Valérien Ismaël ?

[mickd1961]

To play that style you need the type of player who has both heart and energy.

I have a piece of video somewhere at home from the end of my own Sunday League career and I was about 42 at the time.

I pick the ball up in my own half, spread it wide to my brother on the right wing and it’s me who arrived first at the near post to meet his cross and lift it over the keeper for our centre forward to finish at the far post.

If I could do it at 42 I can’t work out why pro players are incapable of busting a gut to make runs from deep into the box.

Look at Ronaldo’s goal v Germany the other night, he wins the defensive header in his own box and 15 seconds later he’s finishing the move with a tap in at the other end.

He outran every teammate in a 100+ yard sprint.......one word, desire.

All the greats have it, Roy Keane was the best midfielder I’ve seen live in the last 35 years, the guys heart and desire was total.

You have no chance playing this style with Livermore, Sawyers, Zohorre and others.

Just because a player is quick like Diangana it doesn’t mean he’s a fit for a high pressing style, you need intelligence in players to play this and he shows no signs that he has the mental capacity.

At the very least you need players who will give everything like Megson’s lot did.

I wouldn’t trust our present lot.

[WBA1955]

To play that style you need the type of player who has both heart and energy.

I have a piece of video somewhere at home from the end of my own Sunday League career and I was about 42 at the time.

I pick the ball up in my own half, spread it wide to my brother on the right wing and it’s me who arrived first at the near post to meet his cross and lift it over the keeper for our centre forward to finish at the far post.

If I could do it at 42 I can’t work out why pro players are incapable of busting a gut to make runs from deep into the box.

Look at Ronaldo’s goal v Germany the other night, he wins the defensive header in his own box and 15 seconds later he’s finishing the move with a tap in at the other end.

He outran every teammate in a 100+ yard sprint.......one word, desire.

All the greats have it, Roy Keane was the best midfielder I’ve seen live in the last 35 years, the guys heart and desire was total.

You have no chance playing this style with Livermore, Sawyers, Zohorre and others.

Just because a player is quick like Diangana it doesn’t mean he’s a fit for a high pressing style, you need intelligence in players to play this and he shows no signs that he has the mental capacity.

At the very least you need players who will give everything like Megson’s lot did.

I wouldn’t trust our present lot.

Spot on Mick. Our neighbours the Wolves had some fantastic player's in the fifties, but above all Cullis had them super fit, he had them on army assault courses. He wouldn't tolerate players who shirked and a lot of the top managers won't either.
You can forgive a player for having a stinker but not for showing lack of effort.
The difference between winners and also rans is down to desire.
At this point in time we need another Megson not a Mowbray.

[BarnsleyDaft]

Still hoping beyond hope you dont get him.. but i think you will...
Long ball is an easy tag for big Val. But he gets em playing nice football. But its in the opponents third. Good luck
A gutted but realistic Red.

[animallittle3]

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.

Val had the players here when he arrived , we've played high press football for three seasons now and it was just a case of implementing his own methods in to the system .

We only hire HC's who have decent stats playing high press football so losing a HC isn't such a catastrophe up here .

Sounds like the two clubs are close to agreeing a deal so I'd expect an announcement very soon .

I wish Val well and hope he does well at Albion , he gave us one hell of a season and broke several club records along the way .

The 9 successive championship wins from February to March were magnificent with wins at Brentford and Bournemouth amongst them .

5th place and 8 points clear of 7th was terrific , absolutely pyssed a play off place with two games remaining .

Thanks for the memories Val and the best of luck at the Hawthorns .

[OWV]

Val had the players here when he arrived , we've played high press football for three seasons now and it was just a case of implementing his own methods in to the system .

We only hire HC's who have decent stats playing high press football so losing a HC isn't such a catastrophe up here .

Sounds like the two clubs are close to agreeing a deal so I'd expect an announcement very soon .

I wish Val well and hope he does well at Albion , he gave us one hell of a season and broke several club records along the way .

The 9 successive championship wins from February to March were magnificent with wins at Brentford and Bournemouth amongst them .

5th place and 8 points clear of 7th was terrific , absolutely pyssed a play off place with two games remaining .

Thanks for the memories Val and the best of luck at the Hawthorns .

Nice to hear. I'm, sure you'll be fine as you have an ethos at the club, unlike us.

[DaveP67 is back!]

Sounds positive lads thanks for the feedback, I was quite underwhelmed to say the least having watched you in the playoff v Swansea, he will need to overhaul our midfield drastically as the 2 players we had who could press were both on loan…

[animallittle3]

Sounds positive lads thanks for the feedback, I was quite underwhelmed to say the least having watched you in the playoff v Swansea, he will need to overhaul our midfield drastically as the 2 players we had who could press were both on loan…

Unfortunately Dave , Swansea were the team we wanted to avoid in the play offs as they were far better equipped to deal with us which proved to be the case although only narrowly .

We'd have fancied our chances against Brentford or Bournemouth who both liked to play out from the back and we beat both on their own patch in the second half of the season , Brentford pretty convincingly .

What I can say is I've watched my club for 54 years and this is the fittest group of players I've ever seen .

Val's style is pretty full on to say the least , he demands the absolute maximum and anybody not buying in to it may as well look for another club now .

The level of commitment and energy is off the scale , whether you have that kind of squad I don't know as I don't watch too many PL games .

As I said in an earlier post there's little point hiring Val if you haven't the kind of players that fit his methods .

I suspect giving him a couple of seasons in the championship to make his mark wouldn't be on the agenda at the Hawthorns .

[phild]

Latest report from the local evening edition of the Express and blah blah

https://tinyurl.com/ck49hhfc

[boingy]

Still hoping beyond hope you dont get him.. but i think you will...
Long ball is an easy tag for big Val. But he gets em playing nice football. But its in the opponents third. Good luck
A gutted but realistic Red.

All the best to Barnsley whatever happens.

[boingy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8fkGpJfZCA

Good introductory video.