Shambles.
Fuck Marsch- never rated him - pound shop Nathan Jones
One of the posts on The Athletic, which mirrors my thoughts.
Genuine blessing IMO.
The last few months with Jones have been purgatory. But having finally (and belatedly) removed the manager many neutrals are calling the worst in EPL history, what did we nearly do? Repeat their grievous ādata at the expense common senseā gamble and decide they have spotted something in the numbers, all the while ignoring the bleeding obvious.
With Jones, the obvious was his utter failure at Stoke. Not just terrible results, but also his hoofball playing style, inability to manage bigger players and a nature that was so patently ill-suited to greater scrutiny and expectations.
And now with Marsch, the obvious is that he has failed with the two big jobs (also the two most recent jobs) he has had: Leeds and Leipzig.
With Leipzig, much is made of Marschās Red Bull background, as if weāre getting a younger, fresher, fired-up Ralph. But thatās simply misleading. Leipzig booted him out after just six months.
Looking at Leeds, their squad is objectively the equal of ours, yet Marsch has a win rate of only 29%, a total goal difference of -8 in his time at the club and took the club down one place (from 16th at arrival, down to 17th at the end of last season). In all of this season he has won just four league games. So why on earth would he do better with us?
Then take the reaction of their fans, who despaired at his narrow playing style and inability to get results. By-and-large they wanted him out. And for those thinking āAh, but they loved Bielsa and never accepted Marschā, a fair response would be āwasnāt the same said about us and Ralph?ā Every Saints fan I know wanted Jones to go, but this was because he was rubbish, not because he wasnāt Ralph. So why would we be right about Jones but Leeds fans be wrong about Marsch?
#BulletDodged
In addition to this, I canāt help feeling that given we appointed Jones with almost unseemly haste, it wonāt hurt to be a little less rushed this time.
My thoughts exactly.
Iām not sure what Selles can do to make us worse so letās sound out some options.
Yes. Letās interview a few take our time, but still fuck it up with the cheapest option possible.
Letās face it we are not going to get the big name we want, so maybe go with a Lampard, Gerrard or Rooney when we are in the championship. Even though Gerrard and Lampard probably think they are above that level now. Lampard has links with the Redknapp family so he fuck right off! Maybe Moore, but if he gets Wednesday up he will quite rightly want to stay at a bigger club.
I guess it depends how much time, due diligence and critical thinking goes in to these decisions. We were led to believe that the club have long had contingency plans in place to replace Ralph and that there was a āblack boxā full of managers too. So in theory it doesnāt concern me that we act quickly because surely, given how poor our form was in 2022, they were thinking long and hard about replacing Ralph before they did. Likewise with Jones. The guy must have been on the verge of the sack for weeks.
So for me the most concerning thing is not the speed with which decisions are being made, rather the decisions themselves and the criteria (āmetricsā) used to make them.
Adam Blackmore was talking the other night about how Sport Republic initially claimed they wouldnāt be getting hands on with key decisions because we were already a well run club. BUT, that seems to have changed so it looks as if the black box for managers has been scrapped and sold for parts and we are now just winging it on Rasmus Ankersonās spreadsheets. Which from the Jones appointment is clearly a flawed process.
It reeks of mismanagement at this point and is pretty embarrassing.
I donāt see the point in going with Selles and āan experienced coachā. Selles has been there all year. We need fresh impetus and leadership and I donāt see us getting that with a Sammy Lee style appointment.
Worth a read and sums it up for me.
Funny thing is, every season, someone from the relegation zone makes their run at some point, usually with a ācaretaker managerā. I am still yet to be convinced it canāt be us, although we are in a really, REALLY poor run of form.
If the playing group ACTUALLY like Selles, then maybe that miracle might occur?
Orā¦
Why would you hire a manager who failed with a team in your same situation š¤·š¼
Because the boss chose him?
Who must be a complete and utter fuckwit
Imho of course
If that is true we are truly fucked
The lunatics have taken over the asylum
If thatās true, Iām the Queen of Sheba
Well.
He does love Dubai Saints and did have me in his ear for 5 hours back in the day in the sandpit
Last time I can remember this kind of situation was with Poortvliet and Wotte. Didnāt the players work their bollocks off for Wotte when JP went?
What will be will be I guess. If we do go down, do it with hope in your heart. If not for football, do it for living a life worth remembering
As I recall that season, we were shit all the way through, give or take the occasional decent performance. Changing from the incompetent duo of Poortvliet and Wotte to just a single incompetent made bog all difference. I donāt think there was any lack of effort on the part of the players, they just got demoralised and inured to regular defeats.