It looks like David Wagner will be the new Norwich boss
Confirmed. Rolling 12 month contract, so not a massive vote of confidence. Andy Hughes (our former player) promoted from loan manager to 1st team coach
Looks like Roberto Martinez is about to be named the new Portugal manager.
He must have a very good agent to get that gig after the shit show of Belgium's world cup.
There is no doubt that Belgium underperformed in the WC and perhaps Martinez did overstay his welcome. But this is, by all accounts, a very difficult group to manage due to the inherent factions within the squad. Martinez, for the most part, managed to keep them together but for that final year or so when the apparent splits become more evident once again. There are three other aspects to take into consideration.
One is the is the ageing nature of the squad (no less than seven of their so called best starting XI are 30 or older), two is the absence through injury (hadn't kicked a ball in five weeks 'til he came on) of the man who has 68 international goals to his name and who was clearly unfit when he was thrown on and three is that Belgium actually had two of the four eventual semi finalists in their group - they drew with one (Croatia - ranked 7th) and lost to the other (Morocco - 11th). We don't know how we might we have done without Kane (and only had the equivalent of Batshuayi to replace him with) and with those two teams in our group as opposed to USA (13th), Wales (24th) and Iran (28th). Equally, how many of Belgian's squad, apart from KDB, would get into our side?
Overall Martinez had a 70% win rate from 80 matches and Belgium lost 11 games in that time with more than half of those defeats coming in his final year or so in charge. Southgate, by comparison, has a 60% win rate and England have lost 14 of their 81 matches with him at the helm. And England, if we take the transfer values of the respective squads as a measure, have an infinitely better group to select from.
That spell at West Brom was shockingly bad, definitely time to call it a day after a decent career.
I was listening to a debate on Radio 5 and a former player was saying how all players, no matter how experienced, want to be coached and to hear something different from the Manager. Fresh ideas and a fresh approach otherwise they just switch off after a while. In Bruce's case, that "while" wasn't very long at West Brom.
Not knowing the club that well, I can't decide whether it was the correct decision because their manager is out of his depth, or whether it's unfair and he's been punished for getting them promoted in the first place.
Not knowing the club that well, I can't decide whether it was the correct decision because their manager is out of his depth, or whether it's unfair and he's been punished for getting them promoted in the first place.
A bit of both perhaps. The Stones are a small fish in a big pond this season and have been arguably weaker on the pitch this season compared to last due to long term injuries to key players. Albert Luque for example was National League South player of the year but hasn't kicked a ball all season and departing boss Hakan Hayrettin will argue the financial support has not been there.
2 wins in 21 games has been a poor run though and whilst Hak will feel harshly treated for over achieving last year, taking the emotion out of it, the timing seems right to me as a neutral observer.
They must get this appointment right though with a proven experienced head at NL level. Otherwise I fear they will go down anyway which would be a real pity for the town.
Looks like Roberto Martinez is about to be named the new Portugal manager.
He must have a very good agent to get that gig after the shit show of Belgium's world cup.
There is no doubt that Belgium underperformed in the WC and perhaps Martinez did overstay his welcome. But this is, by all accounts, a very difficult group to manage due to the inherent factions within the squad. Martinez, for the most part, managed to keep them together but for that final year or so when the apparent splits become more evident once again. There are three other aspects to take into consideration.
One is the is the ageing nature of the squad (no less than seven of their so called best starting XI are 30 or older), two is the absence through injury (hadn't kicked a ball in five weeks 'til he came on) of the man who has 68 international goals to his name and who was clearly unfit when he was thrown on and three is that Belgium actually had two of the four eventual semi finalists in their group - they drew with one (Croatia - ranked 7th) and lost to the other (Morocco - 11th). We don't know how we might we have done without Kane (and only had the equivalent of Batshuayi to replace him with) and with those two teams in our group as opposed to USA (13th), Wales (24th) and Iran (28th). Equally, how many of Belgian's squad, apart from KDB, would get into our side?
Overall Martinez had a 70% win rate from 80 matches and Belgium lost 11 games in that time with more than half of those defeats coming in his final year or so in charge. Southgate, by comparison, has a 60% win rate and England have lost 14 of their 81 matches with him at the helm. And England, if we take the transfer values of the respective squads as a measure, have an infinitely better group to select from.
Some good points i agree but not sure i agree with the last point about the squads. Currently yes, but overall during his years in charge Belgium had one of, if not the best squad in the world. Their team had players at all the top clubs across Europe.
He took them to the 2018 world cup semi final, 2020 Euro quarter final and then got knocked out in the groups at the 2022 World cup. I certainly don't feel that he did a great job, and you could argue with the players they had that many managers could've achieved the same or better.
If he does well with Portugal i'll hold my hands up, but personally i think he's lucky to get the job.
Despite not having been in the job long, I really can't see Potter lasting too long at Chelsea and I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't see out the season
Looks like Roberto Martinez is about to be named the new Portugal manager.
He must have a very good agent to get that gig after the shit show of Belgium's world cup.
There is no doubt that Belgium underperformed in the WC and perhaps Martinez did overstay his welcome. But this is, by all accounts, a very difficult group to manage due to the inherent factions within the squad. Martinez, for the most part, managed to keep them together but for that final year or so when the apparent splits become more evident once again. There are three other aspects to take into consideration.
One is the is the ageing nature of the squad (no less than seven of their so called best starting XI are 30 or older), two is the absence through injury (hadn't kicked a ball in five weeks 'til he came on) of the man who has 68 international goals to his name and who was clearly unfit when he was thrown on and three is that Belgium actually had two of the four eventual semi finalists in their group - they drew with one (Croatia - ranked 7th) and lost to the other (Morocco - 11th). We don't know how we might we have done without Kane (and only had the equivalent of Batshuayi to replace him with) and with those two teams in our group as opposed to USA (13th), Wales (24th) and Iran (28th). Equally, how many of Belgian's squad, apart from KDB, would get into our side?
Overall Martinez had a 70% win rate from 80 matches and Belgium lost 11 games in that time with more than half of those defeats coming in his final year or so in charge. Southgate, by comparison, has a 60% win rate and England have lost 14 of their 81 matches with him at the helm. And England, if we take the transfer values of the respective squads as a measure, have an infinitely better group to select from.
Some good points i agree but not sure i agree with the last point about the squads. Currently yes, but overall during his years in charge Belgium had one of, if not the best squad in the world. Their team had players at all the top clubs across Europe.
He took them to the 2018 world cup semi final, 2020 Euro quarter final and then got knocked out in the groups at the 2022 World cup. I certainly don't feel that he did a great job, and you could argue with the players they had that many managers could've achieved the same or better.
If he does well with Portugal i'll hold my hands up, but personally i think he's lucky to get the job.
As I say there is context there and the difficulties that Martinez has faced with the Belgian squad and their cliques is amply explained by the relevant article in the Athletic. They weren't helped by an injured Lukaku and the fact that they were in a strong group as evidenced by the two qualifiers from their group finishing 3rd and 4th which is better than we did and no other group could boast that - we were knocked out in the QFs and USA in the round of 16. In reality, we should have far greater success than Belgium given the extent of our professional set up and the fact that we have five times their population but we haven't and Martinez' overall international record is better than that of Southgate.
As you say it will be interesting to see how he does with Portugal in what will be the post Ronaldo era.
Never rated Hudson. Skipper of the most spineless bunch I've seen in my time of supporting cafc back in 08/09. That team had talent but no guts and went down with a whimper . He was culpable as skipper, so no tears shed tonight for him...
Comments
Paul Hartley has returned to Cove Rangers as boss just seven months after leaving the Scottish Championship club.
Hartley, 46, guided the Aberdeen-based outfit to two league titles as Cove ascended to Scotland's second tier before moving to Hartlepool in June.
However, after being sacked in September, he returns to the Balmoral Stadium to replace Jim McIntyre.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64172874
Could this mean Garner returns to the County Ground?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64139270
He must have a very good agent to get that gig after the shit show of Belgium's world cup.
There is no doubt that Belgium underperformed in the WC and perhaps Martinez did overstay his welcome. But this is, by all accounts, a very difficult group to manage due to the inherent factions within the squad. Martinez, for the most part, managed to keep them together but for that final year or so when the apparent splits become more evident once again. There are three other aspects to take into consideration.
One is the is the ageing nature of the squad (no less than seven of their so called best starting XI are 30 or older), two is the absence through injury (hadn't kicked a ball in five weeks 'til he came on) of the man who has 68 international goals to his name and who was clearly unfit when he was thrown on and three is that Belgium actually had two of the four eventual semi finalists in their group - they drew with one (Croatia - ranked 7th) and lost to the other (Morocco - 11th). We don't know how we might we have done without Kane (and only had the equivalent of Batshuayi to replace him with) and with those two teams in our group as opposed to USA (13th), Wales (24th) and Iran (28th). Equally, how many of Belgian's squad, apart from KDB, would get into our side?
Overall Martinez had a 70% win rate from 80 matches and Belgium lost 11 games in that time with more than half of those defeats coming in his final year or so in charge. Southgate, by comparison, has a 60% win rate and England have lost 14 of their 81 matches with him at the helm. And England, if we take the transfer values of the respective squads as a measure, have an infinitely better group to select from.
2 wins in 21 games has been a poor run though and whilst Hak will feel harshly treated for over achieving last year, taking the emotion out of it, the timing seems right to me as a neutral observer.
They must get this appointment right though with a proven experienced head at NL level. Otherwise I fear they will go down anyway which would be a real pity for the town.
He took them to the 2018 world cup semi final, 2020 Euro quarter final and then got knocked out in the groups at the 2022 World cup. I certainly don't feel that he did a great job, and you could argue with the players they had that many managers could've achieved the same or better.
If he does well with Portugal i'll hold my hands up, but personally i think he's lucky to get the job.
Crawley appoint ex Swindon manager Scott Lindsey as manager
As you say it will be interesting to see how he does with Portugal in what will be the post Ronaldo era.