OzMike
Well-known member
I don't think he can manage at all, can probably pick a fair team but manage................nah.
Three derby wins in a row.
First Premier league manager to ever beat a Mourinho side at Stamford Bridge.
Wins against Chelsea and Man Utd in the cup.
A cup final, our first in 22 years! Day out at Wembley, 1-0 up at half time, dared fans to dream during a difficult time.
Great escape against all the odds.
Stayed up thanks to a 4 match winning run, first run of wins like that in the premier league for 14 years. (2000/01 season was the last time we won 4 in a row)
Took over a team without a win in 11 games, turned things around.
Given nothing like the money Bruce, Keane or O'Neill were given. (Only one player signed so far has cost more than 3 million)
Been in the job only a year and has had only two transfer windows to bring in new players.
Improved our defence despite our best centre backs being a combined age of nearly 70.
Has had to work with players signed by previous managers who just aren't good enough, which has been obvious for a long time.
Won more cup games than any of our previous 4 managers despite only being in the job for just over a year.
But yeah, Gus out etc.
True but football's about the future. It was not unreasonable for fans to be thinking they'd be mid table with a bit of breathing space. Let's see.
In reality all Poyet has done is get a team promoted from league 1, many other managers have also achieved this.
Lots of BHA fans won't admit it but Poyet ultimately blew it. The team was on a roll, had the best defence in the division and were clear favourites. He settled for a draw at Selhurst when we should have gone for the jugular and allowed off-field events to cloud his judgement for the return game.
He knew in his heart of hearts that he had blown it and was happy to leave.
That's an interesting theory, but I'm not sure I agree with it.
It would still have been in Gus' best interests to get us promoted to the PL, even if still decided to leave for another club.
Personally, the 0-0 draw at Selhurst wasn't an issue for me - on the face of it, it was a very good result and set us up nicely for the home leg. The fact that we simply didn't play well enough in the home leg, and that Holloway's tactics were spot on, were the deciding factor for me rather than Gus throwing in the towel.
Gus definitely didn't throw in the towel, nor would he of not wanted to of got promoted ( even if only for his own rep ).
But something went on behind the scenes between the first leg and the second.
Yep, whatever it was, Gus sulked throughout the 2nd leg and I suggest he wasn't very focused at all. I was quite close to the dugout in the Lower West and Gus' body language even pre kick off was very subdued
Lots of people Slating Gus's style will be very disapointed in the coming weeks when we are doing the same under Hughton.
I've not read the whole thread, but the sourness in how it all ended here with Gus seems to have MASSIVELY coloured peoples opinions of what he actually achieved here. Quite a few seem to be rewriting history on just what he achieved at this club and are being hugely revisionist. I think its worth remembering that we have HIM to thank for kicking off that inaugural season at the Amex in the Championship. That is fact.
He came in and had the immediate effect of hauling us out of what was turning into a L1 relegation dogfight, giving us a comfortable midtable finish. We then STORMED that division the following season, playing some of the best football I've ever seen from an Albion team. He built a team and gave it a distinct indentity and a style of play which swept all before them. His charisma and high profile in the game gave us an edge in the transfer market as good players wanted to come here and play for him. He took us to 4th in the Championship, and by the time he left, had built the backbone to a squad that remained competitive the following season despite multiple long-term injuries and (later) numerous sales.
Yes he was a gobshite. Yes it became tedious when he openly touted about other jobs. But IMO he remains one of the best managers we have ever had. He performed a minor miracle in keeping Sunderland up last season with some incredible results, as well as getting them to a cup final. So to hear some of them wanting him binned now is laughable - what exactly are they expecting ? They're Sunderland ffs, they're lucky to even be in that division, and the bloke in the dugout secured it for them.
Poyet can be gobby, abrasive, opinionated and a bit of a diva. But he's also a very good manager, and were we not happily fixed up with Hughton now, I'd have had him back here in a flash.
I agree with you that he was a good manager, a positive contribution to our club history. That said, and leaving the acrimonious split aside, then:
1. Given the players he had at his disposal in 2012/13, and
2. Given the Palace and Watford sides between us and promotion
then would you say that with the benefit of hindsight he over / under-achieved or performed par for the course?
Half of that team are now playing in the Prem - Buckley, Bridcutt, Ulloa, Hammond, Barnes. Of the rest Kuszczak, Bridge had played in the Prem, Bruno, Calde, Spanish Dave and Vicente all in La Liga. With the advent of FFP and bigger parachute payments that really was our golden opportunity, the bookies had us favourites out of the 4 play-off sides after the result vs Palace and we were being tipped by many pundits as the team that would get promoted.
I think the play offs failure was not such a factor in determining whether he was a good manager or not. We know he was/is. The question is 'is he THAT good?'As it turned out, the side he assembled could and should have been promoted that season, although lets not just take THAT for granted, because nobody (or not many) were thinking we were shoe-ins to go up at the start of that season. The fact he took us to a 4thplace finish was still an achievement in itself, because we finished above plenty of clubs with far bigger budgets who were more established at that level to make a challenge.
So we fell at the second-to-last hurdle (there's no guarantee we'd have beaten Watford in the final). Thats the Playoffs, its cup football, anything can happen. Yes we should've beaten them, but there are MULTIPLE games during the course of the season which are drawn or lost when we should have got something more - it just so happens that it happened to us in our biggest game, and all the fine margins went against us. Das fubull.
Given the teams in the Championship and the relative budgets, I'd say 4th was possibly a slight over-achievement with that squad, but having got there, we were the form team who should have finished the job. The fact we didn't hurts, but it certainly doesn't mean Gus wasn't / isn't a damn good manager here, as some seem to be peddling.
I think the play offs failure was not such a factor in determining whether he was a good manager or not. We know he was/is. The question is 'is he THAT good?'
I've not read the whole thread, but the sourness in how it all ended here with Gus seems to have MASSIVELY coloured peoples opinions of what he actually achieved here. Quite a few seem to be rewriting history on just what he achieved at this club and are being hugely revisionist. I think its worth remembering that we have HIM to thank for kicking off that inaugural season at the Amex in the Championship. That is fact.
He came in and had the immediate effect of hauling us out of what was turning into a L1 relegation dogfight, giving us a comfortable midtable finish. We then STORMED that division the following season, playing some of the best football I've ever seen from an Albion team. He built a team and gave it a distinct indentity and a style of play which swept all before them. His charisma and high profile in the game gave us an edge in the transfer market as good players wanted to come here and play for him. He took us to 4th in the Championship, and by the time he left, had built the backbone to a squad that remained competitive the following season despite multiple long-term injuries and (later) numerous sales.
Yes he was a gobshite. Yes it became tedious when he openly touted about other jobs. But IMO he remains one of the best managers we have ever had. He performed a minor miracle in keeping Sunderland up last season with some incredible results, as well as getting them to a cup final. So to hear some of them wanting him binned now is laughable - what exactly are they expecting ? They're Sunderland ffs, they're lucky to even be in that division, and the bloke in the dugout secured it for them.
Poyet can be gobby, abrasive, opinionated and a bit of a diva. But he's also a very good manager, and were we not happily fixed up with Hughton now, I'd have had him back here in a flash.
I've not read the whole thread, but the sourness in how it all ended here with Gus seems to have MASSIVELY coloured peoples opinions of what he actually achieved here. Quite a few seem to be rewriting history on just what he achieved at this club and are being hugely revisionist. I think its worth remembering that we have HIM to thank for kicking off that inaugural season at the Amex in the Championship. That is fact.
He came in and had the immediate effect of hauling us out of what was turning into a L1 relegation dogfight, giving us a comfortable midtable finish. We then STORMED that division the following season, playing some of the best football I've ever seen from an Albion team. He built a team and gave it a distinct indentity and a style of play which swept all before them. His charisma and high profile in the game gave us an edge in the transfer market as good players wanted to come here and play for him. He took us to 4th in the Championship, and by the time he left, had built the backbone to a squad that remained competitive the following season despite multiple long-term injuries and (later) numerous sales.
Yes he was a gobshite. Yes it became tedious when he openly touted about other jobs. But IMO he remains one of the best managers we have ever had. He performed a minor miracle in keeping Sunderland up last season with some incredible results, as well as getting them to a cup final. So to hear some of them wanting him binned now is laughable - what exactly are they expecting ? They're Sunderland ffs, they're lucky to even be in that division, and the bloke in the dugout secured it for them.
Poyet can be gobby, abrasive, opinionated and a bit of a diva. But he's also a very good manager, and were we not happily fixed up with Hughton now, I'd have had him back here in a flash.