QUESTION -
“Which club needs to sack their
manager in order to get things back in order?”
In other words, which manager’s firing would produce the most consequences for a team in Europe? Those consequences can be good, or bad.
JMo: “While I do think Jose Mourinho leaving Inter would drastically change the outlook of Serie A, I have to go with Rafa Benitez, even if he does have magic powers. I don’t think he knows what he’s doing anymore. The players are uninspired. And regardless of who’s most at fault, it’s undeniable that switching managers even if more a moment, boosts moral with the promise of change and hope. And if you give Stevie even a hint of confidence, he’ll ride you all the way to the top four. If L’Pool stay out of the top 4, I don’t even want to think about the amount of money they’re going to lose as club.”
Diaz: “Tony Mowbray of Celtic. They are 13 points out of #1 in the old firm league. Meaning they will miss the CL qualifying for a second year running. Meaning they will miss out again on almost 20 million Euros. For a big-ish club, this can be devastating. He was given a large transfer kitty to start the year for him to build a team that he wanted. That team ended up shipping away goals and dropping to inferior teams such as Falkrick on 2 occasions, Midlotian, Hibernian, and Aberdeen. More so, he was able to attract Robbie Keane, probably the biggest player to come to the SPL in the last 10 years and did not start him or even bring on the pitch in the biggest match of the season against Rangers. Celtic must rebuild, and Tony Mowbary should not be a part of the club’s new foundation.
BLo: “Might be a tad….controversial. But what about Mr. Wenger? The past 3-4 seasons he has consistently needed more talent up top, in the center of the park, and in goal to just compete with the top teams in both England and Europe, and he just has not done it. Their last EPL title was in 2004. Their last FA Cup title 2005. Carling Cup? 2007. For all of Arsenal’s beautiful football, they’ve got nothing to show for it.
Many in the stands and media have called for Wenger to either change tactics, or splash cash on players, but he continues to keep the attitude of winning with young players. His team plays soft, is easily intimidated, and does not have the mental strength to compete with the other big clubs of Europe. It’s not working, and it won’t work until Arsene either leaves the club, or changes his policies. With the knowledge that losing Fabregas to either Real Madrid or Barcelona is going to happen sooner rather than later, Wegner should be doing more to win now. Instead, he continues to settle for second rate. With managers all across Europe being fired, it’s a wonder that Arsene isn’t feeling more heat.
PS PLEASE let Liverpool keep Rafa. That’s disaster never gets old.”
Chad Brown: “It has to be Rafa Benitez, but the issue with this question is who does the club get that’s gonna do better? Rafa is certainly to blame with his excessive transfer moves and asinine rotation policy (not to mention his mismanagement of talented prospects like Babel), but given Pool’s current lack of money, I’m not sure anyone they get is going to do any better in the near future.”
JJ:
Willie:”Rafa has got to go. In his first season at Anfield, Liverpool won the Champions League and brought home the F.A. Cup a year later. He has done nothing since; Rafa’s mission to bring the league title back to Anfield has been a complete failure. Rafa has been limited in the transfer market by the club’s incompetent owners; compared other managers of Euro giants, has had very little cash to work with. It is what Rafa has done with his few opportunities to throw some money around that is most telling about his tenure, and his fate in Merseyside. His record signing of Torres was a great move. But a year later, he blew 20 million on Robbie Keane while destroying his relationship with Xabi Alonso, who Liverpool lost a year later”
Jeff Hill: “Clearly the only acceptable answer is Rafa – the guy has a terrible track record in the transfer market, is terrible at man management, poor tactically…he’s pretty much the total package.
Oh, and the panel is now more bloated than Michael Johnson.”
Hoss:
Steph:
Cameron: “I’d say that Rafa has to be at the top of the list. His wreckless transfer policies and questionable tactics have devastated Liverpool, and if they lose Torres this summer, it’s only going to get worse.”
Billard: “Friedhelm Funkel. Interim coach of Hertha Berlin; after the firing of Lucien Favre after the first 6 games of the season, Funkel has coached a team that finished fourth in the Bundesliga last year to a record of 3 wins, 6 draws, and 17 losses. He has accumulated an amazing 15 points over 26 league matches, and is currently sitting in last place, 9 points from safety, with 8 games remaining. To say any one of us could have done better would be an understatement.”
M2:
Scott: “That is a tough one, but I would have to say Liverpool. They have great players, no doubt they should be doing better than what they are. Some say that the players don’t mix and they should sell this guy or that. However, while that may be true to an extent some responsibility must fall on the manager, whether that be selling players, loaning them or bringing players in to lineup changes, taking care of the chemistry issues. I’m a believer in the manager needs to step up and tell the players such as Torres, yes you are good but you’re not the team. Rafa Benitez, grow a sack, control your team or you will be getting your walking papers.”
Posted by Kevin Billard on March 19, 2010 at 11:29 pm
It would be easy to say Rafa needs to be sacked, but realistically, unless Liverpool pick up Jose they will be taking a hit in the quality of their manager, and its not worth the immediate morale boost of a new coach to then be stuck with an unproven coach for the rest of the season. Rafa had a bad season, it happens, but if they pull out top four, which is still possible, i think it is not only an acceptable season, but a successful one.
Brian, Arsene Wenger isn’t feeling more heat because although he hasn’t produced trophies as of late he continues to coach a successful team with a relatively small budget compared to the other clubs he competes with. This season alone is proof of that. He has been without his top striker Van Persie for 19 games this season and has Arsenal sitting just two points adrift of first. And, surprisingly he is still alive in the Champions league, outlasting arguably better clubs, like Chelsea. He is a great manager, with a great eye for talent, it just seems he is always short that one star to bring his club over the top. This season, without the unfortunate injury to Van Persie, or the two gift goals given to man-u in the first outing with them, Arsene Wenger may have put together the team to take home the premier league. But unfortunately, winning takes luck too, and it has not been on his side this season.
Posted by Brian Lomax on March 20, 2010 at 3:34 am
I like where your head is at Kevin. But you ask any Arsenal fan…RVP gets hurt every season. It’s one of the truths about football: Fergie is gonna complain about ref’s when we lose, Drogba will act like he got shot at least once a game, and Van Persie will pick up an injury that will make him miss huge chunks of each season.
I’m not necessarily calling for him to be fired. But this idea that Arsenal doesn’t have the money to compete is a bit off the mark. While nobody can legitimately compete with teams like City and maybe Chelsea in England, it’s not as if Wegner is broke. Arsenal is the third richest team in the world, according to Forbes 2009 chart. I bet Chad and Jon will tell you that Arsene has money, he just won’t spend it. Their biggest recent buy? Arshavin, and while he’s been a great signing for them, they’re still running Bendtner(spelling?) out there up top. The honest truth of the matter is that Arsenal has yet to replace Thierry Henry. They still have a soft team, they still can’t beat big teams, and they thought Sol Campbell would be a good signing. At days end, do you really keep getting unlucky every year? Like I said at the end of my answer, coaches are getting fired left and right…at what point does the Arsenal board grow tired of finishing behind other clubs every year? The link below is a good article about the situation.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=736067&cc=5901
Oh and Kevin…don’t you think Klinsmann should have been given more time at Bayern? haha
Posted by Kevin Billard on March 21, 2010 at 3:00 am
Unfortunately my knowledge of the premier league over last couple years is lacking, so i can’t speak to why Arsenal has only managed to finish in the top four rather than at the top of the table in recent years. To be honest I’ve only really followed the premier league closely the last two season’s. I’m not saying the boys are getting unlucky every year, but this year if you turn one game around, the game against man-u, they are sitting at the top of the table. Take away the 10 own goals man-u have been gifted this season and they aren’t sitting quite as comfortably as they are.
THIS SEASON, they’ve been unlucky, and are still sitting comfortably in third and are competing for the title. When a team gets hurt, but still manages to win, a lot of that has to be attributed to the coach. This season Wenger has done a remarkable job. And just looking at the team he put out on the field this past game against West Ham, who i understand are awful, he is fielding an extremely young team. Take out Sol Campbell and Almunia and the average age of that group can’t be over 24. He is building a team for the future, who are competing now. If he keeps the core group of players together then in a year or two he will have a great team capable of winning at any level. There is no need for a huge signing because, as Berbatov can teach us, you don’t win with the big name, you win with the core group. Man-u wins because of the players that have been around for four and five years, or even longer, not the new face on the block.
…Klinsmann was an awful coach who shouldn’t have been hired in the first place. He got hired based on moderate success at the world level. He can’t coach a lick of defense and i don’t know why you would ever support bringing him in to coach the U.S. men’s national team.
Posted by William Armstrong on March 23, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Jon didn’t post half of my reply, so here is the rest of it:
Torres and Gerrard were racking in goals at a ridiculous rate, but apparently Rafa thought a second striker from a mid-table club would help to end Liverpool’s league title drought…In short, Rafa shafted one of the best central midfielders in Europe for a player the team didn’t need. The current season has seen Liverpool lose their best players to injury (Torres, Gerrard, and Johnson) for stretches of time, but the lack of quality depth and simply baffling managerial decisions (Lucas in the starting XI) surely leave The Kop wondering who would be willing to run the show at Anfield if they fail to finish fourth.
Diaz, I love the fact that Tony Mowbray is failing, but it is his first season with the club. It may be a bit harsh to sack him for not winning out over Walter Smith (8 League Titles with Rangers) after his first season. Keane did play in the latest Old Firm match. You can see him getting owned by Kevin Thomson in the opening minutes here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BVWYerIlWc
Also, assuming Celtic finish second, the will qualify for the Champions League. Rangers will automatically qualify for the group stages when they finish first. The change will come the season after next when the SPL loses that automatic qualifying spot to Belgium, and only the first place SPL team will qualify for the Champions League.