Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[The Apprentice]

Yeah he did. He was asked about Richy being injured and if that would make us look for another striker and he replied saying we need to strengthen the front 3rd over the next two windows. Here's hoping

Not just strikers either, we need to majorly upgrade our wide forwards if we want to be doing anything next season.

 

[LannerSpurs]

Yeah he did. He was asked about Richy being injured and if that would make us look for another striker and he replied saying we need to strengthen the front 3rd over the next two windows. Here's hoping

Can see that being done in the summer more than the January window.

 

[mil1lion]

You highlighted us playing Thursdays and then getting poor results at the weekend against teams who have had a full week to prepare. My interpretation was that you were inferring there is a correlation. Is that interpretation incorrect?

You said I was making an excuse for it which I wasn't. Our performances have been off in those games and we have to find a solution to it. That's all there is to what I was saying. For some reason people like to twist things into more than it is but that's fine I'm used to it.

 

[DiVaio]

If Reguillon is a back up LB, why hasn’t he played? He isn’t. We couldn’t shift him, just like we couldn’t shift Richarlison.

I think you’re reaching if you think Ange didn’t want a top class winger. Of course he did, he just wasn’t offered one

Because that's Ange decision about Regui? Why did you completely miss the crucial point that you just can't decide to shift players and that player has to want to leave and/or another club has to want to buy him? And from today's quotes, Ange rates him highly

We now have 1,5 years of Ange here that shows that he values wingers with attacking output instead of dribbling ability. Starts Brennan in pretty much every game.
If top class winger was so big priority, he would just simply still play Son as a striker and not as a winger immediately since start of pre season and spend Solanke money on that.

Two supposed priorities there were: Pedro Neto, who costs the same or even less than Solanke(Brennan has as many goals this season as Pedro Neto in last 4 years(!!!)) and with him not having homegrown status would massively impact depth elsewhere or Eze, who also would cost less than Solanke and even Palace CEO said he was surprised there wasn't any real interest about him this transfer window.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Not just strikers either, we need to majorly upgrade our wide forwards if we want to be doing anything next season.

I think that fact he said “front 3rd” rather than just CF implies we are looking at a few positions. Hopefully.

Can see that being done in the summer more than the January window.

I agree that we likely aren’t bringing in anyone of high quality this Jan as it’s an expensive and difficult market to do business in but I’d be surprised if we didn’t add someone to our attack.

 

[TOLBINY]

You said I was making an excuse for it which I wasn't. Our performances have been off in those games and we have to find a solution to it. That's all there is to what I was saying. For some reason people like to twist things into more than it is but that's fine I'm used to it.

So IYO is us playing on a Thursday contributing to poor performances / results the following Sunday against teams who do not have a mid-week game?

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Can see that being done in the summer more than the January window.

Should have been done this summer
Story of supporting this club …

 

[Goobers]

He seemed pretty clear about it which is encouraging I just really hope Lange and Ange get their targets right. I am still yet to be sold on Lange.

What makes you say that mate ? Is it not to small a sample size to truly analyse ? My belief is that the best signings we have made are not yet ready for the first team. But that may be the financial restriction of the club.
I was very impressed with the signings that Paratici made but I haven't really passed judgement on Lange's impact yet.

 

[mil1lion]

So IYO is us playing on a Thursday contributing to poor performances / results the following Sunday against teams who do not have a mid-week game?

Yes that's what I said. Our performances in those games have been poor aside from 1st half against Brighton. 2nd half we couldn't get back to full intensity in that one. Ipswich and Fulham games I went too and we were slow and sluggish in both. So we need to find a way to manage this schedule better. Unless it's just a coincidence but so far that is a pattern that has emerged. The games post Europe we have not played with the same level of intensity that we rely on. Not sure where you got excuses being made from.

 

[rossdapep]

He seemed pretty clear about it which is encouraging I just really hope Lange and Ange get their targets right. I am still yet to be sold on Lange.

Yeah I am a bit too.

The Gray signing was superb but I also have to wonder why we let Brentford nip in first and only acted once things became a problem there. Unless of course we were just letting them negotiate the price for us.

Same with Bergval.

But I think my biggest issue is the immediate signings. It's all well and good being able to identify talent that can develop and be great in a few years time but if you can't identify players for now, it is an issue.

Our first team ready signings under him have been Dragusin, Werner (loan), Solanke, Johnson, Vicario, Van de Ven, Odobert (Maddison seemed like a goer to us before he arrived). 3 of those players probably didn;t even need much scouting and we probably relied on data (Solanke's workmate etc).

Dragusin I'm still not sure is a great fit for our system.

Van de Ven clearly is the real success story and Odobert COULD become a top player.

But I wouldn't say it's a real superb bunch of picks and there's obviously a lot of gaps that weren't addressed.

We see your scouting lists and observations and I do have to ask why we are not getting some of those players as well.

His Villa signings were a mixed bag, although you could probably argue that they have screwed it up since he left.

 

[GioW]

Yeah I am a bit too.

The Gray signing was superb but I also have to wonder why we let Brentford nip in first and only acted once things became a problem there. Unless of course we were just letting them negotiate the price for us.

Same with Bergval.

But I think my biggest issue is the immediate signings. It's all well and good being able to identify talent that can develop and be great in a few years time but if you can't identify players for now, it is an issue.

Our first team ready signings under him have been Dragusin, Werner (loan), Solanke, Johnson, Vicario, Van de Ven, Odobert (Maddison seemed like a goer to us before he arrived). 3 of those players probably didn;t even need much scouting and we probably relied on data (Solanke's workmate etc).

Dragusin I'm still not sure is a great fit for our system.

Van de Ven clearly is the real success story and Odobert COULD become a top player.

But I wouldn't say it's a real superb bunch of picks and there's obviously a lot of gaps that weren't addressed.

We see your scouting lists and observations and I do have to ask why we are not getting some of those players as well.

His Villa signings were a mixed bag, although you could probably argue that they have screwed it up since he left.

Lange arrived after the summer 23 window so Vicario, Van De Ven or Johnson weren't anything to do with him.

 

[rossdapep]

Lange arrived after the summer 23 window so Vicario, Van De Ven or Johnson weren't anything to do with him.

Ah. That makes it a bit more negative.

Okay we need to give him time but if his main successes are young potential but isn't targetting the right players for immediate impact then we won't see any success.

 

[Albertbarich]

I wonder if we had planned to wait another year for Gray but were forced into action when Brentford had a bid accepted.

In regards to Lange I don’t think you can tell yet. It certainly doesn’t take a superscout to pick the players he has and whilst it’s easy enough to blame him for the summer I doubt very much that it was only him making the decision to buy for the future and Solanke apart ignore the present.

He is certainly no Paratici but that guy is/was kinda unique. He could certainly spot a player but his juve links clearly helped loads , I don’t think for one second he gets that kulu/Bentsncour double deal if it wasn’t for those connections for example.

Due to the committee nature of the structure it’s impossible to tell who is doing well/badly. For all we know it was Ange who called that summer window but I highly highly doubt it.

January will be interesting. We’re clearly short and in need of proven quality still be interested if they have something abroad lined up like a Dragusin or they go all in for proven premier league quality. I’m not sure how this data led approach is going though. It’s certainly not brought in anyone a normal scout wouldn’t have picked so far.

 

[Guntz]

He seemed pretty clear about it which is encouraging I just really hope Lange and Ange get their targets right. I am still yet to be sold on Lange.

The next two windows are massive for Lange.

He should be looking over his shoulder with Paratici's ban up in summer 2025

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Yeah I am a bit too.

The Gray signing was superb but I also have to wonder why we let Brentford nip in first and only acted once things became a problem there. Unless of course we were just letting them negotiate the price for us.

Same with Bergval.

But I think my biggest issue is the immediate signings. It's all well and good being able to identify talent that can develop and be great in a few years time but if you can't identify players for now, it is an issue.

Our first team ready signings under him have been Dragusin, Werner (loan), Solanke, Johnson, Vicario, Van de Ven, Odobert (Maddison seemed like a goer to us before he arrived). 3 of those players probably didn;t even need much scouting and we probably relied on data (Solanke's workmate etc).

Dragusin I'm still not sure is a great fit for our system.

Van de Ven clearly is the real success story and Odobert COULD become a top player.

But I wouldn't say it's a real superb bunch of picks and there's obviously a lot of gaps that weren't addressed.

We see your scouting lists and observations and I do have to ask why we are not getting some of those players as well.

His Villa signings were a mixed bag, although you could probably argue that they have screwed it up since he left.

And Gray was identified by the club. Supposedly we had been tracking Archie with great interest for years so we can’t even credit Lange with finding him.

The one that really worried me about his time at Villa was Morgan Sanson who he was supposedly adamant they sign despite the scouts having big doubts. Now obviously it is unfair to judge him over his time at a different club and no director is perfect, not even Txiki Begiristain, but still. I can’t say he has done anything in his past that makes me believe in his talent ID even if he is data led. Being data led isn’t a magic bullet to transfer success. Brighton are not the norm.

Obv it’s too soon to judge, by the end of next summers window we will probably have a better idea, but I also think going from Neto to Odebert seemed like a desperate and very optimistic move. Now I like the look of Odebert a lot but at 19 he was never going to be a suitable substitute. That coupled with retaining Werner just screamed lack of strategy despite Ange insisting there was a clear one running into the window.

For me a TD should be putting a plan in place for the growth and eventual success of the club (on the pitch) both short and long term. As you well know they should create a harmony between manager and recruitment that culminates in the realisation of that plan. Yes in one sense he has done that by targeting some exciting youth but it seems quite scattergun currently and clearly not focused on the present. I understand that he is likely hampered by Levy to a certain degree but at the moment I’m struggling to understand the vision.

That said he obviously needs time to implement his plan (assuming he has one) but even if we did bring in some very promising youth players last summer I don’t think anyone could say that window was a success and we did spend quite a large amount on transfer fees even if the wage budget was significantly reduced. The window was very much a gamble that clearly isn’t paying off.

As you say in the passage highlighted I’m yet to be convinced that he can build a good team for the now. I will obviously give him time and hope he can succeed but similarly I do have concerns.

 

[sidford]

The next two windows are massive for Lange.

He should be looking over his shoulder with Paratici's ban up in summer 2025

Yea fair but all comes down to budget, if he isn't given the budget (fees and wages) to buy quality then like Ange he's on a hiding to nothing

 

[Tucker]

Ah. That makes it a bit more negative.

Okay we need to give him time but if his main successes are young potential but isn't targetting the right players for immediate impact then we won't see any success.

I think we can see that they’re identifying good players that are ready now, like Solanke, and Neto for example, but we had a really poor window as far as getting deals over the line properly.

 

[Guntz]

Yea fair but all comes down to budget, if he isn't given the budget (fees and wages) to buy quality then like Ange he's on a hiding to nothing

Paratici managed to work within the confines well enough - it's not like we were splashing out on mega wages when he was the DOF.

Lange has had a fair bit of money to spend FWIW.

 

[sidford]

Paratici managed to work within the confines well enough - it's not like we were splashing out on mega wages when he was the DOF.

Lange has had a fair bit of money to spend FWIW.

He has spent in terms of fees but not wages. We don't know how much his hands are tied versus how much is actually his top choice.
Paratici did very well with players signings (definitely not with manager though) but if we're honest about it largely from his home market. I'm delighted with the business he did but not 100% sure he could continue to do that given it was 4 players he signed from Juve and Udogie & Gollini. Sarr a huge hit but Gill not. Again I'm not downplaying what he did I'm just doubting if he could continue that level of success as he couldn't keep getting ex juve players in.

 

[only1waddle]

I think we can see that they’re identifying good players that are ready now, like Solanke, and Neto for example, but we had a really poor window as far as getting deals over the line properly.

I think aggressively buying youth was to combat the club trained issue we now face in Europe, because unless some academy players come through this problem will keep happening, no Skipp, no Kane etc

Couple that with ITK the club (I assume Levy) wanted to go down a Dortmund/Ajax model and it makes sense.
Obviously we've all seen the stagnation issue this has caused, and it does feel the club consistently lurch from one extreme because of historical decisions, mismanagement or inaction.... and repeat