefully not in both senses of the word).
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