Why it must be Cuesta

[Tommo 51]

Will Still, 31 has apparently been linked, leaving Reims in France

 

i personally think Steve Cooper or Manning at Bristol City 

[Robornio 119]

There’s always a risk with a new and inexperienced coach. For every Mikel Arteta, there’s a Peter Grant. But would you rather an experienced coach on the decline (which we’ve just had) or an enthusiastic newbie with new exciting ideas?

The latter has the much higher ceiling of success (to coin an American saying) and gives a chance to acquire a calibre that we wouldn’t attract had they’d been successful elsewhere, beforehand. 

The key for me is a winning ethos, a willingness to compete and an ability to motivate and inspire. Bring on the new regime, and let’s go for it! 

[dylanisabaddog 5,618]

28 minutes ago, Tommo said:

Will Still, 31 has apparently been linked, leaving Reims in France

 

i personally think Steve Cooper or Manning at Bristol City 

Bristol City played some good football here and Manning is a Norwich supporter 

[Tommo 51]

1 hour ago, dylanisabaddog said:

Bristol City played some good football here and Manning is a Norwich supporter 

Agree they had a good attacking set up that day. Looks a progressive young manager,. 12-1 in odds after I asked for his odds 

[Chichcan 148]

Hopefully it's Cuesta or a similar young coach with fresh ideas about playing good football and bringing youth through

Mousinho at Portsmouth is another example of someone who came from nowhere - he was a player who did some coaching at Oxford - and has transformed Portsmouth. 

A few Pompey fans I know moaned like mad when he was appointed but they ain't moaning now

It would also help if he communicates well and explains his style and vision because after the turgid Smith and Wagner years I think we need someone who we feel is taking the club in the right direction and then he can be given some time 

 

[Branston Pickle 3,996]

2 hours ago, Tommo said:

Will Still, 31 has apparently been linked, leaving Reims in France

 

i personally think Steve Cooper or Manning at Bristol City 

All those are decent shouts - Cooper has done well at more than one club,  Bristol fans seem happy with Manning and they did play very decent football - the fact he’s a local could be helpful if we want him. 

[Swaff 4]

Prior to the Leeds home game I saw a bloke parking his car in the players' area behind the Jarrold stand. A bit of research leads me to think it was Kim Hellberg (Hammarby). If it was him I guess he could just have been scouting, or maybe something else?

[Coneys Knee 1,033]

I wonder if a young couch with the exact same credentials as Carlos Cuesta, but was British with a regular dull British name would harness the same enthusiasm? 

[Coneys Knee 1,033]

5 minutes ago, Swaff said:

Prior to the Leeds home game I saw a bloke parking his car in the players' area behind the Jarrold stand. A bit of research leads me to think it was Kim Hellberg (Hammarby). If it was him I guess he could just have been scouting, or maybe something else?

You need to back this up with some car parking angles evidence!

[Fen Canary 1,250]

8 hours ago, S_81 said:

If it is Cuesta, or even if not - given Knapper’s Arsenal connections, should we sell Sara then Charlie Patino on loan (or a perm if we can afford him) next season would be a great move. 

Sell one of the few players we have who could hold their own in the top flight, and replace them with a youngster we’d then have to replace in the unlikely event of promotion?

That sounds a solid way of building a club! 

[Fen Canary 1,250]

8 hours ago, 7HAR1980 said:

Not an attempt at replicating the scum at all. We did it with Lambert and to extent, Farke.

Lambert had managed Wycombe to a cup semi final (I think) and hammered us with Colchester, and Farke had managed in the German lower leagues. They were hardly a novice like Cuesta who has never been anywhere near a first team. 

[Fen Canary 1,250]

8 hours ago, Kenny Foggo said:

I'd rather a sporting director with a forward looking vision and a young bright manager than all the usual "experienced" managers hawking round the same tired & old tactics and man management.

Anybody can have a “forward looking vision” simply because it’s untested idealism. Until it bumps up against reality we’ve no idea if it works or not

[Indy 3,412]

Manning only joined Bristol in November. Can’t see him jumping ship!

Still think its going to be Cuesta, after the last game at Arsenal!

[yellowrider120 867]

3 hours ago, Tommo said:

Will Still, 31 has apparently been linked, leaving Reims in France

 

i personally think Steve Cooper or Manning at Bristol City 

Apparently Cooper rebuffed an approach from us (unfortunately) so that is probably a non starter. Manning has not been at Ashton Gate long and is unlikely to jump ship. They looked very impressive v us a few weeks ago so we are not likely to be viewed as a step up.  

[S_81 1,016]

45 minutes ago, Fen Canary said:

Sell one of the few players we have who could hold their own in the top flight, and replace them with a youngster we’d then have to replace in the unlikely event of promotion?

That sounds a solid way of building a club! 

Learn to read. “Should we sell’. Of course I don’t want us to. But let’s be realistic - we’re going to sell someone. And the bids are most likely to come in for him. And probably the biggest ones. I’m talking about if Sara goes. 

Edited May 17 by S_81

[kick it off 2,032]

47 minutes ago, Fen Canary said:

Lambert had managed Wycombe to a cup semi final (I think) and hammered us with Colchester, and Farke had managed in the German lower leagues. They were hardly a novice like Cuesta who has never been anywhere near a first team. 

By that logic, Xabi Alonso was also a poor shout for Leverkusen to be fair. Only ever managed youth teams at Real Madrid and Real Sociedad's B-team.

Objectively, the most similar career path to Cuesta that I can think of, factoring in calibre of clubs and roles... would be Mourinho when Porto appointed him and we all know what happened there.

Of course it's a lottery, like any manager hiring will be.... but I guess it depends on your appetite for risk. Cuesta is a boom or bust gamble. I'd throw the dice.

Edited May 17 by kick it off

[repman 679]

1 hour ago, Swaff said:

Prior to the Leeds home game I saw a bloke parking his car in the players' area behind the Jarrold stand. A bit of research leads me to think it was Kim Hellberg (Hammarby). If it was him I guess he could just have been scouting, or maybe something else?

If by Leeds home game you mean last Sunday I very much doubt that considering Hellberg's Hammarby side had a game that day. He's certainly an interesting name and I believe Sunderland were linked quite strongly with him when they sacked Mowbray. He only joined Hammarby at the start of this year and considering the Swedish league runs through the summer it'd be surprising to see him leave just yet.

[Fen Canary 1,250]

56 minutes ago, kick it off said:

By that logic, Xabi Alonso was also a poor shout for Leverkusen to be fair. Only ever managed youth teams at Real Madrid and Real Sociedad's B-team.

Objectively, the most similar career path to Cuesta that I can think of, factoring in calibre of clubs and roles... would be Mourinho when Porto appointed him and we all know what happened there.

Of course it's a lottery, like any manager hiring will be.... but I guess it depends on your appetite for risk. Cuesta is a boom or bust gamble. I'd throw the dice.

So he had managed in the Spanish lower leagues then?

I’m not saying that Cuesta will definitely fail, but I also don’t understand those that seem to think he’s guaranteed to succeed simply because he’s been at Arsenal while they’re on a good run

[Old Shuck 257]

Will Still is the name that stands out for me.

Cuesta is an intriguing thought mind. One of the most highly rated young coaches in Europe. Would be one hell of a coup to get him. Seems we're looking to be a club where coaches can come in, be given the opportunity to up their profile and experience and, as with our player model, move onwards and upwards after a couple of years.

If a Cuesta or similar got us promoted then kept us in the PL with, say, a 13th place finish and run to an FA Cup semi final, would we then be happy with them leaving us for an Everton or West Ham?

The price for success being losing them. It happened, long ago, with John Bond, ditto Mike Walker 1.0 and Lambert. Mind you, the last two didn't fare so well, whilst Bond later admitted he should nevet have left us.

I think the last manager to have left us and gone on to do well was Saunders. And even that wasn't with the club he left us for.

Ditto Farke. 

[Cityfc2 13]

11 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

A sporting director in whos never done that job before hiring a manager whos never managed a first 

11 hours ago, 7HAR1980 said:

Not an attempt at replicating the scum at all. We did it with Lambert and to extent, Farke.

Alex Neil did it 👏 

 

[kick it off 2,032]

44 minutes ago, Fen Canary said:

So he had managed in the Spanish lower leagues then?

I’m not saying that Cuesta will definitely fail, but I also don’t understand those that seem to think he’s guaranteed to succeed simply because he’s been at Arsenal while they’re on a good run

Alonso managed the Sociedad reserve team who play in a 2500 seat stadium, and had an average age of around 22/23. It's not a senior men's team objectively, more akin to managing an U21 or academy team.

I don't think Cuesta will succeed because he's at Arsenal, I have no idea whether he would even succeed at all. I don't think I've seen anybody saying he will succeed. What I've seen people saying, and what I'm saying, is he's a gamble worth taking. The more you read about him, the more his character stands out as being exceptional. There's a reason he has got to where he is, at such a young age. He started coaching at 15 when he realised he wasn't going to make the standard he wanted as a footballer.  He has scrapped, fought and hustled his way into a host of big clubs, blown people away at every single one of them, and is renowned as being tactcally astute and a fantastic communicator. Mourinho's trajectory was incredibly similar. Someone, somewhere will take a chance on him, it might as well be us - what do we have to lose?

The key, Cuesta said, is to convince people completely of your idea. “It is about believing in an idea from day one,” he wrote. “Knowing how to convey it to the players and making them believe in it, infecting the fans with your enthusiasm, getting your players to play each game as if their lives depended on it, mastering the media to convey the message that you want and knowing how to manage the success of a team that is not used to it.”

 

Yet for all his words learned and written, Cuesta needed a foot in the door. He searched every Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid coach he could find on Twitter and sent all of them the same message, each with the same sign-off. “If you need someone to put out the cones,” he wrote, “I’m here”.

Nobody replied, except one, a youth team coach at Atletico Madrid, who invited Cuesta to help with the club’s under-9s before letting him take sole charge of the under-13s. Cuesta took the roles seriously. “We used to ask Carlos if he wanted to go out in Madrid and he would always say no, because he had a match in the morning,” says Estan Rodriguez, one of Cuesta’s closest friends. “We used to tease him that while we were out drinking, he was changing nappies, because the teams were so young. It was always serious for him, always a passion.”

Edited May 17 by kick it off

[Ian 1,147]

11 hours ago, 7HAR1980 said:

Not an attempt at replicating the scum at all. We did it with Lambert and to extent, Farke.

Agreed. Some fans really do have a ridiculous inferiority complex.

[7HAR1980 130]

4 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

Lambert had managed Wycombe to a cup semi final (I think) and hammered us with Colchester, and Farke had managed in the German lower leagues. They were hardly a novice like Cuesta who has never been anywhere near a first team. 

He's an assistant to a big premier league club ffs! 

[7HAR1980 130]

2 hours ago, Cityfc2 said:

 

Totally forgot about Alex Neil.

Would actually entertain the thought of getting him back. 

[Fen Canary 1,250]

1 hour ago, 7HAR1980 said:

He's an assistant to a big premier league club ffs! 

Peter Grant was assistant at West Ham when they made the cup final, that didn’t translate too well into management.

I’m not impressed by somebody who has achieved nothing on their own just because they happen to be working at a big club.

He might turn out to be a good manager, I just don’t understand the love in for a him by some on here 

[dylanisabaddog 5,618]

1 hour ago, Fen Canary said:

Peter Grant was assistant at West Ham when they made the cup final, that didn’t translate too well into management.

I’m not impressed by somebody who has achieved nothing on their own just because they happen to be working at a big club.

He might turn out to be a good manager, I just don’t understand the love in for a him by some on here 

Saying this man has achieved nothing isn't exactly true is it? One of the biggest clubs in the world gave him an extremely important and senior role. He will have been up against some very strong competition. Arsenal has gained a reputation for recruiting well and made a good choice in Arteta. He was of course just an assistant at a big club who had achieved nothing on his own. 

 

[Fen Canary 1,250]

34 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

Saying this man has achieved nothing isn't exactly true is it? One of the biggest clubs in the world gave him an extremely important and senior role. He will have been up against some very strong competition. Arsenal has gained a reputation for recruiting well and made a good choice in Arteta. He was of course just an assistant at a big club who had achieved nothing on his own. 

 

What has he achieved?

I’m not saying he’ll fail, like every manager I’ve no idea how we’ll go under him but I just don’t understand the love in for somebody most of us barely knew existed a few months back

Arteta was also a former Arsenal cup winning captain. Do you think they’d have appointed him if he hadn’t had that connection? 

[dylanisabaddog 5,618]

2 minutes ago, Fen Canary said:

What has he achieved?

I’m not saying he’ll fail, like every manager I’ve no idea how we’ll go under him but I just don’t understand the love in for somebody most of us barely knew existed a few months back

Arteta was also a former Arsenal cup winning captain. Do you think they’d have appointed him if he hadn’t had that connection? 

Yes I do think they'd have appointed him if he hadn't played for them. It just made it easier for them. This is Arsenal we're talking about for goodness sake, they don't appoint people on a whim!  And Arteta hasn't turned them around on his own. 

[BroadstairsR 2,272]

Not one name mentioned above if appointed will not be a risk.

Lambert was a risk, Neil was a risk and Farke was a risk, Nome of them came with much of a pedigree in management either. All achieved the ultimate for NCFC. Safer bets were probably Roeder, Hughton and Smith all with previous experience and all a disaster in various ways.

"Inspired choice" is the order of the day, with all due recognition nowadays of the man's ideas and the reputation he has built within the game and at what level.

Bite the bullet, say I.

New owner, new young sporting director, new young manager.

For a while, we are not as financially stretched as some like to make out. We have a few saleable assets, good steady support and a few distinctly promising youngsters along with sound/advanced infrastructure at Colney. 

We could already bank a few millions for Idah and Tzolis and who knows just how Attanasio views the current situation as far as further investment goes.

As far as selling the so-called silverware goes, my ideal would be to sell Gunn and throw the impetus upon our stable of young 'keepers and cash in on Rowe if we are able. 

Realistically, it looks as if Sara might have to be lost.

I wouldn't blink an eye if Gibson, Duffy, Bahtt, Barnes or Sorensen were never to be seen in the yellow again. I would with Argos though.

[Swaff 4]

10 hours ago, Coneys Knee said:

You need to back this up with some car parking angles evidence!

Didn't take any photos, only really started thinking about it later. Number plate was HE18ERG with the 8 looking like a B. Driver was tall, thin, tracksuited, Scandinavian looking. Google search of Heiberg/Helberg-footballer brings up this guy. He looks like the man I saw. Can't work out how a Swede would have a private UK plate though.