Why Roeder has made Wenger his role model

[Scottish Mag 3]

He might have drawn a blank during the transfer window but Glenn Roeder is adamant he knows what he is doing, as Paul Gilder reports.

 

It was 1988 and, in the Stade Louis II dressing room, eyebrows were raised when Monaco's players were introduced to an incoming team-mate of whom none had ever previously heard. The latest addition to Arsene Wenger's squad was George Weah, a little-known Liberian who, having been plucked from relative obscurity in Yaounde, would go on to become African football's greatest-ever player.

 

It is a tale that was this week recounted by a wistful Glenn Roeder, a manager who loves an anecdote with which to add colour to conversation. The story of how Weah was first introduced to European football is among his favourites.

 

"Glenn Hoddle told me about it," said the Newcastle boss, as he outlined his admiration for Wenger, the Premiership peer whose achievements he most aspires to emulate. "Glenn says Weah came into the dressing room and no one had ever seen him before but, within 20 minutes, everyone was saying `Who's this, boss?'

 

"There's no doubt that one of the managers I admire the most is Arsene and, if I had a blueprint of how to be a manager, a copy of Arsene's would be mine."

 

Studious in all he does, Wenger is known as `The Professor' in certain circles and it is the Frenchman's attention to detail that most impresses his biggest admirer. It is a trait that has brought Arsenal great success in the transfer market in recent times, something Roeder is determined to replicate at St James's Park, despite his inactivity during the January window.

 

"You can just reel off name after name after name from the list of players Arsene has brought to the clubs he has managed," said a manager who refused to seek an immediate fix last month having taken a long-term approach in his quest to bring success to St James's Park.

 

"All these players have come to his clubs, no-one knows much about them and, within 18 months, they are household names. I don't have his contacts book but you can emulate the policy of looking at younger players who you think have improvement in them if they come to a club like Newcastle, players who, at the worst, can hold their value in the transfer market."

 

From Marcelino to Hugo Viana, and Jean-Alain Boumsong to Albert Luque, vast sums have been spent at St James's Park in recent years and following familiar footballing failures, monies have not been recouped and success not encountered.

 

It is a trend Roeder, who was appointed a year ago today, is determined to buck and, although there have been some obvious temptations in recent weeks, he refused to recruit those about whom he had doubts having seen his first-choice targets evade his advances.

 

"There has got to be some sort of business head put on here," said a manager whose ultimate aim is to develop a system that will enable him to discover the Weahs of the world before anyone else.

 

"There has to be some constructive thinking outside the short-term of `Well, he'll do OK for 12 months and then be worth nothing'. I'm working towards building a team - a Newcastle United first XI in which every player has a value in the transfer market. That's not to say we are looking to sell, but your players have to have value and you can't have a team half full of free transfers." Roeder's critics would say that any transfers would be welcome. But a manager who did not make a single permanent signing during the January window remains adamant his strategy is in the club's best interests.

 

"I think the supporters have been very good about it," said Roeder. "They understand the policy I'm trying to put into place. I don't mind being criticised if I know in my own mind that I have done all my research and got all the boxes ticked, that's life. DVDs have been sent to me from all over the world but you just cannot gamble on players who have poor CVs and there were a lot of those around last month. There were four or five players I wanted to sign during the transfer window whose clubs didn't want to sell."

 

Having failed to sign the likes of Peter Crouch, Curtis Davies, Darren Bent and Anton Ferdinand, Roeder refused to settle for lesser targets.

 

He said: "If you spend that money, then come the summer it's gone and you will be thinking `If I can get target A (one of the original names on the wanted list), the lad I have just signed on a three-and-a-half year contract will only be a squad player.

 

"We haven't been able to prise those players away from their clubs but that doesn't mean we won't be back in for them in the summer when we will have three months to purchase them. January is a bad window, it has been a difficult month for everyone." Roeder is determined to stress that a lack of activity is indicative of a poor market rather than the shortage of effort that some have perceived. Those in the highest demand have stayed put and, as Freddie Shepherd insisted last night, second best was never an option.

 

It has been a long time since Newcastle made a profit on a player, but Roeder has long been determined to end years of throwing good money after bad in the vain pursuit of success.

 

Careful planning is the key to his blueprint but one thing is clear: if he is to succeed he will require time, and Newcastle is not a club renowned for patience.

 

"They say in business that the first two years are the toughest - just making sure the business stays up and running - and that you expect to see progress from your efforts, the fruits of your labours, in the third and fourth year.

 

"Arsene is saying that it has taken him five years to put together the team he has at the moment. This is a results-driven business, I understand that, I want it to be like that and I wouldn't hide from that. But I want to be able to do it my way.

 

"You have got to have a plan because if you work off the cuff every day, that's when disasters happen. People who work off the cuff deserve what they end up getting."

[Jimbo 133]

Jesus wept

[Isegrim 8941]

I do agree with a lot that Roeder is saying as it is just common sense, but I am not sure how the likes of Ferdinand, Crouch, Davies and Bent fit into the category of unearthing young gems for decent prices...

[Dr Gloom 20137]

planning

[Gemmill 35459]

This is the sort of chat that, when Roeder was first appointed, really impressed me. But now, knowing what he's actually like, it just sounds like cobblers.

[tinofbeans 87]

who's his press agent. he must be pissing himself having read that.

[Guest alex]

They both wear geps. That's where the similarities end.

[Bombadil 0]

I do agree with a lot that Roeder is saying as it is just common sense, but I am not sure how the likes of Ferdinand, Crouch, Davies and Bent fit into the category of unearthing young gems for decent prices...

 

Anton Ferdinand as well. I guess we'll be in for him if West Ham go down...

[Li3nZ 1]

Roeder + Wenger = Packet of sweets and a sickly smile.

 

End of similarity.

[@yourservice 67]

Roeder has wet dreams about him tbh!

[Guest Patrokles]

There are worse role models. Better than 'Graeme is a manager I try and emulate frequently.' Right, Gemmill?

[Isegrim 8941]

I do agree with a lot that Roeder is saying as it is just common sense, but I am not sure how the likes of Ferdinand, Crouch, Davies and Bent fit into the category of unearthing young gems for decent prices...

 

Anton Ferdinand as well. I guess we'll be in for him if West Ham go down...

What part of mentioning Ferdinand didn't you understand?

[Shearergol 0]

From Marcelino to Hugo Viana, and Jean-Alain Boumsong to Albert Luque, vast sums have been spent at St James's Park in recent years and following familiar footballing failures, monies have not been recouped and success not encountered.

 

Surely Hugo Viana should have been a perfect example of what Wenger was doing? When Roeder talks about the young "unheard of" players, wasn't Hugo one of them?

 

So what he's really saying is that we shouldn't be buying players who will turn out shit (Bernard?) but we should find these good young players who cost little but turn us into Champions? Pretty certain Wenger has signed plenty of shit young players, but because he brings in so so many of them from Europe, some are bound to turn out right.