Ronald Koeman appointed Barca manager

[normanlamont]

not sure if this is the right place, apologies if not!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8635429/Ronald-Koeman-chosen-Barcelonas-new-manager-quit-Holland-week.html

don't understand why barcalona keeps hiring unproven managers, think he'll do better than the last bunch of mongs though

[VectisSaint]

2 minutes ago, normanlamont said:

not sure if this is the right place, apologies if not!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8635429/Ronald-Koeman-chosen-Barcelonas-new-manager-quit-Holland-week.html

don't understand why barcalona keeps hiring unproven managers, think he'll do better than the last bunch of mongs though

In what way is Ronald unproven? Had quite a good spell at some south coast club in the PL. The reason he is chosen is because he is a Barca legend. Was always going to happen eventually. Much more obvious choice than Poch who always said he could not manage Barca (because of his Espanol connections).

[beatlesaint]

Umm, hope it works out for him, I bet The Netherlands are pissed off about it.

[Lighthouse]

I wonder if he might want to bring in a former player or two. They clearly need a decent central defender, I wonder if there are any out there who’ve played for him before and might want to link up again. Hopefully such a player, if there is one, doesn’t start throwing his toys out the pram, agitating for a move and underperforming on the pitch, as that would be most unprofessional.

[Miltonaggro]

One of my favourite players and a great manager for us.  Loved by and a legend for Barca and I hope that he does well for them. 

[NorthLondonSFC]

He’s probably on a private jet enroute Spain wondering if Coco Martina and Stekelenberg could still do a job for him. 

[Mr Saints]

Legend. Good luck to him, although he has a huge job on his hands there!

[normanlamont]

5 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

In what way is Ronald unproven? Had quite a good spell at some south coast club in the PL. The reason he is chosen is because he is a Barca legend. Was always going to happen eventually. Much more obvious choice than Poch who always said he could not manage Barca (because of his Espanol connections).

yeah he did really well for us and i have a lot of time for him, but with all due respect he didn't exactly set the world alight at everton. not sure what people think of his work at the netherlands, havent really paid attention to them.

i suppose "relatively unproven" wouldve been a better choice of words, though i did manage to completely forget about his barca connection till you mentioned it, lol.

[Toadhall Saint]

Is his brother going with him?

[SKD]

Koeman being unsuccessful with Everton is a bit of a myth. The first season, when they had a Center forward in lukaku they finished 5th. They had Giroud in the door until a last minute change of heart. Had they signed him, Koeman wouldn’t have been sacked. 
 

he was unbelievable for us, he was okay for Everton and been good for Netherlands.. couple that with being a club legend, I suspect he’ll do a decent job with Barca. 

[CB Fry]

8 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

In what way is Ronald unproven? Had quite a good spell at some south coast club in the PL. The reason he is chosen is because he is a Barca legend. Was always going to happen eventually. Much more obvious choice than Poch who always said he could not manage Barca (because of his Espanol connections).

He's not unproven. He is proven to be not really that good whenever he's been anywhere with genuine pressure or expectation. 

It's a romantic not pragmatic appointment.

[SaveloyMush]

2 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

He's not unproven. He is proven to be not really that good whenever he's been anywhere with genuine pressure or expectation. 

It's a romantic not pragmatic appointment.

It was written.

Tricky time to choose to manage Barcelona though, with rumours of Messi spitting the dummy, and Suarez well past his (phenomenal) best. Perhaps Messi will stick around for another season now.

Lots of re-building to do, whoever goes. The saving grace for Koeman might be that Barcelona's main rivals are all in a bit of a mess too.

I wish Ronald well.

[Yorkshire Saint]

Virgil Van Dijk to Barcelona anyone... now that would be good 

[CB Fry]

23 minutes ago, SKD said:

Koeman being unsuccessful with Everton is a bit of a myth. The first season, when they had a Center forward in lukaku they finished 5th. They had Giroud in the door until a last minute change of heart. Had they signed him, Koeman wouldn’t have been sacked. 
 

he was unbelievable for us, he was okay for Everton and been good for Netherlands.. couple that with being a club legend, I suspect he’ll do a decent job with Barca. 

Little tip = if you're going to say in a post that something is a "myth", try and avoid making shit up.

Koeman never finished fifth with Everton.

And the point is he was given an effing fortune post Lukaku (a player he only inherited) and utterly blew it on a load of old shit.

[Matthew Le God]

28 minutes ago, SKD said:

Koeman being unsuccessful with Everton is a bit of a myth. The first season, when they had a Center forward in lukaku they finished 5th. They had Giroud in the door until a last minute change of heart. Had they signed him, Koeman wouldn’t have been sacked. 
 

he was unbelievable for us, he was okay for Everton and been good for Netherlands.. couple that with being a club legend, I suspect he’ll do a decent job with Barca. 

They finished 7th, 14 points behind 5th.

[SKD]

5 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Little tip = if you're going to say in a post that something is a "myth", try and avoid making shit up.

Koeman never finished fifth with Everton.

And the point is he was given an effing fortune post Lukaku (a player he only inherited) and utterly blew it on a load of old shit.

Yep, my error, was looking 2 season before 🙈.. where has the time gone

[Saint Keef]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

I wonder if he might want to bring in a former player or two. They clearly need a decent central defender, I wonder if there are any out there who’ve played for him before and might want to link up again. Hopefully such a player, if there is one, doesn’t start throwing his toys out the pram, agitating for a move and underperforming on the pitch, as that would be most unprofessional.

VVD and Sadio Mane to Barca? Now that would be funny. I'm already laughing at the thought. That would rip Liverpool apart. Maybe Ron will arrange to meet VVD in Blackpool.  

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, Saint Keef said:

VVD and Sadio Mane to Barca? Now that would be funny. I'm already laughing at the thought. That would rip Liverpool apart. Maybe Ron will arrange to meet VVD in Blackpool.  

Under no circumstances would Liverpool sell them both in the same season. 

[S-Clarke]

It's a bit of a poisoned chalice isn't it? Xavi will probably get it next year when he's 'ready', so in effect he's just in caretaker charge until then!

He's their most experienced European manager they've had for a long-while though. It's a really big ask though, that's a very ageing squad and it needs a big overhaul. They tried to evolve with the signings of Coutinho, Dembele, De Jong etc, but they've just not adapted yet. If Ronald can get the best out of those guys, it's a start - there's like £300m worth of player in those 3.

Be good to see him in a big job like this, don't have any problems with Koeman, we were lucky to have him for the 2 years we did. He knows a good player when he see's one.

[BARCELONASAINT]

I really hope RK is the right choice and he gets the backing of the board and we once again become a top top club. I've been saying for the last 3 seasons we have been on a decline and the obvious frailties have gone unaddressed.

Would I rather we had signed Poch and do I think he would have been a better bet.....yup 100%

[CB Fry]

7 minutes ago, SKD said:

Yep, my error, was looking 2 season before 🙈.. where has the time gone

Maybe they picked the wrong international manager from the Low Countries....

Belgium's Roberto Martinez for Barcelona!

 

Edited 17 August, 2020 by CB Fry

[ErwinK1961]

https://mobile.twitter.com/GraceOnFootball/status/1295009750032187392

[screechio]

Koeman was an obvious appointment due to the cruyff/barca DNA fanaticism. However he is walking into a financial mess and a squad that needs an overhaul. 

I'll give him a year b4 he's gone😉

[Shroppie]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

I wonder if he might want to bring in a former player or two. They clearly need a decent central defender, I wonder if there are any out there who’ve played for him before and might want to link up again. Hopefully such a player, if there is one, doesn’t start throwing his toys out the pram, agitating for a move and underperforming on the pitch, as that would be most unprofessional.

Do you think he can persuade Lovren and Hoedt to join him?

[Shroppie]

Edit

 

Edited 17 August, 2020 by Shroppie

[SW5 SAINT]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

I wonder if he might want to bring in a former player or two. They clearly need a decent central defender, I wonder if there are any out there who’ve played for him before and might want to link up again. Hopefully such a player, if there is one, doesn’t start throwing his toys out the pram, agitating for a move and underperforming on the pitch, as that would be most unprofessional.

let’s hope Southampton have got a decent sell on clause on VVD........

[The Kraken]

1 hour ago, Mr Saints said:

Legend. Good luck to him, although he has a huge job on his hands there!

I keep hearing this, but does he? Barca has by all accounts a bit of a ropey manager last term and they still only finished 5 points off Real. They were also 12 points ahead of third. There’s a job to do, granted, but he’s got some extensive resources and some excellent players available.
 

Spanish club fans are notorious cnuts, mind, so unless he gets results immediately his legendary status could be very quickly tarnished.

[JRM]

Hopefully we can use Koeman connection to get a decent loan from Barca like we did with Ronnie Ekelund. (Thanks to Alan Balls connections) 

[SaintBobby]

I agree that he will likely only be there a year at most. Even if he does well, Xavi is likely to get it when the new President comes in. Obviously, if he wins La Liga and the CL, it might be different. But the hurdle to survive is insanely high - even by Barcelona standards.

[JRM]

Hopefully we can use Koeman connection to get a decent loan from Barca like we did with Ronnie Ekelund. (Thanks to Alan Balls connections) 

[rooney]

Did well for us despite his lack of principle at the end so not bothered how he does at Barca.

[VectisSaint]

14 hours ago, normanlamont said:

yeah he did really well for us and i have a lot of time for him, but with all due respect he didn't exactly set the world alight at everton. not sure what people think of his work at the netherlands, havent really paid attention to them.

i suppose "relatively unproven" wouldve been a better choice of words, though i did manage to completely forget about his barca connection till you mentioned it, lol.

He was also manager at Ajax, Benfica, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ and others. Assistant at Barca before he joined us. Wealth of managerial experience, not always hugely successful, but to even consider him relatively unproven is a joke, how much more experience do you expect. He was apparently close to getting the job earlier but didn't take it due to his health issues. Still not actually appointed despite the original post. I'm sure it will all end in tears but no one can seriously be surprised at this if they have any sense of history of that club. 

[igsey]

Whoever goes to Barca this season will be sacked by the end of the season, the issue is with the board and an aging squad. They need a big rebuild and overhaul, but will still be expected to win the league and CL whilst doing so.

They are not in a great place financially, all their players are on crazy wages and Covid will have affected sale prices. They've just swapped Arthur, one of their most promising young players, for a 30 year old from Juve to balance the books.

And Ter Stegen, their most important player after Messi, is now out until winter!

[Saint_clark]

14 hours ago, ErwinK1961 said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/GraceOnFootball/status/1295009750032187392

Some proper revisionist history in there. 

[Ted Bates Statue]

16 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

I wonder if he might want to bring in a former player or two...defender...

 

Say no more, I know just the player. 

 

[S-Clarke]

Maybe Hoedt can convince Koeman that he's what Barca have been missing?

Dutch player and all that.

[normanlamont]

2 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

He was also manager at Ajax, Benfica, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ and others. Assistant at Barca before he joined us. Wealth of managerial experience, not always hugely successful, but to even consider him relatively unproven is a joke, how much more experience do you expect. He was apparently close to getting the job earlier but didn't take it due to his health issues. Still not actually appointed despite the original post. I'm sure it will all end in tears but no one can seriously be surprised at this if they have any sense of history of that club. 

i'm not saying it's a surprising decision, i said in the op i think he'll do well, and i'm not even talking specifically about koeman when i say that barca seems to hire unproven managers. ever since rijkaard was in charge barcelona hasnt signed a single manager that has achieved anything in europe. a club like barcelona has the pick of the draw when it comes to managers, yet they hire people like setien who has no previous ties to barca and whose greatest achievement is finishing 6th at real betis. allegri is currently unemployed, i can't see pep staying at city for much longer, and wenger is looking for work (he just approached the dutch national team), so i don't think saying koeman is "relatively unproven" is as ridiculous as you make out to be. i'm not going to argue this anymore because i feel like it's getting more disrespectful to koeman when i don't want to be. (if they hired wenger then they'd be continuing their tradition of hiring managers that havent achieved in europe 🤣)

[John Boy Saint]

23 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

Umm, hope it works out for him, I bet The Netherlands are pissed off about it.

This is probably just what he has been waiting for - the Dutch have a stubborn almost belligerent streak running beneath the surface (they are nice people) 

KNVB pissed him off when he was a shoe in for the National Managers job, before we got him, so much so that he was metaphorically choosing the carpets and curtains for his office. Then just like that they did an about turn and out of the blue appointed Guus Hiddink. Which pissed off Ronald - Dutch friends said that if KNVB came and offered him the gig he would let them suffer and turn them down - which is how they ended up with people like Blind to stumble them along - being out of work must have mellowed him to take the gig, but Dutch friends reckon they must have lined his pockets with Gold and Platinum as the stink from years ago was still wafting round the place. So the Barcelona gig, if he does get/take it, presents him the opportunity to give a 2 finger salute as he skips out the door blowing a raspberry.

[Shandy_Top_89]

It never usually goes well for any manager at Barcelona in the end, unless your name is Pep Guardiola.

Nonetheless Koeman could do a job for them, he hasn't done badly at any side since Feyenoord, barring his second season at Everton (who have a habit of imploding under any manager at any given time).

Seeing a lot of comments suggesting he is a step down from Pochettino, but if any supporters are well placed to judge it is ourselves. I always thought Pochettino's pressing game was exciting, but Koeman was far more tactically flexible, under Poch you usually knew how a game would go within the first 5 mins, the opposition either had us figured out from the off or they would get pressured to death. Koeman doesnt really get enough credit imo and he does have that Barca connection already.

Edited 18 August, 2020 by Shandy_Top_89

[S-Clarke]

I keep seeing Poch mentioned, but how was he even an option? He's Espanyol through and through! There's no way he could have managed Barca, he's a very loyal bloke.

[HarvSFC]

Poch backtracked on his prior comments: 

When asked about his previous comments about the job by Spanish outlet El Pais earlier this month, he said: "You have to explain it properly. Things can be said in a different way. Espanyol have helped me become well known.

 

"But I'm not arrogant and I didn't like making a comment like that. Maybe now I wouldn't say that as you never know what can happen in life."

I respect Pochettino as a good manager, but I definitely wouldn't have put loyalty as one of his key strengths while he was here. I don't think he's any more loyal than any modern day player, or manager though, it's just lost from the game these days. He very much says what he thinks people want to hear at the time and what will help him gain popularity. Like all managers do and when Mourinho said that he would never manage Tottenham in 2015 and now look at that. Also, Poch was talking about leaviing Spurs if they won the Champions League last year ahead of their final match, which I don't think particularly helped his cause.

[Ultimatt]

You always hear the rumors of player power at barca which imo is why they don't get the top managers anymore.

They need to rebuild without Messi and Suarez. Huge signings required. Koeman will want to spend a lot as he did here and at Everton. 

[OldNick]

On 17/08/2020 at 18:51, Saint Keef said:

VVD and Sadio Mane to Barca? Now that would be funny. I'm already laughing at the thought. That would rip Liverpool apart. Maybe Ron will arrange to meet VVD in Blackpool.  

to be fair Liverpool always get fantastic prices for theor players and rarely waste those proceeds, more so under Klopp, who i dislike intensely but he is a very good judge of a footballer

[Chez]

Tough gig with the debt, squad disharmony and general bad feeling around the club at the moment. They still have some tremendous players there, but hats off to him if he can win the league and get them into a CL semi/final next season.