Monday 1 September 2014 23:35, UK
This week's blogger, Watford midfielder Keith Andrews, has only one place to start... the resignation of Beppe Sannino...
A home win over Huddersfield - with a little help from the midfielder's fantastic header - puts the Hornets second in the early-season push for promotion, so the decision to change the infrastructure is, he says, "bizarre".
After another big weekend in the Championship, Andrews also reflects on the latest round of games and looks at the fortunes of some of his former employers...
I have to start with the news that broke last night of our manager Beppe Sannino’s resignation as head coach. I know there has been a lot of hype in the media in recent weeks over the uncertainty surrounding his future at Watford but it still came as a surprise the players. I suppose people from the outside looking in at the situation will find it bizarre given we've started the season very well and are second in the table going into the international break and on the surface I would have to agree.
Our club is run in a typically Italian way with the owners, the Pozzo family and Technical Director Gianluca Nani responsible for transfers at the club and a head coach, as opposed to the traditional ‘manager’ title we have been used to in this country, to concentrate on training on a daily basis and prepare for matches. I’m not sure if this was a reason for him wanting to leave as maybe he felt a little restricted in his role but having coached/managed in Italy for many years then I would have thought he would have more than used to this type of structure at a football club.
I’ve described Mr Sannino before as having a 'Jekyll and Hyde' type personality as when we were on the training ground he was a tough taskmaster with very old school values but off the pitch he was a charismatic and charming man. He came to England with barely a word of English in his vocabulary but worked very hard to get up to speed to be able to communicate better with the players and I think this echoes his personality and how he got to where he has in his career. This is a man who on retirement from an unspectacular playing career worked in a local hospital as a janitor to pay the bills while he got his coaching career up and running by coaching kids. He done this for a decade before getting his chance in senior football and from there he worked his way up the Italian leagues and into Serie A. I admire his work ethic and certain values he has and genuinely wish him well in the next chapter of his career.
It's imperative that we don’t let this affect the good start to the season we've had. It’s unusual for a new manager to come into a club when they are second in the league and whoever gets the chance will be a getting a fantastic opportunity. The owners have put a squad together here that is the best in terms of quality and ability that I have been involved in at Championship level. They are very ambitious in terms of where they want to go with the club and the refusal to sell Troy Deeney for serious money and subsequently extend his contract was a huge signal of intent and gave fans and players alike a huge lift.
Forest continued their good run with an impressive win at Hillsborough on Saturday. I spoke last week about how their new signings all seemed to have settled very quickly but possibly the best bit of business they have done has been keeping hold of Henri Lansbury as Premier League suitors came sniffing. He is a very good all-round midfielder who is a genuine goal threat as we saw against Wednesday when he timed his run into the box to perfection to nod home. I spoke glowingly last week about the job Kenny Jackett has done at Wolves and they continued their good form on Saturday by beating a Blackburn side that Gary Bower has moulded into a very competitive outfit that will undoubtedly be in the shake-up at the end of the season. Wolves are sitting third in the table having faced the three relegated sides from the Premier League in their opening five fixtures so they must be delighted with their start.
My parent club Bolton will be disappointed with the start they have made this season, losing four of their first five games. I am surprised to see them struggling down the wrong end of the table as there is a lot of talent within that squad and they should be doing better. It’s been a tough few years for the club with relegation from the Premier League followed by two indifferent campaigns in the Championship. No club has a divine right to be in the Premier League and for a club like to Bolton to have had a such a sustained spell in the top flight is a credit to the managers that got them there and kept them in it for so long, none more so than Sam Allardyce. It’s so important that if you do suffer relegation that you adapt as a club both on and off the pitch.
I’m glad to see that Brighton, the team I spent last season on loan with, are up and running after a couple of poor results. It was always going to take a little time for Sami Hyypia to stamp his personalty on the team and get the players in that he wanted but I think he will prove to be a good appointment. He has got some very good young players there like Jake Forster-Caskey, Lewis Dunk and Solly March who he can really nurture to become top players. Expectation levels may well be high amongst the fans after two successive campaigns that culminated with play-off agony but the fans may well have to be a little patient this year as it could be a season of stabilisation.
We now have a nice little break with the International fixtures taking precedent and when we return there will just be the 41 league games remaining!
