2019/20 Marcel Brands

[DuncanDisorderly88]

Cant believe we didn't sign Marc Albrighton or Danny Ings.

BRANDS OUT!

To be fair Ings has been bossing it this season 14 goals already

His all round play has been sublime at times

 

[davek]

Brands is lucky we have Carlo as the manager. When Carlo gets some of the signings he wants ( He is the decision maker in this setup now ) everyone will be praising Brands.

The true praise should be at Carlo's feet, not the Dutch Steve Walsh.

Brands is under pressure, and rightly so. He knows generally speaking what he's done here hasn't been of any transformative value. He knows he struggles on outgoings, he knows the obvious poor signings he's made, he knows above all that we all see he was powerless in determining Silva's departure and had no input into Ancelotti's appointment.

He's a hologram.

 

[davek]

Nope. Brands is DoF. It’s irrelevant who identifies, scouts, does the data analysis or makes the first contact with the player. He’s the man who signs off and approves all our incomings and outgoings. That’s how accountability works.

Silva may have identified other players that Brands then brought in, same as Koeman probably identified Bolasie / Gylfi, but Walsh signed those players off, so is accountable.

He gets credit when the signings under his regime are good, and gets the criticism when they’re not.

Silva bought Richarlison a couple of seasons earlier and persuaded him to come to England. He was the connection with the player. You are completely kidding yourself if you believe that Brands was the instigator of that signing for us.

 

[davek]

He's competant for the money we paid.
I would've gone 7.0 / 7.5 but it isnt often he hits that.
I hope he comes back twice the player, but we didn't under or over pay for him and he always has a snidey red card in him.

What's frightening about it is that he's actually a better than average Brands signing, and he's barely good enough for what we need in midfield.

 

[OzyToffee]

Brands is lucky we have Carlo as the manager. When Carlo gets some of the signings he wants ( He is the decision maker in this setup now ) everyone will be praising Brands.

The true praise should be at Carlo's feet, not the Dutch Steve Walsh.

I would like to think they both agree but to think Carlo is the decision maker is probably wide of the mark. With Brands being Brands, on the board, full backing of the owner, probably instrumental in getting Carlo in then I dont think his position is any weaker. With trying to manage the ton of deadwood we have had and still have I dont think we have seen the best of Brands yet once he has some more freedom to bring more squad players in with potential.

 

[Parkender]

On his day he can boss a midfield. Those days, though, are few and far between. The rest of the time he gets over-run in midfield.

I agree with you on this one. For all of his skills and physique, he should be a dominant force in the middle and he isn't.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

To be fair Ings has been bossing it this season 14 goals already

His all round play has been sublime at times

He is a replacement level striker in the form of his life. There is no way he replicates this form ever again.

Vault me! I fear no man!

 

[catcherintherye]

Brands is under pressure, and rightly so. He knows generally speaking what he's done here hasn't been of any transformative value. He knows he struggles on outgoings, he knows the obvious poor signings he's made, he knows above all that we all see he was powerless in determining Silva's departure and had no input into Ancelotti's appointment.

He's a hologram.

He has struggled on outgoings (but done pretty well on incomings). The caveat is we bought a lot of rubbish post Martinez, particularly under Koeman on enormous wages of an age that it is very difficult to move on. That is at the very least a partial defence.

He will be judged though on his own signings and he needs to ensure some gain enough value to be able to be sold.

What the appointment of Ancelotti has done, to me at least is put to bed a lot of the arguments about people in the background at football clubs who have increasingly tried to cultivate themselves as the stars. You see it a lot at Liverpool currently, their recruitment people going on about how they are the best ever etc. They weren't seen as the best ever pre Klopp, in fact they couldn't get much correct and were roundly mocked for wasting all of the Suarez money on Balotelli and Benteke. The reality is getting a top draw manager in is the key variable, not the nerdy numbers they have.

I think the same is true here really. We now have a tactical aware manager. He will improve players and make players look better than they are. The focus of the club has to be geared in every facet towards him. The idea that he is an interchangeable piece in a system must now be looked at. He's the key cog. The chicken before the egg and all that.

That doesn't automatically mean it's a bad thing for Brands. Maybe he would prefer to do his work in the background. I'd certainly like to see an improvement of our academy and reserve team structures for example.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

On his day he can boss a midfield. Those days, though, are few and far between. The rest of the time he gets over-run in midfield.

Thats been my criticism of him aswell - he's either utterly boss or a complete liability.

Im willing to give him a chance under Carlo though as he didnt suit playing as a deep lying CM whatsoever without Gana there covering him defensively.

 

[davek]

He has struggled on outgoings (but done pretty well on incomings). The caveat is we bought a lot of rubbish post Martinez, particularly under Koeman on enormous wages of an age that it is very difficult to move on. That is at the very least a partial defence.

He will be judged though on his own signings and he needs to ensure some gain enough value to be able to be sold.

What the appointment of Ancelotti has done, to me at least is put to bed a lot of the arguments about people in the background at football clubs who have increasingly tried to cultivate themselves as the stars. You see it a lot at Liverpool currently, their recruitment people going on about how they are the best ever etc. They weren't seen as the best ever pre Klopp, in fact they couldn't get much correct and were roundly mocked for wasting all of the Suarez money on Balotelli and Benteke. The reality is getting a top draw manager in is the key variable, not the nerdy numbers they have.

I think the same is true here really. We now have a tactical aware manager. He will improve players and make players look better than they are. The focus of the club has to be geared in every facet towards him. The idea that he is an interchangeable piece in a system must now be looked at. He's the key cog. The chicken before the egg and all that.

That doesn't automatically mean it's a bad thing for Brands. Maybe he would prefer to do his work in the background. I'd certainly like to see an improvement of our academy and reserve team structures for example.

The problem for Brands is that his status as a DoF is undermined already in Ancelotti's eyes. It must be. Ancelotti will know that wherever he's gone he's been the dominant force at the club in terms of playing side, but he'd have been brought in by a DoF at other clubs and so there would be at least that respect and understanding that ultimately he'd need to take the DoF seriously, as he'd also have a say in his departure. That doesn't exist here. Ancelotti knows that the major football decisions are taken by the owner, with Kenwright probably above Brands also in the pecking order.

 

[davek]

Thats been my criticism of him aswell - he's either utterly boss or a complete liability.

Im willing to give him a chance under Carlo though as he didnt suit playing as a deep lying CM whatsoever without Gana there covering him defensively.

Ancelotti will get an extra 10% out of all the players, yes.

 

[catcherintherye]

The problem for Brands is that his status as a DoF is undermined already in Ancelotti's eyes. It must be. Ancelotti will know that wherever he's gone he's been the dominant force at the club in terms of playing side, but he'd have been brought in by a DoF at other clubs and so there would be at least that respect and understanding that ultimately he'd need to take the DoF seriously, as he'd also have a say in his departure. That doesn't exist here. Ancelotti knows that the major football decisions are taken by the owner, with Kenwright probably above Brands also in the pecking order.

Yes hard to argue with a lot of that. However all we can say, is that potentially Brands will be happy to work in the background. That's going to be the crux of the issue here.

I mean Brands put out a statement saying Silva was safe on Friday and he was sacked the following week. It seems he wanted to keep Silva longer. There are some noble intentions there, but you are right to say he has been undermined but also that such a decision was ultimately the wrong call.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but you can't make too many wrong calls in any job.

 

[Westend Blue]

Yes hard to argue with a lot of that. However all we can say, is that potentially Brands will be happy to work in the background. That's going to be the crux of the issue here.

I mean Brands put out a statement saying Silva was safe on Friday and he was sacked the following week. It seems he wanted to keep Silva longer. There are some noble intentions there, but you are right to say he has been undermined but also that such a decision was ultimately the wrong call.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but you can't make too many wrong calls in any job.

Ancelotti wasn't available at the time personally I would of stuck with Silva then gone with moyes or someone of that ilk

 

[brieverton]

Brands has not done well enough, he should be under scrutiny.

He came into a situation where we had made a mess of previous windows, and the margin for error in further windows was consequently reduced significantly.

I agree that Ancelotti will raise the standard of many of the current crop, signed by Brands and others, and we are seeing this already.

The bottom line for me though, after two years of Brands come the summer, is that we still require heavy re-construction and that is quite damning on his ability to orchestrate a fundamental re-shaping of the squad to our long-term betterment- the main reason he is here.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

Brands has not done well enough, he should be under scrutiny.

He came into a situation where we had made a mess of previous windows, and the margin for error in further windows was consequently reduced significantly.

I agree that Ancelotti will raise the standard of many of the current crop, signed by Brands and others, and we are seeing this already.

The bottom line for me though, after two years of Brands come the summer, is that we still require heavy re-construction and that is quite damning on his ability to orchestrate a fundamental re-shaping of the squad to our long-term betterment- the main reason he is here.

"This is a job that will take 3 years at least"