What If He Can't Do it?

[inckley fox]

Seems a little sad that we're so worried about O'Neill ruining it all that we'd rather be unsuccessful than have him back. Does that mean we should have fired him back in 2000 had he not gone, just in case it all went wrong?

Second spells often don't work out because the appointment is based on nostalgia rather than credibility, but O'Neill is easily the most credible manager on our list of targets. Same could be said for Redknapp when he went back to Portsmouth and won the cup. There are plenty more precedents of second comings going well (if you include players, there's even more), it's not a case of Kenny Dalglish being the only one.

[funkyrobot]

The callers on the radio this morning are deluded. Everyone on the "when a manager returns they never do as well" bandwagon has not given a single reason why this is so. They just make this random statement and don't back it up with anything.

The players need a kick up the backside. MON would provide this and literally dissect his players on a personal level to get the best out of them.

The top three men for the job is an easy list to compile, despite all the names being banded about.

1 MON

2 Hughes

3 Davies

Simple.

Stop with this Davies thing, he's simply not good enough to manage city. When derby went up he made some shocking signings incl Claude davis for £3 mill and left before he was pushed with them rock bottom of the league. Failed twice with forest.

[Fox92]

Or Tony Pulis at Stoke.

Please, no

Spent a lot of money and isn't exactly setting the league on fire.

It was just an example. Plus, they are sitting in a better than last season when Roy was manager.

I'll give you another example then; Graham Westley - he has done sensational and he is currently undertaking his second spell.

Not all managers are bad at the second time of asking.

League One managers are not the way forward......

They can be. Look at Paul Lambert, just as an example. He was managing in League 1, Norwich got him off of Colchester and he won promotion from the divsion, and then from the Championship. Nigel Adkins, Kenny Jackett, Sean O Driscoll and Eddie Howe all came into the division from League 1 with their clubs and did alright/are doing alright.

All this talk of 'League 1 managers are not good enough' is ridiculous in my opinion. I would take a gamble on one, but for all the people that won't, what and who exactly are you looking for? Keep it real as well, because managers like Martin O' Neill, Mark Hughes, Rafa Benitez, Carlo Ancellotti etc can all walk into Premier League jobs.

[somebum]

Bugger, yeah.

Still though, five seasons there and three titles with a UEFA Cup Final, a domestic treble and a superb record in Old Firm matches.

He was far from shoddy at Parkhead.

True, the man is a genius and we should get him here at all costs

[adamrwood]

Those who are saying league 1 managers won't be good enough, have you all forgot where MON came from in the first place? We have had many managers who have enjoyed reasonable success from lower leagues. Dare i even say brian little, who many may not agree, but he steadied a sinking ship and took us back to the prem. There are many talented managers in the lower leagues. Maybe we should just go for benitez who slent big and didnt deliver because he is a big name?

[The_Golden_Gunman]

Whilst it doesn't happen often, there are many example of coaches that have returned to a club they have previously managed and had success:

Fabio Capello was twice manager of Real Madrid, winning the league title in both of his spells there.

Giovanni Trapatoni was twice manager of Juventus and Bayern Munich and won cups in both spells at both clubs.

Valeri Lobanovskiy was coach of Dynamo Kiev twice. In his first spell they won the cup-winners cup, in his second they reached the last 4 of the champions league with the Shevchenko / Rebrov pairing up front.

Helenio Herrera was twice coach of Barcelona and won the title in both stints.

Marcello Lippi was twice manager of Juventus and won cups both times.

Domestically, Kenny Daglish and Tony Pulis are two example of coaches that have returned to their former club with some degree of success.

Surely any true Leicester fan would bite your arm off to have MON take over the reigns again. What he achieved with us will never be forgotten, he took an unfancied club to the Premiership, into Europe and brought success to the club. The new stadium, the strong financial status of the club, the training ground... these are all as a result of the success MON brought to the club during his tenure here, which made the club an attractive investment. That time his leaving was understandable... he had taken us as far as we could go and you couldn't realistically see us getting any better. But now with the strong foundations the club has going for it we are a primed for the second coming of the great one!

Whilst I think that we won't end up with him in charge, I really hope that we do. Could you imagine his first game back at the KP!!?!? It would be unreal.