Manager For The Championship Season 22/23

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by LeedsOrn, Feb 14, 2022.

  1. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    Pretty clear that we’re all but down now barring an incredible turnaround in form.

    The only think that’s perking me up is the (perhaps remote) prospect that next season we’ll make a good appointment of a smart manager and give them the time/resources to build towards something.

    So (and @LouOrns posted something similar on Twitter but wanted to get a discussion going here): if you could pick any (realistic) manager to come in on a medium term contract and build towards promotion (with the understanding that they will be sticking around after to try and keep us in the PL with a similar style of play) who would you go for? Please no “we’ll probably get so and so from the Kazakh second division.” Part of what I am asking is what YOU would like to see the club go for.

    For me, I think style of play is key. It has got to be someone with a style of play that is dynamic enough to dominate/entertain in the Championship but also not naive enough to crumple in the PL. One doesn’t need to have to suffer an Ivic in the Championship or roll the dice on Jokanovic in the PL - some managers are both (Nuno, Bielsa, Wilder have all done it recent years) and so a manager who is able to do both would be my primary criterion.

    So who would people like to see?
    I’ll put some names out to spark some discussion:

    Nuno (I know things got a bit dour at the end but he did lead Wolves to the title as top-scorers)

    Diego Martinez (supposedly of interest previously and looking for a job in England)

    Neil Critchley or Nathan Jones - would be a bit of a punt but both clearly outstanding young coaches with a clear style who get a lot out of their resources. Getting Jones out of Luton would also be fun in and of itself.
     
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  2. lowerrous

    lowerrous First Team

    I already posted Ange Postecoglou in the other Champ team thread - he's only on a rolling contract with Celtic so should be available, and has them playing good attacking football.

    I can't see any PL clubs directly taking a punt on him either so reckon he could be persuaded.
     
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  3. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    If we aren't totally broke upon relegation, Diego Martinez.

    If we are totally broke upon relegation, Liam Manning from MK Dons.
     
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  4. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I don’t really have a name, they took their time over Ivic and they seemed to be reacting to some of the problems that caused our relegation, but were not willing to back him even though the football was admittedly poor.

    Hopefully that was just the wrong appointment and they’ll approach it in the same way again. At some point I think we just need to back a manager and give him time, but when the chips are down it’s always PL or bust so nobody will get much more than a ten game bad spell before it’s back to a fire fighting appointment.

    My worry is Gino seems to feel vindicated by previous actions when things don’t work when they do something different, and just revert to type. Like signing Gray meant he wasn’t willing to address the issue again and just spend more money on another striker.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2022
  5. RMT79

    RMT79 First Year Pro

    Before anything else - we need to change our strategy when it comes to head coaches and give the bloke at least 2 seasons to build something .... sometimes you have to go back to go forwards and Gino needs to accept that

    Nuno would be good, but he wont come to us. I think he is quite a difficult character too, so may not get on with Gino for very long

    Diego Martinez appears to have done really good jobs at small clubs and if we could convince him to join us it would appear to be a bit of a coup and he would be my first choice - even though he has never managed in England.... Ive read quite a bit about him and I get the feeling he is a really astute young manager who has bee nreally unlucky not to have bee npicked up by a big club ... well bigger than us.

    We dont go for managers in other jobs normally .... but if we did I wouldn't mind the fella from Huddersfield, Carlos Coberan - seems to have done a decent job

    I dont want Nathan Jones .... cant stand the bloke and he was woeful at Stoke - I dont know too much about Critchley but he has also done a great job at Blackpool (just looked on Wiki)

    All I want a young manager with an attacking philosophy, someone to make me want to watch us play again .... the last 3 seasons (incl this one), the football has been absolutely dire
     
  6. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    He would be absolutely ideal but don’t think we’ll be able to get him out of Celtic regardless of his contract situation. I think a) now that Rangers have picked up and there is genuine competition in Scotland and b) he has been given a lot of control over transfers (and investment) and brought in young players from Japan etc Celtic is a much more attractive job. Plus Postecoglou can look at Rodgers and Gerrard and know that success for another one or two years can see him getting an upwardly mobile mid table PL side. Whereas previously we’d be a much more attractive option than Celtic I don’t think that’s the case right now (and while it’s partially Gino’s fault I think Celtic have also made themselves uniquely attractive to Postecoglou. But that is exactly the kind of appointment I’d love and I suspect the appointment the Pozzos thought they’d got when they hired Ivic.)
    Absolutely agree with your outlook and I agree that Nuno would be tricky one. Probably too spiky a figure to mesh nicely with the hierarchy and I’d also be concerned that we’d end up being beholden to Jorge Mendes which is a concern in the long-term.

    Personally I think Jones would be a far better appointment than Corberan (whose Huddersfield side doesn’t really score many goals even though they tap it around nicely.) Jones’ time at Stoke is a cautionary tale certainly especially as they were in a similar position to the one we’ll be in but as much as it might pain us he has done an unbelievable job with Luton.

    @Burnsy Liam Manning definitely a great up and coming manager but this would come too soon I think unless the expectation really would be that there is no promotion tilt at all next season (similar to Swansea/Martin this season) and I don’t think that’ll be the outlook.

    Given Martinez’s style of play I’m not sure we’d dominate opponents in the championship in the way we’d like but I think the style of play is perfect for a bottom half side in the PL and maybe that is a worthwhile cost. Clearly a top coach and surely worth pushing the boat out for but I just wonder if his style of play is a bit too Burnley.
     
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  7. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    What about the one we get in December to replace this one ?
     
  8. Oscar calling

    Oscar calling Squad Player

    Think outside the box. Gareth Ainsworth.
     
  9. luke_golden

    luke_golden Space Cadet

    What I want:

    Director of Football, with the power overhaul the whole system from top to bottom, and implement an actual footballing philosophy, with players signed at all levels with this style of play in mind.

    Young, dynamic manager, capable of implementing the style of football we want to play.

    I genuinely don’t care about Premier League football returning right away, I just want a team that looks like something beside a jumbled mess, with no identity whatsoever beside being really old, slow, and good at losing.

    If we do the above right, we’ll get back there eventually, and be far better set to make a proper attempt at consolidating.

    What we’ll get:

    Pozzbury empty platitudes.

    Cathcart contract extension.

    Continued coaching upheaval, culminating in Deeney coming back as manager.
     
  10. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    I agree (although I don’t think Cathcart will get a renewal beyond 2023 and I would be shocked if Deeney came back without an otherwise adequate managerial record). Any good suggestions for DoF/young manager? I suppose the ones who are well-known (Stuart Webber, Luis Campos etc) wouldn’t go for it but I think Leigh Bromby has done a decent job rebuilding Huddersfield.
     
  11. Gromit

    Gromit Academy Graduate

    Until there is a serious change of direction from Gino/Scott Duxbury, a decent manager is wasted on us.

    We need a substantial long term plan to coincide with a new manager.

    If the club continue to paper over the cracks with faeces, then it will end up with more of the same.
     
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  12. Robert Peel

    Robert Peel Squad Player

    Nuno and Martinez are good shouts.

    I wouldn't touch that bible-bashing gnome from the scum with a barge pole.

    Michael Duff has built Cheltenham up well. Heard an interview with him a few months ago and he spoke about the game so well. Was really engaging like GT and sounded like a really intelligent, inspiring manger. Can't see Gino going for someone like that and could he make that step up?
     
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  13. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    I would first like to us set upon a plan and a style of play that we would like to see. Do we want tippy tappy, or hi energy (leeds) or more direct. Do we want a young hungry team or do we prefer experience. Set these up and then look for a manager best suited to this. I would like to a much younger hungry team with a focus on attacking (I suspect we all want that). Above all, I want a manger given the chance to build something. Clearly if we're bottom 6 at Christmas in The Championship then we might need to reconsider but apart from that allow the fella some time.
     
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  14. luke_golden

    luke_golden Space Cadet

    I’m half joking about Deeney, but given we know Gino absolutely loves a retread, Duxbury is close with him, and the drooling masses on Twitter/media would love it, I can see them pulling that out of the hat at some point in a last desperate bid to restore favor until it all blows up in their faces.

    As for the DoF, I don’t have a particular name in mind, which is outside the remit of this thread, so I do apologize, but it felt like as good a place as any to unload.

    I just want somebody here who believes in something, and gives us a bit of identity again. Something we can look at even when things aren’t going great, and think, yeah, that’s what we do, there’s a plan and we’re working towards a better place.

    I’m done with firefighting, lurching blindly from one coach to another.
     
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  15. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    The Deeney suggestion I think is nuts. Parallels in some respects to Lampard at Chelsea in that a young manager who only had one season in the championship was ultimately (once the transfer embargo was lifted) expected to perform to the standard of hugely experienced managers like Ancelotti or Conte, or he got fired. No allowances for learning or developing over time, you simply have to be at the standard of previous Chelsea managers immediately or you’re gone, even though that was a bonkers expectation.

    We’ll be the same with Deeney, he won’t get given time to learn and make mistakes and it will all end in horrible tears.
     
  16. nornironhorn

    nornironhorn Administrator Staff Member

    I don't know who we will go for, but I'd be fairly confident we appoint the wrong person.
     
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  17. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    Certainly. Who, in your eyes, would be the right person?

    To clarify, I wasn’t asking who we will go for but who we should go for.
     
  18. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    If we're serious then Neil Warnock. If we're not serious then Neil Warnock.
     
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  19. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    Half the problem is we don't give people enough time to find out if right or wrong
     
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  20. With my wavy magic wand I'd bring back Zola and keep Ray Lewington as his shouty #2, and bring back Dean Austin as assistant shouty man

    Roy I'd keep on a retainer as a sporting directory type consultant because someone needs to know what they are doing around the board table

    Then I'd fire Scot
     
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  21. foxywfc

    foxywfc Reservist

    Should of kept Xisco and brought in someone with experience like Ranieri above him to guide him and mentor or as an assistant to lean on. Since that with the last 2 appointments we’ve now probably missed the boat with our premier league status being the most appealing thing and most coaches prepared to turn a blind eye to the Gino Duxbury circus.

    Now if the system was changed and they gave a guy a chance to build, Duff is a great shout. Warburton from QPR. John Herdman Canada national coach(ok he’s definitely going nowhere until after World Cup ) Gifton Noel Williams has his badges. John Terry from Wayne Bridges apartment


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  22. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    Paul Warne I think is another I’d look at.
     
  23. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Well if we are going on track - anyone between the ages of 75 and 80 will fit Gino's new managerial model.

    Although, I agree with @Gromit in the fact Gino/Dux need to step up and explain where they want us to be within the next two to three years. If we are still a PL side come end of May, I expect little will change, despite a new out of work manager and extensions here and there. If we do go down, then it is even more important we do not spend what little money we will have on chance players/manager who may or may not get us back up at the first time. It has been said time and time again, we need a re-build, and we cannot do that in this division unless we are bought by a billionaire.

    If we need to spend x-amount of seasons' in the Championship, but we end up developing some younger talent from the U23s for example into first team players - it can only strengthen us going forward. It matters so little on the manager front, we need to get the playing squad sorted out first and foremost. If Gino cannot see that, after all this recent failure - he needs to move on.
     
  24. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    He won’t move from Celtic to work under Pozzo in the championship ?
     
  25. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

  26. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    @Burnsy - this is what it would take for me to join a protest.
    Or this.
     
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  27. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    Roy Evans
     
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  28. cyaninternetdog

    cyaninternetdog Forum Hippie

    Get Aidy back. He must be more tactically aware after his stint within the England setup and would lift the mood somewhat both on and off the pitch. Probably has built up a wealth of contacts within the academy system so might open a few doors. Get Deeney in as assistant.

    This might be a bit of a genius PR move for Gino, he sure needs one.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2022
  29. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Good grief.
     
  30. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    Come on people, we all know what will happen. We'll have one of the oldest squads in the Championship and we'll get some random in who will last 15 games at most. Then another change or even two to see the season out.
     
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  31. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Be harder to attract managers in the Championship potentially?

    They will get no time to settle in and build a squad and expectations will be sky high.
     
  32. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I know the thread is who do you want as manager, so I’m conscious of derailing it, but I think the fundamental issue is that Duxbury has made it clear (on behalf of Gino as his mouthpiece) that they have a two year plan for managers and they’re either sacked, or succeed and move on (lol). They are “the stability” they provide a squad they believe is good enough and everything else in the background, the manager then just slots in and essentially just runs the training sessions, chooses the tactics and the starting 11 (or maybe not).

    For our approach towards the manager to change even slightly, ultimately that will mean acknowledging that system is failing/broken and no longer works. Realistically can anybody see that happening?
     
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  33. Robert Peel

    Robert Peel Squad Player

    The two year approach is ok, however they are clearly incapable of delivering that. We're averaging 3 a season these days, so they are simply not delivering to their strategy.

    I'm not sure how the senior management of a company with our turnover is still in place when they are in perpetual crisis management and miles away from the organisational strategy.
     
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  34. The_gambler

    The_gambler Academy Graduate

    Wouldn't put it past Gino to fire Roy if we lose the next 2, especially at home to Palace. That would surely prove pretty much terminal, even for HB!
     
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  35. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Not sure why you think Manning couldn’t have us competing at the top of the table? Xisco got us promoted and had lesser credentials than Manning.
     

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