Thomas Frank - Head Coach

[metalgear]

Unfortunately, 3 of that Top 5 are also still in the Champions League. If we manage to get to the Last 16 or 1/4 final, you can guarantee we are pulling one of them, and I doubt we are beating any of them over 3 legs

yep can hope we don't meet them til the semis

if i were TF, I would try to emulate Ange and prioritise the CL

 

[Bishop]

That is what you voted for in the expectations poll (you were a bit more optimistic than me - I went top 8).

Yeah it was a hopeful vote, more so than my expectations. I actually voted Europa league and Top 8.

 

[braineclipse]

I just think that most great players transcend different tactical systems. Romero has played well in Conte's 3-4-3. He then transitioned into Ange's high back line / offside trap based defence and then finally into Frank's more orthodox approach. I've not really see him struggle but have made the statement that he is best suited to Frank's system. That isn't dissimilar to the one he won the world cup in. I guess my point is that if you buy the quality of player in the first place then it's just so much easier to transition. Perhaps you find your diversity of player in that last 10-20% of player choice.

As for Vic, I don't think he kicks the ball well in any system. Even in Frank's system where he is allowed to put his foot through it he keeps slicing it and even misses the entire pitch at times. He's definitely not intricate enough to play in a Pep system either. Most of all he is just not good with a moving ball. I think there will be GK's out there that can command their box, use their feet and have the shot stopping and aerial abilities. Not sure it's our first priority though and I would always prioritise quality over quantity when developing a squad. I'd happily just see us buy one or two great 1st team players each window. Buying 5 or 6 has never worked.

I agree and if we can sign great players who are well rounded and can do well in multiple systems do that. I think it opens up more options in the transfer market if we can know in broad terms at least how we're likely to play in the next 5 years.

I think that also makes it easier to prioritise well. Right now, if we're going to keep playing a similar style to now I think the easiest "fix" would be a really good target man/holdup player up front. That nay not be the priority of another manager if Frank is replaced. Should we then prioritise that? (assuming of course that Frank and the club see that fix the way I see it, but even if that's not the case there will imo be other situations like that)

I also think that's useful with regards to signing and developing younger players. We have some really technically gifted young players now, the way to develop them imo is with a style that's set up to get the best out of players like that.

 

[braineclipse]

If we had won all the games you suggested we'd be 2nd and you think you're expectations are not too high? You're delusional.

Literally the next paragraph in the same post after the stuff you bolded:

"You will never get perfect results but convert 2-3 of those results (still brick the bed on 4) and we would be in a position aligned with your "unrealistic" expectations."

 

[thfcsteff]

Here's a truth.
When it was put to TF post-Villa that our 'last chance of silverware' had gone, he reacted with grudging agreement.
We are still in the Champions League, and as it sits, our potential play-off game would be quite winnable over 2 legs (Quarabag is currently one of them I was told by someone who had put the work in to figure it out).

I am not an idiot, and honestly have to say we would need a shock in excess of Greece winning the Euros to win the CL.
But we ARE still in it.
And as such, the first thing I want the manager to say is that we are still in it!
Of course, he does not actually see us as a Champions League club.
Philosophically he might be right, however we factually are one, and also factually hold a decent record in this season's competition.
Personally, I think getting to QF would be something else (it would also improve us in co-efficiency I think as well as income, etc), but we must never forget that we got to a CL Final with Winks and Sissoko in midfield and our star striker injured for several key matches.
Again, I want our manager to believe we can do anything in a competition until we are actually knocked out of it.

 

[DubSpur]

Not sure if you saw my other post or not but I just think saying ‘reality is we finished 17th last season’ just doesn’t cut it. You have to mention the Europa win, because it’s inextricably linked. We were supposedly favourites and should have walked that competition due to the quality of our squad. So let’s take the trophy out of it. Let’s average out last season and say that a 17th league finish and a Europa trophy equals a 10th place league finish and no trophy. Is that fair?

In that instance, Frank is then taking over a team that routinely qualifies for Europe through the league but slipped the season before due to an unprecedented injury crisis. I wouldn’t think getting us from 10th into genuinely competing for the European spots again would be that hard, or that much progress. It’s just getting us back to by and large where we always have been.

And it’s not me saying I expect us to compete on all fronts, it’s the club! They made a change because they believed it would give them the best possible chance of competing on multiple fronts in the *coming season* and beyond. They were not expecting this to be a year of absolutely nothing but setting foundations.

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No, it's not fair to say a Europa League win and 17th in the league equals to 10th in the league. By that logic teams that won a cup and got relegated shouldn't have got relegated. The standard of team that we played in the Europa for the most part was lower than the majority of teams in the league.

Do you really give that much weight to club statements. They are always going to put in high expectations. Can you imagine the backlash if they stated that they think it will take at least a couple of seasons for us to be competing again?

 

[Finney Is Back]

No, it's not fair to say a Europa League win and 17th in the league equals to 10th in the league. By that logic teams that won a cup and got relegated shouldn't have got relegated. The standard of team that we played in the Europa for the most part was lower than the majority of teams in the league.

Do you really give that much weight to club statements. They are always going to put in high expectations. Can you imagine the backlash if they stated that they think it will take at least a couple of seasons for us to be competing again?

It certainly doesn’t equal 10th in the league…. It is in fact better than anything other than winning the league

 

[Bishop]

Literally the next paragraph in the same post after the stuff you bolded:

"You will never get perfect results but convert 2-3 of those results (still brick the bed on 4) and we would be in a position aligned with your "unrealistic" expectations."

Its deluded to expect to win all of those games and thats what he said. He actually expects to win them all but accepts that you won't get perfect results. Thats different to saying I expect to win 3 out of 4 home games.