I reckon we should go for a foreign manager again. I watched the Villa Boro match last night and it crystallised the depression I feel when thinking about most successful British managers. They are simply percentage merchants. They play what I call the Steaua Bucharest philosophy. Drill into their players the need to defend above all else and I would guess berate players more for defensive mistakes rather than encourage attacking flair. Over the course of a match they look to nick a winner rather than attack. Over the course of a season they look to nick enough wins. Both Bruce and Pulis had successful tactics last night. Boro nearly nabbed a goal at the end and could have won through on pens. Success. Over a career it works in their favour because they nick a few promotions but apart from the promotion seasons are fans happy? Allardyce and Moyes out the door even though successful. I don’t think we’ll stand for it any longer. Bring In another foreign mad man is what we should do.
I've no issue if we bring in a foreign coach. I'd just rather they weren't mad and had at least some ability to pick a settled side, develop unity, and play a style of football that's exciting. As boring as percentage attritional football, so is tippy tappy 80% possession with little attacking intent.
I don't think nationality is what makes a coach more defensive, Morais was as defensive a manager as I can remember at Oakwell. It is one reason I don't want the Cowley brothers through, long ball defensive football, League One is bad enough without having to watch that crap.
After not a lot of deliberation, I disagree. This ale house league will present many ale house teams hell bent on being ‘competitive’ by being physical and not allowing the opposition to play. We will need to play smart to get out of the division. That doesn’t mean we can’t play, it worked before, but we will also have to be able to hold our own physically. I don’t really care where the manager was born, but I would like him to have had some experience in this country, preferably at this level.
Mourinho and Rafa Benitez are foreign, they are both ultra defensive. When they came to the Premier League goals per game dropped for the next 3 years, all down them.
He got his tactics wrong that night & to be fair he got his tactics wrong most of his tenure , but my opinion was that at home , we attacked a lot more under Morais than under Hecky , I am not a stats man but goals per game ratio will probably back that up . Game after game at Oakwell Hecky persevered with Bradshaw up top without any support , it was turgid to say the least & he backed that up with Gardner & Williams tripping over each other in midfield which added to our attacking woes. We won five games all season at home & with a positive attitude I feel sure a few more points could have been collected at home which would have got us over the line
I don't think that was his initial intention. I think that (like other managers we've seen) Jose sometimes caved in under pressure and against his natural instincts tried to nick or hold on to points instead of going for a win. When we played the way he really wanted to, we were much more attack minded than under Hecky. I just wish he'd stuck to his guns and gone with a consistent positive approach.
We`ve tried and failed on many occasions and over many years to hold on to leads and dropped back deep with the usual outcome. Disappointment.