Michael118

He's hardly been given an opportunity but has been good overall when he's played. He's a better option than Gestede next to a player like Gayle or Sellars. I'm sure he would start scoring as well if given an extended run in the team.

Sign Gayle to play alongside Kozak with Sellars as back up. Sell Gestede and bring in 1 more striker. Keep Gabby but he doesn't play until he's fit. Sign some new midfielders to support Westwood and hopefully Gana. I think our defensive options are good if we can hold onto Clark, Okore, Amavi, Bacuna, Cissokho, Hutton and Donacien. MUST try and keep Gil and Traore I hope RDM can get the most out of this group but I am not holding my breath.

Middle of the road manager. Probably good enough for where we are now. Probably not good enough to survive long term in the premiership unless heavily backed.

I'd be doing everything possible to get Marcello Bielsa. I am sure he could get us out of the championship and has the potential to make a huge impact in the PL.

Going by reports in the media which suggest Moyes is interested and other reports suggesting Pearson is the frontrunner. I want us to appoint the best manager available. Someone who can get us promoted but also someone who is likely to be a success in the premier league. Hiddink, Allardyce, Bielsa, Pulis, Moyes, Laudrup, Guidolin or someone completely new.

Overlooking Moyes for Pearson would be a big, big mistake. I'm not completely convinced about Moyes but he offers a lot more potential for long term success than Pearson and I don't think he'd be any less likely to get us promoted.

West Ham would be an extremely good move for him. I don't rate him that highly but I can see him doing really well there.

Allardyce, Pulis, Moyes, Laudrup or someone new. I'd be disappointed if we ended up with any of the other managers who have been linked.

I'd like to see us try and get Sam Allardyce if Sunderland are relegated. If not there has to be someone around who would take the job and also be a chance to succeed in the premier league.

Why not go for a manager who can get us out of the championship quickly and also has the potential to be successful in the premier league?

I hope they don't think Steve Bruce will be any better than Remi Garde in the premier league because he won't be.

Guzan Hutton Okore Clark Cissokho Sanchez Bacuna Gana Gil Kozak Sellars

Guzan Hutton Okore Clark Cissokho Sanchez Bacuna Gana Gil Sellars Agbonlahor (Bunn Lescott Mason Gestede Westwood Ayew)

Without knowing a whole lot about the championship my guess is it's a more rough and tumble league which would suit Gestede's game a lot better. The weaknesses in his game are probably more exposed in the fast, open style of the premier league. Do I think we should keep him? No, because he doesn't fit with the kind of team I would be trying to build to get us back into the PL and further. I'd rather keep Kozak because his movement and positioning are better and I can see him working better with Gil and Agbonlahor and most of our other creative players and strikers.

Of course it's more than it's individual parts but you can't underestimate the importance of quality. Quality parts which can work together is ideal. We have those parts and they can work together. We haven't had a manager who has figured out how to use them or get them going. We have more than two players with quality. I think we are too far apart on the quality of the squad to even go into it. I didn't brush anything aside I genuinely didn't follow Norwich closely enough in that period to say what made them successful. I went through the reasons I think Howe would be a success in my last post and I went through the reasons I think Allardyce, Pulis and others would have been successful in the Remi Garde thread.

I was just as unaccustomed to the names at Watford and overall they are not relegation standard. I hadn't heard of Odion Ighalo yet it took me a few seconds in his first PL match to figure out he was a player. I am the last person to look at a player's name or reputation and use that as any kind of basis to form an opinion. There may be no way to prove it unless it actually happened but it's my conclusion and it doesn't mean it's incorrect. I have a lot of confidence in it and am here to share it.

I go through Bournemouth's squad and it looks like relegation standard. They continue to get results and good performances out of their championship quality players and I put that down to Howe's management. It's backed up by my impression of him and his personal qualities. I go through our squad and it looks a level above. Our performances though are consistently dire. I look at the 2 managers we appointed and both are uninspiring to say the least. The natural conclusion is it's the manager who is failing. I'm sure there is some advantage of having a settled squad which was built up through the divisions but you won't convince me that is major reason for their success. If we swapped Sherwood and Garde for Howe I am confident the results would be close to reversed. Lambert failed here for similar reasons Garde is failing now - mainly inability to motivate or inspire the players. I didn't follow Lambert at Norwich closely enough to know exactly what happened there. Howe has shown he can get a below average group of players motivated and punching above their weight. This along with the personal qualities he displays makes me confident he would be a good chance to succeed.

Get Eddie Howe at Aston Villa and it wouldn't take long for our squad to start looking like the stronger one in ability and mentally. I'd like to see what Sherwood and Garde would have got out of Bournemouth.

Some of Garde's poor and costly decisions: Persisting with Gestede, Ayew and Veretout as our main attacking threat for so long. Excluding Kozak then doing a u turn after finally giving him a chance. Refusing to use Traore other than as a late substitute. Excluding Agbonlahor and N'Zogbia when they could have benefited us. Using Gil mainly as a substitute until not long ago. Not trying Jerrell Sellars when we desperately needed a striker and he was scoring and deserved a chance. Our midfield and striking options are not the greatest and it was imperative that any manager we got in got the balance right. I don't think Garde did. He has made some good decisions but they took him a long time to make. More than anything it's the psychological and motivational side which lets him down. For me it's obvious Allardyce or Pulis would have done a better job and more than likely kept us up.

I didn't watch the game but he's always had the ability to put in great crosses. Really please he is doing well just a shame it is for Leicester not Aston Villa.

I wanted Albrighton to stay. He was our best and most dangerous player in the period before he left. I didn't understand why there wasn't a bigger deal made about him leaving. Gana I am less sure about but is not dissimilar. I think the chances are high he would be successful if he moved to another club with a good manager.

I haven't watched a lot of Arsenal this season but player for player their squad looks stronger than any one else. Sanchez, Ramsay and Bellarin are as good as you'll find in their positions. I don't rate Ozil as high as others do. The squad drops off a bit after that but they have at least as much quality overall as anybody they are competing against.