We are all, me included, assuming that Gerrard will make a good manager but what if we’re wrong? His only experience to date is in a league where Alex McLeish won the treble.
Quote from: LeonW on February 21, 2022, 01:30:42 PMIf Lange has no influence then he is simply a shield or convenient scape goat for others. But how bad has the recruitment been since we came back up both under him and his predecessor? For the failures like Wesley, Samatta, etc, many of the current first team squad would be sold for profits tomorrow. These are the same players that have beaten some of the best sides in the land in the not too distant past and become internationals with their countries. If they were consistent, elite players, they probably wouldn’t have signed for us with where we currently are/have come from. Is SG getting enough out of those same players? Not for me. Is he going to get what Pep has at City (2 elite players per position)? No, so he needs to cut his cloth accordingly. This last week has been a disaster for his man management skills and the players know it’s easier for a club to replace the manager then a squad. You make some good points, Leon.Whether SG can get more out of the squad-mainstay players remains to be seen. I'm guessing that he will clear several out in the summer ... which will be a kill-or-cure approach; high risk but maybe necessary.What I don't want is that he restocks the squad with MON-esque expensive replacements who fail to raise the overall quality significantly. And, I don't want the academy talent to be ignored.
If Lange has no influence then he is simply a shield or convenient scape goat for others. But how bad has the recruitment been since we came back up both under him and his predecessor? For the failures like Wesley, Samatta, etc, many of the current first team squad would be sold for profits tomorrow. These are the same players that have beaten some of the best sides in the land in the not too distant past and become internationals with their countries. If they were consistent, elite players, they probably wouldn’t have signed for us with where we currently are/have come from. Is SG getting enough out of those same players? Not for me. Is he going to get what Pep has at City (2 elite players per position)? No, so he needs to cut his cloth accordingly. This last week has been a disaster for his man management skills and the players know it’s easier for a club to replace the manager then a squad.
Quote from: Risso on February 21, 2022, 01:00:35 PMI don't think it's fair to blame Gerrard (or Smith for that matter) for the deficiencies in the DoF role. They did a mostly shit job in the first year back, and haven't found the DM we've desperately needed for 3 years. The injuries to Traore and Bailey also can't be laid at Gerrard's door. We've just got too many players who aren't good enough. Have a look again at some of the games we lost during Smith's last 5 games. The Arsenal match especially (with a full first team practically) was pathetic and we were fortunate not to be 7 or 8 down in the first half. Those players are still the backbone of our team, and half of them just aren't up to it.If Lange has no influence then he is simply a shield or convenient scape goat for others. But how bad has the recruitment been since we came back up both under him and his predecessor? For the failures like Wesley, Samatta, etc, many of the current first team squad would be sold for profits tomorrow. These are the same players that have beaten some of the best sides in the land in the not too distant past and become internationals with their countries. If they were consistent, elite players, they probably wouldn’t have signed for us with where we currently are/have come from. Is SG getting enough out of those same players? Not for me. Is he going to get what Pep has at City (2 elite players per position)? No, so he needs to cut his cloth accordingly. This last week has been a disaster for his man management skills and the players know it’s easier for a club to replace the manager then a squad.
I don't think it's fair to blame Gerrard (or Smith for that matter) for the deficiencies in the DoF role. They did a mostly shit job in the first year back, and haven't found the DM we've desperately needed for 3 years. The injuries to Traore and Bailey also can't be laid at Gerrard's door. We've just got too many players who aren't good enough. Have a look again at some of the games we lost during Smith's last 5 games. The Arsenal match especially (with a full first team practically) was pathetic and we were fortunate not to be 7 or 8 down in the first half. Those players are still the backbone of our team, and half of them just aren't up to it.
Quote from: LeonW on February 21, 2022, 01:30:42 PMQuote from: Risso on February 21, 2022, 01:00:35 PMI don't think it's fair to blame Gerrard (or Smith for that matter) for the deficiencies in the DoF role. They did a mostly shit job in the first year back, and haven't found the DM we've desperately needed for 3 years. The injuries to Traore and Bailey also can't be laid at Gerrard's door. We've just got too many players who aren't good enough. Have a look again at some of the games we lost during Smith's last 5 games. The Arsenal match especially (with a full first team practically) was pathetic and we were fortunate not to be 7 or 8 down in the first half. Those players are still the backbone of our team, and half of them just aren't up to it.If Lange has no influence then he is simply a shield or convenient scape goat for others. But how bad has the recruitment been since we came back up both under him and his predecessor? For the failures like Wesley, Samatta, etc, many of the current first team squad would be sold for profits tomorrow. These are the same players that have beaten some of the best sides in the land in the not too distant past and become internationals with their countries. If they were consistent, elite players, they probably wouldn’t have signed for us with where we currently are/have come from. Is SG getting enough out of those same players? Not for me. Is he going to get what Pep has at City (2 elite players per position)? No, so he needs to cut his cloth accordingly. This last week has been a disaster for his man management skills and the players know it’s easier for a club to replace the manager then a squad. These are the same players who had lost five in a row, and would probably have lost the next five under Smith. Who do you honestly think we'd sell for more than we paid now? I'd argue:McGinn (signed under Bruce before either Pitarch/Lange were in a job)Mings - perhaps. High profile, England player.Konsa - Yes, probably get £20m plus nowMartinez - definitely. The shining light of the recruitment policyAfter that, I think we'd really struggle. No chance would we get more than we paid for Ings, Watkins, Cash, Luiz, Buendia, Digne, Traore, Sanson, Bailey. Not that they're bad players, we just paid top whack for them and a lot of them haven't even justified that fee yet.
Quote from: Risso on February 21, 2022, 01:52:37 PMQuote from: LeonW on February 21, 2022, 01:30:42 PMQuote from: Risso on February 21, 2022, 01:00:35 PMI don't think it's fair to blame Gerrard (or Smith for that matter) for the deficiencies in the DoF role. They did a mostly shit job in the first year back, and haven't found the DM we've desperately needed for 3 years. The injuries to Traore and Bailey also can't be laid at Gerrard's door. We've just got too many players who aren't good enough. Have a look again at some of the games we lost during Smith's last 5 games. The Arsenal match especially (with a full first team practically) was pathetic and we were fortunate not to be 7 or 8 down in the first half. Those players are still the backbone of our team, and half of them just aren't up to it.If Lange has no influence then he is simply a shield or convenient scape goat for others. But how bad has the recruitment been since we came back up both under him and his predecessor? For the failures like Wesley, Samatta, etc, many of the current first team squad would be sold for profits tomorrow. These are the same players that have beaten some of the best sides in the land in the not too distant past and become internationals with their countries. If they were consistent, elite players, they probably wouldn’t have signed for us with where we currently are/have come from. Is SG getting enough out of those same players? Not for me. Is he going to get what Pep has at City (2 elite players per position)? No, so he needs to cut his cloth accordingly. This last week has been a disaster for his man management skills and the players know it’s easier for a club to replace the manager then a squad. These are the same players who had lost five in a row, and would probably have lost the next five under Smith. Who do you honestly think we'd sell for more than we paid now? I'd argue:McGinn (signed under Bruce before either Pitarch/Lange were in a job)Mings - perhaps. High profile, England player.Konsa - Yes, probably get £20m plus nowMartinez - definitely. The shining light of the recruitment policyAfter that, I think we'd really struggle. No chance would we get more than we paid for Ings, Watkins, Cash, Luiz, Buendia, Digne, Traore, Sanson, Bailey. Not that they're bad players, we just paid top whack for them and a lot of them haven't even justified that fee yet.We have had offers / interest in Cash, Luiz, Watkins all at much above the price we paid. These aren't bad players just not played to their strengths this season by either manager.
Quote from: SoccerHQ on February 21, 2022, 01:01:22 PMQuote from: dave.woodhall on February 21, 2022, 12:59:31 PMI don't think there's much doubt that Purslow wanted Gerrard and not much more doubt that he wanted him at the first possible opportunity. Some rumours that Purslow may step down in the summer. I'd consider it if I were him and leave the next CEO to take the flak next season as last few weeks are good evidence that Gerrard isn't going to take us to the heights that appointing him was supposed to herald.If the SG appointment quickly goes wrong I suspect he won’t have a choice on when he leaves.
Quote from: dave.woodhall on February 21, 2022, 12:59:31 PMI don't think there's much doubt that Purslow wanted Gerrard and not much more doubt that he wanted him at the first possible opportunity. Some rumours that Purslow may step down in the summer. I'd consider it if I were him and leave the next CEO to take the flak next season as last few weeks are good evidence that Gerrard isn't going to take us to the heights that appointing him was supposed to herald.
I don't think there's much doubt that Purslow wanted Gerrard and not much more doubt that he wanted him at the first possible opportunity.
Who has shown an interest/bid for Watkins at more than we paid?
These are the same players who had lost five in a row, and would probably have lost the next five under Smith. Who do you honestly think we'd sell for more than we paid now? I'd argue:McGinn (signed under Bruce before either Pitarch/Lange were in a job)Mings - perhaps. High profile, England player.Konsa - Yes, probably get £20m plus nowMartinez - definitely. The shining light of the recruitment policyAfter that, I think we'd really struggle. No chance would we get more than we paid for Ings, Watkins, Cash, Luiz, Buendia, Digne, Traore, Sanson, Bailey. Not that they're bad players, we just paid top whack for them and a lot of them haven't even justified that fee yet.
Just seen these comments from Gerrard about Watkins:He explained: “You are not going to keep every person happy every single game. It’s normal for people to criticise, point fingers, to be fickle. If you’re a player and you go looking for that I’m sure you’ll find it. For me it’s important the players remain focused, they believe in what we’re doing and they focus on their individual performances.“I don’t think you gain anything, and you’re not going to improve yourself or your performance if you go looking for outside noise.“It’s out there. It’s out there for me, it’s out there for all the players and if you want to find it, you can find it. My advice to the players is to ignore what’s being said on the outside and focus on what you have to do on the inside.“I’m not saying stop social media. But if you’re on social media and you’re looking for negative comments and you don’t feel good about them then you’ve probably got yourself to blameFFS. Gerrard out!
Quote from: Risso on February 21, 2022, 02:24:52 PMJust seen these comments from Gerrard about Watkins:He explained: “You are not going to keep every person happy every single game. It’s normal for people to criticise, point fingers, to be fickle. If you’re a player and you go looking for that I’m sure you’ll find it. For me it’s important the players remain focused, they believe in what we’re doing and they focus on their individual performances.“I don’t think you gain anything, and you’re not going to improve yourself or your performance if you go looking for outside noise.“It’s out there. It’s out there for me, it’s out there for all the players and if you want to find it, you can find it. My advice to the players is to ignore what’s being said on the outside and focus on what you have to do on the inside.“I’m not saying stop social media. But if you’re on social media and you’re looking for negative comments and you don’t feel good about them then you’ve probably got yourself to blameFFS. Gerrard out! IS SG responding to something?
Please donate to help towards the costs of keeping this site going. Thank You.
Author
Topic: Anybody starting to get worried…… again? (Read 86476 times)
