Kandi1977
Terry Dyson
I wrote almost the exact same thing in the match thread. Feels like the end of an era.
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Jose Mourinho - SACKED
- Thread starter mjc23
- Start date
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
And what about Jose?
Baleforce
Ron Henry
One of the greats, archived success at every other club.
Has failed with us, but in far from ideal conditions.
Mikey10
Pat van den Hauwe
The era ended a couple of years before now. We’ve been on the slide for some time. The stadium was the focus and a massive part of the plan - now there is a void, and covid hasn’t helped.
The prize asset which was ‘going to change everything’ has lain empty for over a year, and there’s no guarantee that crowds will be consistently attending football matches in the months to come.
The way I see it, we're at a crossroad. I'm starting to buy into the both team and manager problem. Either we let Mourinho shift over half our squad, or we let him go. This is looking beyond repair, if it ever was in the first place. What Mourinho has proven, no matter what or lack of tactics, is that he is unable to instill hunger in the team. He even looks lost now, which he rarely has done over the years. Regardless of reality around him. Whether that is down to "seasoned" individuals in the squad working against it (which I suspect, as there has been absolutely no advancement from Poch in that department), or his managerial methods we will never know for sure. Still, the team is looking more and more like the one that got Poch fired, even with different faces. If the stadium was full every week, I think Mourinho would be gone already too. Now it's too expensive as we are out of all lucrative competitions and top 4 by the looks of it. But that won't help without also removing negative elements. One thing is the media licking up every soundbite, but you should never underestimate the repercussions of falling out with so called "stars" in the team. They can drag the entire group down, both directly and indirectly. I'm spitballing here, but one individual I would get rid of as soon as possible is Toby. Can't put my finger on it, but I have negative vibes about him, and he's a veteran on the team. Something has irked since his failed transfer request, despite his Spurs-friendly instagrams or whatever which I care nothing about, and it has stemmed all the way back from the alleged bust-up between Eriksen and Verthongen. I'm lifting my apologetic arms as high as I can if I'm wrong though. Still, he's done for, and him and Verthongen on their own are way less than 50% of them together anyway. No matter what happened or not, something was going on during that period that had a huge impact on the team.
Weird thing is, I haven't disagreed with any major decisions (except subs) Mourinho has made, squad-wise. He has picked the natural starting XI and so called formations in nearly every game. No matter how our games start, they pan out to indecision, falling back and important players banging against the wall or just going through the motions. You cannot give players abilities they don't have, but you sure as hell can scare them into making an effort. With the threat of physical harm if needed. No matter how over- or underrated our group may be, they should be able to play better than they have for two seasons now. Mourinho has managed some of the biggest clubs with some of the biggest stars in his career, yet is unable to make our ragged bunch even track back when they headlessly lose possession or do a minimum of pressing or semi-clever runs. Which incidentally is why Alli has no value in this team, as he's exceptional in spotting and reacting to those non existant runs. They don't even bother pretending to look like they want to be on the pitch at all. Weird. As it stands now, I fear we could bring Messi into our setup without being better, bar the occational individual brilliance that we've become entirely dependant upon.
Anyway, to hell with status, feelings and what the media will say. Single out problematic individuals if they exist, including the manager, and get rid as soon as possible. It can prove more costly not to, and papering over with the odd crushing of a low-level team from time to time doesn't change that. We haven't hit rock bottom just yet.
Weird thing is, I haven't disagreed with any major decisions (except subs) Mourinho has made, squad-wise. He has picked the natural starting XI and so called formations in nearly every game. No matter how our games start, they pan out to indecision, falling back and important players banging against the wall or just going through the motions. You cannot give players abilities they don't have, but you sure as hell can scare them into making an effort. With the threat of physical harm if needed. No matter how over- or underrated our group may be, they should be able to play better than they have for two seasons now. Mourinho has managed some of the biggest clubs with some of the biggest stars in his career, yet is unable to make our ragged bunch even track back when they headlessly lose possession or do a minimum of pressing or semi-clever runs. Which incidentally is why Alli has no value in this team, as he's exceptional in spotting and reacting to those non existant runs. They don't even bother pretending to look like they want to be on the pitch at all. Weird. As it stands now, I fear we could bring Messi into our setup without being better, bar the occational individual brilliance that we've become entirely dependant upon.
Anyway, to hell with status, feelings and what the media will say. Single out problematic individuals if they exist, including the manager, and get rid as soon as possible. It can prove more costly not to, and papering over with the odd crushing of a low-level team from time to time doesn't change that. We haven't hit rock bottom just yet.
Our squad is fine in midfield and attack save for one or two small tweaks, but in defence we need a big makeover. Regardless of who the manager is, our problems will persist if we don’t rectify this area more than any other....
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
Biggest debt in the PL..... 5th highest income in the PL (though that may drop lower next season with us likely having no European football)...
The debt is only as low (I use the term 'low' relatively there) as it is because the manager before this one massively overachieved and gave us massive unexpected additional revenue.
The debt isn't ALL long term at all.... The debt is structured over various terms ranging from short to long.
If the club are only interested in paying the interest and not the capital then the debt is indeed serviceable at present interest rates. The worry is that doing this means refinancing portions of that debt every X years. Maybe money will be cheap forever? If not then we have a potential problem a few years down the road.
It is just a huge shame that our manager couldn't have even a 'normal' transfer pot during his reign despite his over achievement in results translating to huge additional income for the club.
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Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
Those conditions being?
Huge underinvestment in the squad over the past good few years? What else?
Mikey10
Pat van den Hauwe
Agree on the defence. Not sure about the midfield - I think it needs work. Winks, Lamela, Moura and Sissoko are all average players at best. I’m increasingly not sure what Lo Celso brings; it’s certainly not goals or assists, and he is injured so often (available to start 8 times out of a potential 80+ games was a stat I think I heard recently...?).
And we still don’t have a serious back-up for Kane. The keeper position probably needs attention.
All of that leaves us very thin on the bench...and so it goes on.
Mikey10
Pat van den Hauwe
Covid has changed everything. Empty stadiums, three games each week, lack of income...
StephenH
David Ginola
But it doesn't excuse our poor squad and poor choice of a suitable manager for the times.
The last thing we needed was a declining chequebook manager.
Mikey10
Pat van den Hauwe
I didn’t say the chairman wasn’t a problem.
As I posted a week ago, the problems are deeply ingrained.
Baleforce
Ron Henry
Baleforce
Ron Henry
The appointment was made in different times.
Maybe things would have been worse, but we'd have probably had more money to spend.
StephenH
David Ginola
Yes, Mourinho was appointed in different times covid wise but it was still a tired appointment, showing no insight or understanding to the league and the changing times 'his' team plays in.
Agree, yet the clubs we would be buying from are playing in empty stadiums as well. If covid were predicted to last for 2-3 more years, the prices for players would have dropped like a stone. Especially in those clubs with huge wage budgets. Now it seems like everybody is sitting on the fence.
Baleforce
Ron Henry
Thats easy to say in hindsight, it wasn't that long before that he won two trophies with United and got them to second place in the PL, their best finish since Sir Alex retired.
Baleforce
Ron Henry
Yes, but our budget would have jumped from previous windows due to the new stadium income, our purchase potential would have been higher relatively, both for fees and wages.
With my probably false and utterly self proclaimed ability to spot ability, I have seen very little from Lo Celso so far to prove he's the solution to anything. Except on YouTube. Perhaps in an entirely different setup.
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Don't disagree, but I'm not under the impression that wages are our biggest hurdle. If anything, we have a managable wage budget compared to many. I can't remember any major transfers not going through due to wage demands not met, but could be down to Levy vetoing such players before they even becomes an issue!