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Elite Managers in the Championship


The Key Club King

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Looking at the success of Nuno with Wolves last year and particularly Bielsa at Leeds this year are we going to see a trend whereby elite level managers ply their trade in the Championship? Financially, promotion to the Premier League is far and away the most lucrative sporting success in the world and there have been many teams that have thrown the kitchen sink at it in an attempt to buy their way out of the division, including Derby in 1993 and 2015. Most of this has been spent on players and their wages and there will obviously be some correlation between player wages and success, but the manager was, is, and always will be the most important factor in a teams success. 

Bielsa has shown what an elite level manager can bring without heavy expenditure and an average wage bill. Leeds are playing the best football in the division and look nailed on for promotion despite a small squad and quite a few injuries. Derby have spent vast sums since Mel took over but have not got over the line largely due to managerial failures. Hopefully Lampard does not continue this trend, but if he does then why not hire an elite foreign manager with the offer of a promotion related bonus (several millions) that would make them the best paid manager in the country if they succeeded? If we were promoted then we could most certainly afford it. 

Jorge Mendes saw the potential of putting players and a manager far below their true level at Wolves to gain a financial reward that even a Champions League winning club cannot achieve. Bielsa is doing the same but without the player expenditure. Leicester may have tried a similar tactic with Sven Goran Eriksson, but he was already a busted flush by then.

Let me temper this by saying that Frank is doing fine and I do not want him replaced. However, most managers only last 12 months so it makes sense to look at future options. 

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In a league where the matchday squads of about 10 teams are pretty much identical in terms of ability, the managers ability to get the best out of 18 players and exploit weaknesses in the opposition through tactical nous should be the determining factor when it comes to managerial appointments for those teams.

The days of a manager being someone involved in running all facets of a club are well and truly over in my opinion.

Anyone with half a brain could see that Bielsa's appointment was going to result in a very good team for this level, although i'm not 100% convinced that Leeds are over their unrivalled capacity to create chaos out of thin air so whether or not they will get the job done remains to be seen.

This is where the big clubs in this division have an advantage over the well-run, but ultimately small and poor - the ability to attract such managers and risk to a lesser degree expensive failure.

Frank is doing about as well as could be expected in his first job, and I'm happy to have him here, but yes, when we next are in the hunt for a head coach, I hope we do tempt someone of the calibre of Bielsa/Nuno. Should be noted too that McClaren fitted the same bill and it didn't work out because maybe the club wasn't geared up for someone like that, particularly the 2nd time round.

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Nah, can't see it personally.

Nuno Espirito Santo wasn't considered much of a manager before he joined Wolves - he's very much a rookie who was thrust into, and failed at, a role at Valencia due to Jorge Mendes links with the owner Peter Lim.

Bielsa meanwhile is super experienced and well respected but in 30+ years of management has won very little.

Neither are 'elite', though both have done excellent jobs in this country.

Plenty of other teams have tried foreign managers in the Championship and failed.

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8 hours ago, JoetheRam said:

 

In a league where the matchday squads of about 10 teams are pretty much identical in terms of ability, the managers ability to get the best out of 18 players and exploit weaknesses in the opposition through tactical nous should be the determining factor when it comes to managerial appointments for those teams.

 

I think you're right, and I was thinking this earlier with the discussion about Frank and Bielsa. 

How much have we spent on players, and on sacking managers, since losing at Wembley? All to feel like we're treading water whilst teams like Wolves, Fulham, Huddersfield, Brighton and Bournemouth pass us by. 

If Leeds succeed, could that become the new blueprint for escaping the Championship on a budget? Radrizzani has sold to buy, so his main investment has been in the manager. 

Not sure that Bielsa would have worked here though; we'd be demanding his sacking and a ten point deduction for ourselves right now. 

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32 minutes ago, Lambchop said:

I think you're right, and I was thinking this earlier with the discussion about Frank and Bielsa. 

How much have we spent on players, and on sacking managers, since losing at Wembley? All to feel like we're treading water whilst teams like Wolves, Fulham, Huddersfield, Brighton and Bournemouth pass us by. 

If Leeds succeed, could that become the new blueprint for escaping the Championship on a budget? Radrizzani has sold to buy, so his main investment has been in the manager. 

Not sure that Bielsa would have worked here though; we'd be demanding his sacking and a ten point deduction for ourselves right now. 

As I’ve mentioned to you previously Leeds have sacked more managers than anyone over the last 5 years.

I don’t know why you think that they’ve been a well run club.

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6 minutes ago, Will the Ram said:

I don’t know why you think that they’ve been a well run club.

I didn't say they've been well run as a club. 

The discussion is about whether appointing a 'higher level' of manager in the Championship is a better strategy for gaining promotion than blowing millions on players.

Taking Leeds as a current example, that would seem to be the case. 

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15 minutes ago, Lambchop said:

I didn't say they've been well run as a club. 

The discussion is about whether appointing a 'higher level' of manager in the Championship is a better strategy for gaining promotion than blowing millions on players.

Taking Leeds as a current example, that would seem to be the case. 

I'd prefer us to keep spunking loads of money on new players. I love a good deadline day.

Anyway Leeds are by no means up. Long way to go yet. 

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20 hours ago, Carnero said:

Nah, can't see it personally.

Nuno Espirito Santo wasn't considered much of a manager before he joined Wolves - he's very much a rookie who was thrust into, and failed at, a role at Valencia due to Jorge Mendes links with the owner Peter Lim.

Bielsa meanwhile is super experienced and well respected but in 30+ years of management has won very little.

Neither are 'elite', though both have done excellent jobs in this country.

Plenty of other teams have tried foreign managers in the Championship and failed.

Fair point. Elite may be overstating the mark somewhat but both Nuno and Bielsa are both managing way below their level in terms of quality of players compared to their previous clubs. 

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