****POLL NOW IN OP****Who do you want next?

[Tony Towner]

Obviously it was as the assistant manager but Carvalhal's Wednesday weren't totally rubbish - didn't they make the play-offs twice?

Admittedly they got Swansea relegated by 3 points...

Terry Connor got Wolves promoted as Asst, lets give it him...

 

[Wolvensam]

A lot of clutching going on

I mean it's objectively not a great move, is it?

I don't know a lot about him, and didn't prior to 21st May. It could go either way for me and I'm remaining impartial until he presents me with enough reasons to label him a shit appointment.

 

[Derby Wolf]

For balance, im interested to know what Lage has done for the past 12 months or so while out of work.

If he's thrown himself into learning, analysing games (where possible) and looking at other coaches etc etc then fair play maybe after a year out he's become a more rounded coach for it but if hes just sat waiting, knowing good ol' Jorge will find him something then its a concern.

 

[Wolvensam]

Terry Connor got Wolves promoted as Asst, lets give it him...

Deal.

 

[AndyWolves]

I just don't see us appointing someone on millions of pounds a year with the short term future of the club at stake based on Mendes chucking us an out of work manager.

I would think we've looked at what we want from a manager and then seen who fits the bill.

I find the whole idea that we let mendes choose our manager very unlikely.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

If anyone thinks that Lage is even close to the same level of appointment that Nuno was at the relative levels the club was at when they were appointed they are deluding themselves. Talk about false equivalence.

He may be a success, he may not, but this isn't a coup, Nuno was. Again, relative to where we were/are at

It's just pointless first impressions based on reputation though isn't it?

Like thinking a bloke who says he owns a Jag and lives in a 6 bedroom house is going to be better off than the next bloke with no car in a 3 bed mid terrace. You might find out later than the 6 bed house is falling to bits and his Jag is up on bricks while the other bloke is living in Kensington with no need for a car.

 

[jdrodrigues]

Nothing like a fair comparison, Felix is levels above Neto and Traore.

On Lage's bad run, every manager has bad spells but in that league there aren't many competitive games for Benfica and that run of 10 games was the joint worst in the club's history.

Tbf, Benfica's season was pretty much over once we lost the first place. Then Covid happened and all hell broke loose. The team never recovered from that. Coupled that with the players not giving a crap, no investment nor attempt to recoup a player that was sold for record fees and, allegedly, backroom movements from the board to get him fired so they could bring Jesus, the so-called saviour, in.

Lage should have done better, but it wasn't entirely his fault.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's an easy question really. Are we more or less likely to get relegated under Lage than Nuno?

I'm working from the principle that it was a <1% chance under Nuno, whatever you think of his football.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Thats ignores the fact we were a club who'd just finished 15th in The Championship for the former.

We were excited our new owners had installed a guy who'd managed Porto and Valencia and heard about him taking a relative unknown in Rio Ave to both Portugese Cup finals and into the Europa League.

Conversely we've now had two successive 7th placed finishes, gone deep into the Europa League and completed a third season and context has shifted massively.

With that context we're now about to appoint somebody who hasn't worked in a year and only has one years experience to his name.

Of course there's apprehension.

No issues with apprehension. As I already said, there was apprehension with Taylor and Hoddle and they both had better cvs than Nuno.

I'm apprehensive about Lage too but he gets my full support until performances dictate otherwise. Not sure why this is such a controversial position tbh.

 

[Wolvensam]

It's an easy question really. Are we more or less likely to get relegated under Lage than Nuno?

I'm working from the principle that it was a <1% chance under Nuno, whatever you think of his football.

I didn't see any evidence in our final few games he would have turned it around, we lost to United u23s.

I don't think it was a dead cert by any stretch.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

It's an easy question really. Are we more or less likely to get relegated under Lage than Nuno?

I'm working from the principle that it was a <1% chance under Nuno, whatever you think of his football.

No idea, no-one does or ever will because you'll never see both managing the same season with the same circumstances.

Pointless discussion.

 

[Wolvensam]

Tbf, Benfica's season was pretty much over once we lost the first place. Then Covid happened and all hell broke loose. The team never recovered from that. Coupled that with the players not giving a crap, no investment nor attempt to recoup a player that was sold for record fees and, allegedly, backroom movements from the board to get him fired so they could bring Jesus, the so-called saviour, in.

Lage should have done better, but it wasn't entirely his fault.

And this is the mantra of many Benfica fans. Should have done better but wasn't his fault entirely.

 

[jd1981]

I’m not on board with the Lage appointment but I’ll back him. He’s in a unwanted position of always being compared to Nuno.
For this to work it’ll some serious surgery on the squad, does anyone seriously think that’ll happen.

 

[Tony Towner]

I just don't see us appointing someone on millions of pounds a year with the short term future of the club at stake based on Mendes chucking us an out of work manager.

I would think we've looked at what we want from a manager and then seen who fits the bill.

I find the whole idea that we let mendes choose our manager very unlikely.

I think that's very naive tbh. That's exactly what's happened. Or at best he offered a number of options, all from his stable and that's the one we plumped for

 

[Wolvensam]

But the last manager Mendes chucked at us didn't go too badly, so I'm willing to give this one the same time I gave the last.

 

[jdrodrigues]

And this is the mantra of many Benfica fans. Should have done better but wasn't his fault entirely.

It's true.

No manager should have that track record. But he wasn't the only one to blame.

And he still managed to snag the second place alright.

I'm more pissed with the result of this season lol

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Our finish to the season post-Albion at home:

P19 W6 D5 L8 Pts 23 (PPG: 1.2, 46 over a season)

We were never going down under him.

We could go down under this guy, who has next to no track record.

 

[Wolvensam]

It's true.

No manager should have that track record. But he wasn't the only one to blame.

And he still managed to snag the second place alright.

I'm more pissed with the result of this season lol

I suppose in some ways it's the expectations of the club too, isn't it? Benfica should be winning titles and challenging in European Cup competitions. There's a sense of urgency and immediacy, whereas here he may be given more time to build.

 

[AndyWolves]

I think that's very naive tbh. That's exactly what's happened. Or at best he offered a number of options, all from his stable and that's the one we plumped for

I just don't see a guy like Jeff letting a third party make decisions for him. You wouldn't get very far in an organisation like Fosun if you don't own your decisions and how they're made.

 

[Tony Towner]

No issues with apprehension. As I already said, there was apprehension with Taylor and Hoddle and they both had better cvs than Nuno.

I'm apprehensive about Lage too but he gets my full support until performances dictate otherwise. Not sure why this is such a controversial position tbh.

I think it's perfectly fair to question the appointment and particularly the process in getting there, question what the club has become, whether those in charge know what they are doing and whether we have juat become a Mendes revenue stream whilst still hoping he does well.