Next manager candidates

[SW11_Saint]

34 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Heard nothing but good things about Challinor from my Nephew. But he's onto a good thing at Stockport and they are flying in L1 - will go top if they beat Port Vale tomorrow night. I very much doubt he would want to throw that away to take the poisoned chalice of the Saints job.

I bet he would… a step up to a much bigger club. 

[Badger]

1 minute ago, Wade Garrett said:

But it’s not one of those really wanky beards and I’ve never seen him wearing skinny jeans.  Pretty sure he doesn’t vape and I definitely don’t think he walks round with a laptop studying his post-shot xG figures.

And what apart from that makes him a suitable candidate to meet with your approval ? 

[Saint86]

Carrick was on motd last night, provided some interesting insights of movement and passing through midfield, albeit I think it was rushed / lacking visuals for a lot of viewers.

Did make me think of still being on MNF and us then hiring him 😂. 

He wouldn't be the worst appointment either. Did a good job at Boro with minimal budget, ultimately fell short but still young and improving, but he equally has the pedigree and knowledge. Quite like him as a bloke as well, so there is that at least... No personality flaws like most of our recent managers 😑

[Wade Garrett]

2 minutes ago, Badger said:

And what apart from that makes him a suitable candidate to meet with your approval ? 

He got the best out of Archer and Azaz and did pretty well at Boro on the whole.

He also had a stellar career and understands football in a way that Will Still never will.  He’ll have the immediate respect of the squad.

 

[Badger]

Some fair points on Carrick from Saint86 and Wade. We could certainly do a lot worse (probably will).

[Willo of Whiteley]

The irony is that there’s a manager that has managed in a few leagues around Europe isn’t considered good enough, but someone who has had a few promotions in the lower tier is?

This fanbase 🤣

[Badger]

28 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Carrick was on motd last night, provided some interesting insights of movement and passing through midfield, albeit I think it was rushed / lacking visuals for a lot of viewers.

Did make me think of still being on MNF and us then hiring him 😂. 

He wouldn't be the worst appointment either. Did a good job at Boro with minimal budget, ultimately fell short but still young and improving, but he equally has the pedigree and knowledge. Quite like him as a bloke as well, so there is that at least... No personality flaws like most of our recent managers 😑

Pure coincidence in the timing or is this his first phase of marketing himself for the inevitable vacancies ? 
 

Rather like Still doing his talk. Not sure what Lego did for self promotion. Must have missed it, or perhaps it was a  commercial for hair shampoo 

[Saint86]

19 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

The irony is that there’s a manager that has managed in a few leagues around Europe isn’t considered good enough, but someone who has had a few promotions in the lower tier is?

This fanbase 🤣

Stockport were a national league side, he's taken them to the cusp of the championship and never finished outside the playoffs in his entire managerial career at any club.

The guy has evidently shown he knows how to setup a squad and team to win, how to manage players, and that he is extremely adaptable. He must have one of the most impressive CV's in the football league.... This is Stockport County, not some fallen premier league giant with a 30k stadium and a youth academy, nor some Hollywood love in sponsored by United Airlines and pulling in US celebrities on a given match day 😅. His record is remarkable and speaks for itself - 14 seasons, 4 clubs, never outside the playoffs, and 2 titles and playoffs again last year with Stockport... I said in the summer that he had a better pedigree than still, I stand by it 🤷

Edited yesterday at 14:43 by Saint86

[Badger]

1 minute ago, Saint86 said:

I said in the summer that he had a better pedigree than still, I stand by it 🤷

Wouldn’t dispute that, although that in itself doesn’t make him ideal for us. Interesting possible though 

[Zorba]

2 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Stockport were a national league side, he's taken them to the cusp of the championship and never finished outside the playoffs in his entire managerial career at any club.

The guy has evidently shown he knows how to setup a squad and team to win, how to manage players, and that he is extremely adaptable. He must have one of the most impressive CV's in the football league... Ever. This is Stockport County, not some fallen premier league giant with a 30k stadium and a youth academy, nor some Hollywood love in sponsored by United Airlines and pulling in US celebrities on a given match day 😅. His record is remarkable and speaks for itself - 14 seasons, 4 clubs, never outside the playoffs, and 2 titles and playoffs again last year with Stockport... I said in the summer that he had a better pedigree than still, I stand by it 🤷

I’m sold. Get him in!

[Wade Garrett]

42 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

The irony is that there’s a manager that has managed in a few leagues around Europe isn’t considered good enough, but someone who has had a few promotions in the lower tier is?

This fanbase 🤣

 

Edited yesterday at 15:06 by Wade Garrett

[skintsaint]

Brendan Rodgers might be available soon 😅

[Saint Fan CaM]

When was the last time a change of Manager made a positive difference to our fortunes?

I’ll give you a clue - it was pre-SR. I don’t trust them to sack Still in a timely manner and I don’t trust them to find a better replacement either. It’s looking really bleak.

[HarvSFC]

Tom Cleverley has Plymouth in 22nd in League One and we had talks with him over the summer. That's the scary thing.

[HKsaint]

As evidenced from the past, since Ralph, whenever we asked for change of manager, SR was able to find a worse manager than the previous one: Nathan Jones Russell Martin, Ivan Juric and now Will Still. SR will still be able to find another one worse than Will Still to be our next manager. The issue is whether we can trust SR to find a better manager for us. 

[rooney]

Who manages Poole Town these days?

[SW11_Saint]

16 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Stockport were a national league side, he's taken them to the cusp of the championship and never finished outside the playoffs in his entire managerial career at any club.

The guy has evidently shown he knows how to setup a squad and team to win, how to manage players, and that he is extremely adaptable. He must have one of the most impressive CV's in the football league.... This is Stockport County, not some fallen premier league giant with a 30k stadium and a youth academy, nor some Hollywood love in sponsored by United Airlines and pulling in US celebrities on a given match day 😅. His record is remarkable and speaks for itself - 14 seasons, 4 clubs, never outside the playoffs, and 2 titles and playoffs again last year with Stockport... I said in the summer that he had a better pedigree than still, I stand by it 🤷

He could school Quarshie on the long throw-in too…

[Willo of Whiteley]

this forum is quite funny sometimes.

People complain it isn’t working currently (which I agree with) and then throw out names like the fella in L1 or L2 that’s had several promotions, because it’s “more than Will Still has achieved”.

Fascinating, with that in mind I’ll get on the phone to my Dad who took our U14 team to successive promotions because it’s “more than Will Still has achieved”.

You’d be livid at this Sport Republic masterclass if either of those scenarios happened. 😂

As an alternative you have Michael Carrick who I’ve seen a few tout on here. I thought everyone was bored of tortoise-Russell Martin football, and conceding unnecessary goals?

[Wade Garrett]

1 minute ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

this forum is quite funny sometimes.

People complain it isn’t working currently (which I agree with) and then throw out names like the fella in L1 or L2 that’s had several promotions, because it’s “more than Will Still has achieved”.

Fascinating, with that in mind I’ll get on the phone to my Dad who took our U14 team to successive promotions because it’s “more than Will Still has achieved”.

You’d be livid at this Sport Republic masterclass if either of those scenarios happened. 😂

As an alternative you have Michael Carrick who I’ve seen a few tout on here. I thought everyone was bored of tortoise-Russell Martin football, and conceding unnecessary goals?

There you go.  Slag off any potential replacement to make keeping the hopeless Still seem more palatable.

Fucking wind-up merchant.

[EnoughAlready]

22 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

 

 

You do all realise Robins is the Stoke manager, right? Who he’s already got into the play-off places? He’s got a very decent shot at getting them promoted. 

Why would he jib that to drop into a relegation fight at a club in turmoil? 

Yes, it's unlikely that SR would approach Robins. He's too experienced, doesn't fit their preference for up and coming managers. Would also need to pay compensation to Stoke.

Robins is probably too sensible to join a basket case like Saints.

Edited 6 hours ago by EnoughAlready

[ally_uk]

I’m not necessarily saying we should get Warnock, Allardyce, or Dyche but I’d like someone cut from the same cloth, personality-wise.

Someone who can come in, get the basics right, raise the standards, and light a rocket under anyone who’s “sick” or has downed tools.

But it won’t happen. Sports Republic only want “yes men” who won’t dare challenge Wankerson when he’s meddling with tactics and signings 🤣

Still seems like a nice lad, but just an observation, he often looks like a deer in the headlights during interviews and has the charisma of a sponge. Maybe he’s different behind closed doors, but he just comes across a bit too casual, not really with it 🤣

[skintsaint]

We would probably go after someone like Jon Dahl Tomasson....cheap option as now sacked from Sweden, with prior Championship experience. 

[trousers]

2 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

this forum is quite funny sometimes.

People complain it isn’t working currently (which I agree with) and then throw out names like the fella in L1 or L2 that’s had several promotions, because it’s “more than Will Still has achieved”.

Fascinating, with that in mind I’ll get on the phone to my Dad who took our U14 team to successive promotions because it’s “more than Will Still has achieved”.

You’d be livid at this Sport Republic masterclass if either of those scenarios happened. 😂

As an alternative you have Michael Carrick who I’ve seen a few tout on here. I thought everyone was bored of tortoise-Russell Martin football, and conceding unnecessary goals?

Decent effort. 6/10

[leesaint88]

9 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

Tom Cleverley has Plymouth in 22nd in League One and we had talks with him over the summer. That's the scary thing.

Watched them against Exeter last week - one shot on target and they were absolutely terrible. 

[DrunkenSaint]

20 hours ago, Badger said:

Some fair points on Carrick from Saint86 and Wade. We could certainly do a lot worse (probably will).

Carrick also plays a very similar style to Martin which is what fans didn't want, we need a high press coach in, even an unknown like when Bournemouth got in Iraola. Problem is, Will Still did play a high press type approach in France so is it SR that are demanding a different style to what he's used too or is it that all the players we have just have no idea how to high press?

I will say one thing, our u21's play with more passion and energy than what our currant squad does, screw all our so called stars and get in a manager who plays the youngsters and builds a team around them and we will be sorted. Mitsuki and Robinson are far better players than Azaz and anyone in the u21 are miles better than what Downs will ever be.

[Dman]

12 minutes ago, DrunkenSaint said:

Will Still did play a high press type approach in France

This is the part I just don't get. We're so far detached from what Still said he was going to do.

Has he second guessed himself? Is he struggling to adapt to be the 'big fish'? 

Either way, we look lost... Ironically, he'd probably be a half decent fit if we'd appointed him in the PL. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

We would probably go after someone like Jon Dahl Tomasson....cheap option as now sacked from Sweden, with prior Championship experience. 

He was awful with Sweden though - decent job at Blackburn but wouldn’t be a first choice.

[Gloucester Saint]

34 minutes ago, Dman said:

This is the part I just don't get. We're so far detached from what Still said he was going to do.

Has he second guessed himself? Is he struggling to adapt to be the 'big fish'? 

Either way, we look lost... Ironically, he'd probably be a half decent fit if we'd appointed him in the PL. 

I don’t get it either - if I was him, I’d go down using the style which worked for me in France and Belgium.

Whoever succeeds is going to have to restore some organisation in the playing squad, build resilience, manage upwards eg new DoF and Dragan, tell Rasmus to stick to his spreadsheets and bomb him out of any involvement with Saints, find a new keeper and 9 in January and rebuild some form of connection with the fanbase. And put multiple players in the bomb squad to go as the squad is far too big, yet again.

Not much then 😅

Edited 3 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[stfrancisofbenali]

On 21/10/2025 at 21:43, Willo of Whiteley said:

Bring back Ralph. JWP on loan in January.

Get the band of 2020 back together.

It’s the idiotic fanbase who did for Ralph in 2022 and led to the doomloop of Selles, Jones, Selles, Martin, Juric and Still. I said at the time be careful what you wish for and here we now find ourselves staring League One square in the face. We have to take some responsibility ourselves in thinking the grass is always greener. It isn’t! 

[Lord Duckhunter]

36 minutes ago, stfrancisofbenali said:

It’s the idiotic fanbase who did for Ralph in 2022

He was a busted flush, he should have gone the preseason before he did. The record of his replacements doesn’t change that. The rot started under him and got worse, we were heading down that season if he’d stayed. 

[ecuk268]

31 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

He was a busted flush, he should have gone the preseason before he did. The record of his replacements doesn’t change that. The rot started under him and got worse, we were heading down that season if he’d stayed. 

The rot started when we didn't replace Danny Ings.

Broja was decent for half a season but after that we never had a Premiership quality striker.

Adams was decent in the Championship but now it's all on Armstrong who needs 5 chances to score one.

Edited 2 hours ago by ecuk268

[stfrancisofbenali]

13 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

He was a busted flush, he should have gone the preseason before he did. The record of his replacements doesn’t change that. The rot started under him and got worse, we were heading down that season if he’d stayed. 

Ralph was never backed financially and did a remarkable job with limited resources. Imagine if he’d had the transfer kitty that Jones was inexplicably given. Things could have been very different. 

[stfrancisofbenali]

Criticising Will Still for not having enough experience is a bit like criticising a 9 year old for not having any O-Levels. It’s not his fault that we have taken a gamble on him at such a young age and he was always going to take much longer than older managers to find his feet. The mistake of SR is appointing a promising and inexperienced manager at the same time as recruiting potential over experience in the squad. 

[franniesTache]

Sport Republic have tried hipster managers with Martin, long ball merchants in Jones and now a games workshop geek who's never played the game, none of which have worked. So given that i reckon the smart money is on Ramus' suggesting the next best manager is for the team to be picked by fans votes on social media.

[beatlesaint]

27 minutes ago, ecuk268 said:

The rot started when we didn't replace Danny Ings.

Broja was decent for half a season but after that we never had a Premiership quality striker.

Adams was decent in the Championship but now it's all on Armstrong who needs 5 chances to score one.

Despite the 2 x 9-0's the rot really set in when Chelsea beat us 6-0 at home in 2022. Ralph seemed to lose all his belief and confidence after that, he was never the same and niether were we. 

[wild-saint]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

This is the part I just don't get. We're so far detached from what Still said he was going to do.

Has he second guessed himself? Is he struggling to adapt to be the 'big fish'? 

Either way, we look lost... Ironically, he'd probably be a half decent fit if we'd appointed him in the PL. 

Agree with this actually. We are constantly playing against 11 men behind the ball in a low block. You cant press and break against these teams when you have most of the possession. We look clueless how to break these teams down. needs to figure out a way to do it which he hasnt (and likely wont) done yet. 

[Willo of Whiteley]

4 hours ago, trousers said:

Decent effort. 6/10

Which bit of what I said was wrong? It’s true ffs 😂

If you’re gonna sack the manager then you need to bring in a manager that is a step up. 

Someone that has never managed at this level or higher - isn’t!

[Wade Garrett]

3 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Which bit of what I said was wrong? It’s true ffs 😂

If you’re gonna sack the manager then you need to bring in a manager that is a step up. 

Someone that has never managed at this level or higher - isn’t!

Who wouldn’t be a step-up from Still!

[Osvaldorama]

14 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

Tom Cleverley has Plymouth in 22nd in League One and we had talks with him over the summer. That's the scary thing.

Perfect, get him in