16 Feb 2024 23:13:13
I was asked today by a friend of mine what do I think of eth and would I like him to be given another year under new management?
As I was giving my answer I only realised how conflicted I am.
Imo there has been a lot to like but nearly as much to dislike.
To be honest from the outside he is not to most endearing character and by all accounts that's also the way he is at closer quarters.
Again imo there have been a lot of mitigating reasons for our form and play this season.
But there are some things that look so obvious that it irks me that he appear to be so rigid.
All in all I think he has to deliver cl football next season in order to be even considered to remain.
It's the bare minimum for this season and although falls well below expectation and it certainly would not be a yardstick for next season it would represent a very good 2nd half to this season.
Even if he does secure it I see no guarantees for him as I do see the new management having a different approach and vision and I'm not sure that will align with eth.
If he does get the opportunity and shows he can be more flexible on certain things and less rigid then I think it could be the start of him becoming a much better man manager and manipulator of the media.
16 Feb 2024 23:32:17
Tumbleweed, when you look at what SJR is doing with Berrada, potentially Ashworth, maybe Wilcox plus or alternatively others, it just shows how useless the club have been without these positions in place since SAF and Gill left. So it’s no surprise why every manager has failed since and actually maybe how well some did. I think ETH deserves a shot under a proper regime, needs to be backed and I think he’ll be successful. No manager in world football has had to deal with what ETH has had to because of the state of the club. I’m getting a buzz back and I want ETH to head it up.
17 Feb 2024 00:03:06
Totally agree Ports.
17 Feb 2024 05:38:10
Injuries alone this year mean he deserves supporting longer. When you consider that the club has been up for sale - a d everyonenin the whole club, top to bottom, is considering whether they have a future.
Sancho the spoiled brat did his best to ruin the season.
Seems he was expecting Greenwood back, before a U turn with no replacement striker.
Anthony had his offield issues.
Club financial issues have left us in a position where half the players he has recruited have been free or loans. Crazy situation to be in.
Assuming he wants it, let's build out the structure above him and see how far he can take this team. Meanwhile, continue to clean out and refresh. I honestly believe he is a manager who will thrive bringing though our younger talent. I don't see another manager out there that I want to bring in. Let's get him some players to fill out the squad in his style and see what he can do - I suspect he will do very well. A d if not, at least we will have cleared out the players and reset.
17 Feb 2024 07:46:40
Said many times on here that ETH needs to use the resources he has, far better. The Antony situation goes against him. There is no discernible pattern and recent wins against decent opposition but not City, Liverpool or Arsenal have somewhat hidden the issues. Rigid is a word I would agree with, disciplinarian is another but as a senior leader you have to know how to use multiple facets to get players on board.
Must do better and no Champions League football would almost certainly see him gone, he may be gone anyway. Let’s see where we end up and if there are signs of that elusive pattern without buying all of Ajax former team mates.
17 Feb 2024 08:13:31
Ken you love conflict. ? I thought you were describing yourself rather than ETH ???.
17 Feb 2024 09:00:48
I was originally firmly in the give him a go bracket. I admit to now being a little towards the get rid side of the see saw.
The victories have helped but there is still very little pattern to the play and we have ridden our luck a fair bit. But that's football.
A few games coming up in run in will show how much he has improved the approach and possibly then we can make a fairer call from our misguided perspective.
17 Feb 2024 10:22:18
I don't enjoy conflict fizz I just tolerance for empty vessels that make noise and snowflakes.
17 Feb 2024 10:29:32
Keefy, I actually disagree when I keep seeing we have no pattern and ETH hasn’t got a style of play. I think he does and we see glimpses of this but unfortunately he is having to play due to injuries players in important positions for the system who quite frankly, aren’t good enough to play it. Maguire for example, done tremendously well to come back and with the game in front of him and with time on the ball is a half decent CB. But playing out from the back receiving it in tight spaces or under pressure of playing balls through lines to the midfielders/ strikers feet, he’s just not good enough and that’s the difference Martinez makes. This is just one example and not just digging Maguire out.
The only real criticism of ETH is Antony but the club are responsible for the fee not ETH. He stuck with him for long periods but he's sticking with Garnacho now and not just blindly sticking with Antony so he’s not afraid to drop “favourites” as some fans would want you to think.
17 Feb 2024 12:05:11
Ports I agree with a lot of that.
The issue I have is looking from the outside (which is not always accurate) he did not assist to have that unified close relationship with the squad.
Look how fergie klopp pep Jose had their squads after short periods and held it for long periods.
After 2 years I don't see entering on same page pulling together and imo there should be a lot more evidence of that at this point.
Do players trust him? Do they believe in him?
I'm not sure and if that doesn't come then he won't survive.
17 Feb 2024 13:25:22
For me there are two sides to managing the club. The first side is can you instil discipline, keep a level head and steer the club through various challenges often the field.
In this respect I think EtH has done a wonderful job and been far better at this than any other manager since SAF.
I honestly cannot fault him. The issues he has had to deal with during his 18 months at the club are frankly ridiculous. From the continued speculation and uncertainty over the club sale, to the Ronaldo fallout, Sancho being a child, Greenwood and Antony situations, a concerted effort from the media to get him sacked, player ill-discipline, and the worst injury crisis our club has faced since the conception of the EPL.
Every single one of these things on their own would have been enough to derail all of our previous managers since SAF.
However, I accept that this is only one side of managing our club. The other is everything on the pitch. Can you get the team playing well, can you get results, and can you continue our legacy of promoting and developing top class youth players from our academy.
On this side EtH has been a bit more of a mixed bag. He has done a wonderful job with Garnacho and Mainoo, helping one steer through ill-discipline when he started to breakthrough, and managing the other well through injury. In less than two full seasons he seems to have brought through two young players who look like they can and will develop into long term top class fixtures in our first team. In that respect he has already done more than all other post SAF managers.
He also won our first trophy in 6 years last season, so has shown he can be successful.
The one what seems inconsistent is style of play and level of performances. There have been concerns over the inconsistency of the style of play, as well as some of his decisions both in terms of player selection and choice and timing of substitutions.
I say inconsistency because he has both excelled and underperformed in both aspects during his time at the club. We have seen fantastic substitutions that have won us games, and other times where he seems reluctant to make a change and we have gone on to lose. We have seen both great performances and dire ones.
The question we should be asking is what is behind those inconsistencies. Is it a fault in his management style or ability, or are they caused by other mitigating factors and if so to what extent?
For me personally I feel he is deserving of the benefit of the doubt over the inconsistencies due to the frankly horrible squad he has had to work with.
It isn't possible to play a consistent style of play when you have at best 8 or 9 players capable of playing in a specific way. Then when you are missing half of those 8 or 9 players due to injuries or suspensions then suddenly playing that way becomes practically impossible. Or at least playing that way to the standard required to perform well and win in the EPL becomes impossible.
Maguire cannot play a possession based high defensive line in the EPL, he might be able to play that way in League One, because that is the standard to which he can play that way.
How often have we seen a team like Burnley for example. Last year they were dubbed a mini-Man City in the championship for the way they played. Keeping the ball, moving it and outplaying everyone in the league. Yet this year they haven't been able to play anywhere near like that despite having mostly the same players who did so last year. This is simply because the quality of the opposition are so much better than last year.
Yes, of course you can coach any half decent player to play a specific style, yet their individual talent will still determine to what level they can play that style effectively.
Managers cannot turn poor players into great players with coaching. In the same way that a great teacher cannot turn someone with a low IQ into a genius.
A great manager can get a group of players playing greater than the sum of their parts, but to do so requires having the right blend of players with the right skill sets to cover for eachothers weaknesses within a well designed team plan.
Ever since LvG was allowed to tear up the last successful team we had and replace them with substandard players we have never had close to a good enough group of players for any manager to be successful beyond a good cup run with a little luck.
We have since flip flopped between different managers skimming off a layer of failed players and replacing them with several players designed to suit the new manager only to sack said manager within 2 years and start the cycle again.
We now have a Frankenstein squad made up of parts from different managers designed to play football in vastly different ways.
No manager has been able to get consistent performances from this squad.
From EtH we have seen when he has the players he trusts fit and on form we play better football and get better performances. While the less of those players we have available the more our performances drop, and the more the manager has to adapt his preferred way of playing to suit the players at his disposal.
For this reason I am still very much behind the manager and feel he should be given at least another season. He has done a great job in some aspects and has done about as well as can be expected given the circumstances in others. Let's see if we can change those circumstances what he can do.
However, I also fully appreciate that the club management structure is undergoing a massive change and that the future vision of the club might be very different to that of EtH. In which case then a parting is best for all concerned. If that happens I'll wish EtH the best of luck for the future and thank him for his efforts in steering us through probably the most tumultuous period in the last 30 years at our club. I would also fully expect him to be successful at his next club.
17 Feb 2024 13:33:44
To quote Gunny Sergeant Highway……. You improve, you adapt, you overcome. For me he has shown no real ability to consistently do that.
And in fairness I do not really think the only criticism of ETH is Antony, far from it.
But as I have said many times. I want him to succeed, I am just wavering towards move him on. Doesn’t mean I have jumped yet! I would be happy for him to stay under the new regime and prove his credentials.
17 Feb 2024 14:44:56
It’s ok to say how many issues he had to deal with, but how many of them are of his own making? I would say the majority of them are down to him, from the poor buys, to the headmaster one size fits all attitude, let’s not use the excuse he don’t set the price for buys either, he insisted on some of these clowns!
He not the greatest man manager
His in game management is not the greatest
His tactics are not the greatest with what’s available to him
His inability’s to adapt is not the greatest
Too stubborn
Aloof
Upsets majority
EPL shocked him yet he never appears to learn
Etc
You all keep going on about we want SJR to appoint the best available to run the club, surely that includes the best available manager, and there is not a car in hells chance that ETH is in the Great let alone the best class….
17 Feb 2024 15:01:34
If ETH is the best man for the job, then keep him as manager.
If not, bring a better coach in. Success over sentiment.
Can’t see INEOS settling for anyone not best in class.
17 Feb 2024 15:25:47
There will be enough upheaval in the club over the next 12 months anyway, why add the manager to that.
Let the backroom staff get in position and figure out a way forward, then in 2025 if EtH doesn't is developing the team, then fine, let's move on.
Personally I think it is fine to give him another year, besides, nobody else stands out at the moment.
17 Feb 2024 15:32:14
I agree wallace.
17 Feb 2024 16:01:55
A caveat to that Wallace is that it's also about the right person even best in class don't work out because there are so many factors outside of their control but by and large the cream rises to the top.
Personally if they decide to part ways with eth I would like the club to move for one of the new emerging coaches.
In my opinion the next club that get alonso and keep him for 4 or 5 years will be seeing themselves up for success.
Arteta has done a great job with arsenal. I would like to see that sort of young coach in who can develop an exciting talented free flowing team after inheriting a miss mash of over paid over hyped over indulged pre-madonnas.
Klopp has done a great job with Liverpool and was at the time he came 'the next big thing' and delivered.
Neither won as much as they could have but they have revitalised and reinvigorated sleeping giants and have united the club the fans and the players.
We need a manager who will bring everyone with him a man you want to follow, a many you have 100% faith in and a man you can see everyone else believing in. From the management to the player to the fans.
If sjr and his team can get the right man and the club builds momentum there will be no stopping it.
Timing is everything when it comes to building momentum.
For style of play and for the next big thing Alonso is exactly the type of manager I'd like to see.
De zerbi is a coach I like also.
Potter has also had a great job at Brighton but the whole Chelsea debacle is very off putting.
Emery is a coach doing a good job at Villa.
I don't know enough about the Nice, sporting or girona coaches to comment. But having epl experience must be a huge advantage.
Maybe eth is the man maybe he is not.
17 Feb 2024 16:03:05
Well I guess most know my feeling on this subject. Excellent manager getting a tune out of a decent team and average when you look past who has been available. Back him with structure and players and he will annoyingly win a lot.
17 Feb 2024 16:39:50
Well Ahmed that’s your personal opinion but nothing factual backs it up.
Too much talk of him being stubborn and poor man management for it not too have some substance
We all seen how poor the in game management been
We all seen how poor his acquisitions have been buy or loan
We all seen how he comes across he don’t exactly light a fire under your A***
Are players that have come in any better then what went out
There is a bigger case for him not being up to the job then there is that he will be great eventually.
All we will hear now is he won loads, yeah in a farmers league! Small club mentality imo.
17 Feb 2024 19:33:06
If we finish top 4 then he deserves a crack at it next season. If we tail off and don’t improve our current league position then get rid and get someone better in.
I’m not invested in Ten Hag purely because the football has been poor under him. He seems stubborn in team selection and poor in game management.
I’m happy to be proved wrong though.
17 Feb 2024 20:36:07
Eth was the next big thing.
Cant believe you want to Alonso. Zero chance he would even consider coming to man utd, so why would a utd fan want to state that he wants him? Odd.
De Serbi has had a worse season than EtH.
Potter doesn't have the personality to manage man utd.
Give eth the players and he will succeed. He just needs to clear out that junk first. He is ahead of Arteta's timeframe. Klopp's. It takes time to clear out and rebuild.
17 Feb 2024 22:44:39
Agree with you Ports. ETH is the manager I’ve liked most post-SAF. By far.
Seems people have already forgotten the absolute state we were in after Ole.
Since then, off-field issues have got even worse, and on the field we’ve started our strongest lineup just once this season.
I for one would be sad to see him go at the end of the season and I have a feeling we may be making a bit of a mistake if we do, as the club is desperate for some stability.
Just on a side note I’m sure ETH has managed more wins than Klopp since he took over ?♂️ there’s no trophy for that but it’s something to think about.
17 Feb 2024 22:45:05
I don't disagree on eth to a degree DB. There is lots to like but I'm not convinced in some key things and they are nagging away at me. I'm 100% behind him but my own personal opinion is that I don't see him aligning with the new owners going forward.
If he does he will need to concede a lot from his current 'philosophy ' if he can do that he might get the opportunity and if he can do that he will become a better coach and manager Imo.
Why would I want not alonso. He has BL playing some fantastic stuff and has developed all of their players he is a top coach.
Yes it's very unlikely we could get him but much in the same way I would take pep in a heartbeat if he fancied the challenge.
Would you have thought we couldn't poach the city ceo 6 months ago or have a high calibre DOF incoming from a key Rivera a rival.
Do you not want them?
It would be a tough call for alonso to make but any top young coach would be interested not everybody thinks the way some fans do.
De zerbi is imo a good coach yes he's not had the best season but having sold his midfield and Danny welbeck and milner not hitting the heights I think he has done well but he can be a bit emotional and I'd forsee him having a difficult time with the media at a bigger club.
Potter I with you there.
18 Feb 2024 04:14:19
I could see a curve ball where the new team wrestle control on recruitment from ten hag a d he decides he can't live with that. So agree that there could be a scenario where they just want to bring their own in, so everyone starts on a positive first step.
BUT - I hope that doesn't happen. I would like to see the squad refreshed in a cohesive style. We are half way into EtH players and style. It will be easier for the next manager if he has a squad that can mesh together. If we have 4 or 5 ball playing center backs that can switch in and out that will be an easier squad to start with. More ball playing midfielders, same thing. It also buys time for our new management teM to assess and make plans that will last. Pep will move on soon, he will be annoyed that Klopp beat him to it! I can see Pep taking another year out soon and then there will be. Changing of the dominant teams. We need to be poised to take over, and arsenal are already ahead of us.
18 Feb 2024 11:53:15
A curve ball is meant to be less likely. That scenario is most likely DB. Just wait and see.