Don’t think van Hecke is outside the realm of possibility. Either another loan or permanent with a sell-on clause. Brighton are letting Østigård leave after several seasons out on loan.

Good shout. Think he will aim higher.

Happy they finally announced it. Wasn't first choice, neither was Broughton, but a lot more creative than what we have seen in the past. Will be interesting to see how the new model works, and Mr. Gregg has to pull a few rabbits out of his hat from day one. A bit of playing down expectations from JDT as well from the get-go: “We have a young team here, and also a great Academy, and the Owners have a clear vision, which is to develop players and become a sustainable Premier League club over time, so I’m really happy to be involved in this exciting new chapter for the club."

Any whispers on whether his assistant from Makmö will join as well? 60 y.o. Dutchman Remy Reynierse has experience both as head coach and assistant. Can’t see JDT being too expensive…

Just so JDT can say it's been a little bit of a whirlwind for the last 48 hours.

Not arguing against that. My point was that Neo was grabbing facts straight from Wiki but found the 10+ year experience 'fact' a bit loose.

Nice wiki grabbing, but: he doesn’t have more than ten years experience as manager/head coach. He’s been assistant as well, and arguably being assistant manager for a national team is a job that anyone can do.

It will be an uphill struggle for anyone coming in unless there’s some money to spend this window. They can have a vision about ‘sustainable PL club’ all they like, but we currently have a depleted squad with most of the core already gone or leaving. I’m spending the summer gradually lowering my expectations as this new chapter unfolds.

Seems to be either established ‘safe’ choices a la Mowbray mk2 or unproven gamble. Budget sadly a constraint or we would have pushed the boat for someone highly rated. Hope Venky’s aren’t sold fool’s gold again.

Rooney late contenter after Derby deal snag? Delia and JDT for sure. Knutsen will have suitors in better condition than Rovers and remains committed to Glimt.

Read back a few pages

Jury's still out on Rooney, it's a big gamble. He did well with Derby last season, but without any pressure due to the points deduction. Played decent football and had great team spirit too. If he does well for us he'll be snapped up for a big compo sooner rather than later, and Waggott probably realises that as well. JDT has a bit more experience, and experience as assistant manager as well, but is quite green too. What has he been up to since quitting Malmö?

I hope he brings with him a data-oriented recruitment policy similar to what Brentford have been doing. Target specific parameters to suit our style of play, and flexible players willing/able to improve. They're big advocates of that at Bodø/Glimt, and I believe that's what he's referring to in his interview on RoversTV. I do agree that his CV doesn't exactly stand out for a DoF role here, and if the rumours are true that he was forced out at Glimt by DoF Bjørkan and Head Coach Knutsen, then I just hope we haven't bought a pig in the poke.

Benson must be the least important piece of the jigsaw, yet so many on here keep harping on how he lacks ability based on thin hair. And how he looks? C'mon @unleaded...

Pardew has got Trump level arrogance.

Ok, I’ll let it rest. I think we’re looking in the ‘flaws territory’ by now tbh. And willing to give Broughton a chance here, but his CV wouldn’t normally qualify him for a DoF role here. He seems to be a big fan of how Liverpool run their academy so will probably try and emulate parts of their player development is my guess.

Depends on the alternatives I guess. Hoping someone comes out of left field myself tbh.

Egil 'Drillo' Olsen was actually a technical little midfielder himself, drillo can loosely translated into 'Dribbler'. Quite the opposite as manager and his philosophy was simple, yes, but very effective and brought Norway to second on the FIFA rankings at one point, beating Brazil in the WC. His teams always played direct and long ball against established teams to avoid being countered, won the ball high and hit teams on the break. Had didn't gain the respect of the Dons players unfortunately and the rest is history. Great manager.

He's a lot more charismatic than Mowbray.

Who's offended? I'd take Knutsen over Deila as well. Deila is a good man manager, but tactically not the best so would have need some good coaches around him in order to be an improvement on Mowbray.

Blasphemy

We were originally going to employ a different DoF altogether, so things can change rapidly. I'm sure if Gregg let's his new club know that Knutsen would be interested, then that's worth investigating further.

Echoes what Nixon said that we were let down by our first choice. My curiosity would like to know who that was, but Broughton comes off well and I'm happy with the appointment.

Could be. Have a feeling Deila is lined up but Broughton perhaps thinks he can convince Knutsen to join him. The timing for Knutsen to leave Glimt now is good imo, having worked wonders there but struggling a bit this season and with an impossible task of bettering/repeating last season.

Norwegian players are well regarded, my question was whether 'our' managers receive the same respect.