The New Manager Thread

[SB]

Yes, yes we do.

Don't let your misses see you crying over a bloke mate or it's all over red rover.

[Guest]

Don't let your misses see you crying over a bloke mate or it's all over red rover.

It's not a 'bloke', it's Rafa.

[SB]

It's not a 'bloke', it's Rafa.

I hope you don't let slip and call out " his " name while practicing baby making with the misses.

[Guest]

I'm gonna call my son Rafa.

[SB]

I'm gonna call my son Rafa.

Now that is sad.

Equally as sad is this. 11 years ago my wife wanted to call my son Michael. I agreed only if his middle name was Owen. She refused and we called him Daniel.

[Guest]

[MrMichael]

As opposed to a manager who would have to get used to the expectation of occasionally winning away?

Given that I expect our next appointment to only be in charge for a couple of seasons max, yeah, probably. Iirc, winning away was something it took Rafa some time to get his head around, no guarantee that wouldn't be an issue with Pellegrini either.

Does Pellegrini even speak English?

I just think, given the horrible mess we are in, we need someone who can come in and be eminently sensible, hit the ground running, and have to adapt as little as possible. Hodgson's managed at our level before (Inter), knows the league, and knows how to get a financially challenged side performing. He's not an exciting proposition, but for me he's a realistic choice and much less of a gamble than many.

[SB]

It was long before he showed his true colours though. He was a legend back then but TBH I just really didn't want my boy called Michael.

[Guest]

My boy's going to be called Victoria like the Queen.

[red g]

Given that I expect our next appointment to only be in charge for a couple of seasons max, yeah, probably. Iirc, winning away was something it took Rafa some time to get his head around, no guarantee that wouldn't be an issue with Pellegrini either.

Does Pellegrini even speak English?

I just think, given the horrible mess we are in, we need someone who can come in and be eminently sensible, hit the ground running, and have to adapt as little as possible. Hodgson's managed at our level before (Inter), knows the league, and knows how to get a financially challenged side performing. He's not an exciting proposition, but for me he's a realistic choice and much less of a gamble than many.

i believe he does speak english

[red g]

My boy's going to be called Victoria like the Queen.

and with a name like that i am sure he will grow up to be one to.

[Guest]

and with a name like that i am sure he will grow up to be one to.

I've been vying for this all my life, sure he will.

[dww]

Given that I expect our next appointment to only be in charge for a couple of seasons max, yeah, probably. Iirc, winning away was something it took Rafa some time to get his head around, no guarantee that wouldn't be an issue with Pellegrini either.

Does Pellegrini even speak English?

He does indeed speak English from all reports I've seen.

The point I was trying to make is that the complaint with Rafa was that he failed to see the difference in the PL and had a poor record away because of that. What is Hodgson's excuse? He knows the PL is an experienced manager with players like Zamora who offer an obvious style of play away from home.

Any manager is likely to have problems - I think the biggest determinant of success will, after the ability to keep Gerrard and Torres, be the quality of the manager. The recent records of the two would make me think Pellegrini was the more talented man.

I just think, given the horrible mess we are in, we need someone who can come in and be eminently sensible, hit the ground running, and have to adapt as little as possible. Hodgson's managed at our level before (Inter), knows the league, and knows how to get a financially challenged side performing. He's not an exciting proposition, but for me he's a realistic choice and much less of a gamble than many.

He is not a bad choice at all. I'd much rather we aimed to succeed though rather than to merely stabilise.

[red g]

He does indeed speak English from all reports I've seen.

The point I was trying to make is that the complaint with Rafa was that he failed to see the difference in the PL and had a poor record away because of that. What is Hodgson's excuse? He knows the PL is an experienced manager with players like Zamora who offer an obvious style of play away from home.

Any manager is likely to have problems - I think the biggest determinant of success will, after the ability to keep Gerrard and Torres, be the quality of the manager. The recent records of the two would make me think Pellegrini was the more talented man.



He is not a bad choice at all. I'd much rather we aimed to succeed though rather than to merely stabilise.

same excuse as rafa first season towards the end, concentrating on europe?

I also think he doesnt need excuses......the league is about 38 games and if he has managed to get Fulham into 7th one season and the uefa final other that is a remarkable acheivement!!!

if he wins 19 games at home becuase he is playing his best players at home and then restin better players away as he doesnt have the squad and they are punching way above his weight surely he should be getting applauded for getting most out of his squad....and not having a dig for his poor away record.

Just like Rafa complained he could not challenge on all fronts, maybe woy just thought he could win home games with squad he had?

[dww]

same excuse as rafa first season towards the end, concentrating on europe?

I also think he doesnt need excuses......the league is about 38 games and if he has managed to get Fulham into 7th one season and the uefa final other that is a remarkable acheivement!!!

Even when he got 7th he wasn't winning away and he certainly wasn't concentrating on Europe then.

if he wins 19 games at home becuase he is playing his best players at home and then restin better players away as he doesnt have the squad and they are punching way above his weight surely he should be getting applauded for getting most out of his squad....and not having a dig for his poor away record.

Just like Rafa complained he could not challenge on all fronts, maybe woy just thought he could win home games with squad he had?

The point is that if we acknowledge that he hasn't been trying to do something then we have to accept that he may not know how to do it - we have no evidence either way. He has done a great job at Fulham and no one is taking that away from him. For me the question is a bit like with some players (Jermaine Pennant springs to mind) that have the ability to be good in a league with a smaller team but can't transfer that to a bigger one. To some degree you can never know until you try. I'd just rather we went for someone who had tried and deem that the difference in league between Spain and the PL is comparable to the difference between trying to genuinely compete and merely trying to do your best.