Johan Lange - Sporting Director

[thfcsteff]

I really do think selling Brennan without a replacement, in the midst of an injury crisis, was also a dumb move that again shows up this data / theory vs judgement situation we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Selling a player at the peak of their value, moving them on if we don’t have any intention of building around them, is definitely something we needed to do better as a club. But I feel no one was like ‘hang on a minute, maybe we can hold off on this because everyone is being run into the ground’.

It’s just another example of really poor judgement, ‘not panicking’ as a virtue without having a feel for what the squad needed.

As much as anything, with an already fragile vibe, you do not want to punt on a player who the rest of the squad get on with unless you have a plan.
I am not sure we had a plan beyond showing everyone that 'look, we can sell players quickly if we need to we are getting better at that)...the way we did it was also, by all accounts, pretty rough.

 

[thfcsteff]

What player would have made a difference though when it is the club culture that is taking us down and now the player quality?

Weren't we involved in 2 of the big 5 or 6 transfers in January. We also picked up a highly rated 19 year old for the future.

I really believe we need to see the wood from the trees here. Everyone seems to be looking for spacegoats, especially the ones that don't actually kick a ball or coach the players.

His first, and most fundamental, task as we approached Xmas was to realise he and his 'mate' had got it wrong with their appt. Plans are lovely things until life punches you in the face and demands a sudden reaction. He saw us getting punched in the face and stuck with this 'plan' of his to guide through a season which most could see was already off the rails. He failed to make provisions early in removing the manager, he did not give the manager the necessary experience (short-term) he needed, and then he was part of the sacking AFTER the window. It was disastrous. I know we 'tried' to get Semenyo and 'tried' to get Robertson, but could the dept not have scouted other options, especially in the 'experienced' dept which Frank was asking for. I know, we signed Gallagher, but I'm talking richer experience than that. Besides, the profile of player we have is probably best stocked in Gallagher land.

Lange is heavily responsible for the current club culture/allowing it to have developed. Like it or not (and I will keep saying this regardless of criticism) HE is part of the group which decided that winning a trophy did not count and that we needed to rewrite the 'culture' of the club. You know my view on that so I'll spare us both, but even if someone felt he easily right, it is clear that he has been part of ballsing it right up because we have no fudging clue WHO we are right now, and are reliant on the players to dig deep and find something they have not been able to find as of yet.

It's not space-boating IMO, he has not done a good enough job and needs to go. I'd like to see someone replace the snake above him too, but I fear he'll contort and survive...

 

[Gazza]

He needs to be sidelined into young talent. He clearly has not done well.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

His first, and most fundamental, task as we approached Xmas was to realise he and his 'mate' had got it wrong with their appt. Plans are lovely things until life punches you in the face and demands a sudden reaction. He saw us getting punched in the face and stuck with this 'plan' of his to guide through a season which most could see was already off the rails. He failed to make provisions early in removing the manager, he did not give the manager the necessary experience (short-term) he needed, and then he was part of the sacking AFTER the window. It was disastrous. I know we 'tried' to get Semenyo and 'tried' to get Robertson, but could the dept not have scouted other options, especially in the 'experienced' dept which Frank was asking for. I know, we signed Gallagher, but I'm talking richer experience than that. Besides, the profile of player we have is probably best stocked in Gallagher land.

Lange is heavily responsible for the current club culture/allowing it to have developed. Like it or not (and I will keep saying this regardless of criticism) HE is part of the group which decided that winning a trophy did not count and that we needed to rewrite the 'culture' of the club. You know my view on that so I'll spare us both, but even if someone felt he easily right, it is clear that he has been part of ballsing it right up because we have no fudging clue WHO we are right now, and are reliant on the players to dig deep and find something they have not been able to find as of yet.

It's not space-boating IMO, he has not done a good enough job and needs to go. I'd like to see someone replace the snake above him too, but I fear he'll contort and survive...

There’s this seeming desire to be Bournemouth, Brighton or Brentford because they use ‘data’ to over perform and so if we use ‘data’ then surely we’ll be champions!

I think Jack Pitt-Brooke said it on the Libero podcast, but the only manager that’s truly found a way to navigate the demand of the fans, the board and the players was Poch. Ange came close but clearly lost the board. There is so much to be said for someone just getting what the job is, understanding the club, and being uniquely suited to that. Moyes at Everton. Ancelotti at Madrid. Sometimes it just fits.

Equally, this obsession with ‘structure’ lead us down this path. The other point well made is that some of the better performing clubs than us now like Villa and Saudi Sportswashing Machine and Fulham just back their managers. What is Villa if not Emery. What is Fulham if not Silva etc. I think that’s so right.

We’ve tried to fanagle our way down a path of being data driven and highly structured, which leads us to hiring someone like Thomas Frank who can ‘change the culture’ to what I have no idea. Brentford but with better players? Who are for some reason just as willing to do as little in possession work as those Brentford players did? It’s mad.

Again, all sorts of stuff that sounds good in theory and reasonable when presented by management consultants but now just looks completely stupid once we’ve seen it play out.