OUR NEXT MANAGER?

Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Swansea City appear to be closing in on the shock appointment of England World Cup winning under-17 boss Steve Cooper as their new manager. Cooper, from Pontypridd and who played in the Welsh Premier League, has emerged as the new front-runner for the role
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I had no idea I was that qualified :eek:

A Welsh League player!?! This is what I meant by a "lesser than". Nothing about this guy .... unless he walks on water in training ... is going to influence never mind inspire any player to stay, or want to come to the Club. His breadth of knowledge and contacts in the game will be great at recruiting for our U18 squad but we need to stop players already here ... like Grimes ... from deciding that this pantomime is not where they need to be. We need to win the league this coming season not wait for a rookie manager to figure out who plays fucking where for the opposition.

BoBo was a cock-up of biblical proportion ... but at least he had the pretense of knowledge and experience at the level required. I am more than praying that I will have to eat these words .... but really WTF. If there's any truth to the likes of Poyet and Henry applying and interviewing for the job and this is where we end up then I don't see anything but grave concern on the horizon for next season. At least Potter had a proven track record for leading, building, developing, and competing effectively in the senior game.

For example, are U17 really going to carry a cob instigated by their agent or their own delusion of grandeur that has to be dealt with, managed and sanctioned by a coach ... no, they're all truly grateful to be there. In most countries, e.g. Brazil, intermediaries are not allowed by law to touch players under the age of 18. There's a different mentality to the senior game.

Where does this leave the likes of Toshack. What must be going through his head. What must Curt be thinking.
 
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ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
I've got my concerns to be honest. The 60 game season in such a tough league as the Championship is a far cry from the relaxed environment that Cooper has enjoyed with his young charges. Okay, I get that he's good with youngsters but so is Cameron who at least has sound experience in competing in a league format albeit at U23 level.

I'm not putting Cooper down, far from it, but this could be too big a jump for him at this stage. He had excellent experience at bringing kids through the Liverpool academy but the quality of youngster they had made it an easier job than it might have been. The same applies to the England U17 group which was a pretty talented bunch.

At Swansea his team is going to be playing 2/3 times a week against tough opponents and that takes a lot of managing, having to contend with squad injuries, suspensions, player burn out and everything else on top of actually coaching the team. But perhaps his Liverpool connection might also secure us a decent loan player or two with Ben Woodburn springing to mind.

I suppose it's a question of suck it and see. He could bomb out or pleasantly surprise us with his ability. I would have preferred someone else but intend to fully support him until he gives me good reason not to.
 
Jackflash

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
Not really impressed with this appointment, again possibly the lowest wage requirement with the opportunity to get a foot in the door in football management.
If this goes tits up then Birch's head should roll. Cooper has no experience at this level whatsoever, yet he's the man that's going to have the final say on incoming players.
I think a better outcome would have been giving Cooper the academy job and brought Tosh forward .
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Unless we are making Sodexo our football manager as well as catering manager .... there’s nothing on the Club site yet.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Data Analyst
Staff member
Yankee_Jack said:
Coaching a U17 squad is not the same as coaching a U23.
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It's not but this is not a valid argument.
Coaching U23 is not the same as coaching the Championship squad. Coaching in Sweden is not the same as coaching in Britain. But that doesn't mean that you won't be able to make the next (big) step. If you are good, of course.

The key words should be: style of play, progressive, inovative, analytical, organised, ambitious, brave...not where he has managed and the level he has managed at.

Coaching Barca B team is not the same as coaching Barcelona first team full of superstars. Pep made that step and they played the best football on planet earth. He proved with Manchester City that it's not all about Messi.

Klopp had absolutely no experience when he took over at Mainz. He got them promoted to Bundesliga. The rest is history.

Laudrup had absolutely no experience when he took over at Brøndby and he made them play their best football ever. A relentless attacking football, a joy to watch.

I could go on and on.

My point is if you are brilliant you will be brilliant at any level. You will be able to make the next step.

Yankee_Jack said:
We don’t need somebody to come with a totally different view point and football model than we have already invested considerable time and money in developing.
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When we started interviewing the candidates we had already had a clearly defined vision. A progressive, attacking football. That's why Curt and Leon are taking part in the decison making process. I guess they know what they are doing.

Yankee_Jack said:
We need somebody that can work with what he’s got, add value, and take it to the next step. The chain of managers and coaches from Martínez thru Laudrup all did that. It was lesser people like Monk that cocked it up and started the downward spiral
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Cooper is not Monk.
 
ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
I'm enjoying some good opinion about this both for and against Cooper's appointment. :) I guess we won't know if Cooper has what it takes until he's given his chance - whether he'll be good enough or not. Suck it and see as I said. I just hope that we don't fall too far down the table while he's getting to grips with the job. On the other hand, he seems a progressive type who wants us to play the type of football we like. Fingers crossed that we are a good match for each other and I'm sure that Curt and Leon will be keeping a keen eye on what's going on.
 
Jackflash

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
ivoralljack said:
I'm enjoying some good opinion about this both for and against Cooper's appointment. :) I guess we won't know if Cooper has what it takes until he's given his chance - whether he'll be good enough or not. Suck it and see as I said. I just hope that we don't fall too far down the table while he's getting to grips with the job. On the other hand, he seems a progressive type who wants us to play the type of football we like. Fingers crossed that we are a good match for each other and I'm sure that Curt and Leon will be keeping a keen eye on what's going on.
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As Ivor says, we'll just have to wait and see what materialises, If the squad isn't decimated in the coming weeks then he's got a reasonable start thanks to Potter and Cameron, I just hope he isn't going to try and introduce another system, we had that from a few managers prior to Potter. We are now in a situation where there is absolutely no margin for errors, he has to get it right from the start, I just hope he's done his homework on the difference between International 17year olds and the real world of football, the Championship.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Data Analyst
Staff member
Jackflash said:
, I just hope he isn't going to try and introduce another system, we had that from a few managers prior to Potter
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I actually hope he introduces a different system to Potter's and with it I mean a better system. Potter's ball had its flaws and you all know what I am talking about.

Here is what Potter's Swansea were good at:
  • passing from the back
  • possession and passing accuracy
  • quick transitions (forward runs)
  • vertical passing
  • creating chances
And here is what Potter's Swansea were poor at:
  • playing in opposition third or even in opposition half
  • passing the ball at higher tempo
  • passing when under pressure
  • defending set-pieces
  • converting good chances into goals
  • blocking crosses
  • defensive positioning
  • tackling and fouling when needed (lack of physical presence)
  • defensive awareness
  • defending against counter-attacks
  • using a settled starting XI
  • quickly recovering the ball
To make it short:

Under Potter we were pretty good with the ball, but also pretty useless and poor without the ball. We need a significant upgrade on the football we played last season or we'll struggle to reach play-off places again.
 
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Jackflash

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
CroJack said:
I actually hope he introduces a different system to Potter's and with it I mean a better system. Potter's ball had its flaws and you all know what I am talking about.

Here is what Potter's Swansea were good at:
  • passing from the back
  • possession and passing accuracy
  • quick transitions (forward runs)
  • vertical passing
  • creating chances
And here is what Potter's Swansea were poor at:
  • playing in opposition third or even in opposition half
  • passing the ball at higher tempo
  • passing when under pressure
  • defending set-pieces
  • converting good chances into goals
  • blocking crosses
  • defensive positioning
  • tackling and fouling when needed (lack of physical presence)
  • defensive awareness
  • defending against counter-attacks
  • using a settled starting XI
  • quickly recovering the ball
To make it short:

Under Potter we were pretty good with the ball, but also pretty useless and poor without the ball. We need a significant upgrade on the football we played last season or we'll struggle to reach play-off places again.
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I think Potters system is there to be improved on, not changed. In the short time he was with us there were continuous improvements, and taking what he had to work with did amazingly well.
I, for one hope the present system stays,and is worked on. yes, there is room for improvement if he's the right man to improve it.
I doubt if Man.City have all the qualities you list above, even if they do we proved we could match them equally in all departments at the Liberty.
 
Jackflash

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
CroJack said:
It's not but this is not a valid argument.
Coaching U23 is not the same as coaching the Championship squad. Coaching in Sweden is not the same as coaching in Britain. But that doesn't mean that you won't be able to make the next (big) step. If you are good, of course.

The key words should be: style of play, progressive, inovative, analytical, organised, ambitious, brave...not where he has managed and the level he has managed at.

Coaching Barca B team is not the same as coaching Barcelona first team full of superstars. Pep made that step and they played the best football on planet earth. He proved with Manchester City that it's not all about Messi.

Klopp had absolutely no experience when he took over at Mainz. He got them promoted to Bundesliga. The rest is history.

Laudrup had absolutely no experience when he took over at Brøndby and he made them play their best football ever. A relentless attacking football, a joy to watch.

I could go on and on.

My point is if you are brilliant you will be brilliant at any level. You will be able to make the next step.



When we started interviewing the candidates we had already had a clearly defined vision. A progressive, attacking football. That's why Curt and Leon are taking part in the decison making process. I guess they know what they are doing.



Cooper is not Monk.
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He's yet to prove that.
 
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