Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach
I'm happy with that as a long term system, but we were so so close, one little push in the right place could have elevated us for a decade
it feels like we've thrown away 5 years work
Thats true, the core of the team is crumbling into dust.
However, Rogers is showing at Liverpool that a malaise doesn't have to be terminal.
We need to identify a core of players we feel we can build on moving forwards.
I think the transitory feeling around the club is absolutely shocking. Back in the day when we were losing 11-7 against the Dog and Duck with Pleat at the helm it was almost like 'ah well at least its a ride, we've been shiit forever anyway.'
This time its really, really dangerous. We have a group of maybe 4-5 players who are genuine quality, and the farcical nature of the club is/has driven them all to the exists.
I cannot for the life of me see lloris and Vertonghen still being here next year, which is massively problematic.
I think regardless of how Sherwood does now he needs to go. Yes we need a spacegoat - someone we can bundle up all the craap decisions, bad board room level cocck ups, tie it round someones neck and throw them over the side of the boat. And that person is going to have to be Sherwood.
I presume Baldini is being tasked with assessing who is mentally in the correct frame of mind to still be at the club next season - if he isn't then he should be.
The dead wood, the chaff thats clogging up our squad needs shipping out. We all think we have a deep squad, yet when any of the reserves play they are fooking useless.
Naughton, Rose etc. Gone. Resolve the futures of Chadli, Siggurdson, Townsend, Holtby, Dawson and the like. free up some breathing space so we can for once see the wood for the trees.
Then we need to assess who we have that we can build around. For me that will be Walker, Dembele, Eriksen, Lamela possibly Soldado and Ade. Other than that I can't see anyone willing to stay, or anyone thats shown enough to make me think they can be the bedrock of the team. Dembele admittedly isnt the best player in the world, be he is by far the best of our underperforming midfield clones, and the only one i feel is possibly going to hang around long term. That we haven't got an adequate partner to compliment him isn't his fault.
The next important issue is we need a manager with real fuucking gravitas and balls to come and lay down the fuucking law from day 1. He needs a 5 year contract, full backing from the board and clear understanding of how his partnership with Baldini will work. A van Gaal, a De Boer. When things aren't going perfectly and we aren't top of the league we need to bight the bullet, get onside, suck it up and believe.
Re-coup whatever we can after this summers disastrous spending and let them manager evolve his squad, bringing in 1 or 2 players per window MAX. The players he will have to work with at the club may not be the best anymore, but at least were not going to have any players angling for moves to real madrid for a while (after the departures of vert and lloris wherever they go).
Appoint a manager with a clear brief, drop the ridiculous noises that come out of the club about champions league, levy fuucks off back into the background, shuts his trap and puts the gun away.
If we come 10 once, so be it. Would coming 10th with an evolving team under a progressive, proven manager committed to the club have been any less enjoyable than watching this shower and finishing 5th or 6th like were going to? Its going to be a case of taking a couple of steps back to go forwards.
I can't see any other way forwards given that we have sunk so low so quickly. Pack up all the discontent and remains from the core of the last team, fresh start and go again.
We've wasted numerous chances to kick but there's no point flogging the dying embers of bastardised team with remnants from a side that nearly made the breakthrough but didn't.
IMHO of course.