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I have no idea and I think it's a pretty dumb question to be honest. After all, like the vast majority of UK football fans, I'd never even heard of Erol Bulut before he arrived here. Indeed, I'd never heard of almost all of the foreign coaches who have made a genuine mark in the Championship before they got here. And I'd never heard of half of the young British coaches who have done well in this division either.
Take Kieran McKenna, for example. I'd never heard of him before he took over at Ipswich. I'd never heard of Thomas Frank or Daniel Farke before they arrive at Brentford and Norwich either. Be honest, had you?
On the face of it things have improved, without doubt. Although these things are nuanced and we all have different expectations and thoughts on how the game should be played and what we find entertaining, progressive etc. So, i can see both sides of the argument really, even though i can't watch Bulut's brand of football, i fully accept that there are those who don't mind it and who believe that Bulut has some kind of plan in place.
The problem for me is that Bulut doen't seem to go out to win a game,it's avoid defeat as the first call, keepthe midfield flat, no penetration, hardly any player braking opposition lines. It's all about the wide players, which tells me that he doesn't like expression in the difficult areas, he likes to stretch teams. It makes for some awful stuff if our wide players aren't performing as they're our only outlet.
Our mosr creative player (Colwill) Doesn't score or create a great deal, not through want of trying, he just doesn't get into those positions or is starting from a very deep position. He also lacks composure on times but that bit is on him, not Bulut. So it sort of shows what Bulut wants, which is the midfield players getting the ball out wide at the earliest opportunity. To me, that a bit cowardly in terms of how i like the game to be played and it only gives us one option, and when that fails it's shocking. We go a goal down and he reacts, and i think that has got him off the hook a bit. Not for me, although he does have a system, he does have a plan, i just don't like it
I’d argue that our current system of playing is indicative of 70% of championship teams I’ve seen this season. Out of the top 6 Coventry ( although Cov were appalling at CCS)and Hull look nice on the eye , but they have spent around £20m each on new players. Imagine if we had Ellis Sims or Jayden in our team.
With the resources available the style of play comes secondary to points on the board. Next season is a different story though.
It was said at the outset that the one year contract had and extension option that would be triggered by performance on the pitch. While we don't know what that is it seems likely it will not be automatically triggered. Consequently I'd have thought if Tan is going to approve an extension he is likely to want to offer lower remuneration as the performance criteria to extend on the current terms have not been met.
If Bulut goes, it will only be because he's being paid or will want to be paid what the board or Tan considers too much money. They're not exactly proactive or creative when it comes to hiring new managers. We have no idea what their aspirations are. But I have a feeling mid-table is fine for them. I suspect that Tan no longer has the stomach for the PL. If the money is right Bulut will be signing a new contract soon. If he doesn't, I expect a downgrade.
I think it ultimately depends what the club wants. Realistically we aren't ever going to compete money wise with other teams in this division.
If the club look at yesterday and think this is what we want, our academy players coming through and being part of the squad next season, then Bulut isn't that manager.
Whilst the football hasn't been the best and he's been reluctant to use our younger players, Bulut has done the job this season and done more than what we expected and I wouldn't be reluctant to give him the contract.
Personally I want a manager who will use the youth more and build them as a basis for our squad.