So literally minutes after I posted the Leeds review, I got news that I honestly wasn't expecting so soon, but yes you read the post title: our manager Paul Hurst has been sacked! Now this is news that I think all us Town fans were expecting but definitely not so soon. Our owner Marcus Evans has had a history of holding onto managers for a long time with the idea of sacking them to be a last resort. I think many given the history were expecting him to stay for at least a few more games, but no Evans has pulled the plug now. So this post is gonna have a lot of negativity to it but I do wanna look at the positive side and the overall missed potential that was Paul Hurst at the club.
When Hurst came into this club, all us fans were pretty happy. I mean this is what we all wanted, a young manager with fresh ideas who played more attacking football after a couple seasons of dull defensive football under Mick McCarthy. I was a little worried that he hasn't had any championship experience, with him mostly managing the lower leagues - but as a whole it was a fresh start and as a whole a new era for the blues. And to be fair to the guy, he does seem a nice genuine guy. He says the right things, is very professional when it comes just being a manager. But as far as good things about Paul Hurst, that's were things kinda end.
For me the main reason why Hurst failed as our manager, is because of his transfer decisions. I mean coming off last season we had a decent squad that under a more attacking manager, had a lot of potential. But almost immediately cracks began to show. I mean just look at the players that departed our club during the transfer window under Hurst. Martyn Waghorn - our top goalscorer from last season, sold for £5 million to Lampard's Derby County. Adam Webster - £3.5 million to Bristol City. Joe Garner - gone to Wigan Athletic. David McGoldrick - on a free to Sheffield United. That's 4 proven championship quality players you've just let go just like that. And the players he brought in to replace them, are well below par for the championship. Now I know Ellis Harrison and Jon Walters getting injured was unlucky, but still with them lacking good striker options even with them uninjured they were never gonna do so. I mean if he had signed 2 or 3 lower league players and gradually eased them into the lineup that might've worked but asking like 7 or 8 players to make the jump is just asking way too much of them. I mean the only signing that has made the step up is Gwion Edwards, he actually played pretty well for us. But nearly everyone else are players that weren't ready for the jump up and as such we ended up with a side that lacks almost all Championship quality required for this league. Hurst seemed to just completely underestimate the jump up from League One to Championship football, as really it's huge. There's a reason why newly promoted clubs often go straight back down again as they have a core group of players that are not championship quality but are still there because the manager has faith in his players enough that got them up. I mean if the team has a lot of momentum going forward then maybe with one or two additional signings they will stay up, but if you wanna stay in the league you need championship quality players and so far this season we seriously looked like a newly promoted team from League One.
And the results showed... Under Hurst we played 15 games in all competitions, and between them all we got a grand total of 1 win, scored only 12 goals and conceded 23. You see what I mean about us seeming like a newly promoted side? I mean it's all well and good getting a point from good teams like Brentford and Aston Villa along with even winning against former PL side Swansea. But if you can't beat teams like Hull City, QPR, Rotherham, Bolton and of course Exeter... So overall I think it was the right decision to let Hurst go, he was clearly a manager out of his depth and ended up making naive choices that has put us in our position - bottom of the table and 4 points adrift.
But of course there now is the small matter of who should replace him:
1) Paul Lambert - Well we have been heavily linked with Paul Lambert. He's a manager with lots of experience in both the Premier League and Championship and has managed sides like Wolves, Blackburn, Norwich, Aston Villa and Stoke. Now he did bring Stoke down as we all know last season, but I have to say he could be a good appointment. He could bring all that experience together and save our season, if he is given the financial backing of Evans.
2) George Burley - He's clearly the fan favourite to come in and I would love him to do so. He's a club legend and as you all know he got us into the PL in 2000 and got us to Europe the following year. He's publicly shown he wants the job however, he's been out a job for 6 years now so it could be seen as a risk on Evans part to get him in. I think he could be great Coach or Director of Football but I can see why Evans wouldn't want him in at the moment.
3) Steve Bruce - Steve Bruce as we all know recently got sacked as Aston Villa manager, despite getting them to the playoff final last season. He has a ton of Championship experience with him getting Hull City into the PL on two occasions. He could be a great manager but I find it kinda unlikely he would accept the offer due to our low transfer budget and current squad.
4) Alan Pardew - former West Brom manager, he's been without a job since April. Personally I would be strongly against him being manager, he has gotten really poor results with the last few clubs he's managed and he effectively bought West Brom down last season with only 3 wins in 21.
There are a few others that are possibilities like Bryan Klug, Paul Heckingbottom and the possibility of McCarthy returning (i really hope he doesn't) but I really don't know. Evans is bound to make his decision in the next few days so stay tuned for my reaction when that comes along with the Millwall game that is on the way in a few days time as well.
Paul Hurst, despite my dislike of what you did for the club I wish you all the best for the future and hope you have a better time at your next job than you did over here in Suffolk.
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