Sanchez officially appointed new manager...

Mike, the whole point of my posts on this thread is that I will NOT simply turn a blind eye to what I think is a bad decision made by the club. More times than not I am honest and up front in my opinions regarding this club. I have proof in the many editorials I wrote in the past few seasons.

I will always support the club, but I will also always be critical of the club when a decision is made I do not agree with. Hiring Lawrie was NOT a good decision in my opinion. I hope I am proven wrong though. I really do. I will gladly eat my words.

 

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You are spot on with this fog. He loves his new regime with Sanchez and it is showing on the field.

 

Just checked the "official" Fulham board for laughs....they're plenty pissed over there. It's funny....you should check it out. As far as I'm concerned, it's way too early to judge LS based on four games here. You know how it is...watch over the cats while I'm gone. Well, he's in charge now. Different ballgame. His set of rules. Confidence from MAF to run his own show. So, we'll see. I'm pretty psyched, myself. And I agree it was a good thing to make a move BEFORE the end of the season. I'll tell you this: an away victory this week would probably ease some jitters over LS, but that's stating the obvious.

Meanwhile, have there been any Cookie sightings? Does anyone think he'll be coaching somewhere next season?

COYW!!

Fulham Jay

 

According to reports he was interviewed this week for the Leicester City job. No decision has been made but I do believe he is a finalist along with Nigel Worthington and one or two more.

 

Yeah but that is like the same 15 people all getting their knickers in a twist over the same one guy...

LS will probably do well for the first season just like Cookie did. I can see a 8th - 14th place finish.

What he needs to do is instill discipline. There were times when the team just kicked the ball around, and the passing was terrible.

I saw some flashes of potential out there. PBD looked like he wanted to play as did a couple others.

Here hoping that we get some depth and 30 or 40 M quid that the club gets from the TV deal is spent on transfer fees.

 

Love the point about possibly having the inside track to Healy. You know Leeds ain't keeping him.

 

Here a summary of thoughts on our new manager (most better expessed earlier):

Pro:
1. From what I've read in a few places, the inmates were pretty much running the asylum under Coleman. I'm not surprised, given the lack of disipline on the pitch. Sanchez has supposedly been more of a disciplinarian, which is that I think we need. (Was that part of the reason Montella was sent back early?) History in sports has shown that successful managerial/coaching changes are often those that replace a players manager/coach with a disciplinarian and vice versa. Some of the rumored comments of the players have alluded to this. This also may have been the reason we lost some of the players we've lost recently (Steed comes to mind.)

2. From what I've seen, a lot of people did not have much respect for CC's assistant, Steve Kean. Kean supposedly had a lot to do with on-pitch strategy, which generally has not been given high marks in the CC era. We've also heard that several times upper management wanted to replace Kean but CC stopped them (and there was even a rumor that that was the main factor to Coleman's firing). This is a roundabout way of saying the Kean is gone, although I don't know anything about his replacement.

3. The transfer window is opening soon and a smaller team like Fulham has to be on the ball from the minute the period starts. Interviewing for a new manager could have dragged on long enough that we'd started at a disadvantage.

4. MAF may have more faith in LS to spend his money wisely and therefore might give him more of a transfer budget. (There is lots of speculation on this; it may be more wishful thinking than anything else.)

Con:
1. We weren't really that successful under LS, and I know several of us questioned his in-game strategy (Jensen not taking free kicks was a big on in the chat room).

2. History has shown that interim coaches who are made permanent don't tend to end up doing that well. When you hire an imterim coach, by definition, you're looking at a smaller pool of people than you are between seasons.

3. Related to that, by at least talking to other potential managers, including some of the big names mentioned the last few days here and on TFI, even if MAF would have kept Sanchez, I'd have more confidence that it was a well-thought out decision instead of a rash move. Keeping LS because we stayed up (when we weren't in the drop zone when he took over) as a reward, like MAF owed it to him, is not a well-thought out reason.

4. A bigger-name manager might have shown to the playing world that Fulham were going for it. Keeping LS might (I don't know) send a signal to players that Fulham is happy to stay small. This may or may not be true; I guess we'll see in the off-season.

5. The biggest concern I have, and it's again speculation, is the speculation above might be true, that MAF didn't talk to big-name managers because they would have demanded a big transfer kitty and MAF didn't want to provide it.

Summary: Sometimes writing things down can help clarify ones thoughts, even if the points are not new. What I'm struck by is the amount of speculation that makes up either the argument to keep LS or to let him go. The bigger issue, in fact the only real issue, is how much is MAF willing to spend this summer.

Part of me says that he's willing to make a spalsh, he should publically say so, so that us fans will feel better. However, that is lousy negotiating strategy. Ted Rogers, owner of the Blue Jays, did that a year or so ago, and the result was the Jays spent more money than they probably would have to keep Vernon Wells.

No, what MAF needs to do instead is to not talk the talk, but walk the walk. Teams like the Tigers and Royals have shown they want to get back into the game by spending a lot of money on a player or two (Pudge and Ordonez for Detroit, Gil Meche and Octavio Dotel for KC). They tend to end up spend more than the "market value" of the player, but what it does is show the sports world that they're players again, and players/agents/fans should take the team seriously.

The best way to do that quickly would be for us to go HARD after Darrell Bent. He's on a relegated team, so he's there for the picking. He's a scorer, which we need (well, we need defenders too, but we really do need a big scorer). We may have to give him a bigger contract than a bigger name club who has shown aspirations for Europe might have to, but it would show the football world that we're back in the game. Once they get a player like Bent, it'll be easier to convince a good central defender or two that Fulham is a good place to play.

We have NO way of knowing, but I HOPE that one reason MAF kept Lawrie is that he has a plan to go after the players we need. We also don't really know what LS's standing is in the game. Can he recruit some good players, even if he has the money? Do other players/agents/etc. see LS as a sign that Fulham are not serious, like some of us do? Or, do they respect him and think that they'd like to be part of a LS team? I guess we'll see.

 

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Sanchez officially appointed new

Congrats to Lawrie Sanchez on being named manager.

I am a bit dismayed at the reaction of some Fulham fans who apparently expected a drastic change in tactics upon his interim appointment last month. While Sanchez was new to the job, he did inherit a side full of players signed by his predecessor and had to make the best of a bad situation. It would be impossible to play the pleasing, flowing style of football favoured by many FFC supporters with the group of plodders currently assembled on the team squad.

I will reserve my judgement on the Sanchez appointment until he's had a fair opportuity to put his own stamp on the club. He could make an excellent impression by signing a quality centre-back - something that Chris Coleman neglected to do for four years.

 

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All good points coming to the fore... and shows us why we are the 'thinking fans' forum!

IMO, no one beat CC for recruiting value for money. But I'd seen that before .. at Columbus, no less. And the MGR didnt know what to do with them once he got them. THEN I saw a senior well respected manager come in and blow u[p the established team.. with even WORSE results. BUT.. he admitted he made a mistake in that.

What I wish for is a balance, leaning toward keeping a healthy core of the existing team but with superior coaching and management.
Adding just a few key players and encouraging the reserves and youth squads to up their performance and development goals.

 

New manager Sanchez

Don, Petty, don't make me go there! Please!! :shock:

Seriously Don, thanks for the kind words.

Petty, I could not agree more. That's why I love this board.

Now, let's go out and sign Bent! :eye popping:

 

IMO:

1. MAF is probably saving money for players, instead of for a manager.

2. Soccer/Footy, more than other sports, depend on quality players more than quality managers.

3. Lawrie Sanchez will kick some ass in the club house rather than trying to re-live a career possibly cut short by injury.

4. MAF needs to hold his cards close to the vest (as Dave pointed out) and strike fast on the market.

4. 4 Quality additions are needed.

 

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I am going to agree with Tom's point on wishing there was more of an interview process. The only reason we are staying up was Liverpool played their second team. I would have at least like to see the outcome of this weekends game. Now that we are safe every Fulham player on the pitch should be out there to impress. I would have liked to see if he could get a win on the road or motivate the players in what will be a big so what game.

Never the less the choice has been made and I can except it. Now I want to see what the summer commings and goings look like and then we will get a feel for next season. Based on how this season started I feel a happy and healthy jimmy bullard and it wouldn't matter who the coach was he's worth 40 points alone in my book. as always COYW's

 

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Now let's keep in mind its not only Sanchez who was appointed today but it was also Les Reed who becomes the assistant. Reed is light years ahead of Kean in the tactical department and is one of the most well respected coaches in the game.

 

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Plus Gerry Armstrong could be an unofficial if you like scout. As he does know alot about Spain and players that play there.

 

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Mike, thanks for the info. That right there ought to be worth a few points a year because:

1) Better tatics (duh), and
2) It helps recruiting (players would like to play for clubs that will best utilize them and their teammates)

 

Sanchez to be given $ to spend?

Very interesting. The part about MAF being very rich implies to me that MAF is going to give Sanchez some money to spend this summer, or am I just being too optomistic?

 

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I'm sad that he's leaving Northern Ireland... but he's a great manager and I hope he goes down in the Northern Ireland history books as one of the greatest managers in their history!

 

I agree with the appointment. I do however belive that Tom has a point in that MAF could have conducted some interviews before making the decison.

Ulitmately though I can't see a big name like Guilt or Raneri ending in anything but failure and disappointment. Were not that sort of club to pull a stunt like that, it doesn't suit us. Thats just my gut feeling on the matter.