And all in all it was a really **** poor season.
2 cup finals and only 2 places behind Chelsea. Could have been a worse season to be honest, considering the squad they have and the fact Liverpool strikers obviously think hitting the bar/post counts as a goal, as well as players like Downing doing his up most to finish the season without a positive statistic to his name.
Why would a young, ambitious manager like AVB want to go to Liverpool? Genuine question because I can't see what they can offer him. Their first squad is very mediocre (no offence but you have to be realistic) and they've wasted a huge deal of money on very average players that he will either have to sell (which will be embarrassing) or include purely because of their fees. Anyone taking over will have to accept that they need to finish in the top 4 in a league that includes: Chelsea, United, City, Arsenal, to a lesser extent Spurs, as well as clubs like Everton and Newcastle that have a decent chance of nabbing 4th if anyone slips up.
Villas Boas on the other hand, still looks like a quality manager in the making, plays pretty football and came out of the whole Chelsea episode relatively unscathed because of the fickle nature of their board and dressing room.
So, what can Liverpool offer him?
May be I'm wrong there. Was relying on someone else's numbers, so if I am, apologies as I've not doublechecked.
Not sure to be honest. Rafa would be brilliant. But also ludicrously divisive. And I doubt he'd fit too well with what they want in terms of image. Klopp would be my ideal choice, but he's not going to come. Deschamps was another name being mentioned when Hodgson got sacked but I'm not overly keen. If we're going young and British, Swansea's manager, at a push, might be worth a punt - mainly because he's got huge brass ones. If you want someone who's been there, done it, got the t-shirt and got a point to prove, Capello - but he'd be short-term, Chelsea want him and he'd cost a fortune. Ragnick (sp?) and Bielsa I like. But they're both flawed in their own ways.
Without a structure there, without any idea of what the plan is (if one exists), hard to say. Some of em are better at building a club than others. Some of them are better at getting short-term results than others. What are we doing? What do we want?
Honest opinion? He's had more money to spend than Bruce and Jewell and had worse results. Comparing apples to apples there. Interesting manager. No thank you, good luck at Villa all the same.
For a manager to turn a team around that had previously lost 8 games on the bounce and had been sitting bottom since September, to then go on and beat Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, should have beaten Chelsea and for the most part of it comfortably. We were in a deeper hole than Liverpool, facing relegation. If he can do that with less than average players (in most peoples eyes), then what could he do with a squad like Liverpool's?
Honestly, I don't know why I'm gloating about him because I don't even want him to go.. XD
The problem is that his side was **** for 3/4 of the season. Its commendable the way he turned it around but then again RDM did the same with Chelsea and some might argue he had the tougher job. Yet I doubt anyone would want RDM for the Pool job. Even though he is young and dynamic like Martinez
RDM didn't turn anything around in regards to the league, though.
Not really his fault, we were fighting on three fronts with a gruelling fixture list and eventually he gave up on the league and put all our eggs in the CL Finals basket because we had too much ground to cover and our squad was too thin to continue our push for a top 4 spot
I'm not saying he didn't do a bad job.. Just that, he hardly "turned things around" in terms of league performance, which, if anything, got worse.
The problem is that his side was **** for 3/4 of the season. Its commendable the way he turned it around but then again RDM did the same with Chelsea and some might argue he had the tougher job. Yet I doubt anyone would want RDM for the Pool job. Even though he is young and dynamic like Martinez
Well they only lost 3 in 15, so it's more like 1/2 a season. Wigan have a turnover of a little over £40m and debts at almost £100m (IIRC, Mike. posted the accounts somewhere), he doesn't have a pot to **** in and arguably the worst squad in the league, and still keeps them up time and time again while adhering to his footballing principles. One could argue that while it's his fault that their early form was poor, it takes tactical ingenuity to spot the flaws to turn them around and get a poor squad playing as one of the form teams of the league. Beausejour has also been one of the most astute and underrated signings of the season.
Not saying he's the perfect choice, there's plenty of young managers who have better credentials than keeping Wigan up, but I think it's unfair to be so dismissive over him.
For a manager to turn a team around that had previously lost 8 games on the bounce and had been sitting bottom since September, to then go on and beat Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, should have beaten Chelsea and for the most part of it comfortably. We were in a deeper hole than Liverpool, facing relegation. If he can do that with less than average players (in most peoples eyes), then what could he do with a squad like Liverpool's?
Honestly, I don't know why I'm gloating about him because I don't even want him to go.. XD
Alcaraz summed it up for me mate. I think he's a really interesting and intelligent manager. But whenever I compare apples to apples, he's never quite matched up to the glossy teflon image the broadsheets like to give of him. His teams always have huge defensive problems. This season he realised what it was, switched systems, caught everyone on the hop and got his team out of trouble again. What does he do next season when his cunning ploy will have been analysed in depth to be countered? He's astute, intelligent, seems like a nice bloke and obviously doing what he's meant to do with Wigan's limited budget. I still think he'd need a lot of support from an exceptional defensive coach to manage a team where it's 4th spot or you're sacked. And even then it would be a huge gamble.
But it wasn't the correct the decision. So, he was just stating the truth.
I was always a critic of Kenny, and I said I didn't think he was the right man for the job, but I still think he should have been given time to prove himself, one bad season, that's it and he got sacked. It wasn't fair, nor was it the right decision.
Nobody is above the club, but he deserved another year, minimum.