Polarboy

Burnley, Watford and Leeds aren't much cop this season either. Even Villa have been pretty shocking compared to last season. Villa will likely pull clear, but Leeds seem to be experiencing second season syndrome.

Hopefully this really shitty version of managerial music chairs will be over by the end of next weekend/Monday at the latest.

What they want and what is achievable, given the mess Ashley left the club in, are two entirely different things. Top managers are like some top surgeon's, they don't want to take too much risk and end up with a dead body on their table and record. The equivalent for a manager of course is a relegation. It's unfortunate, but as a manager you're pretty much as good as your last job.

Obviously it's highly unlikely to happen given the present form of each team, and also a patently obvious thing to say given our position, but fuck could we do with three points against Brighton. With Watford away to Arsenal, Burnley away to Chelsea. Norwich away to Brentford, and Southampton and Villa playing each other, it would be the perfect time to make up some ground. Of course it's far more likely we'll get a similar tonking to the last one we got off Brighton.

😂 We've got another old new favourite.

Yeah there's been more favourites than a box of Quality Street laced with literal crack.

https://twitter.com/berger_pj/status/1455130366340173827?s=20

According to Romano Conte worked with Spurs' Italian DOF at Juventus some years back, so that likely explains the speed at which that appointment seems to be happening, and why Conte is seemingly so willing to accept. He might get a rude awakening when he has to deal with Levy.

😄 Yeah, might be alright. I'd completely forgotten he was still at Villarreal when I was listing out the names. He might be easy enough to get out of his contract though.

This season is literally just about survival at this point. If we can get in an experienced, competent manager it doesn't matter what their style is. Football purity will do us no good if we get relegated and it puts back the rebuild project years. As for Mourinho if I didn't know better I'd presume he'd gone senile the way he's acted the last five years or so. Edit. It should also be said that the next manager we get will likely only be here for about a season and a half, maybe a bit more, before we bring in an elite manager with the club stabilised, a few players added, and we're a much more enticing prospect.

If Luke Edwards is right, which seems unlikely in fairness, the club are looking for someone who's out of work and who has experience of working in the league. That Leaves you with Emery, Martinez, Lampard, Howe, Terry, and now Nuno, at least of the people who've been seriously mentioned so far. I suppose there's an outside chance of Rafa if they get a spanking off a managerless Spurs at the weekend. Terry seems unlikely given he literally has zero experience as a number 1. I'd take either Emery or Nuno, but obviously the ideal scenario is for Everton to get tonked 7-0 at Goodison, and for the Everton board to get an itchy trigger finger with the Everton fans at the ready with pigs blood and a horse head to create an effigy of some sort.

If we're struggling to get our top targets I'd be more than happy for Nuno to get it. I mean if it were a choice between him and Martinez it's no contest. Nuno was unfortunate in the mess he inherited with the Kane situation, and Spurs didn't really do any big business, for a club of their size, in the transfer market this past summer. And obviously Nuno knows what it's like to be in the bottom half of the table. Although I don't place as much importance on the aforementioned as some. Some pundits would have you believe that it would be better to get Fat Sam over a highly experienced and highly rated European coach, just because he has a record of managing shit teams.

Willock is taking injections to be able to play after injuring his toe a while back iirc. Apparently he just has to manage it until it heals. With that being said it likely explains why he hasn't exactly hit the heights this season, and is in and out of the team. And of course he didn't have a preseason and Cabbage just threw him in straight away, saying oh sure he's a fit lad.

Watford have a very tough run of fixtures over the next five, Arsenal (a), Man U (h). Leicester (a), Chelsea (h), Man City (h). We have Brighton (a), Brentford (h), Arsenal (a), Norwich (h), Burnley (h). If we aren't at the very least least within a point or two of Watford after those run of fixtures we're pretty fucked. And obviously we have to keep an eye on Burnley's results, and if you look at Leeds' fixtures they're actually pretty bad from now until the new year. If we can get a run together at all, hopefully get a new manager bounce, if we ever manage to hire one, then there's enough bad teams with tricky fixtures for us to dig ourselves out of the hole we currently find ourselves in.

I think Almiron, Dubravka, Fernandez, Schar and Willock coming into the team, and Fraser, Darlow, Krafth, Clark and Longstaff being benched could improve us considerably. Even getting Dummett back in and around the team has to be better than what Krafth and Clark are offering. Surely a decent manager would see the utility in having someone who's decent on the ball in Schar in the defence for starters. I mean the amount of times we nearly gave Chelsea the ball on the edge of our box, when trying to play out, should be indication enough that Clark, Krafth et al can't handle playing out from the back. If those players come in and the new manger finds a set up and way to play that suits said players along with ASM and Wilson, and he doesn't play people like Almiron out of position, then we can definitely improve quite a bit. I mean Rafa is a great manager, but if he can get a tune out of what was probably a considerably worse squad, then surely a very decent manager can keep us up. Or should I say keep us at least within touching distance of safety before the January transfer window, when things thereafter could change for the better.

Just away to one of the most improved teams in the league this season in Brighton next, so no problem 😑👍

All we need now is for Martinez to be announced to really round off a shite weekend of football 😑 Hopefully that won't be the case of course, at least from my perspective. And yes, betting is mostly nonsense, 360% over betting yada, yada. I'd be more worried about Hope's tweet in regard to Martinez if it's based on anything solid and isn't just him creating content.

Which is why I've switched it off 👍

Clark panics like he's been handed a nuclear bomb every time someone passes him the ball round the box.

A bad line is a bad line up regardless of who you are playing.

If he is he may as well. The panel that he worked with over the years was never what you'd describe as a brain trust, but some of them were at least likeable, and Jeff had a genuine rapport with them. The panels they have on nowadays are half fucking braindead.

In fairness Fraser hasn't been fully fit for a long time, and hasn't had a run in the side to get said fitness. A fully fit and on form Fraser offers far more, at least in an attacking sense, than Almiron. I'd be more worried about Clark and Krafth in defence.

Obviously it barely needs to be said regardless, but if these are the kind of line-ups Jones is going to pick, the quicker we get a new manager in the better. Of course I'll gladly eat my words if we manage a result come ten to five. On a side note Tuchel is probably worse than Pep for taking players randomly in and out of the team. Bought Mount for my FF team and he's not even in the Squad 😗

I see Martinez' odds have shortened which I find horrifying. Although it's likely that the only people who know who's likely to be the next manager are Staveley and co. I wouldn't be surprised if Martinez' odds shortening is largely down to Craig Hope's barely vaguely ominous tweet about Martinez perhaps reuniting with Jones. Hope is perhaps adding two and two together and getting five from the news that Jones has been guaranteed a job going forward. I mean Jardim's odds shortening seemed to be directly influenced by a tweet put out and then deleted by Sky Sports News Saudi Arabia.

Jardim managed the Monaco side that won the league in the 16/17 season. He worked under Luis Campos when he was sporting director there for two seasons. So that would make sense if we are lining up Campos as sporting director. I'm personally not put off by him currently managing a Saudi team given he has extensive experience in Europe. Him and Campos could make a very good team if that's what the owners are trying to line up.