Our new man Marcelo - the messiah or just a very naughty boy ?

[OldWhiteTaff]

So it's been confirmed, Bielsa is our new head coach, and what a high risk gamble it appears to be to me. Sure he has his admirers (Guardiola, Pochettino etc), but his recent history really makes me nervous. At Lille (his last club) he was apparently on £8m a year, and the owner spent £50m building the team he wanted, and his record was 3 wins, 3 draw and 7 defeats from the first 13 games before he was sacked last December. So genius or not, his methods clearly failed there. And he apparently doesn't speak a word of english, which is surely going to make getting his methods understood by the vast majority of our squad that much more difficult, especially if those tactics are as radical as we're being led to believe. And all this against the backdrop of trying to compete in the Championship, and it's very particular challenges.

I'm not going to be all doom and gloom about this, it's probably the most high profile management appointment we've made for many many years, but like I say any excitement I'm feeling about our prospects now is tempered by a good deal of apprehension, because if the last 15 years has taught me one thing, it's that where LUFC is concerned, if it can go wrong then it usually does............

[Tichi1]

neg head !

Good to see our knuckle dragger is back too - things are looking up!

[Tichi1]

Wonder where our other resident doom merchant is? perhaps in Russia....or Cuba??

[Rev72]

A tactical genius..plays fast attacking football.

(Think we're gonna need a bigger boat).

[OldWhiteTaff]

It's going to be a ride no doubt about it, and a huge amount will depend on the backing he now gets in the transfer market, and on that I'm quietly optimistic, because I can't believe he would have agreed to take the job without some cast irons guarantees from Radz regarding money available for signings

[MrsORichSenior]

Yeah,be interesting especially the 'loan scenario' possibilities aka Wolves ........... to fully exploit too.
Under the new rules, Football League clubs will still be prohibited from selecting more than five loan players in their 18-man match-day squad. They will also be prevented from borrowing more than four players a season from any one club, and no more than two over the age of 23.

And there is a specific provision regarding goalkeepers, with teams able to sign one at any time if they do not have a fit registered keeper who has made five senior appearances for any club.

MOT

[Billyni]

Strap in and hold tight.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Strap in and hold tight.

Great appointment
Great statement of intent
need to give him time but can’t really see any negatives and kind of shoots down the argument he won’t spend money

[spaldy]

Pretty much Prem contender or Lg1 here we come.


Won't be another mid table year for sure.

[Jezleeds]

Strap in and hold tight.

Any number of players will be thinking just that right now.

Hopefully a large number will be let go through and replaced by quality demanded by our new leader.