Following the Newcastle United debacle against Sunderland, combined with the fourth half unravelling against Barca, there is definitely blood in the water and the sharks are circling.
As always, it’s the manager who becomes the focus of attention in these circumstances.
I’m sure we’re all well used to the manic moaning of various attention seekers on social media but the current “crisis” has seen a significant rise in critical posts and calls for the head of Eddie Howe on a silver platter, even in the hallowed halls of the Mag comments section.
Some of the criticism of Eddie Howe is fair enough, in my opinion. For example, he does seem stubbornly slow to change tactics, he seems to avoid blooding U21 players in order to rest regular first teamers, whilst his summer signings have hardly set the world alight.
Personally, I think there are counter arguments to all of those charges.
Although he does tend to stick to a baic 4-3-3 system, he does tweak things slightly game to game in terms of who plays where, but has been hampered by illness and injury making key players unavailable; he sees the youngsters in training every week and/or receives progress reports from relevant coaches so maybe he just considers them not ready or good enough (what level have those that have left the club moved on to?); is it surprising that 5th/6th choice players signed literally at the 11th hour (and then badly injured in one case) have struggled to gel?
However, those arguments have been well covered on The Mag in recent weeks.
My main point today is really to sound a warning of, “careful what you wish for.” You don’t have to look any further than Manchester United, Chelsea or Spurs to see where I’m coming from.
Those clubs have hosted a cavalcade of managers between them in recent seasons, generating disquiet among the fan base, bickering and recriminations amongst the players and costing a fortune in compensation payments.
Manchester United look to have finally found a safe pair of hands in Michael Carrick (the latest recipient of the “plastic Geordie” accolade in The Mag comments section). But it’s still unclear if he will be confirmed as the permanent manager. Is he sexy enough, elite enough, for Man U? Time will tell but I wouldn’t put it past Princess Disgrace of Monaco (aka Sir Jim Rat(cliffe) to try and fix something that isn’t broken.
When Chelsea appointed Liam Rosenior, I thought it had been a smart move. A manager from England doing well on the continent and already well known by the owners. He seemed rather understated with a reserved scholarly air. but little did I know that this studious facade was masking a weirdly esoteric mind, that could extol the virtues of players who would kidnap the referee in order to “respect the ball”!
When I was a lad, the local mental hospital had green vans that would come to collect people due to be committed (not that any of us kids actually witnessed this). I expect a sighting outside Chez Rosenior any day now.
That leaves Spurs.
Where do you start? Ten managers (if you include Ryan Mason’s two caretaker spells) in five years. They’re on the third one this season. I imagine someone may have beaten them to it but the first club I remember, off the top of my head, doing that was Watford – who currently lie 9th in the Championship.
I thought Thomas Frank was a good appointment at the time and suspect that, had he been left in place and backed, he would have turned things around. Who knows? He clearly had a problem to deal with. Looking from the outside, there seemed to me to be a bit of a “Billy Big Boll….” attitude and a lack of discipline amongst the senior players, reminiscent of what had to be sorted out at Manchester United. To be totally fair, they have also had a massive injury problem.
Having jettisoned Frank, the Board had the bright idea of bringing in the less than charismatic Igor Tudor who immediately proceeded to alienate the players even more by generally insulting them. I haven’t found the actual quote but after one early defeat, he said words to the effect that, “We are deficient at the back, in midfield, up front and in the head.”
I had to giggle when it was suggested on The Mag comments section that Tudor’s crisp passing style was too much for the players to cope with.
Seriously though, this is where chopping and changing managers can get you. Yes, Eddie Howe makes mistakes. Yes he’s stubborn – in other words he believes in what he does and shows faith in individuals. Yes, he has things to learn about managing a squad fighting on four fronts, but when was that last an issue for us?
The first man to win us a trophy since 1969 and some people are prepared to cut him loose and go on the hunt for that mythical “elite” manager who’s just sitting at home, doing his nails and waiting for a phone call from the Saudi Arabia PIF.