Valérien Ismaël ?

[BaggieBlood]

If we pay £2m compo for this guy, when Wilder is available for free, we are truly fu cked and being run by no nothing p ricks.

[DaveP67 is back!]

If we pay £2m compo for this guy, when Wilder is available for free, we are truly fu cked and being run by no nothing p ricks.

Fu Man Chu is too worried about the come back! He better hold on to his hat come the start of the season!!

[animallittle3]

Hi Barnsley fan here .

The football we played last season wasn't always great on the eye .

However that's not totally down to us , to beat the press teams had to go direct against us and to keep them penned in we returned the ball quickly back in to their third to keep them under pressure and force mistakes .

If teams wanted to play out then we played more football and games were a better watch .

This is the championship not the PL guys .

He gets results , your team will run through brick walls , he doesn't tolerate anyone not pulling their weight .

However the only way this work in my opinion is if you have the players to play the Val way .

If not then it's pretty pointless hiring him .

[Prando]

Hi Barnsley fan here .

The football we played last season wasn't always great on the eye .

However that's not totally down to us , to beat the press teams had to go direct against us and to keep them penned in we returned the ball quickly back in to their third to keep them under pressure and force mistakes .

If teams wanted to play out then we played more football and games were a better watch .

This is the championship not the PL guys .

He gets results , your team will run through brick walls , he doesn't tolerate anyone not pulling their weight .

However the only way this work in my opinion is if you have the players to play the Val way .

If not then it's pretty pointless hiring him .

Thanks for the heads up al3 buddy. Balanced view and endorsement.

[DaveP67 is back!]

Interesting feedback thanks animallittle3 , the bits of games I saw did look pretty industrial, however from what you say I guess he may be more of a pragmatic manager who plays the system he feels will have best effect and isn’t nailed to one way of playing. I guess time will tell, having a fitter squad and weeding out the passengers (we have a couple!!) will help but the supporters won’t tolerate negative football particularly at home for very long.
Thanks again and hope you have a decent season.

[billsbest]

I like the idea of a high press and getting the ball quickly to the likes of Diangana, Robinson and Grant.

[WBA1955]

Thanks animallittle.
A good manager will play to the suitability and strengths of the players he has available.
Us Albion fan's like to see good football, but when we played that stuff in the fifties, sixties and seventies we had the players who were some of the best in the country.
You aren't going to play like Barcelona with the likes of Sawyers, Livermore and Karlan Grant.
Mowbray had the last Albion side that played the beautiful game, we won the championship but were totally outclassed trying to do it in the premier league. He knew only that way of playing and couldn't or wouldn't adapt.
Megson on the other hand produced a winning side that didn't concede many but wasn't that easy on the eye.
But when we went up the second time he signed Kanu, Gearer, and was after Aruna Dindane. I don't know who else was on his list but those players alone suggest that he intended changing the style.
Instead of Dindane we got Geoff Horsfield.
Our problem has always been a reluctance to push on.
A manager can only try and get the best out of what he has at his disposal.

[Yarmbaggie]

I agree with 1955 in that a Manager can only get the best out of what he has at his disposal.

The problem I think that Ismael will have with this squad is that the players lack the desire to play a high intensity type of game, especially in midfield. Gallagher stood out like a sore thumb last season because of his energy levels but none of the midfielders we have at the moment fit that mould.

I think the biggest challenge the new Manager will have is the number of changes to the squad that he will have to manage. Did Ismael change the squad at Barnsley or did he inherit players who could play the style he wanted? We need someone not only who is a good coach but one who can change the squad on a tight budget.

[baggiematt]

High intensity does feel like it's the way forward for successful teams. Tactics have progressed to leave the regressive containment tactics behind. Pulis hasn't been successful for years and in his last few roles but no one knew how to deal with his Stoke team from years back. Mourinho has a similar cautious style but he hasn't succeeded managerially for years.

Leeds are the pinnacle of a high press team and they are flourishing. We need to get rid of those with lethargy and get with the times tactically.

[WBA123]

High intensity does feel like it's the way forward for successful teams. Tactics have progressed to leave the regressive containment tactics behind. Pulis hasn't been successful for years and in his last few roles but no one knew how to deal with his Stoke team from years back. Mourinho has a similar cautious style but he hasn't succeeded managerially for years.

Leeds are the pinnacle of a high press team and they are flourishing. We need to get rid of those with lethargy and get with the times tactically.

This is going to take quite the recruitment process, which we absolutely need. If we want to play in the same style as Leeds, which I'm in favour of, we need energetic players. Gallagher stood out for us last season purely because of his box-to-box energy. We will need a few Gallaghers for this high press and high energy tactic, not just in midfield either.

We no longer have Dowling, which isn't all that bad in my view, but who will identify these players? I read an article on how Brentford have been using statistical data to analyse and scout new players for the last few years. We need to put in place a similar structure. The right or wrong recruitment will make or break our season. Its why we had a successful few years when Ashworth was here.