The New Manager Thread

[Lecter]

Right, so from having been runners up last year, we're now not capable of finishing 4th?

So between May 2009 and August 2009, Rafa must've ****ed up royally, to turn a squad of runners up into one that cant finish 4th.

Or you could argue that expectation got the better of many of us because in your words we overperformed last season

As I said I expected us to finish 4th (as things stood on opening day) but on reflection even that might have been a touch of arrogance on our behalf

City, Spurs and Villa have all invested HUGE amounts of cash in their sides over the last 18-24 months I think they have caught us far quicker than expected

Some of that is our managers fault, some is circumstances/fortune, some is lack of investment from the upper manager

Dont get me wrong Rafa has to bear some responsibility but I do wonder whether any other manager* could have achieved much more











* available manager in my eyes there are a number of top quality managers who we will not attract for one reason or another

[red g]

So it's gone from 2nd to barely good enough for 4th, in a season.

And it's not the manager's fault?

no the manager overperformed last year....that was down to him, but underperforming is down to the players

[Lecter]

So it's gone from 2nd to barely good enough for 4th, in a season.

And it's not the manager's fault?

Of course hes partially to blame but so are the owners, the players. That is just the things at our club

There are other things going on of which we have no control

I've been quite pessimistic about our fortunes for sometime and its not been because of Rafa.

I said this time last season that if the owners let their transfer policy continue going forward (ie investing zero) then sooner or later it would affect our chances of finishing 4th

I'm surprised its happened as quickly as it has but as you have rightly said we have underperformed but I also think Villa, Spurs and City have performed generally better than expectation

[Craig_H]

Call me silly if you like, but if the squad is capable of being in the top 4, and they dont make the top 4, it's because the manager didnt get enough out of them.

[cream]

personally think thats rubbish mate.

the squad is easily good enough to finish fourth and win the premiership if we managed to keep gerrard and torre fit.

Really?

Kuyt
Lucas
Babel
Benayoun
Riera
Insua
Degan
N'gog
Aureloi
Agger

Maxi and Aquilani can't tell yet.

[red g]

Really?

Kuyt
Lucas
Babel
Benayoun
Riera
Insua
Degan
N'gog
Aureloi
Agger

Maxi and Aquilani can't tell yet.

we were a gnats hair away last year.

We have a quite fantastic spine, and i honestly believe that under the right manager we could come close.

[Lecter]

So it's gone from 2nd to barely good enough for 4th, in a season.

And it's not the manager's fault?

A quote from a recent Echo article regarding Rafa's spending which I think is relevant

His net spend in 2008/09 was £2.5m. While this season, despite signing Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani for fees in excess of £17m, he is actually in credit to the tune of £4.39m.

[cream]

we were a gnats hair away last year.

We have a quite fantastic spine, and i honestly believe that under the right manager we could come close.

We also has Alonso last year, our squad is not as good as last year.

[Lecter]

Call me silly if you like, but if the squad is capable of being in the top 4, and they dont make the top 4, it's because the manager didnt get enough out of them.

Thats one of the reasons

You could also point to injuries, bad luck etc....

It really depends what perspective you stand in

[Assassin]

Call me silly if you like, but if the squad is capable of being in the top 4, and they dont make the top 4, it's because the manager didnt get enough out of them.

Dear Silly if you like

I agree with your sentiment. However, a manager can only motivate so far. When you put out arguably your best squad for a game and they all underperform to the point of being looking like a pub team still ****ing pissed from the night before. There isnt a lot a manager can do apart from give them a good bollicking at half time.

I think the penny has finally dropped with Rafa, he skulked quickly onto the tunnel after the game. Then he has come out and publically slated the team. Hopefully, it is no more mr nice guy and he gets these highly paid usleless articles performing.

[cream]

And for the record, I'm not saying Rafa is not to blame, after all, he did put that **** squad together.

[Lecter]

personally think thats rubbish mate.

the squad is easily good enough to finish fourth and win the premiership if we managed to keep gerrard and torre fit.

No way is the squad good enough to win the league

Good enough to finish 4th though if we had managed to keep Gerrard & Torres fit

[Lecter]

Dear Silly if you like

I agree with your sentiment. However, a manager can only motivate so far. When you put out arguably your best squad for a game and they all underperform to the point of being looking like a pub team still ****ing pissed from the night before. There isnt a lot a manager can do apart from give them a good bollicking at half time.

I think the penny has finally dropped with Rafa, he skulked quickly onto the tunnel after the game. Then he has come out and publically slated the team. Hopefully, it is no more mr nice guy and he gets these highly paid oxygen usleless articles performing.

[Neil Young]

I nominate Pete Best.

It's too depressing to take any of this seriously.

[Craig_H]

Thats one of the reasons

You could also point to injuries, bad luck etc....

It really depends what perspective you stand in

Put it this way, i think our squad is easily good enough to finish 4th or 3rd.

Throw in some injuries (which isnt exclusive to us, by the way) and maybe 4th becomes a bit more of a struggle than 'easily' attainable.

We're on course for 7th though, and add up all the circumstances you like, that's way below where we should be - and the buck stops with the manager.

We had injuries and not enough money to spend to win the title, fine.

But we've got plenty enough to be finishing 4th.