I'm not actually seriously saying 'let's get Ivic back', but if we recall his style was largely obsessed with getting the ball out wide and crossing it in - one of the reasons that didn't work is because we didn't possess a single striker who could get into the box and on to the end of it. That is the one thing that has been fixed since, and so, presumably, his style might stand a lot higher chance of success than it did back then.
I agree, I’m not saying that’s who I want to replace Munoz and that’s who we should get back, but I do think all things considered he’d do a better job, and the style of football is much less of a concern in the PL, when your remit is simply to survive and worry about playing pretty football later on down the line. But let’s face it, we wouldn’t even be trading pretty football for bad football because we’re currently playing atrocious football.
Another unqualified (for PL) guy who has already shown he’s more than capable of falling out with those at the club. We need a unifying voice across the squad and boardroom. I think that’s more important than playing style right now personally. Gracia was the closest we have been in the PL (Zola before that) - but he clearly had a shelf life as his CV showed.
No, exactly/absolutely - whoever it is, we cannot concern ourselves with philosophising over the quality of particular styles of football, when currently we aren't playing any kind of football at all.
Agree he’s also under qualified, but compared to Munoz he’s significantly more qualified. It was also based more on his more cautious approach, which was unnecessary in the championship but far more useful (QSF first season) in the PL. Just be solid, grind points out and go from there. We haven’t kept a clean sheet all season. I agree that we need what your suggesting in your second paragraph, but the nature of the timing means it will just be another Hail Mary type appointment, who is out there that we could realistically get that would fulfil that role?
At this stage, I don’t feel it would need to be a ‘Hail Mary’ appointment. We are a way off the need for a Big Sam style plunge yet. We could still make an appointment and have a successful season. Plenty of scope for that in terms of ‘time’ - where that falls down somewhat is the scope of ‘control’. If Gino is willing to cede some control, we could run forward from here IMO. But for as long as the owner just wants a different name above the door working under the same conditions, he should not expect different results.
The list of available managers is as strong as it has been for a long time. Don't miss out. We obviously couldn't get a Conte, but we could feasibly get a Fonseca.
Gino couldn’t sack him in the summer, because our transfer plans were clearly based on getting rid of as many as possible, and plugging some gaps where we could. No proper coach would accept those terms. We needed a yes man who wouldn’t cause trouble. Now we’re out of the transfer window, whoever comes in will be stuck with the randomly assembled spare parts we call a squad. He can even promise reinforcements in January (from Udinese, of course). I reckon we’ve got more chance of hiring a quality coach now there’s no immediate expectation of transfers being made.
I guess what I mean about the Hail Mary aspect is the timing, part way through a season the good managers are in jobs, and we don’t approach in work managers. So we’re fishing from the pool of out of work managers. Most of the good ones on that list seem out of our league to me.
We don't need a world-class manager to get us into Europe, we just need someone competent & experienced enough to get us to finish above 3 of the other not-very-good sides in the league. I don't think that's asking for the impossible.
Interesting - I see he was last at Guangzhou in China, where he finished 11th out of 16 clubs last year - in an entirely genuine way, what is it about his coaching you appreciate/think would work well for us?
I really cannot see Steve Bruce being manager at Newcastle for much longer, but surely Xisco is above him?
He took a very average Feyenoord side and improved them loads on a limited budget. They played some very good attacking football from the little I saw of them (maybe 6 matches) - I seem to recall they won games by being dominant in midfield with lots of movement and runners into the box … but I seem to recall at times they were a bit susceptible at the back …. Perhaps a bit Marco Silva esq. In truth having only seen 6 or so matches I’m hardly the best informed
Six matches more than me! That's interesting, thanks. Not sure about the defensive susceptibility but then, if he brought just the attacking football, it would already be a 50% improvement...
I’m still the lone voice in the Sir Eddie camp. But he’s available and knows how to keep a side in the PL (well for 4 seasons out of 5) I do like the ex Granada boss too, who is also available.
He won the title with Feyenoord - against a very good Ajax side and PSV who have much bigger budgets ….. the again Steve McLaren won it with AZ Alkmaar
As ever, the problem is that Watford is not a very attractive job for a top quality manager. You have very little control over recruitment, you have the hierarchy watching/involving themselves, you live under constant threat of getting sacked. I'd love Diego Martinez (former Granada manager) but think he'd be a candidate for a better job than us. Regardless of what you think about Eddie Howe, he had vastly more control at Bournemouth than he'd get here, so why come here. We're a place for up-and-comers or for people looking to reboot their career. Not unlike some of the players we bring in. The challenge now is that for nine months, we've not really had a system or a structure, and not really played with tactics, and haven't recruited players to fit one. So you're asking a head coach to come in, work with this random collection of pieces, and make them better than the sum of their parts. That's a big job in a good situation - let alone in one where there's not much money (it seems).
I don't oppose him based on his pedigree, merely on the fact that our owners will never allow someone with as much gumption to flourish here. They want yes men and patsies. It's no coincidence that the likes of Gracia and Munoz have lasted longer than others. Nice guys with little obvious demand for control or ambition beyond the status quo.
Overriding factor this season so far.....1 point out of a possible 12 against Brighton, Wolves, Newcastle & Leeds. Not only the points from those games but the manor of the performance in all of them is gravely concerning!! Has to go. The club will have to put their tin hats on to stop the avalanche of abuse from the likes of jug ears Lineker, but, it's the right thing to do if we have any ambitions on finishing 17th. This guy is leading us to relegation with a whimper with his clueless selections and tactics. Nice chap, no one disputing that and he's done a solid job overall since he arrived but he's been incredibly lucky along the way. We need a change of direction. I think most fans are unanimous in their feelings on this, which is usually quite rare.
No official news out from the club yet. Is Xisco still in the job? I wouldn't be surprised to see him sacked by 10am on Monday morning.
