The New Manager Thread

[Craig_H]

See, that's exactly the kind of posts that gets people pissed off mate. You're basically dismissing his opinion whilst you advocate for people to accept other people's opinions themselves.

Why is that laughable? Nobody has said that we need a team of galacticos to beat Fulham and the likes but you and I know that the PL is a different proposition than any league in the world. Still, Man. Utd and Chelsea, and at a lesser degree, Man. City, all have a team full of 'galacticos'. Look at the value of the players they've bought.

It's laughable because it implies that we need to spend massively, on top of the already expensive squad we have assembled, in order to do better than what we are doing, which is nonsensical IMO. Some of the games we failed to win are shocking and plenty of teams have won the same matches without hundreds of millions of pounds being spent on their squads. So why should we need extensive squad investment to beat the likes of Wolves, Pompey and Wigan?

The idea that our current squad isnt currently good enough, and requires tonnes of expensive investment into it, in order for us to be able to beat dross like those mentioned above, smacks of excuses come what may. There are probably 15 other PL managers who'd get a stiffy at the prospect of managing our squad, and yet we're sitting here saying it's not good enough to beat **** like Wigan and Pompey.

That's ****ing sickening to me and it's this kind of excuse making philosophy that holds us back - if United or Chelsea lose to Wigan and Pompey, they do not say 'oh well it is acceptable because of x, y and z' They acknowledge that it's ****ing disgraceful and they do whatever they can to resolve the issue. The first step to solving a problem is recognising it.

I dunno what you're trying to say re United, Chelsea and City, and with the notion that the PL is a different proposition to any other league - i dont know what relevance that has to do with anything, nobodies talking about other leagues anyway.

The fact is, we fail to win games that other, considerably weaker and ****er teams than us, seem able to win - which completely negates the notion that you need to spend ****loads to beat sides like Pompey.

[Guest]

We haven't played to our potential this season that's undeniable, no one is denying that not even Rafa but there are mitigating circumstances in the fact that we've had a lot of injuries this season. All our major players have had a problem with injuries at one point in the season, sometimes all of them at the same time being unavailable for team selection.

We've started badly and never recovered. Dunno why but I expect Rafa and his staff to rectify this during the summer.

The investment we need to be challengers has to be massive simply because the players that are going to improve our squad, especially in forward areas, will cost millions mate. Rafa has had to buy in the bargain basement so as to put depth in our squad, look at the likes of Voronin & al and we even had to sell Bellamy to bring in Torres.

I was wrong on Alonso as I thought we would be able to do without him this season, and I think his departure created a huge void in our midfield. I'll hold my hands up but I still think that we would have done fairly well with Barry as a replacement.

Every manager makes mistakes but Rafa's have had to be under much more scrutiny because of the narrow risk margins that he's had to work with. And we never spent a lot in the first place, I think Lecter brought on some figures a couple of weeks ago and it was striking at how meagre our investment was each season.

[Craig_H]

Dont think you're quite getting my point. Evertyone's talking about challenging, but i'm not referring to that - i'm simply pointing to losing to some utter utter ****e sides, and saying it's a disgrace.

How much do you think we 'need' to spend, to have a squad that's capable of (and expected to) gain(ing) wins at Wolves, Pompey, Wigan etc?

I'll tell you - zero. Our current squad should be wiping the floor with that kind of dross, yet we havent.

So if we cant beat those sides with a vastly superior & more expensive squad to them, why on earth will we suddenly go from being ****, to being challengers, with more money spent?

It's less about spending money, and more about using what you have properly.

[kris90210]

Aye cos on average Arse have eclipsed us every single season Rafa has been here.

Exactly. Since Rafa has been at Liverpool there is no way I would swap what we have achieved with what Arsenal have achieved.

This is has been an awful season, no one would argue that it hasn't been. I think that the lack of a decent backup striker to Torres has been the biggest factor. Rafa should have prioritised that position first last Summer, and that has to go down as a huge mistake. But for the past 4 transfer windows he's been operating with one hand tied behind his back. I would like to see Rafa given money in the Summer to sign his first choice targets.

I just keep thinking back to last season. We BATTERED Madrid, Utd, Chelsea home and away. Players were calling us the toughest team in the premiership. Sadly we lost a key component in the Summer (Alonso) and didn't address last seasons shortcoming (Torres backup).

We are capable of playing great football under Rafa. Let's see what he can do in the Summer to fix the mistakes that have been made

[kris90210]

Dont think you're quite getting my point. Evertyone's talking about challenging, but i'm not referring to that - i'm simply pointing to losing to some utter utter ****e sides, and saying it's a disgrace.

How much do you think we 'need' to spend, to have a squad that's capable of (and expected to) gain(ing) wins at Wolves, Pompey, Wigan etc?

I'll tell you - zero. Our current squad should be wiping the floor with that kind of dross, yet we havent.

So if we cant beat those sides with a vastly superior & more expensive squad to them, why on earth will we suddenly go from being ****, to being challengers, with more money spent?

It's less about spending money, and more about using what you have properly.

The problem is that without Torres there is no focus to our attack. Teams know that they can put 10 men behind the ball against us and we're relatively toothless without Fernando.

So in answer to your question, we need to spend however much it costs to sign a quality backup striker to Torres. 5-10 mil?

Another thing I would say is that the squad Rafa has assembled is full of industrious players. We dont have a world class creative player (especially with Gerrard being so poor this season). We also lack genuine width. Both would go a long way to helping address the problem of playing against packed defences. You could kill 2 birds with one stone there. If we brought in a world class winger that would have a huge impact on our results in my opinion. So that would be 20 mil maybe?

Finally, Insua has been exposed in a few games this season. We could do with bringing in a solid (Arbeloa type) to offer a bit more security in that position. About 5 mil on that position say?

So I would say about 35 mil on the RIGHT players would address the obvious problems in our team. Broughton has said that Rafa will be given money to spend, and we have a fair few players who could be sold for decent money. (Riera, Babel, Yossi etc.) A 35 mil outlay this Summer could be doable.

[Craig_H]

Kris, can we only win with Torres then? Are we a one man team? If so, that's not good enough.

Wigan, Birmingham and Pompey all won away at Wolves. Do they have Torres?

I agree about industrious, non creative players. Again though, the manager chose to buy them.

[kris90210]

Kris, can we only win with Torres then? Are we a one man team? If so, that's not good enough.

Wigan, Birmingham and Pompey all won away at Wolves. Do they have Torres?

I agree about industrious, non creative players. Again though, the manager chose to buy them.

Against a certain type of team - teams playing 10 behind the ball - attacking wise, we have been a bit of a one man team this season. Agree, it's not good enough, but that's the situation we find ourselves in. Normally we would have Gerrard to fall back on but he's been rubbish this season.

Your point about Wigan, Birmingham and Pompey beating Wolves. Come on. I know that you know Wolves would be set up differently against those teams.

The manager chose to buy those players, and in some cases he has made mistakes. As I said earlier, I do feel like he has been working with his hands tied behind his back. For example, it's no secret that we tried to sign Silva last Summer. Exactly the sort of player who would help us beat the likes of Wolves.

[Craig_H]

I agree with you to a point. But it's not just about not being able to sign players - against Fulham, we had attacking threats in Kuyt and Benayoun, but they were left sitting on the bench for over an hour.

To me, that says Rafa felt that Aquilani and Maxi were more likely to help us win the game - and that's very worrying. It's not so much about WHICH players we have, my concern is about the way they are used.

[Guest]

Kuyt needed a rest and Benayoun has hardly set the world alight this season. You think players are like robots do you?

[Craig_H]

Well yeah, it proved to be a great decision. 1 extra point to our ambition of finishing 7th

[kris90210]

I agree with you to a point. But it's not just about not being able to sign players - against Fulham, we had attacking threats in Kuyt and Benayoun, but they were left sitting on the bench for over an hour.

To me, that says Rafa felt that Aquilani and Maxi were more likely to help us win the game - and that's very worrying. It's not so much about WHICH players we have, my concern is about the way they are used.

Fair point. Those are the decisions Rafa has to make, and has to take responsibility for. Saying that, Aquilani was brought in to be a 'creative' player, and in fairness to him, I thought he had a decent game. Was offering more than Gerrard. And Maxi does have goals in him, plus I think his intelligent passing would be more effective in breaking down a stubborn defence. So I think I can understand Rafa's reasoning on team selection.

We were all over Fulham. We just didn't have a threat up front. I honestly think if we'd had a quality striker on the pitch we would have won that game.

[Craig_H]

Fair point. Those are the decisions Rafa has to make, and has to take responsibility for. Saying that, Aquilani was brought in to be a 'creative' player, and in fairness to him, I thought he had a decent game. Was offering more than Gerrard. And Maxi does have goals in him, plus I think his intelligent passing would be more effective in breaking down a stubborn defence. So I think I can understand Rafa's reasoning on team selection.

We were all over Fulham. We just didn't have a threat up front. I honestly think if we'd had a quality striker on the pitch we would have won that game.

Whilst i see the potential that Aquilani has, as well as Maxi's quality - they're both still adjusting to english football and in a must win game, i'd always go with the proven options over the 'might be good if given time' ones.

Kuyt's always likely to pop up with a goal, i think his LFC record is something like 1 in 3, whilst often playing right midfield. And Yossi's a very creative player, proven to produce the goods in times of need. Why he opted for NEITHER of them to start, is beyond me,.

[kris90210]

Whilst i see the potential that Aquilani has, as well as Maxi's quality - they're both still adjusting to english football and in a must win game, i'd always go with the proven options over the 'might be good if given time' ones.

Kuyt's always likely to pop up with a goal, i think his LFC record is something like 1 in 3, whilst often playing right midfield. And Yossi's a very creative player, proven to produce the goods in times of need. Why he opted for NEITHER of them to start, is beyond me,.

Yes but Craig, who really knows if playing those two players from the start would have changed the result. It's pure speculation.

Lets say that he had played Kuyt and Benayoun from the start and we'd drawn 0-0. Perfectly plausible. You could have made the exact same point about why Rafa didn't start with Aquilani (20 million) and Maxi (after a string of mom-contender performances). I think Rafa is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't in some cases.

Lack of firepower up front cost us that game.

[JudgeRed]

Yes but Craig, who really knows if playing those two players from the start would have changed the result. It's pure speculation.

Lets say that he had played Kuyt and Benayoun from the start and we'd drawn 0-0. Perfectly plausible. You could have made the exact same point about why Rafa didn't start with Aquilani (20 million) and Maxi (after a string of mom-contender performances). I think Rafa is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't in some cases.

Lack of firepower up front cost us that game.

speaking sense

[Rich]

I actually want Rafa to stay now - god knows why to be honest.

Sort out the ownership, have a good summer in terms of sorting out the squad for next season and let's see where that takes us.