Title says it all really. And no, I dont think he is.
Would he have been sacked had we beaten Millwall? Probably not.
So lets look at the Millwall game, and where it went wrong:
3 Key areas -
1 Defence.
The defence was a problem in this game - Sean St Ledger is playing poorly, and him and Bamba have not formed a partnership - Was this Sven's fault? Probably not - SSL Would not have been playing had Mills not been Sent off at B'ham.
2. Midfield
Everyone has criticised Sven for not knowing his best team, particularly the best 4 in midfield. Correct, I'm not sure he did, but almost every person on this forum has a different idea, and a different opinion on who the starting 4 should be. Could Sven have predicted Richie Wellens would not have been able to pass it to a man in blue for the entire game? - Probably not.
3. Strikers
It's clear the strike force of Beckford and Nugent has not gelled yet.
This is simply because they have not played together too many times. Is this Sven's fault? No - Beckford signed, Nugent got injured, Nugent got fit, and Beckford got injured. Give them a few more games, and they'll be firing - at least they would have under Sven.
Lets face it - Sven is clearly not an idiot, he knows football better than most people in the game, his list of contacts is endless, and I think many of the players we signed are only here because of Sven - Curtis Davis and Kyle Naughton have both come out and said he was a big part in their decision to come to us last year, and honestly, we would not have signed Kasper or Michael Johnson had Sven not been in charge. We probably would not have got Beckford either.
Anyway, Rant over, but I think it's an absolute disgrace, and I am starting to doubt the owners - I thought they were sensible, and were going to provide the club with stability. I now think i was wrong.
Is Sven to Blame?
posted on 25/10/11
Interesting stat from fox blogger!
Only 1 of the last 21 teams to get promoted has sacked their manager halfway through the season.
posted on 25/10/11
We're not really half way through the season though. 13 played, 33 to go.
Plenty of time to get it right.
posted on 25/10/11
When you bring in so many new players, it takes some time for the squad to get used to playing with each other. Look at Man City. They have spent a king's ransom on players over the past several years, but haven't got much silverware to show for it. A couple of years on and the Man City players are getting used to each other and they are lighting the league up. Football form has a lot more to do with team chemistry than most people give it credit for.
The fact is that your club Leicester City have some talent, but your squad has to be given time to get used to play with each other before they will start winning a bunch of games.
So no don't blame Sven. Blame your impatient owners. Building a football squad doesn't happen in the board room, it happens on the training pitch.
posted on 25/10/11
They are business men and will apply objective business models and reviews to any business including football - whether that is right or wrong is debatable.
Approaching the first quarter of the year they have reviewed progress and potential for earnings in comparison to the last term in order to decide where to invest/make amendments; which I think is standard for any business model projections.
Sven has won 38%ish of games this term, in comparison to 47ish% in his tenure last year. 47% wouldn't have been enough for their end of year business goal in 2011/12 (automatic promotion) and certainly 38% won't be.
Perhaps we may improve, perhaps this form would sneak us in to the play offs, but I guess they are aware of when to cut their losses in order to seek a profitable and stable return.
This seems very cold and calculated and perhaps a model that won't work in football as there are so many other factors outside of growth/margins/returns, etc to take in to account when making such a decision.
For me, I do think they have considered a bigger picture than just the above and ultimately, I think no back to back league wins in 8 months and no top 6 standing at all in over a year has contributed heavily to this decision.
Ethnically and personally, I don't agree with sacking managers this early in a season, but being objective, I can at least understand why from a business and financial perspective, they have considered this to be the right decision.
posted on 25/10/11
T-T-i-T
Never thought I'd be agreeing with you on here, but imo you're absolutely right.
posted on 25/10/11
tricky tree - exactly the point I have also been trying to get across.
posted on 25/10/11
Apparently, Sven has said in one of the papers that had he been Top, he would have made the same decision. I think Sven paid the price for bad performances rather than bad results because we were within touching distance from the promotion shake up. It just so happened that the two culminated on Saturday.
I do think he made some tactical errors during his time here but also the players have to take a share of the blame. Overall, I do think the decision was a premature one.
posted on 25/10/11
No he probably wouldn't have been sacked if we'd beaten Millwall.
However, that doesn't mean the Millwall game lost him his job, more that it was his last chance to save it. Do not analyse this game alone, it is all of the 13 league games that must be analysed, and I don't think we showed enough in them to suggest we were going anywhere.
posted on 25/10/11
You mean that we have only won 5 in those 13 games Emilio. hardly top 2 stats are they?
I am disapointed that Sven went so early, I'd have rather he had longer to fail, now you'll all be going on that if he was still here we would have won the Champions League in a couple of seasons!
The owners woke up to the fact he was the wrong appointment and made a strong decision to change direction ( from wandering no- where under Sven), their next decision is far more important than their last one!
Lets hope they make the right one but my support is with the club and the owners not some has been in the wrong job at the wrong time!
posted on 25/10/11
Get yourselves over to the general chit-chat article on the spurs board...it's the place to be