GoonerDale:
Got to be Roy of the Rovers (Fulham Rovers). He took a team who were dead cert for relegation and turned them into a side who beat the top four sides and challenged for, and attained (pending qualification), entry into the Europa League.
Jo$shuwaa:
Roy Hodgson. I've gone for Roy because in 12 months he has turned a relegation candidate into a top seven team, and moreover, he has done it all on a small budget.
Robbie:
In 07/08, Fulham managed 'The Great Escape' with Roy Hodgson at the helm, and this year he propelled them into seventh position, almost leading them to automatic European qualification. The transformation that he has conducted at Fulham is phenomenal.
Jack:
Roy Hodgson. A great turnaround, from a fascinating English manager. Fulham played an authentic brand of Premier League football, fast and physical. They also played with a higher technical ability than the mid-tablers who finished above them last year, and this can largely be attributed to Roy.
Hoxey:
Roy Hodgson. The manager of the season simply has to be this man. He walks the walk and talks the talk. "At the start of the season if someone told us we would get 50 points we would have given them a funny look." How much more motivational can he be?
Tom:
After pulling off 'The Great Escape' in 07/08, Hodgson built upon this, taking The Cottagers to a very respectable seventh, earning them a place in the Europa League qualifiers. It was their highest Premier League finish to date. Hodgson, something of a football purist, played positive attacking football, and also led Fulham to the top of the Fair Play league.
I'm afraid I disagree with your views on Roy Hodgson being manager of the season. I accept that he has had a very good season with Fulham having almost got relegated last season. However I feel comments such as ''having played positive attacking football'' appear to be well-off the mark considering they had one of the poorest away records in the league, only winning three games on their travels and recording eight 0-0 draws and failing to find the net on fifteen occasions last season.
ReplyDeleteI feel next season is going to be very tough for Fulham and the Europa league could be somewhat of an unwanted distraction when they find themselves heavily embroiled in a relegation dogfight as I believe they will be.
In my opinion the contenders for the best manager award for the 08/09 season are Tony Pulis of Stoke, Harry Redknapp of Tottenham, Gianfranco Zola of West Ham and Sir Alex Ferguson for Man Utd. However I feel a third league title in a row, World Club Champions, consecutive Champions League Finals a Carling Cup Final and a FA Cup semi-final all in one season, I feel you cannot look past Sir Alex Ferguson and Man Utd's outstanding achievements last season.
Thanks for the comments Andy. Good to have in depth opinions in response to our stuff, especially when they disagree with our own - makes it more interesting.
ReplyDeleteJust a few things that led me to choose Hodgson:
Fulham finished ten places further up the league in 08/09 than they did in 07/08. This is a fair way ahead of other improvements. Personally, Pulis would be next on my list, if you assume that they were seen as the worst team in the league (as many did), then they exceeded expectations by 8 positions, which puts Pulis second behind Hodgson in terms of improvement. You could easily deem Pulis' achievement to be more impressive because of Stoke's newly promoted status. It's coins in the air.
They're away record was awful, agreed, but they're home record was the second best outside of the top four. I think the comments re: their attacking style were based upon the approach that Hodgson was instilling, not just the results. But your point is definitely fair.
Ferguson always has to be up there.
Anyway, I'm going to stop before I end up finding statistics on the performance of Fulham's mascot.
Keep commenting and disagreeing if you see fit. We appreciate it!
Cheers.