You are probably right, and I don’t knock the call for ambition . But fulfilling ambition successfully costs money, if the ambition is to have a European campaign for instance, which it would inevitably be the case , we can barely afford a squad to keep us in the division let alone one that could sustain both things.. West Ham spend better than us yet their squad can barely manage both tasks, and if you look back on the whole clubs with limited money very often end up relegated not so long after the European experience.
Personally I believe until we can afford to build a much stronger broader based squad ,
we may have ambition but no means, that is what our managers have to manage, at the same time as coaching a side to compete well enough not to lose the Premier status we enjoy.
As it happens Hodgson , amongst other achievements has taken a basement English team to a European final ,given the right squad there is nothing in his record to say he couldn’t do it again.

I would have mixed feelings if Roy were to stay on. He has done a fantastic job in digging us out of a hole, but I would worry that he may not be able to keep this momentum going. Two years ago he rightly considered it was time to move on, and I wonder if he really has the stomach for a another full season with all its trials and tribulations.

I just feel that keeping Roy for another year would be treading water and putting off the search for someone new, something that will inevitably have to happen sooner or later.

But of course there would have to be some suitable candidates available for the role. I wonder how willing Parish is to again risk appointing a manager with little or no PL experience. Previous out-of-the-box punts have given us DeBoer (a disaster) and Viera (ultimately falling short).

So I wouldn't be at all surprised if caution wins over and Roy was offered another year.

The reasons I’ve seen for Roy not staying are,

1) his age
2) not forward thinking in terms of planning for the future
3) the stodgy football played at the end of his last tenure

To these reasons I would counter,

1) he enjoys robust health, is mentally alert, retains his enthusiasm and is still more involved in day to day coaching than many other younger managers.

2) what constitutes planning in modern football?
At the beginning of this season Vieira was seen as the future for us but come February that looked more of a forlorn hope than a reality.
Brighton had Potter and all his staff which was all part of their long term plan at the beginning of the season, but then Chelsea came and poached not only Potter but most of his staff. Now fortunately for them that seems to have worked out with the new manager, but if he continues on his current trajectory he won’t be there long with higher teams beckoning.
The point I’m making is that upheaval is part of the modern game with a revolving door for managers.
You can make longer terms plan around e.g the academy, transfer strategy, ground development but not on the certain duration of a manager’s tenure.
With the above in mind Roy seems a highly credible candidate for at least the next season.

3) I was a big critic of Roy at the end of his last spell with the stagnant football.
However, in fairness once he’s had the talent (Cabaye, RLC, Eze, Olise) he has demonstrated that he does not stifle talent but positively encourages it.
Under Vieira the assumption was that the squad wasn’t good enough or didn’t run enough as the games without efforts on goals or getting players in the box mounted up.
The same squad is giving a lie to this assumption as Roy and the coaching team have transformed our play with a far more positive approach and no more possession for possession’s sake in our own half which was frequently the case under Vieira.

In summary it’s less of a risk to stay with Hodgson than take a punt on an unknown overseas manager unfamiliar with our players or the Premier League.
Moreover, there could even be an upside if the current players continue to flourish under Roy and we strengthen in a couple of areas.

Almost seems as though the deal with his maker was 'You'll be absolutely fine and extremely resilient in your best years however will fall apart quite quickly and dramatically after 30'.

Unfortunately he may not have factored this into his career pathway.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

I completely agree. I'm in the 'I want a new manager camp' for the main reason that another season of Roy is just kicking the can down the road.

In Rogers and Potter there are a couple of good managers out of work and then add to that list a few of the good ones in Holland and Germany linked. That 'feel' more ambitious.

But hey, Roy has an infinitely better team than he did before, and the players seam to be responding to him. So there is no reason to think that the form wont continue into next season

I think you are spot on regarding the fools gold of long-term planning built around 'The One'; a manager that will, all by themselves, take the club to the fabled 'next level'.

Our long-term planning as a club is done by the Chairman who, lest we forget, stabilized the club financially (more than many have managed), reunited the club and ground, bought and developed the training ground, then the academy, and will doubtless build the new stand in the end. These are all things he explained to be pillars of his long-term plan at the outset.

Our medium-term planning as a team is done by the DoF. Our 'managers' are just coaches. They do not sign or sell players, they do not offer or withhold contracts, and they do not shape direction. They pick the team and the tactics from the set of players the club provides.

I don't see any reason why Roy can't do a decent job for another year, or why we need to get, or should even be hoping for, a three or four year-long stewardship from our next manager. That's not how the club is set up nowadays.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (16 May 2023 4.51pm)