Do you still have faith in Poch ?

So what was he supposed to actually do? Who should he have signed? Ndombele was clearly supposed to be the Dembele replacement but we couldn't get him last year. A back up for Kane who is actually better than Son or even Lucas in that role is going to be 50m minimum. What exactly is he supposed to do about Alderweireld and Eriksen? It's easy to find fault and much harder to work out an alternative plan

 

I tend to agree with much of this, which is one of the reasons why I am still voting 'yes'. The way I see it, so many gripes fans have are so difficult to call one way or another and could quite readily be answered without resorting to throwing Poch and Levy out with the bathwater...

1) We have we allowed players to run down contracts?
- Players in question have been offered multiple contracts but have rejected them.

2) So why didn't we sell them a year or two ago when it became clear that they weren't going to sign?
- Because they were two of the most settled, capable members of a tightly-knit, settled squad. Selling them 2 years ago would have brought in big £££'s, but our wage ceiling simply didn't allow us to use those £££'s to sign players of the caliber that they would or could immediately replace what Toby and Eriksen brought to the table. Catch 22. Have enough P's in the transfer kitty to unsettle the likes of De Bruyne, complete lack of P's in the wage kitty for De Bruyne's agent to even bother picking up the phone.

3) Why didn't we invest in the squad for 3 windows?
- This is a really, really good question and one that bothers me. The simplest explanation is that Levy completely took his eye off the ball due to the stadium. Then there is also the factor that, having totally broken the stereotype of being a 'selling club' to be preyed upon by bigger fish (with Walker the obvious exception), come 2018 we found ourselves lacking the P's in either kitty to really bring in risk-free additions to the side. By all accounts, Tanguy was the one we went for but Lyon had just signed him and coaxing him away from them would've taken £70m+; money we didn't have pre-new stadium and CL run.

I see this summer just gone as a marked and slightly dramatic shift in transfer policy. Whereas previously we were severely restricted by budget and so had to take flutters on risky transfers (Janssen, Aurier, Lucas, GKN) many of which didn't work out, we are now moving to a policy wherein the manager hand-picks who he wants, and we get them for him. That is how the biggest clubs operate. Pep wants Rodri, he gets Rodri. Zidane wants Hazard, he gets Hazard. Valverde wants Neymar, Barca almost sell half their team to get Neymar. The three players we brought in this summer were - in my eyes - "risk-free", by dint of the fact that Poch has been tracking them for years.

Of course, they all might prove to be flops; nothing is guaranteed. But I personally have a lot more confidence when the man who works with the squad every single day decides that a player fits that group, than when some jacket and tie in the board room decides - based on advice from some jacket and tie in accounts - that we'd be better off having a £20-25m flutter on an Aurier or Lucas. The latter are surely more risky than the former, again - by dint of the fact that the manager sees them as square pegs to somehow be fit in the round hole of his squad.

There are of course some complaints which I fully agree with: Why was Rose retained after a toxic combination of slagging the club off and a horrendous dip in form when Trippier was sold despite only being guilty of the latter but not the former? Why was Wanyama retained when he was clearly broken 18 months ago? Why was Aurier bought when we had such a finely-tuned unit across the pitch - didn't we realise that replacing Kyle had to be as precise and calculated as signing Tanguy and Sessegnon, and probably should've taken priority (and funds) over signing Dave?

 

One area where there's definitely been an issue is bringing youngsters into the team

In his first couple of seasons the club's policy of keeping the top prospects in-house and loaning out those who could get the club an RoI worked as the likes of Winks, Onomah and Carter-Vickers were all getting a fair amount of games

The problem started in 2017-18 where we were keeping the likes of Edwards, Oakley-Boothe et al in-house yet Edwards, Sterling, Georgiou, TOB and Walkes got 34 minutes between them that season, while KWP did get some starts but it genuinely felt as if that was more because of circumstance - following that, last summer saw Edwards, Shashoua, Georgiou and Sterling demanding loans while Bennetts, Kirby and Griffiths left all due to being kept in-house without actually playing

We do seem to be trying to reverse this with Skipp getting brought through last season, and we gave Parrott and Tanganga starts in the Season Killer Cup this season, but considering the contract situations in the first team the fact that we haven't got Tanganga or Eyoma to a level where they can be trusted to come into the team for the odd game when required is an issue

 

It all makes sense now...

 

Cheesy but true.
This stadium may prove to be both a blessing and a curse.

 

So far it’s only a blessing for ENIC

 

Genuine question.

Other than being modern, more choice with food and drink and bigger, has it improved the fan experience? The atmosphere seems dead most games whereas the Lane could be a cauldron of noise

 

That one tier stand

I was really looking forward to that and the jargon they were using to explain the dynamic acoustics of the new stadium convinced me that opposition teams and fans would be intimidated instead everyone can’t wait to visit for a day out and some good grub

Like you say...it’s no Cauldron

One big corporate experience just as ENIC intended

The fans haven’t had much to cheer because Football has taken a backseat for the ones that call the shots

 

He knows his next employer is an Aston Villa or a Sheffield Utd - maybe back to Leeds if they come up. He's not going to be part of a bidding war between Chelsea and City now is he. He has deteriorated so much that his next contract will be less than he gets now.

 

Oh...

 

gutted!

 

**** off Tottenham.
Same old ****, time after time.

 

Bit shocked at the timing. Why just a few days before the West Ham game when - if sacking him was on the agenda - they could've done it after Sheff Utd game and given <new manager> some time at the club? Granted not many of the players would've been around but the manager could've gotten accustomed to things and any players around the place could've began learning the new tactics/ regime. Seems very odd to me.

Wish Poch all the very best though, he's delivered some of my most favourite memories as a fan.

****ing huge decision now for the board, this is one that will either win over the "Levy/ ENIC Out" or will lose all of those who are still "Levy/ ENIC In" if the next appointment doesn't deliver nor backed sufficiently.

 

Unless they have someone already lined up and was just waiting for said person to agree?

 

Yeah that's true.

For the love of god I hope it's Allegri. If we sack Poch for essentially another unproven manager then there will be a huge uproar at the club from fans. I was on the "Poch Out" side of things but primarily based on the fact we get a winner, not someone who isn't better than him.

 

i wonder what our resident enic fans think of this decision after saying poch was the man to lead you to the glory days?

 

David Pleat caretaker

 

Jose?

 

Ancelotti isn't looking too comfortable at Napoli right now

 

I’m genuinely dumbfounded. Who is actually going to do a better job that’s

A) available
B) can work with such constraints
C) will join us, knowing they’ll be dealing with “B”.

We think it’s bad now, I can only see this getting worse.

Thanks for everything, Poch. We may not have won anything, but you stopped us from being a total laughing stock and put us up there challenging amongst the best.

**** you, Levy.