All true I'm sure, but budget and facilities were not new to him. He had come off the back of an unbelievable league winning situation etc. as a rookie Manager and is not that old, so where is these people's staying power.
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Maybe, it was not that difficult Schumacher
- Thread starter Phil Adams
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I'm sure that we all wished that we had signed Azaz.
Signing Whittaker for £1m was a forgone conclusion.
Signing Mumba was not on the cards immediately, but became a possibility, and with his form in the previous season and winning a few trophies as well became second choice, also for £1m.
Azaz's return to us on loan was late and obviously negotiations had been taking place prior to the move, as he had been left behind from Villa's pre-season tour, and he was not fit when he joined us. Maybe words were said at the end of the previous season that it was the club's intention to purchase him prior to the start of the next season. That never happened because of the purchase of Mumba and perhaps dealing with Villa for his loan again was the reason for his late arrival. Who knows?
Just speculation on my part.
The budget was set, and it was mainly spent on Whittaker and Mumba, and we were not able to purchase Azaz.
With hindsight I am sure that we all wished we could have purchased Azaz instead of Mumba but that is all water under the bridge now, and I am sure that, at the time, there would have been a furore about not purchasing Mumba, when the opportunity to do so would have been revealed later on.
My biggest regret was the fact that he was never replaced, but perhaps the price tag of £2.5m for a replacement was well out of our pockets and it just was not possible to replace such an important piece of our jigsaw, especially in the January window.
He may have thought 'I've performed a minor miracle in getting to this position, now give me a bit of backing to push the club forward'.
When he didn't get that, he was looking for other jobs. But would have been nice of him to tell Simon rather than going behind his back, because it was clear his departure was a total shock to SH.
Yes indeed. At the end of the day it all seems to be about Money.
The budget and facilities wouldn't have been significant factors when you're in the same league as Cheltenham, Shrewsbury etc. The difference between League One and the Championship is stark and I think he realised that pretty early on last summer - hence trying to get the Swansea job and then Bristol City.
As for his staying power, that's what bothered me the most about him leaving. Yeah, we get the money and facilities thing, but you buggered off at the first opportunity and left the club you claimed to care about in the lurch. He saw the tough times coming but didn't have the stomach for it and that's why I lost all respect for the man.
That's right, it was very difficult to believe what he said at the time about managers always being at risk of losing their jobs.
He was never going to get sacked from the Argyle job, short of pulling a gun on a board meeting or something completely insane like that. Simon Hallett even said "If Schuey lost the dressing room, I'd change the dressing room" or words to that effect.
What he meant though was a managers stock will rise and fall all the time, no he would not have been sacked if he got relegated but a mediocre performance in league one next season who knows? And he would certainly not be getting offers from places like Stoke.
Personally I think too much has been made of Schumacher going, he knew Azaz was off, he knew there was bugger all in the kitty for the January window, he knew we were over performing the stats significantly and we would not keep it up, he knew the second half of the season was a tougher fixture list than the first, he probably feared (wrongly as it turned out) that Morgan would be sold. In short he knew we would be fighting tooth and nail against relegation and even had he stayed I think we would be in roughly the same position, albeit it might have been a bit more entertaining along the way...
Incidentally and this will be a bit controversial, I think Foster was handed an impossible task for the all reasons set out above and he has become something of scapegoat for huge problems the club already had when he arrived. I dont think anyone would have done much better - although it seems his relationship with the squad is what did for him in the end.
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If we do stay up I wonder if it's worth making a bid for Azaz? We'll have to pay at least what Middlesbrough paid for him or £3 million, he's not a certain starter for them either.
We'll have the extra TV money and hopefully an investor will be on board during the summer.
On the flip side the new manager may not want Azaz and would prefer to spend that kind of money on several players.
We'll have the extra TV money and hopefully an investor will be on board during the summer.
On the flip side the new manager may not want Azaz and would prefer to spend that kind of money on several players.
Not a chance. He has settled in well at Boro and been instrumental in recent games as they have improved their league position. I would say he is a certain starter having bedded in and starting in the last 7 games. He will be a main player for them next season and double his value.
If Schumacher left because..."he didn't want a relegation on his CV"......then I'm appalled that the man was only interested in himself and not the club that gave him such a chance to become a manager....with the 100% backing of the owner as well....and maybe moving on was the best thing for the club in the end....however successful he had and could be at PAFC if he stayed on.....not the type of person that I'd want guarding my back.
Don't think he'll be going anywhere unfortunately. He's finishing the season strongly, with two goals and four assists in the last five games. He's also started all but four games since he went there, those were the four games immediately after they played us, but he was still used in all of those games. I think they're going to be looking to build the team around him next season.
I agree, I think Azaz is looking like the real deal (despite the, bless him, anonymous performance against us) and rather than arguably taking a step down back to us, he is more likely to be looking for a move upwards by the end of next season.
SS had 100% backing of the club and management, players and fans. However what he didnt have was an almost blank cheque to signing players, which he has now at stoke. Irrespective of how well SS did for us i totally agree with SH vision of a sustainable club. After all its not my money being pumped into he club, except the usual fans tickets merch etc. Would have been wonderful to sign Azaz but i have no idea how much he was going for, his wage demands etc. maybe it was too rich for us at that time.
Hindsite is a wonderful thing.
What i do know about supporting Argyle is how we always struggle towards the end of the season, scoring and winning. Last year was the exception.
Hindsite is a wonderful thing.
What i do know about supporting Argyle is how we always struggle towards the end of the season, scoring and winning. Last year was the exception.
Unless you consider beating Leicester a one off pressure Cup Final ......we can do this!
Not really an Argyle response but it will be interesting to see what Stoke do regarding SS future. My personal opinion is if they stick with him and with the right level of investment they’ll be in for a fairly decent season. Let’s just hope that we are one of the opposition!
