Alan Sheehan-Manager for Next Season

[Nocountryforoldjack]

Imagine were we would be if Alan had started the season

 

[Swansea93]

Alan Sheehan: Swansea City caretaker boss waits to see if plans align with club

Alan Sheehan says he must find out if his plans align with those of Swansea City's owners as he waits to discover whether he will become the club's permanent head coach.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Itchysphincter]

What irked me with Williams was his lack of a plan B.

It was why we're so inconsistent under him. The plan worked against some teams. It didn't against a lot.

I criticised him for the line up against Derby where as I moaned Williams didn't change it up.

You're right about Martin being arrogant, I think Williams was just clueless.

Have to admit I'm glad Grimes has moved on. The lad divided opinion amongst the fans and it caused a rift between the fanbase.

Agreed. I wasn’t anti-Grimes but he had become ineffectual and that had spread through the team, his time had come to a natural end without him really fulfilling his potential considering his capabilities.

His departure should be regarded as a positive step for him and us. Sometimes you just have to call it a day.

 

[Smurph]

Agreed. I wasn’t anti-Grimes but he had become ineffectual and that had spread through the team, his time had come to a natural end without him really fulfilling his potential considering his capabilities.

His departure should be regarded as a positive step for him and us. Sometimes you just have to call it a day.

Exactly a mutual parting of the ways was best for everyone concerned.

His captaincy rubbed me up the wrong way. Maybe I'm a dinosaur, he wasn't captain material in my eyes.

 

[Swansea93]

Exactly a mutual parting of the ways was best for everyone concerned.

His captaincy rubbed me up the wrong way. Maybe I'm a dinosaur, he wasn't captain material in my eyes.

Cabango and Grimes being captain is night and day imo.

 

[Smurph]

Cabango and Grimes being captain is night and day imo.

Cabango is what I expect from a captain on and off the pitch.

 

[FearOfAJackPlanet]

I think it's harsh to say we have no style of play under Sheehan as it implies the players don't really know what they're doing, that it's all just 'have a slice of orange lads and go out there and scrap, 'Ave it!!', which is, I think, an insult to what we've seen overall since Williams left.

A couple of players - and I think Sheehan as well - have talked about 'transitional football' as the key term for how we've been approaching games since Williams left. Now, transitional football is a term that's been around for ages and is normally thought of as just 'what you do when play breaks down', or it's what happens in between the 2 teams operating their 'styles' against each other, but we seem to be focusing on making that in-between phase be our main focus.

The high press is clearly evident as a way to create transitions and catch teams off guard. We're also countering faster than we used to (not the biggest of wins, I'll grant you...), with players being less constrained in how they approach attacks, as long as they (ideally) do it quickly and decisively. I think that in particular has helped Eom - he looked so inhibited playing under Williams, but now revels in attacking (and defending) now that he's not being micromanaged on every blade of grass.

It's reminiscent, dare I say it - only as a broad conceptual comparison - with the 'Heavy Metal football' that Klopp loved to play. It's high energy, high press, transition football. Just because it's less reliant on players cycling the ball to each other endlessly, doesn't make it less of a style.

Of course, not every game has been rich in style and substance, I'm sure we all remember the Derby game as an example, but I've seen enough to clearly see evidence of an approach to games forming under Sheehan, and the players have responded.

Grimes leaving and LOB arriving was also big, but I seem to recall at least 1-2 games under Williams with Grimes gone and LOB in that were pretty grim (Sheff Weds home, Stoke away?). Only when Williams left did the black cloud lift away (instantly...)

 

[Dr. Winston]

I think it's harsh to say we have no style of play under Sheehan as it implies the players don't really know what they're doing, that it's all just 'have a slice of orange lads and go out there and scrap, 'Ave it!!', which is, I think, an insult to what we've seen overall since Williams left.

A couple of players - and I think Sheehan as well - have talked about 'transitional football' as the key term for how we've been approaching games since Williams left. Now, transitional football is a term that's been around for ages and is normally thought of as just 'what you do when play breaks down', or it's what happens in between the 2 teams operating their 'styles' against each other, but we seem to be focusing on making that in-between phase be our main focus.

The high press is clearly evident as a way to create transitions and catch teams off guard. We're also countering faster than we used to (not the biggest of wins, I'll grant you...), with players being less constrained in how they approach attacks, as long as they (ideally) do it quickly and decisively. I think that in particular has helped Eom - he looked so inhibited playing under Williams, but now revels in attacking (and defending) now that he's not being micromanaged on every blade of grass.

It's reminiscent, dare I say it - only as a broad conceptual comparison - with the 'Heavy Metal football' that Klopp loved to play. It's high energy, high press, transition football. Just because it's less reliant on players cycling the ball to each other endlessly, doesn't make it less of a style.

Of course, not every game has been rich in style and substance, I'm sure we all remember the Derby game as an example, but I've seen enough to clearly see evidence of an approach to games forming under Sheehan, and the players have responded.

Grimes leaving and LOB arriving was also big, but I seem to recall at least 1-2 games under Williams with Grimes gone and LOB in that were pretty grim (Sheff Weds home, Stoke away?). Only when Williams left did the black cloud lift away (instantly...)

Superb.

Your points about the freedom with which Eom is now playing and the references to "cycling the ball to each other endlessly" nicely encapsulate the differences I think.

The shackles have come off. Players are allowed to actually play, not limit themselves to some pre-defined tactical plan that never varied depending upon the opposition and must have been just as frustrating for them as it was for us in the stands.

The way we want to play under Sheehan isn't the finished product, just as the squad isn't. The high press, quick transition would work a lot better with more pace in the side, which is my biggest questionmark over Sheehan at the moment. Today he had Bianchini available to replace Eom yet brought on Cooper. That doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[Fbreath]

Could it be they’ve already given him the job but holding off announcing it until the last game of the season as surprise as it is at home and he isn’t allowed to say anything.

 

[FearOfAJackPlanet]

Could it be they’ve already given him the job but holding off announcing it until the last game of the season as surprise as it is at home and he isn’t allowed to say anything.

A theory I have - based on literally nothing besides the fumes in my head - is that Montague was hell bent on going out and finding 'his guy' and had found a couple of candidates he really wanted to bring in (Hellborg and the other name leaked recently). He had grand plans to clean the slate here and start a new era, but this jumpstart caretaker is making that very difficult now. So, in this reality Montague wants to install a new guy, but Sheehan is making it very hard for him to do that with each game, so we're having to re-think our plans - and Sheehan has not been told he has the job as it wasn't the plan to give it to him, and still might not be.

It shouldn't really be an issue right now anyway, as we just need to wait until the season ends and look at it then. I don't think Sheehan is going anywhere until he knows our decision.

 

[Longlostjack]

A poor workman blames his tool

We’ve had the poorest managers in yonks- Martin and his Willy had no idea how to handle their tools, being so fixated with their self indulgent selfish CV-embellishing mission, fired up on Viagra.

We then became flaccid, incapable of a rise, dysfunctional and embarrassingly inept.

Sheehan and his Quorum have ditched the Viagra, gone back to basics to get the very best rise from our hugely talented assets.

We now need a proper decent Tier1-potential young gun to thrust us to the Next Level, leveraging our new Owners ambition, funds and best-in-class recruitment apparatus…..

Exciting times… at the .Com

Tier 1 potential young gun to take us to the next level leveraging ambition? Jeez !

 

[Swanjaxs]

Tier 1 potential young gun to take us to the next level leveraging ambition? Jeez !

God bless America

 

[Cooperman]

I haven’t seen a kick of the game today.

Are we riding on the back of freeing Willy, or have we got the LOB bounce?

Until now I thought it was more of the latter. Take him away and what happens?

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I think it's harsh to say we have no style of play under Sheehan as it implies the players don't really know what they're doing, that it's all just 'have a slice of orange lads and go out there and scrap, 'Ave it!!', which is, I think, an insult to what we've seen overall since Williams left.

You're right to flag this. It is insulting.

I think a lot of our fans have just got so brainwashed by the last 4 years of Martin/Williamsball, that they can't recognise a balanced and functioning football team when they see one.

Sheehan has restored common sense to what is going on on the pitch. There is nothing at all wrong with that.

 

[Longlostjack]

A theory I have - based on literally nothing besides the fumes in my head - is that Montague was hell bent on going out and finding 'his guy' and had found a couple of candidates he really wanted to bring in (Hellborg and the other name leaked recently). He had grand plans to clean the slate here and start a new era, but this jumpstart caretaker is making that very difficult now. So, in this reality Montague wants to install a new guy, but Sheehan is making it very hard for him to do that with each game, so we're having to re-think our plans - and Sheehan has not been told he has the job as it wasn't the plan to give it to him, and still might not be.

It shouldn't really be an issue right now anyway, as we just need to wait until the season ends and look at it then. I don't think Sheehan is going anywhere until he knows our decision.

Personally I hope Montague doesn’t use the break to install a new manager. I’m sceptical about this data driven stuff. By all means use it as a tool but it shouldn’t take priority over ability to motivate a team for example. Some good comments in this thread about the team being constrained by having to play to a system under Williams. Football is much more than a data set.