First Manager Next Season

I’m largely going on the word of a couple of Baggies fans I know who pretty much despise him in fairness. Maybe not a ‘disaster’ in the most explicit term but that was the word used.

 

Extrapolated over 46 games that 66.7 points – 4.7 points more than we got this season with Edwards-Bilic-Wilder and not enough for 9th place.

Maybe not a disaster but combined with a very difficult style of play to watch it's not the most dynamic appointment.

 

A very sad day for our club

 

That should say 'enough for 9th place' or 'not enough for the play-offs'. Either way, an underwhelming record but a reputation for taking no prisoners. Overachieved with Barnsley's squad, underachieved with West Brom's.

 

If it means we get rid of the players who are not prepared to put a full shift in every game, and replace with players that actually give a feck, then I’ll take a less attractive style of play. Whether it works depends largely on recruitment- it looks like we will need a new forward line for starters, which won’t be easy to find with a small budget.

 

They didn’t recruit for him at all. And he was in 9th place, higher than their finish at the end of that season and the same as their finish this year under Corberan.

It’d be like dismissing Edwards’ time here and saying he’d be a bad fit for Luton. Except Luton have a squad and recruited for Edwards and it worked. We will have to do the same. We probably won’t but if we do then I think Ismael will do well.

 

Can’t wait to hear how he’s always wanted to work with Vakoun Bayo and personally insisted on giving Leandro Bacuna a new 3 year deal.

 

The Pozzos when the fans plead with him not to appoint a long-ball manager: 'We're gonna do it anyway!'

 

Guess you know better than the WBA fans on this one.

 

No I’ve just provided some context on how it could be different this time. If a well-meaning Luton fan (haha) had come on here asking about Rob and whether he’d lead them to third we would have been pretty dismissive to based on his record here.

 

West Brom were abysmal to watch when he was there and Barnsley were effective but agricultural. High press and direct which got results but my word a hard watch.

Mind you, I couldn’t stand Boothroyd’s football. The equivalent of putting the ball in that machine they use to draw the national lottery numbers and hoping to deflect one into the net whenever something pops out.

 

Don’t let the league table and points data get in the way when there’s a chance to be negative. Suddenly posters on Twitter are more realisable than league table and points stats ? Their Twitter fans must be a hell of a lot more reliable than our Twitter fans ?

 

I guess at some point someone will put together an extended good season as it’s a game of numbers. But in terms of building anything strategically it’s a waste of time as the twunt Pozzo will fire anyone who has a poor run. As a result I don’t have much of a view on who we pick as the owner is an idiot. But I don’t think the WBA stint fills me with much confidence our new chap fan outrun Pozzo’s infantile methods!!

 

No idea what this gibberish is. Do you think WBA fans were happy with him?

 

Obviously West Brom would have had expectations to be up there (which they weren't, even if they were unlucky not to pick up more points), but I wonder if most of the gripes with him are about the style of play? I guess it's not totally unreasonable for a relegated team to want to play good football as one of the bigger fish in the Championship pond, but that's not really my primary concern at all at the moment

 

You’re forgetting Steve Bruce was in charge for part of the season and only got a disastrous 0.85 per game in their first 13 games.

Corberan got 1.73 PPG which would’ve got them level with Luton, so VI having them in 9th isn’t comparable, especially as they had a better squad back then by comparison. The fair comparison of using PPG just further highlights VI not being very good, but at least he’s better than Steve Bruce.

 

I’m not forgetting. And I think WBA’s squad this season is superior to this season personally. The only first team players they lost were Johnstone and Clarke but they brought in Wallace, Swift, Yokuslu, Molumby, Thomas-Asante and a number of loanees who featured regularly.

His time at WBA wasn’t great but it was far from a disaster.

We have a manager with a defined style of play, who demands commitment from his players and his some record of success in this division. He is likely to be culturally aligned with Manga and he speaks good English.

 

If you hadn’t forgotten then you’ll have know he didn’t get them to the same place as Corberan, because Corberan dragged them up from the bottom of the table.

Your last few points are all great, but we all know we have an owner with the expectation of Ambramovich, so if he doesn’t hit the ground running immediately (with a load of new players, and existing players that have basically given up trying for any manager) then the players will know he’ll be getting the shitcan soon enough, and the players will give up on his particularly demanding system.

All things considered, I don’t think he’s a good enough manager based on past performance to come in and win probably 6 or 7 of his first 10 games, so it will all end in tears as per the other 19.

 

Well let’s hope that the other decision maker, who has been brought in to make these decisions, will make them differently. Now of course Pozzo could override Manga - we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

His style of play does bring to mind Pozzo's propensity to often veer between different styles of managers to either correct failings of the previous one or simply give something else a try when the previous thing didn't work. Whether that shifting from foreign to British, attacking to defensive etc. etc.

This season our team under pretty much all the managers were rightly criticised for playing slow-paced, indirect, possession-based football which was often just passing it backwards and sideways amongst the defence, and regularly turning down the opportunity to counter on the opponent when they gave the ball away. They were also rightly criticised for the team often seeming lazy and unfit.

Ismael's approach is pretty much the complete opposite, in seeking to attack quickly, and demanding his players be fit and play at a high intensity.

Such an approach to managerial appointments by Pozzo is by no means always successful, but I can see how it's attempting to right some of the wrongs of the previous season.

 

You may well be right but I doubt we have too many coaches banging on the door to add WFC to their CV due to our financial position and history of hiring and firing and general interference (yes, all self-inflicted). He's far from perfect but I like high intensity, fast, attacking football, which is the exact opposite of what we've been treated to this season, esp if it's more like Aidy's first season than 1980s Wimbledon. It's going to be tough to get him the players he needs to deliver his preferred style of play on a shoestring, and we've seen with Edwards that square pegs may be fit into round holes.

 

I personally favour the up and coming with promise approach, like Aidy, Rogers, Edwards etc. Whose type are easily in our reach and have huge potential upside. I’m sick of the ‘short term fix an immediate problem and to hell with the future’ type of appointment, which this is what this is.

As I said in that other thread, sooner or later someone being positive about the next manager will be proven right and have their day in the sun, but I don’t suddenly expect that to be now.

 

Yes I wouldn't have been averse to another Edwards-like punt. However after seeing what happened to him, and given the lower WFC prospects now, maybe even another promising Edwards would wait for a more secure opportunity to come along ? The key with this guy will be getting him a decent, fit, enthusiastic squad. I fear we may fail at that first hurdle. There is no doubt he would fail with what he will inherit on day one. At least we've had an early appointment so Pozzo/Manga/Ismael can be 100% aligned in what they need and who they go for. Plus the Pedro deal is done with known fee. Will be an interesting summer and start to the season for sure, ......before we settle somewhere mid-table ish.

 

Why Farioli?

 

A slight over exaggeration! Wasn't great but not a disaster either

 

which I think is what Farioli plays. I've just looked at his record and it's hardly inspiring so just wondered why some felt it should be him

 

Farioli has today been confirmed as the new manager of Nice.

It will be interesting to see how he gets on,

As you know, I’d have loved him at Watford but it wasn’t to be. Now firmly behind Ismael and hoping to be proved wrong about him.