Has anyone else noticed this very direct shift in terminology MM has used in recent days? In referring to the departure of MA he has said LCFC must get on with achieving promotion this season thus there has been a shift from saying "within 3 years"... to promotion "THIS season?" It's not just a slip of the tongue - it is known that MM has always wanted it this season anyway but being so upfront about it is significant and could also partly be behind MA's dismissal.
Here's the possible significance: To achieve promotion right away is going to take two or three better players than LCFC have currently got. But they can potentially cost a lot of money. Manderic likes to build his teams relatively on the cheap - which means free transfer players including old players who may have one good season (maybe two) left in them. Sure, they'll command high wages but the are still cheaper than a succesfull and in-demand 22-25 year old's transfer fee. He is also happy to fund signing a good premier league and international player on loan for a season. MA probably wanted young, hungry players. Perhaps this strategy of MM's is why he did not fall out with Rednapp (a strong minded individual) because in the early years he AGREED with it and was happy to sign old players. Thus perhaps MM would have been happy for MA to draw up a list of say ten proven 32+ year olds available on a free and choose which 2 or 3 HE wanted without MM's interference - but MA refused to shop in this market at all. He wanted young players and young prospects from now on (because MM was certainly not going to hand over any more £2.1m transfer fees for them) - which meant that if they came good it was more likely to be in 2008/09. MM's feeling however is that old players signed 'in bulk' would find at least 2 or 3 of them (with one or two also proving to be too over the hill) taking the team to the premiership immediately.
Finally, the significance in this outright declaration of strategy is that the new manager will definately be the next victim if LCFC are not in, or strongly challenging for, the top 6 by xmas. Perhaps MM wants promotion now also because, on a business front, he has seen the debts piling up already for the costs of running the club including wages & transfer fees already accrued and they will pile up substantially if he has to repeat the process NEXT season. However if LCFC are promoted this season, he will have barely reached into his pocket before the big money of the premiership is gaurenteed and MM will see that the hole burnt in his pocket this season will end and that re-imbursement and indeed profit are round the corner. But next season in the Championship would be an expensive campaign to fund, on top of this one.
Here's the possible significance: To achieve promotion right away is going to take two or three better players than LCFC have currently got. But they can potentially cost a lot of money. Manderic likes to build his teams relatively on the cheap - which means free transfer players including old players who may have one good season (maybe two) left in them. Sure, they'll command high wages but the are still cheaper than a succesfull and in-demand 22-25 year old's transfer fee. He is also happy to fund signing a good premier league and international player on loan for a season. MA probably wanted young, hungry players. Perhaps this strategy of MM's is why he did not fall out with Rednapp (a strong minded individual) because in the early years he AGREED with it and was happy to sign old players. Thus perhaps MM would have been happy for MA to draw up a list of say ten proven 32+ year olds available on a free and choose which 2 or 3 HE wanted without MM's interference - but MA refused to shop in this market at all. He wanted young players and young prospects from now on (because MM was certainly not going to hand over any more £2.1m transfer fees for them) - which meant that if they came good it was more likely to be in 2008/09. MM's feeling however is that old players signed 'in bulk' would find at least 2 or 3 of them (with one or two also proving to be too over the hill) taking the team to the premiership immediately.
Finally, the significance in this outright declaration of strategy is that the new manager will definately be the next victim if LCFC are not in, or strongly challenging for, the top 6 by xmas. Perhaps MM wants promotion now also because, on a business front, he has seen the debts piling up already for the costs of running the club including wages & transfer fees already accrued and they will pile up substantially if he has to repeat the process NEXT season. However if LCFC are promoted this season, he will have barely reached into his pocket before the big money of the premiership is gaurenteed and MM will see that the hole burnt in his pocket this season will end and that re-imbursement and indeed profit are round the corner. But next season in the Championship would be an expensive campaign to fund, on top of this one.
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