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washsaint

Who do you want as manager?  

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  1. 1. Who do you want as manager?



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Murat Yakin

 

 

The next Guardiola? Marvellous Murat Yakin deserves a chance at the very top

 

The Basel boss continues to perform miracles in Europe with a squad blighted by injuries and departures to bigger clubs - that he will soon follow suit seems only right

 

 

Against all the odds and the expectations of the continent, Basel made history last season by reaching their first European semi-final. Twelve months on, with dreams of a treble still alive as their domestic superiority continues, the Swiss champions are on the brink of the last four again after dismantling Valencia in the Europa League quarter-final first leg.

 

 

 

All this with a squad size and financial backing which barely register on the Richter scale of the continent's biggest movers and shakers. Little wonder, then, that coach Murat Yakin is becoming one of Europe's hottest properties.

 

 

MURAT'S BASEL MAESTROS

 

 

YANN SOMMER

 

 

 

Signed by Gladbach as Ter Stegen's summer replacement, Sommer has become one of Europe's finest since 2012.

 

FABIAN SCHAR

 

 

 

Still just 22, the cultured defender - with a rasping shot - and has been tracked by Barca and Dortmund despite injuries.

 

FABIAN FREI

 

 

 

The Swiss league's most versatile player played down a January move by claiming suitors "wouldn't know" his best position.

MOHAMED ELNENY

 

 

 

A technically gifted 21-year-old midfielder who starred alongside Mohamed Salah at youth level for club and country.

 

VALENTIN STOCKER

 

 

 

On the brink of joining Schalke before the deal fell through, thw einger has speed and skill in abundance - and a wicked finish.

While Basel are no strangers to Europe's top table, they have always remained small fry among the continental elite. Shock Champions League wins over Manchester United and Bayern Munich in 2011-12 were seen as one-off triumphs rather than signs of genuine progress under coach Thorsten Fink (and later Heiko Vogel). A 7-0 thrashing at the Allianz Arena that season was a return to the norm.

 

Yakin has changed that perception. After guiding Luzern to second in the league and a place in the Schweizer Cup final, the former midfielder was picked to replace Vogel in October 2012 after Basel picked up just four wins in their first 11 games. Yakin promptly defended Basel's league crown reached the cup final against Grasshopper Zurich. A penalty shoot-out defeat handed their rivals their first trophy in 10 years, and remains Yakin's sole blot on his Basel copybook.

 

But it was in European competition where he began to capture attention. Building his side around a flexible 4-2-3-1 system, Basel despatched Dnipro and Zenit with minimal fuss before their historic win over Andre Villas-Boas' Tottenham last season. Defeat to eventual winners Chelsea followed, but Yakin – far from accepting an inevitable end to the dream – was already plotting revenge.

 

Summer brought more transition to the club: the departure of outstanding defensive prospect Aleksandar Dragovic and the retirement of club icon Alex Frei could have been enough to destabilise FCB in the past. But not under Yakin. In came former players Matias Delgado and Behrang Safari, Ivan Ivanov and later Marek Suchy bolstered the defence, and the core talent of Yann Sommer, Fabian Frei, Mohamed Salah and Valentin Stocker was retained.

 

Yakin also toyed with his tactics. The 4-2-3-1 system was adapted to a 4-1-4-1 for Basel's more difficult games, with Fabian Frei moved into the midfield pivot role (one which Yakin adopted for club and country as a player) to allow more creative freedom for Stocker, Salah and new signing Giovanni Sio further forward. It was a system deployed for spells of the game at Stamford Bridge, as Basel inflicted upon Jose Mourinho his only home defeat thus far since his return to Chelsea and a first win in 20 attempts for Swiss sides in England.

 

By the time Salah struck the winner in the return fixture - and sealed his own January move to the Blues - Yakin was a noisy blip on the European radar, buoyed by the "beautiful" praise of Mourinho. Hannover made enquiries, which the 39-year-old dismissed; Tottenham, having dispensed with Villas-Boas, reportedly named him on a shortlist of options which included Louis van Gaal and Ajax coach Frank de Boer. Stellar company indeed.

 

Injuries soon mounted; Schar's three-month convalescence was made worse by a host of further absentees. So Yakin changed again: Frei was moved into the back four, Mohamed Elneny and Serey Die took charge of the midfield engine room, and Basel stayed top of the Super League before putting Europa League top-scorers Red Bull Salzburg out of the competition with a whimper.

 

Against Valencia, with no recognised strikers available, five defenders sidelined and St Jakob Park empty after a supporter ban, the end of the road seemed inevitable - this was a team who beat Barcelona at Camp Nou, after all. But not so. Yakin started the match with Delgado as a false 10, with Stocker and David Degen either side on the wings. Delgado scored his first goals since September; Basel were free-flowing, supremely disciplined and up for the fight. And yet the win came as no surprise to Yakin's charges.

 

"It's not incredible for us," Delgado said after the match. "We believed that we could do something like that, for sure. Maybe we didn't think about winning 3-0, but our team beat Chelsea, these lads have a lot of experience with big teams – you can see it, you can feel it." Yakin has never lost by three or more goals in Europe. Don't expect this belief to waver in Spain on Thursday.

 

On the brink of more domestic silverware and a second-successive Europa League semi-final, Yakin's stock has never been higher, and he will be primed to listen to any offers from abroad this summer as he enters the final year of his contract. The Bundesliga and the Premier League remain the most likely possible destination; some of his Basel stars could even join him.

 

As a player, Yakin struggled to cement himself at clubs outside of Switzerland. Stuttgart, Kaiserslautern and Fenerbahce (twice) all tried and failed to coax the best from him on the pitch. But should he continue to flourish in the dugout, the man already regarded as one of Basel's greatest-ever servants could yet become their finest export to date.

 

http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4016/main/2014/04/10/4742927/the-next-guardiola-marvellous-murat-yakin-deserves-a-chance

Edited by peacey
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What's this about people saying this Yakin bloke is interested? Haven't seen anything suggesting that anywhere unless I've missed it?

 

his agent has been quoted in saying he has been in touch with SFC today. He knows a bit about the club and are an interesting prospect. He will look out for our players at the WC

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his agent has been quoted in saying he has been in touch with SFC today. He knows a bit about the club and are an interesting prospect. He will look out for our players at the WC

 

Fair enough, didn't see that. Whoever comes in I just hope they don't keep referring to us as a 'project'.

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Wonder what spurs fans would think if we end up with Rafa:lol: (not that I think we will)

 

Wonder what Spurs fans would think if we end up with seasoned European manager with history of beating british teams like Yakin.

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Yakin would be my number one atm.

Moyes and Klinsman wouldn't be that bad surely. I'd rather have Yakin, but it wouldn't annoy me if one of these two were to come in.

Laudrup is in the middle for me (maybe he'll try in the cups though eh ;) )

De Boer and Benitez, great managers- except they're too big for our club. I highly doubt they'd come here.

Hughton/Mackay/McClaren type managers- NOOOOOO

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Yakin would be my number one atm.

Moyes and Klinsman wouldn't be that bad surely. I'd rather have Yakin, but it wouldn't annoy me if one of these two were to come in.

Laudrup is in the middle for me (maybe he'll try in the cups though eh ;) )

De Boer and Benitez, great managers- except they're too big for our club. I highly doubt they'd come here.

Hughton/Mackay/McClaren type managers- NOOOOOO

 

 

Spot on.

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Yakin would be my number one atm.

Moyes and Klinsman wouldn't be that bad surely. I'd rather have Yakin, but it wouldn't annoy me if one of these two were to come in.

Laudrup is in the middle for me (maybe he'll try in the cups though eh ;) )

De Boer and Benitez, great managers- except they're too big for our club. I highly doubt they'd come here.

Hughton/Mackay/McClaren type managers- NOOOOOO

 

Agree with all that.

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If we can't attract someone of stature and approach of yakin etc

Then I'd prefer us to go young British, similar passing approach with faith in youth (Sherwood etc)

Mclaren would be marginally ahead of moyes simply due to style of football fit but a disappointment.

 

Sherwood and mclaren would both be an embarrassment Can't believe we are already considering stooping that low.

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his agent has been quoted in saying he has been in touch with SFC today. He knows a bit about the club and are an interesting prospect. He will look out for our players at the WC

 

Have you got a link to the quotes?

 

It wasn't his agent, it was Yakin himself...

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Murat Yakin on #saintsfc "It would be an interesting opportunity. England has one of the very top leagues, with great players and coaches.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “It would be an exciting adventure. I have got an agent who is responsible for England. I heard about Saints, but nothing concrete.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “I’ve watched the EPL and I know they were well placed It will be good to have a chance to see some of their players play at the WC.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “I left Basel by mutual agreement. I felt I would like a new challenge and see what happens and what new opportunities arise.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “My English is OK. It is no problem for me to use it with the team, perhaps it needs a few months’ practice for the public.”

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Yakin: 56% win percentage in his last job at Basel. Thems pretty big apples in the only stat that counts.

 

And dapper looking chap too, he does the swarthy, smouldering look better than Poch.

 

Basically, all ends up, it has to be Yakin. Saints legend in the making.

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Yakin: “I’ve watched the EPL and I know they were well placed It will be good to have a chance to see some of their players play at the WC.

 

This is the bit I dont like. It would be nice to have the new man in within the next week to ten days. Get some plans in place for moving forward. Also who is he expecting to see at the World Cup? Maya, Gason? Surely everyone else is on the way out anyway.

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It wasn't his agent, it was Yakin himself...

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Murat Yakin on #saintsfc "It would be an interesting opportunity. England has one of the very top leagues, with great players and coaches.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “It would be an exciting adventure. I have got an agent who is responsible for England. I heard about Saints, but nothing concrete.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “I’ve watched the EPL and I know they were well placed It will be good to have a chance to see some of their players play at the WC.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “I left Basel by mutual agreement. I felt I would like a new challenge and see what happens and what new opportunities arise.

 

Joe Batchelor@Joe_Batchelor 2h

Yakin: “My English is OK. It is no problem for me to use it with the team, perhaps it needs a few months’ practice for the public.”

 

Oh right, shall we wait for him to see how "our" players perform in the WC then? In the mean time we stand a fair chance of getting ripped apart. The board need to issue a hands off statement now to all the vultures circling. And fu-ck some guy issuing quotes on Twitter. We need serious action from the board now.

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This is the bit I dont like. It would be nice to have the new man in within the next week to ten days. Get some plans in place for moving forward. Also who is he expecting to see at the World Cup? Maya, Gason? Surely everyone else is on the way out anyway.

 

Saints don't play a game between now and July so even if he was appointed tomorrow the World Cup is indeed a good chance for him to see them in action.

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Come on, this is exciting! It's what football is all about, the fans are the only ones who stick by a team so we have to deal with it, and some of the masochistic ones of us enjoy it!

 

Your masochistic? That explains a lot!!! But you're quite right Ashmore, we've just got to start dreaming of the next big thing...

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I wonder how many knew who he was before today?

I am convinced he is the man for us but aware may be getting whipped up in the need for positivity.

 

I am happy to admit I only know about him through the context of Saints, and his name has been knocked about a bit here. I'm no great Euro - football follower so happy to claim limited knowledge.

 

But look at his long hair, his nice suits and olive skin. Chuck in a bit of European experience and a trophy or two and he's the total effing package.

 

Get him in RK by the weekend or its hunger strike time for this fan.

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