I’ll be honest, I have never really taken to Fabian Hurzeler but, for me, it was always going to be difficult, as I absolutely loved Roberto De Zerbi.
What also has not helped is that I cannot really fathom out what our style and tactics appear to be.
With De Zerbi and Graham Potter before him, I could work out how we were trying to play.
Also, and I know this is a bit petty, but I am not a fan of his “hey guys” personality, but then again I know it is not me he needs to convince with his team talks.
All that said, I have voted “Hurzeler In”.
For me, you sack a manager for failure and 10th in the Premier League (currently) and reaching an FA Cup quarter-final would be a sound achievement for a young coach in his first season managing at the highest domestic level. Such a season is not, and never should be, considered failure for a club like ours.
I can understand the frustration being expressed by many fans during this period of poor form, but I am just not comfortable with everyone frothing at the mouth, demanding a manager is sacked just because we might just miss out on European qualification.
It all sounds like the moans of the overly entitled fans of big clubs we love to bash so much. We have absolutely no right to be demanding European football nor a top seven finish – some of our more agitated fans need to calm down a tad.
This isn’t meant to be one of those “look how far we have come since Gillingham” comments – I’m just saying it like it is.
What makes the call for a managerial change all the more baffling right now, is that it seems highly unlikely that Tony Bloom will pull the trigger. Binning off a manager who has achieved a mid-table finish in their first Premier League season is simpy not a good look.
Hell, we even got widespread criticism for sacking Hughton after he kept us in the Premier League!
I think the collective Albion fanbase needs to have a little patience and give Fabian Hurzeler the opportunity to develop. He is young, learning and gaining experience. As he continues in the role, we should see improvement.
There are plenty of stories of coaches taking time to get to grips with life in the Premier League. Andoni Iraola had a terrible start for Bournemouth last season, but now he is being lauded for how his side have developed, and joined Albion in the hunt for a European spot.
Let’s all hold our nerve and see how next season plays out. Stretches of poor form are frustrating, particularly at the business end of a season that promised so much, but we don’t need to get the knives out just because we are only 10th in the Premier League.
This article was adapted from a North Stand Chat post discussing the tenure of Albion boss Fabian Hurzler. Got an opinion on this – come and share it here!
Images courtesy of Reuters
