2013-14 FUSA Manager Sacking Pool

Big Sam may have moved to the top of the list, or at least pretty darn close to it. Yikes.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...e-saves-club-from-relegation-this-season.html

 

West Ham fans appear to have gone Stoke and I think they're jumping the gun a little bit. They're built to be a Big Sam style club at present. They might need a few seasons to start transitioning to another direction before making a change, if the club were so inclined. Stoke were up for 5 years, before making that transition this season. The Hammers are just wrapping up their 2nd season back in the top flight. I have no love for the cheats though, so by all means, force in a style that doesn't suit your best players and have fun fighting relegation.

Allardyce teams get a lot of criticism for their style of play, but there's something to be said for playing a style that fits your quality, or lack thereof. I'd rather watch my team play a simple, effective style well and get results than butcher a more complex, attractive style and lose because we don't have the quality to pull it off. Given that Roy is damned near a saint in Fulham circles, I'd suggest most fans agree. It's not like we weren't lumping balls up to Zamora. I do get a chuckle when some of our fans guffaw at teams like Stoke, Palace (who if anyone is watching, aren't playing typical Pulis ball in attack) or West Ham when we've played some of the most unwatchable (and losing) crap this season.

 

Norwich sack Houghton and replace him with the U18 manager Neil Adams. Considering who they have left on their schedule after Fulham, it will be a win at all costs at The Cottage attitude from the Canaries next Saturday.

 

I don't know if this will save Norwich or not (probably not), but I don't like it for us. As much as I'd like to think they'll be reeling come Saturday, I expect them to come out firing. Given how leaky we are, fair to say they'll have a goal within 30 minutes. Maybe if we can weather the storm and only surrender one, we can come out and overtake them in the second half. In any event, it should be a thriller.

 

It's crazy what's becoming of the Premier League for managers of teams at the bottom half of the table. Last year, Hughton's Norwich beat WBA and City to beat relegation and finish 11th. As a manager, he's yet to have a really bad season. I think they panicked a bit here. According to reports, he was popular with the players and employees at the club. However, fans clearly didn't think the same way and I suspect their reaction on Saturday is what caused the club to make the move. It's so late, I get not appointing a new manager from outside their setup, but pushing up coaches is a mixed bag.

If this were done at Fulham (and it was), we'd have a month of the new guy getting to know his team and "it's unfair to judge him just yet". At other stops, you get a new manager bounce. No clue what Norwich will get and it makes this weekend's match completely unpredictable. But it should be interesting.

 

What's bogus is the lack of replacement. Sure, we all fretted over Rene being fired but Khan had a better replacement lined up in Felix.

But I'm not surprised at this move in the slightest. Norwich does not a talented squad, but more importantly Hughton also doesn't seem to have a system.

Second behind CP in Scoring %, middle in SV % = dead last PDO.

Ted Knutson of statsbomb hit the nail on the head yesterday when he wrote that the big takeaway this season from all the managerial firings is that you need to have an absurdly strong defensive system (think Pulis at CP; Roy here), or have build a good degree of offensive complexity and agility into your tactics (Southampton).

If you do neither; you're doomed.

 

Sorry for being lazy, but what do the numbers say about Felix? It would seem we fit the neither category so far.

I do agree with that though. It seems pretty simple to me, but if you're in the bottom half in spending, you'd best accept who you are and build defensively. If you're willing to outspend the majority of your peers (teams outside of the top 6 in spending), and can spend that money wisely, you can take a more offensive, attacking approach.

In an attempt to satisfy their fans, too many sides try to make the move to attractive football, without investing in the proper talent to execute it, and it puts them at risk of relegation. That risk then leads to them sacking the manager and the whole thing starts to unravel. Or the big boys see your success and start luring your best players away (ala Swansea).

As I mentioned before, West Ham are catching a lot of heat for the way they play. But given their spend and the talent on hand, kudos to them for realizing what they are and playing to that strength. Unlike a third of the league, they're home and dry with a month left in the season. You can always evolve over time. Stoke are doing that now and they were in the same boat. They've managed to stay comfortably clear of the relegation fray for 5 seasons (while accumulating Prem money) and are now implementing a more attractive style.

This was one of my concerns when we hired Jol. He was too far outside of what we had and what we were. And now look where we are.

 

Aggie, good Q. He's only been manager for 7 games, and the current data doesn't include this past weekend, but here are the numbers for each manager at the end of their reign (or what's currently available in Felix's case):

TSR
Jol: .316
Rene: .371
Felix: .385

SV%
Jol: 70.5
Rene: 65.1
Felix: 65.57

SH%
Jol: 27.9
Rene: 25.7
Felix: 25.2

PDO
Jol: 984
Rene: 908
Felix: 907

This is not a good way to analyze the data as it doesn't parse out each manager, but rather an aggregate total. And Felix hasn't completely turned the club on its head just yet, but seems to be on his way in other facets (IE HAVING A GAME PLAN)

When I have more time I'll dig into the certain manager-specific data.

 

The only question is, where will he land? Some reports already link him with Spurs, but I say we should snap him up. His track record with the less than adequately funded Everton was phenomenal. Maybe that's what he needs to succeed.

 

I'm not sold he's out the door. They suspended the odds after the initial loss to Olympiakos as well if I'm not mistaken. But I could be wrong.

I didn't think Roy, and more importantly his style, was a good fit for the top 6 clubs. I'm beginning to think the same is probably true of Moyes. He's great for an upper mid to mid-table side as evidenced by his success at Everton. But he's so conservative, there appears to be limitations to what he can do. I figured he'd adapt better...and he may still do. But so far, he hasn't adapted anywhere near enough.

I don't think he'd be a good fit for Spurs nor do I think they'd have any interest in him. Obviously, I'd love to see him at the Cottage, but after our coaching merry-go-round this year, I can't imagine us parting with Magath early, regardless of whether we're relegated or not. Newcastle or West Ham would probably be the best fits and both clubs are under pretty heavy fan pressure to make a change. But It wouldn't surprise me if Moyes sat out a year after what he's been through this season.

 

I think it would be a good idea to give him a second season but it is not a patient world that managers live in.

 

I think they would be foolish to let him go right now and not give him a chance to improve next year. Besides, who's out there or will be this summer? Is there anybody?

 

I guess they didn't listen to me. Moyes is out

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