davek
Player Valuation: £150m
Are you serious?
This is what I mean by the massaging down of where we should be. I suppose you subscribe to the Sensational Six elite club we cant possibly break into?
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This is what I mean by the massaging down of where we should be. I suppose you subscribe to the Sensational Six elite club we cant possibly break into?
Saint Domingo
Player Valuation: £90m
No I said he needed to shut up and earn his money, which he now seems to be doing. Unlike you I don't have an immovable stall set out either way. I praised him for his start, criticised his handling of the cups, but have been impressed with how he's got us back on track.
davek
Player Valuation: £150m
They're bottlers. Dont make excuses for them. They can certainly play when the pressure is off, but they wont be tested again until next August comes around and a meaningful game is played next.
davek
Player Valuation: £150m
Yes, and WHY did he need to earn his money? Because we were underperforming.
It's ok to flip flop. Just hold your and up to it when you do.
Dirty Dutch
Player Valuation: £1m
Calling all the other matches we have to play against teams like man utd,chelsea,spurs,liverpool meaningless.
You weird.
TheAlmightyFloater
Player Valuation: £30m
Thing I most appreciate about Koeman is that he appears to be flexible in his approach to everything, depending on what he thinks the situation needs. I'm not saying he always has or always will get it right, but it's refreshing to see an attempt to fix problems instead of persevering for the sake of philosophy or even pride.
Players picked on form or tactical necessity, tactical changes and subs during games, it all makes a positive difference.
Not to mention what's going on behind the scenes in the training sessions. He had a massive job to do when he arrived (imagine his face when he found out we hadn't really been practising set pieces for the past 3 years....) and I think he's done a very decent job so far.
Will he keep it up? Who knows. But it will be interesting to see where we are come this time next year after a couple more transfer windows.
Players picked on form or tactical necessity, tactical changes and subs during games, it all makes a positive difference.
Not to mention what's going on behind the scenes in the training sessions. He had a massive job to do when he arrived (imagine his face when he found out we hadn't really been practising set pieces for the past 3 years....) and I think he's done a very decent job so far.
Will he keep it up? Who knows. But it will be interesting to see where we are come this time next year after a couple more transfer windows.
Foot Long Hot Dog
Player Valuation: A packet of pork scratchings
Yes I'm deadly serious.
From where we finished in the last 2 seasons 7th would be a massive leap forwards, particularly when we compare the points tally needed to attain it, compared to the last 2 years totals.
The top 6 have all turned up this season. The 2 oil clubs, United have Mourinho and have spent a fortune, The RS have Klopp and he's done very well with what he's got, Spurs should have won the thing last season and Arsenal are perennial top 4 finishes. Which of those should we be seeing off at this point in our development exactly? Don't come back with some claptrap about ambition either, it's about context, and we came into this season off the back of being a bottom half side for 2 years.
Care to answer the question about the top 4 now?
Dave. I think most managers are given a deal of leeway in their first season. We know that Koeman was unhappy with our transfer dealings in the summer(maybe unrealistic targets was his fault) and we saw after the Leicester game that he very forcefully expressed his dissatisfaction with this window as well. We have seen two players arrive since then.
I suppose what has surprised me most of all was the amount of deadwood in the squad that he took over. there are two jobs on hand, building a new squad and getting out the players that are surplus and I must say that it has shocked me how many players we had on our books that are not close to good enough.
McGeady, Gibson, Cleverley, Niasse , Kone to name just five.
Seventh this season is a respectable finish(if that is where we finish) , solid rather than spectacular.
Next season he will be judged by a different yardstick. I feel that next season we will be aiming for 4th-6th and thereafter the expectation will be top four.
I know you will disagree but without the change of manager I think we were heading for a relegation battle and in my opinon our seventh position is set against that.
Success isn't guaranteed, the best managers that money can buy, spending huge sums of money is not a guarantee of success, City and Utd are showing that. Instant success is also something that is unrealistic, building a club is a process and so time must be allowed for that. Three years is not unrealistic.
Saint Domingo
Player Valuation: £90m
Praising the positive and criticising the negative isn't flip flopping, it's called being objective. Pitching a tent in either extreme regardless of the evidence in front of you isn't being consistent, it's called having an agenda. Dropping out of both cups and digging players out in public drew my criticism, good league form and trusting youngsters has drawn my praise. You seem to want to turn everything he does into a negative even citing evidence from when he managed a different club.
Chimpy Glassman
Player Valuation: £30m
Very good post indeed.
Only one thing I disagree with....what you call objective I call fickle. Some people can take the rough with the smooth but many cannot. Depending on a result in some people views Koeman is a joke then Koeman is brilliant that is not objective but fickle.
Hahahahaha
Famous_Seamus
Player Valuation: £225k
The League vs Cup argument is pointless without context:
-Squad depth and fitness was dreadful coming into the season, and this is something Koeman has directly addressed and is remedying. Cups, especially early rounds, are rightfully placed behind league competition in terms of priority. (Look at the squad vs Norwich.)
-Comparing cup results from year to year is silly- first, we didn't win anything - a semi-final appearance is nice to think about but it does not provide the hardware that some are crying for. Last year the only true impressive cup competition wins came later when our league fate was well evident and the cups could be prioritized. Last year third round we played Bournemouth, this year we played the league champions.
-Aspiring for and celebrating cup results should be reserved for the Stokes, West Broms, and Palaces of the league - teams that would call a mid-table finish and a cup semi-final appearance a successful campaign. We should always look for better than that. Sure, progressing further in cup competitions is great and all fans would want it, but the goal should be to regularly compete for league titles and CL places, with that will come consistently better cup results. I don't find reason to celebrate a cup semi-final appearance once every 5 years with consistent mid-table finishes, and no players of the quality we are now looking to bring in are salivating over League Cup results.
-Squad depth and fitness was dreadful coming into the season, and this is something Koeman has directly addressed and is remedying. Cups, especially early rounds, are rightfully placed behind league competition in terms of priority. (Look at the squad vs Norwich.)
-Comparing cup results from year to year is silly- first, we didn't win anything - a semi-final appearance is nice to think about but it does not provide the hardware that some are crying for. Last year the only true impressive cup competition wins came later when our league fate was well evident and the cups could be prioritized. Last year third round we played Bournemouth, this year we played the league champions.
-Aspiring for and celebrating cup results should be reserved for the Stokes, West Broms, and Palaces of the league - teams that would call a mid-table finish and a cup semi-final appearance a successful campaign. We should always look for better than that. Sure, progressing further in cup competitions is great and all fans would want it, but the goal should be to regularly compete for league titles and CL places, with that will come consistently better cup results. I don't find reason to celebrate a cup semi-final appearance once every 5 years with consistent mid-table finishes, and no players of the quality we are now looking to bring in are salivating over League Cup results.
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