themasoon

Peter Bosz would be my preferred option, being a manager that plays pressing, attacking football and keen to develop youth. However being in the relegation battle, I'm not sure he would have the experience to pull us out although nearly any manager would do better with our squad than Pellegrino.

For all the stick Les Reed is getting (and yes I dont like the Pellegrino appointment) most of our signings are a success, especially the last couple of windows, and I can't think of any other club in the premier league where in the last few years 2 of our managers have been poached by bigger clubs. Also, the Puel appointment made a lot of sense and ticked all the boxes initially it just didn't work out but I do believe that's Pellegrino is a bad choice and I'm sure the board will only be waiting as they may believe they can get a much better manager in the summer than mid way through the season. Les Reed has done a lot for us and yes he has made mistakes but he has been far more successful than most directors of football given the circumstances and we still continually find and sign top players. We just need the next manager to be good to get the best out of a very good squad. Les Reed is not the problem, Pellegrino is.

Pellegrino announced tomorrow

Saw this interesting view on Alaves. Seems like although Pellegrino likes a defensively solid team, it's not in the form of a Pulis "sit deep" but rather defending aggressively with high pressing and interceptions. Pellegrino's teams seem to always play with a high intensity which will obviously be refreshing.

Laurent Blanc would be my favourite. A big name that will command respect, plays attractive football and also looks to promote youth so clearly a good coach too. Not saying it's likely but surely ticks all the boxes.

They also spent £30 and £17 million on Sissoko and Jansen respectively as well as £20 million on both N'Jie and N'Koudou so I think we have a better recruitment team than them. Also they're in a far stronger position than us with respect to keeping players but you know that and choose to ignore it nonetheless.

If I remember last year we didn't appoint Rudi Garcia because he wanted to bring all his backroom staff with him. I wonder if after the Eric black experiment we might allow the next manager to bring all their staff with them or even re-approach Rudi Garcia for the job.

Tbf to Puel he converted McQueen into a left back and I can guarantee you when bertrand and targett were injured Koeman would have put Yoshida/Martina at left back instead of trying to make McQueen a wing back so I think that's wrong. Koeman shipped out Stephens on loan without giving him a chance in pre-season I think and the board weren't happy with that so not sure Stephens would've been chosen by other managers over the experience of Caceres. I agree that Puel will probably go and he has his flaws but he has done well with the youth so think it's unfair to say he hasn't.

Wonder if we would go for Eduardo Berizzo of Celta Vigo to replace Puel. Plays high intensity, pressing football and his contract is up in the summer. Also has done a good job with Celta Vigo and outplayed united the other week and beat Real Madrid in the cup. http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/05/02/tactical-philosophy-eduardo-berizzo/

Saw Leeds didn't make the playoffs. Surely that improves our chances of signing Jansson if that's who we really want. Anyone seen much of him?

To everyone that thinks Marco Silva is a second coming of Pochettino his style is totally different. His sides are often very defensive and rely on a counter attack which I'm sure will excite all the fans. http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/02/16/tactical-philosophy-marco-silva/ "Even at a side with a crowd as demanding of dominating, attacking football like Olympiakos, Silva’s priority was organisation and defensive structure. His main form of attack is counter attack – the Greeks even used to joke that his side were so eager to counter, they would often consider giving the ball to their opponents just to break on them." Not sure this will be the type of manager we would want.

If we stick to a 4-2-3-1 we might as well sell Long and J-Rod in the summer as we will have Gabbiadini, Austin, Gallagher and Seager which is plenty of cover for 1 striker

Not that I can be really bothered to go into whether Puel should stay or go but I just came across this which should dispel any ideas about us not being attacking or having enough shots with him in charge. Bet the fans at Bayern, Juventus, Chelsea and Monaco are fuming at their boring style of play too.

In all seriousness who would you suggest we bring in to replace him then?

Don't get me wrong our run of form has been disappointing. But if we get away from the emotion of it all and look at it pragmatically then Puel could be the best thing for this club as he gives our academy players a chance and promotes them as well as doing well in the cups as well as being a manager for the long term. If I was les reed, I would let Puel go back to the diamond for the next couple of games and the cup final and see how that goes. If not then I would consider replacing him. I do think we pass the ball well but we don't dominate games like we should. Feel sorry for Puel as I don't think he's had it easy and this may be a case of a few factors that has led to this form rather than him being a bad manager. Relegation has become a worry for the first time in years but I'm sure Les Reed knows what he's doing we and have to trust the club and give them a chance to turn this around.