Ange Postecoglou

There's no way that Griffith’s behaviour can be apportioned to Postecoglou, he's not the first manager to be let down by him......might be last one though.

 

Fair enough but my point still stands - I'm sure Lawwell was still using his influence when at least some of these names came up and Ange is still looking at a list of players compiled by someone who he doesn't know and hasn't worked with before.

 

Of course he's working from a list of previously scouted players aswell as players he knows of himself. You don't just scrap scouting data when a new manager comes in fs.

 

I didn't say anything about scrapping data - people are talking about downsizing - if that's correct, then the targets he's been given will fit into that pattern.

 

If I remember correctly Ange, when asked about Midtylland said he knew quite a bit about them because Awer Mabil ( an Aussie lad ) plays for them. I think that demonstrates that he’s still followed the Aussies in leagues around the world. And knowing Ange, because he’s such a football nerd, it would not surprise me if he scours leagues all over the place. When at Brisbane he brought in an Albanian and German. 2 players who went on to be some of the best the league had ever seen.

 

It always confuses me that us, as perfectly normal fans who watch football, think we know a lot about other players and leagues etc because we watch them but doubt guys who literally dedicate their lives to the sport and consume it every minute of the day might not have watched a Bundesliga game or two cos he was in Japan.

There’s guys on here who scout the world for players (and do it pretty * well btw) in their spare time between * like hanging doors or working in Tesco.

 

I'm not having a pop at Ange and I know what he did at Brisbane. A few people have raised the concern that we are downsizing (in the light of last season and, frankly, the prospect that we won't earn much in Europe this year). I'm simply saying that, if that's the case, the list of players that he was presented with will have been influenced by Lawwell and the board who want to play it cheap.

 

I can tell you now, contract or no contract, if Griffiths does not tow the line and work his * off in training and does not do what is expected of him, he will not get a sniff of first team football. Ange has done it before and he will do it again. He will not tolerate any player disturbing the team's progress. Griff will be training with the Academy players for the season if he does not earn his pay. As far as I understand Griff is on a performance contract so its up to him to provide evidence to support the trust Ange has put in him.

 

Absolutely - Ange would have based his decision based on Griffith's fitness and attitude only. If this is true about Griffiths - he can GTF. However, there are stories every day about professional footballers and their off-field behaviour - even happened at Man Utd but people weren't blaming Ferguson.

I expect Ange to get a rough ride if results and performances are poor, not because one of our players is a total ned. Otherwise, pretty much every manager in football would be getting flak.

 

Either way whoever had final say should have their baws toed he should never have been given a new deal for what it's worth I think Ange would have had very little say in the decisions regarding Ralston or Griffiths

 

And as has been noted earlier, it's possible the Griffiths thing was as much about using him as a bargaining chip for another player.

Didn't I read he'd taken a pay cut to sign for another year?

 

Griffith was always taking a pay cut after last year, if he was kept at all. I'd guess him coming to terms with that was why he wasn't at training until he re-signed.

Are you suggesting our intention on keeping him on was to trade him as part of a transfer swap? If so, little chance of that happening now.

I think the reason Ange kept Griff was because there is really only Ajeti who is likely to make it into the season proper, with Eddy off and Bayo possibly sold.

 

How many hours before the first practice match with Wednesday ?

 

I think the game is at midnight Australian Eastern Time.

 

Thanks matey.

 

And any way for us Aussies to watch it?

 

No, you don't live and die by those decisions. You live and die by how you respond once the trust shown is broken. He offered him a clean slate and he * it. Nothing at all wrong there. But now, he's got someone with a lot of history who just pledged better before promptly stabbing him in the back for it. If it's real, then bin the little * and at least salvage the moral high ground