The New Manager Thread

[beatlesaint]

 

 

Definitely not Mackay thankyou

[JoeShmoe]

Didnt lose many games though. Last season they lost just twice in the league and the season before only 6.

So 8 defeats in 72 league games.... Pretty good.

 

You also need to consider the impact of a manager leaving a club. Look at MP.... Prior to his departure he was worshipped (by many) but within 24 hours even his biggest supporters can now admit that he wasnt perfect and that will increase as some work through the 7 stages of the breakup

 

I was fortunate to jump straight to step 7 as never really warmed to MP at all.

- Shock or Disbelief

- Denial

- Anger

- Bargaining

- Guilt

- Depression

- Acceptance and Hope

 

Really GS? All those form guide threads , I'd never have guessed

[shirleysfc]

Has Skacel moved into Martin O'Neill's house yet?

 

No, I think Michael Owen has.

[bazza]

In my opinion we should be looking at Laudrup, Moyes, Lennon, possibly Mackay.

 

Maybe, yes, definitely not, no.

[Saint_Jonny]

Moyes would be my pick, for what its worth! A few years of stability, pretty much no chance of being relegated and a chance to push on (if slowly);

 

Don't think he'd come here, though. Would like to be proven wrong.

[Viking Warrior]

St chalet it was not meant to be venom . Just a little angst . Hiw does he know what the club is looking for . Did he not listen to what Ralph said ? I don't know who he is but I will heed your warning before I get an infraction

[Ludwig]

Strikers hitting more than 15 league goals is rare these days and usually leads to big bids.

 

Moyes likes solid teams and people seem to ignore the fact we've had a very solid, difficult to beat team this season, plenty of low scoring games.

 

We need to be a it clever. If 15+ goal strikers lead to big bids, lets ensure we only sign those who score up to 14 goals. Or, if we have someone who looks like they might get more than 15 then i would suggest strategically dropping them, maybe against the easier teams. That would be a good chance to blood some youngsters. Equally, we don't want to go for a manager who will simply use us as a stepping stone. We need to be wary of those ambitious foreign managers. We have been stung by MP and now must learn a lesson and get a manager who either wont be stolen from us or have too much ambition. Someone from L1 will do.

[EBS1980]

Do you think letting Dodd and williams go is connected to MoPo going? New man gets to pick his own staff top to bottom?

[Lord Duckhunter]

I spent a day with Gus and I thought he was a really nice bloke and very funny

 

My oldest lad met him and said he was really charismatic and friendly.

 

Let's how how he gets on at Sunderland , players seem to like him.

[doddisalegend]

Do you think letting Dodd and williams go is connected to MoPo going? New man gets to pick his own staff top to bottom?

 

Probabaly not if this BBC article is anything to go by

 

At Southampton there was no lack of clarity for Pochettino. He was "head of the football department", as Cortese once said. While that was widely taken as an insult, what it meant in reality was that Pochettino was left to focus on preparing the first team and little else. He had a say, but not a decisive one, on transfers. Scouting and negotiations of player contracts had nothing to do with him. He did not deal with agents, the medical team, the youth academy or when and how the team travelled. All of that was taken out of his hands to allow him to concentrate his efforts on the first team.

 

Full article http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27599165

[sfc6mufc3]

I fear Moyes may not move this far this South - pity.

 

Has nobody mentioned Hoddle yet?

[Appy]

I fear Moyes may not move this far this South - pity.

 

Has nobody mentioned Hoddle yet?

 

Someone has yeah.

[Saint Fan CaM]

From Twitter

Gus Poyet has signed a new two-year deal at Sunderland; ends Southampton's interest in him. More @Independent

 

Well that's a relief. Mind you, could be someone even worse I guess.

[angelman]

If this is true, then I would be most under whelmed.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2642252/Oscar-Garcia-faces-St-Marys-dilemma-Southampton-Spaniard-dreams-managing-Celtic.html

[BlakeySFC]

If this is true, then I would be most under whelmed.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2642252/Oscar-Garcia-faces-St-Marys-dilemma-Southampton-Spaniard-dreams-managing-Celtic.html

 

All conjecture at this stage, I wouldn't worry.

[Baird of the land]

In my opinion we should be looking at Laudrup, Moyes, Lennon, possibly Mackay.

 

Definitely don't want laudrup, moyes or Mackay. Lennon would be rather a gamble and if we're gambling I'd prefer Sherwood who has spent 6 mths in prem and Europa experience this season.

 

Yakin's still my clear favourite though. Really disappointed if they are ruling him out because he doesn't have perfect English yet.

[Saint Fan CaM]

If this is true, then I would be most under whelmed.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2642252/Oscar-Garcia-faces-St-Marys-dilemma-Southampton-Spaniard-dreams-managing-Celtic.html

 

Has a definite ring of possibility to it, but hopefully the Board would not take a chance on this guy.

[Baird of the land]

If this is true, then I would be most under whelmed.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2642252/Oscar-Garcia-faces-St-Marys-dilemma-Southampton-Spaniard-dreams-managing-Celtic.html

 

Struggle to see why saints would even short list a mediocre former championship manager such as this. Brighton barely struggled into the play offs and then went out with a whimper.

[Bewildered]

Reading that Garcia story, It reads very strongly like something his agent has fed to the journalist trying to encourage Celtic to show some interest.

 

After RK's words yesterday, the club can't afford to appoint someone entirely unremarkable like Garcia.

[cjay7]

I'd want the board to do everything in their power to get this man.....

 

I have always maintained that those of us who work in football are privileged. And that’s because we get paid for a job we love and are passionate about. And in my case, I have been lucky enough to have worked in different countries, to have observed different cultures and ways of working, to have benefited from those experiences and this gives me, I believe, some idea of being able to analyse things from a different perspective, from the outside.

 

When certain people talk about signings, and how to go about them, the market value of players, the reasons why you buy or sell a player, you can see that some of them don’t really know the true situation which can be very confusing for the fans. So in this article I will try to explain my point of view based on my experience.

 

Obviously I will try to focus on my area of responsibility in the club. That is the football, the playing direction given by the manager or the coach as the case may be.

 

Club Structure

 

What you first need to establish when you go to a new club are the aims of the club and the resources available to achieve them. So it is essential to analyse in depth the club organisation, its management structure and their different functions especially if you are in a foreign country.

The rules, the fixture list, the squad, the staff at the club and their roles, the situation regarding players contracts, the environment, the culture, the club tradition… knowledge of all these are essential to being able to take the right decisions. At least for those who are depending on you.

 

In Spain or Italy there is usually a ‘Director of Football’ or ‘Chief Scout’ who in theory is responsible for signing the Coach and putting the squad together. In the majority of cases, though not all, they usually consult the man in charge at the time, but in many other cases the President or owner, who is in charge of everything, has the last say.

 

 

 

(The 2 diagrams are only examples as there are many different structures).

 

In England though, it is the Manager who, also in theory, is responsible for the football, and therefore has the authority to decide how to put the squad together.

 

 

 

In practice, both types of structure depend on one premise: the money available for transfers and salaries. The ‘Manager’ on the one hand, or the Coach on the other, will have to consider the inescapable fact that they can sign only the three or four players on their list. That’s how it is. At least in the case of the ‘Manager’ he can choose the ones he wants.

 

Make-up of the Squad

 

As the man in charge of the technical side, you have to decide on the model of play, how you want the team to express itself on the pitch, or at least how you would like them to play. It is important to get to know your players, to talk to them so they can give you information on the composition of the squad and then you have to try to complement it with players who can enhance it and put in to practice what you want to do on the pitch. If you can’t do this, you will have to adapt and trust that they will give you support when you need it.

 

Then you have the rules governing contracts in each country, and they are also different for teams competing in International competitions. There are leagues where it is compulsory to play at least 5 players from that country, others where there is a limit on foreign signings, and others where there is an ‘A’ and ‘B’ list of players…In the end, each country, each league, has its own peculiarities and you have to know them thoroughly and above all digest them quickly before you put the squad together and / or tweak it.

 

This is where the plan, the football project, comes in to play, and with owners from the world of business coming in to football, you can only call it a Business Plan. Again I will refer to my own experience. When I went to Italy there was no ‘business plan’. I was only told about it on the last day of the transfer window, when they suddenly and surprisingly said that we were going to follow the ‘Financial Fair Play’ initiative. I will leave it there. In Spain, the continuous dialogue with club officials keeps you up to date on the economic constraints so you know where you are. Although once, I found myself with a surprise signing of a striker by the President on the last day in August because, as he was on loan, he was cheap.

 

In England, specifically at Liverpool during my first 3 seasons, the Chairman and the Chief Executive kept me informed of the restrictions and options that we had. Later on though, the club structure changed, and over time, ‘business plans’ became more and more important than any football project when it came to making decisions.

 

Something that should not be forgotten is the analysis of the Academy. Incorporating local players always gives more affinity with the club and sensibly reduces costs. In Italy and Spain the organisation depends on the ‘sporting director’ and the Coach has little input in to it. Nevertheless, in England it can be the case, as happened at Liverpool in my last year, that the Manager has control over the youth system and can follow a style of play in all age groups and with more continuity.Barcelona’s model is popular right now. There is no better or more evident example.

 

If there are no players at youth level in the club who have the requisite ability, you have to resort to the transfer market.

 

The ‘sporting director’ or the Manager has to manage a transfer Budget, and on top of that, take players’ wages in to account. A good scouting system is necessary and essential, although not infallible, and the money available in both cases will affect the market you can access. The income from selling and net spend are more important for the Manager than the Coach. The former tries to consider the future of the club and win at the same time. The latter, the way football is going, only tries to win and cost has less importance.

 

Rules and specific types of organisation

 

What also has to be considered are different International regulations. Usually the required list of available players is restricted to 25 for the first team and in some countries, like Spain, you can use youth players for up to 5 matches, after which the player has to be included in the first team squad.

In England, you can use the Reserves, which we used to try to develop youngsters by gaining experience so they could move up to the first team. Then you have the U18s. Some of these players, especially if they are coming from abroad, must have professional contracts or you run the risk of losing them to other clubs. This was what people often talked about when I was at Liverpool, either through ignorance or ‘bad faith’, that we signed a lot of players when in actual fact many of them were for the younger age groups and some of them I did not know. In Spain, these signings who join the second team or the youth teams are not considered signings for the first team. And it is the same in Italy.

 

Champions League Rules and Regulations

 

Another set of rules that, unfortunately, we always had to take in to account was the local players and home country players for Champions League list. This number has now reached 4 players brought through the club Academy and 4 players of the home country. If you have spent 3 years at the club before you reach 21, you are considered local.

Again there are differences. As Coach, if you can, you plan for your team and the sporting director plans for the squad. But as a Manager you have to plan for the future of the club. At Liverpool one of our priorities was to bring players from abroad and sign them 3 years before they reached 21, like Ayala, Pacheco or Insua. In that way, under the rules at the time, they would be considered local players, saving money in transfers and contracts, with the possibility of including them on the Champions League list. In Spain and Europe in general, as a coach, you are only involved in future planning if you keep winning and you are allowed to stay a few years. Few manage to do it.

As always, these are opinions emanating from my experience and they look to provide football fans and people who follow our website with views from a different perspective, another point of view which maybe they have not been aware of. Finally, a thought that keeps occurring to me is that although you hear something repeatedly, it is not necessarily the truth.

 

....Rafa Benitez

[Batman]

Reading that Garcia story, It reads very strongly like something his agent has fed to the journalist trying to encourage Celtic to show some interest.

 

After RK's words yesterday, the club can't afford to appoint someone entirely unremarkable like Garcia.

 

Someone like Garcia now would be an incredible let down.

 

Ralf himself has said that top managers across Europe have been in touch.

 

No, we know that won't be the very best but there are some very good ones out there

Who will no doubt fancy a bit of the prem

 

Yakin

De beor

Koeman

Dare I say, Benitez (highly unlikely)

[CB Fry]

Someone like Garcia now would be an incredible let down.

 

Ralf himself has said that top managers across Europe have been in touch.

 

No, we know that won't be the very best but there are some very good ones out there

Who will no doubt fancy a bit of the prem

 

Yakin

De beor

Koeman

Dare I say, Benitez (highly unlikely)

 

Correct. Garcia would be an appalling appointment after what was said yesterday, his only achievement has been to scrape ahead of our own dear old Nige on the last day of the season.

 

I expect all the media Garcia hype about him coming here or going to Celtic is entirely from a bulls hitting agent. He won't stand a chance of getting either job.

[Saint Charlie]

I live in Brighton and the majority of their fans wanted Garcia to be sacked for most of the season and barely had a good word to say about him or his uninspiring football.

[Foxy]

It used to be tradition for at least one poster to suggest Bruno Metsu at this point. Should his having died a couple of years ago completely put a stopper on his candidature?

[Graffito]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11242017._/?

 

Where's Jeremy Paxman when you need him.

[John Boy Saint]

If this is true, then I would be most under whelmed.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2642252/Oscar-Garcia-faces-St-Marys-dilemma-Southampton-Spaniard-dreams-managing-Celtic.html

For those living in the Turkey Shed and noting the date is the 24th of December:

 

What a load of Hollyhocks, Ralph says we will be looking to get a high Calabre Manager in as replacement and when we have compiled a short list they will lets us know, along with us already receiving a pile of good CVs from across Europe and a research team working hard in the background. WE ASK Garcia (a manager who has had a very lukewarm season in the Championship) if he might be interested in the gig at SMS and then alluding to a scoop about the list already out with a list of names pulled off here and BetFred.com (for story qualification) ........................ Roll on Friday night and right good spanking off Peru giving the Mail et al plenty to feast on for over a week.

[Raging Bull]

I'd want the board to do everything in their power to get this man.....

 

I have always maintained that those of us who work in football are privileged. And that’s because we get paid for a job we love and are passionate about. And in my case, I have been lucky enough to have worked in different countries, to have observed different cultures and ways of working, to have benefited from those experiences and this gives me, I believe, some idea of being able to analyse things from a different perspective, from the outside.

 

When certain people talk about signings, and how to go about them, the market value of players, the reasons why you buy or sell a player, you can see that some of them don’t really know the true situation which can be very confusing for the fans. So in this article I will try to explain my point of view based on my experience.

 

Obviously I will try to focus on my area of responsibility in the club. That is the football, the playing direction given by the manager or the coach as the case may be.

 

Club Structure

 

What you first need to establish when you go to a new club are the aims of the club and the resources available to achieve them. So it is essential to analyse in depth the club organisation, its management structure and their different functions especially if you are in a foreign country.

The rules, the fixture list, the squad, the staff at the club and their roles, the situation regarding players contracts, the environment, the culture, the club tradition… knowledge of all these are essential to being able to take the right decisions. At least for those who are depending on you.

 

In Spain or Italy there is usually a ‘Director of Football’ or ‘Chief Scout’ who in theory is responsible for signing the Coach and putting the squad together. In the majority of cases, though not all, they usually consult the man in charge at the time, but in many other cases the President or owner, who is in charge of everything, has the last say.

 

 

 

(The 2 diagrams are only examples as there are many different structures).

 

In England though, it is the Manager who, also in theory, is responsible for the football, and therefore has the authority to decide how to put the squad together.

 

 

 

In practice, both types of structure depend on one premise: the money available for transfers and salaries. The ‘Manager’ on the one hand, or the Coach on the other, will have to consider the inescapable fact that they can sign only the three or four players on their list. That’s how it is. At least in the case of the ‘Manager’ he can choose the ones he wants.

 

Make-up of the Squad

 

As the man in charge of the technical side, you have to decide on the model of play, how you want the team to express itself on the pitch, or at least how you would like them to play. It is important to get to know your players, to talk to them so they can give you information on the composition of the squad and then you have to try to complement it with players who can enhance it and put in to practice what you want to do on the pitch. If you can’t do this, you will have to adapt and trust that they will give you support when you need it.

 

Then you have the rules governing contracts in each country, and they are also different for teams competing in International competitions. There are leagues where it is compulsory to play at least 5 players from that country, others where there is a limit on foreign signings, and others where there is an ‘A’ and ‘B’ list of players…In the end, each country, each league, has its own peculiarities and you have to know them thoroughly and above all digest them quickly before you put the squad together and / or tweak it.

 

This is where the plan, the football project, comes in to play, and with owners from the world of business coming in to football, you can only call it a Business Plan. Again I will refer to my own experience. When I went to Italy there was no ‘business plan’. I was only told about it on the last day of the transfer window, when they suddenly and surprisingly said that we were going to follow the ‘Financial Fair Play’ initiative. I will leave it there. In Spain, the continuous dialogue with club officials keeps you up to date on the economic constraints so you know where you are. Although once, I found myself with a surprise signing of a striker by the President on the last day in August because, as he was on loan, he was cheap.

 

In England, specifically at Liverpool during my first 3 seasons, the Chairman and the Chief Executive kept me informed of the restrictions and options that we had. Later on though, the club structure changed, and over time, ‘business plans’ became more and more important than any football project when it came to making decisions.

 

Something that should not be forgotten is the analysis of the Academy. Incorporating local players always gives more affinity with the club and sensibly reduces costs. In Italy and Spain the organisation depends on the ‘sporting director’ and the Coach has little input in to it. Nevertheless, in England it can be the case, as happened at Liverpool in my last year, that the Manager has control over the youth system and can follow a style of play in all age groups and with more continuity.Barcelona’s model is popular right now. There is no better or more evident example.

 

If there are no players at youth level in the club who have the requisite ability, you have to resort to the transfer market.

 

The ‘sporting director’ or the Manager has to manage a transfer Budget, and on top of that, take players’ wages in to account. A good scouting system is necessary and essential, although not infallible, and the money available in both cases will affect the market you can access. The income from selling and net spend are more important for the Manager than the Coach. The former tries to consider the future of the club and win at the same time. The latter, the way football is going, only tries to win and cost has less importance.

 

Rules and specific types of organisation

 

What also has to be considered are different International regulations. Usually the required list of available players is restricted to 25 for the first team and in some countries, like Spain, you can use youth players for up to 5 matches, after which the player has to be included in the first team squad.

In England, you can use the Reserves, which we used to try to develop youngsters by gaining experience so they could move up to the first team. Then you have the U18s. Some of these players, especially if they are coming from abroad, must have professional contracts or you run the risk of losing them to other clubs. This was what people often talked about when I was at Liverpool, either through ignorance or ‘bad faith’, that we signed a lot of players when in actual fact many of them were for the younger age groups and some of them I did not know. In Spain, these signings who join the second team or the youth teams are not considered signings for the first team. And it is the same in Italy.

 

Champions League Rules and Regulations

 

Another set of rules that, unfortunately, we always had to take in to account was the local players and home country players for Champions League list. This number has now reached 4 players brought through the club Academy and 4 players of the home country. If you have spent 3 years at the club before you reach 21, you are considered local.

Again there are differences. As Coach, if you can, you plan for your team and the sporting director plans for the squad. But as a Manager you have to plan for the future of the club. At Liverpool one of our priorities was to bring players from abroad and sign them 3 years before they reached 21, like Ayala, Pacheco or Insua. In that way, under the rules at the time, they would be considered local players, saving money in transfers and contracts, with the possibility of including them on the Champions League list. In Spain and Europe in general, as a coach, you are only involved in future planning if you keep winning and you are allowed to stay a few years. Few manage to do it.

As always, these are opinions emanating from my experience and they look to provide football fans and people who follow our website with views from a different perspective, another point of view which maybe they have not been aware of. Finally, a thought that keeps occurring to me is that although you hear something repeatedly, it is not necessarily the truth.

 

....Rafa Benitez

 

Interesting post. How likely is he to come here though?

[Steel City Saint]

Last three managers:

 

Pardew - I think we were all a bit surprised that he came to us at that time but he took us forward before 'leaving' suddenly to be replaced by...

 

Adkins - A surprise appointment which underwhelmed many of us but he took us up to the Premiership before 'leaving' suddenly to be replaced by...

 

Pochettino - A surprise appointment which underwhelmed and annoyed in equal measure but who took us forward before leaving suddenly to be replaced by...

 

??? - Here's hoping the trend continues!

[Dalek2003]

I fear Moyes may not move this far this South - pity.

 

Has nobody mentioned Hoddle yet?

 

There is a momentum behind the appoint of Hoddle. I think it could happen !

[sussexsaint]

Gordon Strachan got the training kit delivered to his doorstep yesterday.

 

Ah Pilchards, we luvs ya

[SNSUN]

I've been thinking about managerial facial features, and I believe that what makes a good manager is someone with big eyebrows.

 

So Di Matteo it is then. He also has a perfectly spherical head. Not that I'm sure why that matters.

[angelman]

Adrian, I agree that it is unlikely. He has the arrogance of a top manager and can pick and choose where he goes. Maybe CL footie is important. Maybe a bigger club than us is important. If he wants that, then he stays on the continent. If he wants PL, then I am not sure where he would go. If NUFC got rid of Pardew and ran the club properly, then they I guess are a sleeping giant. Villa - depends on the new owners. But does he want to spend a year or two or three building things up? And with Rafa, is he a coach or a manager?

[CWD]

I think Benitez would be my top choice, though granted it would be unlikely. But as the post above says, he won't get a better team in this league if he really does want to come back. He is the only name who I think would make the likes of Lallana and the others think twice about leaving. He has the pedigree. But would he be happy working in our structure?

 

Yakin looks good but I genuinely knew nothing about him before two days ago, and I agree that Moyes would be a good appointment, though I'd be concerned about our style of play. And again, think he'd be concerned about the lack of control he'd have as 'a department head'.

 

Koeman - see Yakin. Don't really know enough to comment.

 

Lennon seems like a *****.

 

Clement would be decent, especially if we can do some deals with Real Madrid for some fringe players!

[berkshiresaint]

Benitez Yes please!

[Patrick Bateman]

I'd want the board to do everything in their power to get this man.....

 

....Rafa Benitez

 

Very nice reading, I'd like him as manager. Some interesting points from his Wiki page (some good, some not so);

 

1. Valencia fans were soon won over by Benítez as he introduced a more attacking style of play

2. One of Benítez's first tasks at Liverpool was to convince club captain Gerrard not to move to rivals Chelsea.^[

^{3. Liverpool came from 3–0 down at half time to level the score at 3–3}

^{4. Liverpool's worst run in 22 years[}

^{5. Benítez has developed a reputation in English football as a hard man to please, with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admitting he longed for a "well done" from Benítez after good performances.}

^{6. Benítez's preferred formation is a 4–2–3–1 which he adopted during his time at Valencia and Liverpool.}

^{7. Benítez has been criticised by some sections of the Liverpool support for failing to develop any local players}

^{8. Instead Benítez brought in some of the top Spanish talent, including Barcelona star and U-19 Goldenboot winner Dani Pacheco, FC Cadiz 15-year-old super talent Suso, as well as another 15-year-old English player Raheem Sterling and 16-year-old midfielder Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton Athletic.}

 

^Hmmmm

 

[SaintRichmond]

Widdrington, Beattie? Are you people for real? We are a top 10 premier league team and therefore deserve the best.

 

 

You get real too

 

We HAD the best

 

He left because he wanted a Club with AMBITION, and one willing to give him funds to do the job

 

SFC, under KL, no longer has serious Ambition

 

We lost a Great CEO for the same reason

 

So, as I said, You get real

 

Perhaps the penny will drop when you are all completely underwhelmed with the Calibre of KL's Managerial appointment

 

Anyone who thinks it will be a Top Manager to drive us on is being deluded.

 

KL's next "5 year Project" has been somewhat watered down from her Fathers quest to take us to the top

[View From The Top]

You get real too

 

We HAD the best

 

He left because he wanted a Club with AMBITION, and one willing to give him funds to do the job

 

SFC, under KL, no longer has serious Ambition

 

We lost a Great CEO for the same reason

 

So, as I said, You get real

 

Perhaps the penny will drop when you are all completely underwhelmed with the Calibre of KL's Managerial appointment

 

Anyone who thinks it will be a Top Manager to drive us on is being deluded.

 

KL's next "5 year Project" has been somewhat watered down from her Fathers quest to take us to the top

 

Keep taking your tablets treacle.

[stevy777_x]

Keep taking your tablets treacle.

 

Remember Poch saying that we needed to spend big Like the top clubs to get to the level of the top 4.

Obviously we are not going to spend man city or man u Like money.(100m plus per season)

But it doesn t mean we don't have ambition.

What s stopping us from spending 25-30m each season?

The Tv money gives us the opportunity to do so and that s a hell of a lot more than most clubs in europe. There are gems out there and bargains to be made. We have the scouting structure in place to identify those Players.

[The Majestic Channon]

The fat waiter would never come to saints

 

Sent from my C1905 using Tapatalk

[Saint Rees]

FdB would be my first choice, but is there any need for him to leave Ajax? I do think however that we are the most attractive team in the BPL currently that would need/want a new manager, plus Ajax are keen on bringing youth through - perhaps he could bring some gems with him?

[Rowan Gorilla 5]

If Koeman or De Boer are appointed and 2-3 players are sold for big money then I have no doubt that 4-6 players could be recruited from the Eredivisie that would be more than capable of slotting into the team and improving the squad overall. There are many good, young, technically gifted Dutch players. Teams can sell players, replace them and continue to thrive. Fingers crossed Saints can do so.

[trousers]

Unlikely.

 

BUT, wants to come back to the premier league, and this is the only option. So how much does he want to come back? What job is he waiting for? There are 7 stronger clubs right now, yet I struggle to see which one is likely.

 

Man city - think they'd aim higher and have a good manager already

 

Liverpool - maybe, but surely they're fine for a few years

 

Chelsea - no chance of that again

 

arsenal - not a likely fit and can't see wenger leaving for a few seasons

 

Everton - they'd never want him and Martinez will stay a while

 

spurs - the most likely but they didn't get him. Did they want him or approach him?

 

Man utd - no chance

 

 

So I'd be disappointed if they didn't at least look into the possibility. If he doesn't want it fair enough but I think there's a small chance.

 

You highlight nicely why finishing 8th (i.e. "best of the rest") could be more significant and beneficial than perhaps some people thought. Ok, so it's not going to be the key deal-maker in any manager (or player) being attracted to Saints but being "best of the rest" rather than an "also ran" could just add enough weight to tip the scales if a manager's or player's decision to join us was in the balance...

 

For any 'high profile' manager looking for a Premier League job we currently offer the most attractive proposition.

 

IMHO of course

[monosaint]

Would Benitez fit the model that Saints are clearly looking for.. Not sure really. Never seen him actively promoting youngsters through in to the first team. It's a no from me.

[angelman]

For me....

 

realistically - Koeman

unrealistically - Zidane

[stevy777_x]

Zidane is a bit of an unknown quantity but je has been around the best in the last few years to learn.

A bit of a gamble. Also does he speak english?

However having said that, would definatly raise the profile of our club.

[angelman]

I think Zizou is a heart over head moment!! But, it has been reported that he wants to go into management to get experience before going back to Real and taking over there. He recently turned down Bordeaux http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/zinedine-zidane-won-t-coach-bordeaux-after-talks-fall-through-1.2649720. One of the reasons given was that his two kids were in the academy at Real. I have no idea what Bordeaux's academy is like, but ours isn't too shabby.

[jasonb]

FdB would be my first choice, but is there any need for him to leave Ajax? I do think however that we are the most attractive team in the BPL currently that would need/want a new manager, plus Ajax are keen on bringing youth through - perhaps he could bring some gems with him?

 

None that I can think of other than wanting to test himself in the Premier league. I think he would possibly want Europa league at the very least though. Apparently Lennon has stated much the same but you are correct. Outside those already in Europe next season there really is no one else better placed than us. I realise Man U are also not in Europe (that sounds weird to say that) but they already have their man. We are next in line and have a vacancy for a back scrubber.

 

However, FdB is probably out of our league. If Levy, the fruit-loop, couldn't convince him to take on Spurs I'm not sure we have a cat in hell's chance. FdB is obviously going to go to one of the super-elite clubs in Europe, Barca in a season or two would be my guess. Certainly not a Saints or Spurs for that matter.

[del boy]

Zidane is a bit of an unknown quantity but je has been around the best in the last few years to learn.

A bit of a gamble. Also does he speak english?

However having said that, would definatly raise the profile of our club.

I can just see Zidane and Osvaldo going head to head

[buctootim]

FdB is probably out of our league. If Levy, the fruit-loop, couldn't convince him to take on Spurs I'm not sure we have a cat in hell's chance. FdB is obviously going to go to one of the super-elite clubs in Europe

 

Thats exactly what he said he didnt want. He wants a club in a bigger league but one where he can make a difference through coaching.

[SB]

Why are a lot of you not getting it?

 

When MP joined and when a lot of the new players signed it was through Cortese being chairman and selling the ambition which was champions league football. Since the daughters taken charge the ambition/five year plan has changed, it doesn't take an idiot to work that out, even small changes like cheap kit and sponsor, and soon to be the departure of Lallana, Shaw etc.. (Although I believe Shaw would always leave regardless) the new appointment of manager will also be underwhelming as they'll have seen the ambition and the transfer funds and realise it's a non starter, que Lennon or some turd from the championship