Paulo Fonseca

[Guest reefatoon]

6 minutes ago, neesy111 said:

No one is going on about his results.

 

7 wins in 38 league games FFS.  Most if not all managers would be sacked at similar clubs to ours with they record.

 

It's completely baffling. They are totally ignoring his diabolical record and going on about how unfair it is to him. I'm just sitting there agog listening to it all. I can't think of any other occasion where such a crap manager has been so publicly protected and lied to fit a narrative that makes everyone else slating him look wrong. 

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by reefatoon

[Yorkie]

We've got loads of really good players. Not worried at all about not employing a defence-minded coach. One that keeps them fit and puts them in the correct positions will more than suffice. 

 

Dubravka, Lascelles, Schar, Fernández, Clark, Dummett, Manquillo, Hayden, Willock, Almiron, ASM, Wilson - these are all PL players that are easily better than relegation fodder. Shelvey/Fraser/Murphy arguably too. Massive gaps obviously and basically no depth anywhere other than GK and CB - but more than enough quality to pick up half a dozen good results between now and January, when said gaps can be filled. 

[KaKa]

Just now, reefatoon said:

 

It's completely baffling. They are totally ignoring his diabolical record and going on about how unfair it is to him. I'm just sitting there agog listening to it all. I can't think of any other occasion where such a crap manager has been so publicly protected and lied about. 

 

 

At this point it's a mental illness. Just need to find a name for it. Maybe Bruceitis.

[wormy]

Really don't buy the idea that he can't get a tune out of our players just because of his preferred style of play. An attack-minded coach doesn't scare me purely on the basis that improving the team's play in possession will instantly take half the pressure off our shoddy defence. And maybe we'll actually make use of one of our best defenders again in Schar!

 

Just like Rafa had his teams playing as more than the sum of their parts, the inept cabbage head has had his playing as less than. Keegan returned in January and turned Fat Sam's mess around. Rafa almost managed it on arriving in March, and probably would've saved us if he'd been installed just a couple of games earlier. This guy should have three quarters of the season and a transfer window.

 

Not to mention, unless I've missed something while out of the loop the past couple of years, the bottom of the league is ordinarily utterly fucking lifting.  There's a good chance we go on a horrendous run due to the team's we're due to face but we'll still probably be a good little run away from safety come the second half of the season.

 

I know nothing of Fonseca to confidently say how good he is, but if he's got as much ability as everything we've read and heard suggests, he's got more than enough time to improve this team that relegation won't be on our minds come the final few games of the season.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by wormy

[Awaymag]

5 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

At this point it's a mental illness. Just need to find a name for it. Maybe Bruceitis.

 

Its why NUFC should avoid hiring an English manager at all costs.  Can you imagine if Lampard or Gerrard got the job and it went sour.   The media would be in overdrive.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Awaymag

[bigfella]

7 minutes ago, KaKa said:

Wilson, Fraser, Almiron, ASM, Willock, Hayden, Lewis, Manquillo, Schar and Fernandez are 10 first team players that have had loads of experience in teams that use the ball far better. I'm sure we can be far better than what we have shown under Bruce.

 

We really just need enough of an improvement to beat the lesser to medium teams in the league more often and we'll be fine this season. 

 

Agreed, there's more than enough talent there to move us out of the relegation places, now that the cabbage is no more.

Add Dubravka to those ten and there's my first choice 11, until January at least.

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, Awaymag said:

 

Its why NUFC should avoid hiring an English manager at all costs.  Can you imagine if Lampard or Gerrard got the job and it went sour.   The media would be in overdrive.

 

 

 

 

Getting either of those two would be such a headache precisely because of that. We really need a break from it after this ridiculous fiasco with Bruce.

[pinkeye]

6 minutes ago, wormy said:

Really don't buy the idea that he can't get a tune out of our players just because of his preferred style of play. An attack-minded coach doesn't scare me purely on the basis that improving the team's play in possession will instantly take half the pressure off our shoddy defence. And maybe we'll actually make use of one of our best defenders again in Schar!

 

Just like Rafa had his teams playing as more than the sum of their parts, the inept cabbage head has had his playing as less than. Keegan returned in January and turned Fat Sam's mess around. Rafa almost managed it on arriving in March, and probably would've saved us if he'd been installed just a couple of games earlier. This guy should have three quarters of the season and a transfer window.

 

Not to mention, unless I've missed something while out of the loop the past couple of years, the bottom of the league is ordinarily utterly fucking lifting.  There's a good chance we go on a horrendous run due to the team's we're due to face but we'll still probably be a good little run away from safety come the second half of the season.

 

I know nothing of Fonseca to confidently say how good he is, but if he's got as much ability as everything we've read and heard suggests, he's got more than enough time to improve this team that relegation won't be on our minds come the final few games of the season.

 

 

 

 

If attack minded means that we an close down our opposition earlier than the edge of our 18 yard box then I am 100% in.....  

[KaKa]

2 minutes ago, bigfella said:

 

Agreed, there's more than enough talent there to move us out of the relegation places, now that the cabbage is no more.

Add Dubravka to those ten and there's my first choice 11, until January at least.

 

I agree. Between Wilson, Almiron, Fraser, ASM and Willock we should be able to cause enough teams a lot of problems. That's a really decent amount of speed, dribbling and athleticism. Some decent passing, as well as some decent finishing ability too.

 

I don't think we ever had all of those in the team at the same time under Bruce. The guy was a comedian.

[Gallowgate Toon]

I'm excited about this but some of that is somewhat just down to the fact that we're not going with the usual PFM bollocks. 

 

I think Fonseca could be really good for us in the short and medium term. Doing some reading up on him yesterday, he seems to be really good at cultivating a good squad/club atmosphere (this will be important short-term), improving younger and more peripheral players, creating a culture of being comfortable on the ball, and providing a lot of detail to players. His defensive record is suspect which I think is what will inhibit him from being a top, top manager (he may very well learn though as he seems to be a student of the game), but, apart from a select few managers in the world, most have some pretty big flaws somewhere. He feels like someone who could get us into a top 8 position and create some great foundations.

 

What I really liked about what I read is that he made Roma really good at beating teams you'd expect to beat which had apparently been their Achilles heel for some time, but he couldn't get it to translate to beating the big teams. For me, that's a good sign that he could get us into a good top 8 spot with some deep cup runs. It doesn't sound like his Roma squad/team was that good either, compared to what they've had in the past?

 

We need to buy some really good spine players in January to keep us up. I'm confident he'll get us to a comfy position with some fresh blood in, and we'll have some actual proper football to watch along the way.

[matta]

Wasn't one of the reasons Benitez liked Schar so much in a defensive 3, that he had the ability to bring to ball further up the field?

Seems we didn't do that at all last season with Bruce.

 

I rate Schar quite highly, and never really understood why he hasn't been playing when fit. We definitively have some players that are can play at a much higher potential than what has been shown so far this season.

A good manager can get some allright result out of this bunch, if only just getting St Maxi and Wilson in better positions.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by matta

[Lush Vlad]

14 minutes ago, KaKa said:

Wilson, Fraser, Almiron, ASM, Willock, Hayden, Lewis, Manquillo, Schar and Fernandez are 10 first team players that have had loads of experience in teams that use the ball far better. I'm sure we can be far better than what we have shown under Bruce.

 

We really just need enough of an improvement to beat the lesser to medium teams in the league more often and we'll be fine this season. 

 

Tend to agree.  But my worry is that we haven't actually played anyone decent yet, bar Man U (at the time) and perhaps Spurs.  But Spurs are hardly a Chelsea, City or Liverpool.  Home and away to some of the other top teams will more than likely yield 0 points.  So that's another 6 games gone. 

 

Whoever comes in needs to pick up points fairly sharp'ish, before we are cut adrift. 

[Lush Vlad]

5 minutes ago, matta said:

Wasn't one of the reasons Benitez liked Schar so much in a defensive 3, that he had the ability to bring to ball further up the field?

Seems we didn't do that at all last season with Bruce.

 

I rate Schar quite highly, and never really understood why he hasn't been playing when fit. We definitively have som players that are can play at a much higher potential than what has been shown so far this season.

A good manager can get some allright result out of this bunch, if only just getting St Maxi and Wilson in better positions.

 

He can be a bit of a rogue and seems half-arsed at times, leading to bad mistakes or losing his man.  Can't think of exact examples, but I remember him coming in for stick in quite a few games because of this. 

 

But he's still my favourite defender at the club and I'd certainly prefer him to the likes of blood and guts Clark, who just isn't very good.  Or the current version of Lascelles, who looks about as mobile as an overweight pensioner that has been sat in Spoons all day drinking Ruddles County.  

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Lush Vlad

[Papavasiliou]

Just now, matta said:

I rate Schar quite highly, and never really understood why he hasn't been playing when fit. We definitively have som players that are can play at a much higher potential than what has been shown so far this season.

A good manager can get some allright result out of this bunch, if only just getting St Maxi and Wilson in better positions.

 

Has the same problem (under Bruce) as all of our CBs. None of them could ever put a run of performances together. They always looked good for one or two games then wank for five. Always overlapping too so we never got more than one of them playing well at once.

 

[Guest reefatoon]

Bruce has tried defensive football and conceding possession and it has us second bottom, so I'm all for trying attacking possession based football. Bring it on Fonseca.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by reefatoon

[matta]

4 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

 

He can be a bit of a rogue and seems half-arsed at times, leading to bad mistakes or losing his man.  Can't think of exact examples, but I remember him coming for stick in quite a few games because of this. 

 

But he's still my favourite defender at the club and I'd certainly prefer him to the likes of blood and guts Clark, who just isn't very good.  Or the current version of Lascelles, who looks about as mobile as an overweight pensioner that has been sat in Spoons all day drinking Ruddles County.  

Yes, totally agree with this! He can be a bit reckless, but it seemed to work OK under a decent manager like Rafa. I think he can bring for more positives to the team, to outweigh the negative. As you mention, Clark or Lascelles dont offer much other than taking up two spots in central defense.

 

Lascelles can join the rest of us at the bar if he cant up his game

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by matta

[Gallowgate Toon]

I do think a back 3 probably suits our CBs now, tbh. I don't think there's a pairing that's good enough as a 2 but they can be very workable in a 3. Lascelles/Fede/Schar, in theory, should be good.

 

I think the problems we really have playing with a back 3 are wing backs and the midfield. Midfield really is the biggest problem we have - no combination of players there or shifting of formation gives us enough. 

[RodneyCisse]

8 minutes ago, matta said:

Wasn't one of the reasons Benitez liked Schar so much in a defensive 3, that he had the ability to bring to ball further up the field?

Seems we didn't do that at all last season with Bruce.

 

I rate Schar quite highly, and never really understood why he hasn't been playing when fit. We definitively have some players that are can play at a much higher potential than what has been shown so far this season.

A good manager can get some allright result out of this bunch, if only just getting St Maxi and Wilson in better positions.

 

 

 

Bruce just doesn’t have an eye for attractive men like Schar getting in the team.

[PauloGeordio]

1 minute ago, RodneyCisse said:

Bruce just doesn’t have an eye for attractive men like Schar getting in the team.

Loves a pie and peas man, man that carries a bit of timber. Difficult to get around. Bring on the devilishly handsome buys in January ?

[St1pe]

Shame because I’m really sold on this idea now. 

[KaKa]

4 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

I do think a back 3 probably suits our CBs now, tbh. I don't think there's a pairing that's good enough as a 2 but they can be very workable in a 3. Lascelles/Fede/Schar, in theory, should be good.

 

I think the problems we really have playing with a back 3 are wing backs and the midfield. Midfield really is the biggest problem we have - no combination of players there or shifting of formation gives us enough. 

 

If we do go with a back three, I think a 3-4-2-1 setup would probably work best. 

 

I'd try a pair of Hayden and Willock in central midfield, and Almiron and ASM either side of Wilson but with both playing much narrower like Almiron and Perez did under Rafa where they dropped into pockets of space a lot more often. Think that bunch together would use the ball well.

 

Wingbacks would be tricky but I think Lewis would benefit in a more forward thinking team, and on the other side Manquillo.

[RodneyCisse]

6 minutes ago, PauloGeordio said:

Loves a pie and peas man, man that carries a bit of timber. Difficult to get around. Bring on the devilishly handsome buys in January ?

 

Look at him man, pure lush.

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, St1pe said:

Shame because I’m really sold on this idea now. 

 

Oh boy ... just hope we don't fall for the need a man for the relegation battle narrative. So uneasy about that whole thing.

[PauloGeordio]

2 minutes ago, RodneyCisse said:

 

Look at him man, pure lush.

[PauloGeordio]

1 minute ago, KaKa said:

 

Oh boy ... just hope we don't fall for the need a man for the relegation battle narrative. So uneasy about that whole thing.

The new owners are not leaky by design. Don’t the bookies want more bets on? Integrity is a key characteristic of the new manager, with the Saudi issues to step around. Hippo heads a con man and a crook. I’d be worried if he gets anywhere near a phone call let alone an offer.