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"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
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Very insightful piece, thanks Clive. I'm very much in the 'sad to see Cifuentes leave' camp but had accepted that inevitability from the moment he was put on garden leave. I'm pretty excited about this appointment for some reason. All I k ow about his is what's been written in this column.....
I think it’s easy to be sceptical, easy to find the attraction after the Martà story. But, there’s a lot to look forward too. It seems from Clive’s very good article that there is a lot to be ‘intrigued’ about, a lot of interest to see how he uses this squad and what potential improvements are made to the squad for the season ahead. It’s a glass half full moment for me, get in there Julien and do what you do best. I like him saying he wants a well disciplined squad with a good team spirit - seems more of the same we’ve had on and off over the last 18 months, so building on that will be great - we all love a showy team spirit, makes the players feel closer to us too. Will we win, will we be entertained, will we back him? Will we be baffled, will we be disappointed, will we call for the king to be deposed? Hell, I see a rollercoaster coming. All nerves before the start, some screaming and crazed excitement ahead of us - but will we want more as we get to the end? It’s gonna be intriguing. The king is dead. Long live the King (Julien)
Intrigued is definitely the word for this appointment.
I'm still lukewarm on Nourry, but it's clear that he has a vision and plan for how the club should be structured and operate, and a coach like this is an important cog in that.
I don't think the whole 'project' lives and dies by Stephan's success, but if it clicks, we could have a fun ride. I respect the approach we're taking to this.
I still think Marti was the right guy, but given the structure and direction of travel, would he have even been on the considered list of candidates under this regime if we had never hired him to begin with?
Intrigued is definitely the word for this appointment.
I'm still lukewarm on Nourry, but it's clear that he has a vision and plan for how the club should be structured and operate, and a coach like this is an important cog in that.
I don't think the whole 'project' lives and dies by Stephan's success, but if it clicks, we could have a fun ride. I respect the approach we're taking to this.
I still think Marti was the right guy, but given the structure and direction of travel, would he have even been on the considered list of candidates under this regime if we had never hired him to begin with?
Interesting on the last point and what may answer your question. Nourry's previous company Retexo is exactly who was credited with bringing Marti and also Ben Williams
Interesting on the last point and what may answer your question. Nourry's previous company Retexo is exactly who was credited with bringing Marti and also Ben Williams
Oh, right. I didn't know that. I was under the impression he was a Les/Belk/Other appointment, given we supposedly tried to hire him before Beale.
Interesting on the last point and what may answer your question. Nourry's previous company Retexo is exactly who was credited with bringing Marti and also Ben Williams
Yes and Nourry has said in supporter group meetings that he led on Cifuentes. The problem is if you type 'Cifuentes' into the search facility on this site you'll see that the first reference to him is actually December 2022 when we reported Andy Belk and the recruitment team had been keen on him when we appointed Beale and Critchley but the buy out clause put the club off. That's 6-12 months before Nourry and Retexo ever became involved with the place.
I mean it is possible that the wnkr who runs this site sat in his back bedroom and plucked the Spanish manager of Hammarby in Sweden out of thin air and just made that link up for a laugh I guess but... not very likely.
Yes and Nourry has said in supporter group meetings that he led on Cifuentes. The problem is if you type 'Cifuentes' into the search facility on this site you'll see that the first reference to him is actually December 2022 when we reported Andy Belk and the recruitment team had been keen on him when we appointed Beale and Critchley but the buy out clause put the club off. That's 6-12 months before Nourry and Retexo ever became involved with the place.
I mean it is possible that the wnkr who runs this site sat in his back bedroom and plucked the Spanish manager of Hammarby in Sweden out of thin air and just made that link up for a laugh I guess but... not very likely.
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
Firstly, outstanding work Clive, so pleased for you there wasn't a last minute change of plan.
Nearly dropped me morning cuppa when I saw you'd roped in "that suave French geezer from R5 / the telly"
I ws a major Marti supporter, just loved the way he handled himself / repped our club - but having accepted the inevitable weeks ago, this appointment raises my spirits a tad more than most of those other names referenced in the piece. And I must admit to liking the sound of the Bould appointment - won't pretend I have any clue how well he's done in Belgium, but always felt he spoke well when assisting Wenger.
Fascinated to see what the first couple of friendlies bring, while dreading the carnage on here if they don't go well
Personally, I'm not a fan of 442, but open to anything right now that might give us a solid 'top half-ish / win more than we lose / generally entertaining' season.
Someone likened current events to the hiring of DiCanio. I very much see the irony in that. Also in looking at the comments, it seems CN has gone away from looking close to home. Another conversation point i see is Marti's 'stubborness' in his style of football. I am sure this will be spoken about much more in coming weeks.
Yeah, roll on 4-4-2. Fed up with us persisting with one up top last season, particularly without Frey. It wasn't even like we had the right midfield to play that formation. We only looked semi-competitive when we surrendered possession and countered.
442 doesn't work at all for half our squad. Lots of time in the window but Chair, Vale, Dembele not suited, none of our current CM's work in a central 2 either.
I like the idea of trying 2 up top, but think it only works with a back 3 atm. I think the squad building aspect was terrible last season, so very intrigued to see the balance of players brought in that are good individuals for the future vs for a specific system / way of playing for the manager
442 with our current squad will be a formidable catastrophe. Annihilation awaits in midfield and lest we forget, the total number of strikers on the books is about 1.5.
I don't think we should get too wrapped up or bogged down in this 4-4-2 idea, he also like a back three. The only constant is he likes two up front, but even then hes shown himself a pragmatic manager that works with what he has and - as we know to our cost - you set our midfield up in a flat four you get annihilated.
I don't think we should get too wrapped up or bogged down in this 4-4-2 idea, he also like a back three. The only constant is he likes two up front, but even then hes shown himself a pragmatic manager that works with what he has and - as we know to our cost - you set our midfield up in a flat four you get annihilated.
With my new post season ultra positive outlook I'm trying to see any negatives at the moment.
This does look like Nourry putting his ideas into practice. I know the 1st team still looks a little weak, but overall its a big thumbs up so far. I've still got this season down as survival, but i just want better football this year.
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