Will Still (WHU Related)

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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Colours never run »

hammers92 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:30 am I don’t understand why this guy has a 15 page thread.
Mainly because of his excellent start to management, very rarely losing even against the bankrolled top sides like PSG and Monaco as a 30yo just starting out. And of course the added Brucey bonus of being an avid Hammers fan.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Georgee Paris »

hammers92 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:30 am I don’t understand why this guy has a 15 page thread.
Because he’s the opposite of Moyes?
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by hammerman11 »

plays good football on the front foot as opposed to the slow back sling it over moyesball stuff. Too much of a risk for me, rather have carrick if we cant have poch !

we need a reboot and a defined style of play with future players brought in that support that style not played out of position ala scamacca paqueta fornals ,
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Mullhull »

hammerman11 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:06 am plays good football on the front foot as opposed to the slow back sling it over moyesball stuff. Too much of a risk for me, rather have carrick if we cant have poch !

we need a reboot and a defined style of play with future players brought in that support that style not played out of position ala scamacca paqueta fornals ,
Too much risk get you'd take Carrick who is equally inexperienced?
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Misko »

Reims appointed Samba Diawara as assistant coach during the WC break. He was under contract in Anderlecht, and spent many years in Belgium. Still and Diawara worked for Sint-Truiden in 2014-15 so I guess that's how the latter ended up in Reims. All the rest of the staff was not changed, I think.

In France, managers are not given much responsabilities on the transfers. They are involved in the process, more or less according to the clubs, but they don't have the final decision on the transfers. So you should not read the transfer record of a coach from France as you would for a Premier League manager. Jorge Sampaoli even left his job at Marseille last July because he was dissatisfied with the ongoing transfer window. Reims have worked pretty good on the transfer market lately, they have an efficient detection system, especially in Belgium. The last winter window, the one under Still's management, Reims mostly sold or loaned players out. Gravillon (CB) and Locko (LWB) who were starters under the previous manager left as the switch from a back 5 to a back 4 would have limited their game time.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Misko »

Bring_Back_Connolly wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:35 pm One thing I've also noticed during my recent interest in Lique 1 is Racing Club Lens.

After promotion, top 10 successive finishes, and currently sitting second this season.

Openda their striker, rapid and looks like a damn fine prospect, and huge credit to the manager for the last 3 years of consistent improvement.

Maybe Misko could give some more educated insight on him and the way they play etc
Marseille, Lens and Reims are by far the most pleasant teams to watch this season. Lille are also playing some nice football, and Nice are getting better and better.

Lens have been overachieving since they were promoted in 2020 (7th, 7th and currently 3rd) despite having a budget around €65m only. The manager, Franck Haise, is probably the main reason behind this success. He had a very decent career as pro player, in the second and third tiers of French football. He played more than 300 games in Ligue 2. He showed interest in coaching very early, he passed his first exams for youth coaching at the age of 19. In his mid twenties, his coach, Denis Troch, spotted his leadership qualities and his tactical vision. Troch asked Haise to help him preparing the training sessions. Unsurprisingly, at the end of his playing career, he was offered a job as player/manager in a smaller club. He rapidly stopped playing, but during his 3 years at the head of Stade Mayennais, he kept the club in CFA 2 (5th tier), a remarkable feat. This attracted interest of Rennes who offered him a U17 coach role. Rennes is one of the very best club in France for youth development. He spent 6 years there. He later joined Lorient as assistant coach, and then Lens, still as an assistant. In 2020, the manager was sacked, and he took over. The season was stopped because of Covid, and Lens was promoted as they were 2nd.

In Ligue 1, Lens suprised everyone as they were playing a very ambitious and offensive football, with high press, big intensity and quick transitions. They had oustanding results, but they lacked of depth in the squad to qlify for Europe. The same happened the next season, in 2021-2022, even if Lens were no longer a surprise, and the opponents could adapt to their way of playing. This year is more than a confirmation, Lens are now very serious contenders for a UCL spot next season.

Franck Haise is no longer a young coach (he's 51), but he really is one of the most emblematic representant of a new generation of technicians who are bringing major changes in French Football. Traditionally, French teams would be very defensive and conservative, using the profusion of very athletic players to build hoofball armies. Haise uses a 343/3421 system with extreme fluidity. The motion is permanent, and obvisously very elaborated during training. The player with the control of the ball will always be offered several options, diffrent ranges and directions. They attack in numbers, the midfielders and the wingbacks are using every opportunity to bring danger up on the field. Even the LCB and RCB can carry the ball high on the pitch or occasionally be in the last 30 yards to link the play. Igor Tudor's Marseille are even more radical, with CBs cutting through the opposite box multiple times a game on open play, but Lens are also quite atypical on this respect.

Seko Fofana is the standout player for Lens, the captain and probably one of the candidate for the Ligue 1 POTY one more time. He would hardly fit any conventional description. You can call him a box-to-box playmaker. Actually, he is able to create from deep, with very precise long balls, and a superior vision. But he is also lethal when carries the ball forward through the defence. His power and composure make him hard to stop. He also is very dangerous on long shots. Plus, he is a natural leader, the one that can carry the whole team on his shoulders, and turn a game upside down. He is given an almost total leeway by the coach, but he know to use it wisely.

But Haise, recently appointed as General Manager (the only one in France), has built a squad with players capable to play with the required (very high) intensity and dedication to the collective. Many of them are actually quite versatile, and many of them are actually positionned quite differently to where they used to play before. They have a very good set pieces taker (Frankowski), one of the best young CBs of the league (the Austrian Danso) and were extremely astute to bring the Belgian striker Openda last summer. His energy is vital for that difficult task of being the lone striker and the first man to press when the ball is lost. His pace and power makes him able to deal with the physical defenders in Ligue 1. He can get totally on fire, like for the hat trick in 5 minutes against Clermont few weeks ago, or the one out of the bench vs Toulouse last October. But he is more than just a goal poacher, he really makes the life of the defenders difficult.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Crouchend_Hammer »

Great info Misko

Seko Fofano played for Fulham, didn't he?
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Misko »

Crouchend_Hammer wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:31 pm Great info Misko

Seko Fofano played for Fulham, didn't he?
Indeed, I've just checked it. I didn't know it. I remember him when in Bastia (mostly because he headbutted another player), and I know he did OK at Udinese, but I think you can call him a late bloomer.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Bring_Back_Connolly »

Great information Misko, as usual, thank you for putting that together. :newthumb:
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Danny's Dyer Acting »

New bandwagon

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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by The Straw »

I don't think Salzburg come across as clever or funny as they think they do here. Unprovoked attack
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Mullhull »

Danny's Dyer Acting wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:12 pm New bandwagon
Best team in the league with all the resources.... nothing like Still or Reims.

Just a look at me post from their social media team
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Aztec Hammer »

If I was Will Still, I'd start a CM 01/02 with RB Salzburg and get them relegated on purpose. Oh wait, you can't, coz they weren't even called that then. Slags.

This Jaissle fella is a snazzy dresser though, so for that reason I am adding him to the list.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by polar »

Currently being interviewed on the Monday night club on radio 5live
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Bubbles Fortuna »

Foot Mercato reporting our interest in Still.

Probably just an easy rumour to make up though.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Bring_Back_Connolly »

polar wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:15 pm Currently being interviewed on the Monday night club on radio 5live
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001k76l

1hr 8mins - interview begins

edit: another really good interview, spoke about his defeat, maybe he was wrong with subs etc, fair play
Last edited by Bring_Back_Connolly on Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by davids cross »

Deeply impressive talker on the game.

God knows where his career will go but he is superb to listen to.

Got experienced professionals and journalists hanging on his every word on five live.

Good luck to him.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by EastleighHammer16 »

Bring_Back_Connolly wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:20 pm https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001k76l

1hr 8mins - interview begins

edit: another really good interview, spoke about his defeat, maybe he was wrong with subs etc, fair play
Enjoyed this. I really like listening to him speak. Hopefully he manages to get Reims into Europe this season because that would be some achievement!
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by The Straw »

Really enjoyable interview. Humble but driven. It's a great case study. Of course it might be a flash in the pan. That's an entirely reasonable possibility, and in all reality the most likely. But I think he has something about him. A lot to like. He's obviously not ready to manage our club. I think he would admit that himself. But there's nothing wrong with watching the story unfold and enjoying it, and hoping he cracks it. He's a breath of fresh air in a sport that is rapidly losing its way.

The 'football manager' snide remarks that i've seen are well wide of the mark and seem to come from people that haven't really followed the story. It's nothing to do with a computer game. As soon as someone says that, you know that they don't know the story. So there's no point engaging. As soon as you start arguing with an idiot it just looks like two idiots arguing.
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Re: Will Still (WHU Related)

Post by Doc H Ball »

I'd employ him in the summer having listened to that.

I'd also have Micah Richards banned from all media.
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