The Alfred Johansson Thread

[weeyin]

I hadn't really thought about it, but they mentioned on the commentary at the weekend that Alfred isn't our youngest ever manager.

Billy Davies had just turned 34 when took over as player/coach at Fir Park.

[cambo97]

4 hours ago, weeyin said:

I hadn't really thought about it, but they mentioned on the commentary at the weekend that Alfred isn't our youngest ever manager.

Billy Davies had just turned 34 when took over as player/coach at Fir Park.

By my calculation McLeish was too

[Orinoco]

At this point in time, compare AJ's interviews with the Hearts guy. I know who i would trust to progress our club. 

[grizzlyg]

Early days but i really like AJ and the start he has made.  Signings so far look really good and hopefully a few more to come in

[Ya Bezzer!]

Not see any 'all the injuries are the managers fault' type comments.

😎

 

[twistandshout1983]

Early impressions of Alfred is all positive for me . 

Been pleasantly surprised with the start so far 

[mio]

My initial feelings were I was a bit sorry for him as he has been handed a sh1tty stick, an almost impossible job considering we’ve lost our best manager, best players, and our most experienced players are all injured and we have a brand new team.

to say he’s surprised me is an understatement, he’s excellent in front of the media, probably better than jens and he seems to have had buy in from the players. Even Longelo was hugging him and laughing on Sunday? I’ve not ever seen Manny smile since he arrived at the club.

of course I’m sure we’ll have a few dark days but I like the guy. I was worried that he was going to be a Swedish Cathro but he was a bit about him.

[texanwellfan]

It’s a wee bit scary! In a good way.
I’ve seen the comment several times that we are further ahead at this point of the season than we were with JBA and I think that is a fair statement. if we get another couple of good signings in the door and get a fully fit squad we could be in for another great season. 
   Easier said than done but it would be great if the board could get a two year commitment from AJ

[grizzlyg]

I will wait till after game. I dont want to jinx Alfred

[grizzlyg]

After losing Jens we were all concerned.  Still very early days bit I am really enjoying the AJ revolution.  Very positive and a really likeable guy.  Not sure what input he is having in signings or if its all Nick Daws work but signings are looking really good.

Yes will be ups and downs but its just great to be a well fan 

[purestate]

Just listened to the AJ interview after Falkirk. As others have commented it’s a refreshing, no BS, take on the game and where we are at moment.  
 

plus I reckon he’s given us a steer to new song/chant at 4:11 in

 

[stv]

Makes a change from Jim Goodwin talking utter rubbish trying to say his team were unlucky to get stuffed 4-0. 

[grizzlyg]

I really like Alfred, love the attitude and looking forward seeing how the team will develop

[star sail]

I must admit that I have completely changed my view on AJ's media presence.

I thought his first couple of interviews and his introductory speech to the players was a little underwhelming but he is completely owning his media interviews now.

A mixture of intelligence, humour, approachability but at the same time clear in his own thoughts and beliefs. 

In a more subtle way, like JBA he does not suffer fools gladly.

Overall his first few months have been hugely impressive under demanding circumstances. It is so refreshing not to have to listen to the ' these European games come too early ' rhetoric of Scottish managers past.

Our wee club appears to have batted one out the park once again on managerial appointments. As Well fans it should give us great pride that we have shown that there is an alternative to the traditional Scottish football way.

I think that the press/ media are responding favourably too. The BBC write up on Thursday nights game showed real affection for what is happening at Firpark.

Happy days.

[wellfan]

It’s certainly starting to look like we’ve got another outstanding young manager and coach on our hands.

[grizzlyg]

1 hour ago, star sail said:

I must admit that I have completely changed my view on AJ's media presence.

I thought his first couple of interviews and his introductory speech to the players was a little underwhelming but he is completely owning his media interviews now.

A mixture of intelligence, humour, approachability but at the same time clear in his own thoughts and beliefs. 

In a more subtle way, like JBA he does not suffer fools gladly.

Overall his first few months have been hugely impressive under demanding circumstances. It is so refreshing not to have to listen to the ' these European games come too early ' rhetoric of Scottish managers past.

Our wee club appears to have batted one out the park once again on managerial appointments. As Well fans it should give us great pride that we have shown that there is an alternative to the traditional Scottish football way.

I think that the press/ media are responding favourably too. The BBC write up on Thursday nights game showed real affection for what is happening at Firpark.

Happy days.

I think a lot of nerves early on and understandable as he is following a legend( whoops...cannae say that 🤣🤣),  he would obviously take his time to get to know players and gradually implement his methods. You can already see the great closeness of squad involving new guys ( check hibs 2nd goal celebrations) and also the way he interacts with players ( longelo after hibs game and Said after hjk). Also bear in mind his wife just had a baby.

Early days but i think we have unearthed another diamond.  No doubt lose tomorrow and it will be Alfred must go!! 🤣🤣

[grizzlyg]

Still been a great start from AJ and I would expect players would aee different side to him today.  Let's remember that JBA was brilliant but in both cup competitions was poor.   Once injury list clears and we get a few more in i think we will be just fine

[MJC]

He’s done well so far. Good results in Europe and an excellent away win at Hibs.

But today was a black mark on him.

[Kmcalpin]

10 hours ago, MJC said:

He’s done well so far. Good results in Europe and an excellent away win at Hibs.

But today was a black mark on him.

I think you're being a tad harsh. He's a young inexperienced manager with a Scandinavian background (cups don't mean very much). A baptism of fire for him due to the plethora of injuries but I think he's been let down by his back room team here. They've been in post for some time, know the players very well, and would know the pitfalls of playing at Ochilview. I suppose its possible though that they warned him about over rotation and treating Stenny too lightly only to be ignored. Questions do need to be asked though.  

[Stuwell2]

I don’t think questions need to be asked more lessons need to be learned. 

[johnny71]

He's done well considering the big shoes he has to fill in replacing jba , but hopefully the Stennie game will be a wake up call ,it's far too early to really judge him , let's see where we are after a dozen league games 😎👍

[weeyin]

Better teams than us struggle playing Euro/League games Sunday - Thursday - Sunday. That's why teams that are regular participants have deeper squads of first team quality that they can rotate.

Even with a fully fit squad it would be a stretch.

[David]

5 hours ago, Kmcalpin said:

I think you're being a tad harsh. He's a young inexperienced manager with a Scandinavian background (cups don't mean very much). A baptism of fire for him due to the plethora of injuries but I think he's been let down by his back room team here. They've been in post for some time, know the players very well, and would know the pitfalls of playing at Ochilview. I suppose its possible though that they warned him about over rotation and treating Stenny too lightly only to be ignored. Questions do need to be asked though.  

As I've mentioned elsewhere, we're in danger of oversimplifying what goes into these types of decisions.

It's not simply a case of looking at the fixture list and deciding to rest half the team because there's a European game coming up.

From what I gather, the players are monitored pretty closely. The staff will have data on how far they've run, how much high-intensity running they've done, sprints, accelerations, training loads and how all of that compares to their normal levels.

Then you've got the medical side. A player can be perfectly fit to play but still have a bit of tightness or be carrying a heavier workload than normal. The advice might be that he's fine for 30 minutes, fine for 60, or that another 90 minutes probably isn't a great idea.

They'll also look at recovery, how the player has been training, how many minutes he's played recently and his own injury history. A 21-year-old who has hardly missed a game through injury might be treated differently from a 30-year-old with a history of hamstring problems.

The opposition (and the playing surface, no matter how much some people like to dismiss it) comes into it as well. The coaching staff will have analysed them and worked out where they think they can afford to make changes without weakening the team too much.

So the manager might effectively be getting told that Player A is absolutely fine, Player B has played a lot but isn't a concern, Player C is showing signs of fatigue and Player D is carrying a minor issue that could become a bigger problem.

He then has to make the decision.

That's particularly relevant for a club like ours when we're playing Thursday-Sunday-Thursday and have been doing that for several weeks. Some players could end up playing four or five games in a fortnight if you just keep putting out the strongest XI.

That doesn't mean rotation is always the right decision. Managers can still get it wrong. You can change too many players, lose the rhythm of the team and end up going out of a competition you had a decent chance of progressing in. Teams far bigger with managers far more experienced than us have slipped on that banana peel before.

But I do think it's worth remembering when we see a team selection we don't like that the manager isn't working with the same information we are.

We're looking at the names on the teamsheet.

He's looking at the teamsheet plus all the physical, medical, training and opposition information behind it.

We can argue with the decision he eventually makes. But there's usually a lot more behind that decision than simply "Europe is more important, so we'll rest a few players."

[grizzlyg]

3 minutes ago, David said:

As I've mentioned elsewhere, we're in danger of oversimplifying what goes into these types of decisions.

It's not simply a case of looking at the fixture list and deciding to rest half the team because there's a European game coming up.

From what I gather, the players are monitored pretty closely. The staff will have data on how far they've run, how much high-intensity running they've done, sprints, accelerations, training loads and how all of that compares to their normal levels.

Then you've got the medical side. A player can be perfectly fit to play but still have a bit of tightness or be carrying a heavier workload than normal. The advice might be that he's fine for 30 minutes, fine for 60, or that another 90 minutes probably isn't a great idea.

They'll also look at recovery, how the player has been training, how many minutes he's played recently and his own injury history. A 21-year-old who has hardly missed a game through injury might be treated differently from a 30-year-old with a history of hamstring problems.

The opposition (and the playing surface, no matter how much some people like to dismiss it) comes into it as well. The coaching staff will have analysed them and worked out where they think they can afford to make changes without weakening the team too much.

So the manager might effectively be getting told that Player A is absolutely fine, Player B has played a lot but isn't a concern, Player C is showing signs of fatigue and Player D is carrying a minor issue that could become a bigger problem.

He then has to make the decision.

That's particularly relevant for a club like ours when we're playing Thursday-Sunday-Thursday and have been doing that for several weeks. Some players could end up playing four or five games in a fortnight if you just keep putting out the strongest XI.

That doesn't mean rotation is always the right decision. Managers can still get it wrong. You can change too many players, lose the rhythm of the team and end up going out of a competition you had a decent chance of progressing in. Teams far bigger with managers far more experienced than us have slipped on that banana peel before.

But I do think it's worth remembering when we see a team selection we don't like that the manager isn't working with the same information we are.

We're looking at the names on the teamsheet.

He's looking at the teamsheet plus all the physical, medical, training and opposition information behind it.

We can argue with the decision he eventually makes. But there's usually a lot more behind that decision than simply "Europe is more important, so we'll rest a few players."

Very well said sir

[0Neils40yarder]

16 minutes ago, David said:

As I've mentioned elsewhere, we're in danger of oversimplifying what goes into these types of decisions.

It's not simply a case of looking at the fixture list and deciding to rest half the team because there's a European game coming up.

From what I gather, the players are monitored pretty closely. The staff will have data on how far they've run, how much high-intensity running they've done, sprints, accelerations, training loads and how all of that compares to their normal levels.

Then you've got the medical side. A player can be perfectly fit to play but still have a bit of tightness or be carrying a heavier workload than normal. The advice might be that he's fine for 30 minutes, fine for 60, or that another 90 minutes probably isn't a great idea.

They'll also look at recovery, how the player has been training, how many minutes he's played recently and his own injury history. A 21-year-old who has hardly missed a game through injury might be treated differently from a 30-year-old with a history of hamstring problems.

The opposition (and the playing surface, no matter how much some people like to dismiss it) comes into it as well. The coaching staff will have analysed them and worked out where they think they can afford to make changes without weakening the team too much.

So the manager might effectively be getting told that Player A is absolutely fine, Player B has played a lot but isn't a concern, Player C is showing signs of fatigue and Player D is carrying a minor issue that could become a bigger problem.

He then has to make the decision.

That's particularly relevant for a club like ours when we're playing Thursday-Sunday-Thursday and have been doing that for several weeks. Some players could end up playing four or five games in a fortnight if you just keep putting out the strongest XI.

That doesn't mean rotation is always the right decision. Managers can still get it wrong. You can change too many players, lose the rhythm of the team and end up going out of a competition you had a decent chance of progressing in. Teams far bigger with managers far more experienced than us have slipped on that banana peel before.

But I do think it's worth remembering when we see a team selection we don't like that the manager isn't working with the same information we are.

We're looking at the names on the teamsheet.

He's looking at the teamsheet plus all the physical, medical, training and opposition information behind it.

We can argue with the decision he eventually makes. But there's usually a lot more behind that decision than simply "Europe is more important, so we'll rest a few players."

Its incredible that people dont understand this. 

 

Id guarantee, that if we didnt have so many injuries, didnt have two games in a week at the start of the season and didn't have so many new guys at the Club, then AJs team would have looked drastically different to the one he put out yesterday.

He didn't sideline Longelo for Wilson, or Johnny K for Ross, just for the sake of it