It's always been a matter of when with Koeman. At one point it seemed that when would be when he got a 'bigger offer' from Barca or somebody else (funny that our last two managers have been linked to that job considering their performances here). Now it's whenever the board deem it to be one loss too many.
For me there's no time like the present. This isn't particularly because we're on a poor run at the moment, as I'm sure we could scrape together a few results and comfortably finish the season in the 7th-10th area. Rather, I just don't see Koeman ever being capable of getting the best out of our squad on a consistent basis to achieve anything of note. There's absolutely no fight, no spirit in this team at all. It's reflected in the indifference of our manager and, let's be honest, we'd get turned over by any team with the bit between their teeth right now.
Less talented teams are out-fighting us, showing more passion and, equally concerning, better organisation. The Burnley game was possibly the nadir of this, although we were a lockerless Niasse away from the same against Bournemouth. More talented sides are brushing us aside with ease. The Spurs game at home was an embarrassment. Yes, they are a better side but being comprehensively outplayed at home by anyone should not be acceptable. They could have comfortably scored five or six.
I don't see the board failing to land a Lukaku replacement as a valid excuse. If Koeman is genuinely uninvolved in transfers I'd have to ask a very simple question: why? It's ludicrous to suggest he doesn't discuss appropriate players with Walsh. Unfortunately, it seems Koeman's manner is to identify one player and fixate on them. Hence Giroud's change of heart leaving us without. Hence the protracted Sigurdsson deal (as has been mentioned, frankly astonishing that so much effort was put into signing a player without there seeming to be any proper consideration of how he would fit into the team). It's difficult to judge Walsh based on what's happening with the first team but if we look at the recruitment at u23 level there seems to be a good deal of effective scouting and negotiating being done. Koeman wrong-headedly throwing his substantial weight around seems to be an issue.
There's obviously a level of concern about who might replace him. I'd be surprised if this board had the confidence and ambition to attract a Tuchel or, gulp, Ancelotti. Koeman himself was a very conservative choice at the time and I'm not sure that we have enough to offer that would make us appealing to either of them. And if we're to look at the Premier League the options (Dyche, Howe, Silva) all come with fairly significant caveats. Then there's Unsworth, who would almost certainly take on the role in a caretaker capacity in the first instance.
Unsworth has been absolutely fantastic as u23 manager. He's achieved results, developed players for the first team, gained an impressive level of trust and dedication, and spoken very well in the media. But he's never been a club manager before. It's hard to know how he'd do in the long term but, personally, I think he'd at least get the team fighting again. The game he took against Norwich has been spoken about a lot and people are right to say we were playing an already relegated team with no desire. Still, our performance was transformative and his selections indicated a coach who is aware of how to get the right blend on the pitch. For an interim period at least I'd have no qualms over putting him in charge.
Koeman has cultivated a curious attitude of blamelessness throughout his career: it was a viper pit at Valencia; Porto were unbeatable when he was at Benfica; Ajax and PSV imploded because he was forced to sell key players; at Everton he inherited a mess and it couldn't be expected that he do better than he did; he doesn't have a say in signings and, regardless of money spent, we're still weak in key areas; players are underperforming and react poorly to man management... ad nauseum. Amazingly, he's paid half a million pounds a month to not be responsible for almost every aspect of managing a football club. And the Moyes comparisons become most befitting when you consider that his two most recent jobs (where he semi-salvaged the reputation he ruined at Valencia and Benfica) were doing fairly well with limited resources at Feyenoord and Southampton. Sometimes managers just find their niche.
I don't expect a sacking this week, although something might happen over the next four games. Another European humiliation on Thursday might go some way to sealing his fate, especially if we fail to get a result against Arsenal. The Chelsea cup game is unlikely to be the clincher as I suppose Moshiri will categorise it as an 'expected loss', but if those three go poorly and we lose to Leicester the following Sunday his position will no longer be tenable. We shouldn't have to endure another month of this, though. And - in the odd event of us actually getting a few wins over those four - we'll probably be enduring more turgid football for the remainder of the season at least.
Christ, you can tell I have a day off work today.
GTFO, Koeman you fat headed cheese ball of arrogance. And get some ambition Moshiri. Nobs.
