5 things the 5 new managers have to do at their new clubs

This summer we have seen the "managerial merry-go-round" in full swing, as we said goodbye to Ferguson, Benitez, Pulis, Mancini and Moyes moving from one club to another. All five positions have now been filled, with familiar faces like David Moyes, Roberto Martinez, Jose Mourinho and Mark Hughes taking four of the jobs and Premier League newcomer, Manuel Pellegrini, taking the Manchester City position. All five jobs have very different outlooks going into the new season, there are 3 teams that would hope to challenge for the title, Everton are in a very precarious position where they could easily drop away from challenging for the top 6 places and Stoke will be hoping for a solid mid-table position after flirting with relegation last year. I want to suggest the five most important things for each manager to deal with at their new clubs.

Jose Mourinho - Chelsea


1. John Terry and Frank Lampard's position
I think one of the first things Mourinho has to do at Chelsea is discuss and sort out the positions of Lampard and Terry. They were the core of his side last time, but this was 6 years ago and under Benitez, both had bit-part roles. Mourinho has already announced that Terry will remain club captain, and Lampard obviously signed a new one year contract. Despite this, their positions at the club are still shrouded in ambiguity. After 3 years of internal conflict at Madrid, there are some suggestions that Mourinho will pander to Terry and Lampard so as to keep the dressing room on his side. The issue there is on the pitch, Terry and Lampard are not good enough these days. Cahill and Ivanovic had a decent centre back partnership going last year and Luiz is probably higher in the pecking order than Terry as well.

2. David Luiz conundrum 
Having mentioned him, it seems right to move onto the problem Mourinho faces with the 'curly-haired one'. Luiz is obviously an excellent footballer, he is generally liked by all football fans, he loves attacking, he can score goals, he obviously has fun playing football and he's a character. Mourinho though is a fan of disciplined sides, and Luiz simply doesn't fit into this. It is very difficult to imagine Mourinho playing Luiz at centre back at Chelsea. I think Mourinho needs to quickly decide if he wants to keep Luiz, and if so, where he wants to play him. He's too good and too expensive of a player to keep on the bench. Either sell or find a place in the side for him.

3. New additions 
It's crazy to think that a team like Chelsea, that has spent hundreds of millions of pounds over the past few years still has an incomplete squad. Central midfield and a new forward a critical signings for Chelsea. This summer is a goldmine for quality players who want to make a good impression for their international squads before the world cup. We've already seen huge moves in Europe, with players like Neymar, Moutinho and Falcao all making big money moves, Chelsea need to make their moves before it is too late. 

4. Romelu Lukaku
Mourinho's next issue will be sorting out the future of Lukaku. The striker had an excellent season at West Brom last year, scoring 17 goals in 35 games, and it seems unlikely that he'll be going out on loan next year. This is only a good thing, if Lukaku is going to be utilised by Chelsea. He's already spent one year wasting away on the bench, he cannot afford to spend another. If Mourinho doesn't plan to make Lukaku is main forward next year, he's better off letting him go out on loan to another Premier League side again. 

5. Fernando Torres
Torres will continue to be the problem and enigma for any Chelsea manager. £50 million was how much he cost, and this continues to be an issue. Small bursts of form have kept him near the first team, but it's surely not enough. He scored just 8 league goals last year, and his Europa League success his surely not enough to guarantee him a first team place. With Barcelona and Atletico Madrid interested, Mourinho would be wise to sell now before it's too late. Torres is too expensive to allow to stay on the bench and not play, and they need to cash in on him now. 

David Moyes - Manchester United


1. Wayne Rooney's future
Once again Manchester United are having to deal with Rooney's future, after he made the second transfer request in 3 years at the club. Unfortunately for David Moyes, this is his number one priority right now, it will define how things go from here. Moyes has had to deal with Rooney wanting to leave before, back at old club Everton, they had a well publicised feud and Moyes even took Rooney to court, their relationship is said to be better now but there will be inevitable, lingering resentments. Rooney also hasn't been the world class player he seems to think he is, after demanding a bumper contract in 2009-10 season, he hasn't repaid the club, last year scoring just 12 goals, although he did get 10 assists. If Moyes is to sell Rooney it'd show a 'no surrender' attitude and he get spending money to boost the club, if he keeps Rooney, then it shows that Moyes is capable of negotiation skills. In a way, despite it being a top player demanding a transfer, it's a win-win situation for David Moyes. 

2. Summer transfers
Despite not being in July, United's two main competitors in Chelsea and Manchester City have made three expensive, important signings already and Manchester United will not want to be left behind. Moyes has to quickly decide who he wants to sign, and if he is going to go back to his old club in Everton and look at the likes of Baines or Fellaini. Surely key for United is left back, central midfield and arguably wingers as well. Just as important as bringing in new players is sorting out the future of current players. We've already mentioned Rooney, but the likes of Nani, Anderson and Hernandez also have lingering doubts surrounding their future at the club. Moyes would probably hope for a busy summer, the board should be backing their new manager in the transfer market. 

3. Captain?
Something not so as publicised is the long term fitness issues of Nemanja Vidic. Currently the Manchester United captain, he only played 19 games last year and over the past few years has often had to pass the armband on to Patrice Evra. Back in 2010 Ferguson made the hard decision to not give Ferdinand the captain's armband, despite being the unofficial club captain during Neville's fitness issues because of Ferdinand's own injury troubles. Does Moyes take away the captain's armband from Vidic, who has struggled for years with injuries and hand it to a more reliable player. Evra usually holds it in Vidic's absence, but he wouldn't be a popular choice and may be replaced this summer anyway, Michael Carrick may be one player who is mooted, he has been at the club for over half a decade now and is a mainstay in the middle of the park. Rooney or Van Persie have both been captains of clubs or country in the past as well. A change in captain would send out a message of Moyes stamping his own authority on the club.

4. Sir Alex Ferguson's role?
Currently the ex-Manchester United manager is preparing to take an ambassadorial and directorial role at the club, but is there strong suggestion that Ferguson will be an unofficial advisor to Moyes. The question has to be how Moyes approaches this situation. It is a very odd one, Ferguson left after winning a world title, not being sacked, he's a genuine club legend, probably the biggest legend at the club and the situation is particularly unique. When Matt Busby retired, Wilf McGuinness, his replacement never left the shadow of Busby who did return for a short while. This is Moyes' nightmare, he cannot be seen as a weak manager, always looking to Ferguson, but at the same time, to shun Ferguson would be Manchester United suicide. It's a tricky path for Moyes to walk down.

5. Youth
David Moyes is in a fantastic position in that he has a lot of talented youth players at his disposal, but the issue is how he best uses them. Players like Chris Smalling, Nick Powell and Alexander Buttner had limited playing time last year. Looking at the players ahead of them, it's unlikely that they will break through into the first team so would they be better off served going on loan? We've seen the loan moves be a success in the past, Danny Welbeck had a good loan spell at Sunderland, Tom Cleverley at Wigan and it would give them exposure to first team football, hopefully in the Premier League. The only issue is when sending players on loan is that sometimes it's difficult to ever get them into the first squad as they never adjust to Manchester United. Moyes has to sort out how he will approach the youth, to what extent are they integrated into the first team, do any go out on loan and will he use them in cup games. 

Manuel Pellegrini - Manchester City


1. Europe, Europe, Europe
More than failing to retain the Premier League, this is probably what cost Mancini his job at Manchester City, is the continuing failure in Europe. The Champions League is the Holy Grail of football and Manchester City's owners obviously want more of a taste of it. So far City have failed to negotiate the group stages, although admittedly they've been handed a tough draw both times. The main issue is that the more City fail to progress in Europe, the harder it will be to progress as their seeded position will be reduced. Pellegrini was arguably appointed for his European pedigree, he took the unfancied Villarreal to the Champions League semi-finals in the 2005-06 season and just last year was seconds away from taking another unfancied side, Malaga, to the Champions League semi-finals. 

2. Getting rid of the dead-wood
Having already made two big-money moves in positions City were seriously lacking in last year, Pellegrini is sitting nicely in regards to the 'in' column of his transfer chart, but he needs to quickly get rid of unwanted, unneeded players. The likes of Lescott, Sinclair, Kolarov, Maicon are all on high wages without being needed. Even players such as Tevez and Dzeko should be quickly offloaded if they want to leave and Pellegrini doesn't need them. The quicker they can be sold, the quicker better players can be brought in.

3. Regaining the Premier League title
As important as Europe is to Manchester City, the owners will not want to see Manchester City drop off the national radar. City need to put up a much stronger challenge this year than they did last if the owners are to be kept happy. With a rejuvenated Chelsea coming back as well, City won't even be secure in 2nd place any more. Manchester United have had a blow in losing Ferguson, and it's usually said that defending a title is much more difficult than chasing one. 

4. England-phobia?
It seems Manchester City are suffering from an English-phobia, last year Gareth Barry and Joe Hart were the only two English players to make more than 30 appearances in the league for City, and Barry is probably leaving the club. The club in general seems to ignore English players, they tend to be more expensive, and as City have to deal with inflated transfer prices anyway because of their notoriety, buying in English will always end up as a waste of money - see Joleon Lescott and James Milner. The problem is that an English contingent is important to the club, it's hard to think of a single successful Premier League side that didn't have an English representation. Arsenal had players like Ashely Cole, Sol Campbell or Tony Adams and Lee Dixon before that, Manchester United have had Scholes, Beckham, Ferdinand, Rooney, and Chelsea had Frank Lampard and John Terry. Manchester City simply don't have that English-core to the side which is often seen as necessary to win the Premier League. The year they won it, James Milner, Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry both played a much bigger role than they did last year. 

5. Short-term or long-term
I think it's important that Pellegrini decides early on whether he is planning for the short-term, or the long-term. I think we can assume from the signings of Navas and Fernandinho that he is thinking short-term as both are over the age of 25. This is fine, but it means that Manchester City fans can forget about the development of promising youth like Guidetti and instead be prepared for quick turnover of players and lots of money being spent, as well as the departure, either through sacking or leaving for pastures new of Pellegrini within at least 5 years. 

Roberto Martinez - Everton


1. Goals for the next year
The most important thing for Martinez to do is to find out what his goals are for next year. In my opinion, he's got the biggest shoes to fill next year as Moyes was getting Everton into positions that they really shouldn't have been in and he hasn't left the foundation that Ferguson obviously left at Manchester United. Kenwright can surely not expect Martinez to be challenging for Europe, it would put too much pressure on too quickly. I think a top half finish would be good for Everton, top 8 the goal. That is perfectly achievable for Everton.

2. Goals for the next year (2)
Where are the goals going to come from? Last year Everton's top scorer was Fellaini, who scored most of his goals early on as well. Mirallas and Pienaar contributed a couple of goals as well, but it was a very poor return. The team only scoring 55 goals last year. Jelavic got 7 league goals, and Anichebe got 6, a return of 13 goals from two forwards is not good enough. Martinez needs to either bring in a player who can score goals or try getting the team to play in a way to get the best out of their forwards. His Wigan team were the highest scoring of the relegated sides and only got 7 goals less than Everton, so that looks promising.

3. Corpse raiding, what will he pull out?
Martinez always appeared to be a popular manager at Wigan, and this may work in his favour as he looks to raid the club he has just left in the Championship. Players like Kone, Maloney, McManaman and McCarthy are all too good for the Championship and will be likely seeking moves back to the Premier League or abroad in Kone's case. Martinez should try and get in there first, all four would be good additions, but realistically he would be able to get two, I think best for Everton would be McManaman and McCarthy who are both young and talented players. 

4. Style
As discussed on the V2 football podcast, there is a difference in style between Martinez and Moyes. Martinez likes to play attractive, ball on the ground football where as Moyes favoured a mix of traditional English "hoofing" and a more European style. Despite this, I actually think an Everton side playing 3-4-3 could actually work, Baines and Coleman are arguably better suited to being wing backs than they are full backs.

Howard

Heitinga
Jagielka
Distin

Coleman
Osman
Fellaini
Baines

Mirallas
Jelavic
Pienaar

That is without any new signings as well. Regardless, it's important that Martinez decides whether he'll adopt the style he used at Wigan or adjust for his new players.

5. Keeping hold of key players
It's vital that Everton keep hold of their best players if they are to progress. Baines is key, he makes Everton tick, he's clearly their best player both defensively and offensively and with Manchester United needing a left back, it seems almost inevitable he'll make the move. Martinez needs to do everything he can to stop that happening. Fellaini is another key player, and while it'd be good to keep him, if a team is stupid enough to put in a £24 million bid for him, I do think Martinez should let him go and reinvest that money in 2-3 top quality players, perhaps McManaman and McCarthy?

Mark Hughes - Stoke


1. Style
Arguably Pulis was sacked less for results and more for style as the fans and media were tired of his rugby style tactics, which involved lots of long balls and bullying players. Last year only rock bottom QPR scored less goals than Stoke. Hughes isn't known for a particularly beautiful style of football, but is likely to be an improvement on Pulis. He needs to make sure he plays better football or the already angry fans will turn him on very quickly. This will likely mean Hughes bringing in some new players to adjust the style, although the likes of Etherington, Adam and N'Zonzi are obviously capable of playing good football at times.

2. Getting the fans on his side
Stoke fans are famed for their support of their side, the Brittania is often cited as one of the hardest grounds to visit because of this. But this fervoured support also means that when they turn, it's bad. Hughes has already lost the support of a lot of fans, and he needs to change it quickly if he wants to stay in the job. This means playing some decent football, scoring goals and most importantly winning games. Nothing will get the fans back on his side more than winning games. Even Benitez was getting a fairly decent reception by the end of his run at Chelsea simply because the team was winning.

3. Bringing in some quality
Having released 7 players Hughes will have presumably freed up some of the wage bill and now he needs to be looking at bringing in some quality players. At the moment the Stoke side is filled with quite a lot of older players, famed more for their bullying than their footballing ability. Even players like Peter Crouch and Kewyne Jones aren't the players they once were. Hughes needs to bring in a good forward and a couple of good midfielders as well. Hopefully he isn't given a lot of money so he is forced to delve into the bargain bucket where he generally is quite good with transfers, bringing the Premier League players like Benni McCarthy, Roque Santa Cruz and Moussa Dembele. 

4. Away form
Last year Stoke won just 2 out of 19 games away from home, which is an awful return and lost 9 of them. At home they are hard team to beat, but once they step away from the Brittania, they are awful. Hughes needs to sort this out, it's something that can get a club relegated. It's all well and good beating teams at home, but that is supposed to be the basic requirement, you need more than that if you want the team to prosper. The 13th position was very flattering to Stoke, who were still worried about relegation going into the last few games. A few more away wins would have made that impossible.

5. What is the aim this year?
Hughes like Martinez needs to decide what the aim is for next year, whether it be a top half finish or avoid relegation, he can't start working before he knows what he needs to achieve. I'd suggest Stoke will be looking for solid mid-table from 9th to 13th would constitute meeting the aims, get sucked into the relegation fight and I think Hughes would likely be sacked and seen as a huge mistake, and will have probably ruined his managerial career.

Looking more likely there could be a 6th new manager next season, with the ways things are going at Swansea...

Good read Crimey. Can't add too much to it

Landrup said he would not leave though?

I wouldn't take it as gospel Bull...

http://v2journal.com/22/post/2013/06/5-things-the-5-new-managers-have-to-do-at-their-new-clubs.html

Fantastic read Crimey 

Very good read. I'm a United fan and thought it was a good observation on the captain situation. It's not a position that's been filled well since the days of Keane, and does it really matter any more? Not sure, but I think it should stay with Vidic for the time being.

Fantastic Crimey, really enjoyed that.

Cav wrote:Very good read.    I'm a United fan and thought it was a good observation on the captain situation.  It's not a position that's been filled well since the days of Keane, and does it really matter any more?  Not sure, but I think it should stay with Vidic for the time being.

I think the captain really does matter. What Utd have lacked in recent years (in Europe) is someone to really drag them through the tough times, a leader. I know being a Norwich fan how important a proper captain is. Gives the whole crowd a lift, the team is energised, leads by example.

This was an amazing read Crimey, great job.