It's bizarre that our manager finished the season on a positive note and started the second one with far more doubt swirling around him. It's very clear that the immediate purchasing of Mount at the start of the transfer window had - and has - a lot of us scratching our heads, and as it turned out, our transfer window didn't go in the direction I'm sure ten Hag was assured it would, which has compounded the Mount issue.
The transfer window is an entity unto itself; we might criticise for perceived poor purchases, but the show and prove is in performance and results, no matter the esteem - or lack of - transfers are held in. Unfortunately, the start to the season has given cause for doubts shown in the aforementioned window to take on a life of their own. It seems to me that two issues are conflated, which in turn leads to a bigger outcry as one set of issues fan the flames of the other back and forth. I’m not sure any other manager in the league gets as scrutinised for purchases as our own. Granted all(?) other clubs have moved out to a new model removing managerial autonomy, but still, someone like Pep “literally “ throws players away that don’t work out and just orders more in - there seems to be no taint to his reputation for his numerous terrible buys, and yet ten Hag is going through the mill for two expensive purchases in particular. Likewise, Klopp had the perfect storm where the club hit the jackpot on buys and players coming through all at once, but since then, he’s not hung out to dry for his bad buys because of credit accrued in the proverbial bank that has as much to do with him as the bad buys have. It doesn’t seem logical that ten Hag is held to a different standard to the two best managers in the league who have both shown how badly they can squander money when left to their own devices - ten Hag came here as a coach, not a manager, just like they did. Is it really taken on board? Shouldn’t the buck for his signings stop at whoever is authorising them?
@cyberman made a very good point in another thread that the manager has worked without an actual striker for the majority of his time at the club. It’s so commonplace here that we don’t even factor it into the scrutiny placed upon the manager. When you take a step back, it’s a really odd thing for a fanbase to do… almost a collective cognitive dissonance.
As to the football. ten Hag’s complete team hasn’t been assembled here. We have a few tenets, but not many in the grand scheme; like Pep and Klopp, shouldn’t he be afforded the time to forge a team in his image with the players who can execute it to the wire before he’s assessed? I think this comes down to whatever faith it is you have in him as a manager; if you were already on the fence, perhaps you now doubt his actual vision and thus feel the plug needs to be pulled sooner rather than later, but what of those who were in the “Big yes to ten” camp? Has your outlook changed at all, or do you remain firmly onboard?
The ten Hag mega thread is more a place where people vent or are reactionary; what this thread asks of you is: with consideration and taking in the reality of the task at hand, are you still onside or have you seen enough to feel in your own mind that we’re still in need of that special… coach who will ultimately meet with your satisfaction?
The transfer window is an entity unto itself; we might criticise for perceived poor purchases, but the show and prove is in performance and results, no matter the esteem - or lack of - transfers are held in. Unfortunately, the start to the season has given cause for doubts shown in the aforementioned window to take on a life of their own. It seems to me that two issues are conflated, which in turn leads to a bigger outcry as one set of issues fan the flames of the other back and forth. I’m not sure any other manager in the league gets as scrutinised for purchases as our own. Granted all(?) other clubs have moved out to a new model removing managerial autonomy, but still, someone like Pep “literally “ throws players away that don’t work out and just orders more in - there seems to be no taint to his reputation for his numerous terrible buys, and yet ten Hag is going through the mill for two expensive purchases in particular. Likewise, Klopp had the perfect storm where the club hit the jackpot on buys and players coming through all at once, but since then, he’s not hung out to dry for his bad buys because of credit accrued in the proverbial bank that has as much to do with him as the bad buys have. It doesn’t seem logical that ten Hag is held to a different standard to the two best managers in the league who have both shown how badly they can squander money when left to their own devices - ten Hag came here as a coach, not a manager, just like they did. Is it really taken on board? Shouldn’t the buck for his signings stop at whoever is authorising them?
@cyberman made a very good point in another thread that the manager has worked without an actual striker for the majority of his time at the club. It’s so commonplace here that we don’t even factor it into the scrutiny placed upon the manager. When you take a step back, it’s a really odd thing for a fanbase to do… almost a collective cognitive dissonance.
As to the football. ten Hag’s complete team hasn’t been assembled here. We have a few tenets, but not many in the grand scheme; like Pep and Klopp, shouldn’t he be afforded the time to forge a team in his image with the players who can execute it to the wire before he’s assessed? I think this comes down to whatever faith it is you have in him as a manager; if you were already on the fence, perhaps you now doubt his actual vision and thus feel the plug needs to be pulled sooner rather than later, but what of those who were in the “Big yes to ten” camp? Has your outlook changed at all, or do you remain firmly onboard?
The ten Hag mega thread is more a place where people vent or are reactionary; what this thread asks of you is: with consideration and taking in the reality of the task at hand, are you still onside or have you seen enough to feel in your own mind that we’re still in need of that special… coach who will ultimately meet with your satisfaction?
