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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... 22:39 - Oct 4 with 12093 viewsbosh67

After the Watford and Coventry defeats we were all wondering whether he was already out of his depth?

Six matches further along he's unbeaten, almost nullified the goal difference, got us in the top six and 'generally' making very good in match decisions and proving himself to be a speed learner in this division. Of course we are going to lose matches, possibly a few or so in a row but I actually believe that this guy will work out how to deal with defeats again very quickly. Quicker than his predecessors.

Je pense que nous avons une bonne affaire ici!
[Post edited 4 Oct 22:39]

Never knowingly right.
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 18:23 - Oct 10 with 535 viewsHunterhoop

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 17:41 - Oct 10 by BrianMcCarthy

https://loftforwords.fansnetwork.co.uk/forum/314793/the-game-model/

Nourry quotes here:

"some form of 4-3-3, possession-based, mid-block/high press football,”

"we did that by looking at the last 10 years of the Championship and what won you points and what allowed you sustainability to bring in 16 to 24-year-old players who could play well in the system, develop and be the best players they could possibly be."

"We have a club game model of how we want to play football. That’s a document that is now under the per view of our head of methodology [Jon De Souza], who’s in charge of policing the game model."

"Nourry is adamant that the club will not move away from the game model approach even if the team struggles to get results on the pitch, and it will guide the process of appointing head coaches in the future."


Thanks, Bri.

And yet, we have now moved away from that Game Model clearly, down to Stephan. We’re playing a type of 442 and getting better results. And the world of football is undoubtedly moving away from technical, possession based play to a more direct, physical style. The data of the last decade is not particularly relevant to the next decade when one era of football comes to an end. That is a risk of being so heavily reliant on data.

It’s a good job Stephan seized control of the first team after the Coventry debacle. We are much better for it. Hopefully Nourry is mature enough to see and accept that

Mart Goblin’s question of what this all means for De Souza is very valid.
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 18:50 - Oct 10 with 432 viewsBrianMcCarthy

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 18:23 - Oct 10 by Hunterhoop

Thanks, Bri.

And yet, we have now moved away from that Game Model clearly, down to Stephan. We’re playing a type of 442 and getting better results. And the world of football is undoubtedly moving away from technical, possession based play to a more direct, physical style. The data of the last decade is not particularly relevant to the next decade when one era of football comes to an end. That is a risk of being so heavily reliant on data.

It’s a good job Stephan seized control of the first team after the Coventry debacle. We are much better for it. Hopefully Nourry is mature enough to see and accept that

Mart Goblin’s question of what this all means for De Souza is very valid.


Other questions that occur:

1. "Nourry is adamant that the club will not move away from the game model approach even if the team struggles to get results on the pitch" - surely we have done, under Cifuentes, and now again under Stéphan?

2. "and it will guide the process of appointing head coaches in the future." - surely it hasn't, as all the previews of Stéphan told us to expect 442?

3. "some form of 4-3-3, possession-based, mid-block/high press football,” - Surely all of this has also been abandoned under both Cifuentes and Stéphan? - @HoopsDreams_QPR has pointed out that we are now far better when we don't play possession football, and pretty poor when we do, and we are now playing with two holding fielders, mid-block would be stretching it, and we are definitely not a high-press team, and

4. Are our underage teams also now playing 442?

"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 19:00 - Oct 10 with 387 viewsHunterhoop

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 18:50 - Oct 10 by BrianMcCarthy

Other questions that occur:

1. "Nourry is adamant that the club will not move away from the game model approach even if the team struggles to get results on the pitch" - surely we have done, under Cifuentes, and now again under Stéphan?

2. "and it will guide the process of appointing head coaches in the future." - surely it hasn't, as all the previews of Stéphan told us to expect 442?

3. "some form of 4-3-3, possession-based, mid-block/high press football,” - Surely all of this has also been abandoned under both Cifuentes and Stéphan? - @HoopsDreams_QPR has pointed out that we are now far better when we don't play possession football, and pretty poor when we do, and we are now playing with two holding fielders, mid-block would be stretching it, and we are definitely not a high-press team, and

4. Are our underage teams also now playing 442?


Be careful, Bri. Sounds like you’re saying either Nourry lied or hasn’t been able to follow through with what he said because it didn’t work.

We’re 6th, so it’s all going to plan. Even if it was a different plan, or a new plan, or really the plan was just a set of ideals not what Nourry actually said. It’s all going to a plan. Don’t question the leader, even if he’s not leading now.
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 19:10 - Oct 10 with 337 viewsBrianMcCarthy

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 19:00 - Oct 10 by Hunterhoop

Be careful, Bri. Sounds like you’re saying either Nourry lied or hasn’t been able to follow through with what he said because it didn’t work.

We’re 6th, so it’s all going to plan. Even if it was a different plan, or a new plan, or really the plan was just a set of ideals not what Nourry actually said. It’s all going to a plan. Don’t question the leader, even if he’s not leading now.


Ha Ha!

Well, I'm not saying he lied in this instance. He clearly has said that we had a game model, and he spelt out what it was. As I've said before, I'm not against having one across all teams in a club - Ajax and Barca have long been lauded for it.

And I have no problem with us moving away from it, either.

But I think it'll be interesting when we find out just what has happened behind the scenes that has brought on the changes last season and again so early in this this season. And find out we all will in this collander of a club.

"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 19:27 - Oct 10 with 282 viewsingeminate

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 19:10 - Oct 10 by BrianMcCarthy

Ha Ha!

Well, I'm not saying he lied in this instance. He clearly has said that we had a game model, and he spelt out what it was. As I've said before, I'm not against having one across all teams in a club - Ajax and Barca have long been lauded for it.

And I have no problem with us moving away from it, either.

But I think it'll be interesting when we find out just what has happened behind the scenes that has brought on the changes last season and again so early in this this season. And find out we all will in this collander of a club.


Whoever hired JS deserves credit for bringing in a manager who didn’t tick the yes man box.
Post Coventry he ignored whatever he said in interview and did his own thing.

After that game Nourri will have been pretty powerless, skating thin ice with owners to report into. I’d imagine he calculated that the owners probably cared more about results than game models and anyway when you ship 7 any talk about riding out the storm flies out the window - so one way or another pragmatism took over and all the better for it.

As to what happens to the gameplay henchman I’d guess he’s just tasked with adopting a different game plan throughout the club. More physicality, direct etc. if he’s so ideologically opposed he can’t bring himself to do that he’ll have to leave.

If not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. PG Wodehouse
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 20:32 - Oct 10 with 195 viewsFDC

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 17:41 - Oct 10 by BrianMcCarthy

https://loftforwords.fansnetwork.co.uk/forum/314793/the-game-model/

Nourry quotes here:

"some form of 4-3-3, possession-based, mid-block/high press football,”

"we did that by looking at the last 10 years of the Championship and what won you points and what allowed you sustainability to bring in 16 to 24-year-old players who could play well in the system, develop and be the best players they could possibly be."

"We have a club game model of how we want to play football. That’s a document that is now under the per view of our head of methodology [Jon De Souza], who’s in charge of policing the game model."

"Nourry is adamant that the club will not move away from the game model approach even if the team struggles to get results on the pitch, and it will guide the process of appointing head coaches in the future."


Nice one Brian, pretty sure I'd never seen that. Makes the evasion since look quite dodgy, and supports the suggestion by Mart and others that there genuinely has been an explicit departure from a really quite specific and prescriptive model. Blimey.
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Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 20:37 - Oct 10 with 178 viewsFDC

Julien Stéphan, I mean, come on... on 18:50 - Oct 10 by BrianMcCarthy

Other questions that occur:

1. "Nourry is adamant that the club will not move away from the game model approach even if the team struggles to get results on the pitch" - surely we have done, under Cifuentes, and now again under Stéphan?

2. "and it will guide the process of appointing head coaches in the future." - surely it hasn't, as all the previews of Stéphan told us to expect 442?

3. "some form of 4-3-3, possession-based, mid-block/high press football,” - Surely all of this has also been abandoned under both Cifuentes and Stéphan? - @HoopsDreams_QPR has pointed out that we are now far better when we don't play possession football, and pretty poor when we do, and we are now playing with two holding fielders, mid-block would be stretching it, and we are definitely not a high-press team, and

4. Are our underage teams also now playing 442?


"4. Are our underage teams also now playing 442?"

Yes now that we are in the glorious new era of Pragmatic Adaptation Ball, poor John De Souza is going to be frantically implementing a new club-wide model every week.
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