kingfox

Remarkable achievement from Michal Szubarczyk, he won the EBSA U16 and U18 events, now has just earned himself a tour card by reaching the final of the Mens event.

Is it acceptable to say that Kyren Wilson has become good to watch Speeding up his game has done wonders for him. That break of 134 in the decider was one of the best breaks I’ve seen this season.

If Spurs are willing to loan him out for next season…

Different strokes for different folks mate. 100 passes between centre backs and Harry Winks having 100 touches a game isn’t entertaining football imo. Give me an Iraola, high intensity type any day over a controlled possession type manager.

From a football philosophy standpoint, no I wouldn’t. I’d rather we moved away from a possession based style.

Continuity is the perfect word. Maresca’s departure clearly threw a spanner in the works, but we simply didn’t build on what he left. We’ve seen this season what can happen when you veer off course. If Potter didn’t want the job, fair enough, but you then target someone with a similar profile. Cooper being on the list in the first place, as you say, shows zero planning and identity. Just when we started to get back on a positive track with Maresca, yet more mistakes have set us back again, I sincerely hope they don’t actually set us back years, because we’ll quickly turn into another Norwich/Watford.

We dropped the ball, simple as that. Recruitment team often get stick, but our recruitment in the Championship last season was pretty solid. Going into the Premier League for any newly promoted club, I feel it’s extremely important to build a solid spine. We needed a Premier League quality CB, CM & ST, we didn’t get any. Cooper’s obsession with wanting Premier League experience has partly fvcked us over. Wanting a certain profile of player mixed in with what Maresca wanted is a terrible mixture. Some of the crap we’re lumbered with will probably stay with us in the Championship next season, a depressing thought. We have wasted a season due to an incompetent managerial appointment and recruitment. Criminal.

Give me some of this in front of The Kop.

Agreed, especially as there’s numerous avenues for the youngsters to get on tour. For Boiko especially, he has been involved in main tour events as a top-up this season, beat Si Jiahui earlier in the season. He has also been playing the Q Tour against some other ex professionals. It can be cut throat for these youngsters, but there’s some decent talent coming through, especially from Eastern Europe.

The thin hope I have of them going the up-and-coming route is the fact they’ve done it before with Maresca. But as I mentioned in that post, other clubs who’ve had similar trajectories to us recently have gone the safe route. I wouldn’t be surprised if we do the same, but the fear I have is those “safe” options are currently very uninspiring options. Whether Martin, O’Neil, Dyche, Gerrard. They are all unappealing, and are the type of managers who will probably get you so far, then you’ll be forced into another managerial change. I’d love nothing more than drastic change both on and off the pitch. When it comes to on the pitch, I want this possession obsessed pattern to end, while I hope a good chunk of the squad depart in the summer. But I can just see us going round in the same cycle, another possession heavy manager with the likes of Vestergaard and Winks still remaining as the key cogs of the squad.

A return to the tour for Iulian Boiko, well deserved after a few agonising near misses in recent seasons.

Look at Leeds for example, Daniel Farke had been tainted by Premier League failures with Norwich, yet they still appointed him probably because of his promotion history. Same with Parker at Burnley this season tbf. We’ll find ourselves in the exact same boat should we get rid of RVN. Going down the route of a manager with promotion history is of course an option. Like it or not mate, Russell Martin fits the bill and plays the exact brand of football that this board seems to like. If we didn’t have a history of appointing possession based managers, then Russell Martin would be nowhere near my thinking. But we do, and that’s why I’m fearful.

As we’ll more than likely be in the Championship, as I said previously, it wouldn’t surprise me for a couple of reasons. 1) He has a Championship promotion on his CV 2) He plays a possession based style This board appointed Rodgers, Maresca and to an extent RVN, to play a possession based style, as I’ve also said, they were heavily keen on Potter for that exact reason too. If they want to continue down the “Pretty Football” route, who realistically is out there who fits the bill? It’s exactly why Russell Martin springs to a lot of fans minds.

In a weird way, with the type of shit we’ve got ourselves into with this set of players, this club could do with a Dyche type, but someone who just plays more attractive football Call the likes of Scott Parker “boring” all you want, have you seen Burnley’s defence this season 😳 As for Ruud, he has shown us nothing to warrant a go in the Championship.

I’m comparing them from a style of play sense, not a managerial successful sense. Potter’s style of play is probably what attracted our board the most, Martin is cut from the same cloth in that aspect. I really hope we stay clear, but it wouldn’t shock me if they turn to Martin or someone extremely similar.

They’ve got two options. The imaginative route like they did with Maresca, try and pluck another novice like Carlos Cuesta, Johnny Heitinga or Davide Ancelotti, or go for an up-and-coming manager from abroad. Or they go for the unimaginative safe route, someone with a history in the English leagues like Russell Martin, Sean Dyche, Gary O’Neil, Steven Gerrard. Like others, I fear it will be Russell Martin, just because this board in the past has been obsessed with the possession way. They’ve had a hard on for Graham Potter for years, so Russell Martin is right up their street.

Piss easy. Next step, a Grand Slam 🤞🏻

My bad.

Update.

I can’t wait until these set of defenders leave the club.

He has the body mass of an Ant.

I reckon my 71 year old mother could take Patson Daka in an arm wrestle.

Draper beats Alcaraz again, what a weird match though

Wish we had a dose of Brentford’s grit and Bournemouth’s intensity.