New Wolves manager Marcelo Gallardo?

[Deutsch Wolf]

The excellent run of form in March seems to be the exception, that's the thing that concerns me. It was sandwiched between two fucking appalling runs that seem more like the norm.

What about Dec/Jan? P12 W7 D2 L3.

It's not his fault the club decided to stock midfield with an incredibly average (on a good day) bunch of chancers or have Doherty as our only available senior left back. Not much he could do to fix that in January, we did try to sign Ryan Haynes but it didn't happen.

 

[Johnny75]

BFS opened up with a run of 1-1-6 at Palace so I wouldn't call that an immediate impact...they weren't in the bottom three when he took over, hadn't been there since the second game of the season, it was he who put them there. Silva I'll grant you.

I would dispute that playoffs was the aim when he came in, we were 19th on 17 points from 16 games, already nine points off the top six, we'd picked up two points from a possible 21 and the deficiencies in the squad were already quite obvious.

I would agree with you on that he wasn't brought in for the play-offs but that's what Lambert said. I agree with Booz, I just don't see it with Lambert, just another average manager living off one good spell which was years ago now.

I hope he proves me wrong next season (as I don't think we will replace him).

 

[Jinky]

What about Dec/Jan? P12 W7 D2 L3.

It's not his fault the club decided to stock midfield with an incredibly average (on a good day) bunch of chancers or have Doherty as our only available senior left back. Not much he could do to fix that in January, we did try to sign Ryan Haynes but it didn't happen.

But it IS his choice to play George Saville at left back, and Conor Coady at right back. And it's also his choice to play Dave Edwards every single minute of every single game.

We could be here all day debating the positives/negatives of Paul Lambert's reign in charge of Wolves so far.

I've been deeply disappointed. When we appointed him, he looked refreshed and ready to go. Bar a good run in March, it's been a massive disappointment and the way the season has trailed off has been alarming.

Fosun need to decide whether to stick or twist. Stick and give him a full pre-season and summer to hit the ground running next season, or twist and go all guns blazing with a new manager at the helm; but running the risk of a repeat of Walter Zenga. Regardless of which way they go, I'm sure there will be people criticising their every move.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'm far from convinced myself mate. I just think some of the criticism is either unfair or directed at the wrong people.

I won't defend him on this; so far he has taken Edwards off in ONE game, against Villa when he got a whack on the head. He didn't start at Stoke (came on for the last 20 minutes) and he was banned for Lambert's first game at Preston. Otherwise he's played the full 90 of every single game. It's farcical especially when he talks about players needing a rest after loads of games in a short space of time, we're running a 31 year old into the ground when he isn't contributing anything.

But it IS his choice to play George Saville at left back, and Conor Coady at right back.

Iorfa doesn't look like much of an option at the moment on the right, Saville isn't really a downgrade on Doherty who's been there since December 2015, virtually unopposed.

Who should he be picking? Given the U23s are off limits.

the way the season has trailed off has been alarming.

Did you read my reply to your earlier post? That's why it's trailed off.

 

[Langers]

But it IS his choice to play George Saville at left back, and Conor Coady at right back. And it's also his choice to play Dave Edwards every single minute of every single game.

We could be here all day debating the positives/negatives of Paul Lambert's reign in charge of Wolves so far.

I've been deeply disappointed. When we appointed him, he looked refreshed and ready to go. Bar a good run in March, it's been a massive disappointment and the way the season has trailed off has been alarming.

Fosun need to decide whether to stick or twist. Stick and give him a full pre-season and summer to hit the ground running next season, or twist and go all guns blazing with a new manager at the helm; but running the risk of a repeat of Walter Zenga. Regardless of which way they go, I'm sure there will be people criticising their every move.

If we start September with Coady and Doherty as full backs, with Batth or Stearman (or both) alongside them with Edwards alongside Price or Saville in midfield, I'll be far from impressed. But this isn't his squad - the club obviously decided against spending big in January for reasons DW has already gone through, which make perfect sense.

I don't think it's fair to say there haven't been any positives, and I also don't think it's fair to judge him until he's brought in some players over the summer. It's not been a success by any stretch of the imagination but I'm not writing him off yet.

 

[Deano]

If we start September with Coady and Doherty as full backs, with Batth or Stearman (or both) alongside them with Edwards alongside Price or Saville in midfield, I'll be far from impressed. But this isn't his squad - the club obviously decided against spending big in January for reasons DW has already gone through, which make perfect sense.

I don't think it's fair to say there haven't been any positives, and I also don't think it's fair to judge him until he's brought in some players over the summer. It's not been a success by any stretch of the imagination but I'm not writing him off yet.

Nobody is saying there hasn't been any positives at all, just that the negatives possibly outweigh the positives that there have been since Lambert took over and i don't think that is an unreasonable conclusion to draw.

I have massive reservations regarding his ability to shape a squad ready for promotion - there are far too many issues that need to be dealt with at Wolves first, I don't think we are 3 or 4 quality players away and there is only so much you can do in one window. I can bet we wont do as much business as some think as we simply aren't going to replace a massive bulk of the squad - some of the players you mentioned above will be here and will be involved next season.

 

[Boozad]

What about Dec/Jan? P12 W7 D2 L3.

It's not his fault the club decided to stock midfield with an incredibly average (on a good day) bunch of chancers or have Doherty as our only available senior left back. Not much he could do to fix that in January, we did try to sign Ryan Haynes but it didn't happen.

He couldn't do much to fix it in January, you're right there. But there just seems no rhythm or game plan with him, we were back to out-of-the-hat team selections again not so long ago, he'd bring Hause back who'd play well and then drop him, insisting on Dave at 10 and Weimann out wide, Saville on the left, a lack of decipherable tactics... It just seems like groundhog day to me.

It still baffles me what happened to CBJ as well. There's no way on earth he's as bad as Doherty.

 

[Alan]

I for one am as excited as ever for the summer. I love transfer season.

Sure, it could all come crashing down in September, but until then, all these rumors are so much fun!

 

[Lycan]

I for one am as excited as ever for the summer. I love transfer season.

Sure, it could all come crashing down in September, but until then, all these rumors are so much fun!

I'm with you 100% here.

Can't wait for Langers' biannual 'fuck the transfer window' post as well. Always a good read...

 

[Alan]

I'm with you 100% here.

Can't wait for Langers' biannual '$#@! the transfer window' post as well. Always a good read...

I'm just waiting for us to get linked to the likes of AVB and Bernardo Silva again. :icon_lol:

 

[YoungWolf]

Since Lambert has come in we've been a pretty classic mid table Championship side. Good form followed by poor run, etc..

I'm not wholly convinced as I'm not a fan of the way we have played at times but then there have been performances like Fulham away where we have looked like we at least had a plan. However, he seems quite adamant there are going to be changes so I'm willing to give him the chance (though I won't shed any tears if he got sacked at this point).

I didn't realise we tried to sign Haynes either.

 

[leedswolf]

He wasn't brought in to make us safe though, he was brought in to try to make the play-offs. He put us in a position of going down where we were one point and one place from the relegation zone.

He's done an average job at best and I don't understand the optimism regarding next season with him and Thelwell here. I have seen no discernible style and the constant playing of Edwards is baffling. I think we can judge a manager who has been here over half a season perfectly well by now. Look at Aaladyce and Silva if you want to see a manager make an immediate and defining impact. Lambert can't be described as having that. He did at Norwich but that looks like his Owen Coyle nadir rather than a Sam Aaladyce lasting impact.

Agreed.

 

[big mean bunny]

As a fan I was already on the beach but this rumour has me showing interest, even if it's just bollocks and I have no idea who the bloke is. I like the idea of a huge clearout, new manager, new DOF and some excitement. Fuck the upheaval, lets just try and be the new Watford and somehow hope it works out!

 

[AndyWolves]

I think someone got confused between Marcelo and Trisha and got the wrong end of the stick

http://wolvescommunitytrust.org.uk/news/wolves-aid-makes-an-impact-with-the-people-of-bilston.php

 

[darlowolf64]

I think someone got confused between Marcelo and Trisha and got the wrong end of the stick

http://wolvescommunitytrust.org.uk/news/wolves-aid-makes-an-impact-with-the-people-of-bilston.php

She'd still do a better job than Lambert :devilsmile:

 

[AlexG]

Positives from this season?
We have not been relegated.
We have some huge talents coming through the youth ranks, who should make it at this level at the very least, provided the coaches don't break them.
Two managers who, just occasionally, got some wins out of a disjointed team, almost despite their team selections.

The negatives?
Lambert's decisions to drop players after fine performances.
Lambert's ability to keep picking players who looked more like cart horses than footballers.
Square pegs in round holes. Constantly.
Lambert telling us about great performances when we all could see the game in question had been nothing short of atrocious.

The negatives are all things I do not want from a Manager, Head Coach, or whatever you call the person who picks the team. Sure, he can only work with the assets he has, but when the decisions he makes are so bang out of order, I have no faith that this suddenly changes if the people around him, both players and back room staff, see significant change.

Many say we need to give him a chance. Hasn't he had that chance already? Since the beginning of November? SIX MONTHS. Half a year.

We are now in the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't scenario in terms of trading in Mr Lambert. Yes, we need stability, but as many have said, there's no point changing managers again in November this year, too. If there is to be a change, it has to be in the next month.

Gallardo has an interesting and fruitful CV, but can he adapt to England and the Championship? Well, there's only one way to find out...

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Many say we need to give him a chance. Hasn't he had that chance already? Since the beginning of November? SIX MONTHS. Half a year.

Would you have sacked Mark McGhee and Dave Jones after six months?

 

[AlexG]

Would you have sacked Mark McGhee and Dave Jones after six months?

Interesting point. You'll know all the following, but it helped me by researching it...

Assuming Wikipedia is correct on McGhee, then the similarities with Lambert are scary - a first season close to relegation, good form sandwiched in between blocks of poor form. If Lambert follows the deja vu of McGhee, then the following season saw failure in the play-offs. Narrow margins perhaps? Can Lambert go one better and make the Premiership? Given what we have seen in his six months, Lambert will need an epiphany and a huge chunk of luck. Changing managers is of course a risk, we could end up being worse off. But the danger is we end up being just as bad if we stick rather than twist.

As for Dave Jones, well, he took over a team 12th in the Division, and they ended the season 12th in the Division. Again, a Deja Vu moment as Mr Lambert has more-or-less placed us in the same area of the table as when he arrived (was it 19th when he pitched up in November, and depending on results this weekend it might well be on or around that again?). This from Wikipedia was intriguing concerning Jones' first summer transfer window:

"The summer of 2001 saw Jones undertake a large overhaul of the playing squad in the pursuit of promotion. He spent over £7million – the largest spending in the club's history in one transfer period – bringing in the likes of Nathan Blake, Colin Cameron, Mark Kennedy, Alex Rae and Shaun Newton. Additional firepower was also later purchased in Kenny Miller and a cut-price Dean Sturridge."

We are all counting on a similar wave of successful activity this summer from Mr Lambert. As it was, it was another season before play-off success and elevation to the Premiership. I think we could all live with that timeline, as it's more-or-less what Fosun have suggested is their route map.

But is Lambert another Jones? Do I believe in Lambert? I have to evaluate the decisions I noted in "The Negatives" in my previous post to inform that decision. The only excuse for any of that is experimentation, trying to see what works and what doesn't.

The unknown variable is if Lambert has been kidding those he's going to give the bullet to this summer - praising them to try and milk some sort of performance out of them. That way they can have no excuses when the P45 is dropped into their hands.

My problem is I don't believe he's that crafty, and he actually believes what he's been saying about Messrs Doherty, Coady and Edwards. Plus many others. In which case, we should be calling for the men in white coats, rather than giving him more time in charge...

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Jones' final position was deceptive, 23 points from 19 games (which is very much bottom six form in itself) - we might have been 12th but we were THIRTEEN points behind Forest one place higher than us! And only three points clear of Grimsby in 18th.

There was very little to take in terms of positives from either of McGhee or Jones' first half seasons in charge. Neither improved the style to any discernible effect, their very early signings didn't make a massive impact (Marshall has done better than any of Osborn/Samways/Corica/Connelly/Roussel did, for instance), the results were almost as poor as their respective predecessors'.

Once they got to change the squad around more to their liking - which transfer windows or not, you've always been able to do more effectively in a summer than in the middle of a season - things improved dramatically.

Lambert's current PPG of 1.32 equates to around 60/61 points a season, about a 12th placed finish. Do people really think we have a squad that's capable of much more than that? That ratio has also been greatly diminished in the last six games while Costa has been injured.

I understand the concerns, really I do. I share a lot of them (although I think Doherty is on the way out, him not being considered a proper LB by Lambert is music to my ears, I don't think he'll get in the team as a RB). Too soon to write him off though for me.

 

[AlexG]

Thanks for that info, Deutsch - no way that Wikipedia can briefly give a perspective on all the nuances of history.

I guess my evaluation boils down more to my own philosophies than those of Lambert - if someone continually does things that concern me (in this case, team selection and post-game PR spin), then I mark their cards accordingly. Once bitten, twice shy, three times an idiot.

I hope you're right about Doherty. But as I think you've said in the past, who's going to buy him off us? Would be nice if someone could talk a Welsh team in taking Edwards off us, but that's more in hope. And then there's another ten I earmarked as needing shipping out or paying off, but I guess this will be evolution rather than revolution.

As for timescales, I hope we'll get an idea of what the grand plan is sometime in the next month, with at least a couple of good bits of transfer business...