Big Val's Football Heaven interview

There are probably a lot of coaches that will play that style but management is about a lot more than that. That this board have identified and recruited Stendel then Struber then Ishmael one after another is nothing short of astonishing. Like you, I don't believe there is an endless supply that will come here and improve us. The reality is that notion is impossible.

 

Both of those sound quite likely outcomes

 

You're right. Fingers crossed we can keep him for next season though.

 

Football is change, constant change. Yet as fans when it’s going well we want it to be the same, for ever. That’s natural but unrealistic. Next season won’t be like this season. We will lose players and maybe our coach. The key is for us to evolve so that next season we are challenging for the play offs not kicking around the relegation zone. We have to evolve to do that. New players but also new tactics, etc. We should be thinking about who we want to bring in, not just who we cannot hang on to.

 

I'm going to put this out there, if Val was to leave then maybe we've got a replacement in house. Mr Murray I know its everyone's cup of tea for whatever reason. However he's clearly respected by the players and he's been a big part of our revival. He's clearly adaptable having worked with 3 very different coaches. Hes got a good link to the academy coaches. I know folk think he doesn't want the main job, but look at Wilson and Hecky. Sometimes it's about timing and the atmosphere in the dressing room. It'll take some time for the dust to settle, but these players now have had a taste of competing. I'd expect pre season to have an edge about it, and there's going to be other young lads coming to compete. Add a sprinkling of experience to this squad and we'll be good to go.

 

Bloody hell, lighten up you lot will you?
Nobody commits to anything one way or another after a sporting disappointment of that level, they want to go away and think it through.
Many manager in a similar position has committed to something then gone away and changed their mind.
He needs to know what support the board are offering him and what he would have left as a base, plus obviously any other options.
Whatever happens we are in a loads better position to attract players and if it came to it ( and I really really hope he stays) another manager.

 

3 year contract helen. .....not that that makes any difference.

 

All we have to do is look at Hanover 96, seeing as the last 3 have a connection with them.

 

His standards are sky high and he was clearly disappointed

 

I love the success makes you sexy line
Bet that's not been said too many times in an interview.

 

Agreed. It's telling that when we get a head coach from abroad they never bring their wife and kids with them to live in the area. They know there is no point because they know they will not be here long term to have to immerse themselves in the local area.

 

It's a good interview, there's nothing suggesting he doesn't want to be here next season

 

He wasn't. He was asked a different question, about moving us forward, but his answer made me think, 'oh, you won't be moving us forward, you're not going to be here.'

 

Sky usual approach, ask how you are feeling after a defeat, then make another backhanded comment basically saying to him he's too big and good for us and then try and create a new story.

 

Depends what offers come in but I would imagine there’ll be at least one where it wouldn’t matter what we offered he’d be off just like Gerhardt .
He said the board didn’t match his ambition but he knew fully what he had signed up for it was just a way of trying to justify his move which imo was wrong .
Can’t blame him for moving if it’s an offer you can’t refuse but at least be honest about it .

 

If you compare that with other losing managers from the play offs this week, it's suggests he's off. No talk of going again next season is disappointing. He'll be well aware of the palace and west brom links.

 

would you uproot your family from Barnsley during a worldwide pandemic? And as regards Daniel his kids were teenagers and schooling would have been disrupted.

 

Less disruption, have you forgotten the Stendel/Struber handover? And surviving on the final day and only due to points deduction? Some coaches instill a belief in their players that is irreplaceable. Others do not.