Eagle Eye
Player Valuation: £5m
Having tested positive for covid on Christmas morning, after then going for a PCR test and then isolating myself away from the wife and kids, my next course of action was to re-watch Howard's Way. (As you do). It reminded me that putting a team together is a real art - particularly if you can't go out and buy the best players in the world. And something it took Howard Kendall a while to achieve - same with Fergie at United. But both found a way and came up with a blueprint which aligned to the values of their club.
You have to start somewhere and actually what is more important for us at this moment in time is signing players who have good physical fitness/energy and players who have the right team player mentality. We need to build a band of brothers who will look out for each other and run through brick walls for the Manager.
What the youngsters showed me in the Chelsea game was when you take away egos and put physically fit and energetic players out there who know that they don't know best and so have to listen to the manager, we are greater than the sum of our parts.
As a club, it is 100% ingrained in our DNA that we do not do egos. We do fiery, passionate selflessness. Trouble is, you only really get to see real egos behind the scenes, but social media now reveals a lot about players, which is why we know we have a few egos at the club now...
It really hit home in the documentary when Nev said that the 2 most important players in the first title winning squad were Harper and Richardson. The players that came in, could play almost any position, but never moaned when their able performance filling in one week, saw them benched again the next. Unfortunately, we have signed nothing but egos in the last 5 years and this is where we need to change.
We need players like them who will put egos to one side and selflessly look out for the other players in the team. Nev, Reid, Van Den Hauwe, Ratcliffe, Gray, Sharpe, Watson, Unsworth, McCall, Horne, Rideout, Ferguson, Ebbrell, Parkinson, Gravesen, Carsley, Neville, Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Fellaini, Jagielka, Distin, McCarthy, Barry.
Some of these players had more technical ability in their position than others, but you would want every one of them on your side when the chips were down and you needed to dig in as a team. All of them no ego, just hard working team players who would motivate and look after the players around them and intimidate the opposition in their own way. All played in teams with varying degrees of success, but were all so important to any success that those teams had.
Yet I stop at Barry. Where are the 'run through brick walls for my team mates and manager' type signings of the last 5 years? They have all clearly got some ability (even Iwobi), but the team ethic and awareness amongst them has been appalling. Richarlison has been the nearest thing till he turned sulky.
The point is this. You can coach players that want to be coached and make them better. You cannot coach players that believe they know best or cannot take feedback. You can train players to improve their skills and ability, you cannot change their personality to make the fight for others if that is not in them.
Therefore, I support Rafael's stance with Digne and hopefully we have done our homework with Mykolenko and he will run through brick walls for his team mates. I actually don't care if I've never heard of our next 5 signings as long as they come here willing to be coached, willing to listen to Rafael and the staff, but most importantly are willing to fight for us, their team mates, the manager and the shirt. This is what we are missing as a club at the moment.
Howard Kendall suffered some abuse in the early days and nearly got sacked (and he was one of us to start with). It takes a lot longer to clean up a mess than it does to make one, so given our current mess is 5 years in the making, I believe we should give Rafael some time to build and shape a squad with the right character of player. Despite being massively frustrated post the United game, the Arsenal and particularly the Chelsea game have convinced me he can succeed, but he needs time.
Our problem is that we have been waiting nearly 26 years for a trophy. The more we make that our Managers' problem, the less likely we will ever afford anyone the time build a side that will compete again. Howard got 3 years and thank God he did....
What do you think is needed? What should be our recipe for success moving forward? What does your blueprint for the club look like? Not just player names, managers and formations, but teamcharacteristics and styles of play? We all talk about tactics, players and managers, but what should our long term strategy be and what can we realistically aim for?
You have to start somewhere and actually what is more important for us at this moment in time is signing players who have good physical fitness/energy and players who have the right team player mentality. We need to build a band of brothers who will look out for each other and run through brick walls for the Manager.
What the youngsters showed me in the Chelsea game was when you take away egos and put physically fit and energetic players out there who know that they don't know best and so have to listen to the manager, we are greater than the sum of our parts.
As a club, it is 100% ingrained in our DNA that we do not do egos. We do fiery, passionate selflessness. Trouble is, you only really get to see real egos behind the scenes, but social media now reveals a lot about players, which is why we know we have a few egos at the club now...
It really hit home in the documentary when Nev said that the 2 most important players in the first title winning squad were Harper and Richardson. The players that came in, could play almost any position, but never moaned when their able performance filling in one week, saw them benched again the next. Unfortunately, we have signed nothing but egos in the last 5 years and this is where we need to change.
We need players like them who will put egos to one side and selflessly look out for the other players in the team. Nev, Reid, Van Den Hauwe, Ratcliffe, Gray, Sharpe, Watson, Unsworth, McCall, Horne, Rideout, Ferguson, Ebbrell, Parkinson, Gravesen, Carsley, Neville, Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Fellaini, Jagielka, Distin, McCarthy, Barry.
Some of these players had more technical ability in their position than others, but you would want every one of them on your side when the chips were down and you needed to dig in as a team. All of them no ego, just hard working team players who would motivate and look after the players around them and intimidate the opposition in their own way. All played in teams with varying degrees of success, but were all so important to any success that those teams had.
Yet I stop at Barry. Where are the 'run through brick walls for my team mates and manager' type signings of the last 5 years? They have all clearly got some ability (even Iwobi), but the team ethic and awareness amongst them has been appalling. Richarlison has been the nearest thing till he turned sulky.
The point is this. You can coach players that want to be coached and make them better. You cannot coach players that believe they know best or cannot take feedback. You can train players to improve their skills and ability, you cannot change their personality to make the fight for others if that is not in them.
Therefore, I support Rafael's stance with Digne and hopefully we have done our homework with Mykolenko and he will run through brick walls for his team mates. I actually don't care if I've never heard of our next 5 signings as long as they come here willing to be coached, willing to listen to Rafael and the staff, but most importantly are willing to fight for us, their team mates, the manager and the shirt. This is what we are missing as a club at the moment.
Howard Kendall suffered some abuse in the early days and nearly got sacked (and he was one of us to start with). It takes a lot longer to clean up a mess than it does to make one, so given our current mess is 5 years in the making, I believe we should give Rafael some time to build and shape a squad with the right character of player. Despite being massively frustrated post the United game, the Arsenal and particularly the Chelsea game have convinced me he can succeed, but he needs time.
Our problem is that we have been waiting nearly 26 years for a trophy. The more we make that our Managers' problem, the less likely we will ever afford anyone the time build a side that will compete again. Howard got 3 years and thank God he did....
What do you think is needed? What should be our recipe for success moving forward? What does your blueprint for the club look like? Not just player names, managers and formations, but teamcharacteristics and styles of play? We all talk about tactics, players and managers, but what should our long term strategy be and what can we realistically aim for?
