The Manager Sacked/Hired Thread 2019/20

[Alan]

When at Uni I lived with a Norwich fan, he was adamant he'd rather see his team lose 4-3 playing attractive football than win 1-0 playing what then was known as the Wimbledon way.

That's fucking weird to me.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Playing the right way ahead of winning? Not really.

 

[White Wolf]

Do you think their supporters would have accepted more "agricultural" play if it meant staying up? I would, personally.

To an extent. You can play shit football and gladly accept it if it gets results, but often it only serves to win a relegation scrap year in year out. Ideally you want something better to establish yourself, and you can play a direct game that is exciting to watch without resorting to pure hoofball. After a while the results will have a bad spell and at that point you really can't justify the agricultural style because the football is shit and you're losing. Jackett kept us up playing terribly in 15/16 but would you seriously have enjoyed that if it happened the following year(s) assuming Fosun hadn't bought us?

I think for the most part it depends on the situation. Some teams have poor resources and know that shit football is all they can do, I do think Dyche has done a great job in fairness. Don't think Cardiff were wrong to do it last year either.
But you can lose your fanbase doing it, which will hurt in the long run. Fulham are a bad example because they played like shit under Ranieri to win points and failed miserably. But if I asked any Albion fan I know about Tony Pulis they would all tell me that they fucking hated him and that getting rid was 100% correct decision, only replacing him was the bad thing. Most of those I know would genuinely say they prefer the Championship to having Pulis. The style of play lost the fans and they stopped turning up which likely hurt the team. And the players Pulis bought were so limited all they could play was that dire (and now ineffective) football they had become accustomed to they went down.

 

[Alan]

Playing the right way ahead of winning? Not really.

More the idea that there is a "right way" at all.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

More the idea that there is a "right way" at all.

It depends Alan. If you want success with a style of play that sucks all the joy out of the game, for me you are losing the soul. I like the moments that get you off your seat, the touches, the brilliant dribbles, the passing moves that rip a side open. I'm less into kicking people in the air, lumping it forward and hoping for a free kick corner or throw where the mutant centre halves might head a goal

 

[Alan]

It depends Alan. If you want success with a style of play that sucks all the joy out of the game, for me you are losing the soul. I like the moments that get you off your seat, the touches, the brilliant dribbles, the passing moves that rip a side open. I'm less into kicking people in the air, lumping it forward and hoping for a free kick corner or throw where the mutant centre halves might head a goal

If you can do both (play pretty AND win), then by all means. But it's a sport, which to me is competition first and foremost, entertainment second.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't ever advocate for the sort of shit Bournemouth do, though. Which works out for me as they're not exactly having a good time this season.

Philosophical talk aside, I do absolutely believe that there is a (roughly) linear relationship between "attractive" football and winning football, at least at the top level.

 

[Tony Towner]

I think there's 2 things here:
1) The amount of money in the PL justifies the means from any clubs perspective, being more expansive isn't worth the risk of relegation

2) At some point fans paying a lot of money get bored of that, Albion has been mentioned above, Curbishley at Charlton was always safety first. Even year 3 under Mick was becoming tiresome. Swansea at home being the best example of fans turning

 

[lemonjelly]

Yep, you can use more "agricultural" means (for want of a better phrase) and play more restricted in your style as a short term means to an end (ie avoid relegation). The notion should be though that this is temporary to get you to a stage where you are able to play good quality football.

Problem is, too many managers become wedded to the style, and/or the players they have. The club becomes full of players suited to shit housery, and it becomes more difficult to move on.

 

[AndyWolves]

I honestly think supporters base their teams performance more on the result than the actual performance.

A gritty 1-0 win, becomes a boring, lifeless, unimaginative draw if it finishes 0-0

 

[BGreenWolf]

Football IS entertainment. I don’t see any point in it if it’s not.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I dunno. When we somehow won games under Ken over Christmas 2015 everyone was still raging at how shit we were :icon_lol:

I love a gritty 1-0 win as much as the next man. Totally shithousing it though, no. Don't piss in my pocket and tell me it's raining, that's what the final straw with me and Saunders was.

 

[jd1981]

Rumours circulating that Villas board are discussing Dean Smiths future, just rumours tho nothing concrete

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

They really think they might get Pocchetino.

That's fucking hilarious

 

[Kenny]

Rumours circulating that Villas board are discussing Dean Smiths future, just rumours tho nothing concrete

Clearly his explanation of his tactics to the boss before kick off didnt work

"Playing 3 attacking lads to get at their 3 defenders by lumping at them and then when they have the ball put them under zero pressure. We'll shit them right up"

 

[Trips]

8/1 around 9pm tonight to be next to go. Evens now.

 

[jd1981]

They really think they might get Pocchetino.

That's fucking hilarious

Their opinion of themselves is beyond belief at times, I actually thought a few years in the championship would have made them less arrogant and have a bit more reasonable thinking if anything it’s made them worse.
At least when we dropped into league 1 it seemed to press a reset button on a lot of our fan base and probably made us a bit more realistic.

 

[Tony Towner]

Lee Johnson bulleted...shame

 

[Alan]

Lee Johnson bulleted...shame

This reads very differently in America. :icon_lol:

 

[YoungWolf]

What a shame for him...

 

[jd1981]

I think they got sick of their annual capitulation at the end of every season