JOE was recently at Sky Sports HQ to have a chat with the Sky Sports panel about the new season, and how all the new managers will cope
JOE jetted in to Sky Sports HQ to chat to all the football pundits that we’ll be hearing from this season from Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to Jamie Redknapp, Graeme Souness, Alan Smith, Dwight Yorke, and Niall Quinn. The lads waxed lyrical about all that was going with managers in and out of a host of clubs. We also ran in to Hayley McQueen and said hello to her like we knew her, since she’s on our TV all the time. Smooth, JOE, smooth…
Sky kicks off its biggest ever Premier League season with live coverage of Swansea v Manchester United on Sky Sports 1, Sky 2 and Pick TV on 17 August, so make sure you’re signed up to catch all the action. To celebrate the biggest season ever on Sky Sports, the first day will also be free for all of those out there who have Sky 2 on their TVs, so you can get a taste for the action.
JOE: This summer’s transfer dealings have been really public, who benefits from that publicity, and if they don’t bring in these players is it a bad window for the managers and the club?
Alan Smith: I think if you’ve made it public that you want to add to your squad and then you can’t add to your squad, that’s a problem. Obviously Cesc Fabregas has been the major one for David Moyes at United. If you can’t get him then you’re not overly jolly with that. It sort of reflects in a negative way on you. David Moyes is a prime example in that he wants a marquee signing to herald his new managerial career.
Graeme Souness: What he doesn’t want is a marquee departure.
Alan Smith: He’s obviously stuck his neck out and said at the start upon taking over that Wayne Rooney will not be leaving, whether or not in hindsight that was a little bit of a rash judgement remains to be seen.
Niall Quinn: Don’t forget, clever managers make good progress at being clever in the press to suit whether they need a player, or want to hold on to a player. Managers play the game. Trying to work out the subplots within that is quite interesting. You can make it a bad window by your team as a manager, as a club, if you over-promise your fans and if you under-deliver. United have always done it the opposite way. Go right down to the bottom of the league where at QPR, Fernandes told them every day via Twitter what player they were going to try and sign, the agents rubbed their hands together and we look at the carnage after.
Gary Neville: I think Bayern Munich buying Gotze, they were the clever ones. I think you’ve almost got to buy next season’s players today. You’ve almost got to have deals in the bag so you’re doing them that quickly. You have to think 12 months in advance. For example, if Arsenal don’t get Suarez for 40 million, do they then go and think “I’ve got to buy anybody”? I don’t think he’s like that, Arsene Wenger. I don’t think naturally Arsenal are like that.
JOE: Do you think that David Moyes has been lined up by the media already to fail?
Gary Neville: I do think looking at the title odds that they’re third favourites. There is a pressure that’s being applied. You knew that was going to happen. You’re never going to follow Sir Alex Ferguson without that level of pressure put on you. It will certianly help David Moyes to get his hands on a Fabregas-type character because it will give everybody a lift. You know big signings, huge signings give everbody a lift at a football club, obviously including the fans.
JOE: Is the fact that there’s a new chief executive there at the moment a drawback for Moyes?
Gary Neville: I wouldn’t say its a drawback. You’ve got to think David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson were inseparable, a great partnership, so to have both change at once is a big upheaval at the club obviously, but you’ve got to remember Ed Woodward has been there for a number of years himself, he’s not been parachuted in.
David Moyes obviously doesn’t know the club yet but he has gone through the system and the process the right way. I’m pleased the way in which they’ve approached the appointment of a new manager, the fact that they’ve not gone for, if you like, the star, they given it to the guy who deserves the opportunity.
JOE: Do you think it’s a help or a hindrance to have Alex Ferguson still there?
Dwight Yorke: Well, it’s fantastic to still have him there. Why would you not want the greatest manager ever there if you need him. He’s said that he will stay away, and so far he has been away from the players. But if there is any sort of recommendation Moyes can always talk to him.
JOE: Is Mourinho mischief-making over the Rooney deal, playing mind games?
Jamie Carragher: You probably could argue these are the things Manchester United have to put up with now. It’s changed now Alex Ferguson’s not there. I certainly don’t think he’d have come out with those comments about Rooney if Ferguson was still there. With the change at Manchester United you’re going to see more and more of this type of thing. That wouldn’t have happened before at Manchester United.
Jamie Redknapp: Mourinho’s not doing it unless he’s got half a clue he can get him. Let’s not kid ourselves, that’s how it works. He knows there’s a great chance. There’s obviously a lot of dialogue going on and he’s not just doing it blind. That’s how it is.
Dwight Yorke: I think also they’ve got to test the water with Moyes, being in that position, the psychological barrier, seeing how he’s going to react. With Sir Alex in that position, he probably wouldn’t even think about it. The fact that Moyes is in that position now, he’s an easy target at this stage. With one of the best players at the football club, things are not looking that rosy, he’s not been able to attract the players to the football club so there’s a lot of questions being asked that Moyes is having to deal with at the same time. It’ll be interesting to see.
Does the mentality change for opposition going to Old Trafford without Ferguson there?
Jamie Redknapp: I don’t know. There are still great players there, you still know you’re playing against Robin van Persie. If you start going there the first weekend of the season, and you open up thinking “oh it’s not Ferguson”, you’ll get turned over.
You’ve still got fundamentally the best players, that’s why they won the league last year. No doubt the manager is worth points. At times you’d see him and he’d be berating the referees, next half all the decisions would go the Man United way. And you’re thinking “how did that happen”? And that’s how it was. Nobody would ever… he had so much influence over people in football and that’s why if you were a Man United player you probably loved him to death, if you didn’t he’d drive you crazy.
JOE: Brendan Rodgers can sometimes be a polarising figure at Liverpool. He has a clear footballing philosophy and is a good man manager, but sometimes come out with statements that sound a little silly in the light of day…
Jamie Carragher: I think he has come in and he has done a good job in his first season, but it has to be moved on. I knew that last season as a player. There is no Europe this season, which is a disappointment, but I’m hoping that will give them a better chance in the league to really push for the top-four. I had a great relationship with him. I got on with him and he is a fantastic coach. But results are the be-all and end-all. Last season’s results were okay, nothing special. They have to go on again this season and do a lot better.
JOE: Who’s under most pressure out of three new managers in top four?
Jamie Carragher: I think the thing with the three of them is that it seems like they’ve all got to win the league to be successful. Whoever finishes second or third, we expect those three teams to be at the top, so it will be seen as a failure more or less. It’s a difficult job for all three really, they’re going to be competing against each other.
The obvious has got to be David Moyes, really, just for the fact of who he’s coming after, really. I’m just delighted a British manager’s got a chance, they’ve been the dominant force for 20 years, Man United, to give that job to a British manager who’s come up through the ranks, started a Preston, then to Everton, done a great job there. I think all eyes will be on him just for the fact of how long Sir Alex has been there.
Jamie Redknapp: I think that’s a great point Jamie makes there. The fact that he is a British manager might not give him the time. Normally wiwth foreign managers, we do tend to think they have some magic which isn’t always there. I hope he’s given time, I really do, I think Mourinho will be given it, because of what happened previously. I think they’ve come back and made friends now.
Pellegrini’s not had, I think, he won one trophy in Argentina, so he’s not been a winner throughout his career. But I think it’s so tight. Last year the game changer was when Van Persie went to Manchester United and you could see it. If you had any idea about football you would have said that makes them favourites, They’ve signed the best centre forward, they lost the year before on goal difference. You look at it this year, it’s nearly impossible to pick a winner isn’t it Dwight?
Dwight Yorke: Well it is, The boys are absolutely spot on in terms of what they’ve said. Three teams, three different managers, all expected to win the league. That’s got to be something in itself. The boys said Moyes. I’ve been very fortunate enough to travel with the team, been part of the backroom staff this year, I’ve been very impressed with Moyes, even though, I’ve met him several times. He is a determined as they come to win the Premier League. You can be sure it’s the same for Mourinho and the same for Pellegrini as well. No different there. But the fact he has inherited a team that won the Premier League in the manner that they won it, I do believe there is a certain determination to go out and win it again this season.
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