Webber's influence

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

"The sporting director talked about “massive mistakes” which have been made at the club and certainly caused many eyebrows to be raised when he added: “That is why Alex Neil is in the commentary box rather than the dug out,” referring to the former manager being a Sky TV pundit at the match."

This is a bit ambiguous. Initially I thought this was a dig at Alex Neil saying he should never have been employed in the first place, which is harsh because he did very well for us in the first part of his tenure.

If it was about timing, or if you interpret it the other way (as in he should not have been sacked, but this goes against the feel of his criticisms) its all pretty brazen for a guy who''s been here all of 2 weeks.

Lets just hope he is not just all mouth and no trousers

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

Sorry, meant to say that whether he intended it or not, it sounds like criticism of his new employers (the board), which is pretty bold.

Im guessing it was an attack on Neil which I dont think was warranted.

Alex Neil did his best, his best just proved inadequate - he doesnt deserve to be slagged off after the fact.

If he''s saying Alex Neil was never up to the job, then surely he is attacking his new bosses'' judgement?

Controversial to say the least

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="The Great Mass Debater"]“That is why Alex Neil is in the commentary box rather than the dug out,”Sorry, meant to say that whether he intended it or not, it sounds like

criticism of his new employers (the board), which is pretty bold.

Im guessing it was an attack on Neil which I dont think was warranted.[/quote]Or simply a factual statement!The club has often been accused of playing down or ignoring situations so it''s good to hear some plain speaking from those in charge.

[It's Character Forming 1,167]

Yes I am glad to hear it.  I''d agree 100% that massive mistakes have been made and that''s why Alex Neil is no longer the manager, and why we''re not even in the playoffs.  So I''m glad to hear he sees it that way too.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

It will be really interesting to see what kind of manager we attempt to recruit.

It doesnt sound at all like Webber plans to be in the background. It would take a certain type of manager to tolerate that level of ''interference''.

Suggests to me we''ll either go for a complete rook who will be grateful to work with an arm around the shoulder, or a continental manager used to working in such a system. Cant imagine many of the types we''re used to would be happy not being top dog

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,655]

Good interview with Webber here;

http://www.alongcomenorwich.com/articles/stuart-webber-the-interview

He was very much in the background at Huddersfield and allowed Wagner to get on with his job - to great affect. Obvious they have been very successful and how he would get involved if something was going wrong is a bit of an unknown but I don''t expect him to be too interfering.

[Captain Birdseye 0]

I hope he does not shy away from the really difficult decisions and calls out the systemic causes of our problems i.e. Our old fashioned and outdated ownership model and owners

[hogesar 9,820]

It''s a good interview Bethnal, one of the standout aspects of fan support that really struck a note with me was:

"

STUART WEBBER; THE INTERVIEW

24/4/2017

1 COMMENT

Jon Punt sat down for a one-on-one chat with new Sporting Director Stuart Webber. Stuart spoke at length about his thoughts on what he found at Colney, his plans for next season and the atmosphere at Carrow Road.

Picture

In the cold, modern, minimalist décor of Norwich City’s corporate hospitality box, Stuart Webber cuts a contrastingly warm and affable demeanour. He oozes confidence, from the reassuringly purposeful tone of his voice to his engaging and knowledgeable answers, it’s perhaps obvious why Norwich sought to appoint him.

This is a real football man, someone who possesses the sporting acumen and expertise many have stated has been missing from the club for some time. Webber was gracious enough to give Along Come Norwich his full time and attention and the offer of a 10 minute chat quickly turned into a much longer conversation, such was the depth of the answers he wanted to convey.

​

It’s clear in his two short weeks at the club he’s settled well and is pleased with what he’s seen so far, yet he’s under no illusions about the task in hand:

“It’s been a good two weeks, people at the club have been good to me. The infrastructure is decent and there’s loads to work with. At Huddersfield we had nothing in terms of infrastructure really, it was like a League One club in the Championship, that’s not to disrespect them, that’s what it is. Here there’s lots more infrastructure – in fact in some areas too much, I look at some things and think ‘do we need that much really?’ Maybe we got a little bit lost in the Premier League.

I’ve been hugely impressed, but at the same time some areas have surprised as well….

The squad wage bill is higher than I’d probably imagined and maybe some of the salaries are a bit higher than what I would have expected.

One thing I would say it’s that’s never the players’ fault, they get paid what they get paid and no doubt some of them would have earned it, as a general thing though we need to trim that a little bit to be able to grow the squad again. That’s a bigger job than I probably originally anticipated but at the same time a challenge and something to get stuck into.

​Apart from that there’s not really been any real surprises, I knew what I was coming into and Steve (Stone) did a good job in telling me what it is and he’s been very accurate with the assessment. There’s not been any nasty surprises, but at the same time there’s maybe some bigger challenges than I originally thought, especially around the first-team squad.”

In Webber’s short time at the club he’s confident he’s built up an accurate idea of the playing staff he has at his disposal and what now needs to happen to reinvigorate a team that’s, by their own high standards, failed this season:

“I’m very clear on that, even before I entered the door in truth, and now I’ve had time to observe three games really closely, observe training sessions closely, observe people around the training ground closely; staff and players, I’ve got a real clear picture now and fortunately there’s still two weeks to go, so certainly by the time we wrap up against QPR it will be nailed clearly. I’m really close now, but by then there’ll be nothing which isn’t known.

There’s definitely a really good base, I look at some of the players in the squad and think they’re really good players. There’s some really good young players, exciting players, players that I think any team in the top 8 of this league would take.

Then I look at some glaring holes, this is a club where we don’t own a left back at first team level. We’ve got a number of number 10''s but we don’t own a left back, that’s not me speaking out of turn or criticising anyone. Everyone can see if you write out the squad list that we’ve got alot of that, loads of them, but not many in these areas. So I think it’s clear, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, we know we need to strengthen areas, but there’s some real positives.

If I look at the three games I’ve been here we’ve scored 11 goals, that takes some going, and yet we could have scored 15, 16, even 17, its been unbelievable. So I think there’s some real quality, and some glaring holes and I think that’s been pretty well publicised.

A lot of the decisions to make are easy ones, whoever was sat in my chair or the head coach’s chair, I’d be gobsmacked if the decisions we end up making were different, within reason everyone would come to the same conclusion. I don’t think there’s going to be many surprises.”

Picture

When pressed on the left back situation and Mitchell Dijks situation Webber was unsurprisingly non-committal about the Dutchman’s future:

“We have to consider that it’s all well and good people wanting to stay, but does it fit them financially and for us? I’m sure people wouldn’t want to stay if it wasn’t within a financial framework that wasn’t right for them.

Mitchell’s done well on his loan. Has he smashed it? I wouldn’t go that far. He’s done reasonably well and I’m sure if we can get to a deal we’ll try and get to a deal, but at the same time its where he comes in in terms of being realistic with the finances, because going forward it will ultimately come down to money. It’s not about the level of player because we know we’d like him, he’d want to stay, but it’s what it looks like financially.”

The former Huddersfield was also clear he has an abundance of riches at the top end of the pitch, and that may prove to be a difficult juggling act in the coming weeks and months. This may mean a waiting game for the likes of James Maddison:

“I think there’ll be exits all through the squad. I think that’s natural. The squad needs freshening up, everyone can see that, we are heavy in certain areas so for example James Maddison, if he isn’t in the team next year he can’t have another year of a loan which was far from perfect in my opinion and then come back into a club where so far he’s played fourteen minutes of football for the first team. That can’t happen again, because before you know it James Maddison will be 21, 22 and we’ll be going ‘how many games has he played?’

We have to get a clear plan for James – whether that be in our team next season or whether that’s maybe he needs to go and gain more experience to wait for his chance, because Naismith, Hoolahan and Pritchard are top players. So he’s got top players in his way, it’s not like he’s got someone in the way who’s easy to dislodge. In that case we’ve got to do what’s best for James and what’s best for the club.

​

I’ve had a couple of conversations with him and his agent and we need to work out over the course of pre-season where does he fit in. He can’t be stuck in no-man’s land. I think that’s what kills young players is when they’re stuck in that in-between where they’re not playing but they’re doing a bit with the first team, young players can lose a year, two years of their career where other players of the same age are playing game after game and suddenly they’ve got a hundred games under their belt; we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you can’t get them in your team but you can get them first team football in a good club, with a good manager that’s important. We can’t have them going somewhere where they have three days off a week and they’re not fit, we need them to go to a loan club which will have a similar schedule and the way that we do it, otherwise that might not develop them.

​Josh (Murphy) was at MK Dons with Karl Robinson – a great move in my opinion, and Jacob went to Coventry which was a great time in terms of different pressures that the club was under. I think both of them would say that was unbelievably beneficial to them and has proven beneficial to Norwich. There’s been some great practice with those two, and we have to do more of that.”

Picture

However, loans for Norwich’s talented pool of youngsters may not be the only way in which fans see them develop in the next few months and years.

“If someone sends me an 18 year old they don’t have to go straight on loan, it might be that we drip them in with the first team. It will be very much myself sitting with Richard Money to talk about the career progression for these guys.

With our best 17 year old, what is our plan to get him in our first team? It might be, that he goes straight from under 18s, under 23s to first team, some people go on that path. Some people go on the path of under 18s, to 23s then loan to the first team. At Liverpool we had Raheem Sterling, straight into the first team as a 17 year old, he didn’t need a loan. I think each one will have their different plan and that’s what’s important is we sit down and I’ve had a meeting with Richard this week about identifying who they are, and we get their career path right to ultimately get them in our first team. Otherwise there’s no point having an academy. “

Webber was candid enough to admit the youth academy hadn’t been his first priority during his short time at Carrow Road, although he still has been impressed with what he has seen so far and this might mean changes for the make-up of the first team squad down the line:

“On the outside it looks good. Have I delved deep into it? No I haven’t, because there’s probably other priorities, I’m sure the fans wouldn’t thank me for looking at the academy and would ask ‘What about the Head Coach?’ What I have witnessed is maybe there’s not been a great connection between the academy and the first team, which is incredible really when they’re on the same site. A big part of my job will be to connect that up. For me, if we’re looking for a new player, the first thought has got to be ‘What have we got in our academy?’ If the answers yes, but he’s a year away from being ready to help us, then maybe we’ll bring a loan in to cover that until the one we’ve got is ready.

If we’ve got an academy that we invest alot of money into we have to use it, and we have to give it the best chance. Then in the first team squad, we have to create room for the academy to breathe. You can’t stock it with so many senior players because you can only have a squad of 18, so we don’t need 25 first team experienced players because 7 of them aren’t getting in the squad every week. So we need to have a squad which is a little bit more streamlined which then gives room for the best academy products to breathe, and if we haven’t got those products then we need to buy younger ones in and sort of, bridge the gap.

I think a big part of my remit and role is to help connect that, because you can help take some of the pressure off the Head Coach, so you can help give him support that we’re making this decision as a club.”

Given the cultural shift, Webber was keen the club is transparent about how they go about transitioning towards a younger squad:

“You’ve got to communicate that to people, so if we haven''t got two 28 year old right backs lets communicate the reasons why to supporters, so they know that actually we can’t afford to have two experienced right backs and we think this young lad who might act as back up has got some talent. Then people know, they hear the message; if you communicate and you’re honest, even if people don’t agree with it at least they can see the method. I think that’s the key bit we have to put across better as a club in my opinion, although I’ve only been here two weeks.

When I was doing my research on the club, it appeared maybe we haven’t communicated our messages enough to people. So, we’re not asking everyone to agree, but at least they can understand. I think the worst thing is when you see stuff, and its baffling as to why ‘they’re doing this, this and this’.

Listen, we’re never going to give away the crown secrets, we’re not going to tell people about the method of how we appoint a Head Coach or how we do our recruitment, we can skim over it, but we’re not going to give the detail behind it.”

Webber was also confident in what his new Head Coach’s remit will be, how this will fit into the club’s football structure and how views are changing towards football management and governance.

“In terms of recruitment, they’ll always have the final say, but not the only say. That’s key, because what happens is if they have the only say they end up getting sacked.

The right person will bring in an assistant with him straight away, because that’s important, you need your man who understands your method. As you work through it, especially here as we’ll probably change the culture a bit, in terms of the footballing culture at Colney and the change of demands on people for sure, it will become a little bit harder work than maybe it has been. Some of the staff might not want to get on board with that, so of course, the Head Coach on a day to day is going to have strong dealings with the physio, the sports scientist, the goalkeeping coach, the groundsman. That’s important and he’ll have a say in who he works with, but not the only say.

We’re becoming more educated in our country, when you look at Southampton who have sustained unbelievable success for a number of years, and keep doing it. I think people now believe the model works. On the continent they’ve done it for years with success, and they laugh at us because we don’t have it. Hopefully the model at Huddersfield proved it can work if you have good people. If I’m not the right person, or the Head Coach isn’t the right person, it doesn’t work. It works when you get the right people in place, the structure is one thing but actually the people are the most important and then also there can’t be any ego in it. Its important in my role you don’t want to coach a team, don’t want to pick the team, don’t want to be in the media all the time – I can’t wait to have a Head Coach so he can speak to the media and I don’t have to.”

The appointment of Webber’s preferred man is also high on his list of priorities after the season ends at home to Queens Park Rangers, although the decision to wait was a calculated and logical one. The timescale around the appointment is perhaps quicker than some may have thought:

“It’s difficult – I think within two or three weeks after QPR. I think it will depend on the situation they’re in at their respective clubs, and then when their season is finished, how quickly we can make it work in terms of the club that they’re at, either in this country or abroad. I know it’s a little bit frustrating but that is what it is. In the background all the work’s going on in terms of the squad, cleansing it a little bit and getting to know each player.

One advantage of me coming early is, as much as it was difficult to deal with Huddersfield, is it gives me 6 weeks to really assess the club, from the players to the staff that are at the training ground, the facilities, to everything. So when a Head Coach comes, its not like two new people trying to work it out, I can give them a real clear picture of which player wants to leave, which players are desperate to stay, we’re going to offer this one a new contract and we’ve got a loan set up for this one. It becomes a real easy transition.

The other thing I was always conscious of is because the season unfortunately petered out, probably after Huddersfield away, I didn’t think, even if that Head Coach was available, to bring him in straight away, to potentially lose 4 or 5 of the last 8 games – all of a sudden he could start next season and lose the first 2 and he’s under pressure straight away. I thought let’s protect him from that, because why put him into pressure that he doesn’t need to be in. If there’s issues or challenges I can sort them out, so that when someone comes in it’s a miles better starting place than it was two months ago. That was the idea.”

When Webber was asked how much of a difference supporters can make on match day, he was hugely positive about everyone pulling in the same direction, while recognising the understandable supporter apathy this year:

“It’s huge, I remember when we came to Carrow Road this year with Huddersfield and I was here for the Barnsley, Fulham and Reading games. With the exception of the Reading game, after about twenty minutes when we were 3 up and all four sides were enjoying themselves, I’ve actually found the atmosphere disappointing, at times non-existent. I think when there’s 27,000 in here I don’t see how that’s possible really. We shouldn’t hear 500 Huddersfield fans being louder than 26,500 Norwich fans.

I appreciate on the pitch we need to give them something to sing about, I get that, but the fans sometimes need to help pick the players up, especially if we end up having a slightly younger team, which we will have, because we probably need to. There was one game here where Jacob Murphy had a shot and it went almost out for a throw-in or something, and the whole crowd were almost taking the mick and laughing. That’s a young player, one of your own players by the way, not some overpaid mercenary that you might think exists, and I thought that’s a bit crap – get behind the kid. "

[hogesar 9,820]

I appreciate I managed to copy the majority of the interview but I was referring to..

“It’s huge, I remember when we came to Carrow Road this year with Huddersfield and I was here for the Barnsley, Fulham and Reading games. With the exception of the Reading game, after about twenty minutes when we were 3 up and all four sides were enjoying themselves, I’ve actually found the atmosphere disappointing, at times non-existent. I think when there’s 27,000 in here I don’t see how that’s possible really. We shouldn’t hear 500 Huddersfield fans being louder than 26,500 Norwich fans.

I appreciate on the pitch we need to give them something to sing about, I get that, but the fans sometimes need to help pick the players up, especially if we end up having a slightly younger team, which we will have, because we probably need to. There was one game here where Jacob Murphy had a shot and it went almost out for a throw-in or something, and the whole crowd were almost taking the mick and laughing. That’s a young player, one of your own players by the way, not some overpaid mercenary that you might think exists, and I thought that’s a bit *** – get behind the kid. "

[Hairy Canary 714]

My reading of why Webber stated that massive mistakes were made is that he needs to highlight just how much work is needed to turn around the mess AN has left us with.

We have an aging squad. One that is totally unbalanced and which contains a number of under utilized highly paid players who we are going to find difficult to shift. On top of that we have glaring weaknesses that need to be sorted out immediately if we are to see a promotion push next season. All this has to be sorted with reducing parachute payments against a background of managerial and player change.

It''s going to be a big ask and getting a bit of realism out into the public domain to dampen down expectations and getting a few heads out of the sand is vital if he is to buy himself enough goodwill and time to sort out the mess.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

Bethnal, have always been meaning to ask - your avatar... Big open mouth or long neck big chin?

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,655]

Long neck, big chin - although people who know me might posit that a big open mouth is more appropriate.

[It's Character Forming 1,167]

Thanks Hog, really useful to see that interview in full - not had time to read it completely yet but I like what I''m hearing from him. 

 

He''s clearly used it to make some points publicly, such as the salaries being surprisingly high and saying "some of" the players have earned what they''ve been paid.  I think the "some" who haven''t, and it''s not hard to work out most of them, are probably feeling pretty uncomfortable, or are working out where they will be moving too soon.

Also I like the comment about us having several no. 10s but no left back.  It seemed pretty obvious to quite a few of us that it was questionable, if not foolish, for AN to keep buying attacking midfielders when our defence was being neglected and it''s nice to hear that confirmed by him.

[canarydan23 4,143]

He named his son after Sebastien Vettel.

Clearly a d*ckhead.

I can''t wait until it all goes sour so I can boo him.

[Big Vince 325]

[quote user="TIL 1010"][quote user="Hairy Canary"]I thought it was entirely necessary and about time some of Neils inept squad building was criticised. Long overdue spotlight on some disastrous waste.

We have spent millions and millions of pounds, money this club can ill afford, on areas of the squad where we were already strong whilst ignoring the defence which desperately needed strengthening. Wildschut is a case in point. Reasonable enough player but did we really need to spend £7 million on a wide player when we are so short of centre halves that we couldn''t even put one on the bench against Brighton?

AN has a lot to answer for IMO and bringing to light some of his errors is no bad thing. It shows the sort of mistakes we absolute cannnot afford to make again.[/quote]Totally agree Hairy Canary. Webber is not going to suffer fools gladly and good for him.[/quote]

This is all very well, but the point to be made is why did Delia and Wynnie just sit back over such a long period of time and allow Neil to make all these mistakes and waste all that money? Surely as the owners they ought to have intervened much earlier? And that would include jettisoning the boys Spearing, Darnborough and the Man from the Mulbartonshire Estate. But no, Delia and Wynnie have absolutely no insight, no intelligence, no savvy and no nous whatsoever. They give jobs to the boys who then get far too comfy with their feet under the table and Norwich City Football Club suffers the consequences. The directors of this club fail absolutely in their duty to scrutinise objectively what goes on underneath them. There is a palpable lack of professionalism at board level. Just all too pally.

Delia, Wynnie and the board OUT.

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="lappinitup"]Let''s hope he has the same success as David McNally.Once again, it seems Delia has chosen wisely.......[/quote]

Like you mean with Moxey?

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="Carrow89"]I can see most of that starting 11 being here next season. Doubts would be Dijks (loan), Martin (past it?) and Josh Murphy who I feel is too light weight. Out will go Tettey, Mulumbu, Whittaker, Jarvis, Bassong, Turner, Lafferty and possibly Hoolahan if Webber''s talk on Friday night about an old squad suggests age will be a factor. I also expect it will be quite a ruthless cull, and I doubt we will raise much in the way of transfer fees for the above players either. He has not minced his words by talking about past mistakes and commenting that is why AN is in the commentary box, not the dugout. He certainly comes across as the one who will be in charge and the coach will be expected to deliver a type of footbal, and an attitude from the players that is laid down. Not before I would say.[/quote]

I bet you were one of those who said Andrew Surman was

"too light weight". Or was it too lazy?

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="FCC"]I thought the comments regarding Alex Neil being in the commentary box were unnecessary. Alex has a promotion, Wembley win, and year in the Premiership under his belt.

This bloke has never held this position before, therefore has no track record of success in his post. He appears to have played a bit part in short periods of mediocrity at a number of clubs. I hope he is as good as he thinks he is, because I see nothing concrete supporting his opinion of how he is the man to re-shape Norwich City. He is as much a gamble as Alex was.[/quote]

It might have been unnecessary but it was true. A failed year in the Premiership followed by a failed year in the Championship. He''s lucky he lasted as long as he did.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

"Then I look at some glaring holes, this is a club where we don’t own a left back at first team level. We’ve got a number of number 10''s but we don’t own a left back, that’s not me speaking out of turn or criticising anyone. Everyone can see if you write out the squad list that we’ve got alot of that, loads of them, but not many in these areas."

Nice to see that someone at the club has officially recognized that this is a problem

[KiwiScot 1,491]

From the interview "Webber was also confident in what his new Head Coach’s remit will be... "In terms of recruitment, they’ll always have the final say, but not

the only say. That’s key, because what happens is if they have the only

say they end up getting sacked""So the head coach picks the players he wants then. Is this really that different a method?

[It's Character Forming 1,167]

[quote user="KiwiScot"]From the interview
"Webber was also confident in what his new Head Coach’s remit will be... "In terms of recruitment, they’ll always have the final say, but not the only say. That’s key, because what happens is if they have the only say they end up getting sacked""

So the head coach picks the players he wants then. Is this really that different a method?
[/quote]

So he''s saying the Coach has "the final say but not the only say....if they have the only say they end up getting sacked".

 

I''d take that to mean that others such as Webber are involved in the process and if a player doesn''t get through that process to the end, the Coach can''t decide to have him.  But if the player does, then the Coach makes the final call on whether he''s happy with the signing.

 

The reality is that Webber and the HC will have to work very closely together.  If the HC wants a given player, there will have to be give & take between him and Webber about pursuing the signing, similarly if someone is lined up and Webber etc all think it''s a good signing, the HC will then have the final say on whether to say yes or no.  Realistically he''ll have to decide how often he uses that veto and mostly you''d have thought it will happen earlier in the process.

[PurpleCanary 5,606]

[quote user="KiwiScot"]From the interview "Webber was also confident in what his new Head Coach’s remit will be... "In terms of recruitment, they’ll always have the final say, but not

the only say. That’s key, because what happens is if they have the only

say they end up getting sacked""So the head coach picks the players he wants then. Is this really that different a method?[/quote]What Webber is saying now about a division of responsibilities may now be how it pans out in practice. He may be downplaying in public how he sees his role.But even if not  the clear implication is that Webber will have some say in player recruitment, and that is a significant difference from what we have always had. In the past the only footballing input on player recruitment (as opposed to McNally saying what we could or could not afford) was from staff below the manager in the picking order - the likes of the chief scout.Now there will be footballing input from Webber, who not only is above the head coach in the pecking order but will have chosen him for the job.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

On James Maddison - We can’t have them going somewhere where they have three days off a week and they’re not fit, we need them to go to a loan club which will have a similar schedule and the way that we do it, otherwise that might not develop them.

Clearly doesnt think highly of Scottish football. Considering how much of our staff past and present have come from there thats good to know!

[It's Character Forming 1,167]

[quote user="The Great Mass Debater"]On James Maddison - We can’t have them going somewhere where they have three days off a week and they’re not fit, we need them to go to a loan club which will have a similar schedule and the way that we do it, otherwise that might not develop them. Clearly doesnt think highly of Scottish football. Considering how much of our staff past and present have come from there thats good to know![/quote]

 

You can say that again !

[The Great Mass Debater 1,105]

On the academy - I think each one will have their different plan and that’s what’s important is we sit down and I’ve had a meeting with Richard this week about identifying who they are, and we get their career path right to ultimately get them in our first team. Otherwise there’s no point having an academy.

This may seem a really obvious statement, but its so refreshing to hear someone at Norwich actually saying this explicitly, that if it doesnt produce players for the first team, having it is pointless. That is really encouraging

[TIL 1010 4,826]

Not often do i look forward to the close season but having read ACN i cannot wait for it to start with Webber in charge.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Not impressed with the unnecessary comment aimed at Alex Neil, and no it didn''t need to be said at all, if there was any sort of eye opening benefit to saying what he did then I''d certainly be interested to know what exactly, but it just came across as rather rude to me.

A confident speaker, but I can see him upsetting people rather than gelling them. That concerns me, and by the looks of it a few others too. Time will tell.

Manager we''re after is blatantly someone likely to be in the playoffs by the sounds of it - my money''s on Jokanovic.

[Diane 500]

I ll have a £1 on Rosler please lol

[Diane 500]

But hasten to add i think Gary Monk would be a good choice?

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Hard to pick one Di! I like Jokanovic - he did this at Watford, and he''s doing it at Fulham, he could be great for us but as I said on here at the start of the season, I believe Fulham will be promoted so it''s likely irrelevant!.