I’m not really interested in the idea that you’ve got to pick a side and stick to it forever. Football changes quickly. But on the big one, the manager, I’m still here: I don’t see the point in changing mid-season unless you’re in a genuine crisis.
For me, the right time to judge the manager and the wider football operation is the end of the season. That’s when you can look at what’s worked, what hasn’t, and whether the structure above the coach actually supports the direction you want to go in.
The interim trap is real
The big problem with pulling the trigger now is simple: the best person for the job might not even be available. So you sack the manager, stick an interim in, and then you’re immediately playing a different game.
People throw names around like Gerrard, and I get the romance of it. But imagine the scenario: he comes in, the squad responds, and results pick up. Great in the moment. Then summer arrives and the “right” appointment becomes available. What do you do?
Sack the interim who’s just won a load of games and you’re handing the next fella pressure from day one. Keep him and you might miss the chance to get the manager you actually wanted. And if the form tails off later, everyone acts surprised.
It’s not just about the coach, it’s about the set-up
Even if you think Xabi is the right man and you think he’s available, it still isn’t clean. There’s the risk he walks into a dressing room and struggles to engage certain players, or he looks at the situation and thinks: there’s big change coming, I want to shape the recruitment, not just take what I’m given.
And that’s before you even get to the club-side questions. If you appoint a head coach under Hughes and Edwards now, you’ve basically decided what your model is. Then how do you honestly “evaluate everything” in the summer? What if the board want to change direction, or don’t want the head coach/DoF balance that’s assumed in that set-up?
Summer is when you can be calculated
This is why waiting matters. Summer gives you the chance to assess the manager, recruitment, and the overall chain of command as one picture, not as a series of panicked reactions.
On candidates, I personally think Iraola might be the man Hughes wants and, to be fair, he’s shown he can handle turnover and work with a variety of players. That matters at Liverpool, where the squad never stands still for long. My worry with Xabi, in this particular structure, is that he seems to need the right players around him and he won’t be the one picking them.
Whatever the answer is, I’d rather we get the whole thing right, top to bottom, than chase a quick fix and end up boxed in by our own decisions.
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