[NathWBA]

The best managers usually played at low levels or not at all, like Hodgson, Atkinson, Mcmenemy, Wenger and Mourinho to name a few.
Just because they were great players like Robson, Don Howe etc desn't make them great managers.
The only worry i have with Cowley is the style of play, i hope he is a manager who can adapt to the tools he is given if you pardon the pun. That's if he comes.
I think i would sooner see him than all the other tired old names we keep hearing of.

If he turns us down then it really is time to worry.

That bit did make me chuckle. I do agree though, I am warming to the Cowley idea but his style of play does concern me slightly. The club need to get this appointment right, so I trust the decision make to make it, probably not. Wouldn’t want to be in their shoes though, if they take an experienced manager and it fails they will get slated for taking one of the “usual suspects” if they go with a relatively untested manager and it fails they will get slated for taking someone with a lack of experience.

[BAGGIE5]

To be honest i didn’t want Cowley at first. But i have since watched some YouTube videos of him talking. There is a couple of quailty coach views video in which he talks at length.

His situation at Lincoln when he first went sounds very similar to West Brom. So im not so disappointed now if it is him. He seems ready for a fight. Which this job will be.

[telford baggie]

seen people say about style cowley would bring..cant be any worse than what shan was playing last couple of months

[pensnett stu]

We need another Ron Atkinson, don't we.
Someone who seems to come out of almost nowhere and turns out to be pure gold...

He had a good side when he took over,not like now

[alex1]

I don't know alot about Cowley, but its not enough just to assess on results. You could argue that Pulis's record purely based on results isn't bad. (Unless you look at the goals scored column).  I want to see decent football on the ground, where there is a place for players with skill and flair in midfield, which won't happen if they just get by-passed. Where players are encouraged to attack as a team, not with 8 players stuck back around the half way line.  Of course building a strong defence is important, but not if it means just parking the bus.
So I hope all the candidates are being assessed on their playing style. And I don't buy the line that the manager is forced to play defensive because of the players he has. That always seems to work in favour of being defensive.   

[lewisant]

https://www.coachesvoice.com/danny-cowley-talks-rebuilding-lincoln-city/

This video very much sounds similar to what Luke Dowling was saying in his "vision" statement. I think it may be Cowley.

[Hunnington Baggie]

seen people say about style cowley would bring..cant be any worse than what shan was playing last couple of months

yes it can... the grass on the other side of that fence is long dead, no mater how green it looks.

[AlbionFan]

Daily Mail report allegedly,

West Brom vying with Middlesbrough for Danny Cowley, Baggies closer to deal

[Windmill Baggy]

The best managers usually played at low levels or not at all, like Hodgson, Atkinson, Mcmenemy, Wenger and Mourinho to name a few.
Just because they were great players like Robson, Don Howe etc desn't make them great managers.
The only worry i have with Cowley is the style of play, i hope he is a manager who can adapt to the tools he is given if you pardon the pun. That's if he comes.
I think i would sooner see him than all the other tired old names we keep hearing of.

If he turns us down then it really is time to worry.

Guardiola, Ferguson, Clough, Robson (Bobby), Beckenbauer, Conte, Capello, Ancelotti, Hiddink, Rijkaard, Cruyff, Zidane, Shankly, Dalglish, Michels, Venables, Keegan, Simeone, Pochettino, Paisley, Pellegrini, Zagallo, Low, Allegri, Zoff, Ramsey, Del Bosque, Lippi, Heynckes, Jacquet, Klopp, Schon, Deschamps, Bearzot, Trapattoni........all played professionally and almost all at the highest level.

Scolari, Mourinho, Benitez, Wenger, Sarri, Parreira, Saachi, Hodgson are outliers rather than the norm when it comes to the better managers.

[Windmill Baggy]

I don't know alot about Cowley, but its not enough just to assess on results. You could argue that Pulis's record purely based on results isn't bad. (Unless you look at the goals scored column).  I want to see decent football on the ground, where there is a place for players with skill and flair in midfield, which won't happen if they just get by-passed. Where players are encouraged to attack as a team, not with 8 players stuck back around the half way line.  Of course building a strong defence is important, but not if it means just parking the bus.
So I hope all the candidates are being assessed on their playing style. And I don't buy the line that the manager is forced to play defensive because of the players he has. That always seems to work in favour of being defensive.

Good post. I see a fair amount of lower league football and having seen Lincoln play on more than one occasion I can say I wasn't impressed. The game I saw them this season they were outplayed and were what I would describe as a very 'functional' side: big, strong, set-piece reliant. Pulis MKII. If the board are looking at that level I'd rather we appointed Tisdale the MK Dons manager. He did a great job on limited funds at Exeter, got promotion with MK this year and likes to play good football.

[paulosull]

Style of play is a more direct approach in the similar mould of Pulis which will give our owner a hard on.

[baggie82]

Only a idiotic board out of their mind would appoint a manager who has never managed above a league 2 club to a team trying to get promoted from the championship...in which case expect Cowley to get the gig. Seriously, league 2 football is closer to rugby than the premiership, success as that level and building a football team to compete in the premiership is essentially a different sport. So you'd have to be insanely incompetent to go for Cowley if your Albion. But the board do keep surprising me. Just when you think it can't get worse they find a way.

[Standaman]

This is just depressing

https://www.coachesvoice.com/danny-cowley-how-lincoln-city-beat-burnley-fa-cup/

I don't have a problem with a non-league side going to a Premier League side and "staying in the game" but their whole emphasis was on organisation without the ball. I doubt it is ever anything other than that with the goal threat coming mainly through set peices this is Pulisball.

The great tragedy is that the squad is about to be rebuilt and there will be enough new blood coming to take us in virtually any direction we choose to go. Yet we are choosing to go for the most basic regressive type of football.

[alex1]

This is just depressing

https://www.coachesvoice.com/danny-cowley-how-lincoln-city-beat-burnley-fa-cup/

I don't have a problem with a non-league side going to a Premier League side and "staying in the game" but their whole emphasis was on organisation without the ball. I doubt it is ever anything other than that with the goal threat coming mainly through set peices this is Pulisball.

The great tragedy is that the squad is about to be rebuilt and there will be enough new blood coming to take us in virtually any direction we choose to go. Yet we are choosing to go for the most basic regressive type of football.

Interesting listening to them. I think as a non-league manager playing away from home v a Prem league side, the Prem league team is almost certain to have more ball possession because they will be the more technically gifted. So I don't have too many problems with them sitting back and just hitting Burnley on set pieces.

But, its a different matter if they are playing against teams at their own level. If they were at the Albion, we would, or should be taking the game to the opposition and aiming to dominate ball possession. It comes down to having players who are comfortable on the ball, where quick passes are likely to hit the mark. If you have players who are not comfortable on the ball, they end up hoofing it. Or we end up playing for set pieces.
 
Are these guys the type of trainers that coach to improve the ball skills of players? Or would they bring in players who could play that way?

[baggies_24]

I’d also like to know if the Cowley’s have a history of bringing young players through. I think this is an absolute must for the next man in charge as it sounds like the crop of youngsters that will be coming through the academy in the next couple of years are going to be banging on the door for a place in the starting 11.

[skyclad99]

Well I have watched it and all I am seeing are two chaps who clearly analyse the game to the finest detail, realise what their teams capabilities actually are and plan accordingly. I do not know a great deal about the Cowley brothers, but they are getting too much press coverage to simply be ignored.

This thread does make me smile at times. The vast majority of us all agree that we do not want the Appleton/Shan combo. Some of us are open to the safe pair of hands in Hughton, and others want managers who are probably beyond our reach, or who do not want to come here. We all agree that we need a complete rebuild, and we want an appointment that is going to take the club forward. Here are two young up and coming brothers who are clearly ambitious and attracting a lot of attention, but they are not good enough for us??? Why? because they are from the lower league? because of their style of play? We all have to start somewhere.

This team needs new blood and fresh thinking at many levels. Unlike many of you on here I do not know enough about the Cowley brothers to be critical of their style of play, so I will leave it to Luke Dowling & the board to see if they can get this one right, and if it is the Cowley brothers they will absolutely have my support.


Its a roll of the dice, but its like that with any appointment, not just these. I seem to remember we shook a two and a one with Pardew, a premier league manager apparently......... 

[darbolina]

be nice to hear from Lincoln fans or those that have watched them as to whether the Cowleys approach has been enjoyable? Albions best teams over the years have generally not been overl possession based but have been dynamic, had width, pace , played through midfield and been exciting on the break.

[tuamigos]

From Jokanovic to the Cowley brothers.
Only at the Albion

Like going out shopping for some nice steak and coming back with a bag of salt and vinegar crisps.

[skyclad99]

From Jokanovic to the Cowley brothers.
Only at the Albion

Like going out shopping for some nice steak and coming back with a bag of salt and vinegar crisps.

I know what you are saying tuamigos, is that the Jokanovic who spent £100m last season and got sacked because Fulham were rubbish?
My point is that he can certainly set a team up [or not perhaps] but would you trust him with a  transfer budget?

I think we also need to remember that Lincoln City won L2 with games to spare, and were the 2nd highest scorers in that division, which sort of quashes the defensive tag that the Cowley brothers have. Can anyone else see the potential irony of Lincoln making it into the Championship next year and trading places with us?

Our club is running on a very tight budget, we need to manage our expectations.

[kris_boing]

Still expecting it to be Appleton.

[Standaman]

Interesting tweet from Tom Farmey who is a Deputy Editor on the Daily Mail Sports desk which suggests that Albion's interest in Dan Cowley is not anywhere near advanced as was earlier reported and the matter is likely to be resolved today implying that he would be staying at Lincoln. I am giving this some weight as Farmey is from Lincolnshire and might therefore be better connected than most national journalists.

The earlier story was a Press Association story which was run in a number of papers. PA is a wire service and while their stories are often well sourced and written by competent and professional journalists they seem to have a much greater impact because their content is reproduced by other Media organisations to fill gaps in their own coverage. Once they gain traction often other outlets run similar stories just so they don't appear to be scooped.

This along with O'Neils distancing himself from the role would suggest that I have fallen into the trap of giving the press a little bit too much credit for finding out what is actually happening at the Albion.

Going back to what we know from the horses mouth. There is a short list of 4. Appleton/Shan are not on the list while not a direct quote from Dowling it seems to have been briefed to the local press as Birmingham Mail reported it.

I would be amazed if Hughton is not on the list other than that who knows?

[skyclad99]

Still expecting it to be Appleton.

I agree, its got Appleton/Shan written all over it.

Its a bit like a job interview at work when you know who is going to get it, but they go through the motions just so they can say it was 'an advertised post and a fair competition'. I bet the nameplates for the doors are already ordered... prove me wrong Albion.

[tuamigos]

I know what you are saying tuamigos, is that the Jokanovic who spent £100m last season and got sacked because Fulham were rubbish?
My point is that he can certainly set a team up [or not perhaps] but would you trust him with a  transfer budget?

I think we also need to remember that Lincoln City won L2 with games to spare, and were the 2nd highest scorers in that division, which sort of quashes the defensive tag that the Cowley brothers have. Can anyone else see the potential irony of Lincoln making it into the Championship next year and trading places with us?

Our club is running on a very tight budget, we need to manage our expectations.

Not advocating Jokanovic as manager just pointing out the analogy.
On the plus side we wouldn't have to worry about him spunking £100m up the wall here would we?

[NathWBA]

I know what you are saying tuamigos, is that the Jokanovic who spent £100m last season and got sacked because Fulham were rubbish?
My point is that he can certainly set a team up [or not perhaps] but would you trust him with a  transfer budget?

I think we also need to remember that Lincoln City won L2 with games to spare, and were the 2nd highest scorers in that division, which sort of quashes the defensive tag that the Cowley brothers have. Can anyone else see the potential irony of Lincoln making it into the Championship next year and trading places with us?

Our club is running on a very tight budget, we need to manage our expectations.

widely reported that Jokanovic had next to no influence on the signings Fulham made and it was someone like the owners son pretty much playing football manager and signing people

[skyclad99]

widely reported that Jokanovic had next to no influence on the signings Fulham made and it was someone like the owners son pretty much playing football manager and signing people

This should help you out Nathan

https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/fulham-transfers-joe-bryan-jokanovic-14599209

You are correct in the fact that it was the owners son who oversaw the transfers, but Jokanovic was clearly consulted. Interesting to see that Brian Talbot is part of the process as well!