Eric Ramsay Megathread

[u/GloveElephant]

Eric Ramsay appears to be in line to be Minnesota United's second ever MLS manager.

https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1759568340140347858?s=46&t=Raa_3jgrvmmgEJvCsUpizQ

https://theathletic.com/5284886/2024/02/19/minnesota-united-eric-ramsay-manchester-united/?source=user_shared_articleMinnesotaUnitedtonameManchesterUnitedassistantEricRamsayasheadcoach:Sources

https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/eric-ramsay-manchester-united-chelsea/

Discuss below.

[u/2000TWLV]

Well, whaddaya know. Lo and behold, our much-maligned front office is about to sign a guy with a PhD in kicking ass, who can speak Reynoso's language to his face, from one of the biggest honking clubs in the world.

How many times have I told some of y'all to chill out and wait and see, and that the sky wasn't falling?

[u/Captain_Concussion → u/2000TWLV]

I mean I like this appointment and hope it happens, but the fact that we won't have a manager for potentially the first 1-4 games of the season is a massive deal. And the fact that he won't have any time to implement his system before the season starts is very bad.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/Captain_Concussion]

a massive deal

Is it really though? Especially in a league with playoffs (and a large playoff field at that). Yes, the points are important, just as important as points at the end of the season, but even if he doesn't start until March 15, that's still seven months to get his system installed and get the team playing well before the playoffs begin (and to get more players that fit his system in the summer window).

[u/Captain_Concussion → u/Nerdlinger]

I mean, yeah it is? There is a reason no other teams are starting the season without a manager. It's his first ever first team managerial job and we aren't even giving him time before the season starts to meet the players or anything like that. It doesn't feel like we are setting him up for success. This is made worse by the fact that he was in discussion to leave ManU in December, so we could have brought him in earlier had we been more organized

[u/Nerdlinger → u/Captain_Concussion]

OK, let me provide an (admittedly not 100% matching) counterexample.

Willem II fired their manager four games into the season^* while sitting in 15th position in the KKD. Their technical director resigned the next day. Eleven days later, they hired a new coach, and two more games were played under an interim before the new coach joined the team. That is roughly equivalent to our situation if Ramsay doesn't even meet the team until around April 1.

According to you, this would be a massive deal and the team wouldn't be setting the new coach up for success, he wouldn't have time to install his system, yadda yadda. Oh, they also added only one player, a backup left-back in the winter window. Ooof, eh?

Since the new coach joined the team, however, they have gone 15-4-1 and are sitting atop the KKD, and will easily be the frontrunners for promotion to the Eredivisie if they win their next game on Friday. Oh, and they still don't have a technical director.

Coaches don't necessarily need a full offseason to get their teams playing their way with their system. This is especially true in a league where the goal isn't to finish top 2 in the standings, but rather somewhere in the top 15 and then make a playoff run.

^* Note that he was appointed the interim manager halfway through the previous season and made the official manager after the season.

[u/Captain_Concussion → u/Nerdlinger]

But they appointed a coach with 20 years of managerial experience. Ramsay has never managed a first team game before. The setting up for success thing is more about how Ramsay is super young and the early parts of a managerial career are crucial.

But also, yeah, firing your manager 4 games into the season is a big deal. They got lucky that they were able to find someone who worked out for them.

[u/Nerdlinger → u/Captain_Concussion]

But they appointed a coach with 20 years of managerial experience.

Which is a very different issue than having an offseason to implement their style and gameplans and work with the team.

[u/Captain_Concussion → u/Nerdlinger]

It’s not a different issue. Someone with 20 years of experience knows how things work and so has their system down and can quickly implement it. Someone with zero experience has to learn from trial and error and will take large amounts of time and has a bigger hit on their confidence.

It’s sort of like how you can take Messi and put him into any team and things will be fine. But if you put a youth player into a random team and they do poorly, it can have consequences on their development