Poch or Koeman

[SaintsfanSwindon]

Following Poch’s appointment at Man Utd, there was an interesting debate on X about who was the better manager for us out of Poch or Koeman, so thought it would be interesting to get the debate going on here. 
it’s Koeman for me - built a team from scratch, involved in some brilliant matches, and got us to 7th and 6th, our best ever premier league finishes, and he just oozed charisma and stature.
 Poch was great for us but I can never forgive him for Sunderland away in the FA Cup, blowing our best chance of silverware in a while. 

[saintant]

I read that Poch made one of his conditions for taking the job was for Wilcox to be fired because his transfer dealings were questionable. I gradually formed the opinion that Wilcox was a bit of a fraud and the pigeons are starting to come home to roost.  

[Willo of Whiteley]

Koeman. Two higher placed finished in consecutive seasons.

No brainer.

Mad that we finished three points off the Champions League that season.

[Patches O Houlihan]

5 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Mad that we finished three points off the Champions League that season.

Maybe we could have qualified if Man City had had a legal squad?

Edited 10 hours ago by Patches O Houlihan

[IFHP]

Koeman for me without question, he built a fantastic squad with the money available . 
 

especially when we were favourites to go down after the summer exodus.

 

Edited 9 hours ago by IFHP

[gammon cheeks]

Koeman was a proper manager . Players responded to his demands and we were a class side . Big presence and aura about him reminded me a bit of lawrie mac .

 

[Kenilworthy1959]

Koeman by far. Not once in his time with us did Poch win a game by coming from behind. In his first season I don't believe we actually finished higher in the table than if Adkins had stayed.

[Colinjb]

Koeman.

Statement of intent is an overused term, but his arrival showed that we wouldn't just sit back and let our club be picked apart after the prior two seasons. His contacts and reputation let us rebuild and he had the right balance between tactical acumen and authority to make us look like a genuinely potent side. We feared no-one.

Pochettino.

Nigel had begun to stabilise us in the top flight, Poch made us look like we truly deserved to be there. He brought the best out of his players, both young and mature and took us to heights we didn't expect. 

 

Difficult choice.....  Koeman. Better results, more unstable platform to build from and into Europe. But Poch was also truly fantastic. 

[Midfield_General]

Koeman all day. Poch made us exciting, paved the way and was responsible for turning us into an attractive enough proposition that someone of Koeman’s standing would want to take over, but Koeman took us up another level and also didn’t jump ship at the first opportunity.

[Toadhall Saint]

Koeman (Brothers). Poch showed us what could be - Koeman (brothers) delivered. There are one or two other reasons I don’t like Everton - Koeman is the third.

[Badger]

Koeman, no real debate for me.

Poch’s time should be recognised though. Very few had heard of him before he was announced, and even fewer wanted him. He did turn it round quickly and got players on board immediately . Despite that it was difficult to warm to Poch in his time with us, his reluctance to conduct interviews in English didn’t help. By the time people were warming he was buggering off.

Koeman took on a club potentially in freefall, stabilising it and more ! He was instrumental in the signings (although Les wanted the credit). Shame he and Reed seemed to fall out, and he left as and when he did. 

[Colinjb]

5 minutes ago, Badger said:

Despite that it was difficult to warm to Poch in his time with us, his reluctance to conduct interviews in English didn’t help. By the time people were warming he was buggering off.

Had forgotten about that. Was frustrating towards the end of his time here that he persisted with it, even though he clearly didn't need to anymore.

[Badger]

51 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Koeman (Brothers). Poch showed us what could be - Koeman (brothers) delivered. There are one or two other reasons I don’t like Everton - Koeman is the third.

It’s also fair to give credit to Erwin Koeman, and the other coaching staff Ronald Koeman brought with him.

No idea if true, but I read from several sources that his team weren’t looking to leave. Often wonder if we should have offered Erwin the job. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

Poch was ultimately good, however I never quite shook the feeling that he’d arrived at the expense of Adkins being treated poorly. I really liked old Nige and his clear personal connection to the club - I went on a stadium tour and coincidentally was in the group with his parents. Nige came out and greeted us all - he was very obviously very proud to be able to show off the club he was manager of to his parents…a lovely moment I’ll never forget.

So for me Koeman is the manager I think symbolises the peek of our time back in the Prem following the decimation of the promotion squad. And what a team he put together…what memories he served up via Pelle, Mane, Tadic etc. On a completely different level to where we are now and yet somehow incredibly the club weren’t able to capitalise on it and make it sustainable or even gain some silverware. There will always be some debate over whether Koeman’s premature departure to Everton was his doing or the lack of ambition by the club or a bit of both. Probably the latter.

Edited 5 hours ago by Saint Fan CaM

[the boy from saints]

1 hour ago, Colinjb said:

Had forgotten about that. Was frustrating towards the end of his time here that he persisted with it, even though he clearly didn't need to anymore.

It irked me that he started talking english as soon as he went to Tottenham!

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Koeman without a shadow of doubt. We will never know how good we could have became if he'd stayed. 

[Kenilworthy1959]

5 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Koeman without a shadow of doubt. We will never know how good we could have became if he'd stayed. 

Would have been interesting to see how Koeman managed in the 2016/17 season after losing Pelle, Mane and Wanyama. Although with his connections he might have found good replacements

[Badger]

12 minutes ago, Kenilworthy1959 said:

Would have been interesting to see how Koeman managed in the 2016/17 season after losing Pelle, Mane and Wanyama. Although with his connections he might have found good replacements

Would we have lost Pelle if RK stayed ? 

[Badger]

Although Koeman gets my vote, there were a few things from Poch that I liked , notably the fitness and discipline he seemed to install. 
 

Time will tell how good Poch is and if he lives up to reputation and expectation. A lot depends on how things go for him at Old Trafford, it may be that he really cements his place as a great manager but to date, his career is a bit chequered as only being  nearly successful. Spurs, yes he elevated them but nothing won, PSG winning their domestic trophies not enough (and didn’t they finish second to Fonte’s Lille) for them. Chelsea, one of many just to fall off the treadmill. USA , was under heavy criticism at one point, no idea how his time there measures up, is it any better than Jesse Marsch in Canada? 
 

 

[Kenilworthy1959]

1 hour ago, Badger said:

Would we have lost Pelle if RK stayed ? 

I would guess the lure of becoming the world's seventh-highest paid footballer on £350,000 per week might have been to strong whoever the manager was

[Hawkswood]

Everyone above has made very valid points but Im going against the grain for one very basic reason....I just loved the way we played under Poch. If Cortese stayed then he wouldve stayed and I think a few of our other players that left that year possibly wouldve stayed.  Wouldve been nice to see what he could've built.  Anyway, all moot but Poch for me. 

And forgot about seeing a young Luke Shaw dominate a left side all on his own. Loved it.

Edited 2 hours ago by Hawkswood
.

[Maggie May]

Poch by a mile.  We would’ve gone onto incredible things if he’d stayed another season or two. We played probably the best football I’ve ever seen us play.  

[There when Franny scored]

Poch for me - no question. 

He built the platform for Koeman and improved a lot of those players than Koeman then relied upon. 

I actually though Koeman should have done better in the season we finished sixth. If we hadn't had that bad spell around Christmas where he ostracized Mane then we could have got Champions League. 

That year was the best team player wise I can remember and I think we could have done a little bit better. 

Both excellent though, great memories. 

Not sure we can ever get back there now which is the sad thing. 

Also, someone above blamed FA Cup defeat to Sunderland on Poch. Don't forget Lambert missed an open goal!  

[Yorkshire Saint]

Koeman.

But I don't forgive him for the free kick against England.