Slavi*a Jokanovi* - Manager

Good thing we're not a fan-run club then. We'd be handing out 70k-pw deals to Forestieri and Doyley.

 

If this carries on we'll soon have more international fans than Liverpool.

(& we've already got a better manager)

 

And Alan Hutton and Rickie Lambert.

 

Applauded the fans apparently after the win at Brighton. He's as good as off.

 

Why repond with a serious point when a cheap, irrelevant one will do eh?

Thr original point was to compare the value of a manager to a club in relation to its top players and ask if that shouldn't be reflected financially. As UEA pointed out, it's probably unrealistic to hope that the manager would earn more than the best players but I still say it wouldn't be a bad point of principal.

Here are some average salary figures:

Premier League player 2012-2013 - £1.6m p.a. (£31k p.w.)
Premier League player 2013-2014 - £2.3m p.a. (£44k p.w.). A hike of 44% in a single season and the TV money's just received another massive boost.
Premier League manager 2013-2014 - £3.0m p.a. (£58k p.w.). To have paid a manager £30k p.w.in the Prem last season would have put him 9th in the pecking order, a position likely to have been lower this season and certainly next.

These are average figures, not top earners' ones. They are seriously inflated, both amongst players and managers, by the silly money on offer at the top half-a-dozen or so clubs. For that reason, and of course because we're a smaller club anyway, I wouldn't be expectimg us to match these averages but they are useful in providing ballpark figures and the figure previously discussed regarding the Joka's new contract continues to look in the right ballpark to me. Of course any two year contract of that magnitude will be a hostage to fortune to some extent but the same could be said of a player. Managers very rarely get injured.

So, seeing as you wish to appoint yourself as club treasurer, wadda you think the Joka's worth after all he's accomplished over the last 7 months? For what it's worth, I doubt if he's gonna be particularly impressed with anything less than seven figures p.a., something that Sunderland and others would duly take note of.

 

Ha! I wish mate! But I'm sure he'll work on his English, he's not the type of guy to rest on his laurels.

Honestly I read some of your suggestions and while the murder one made sense for a brute like Vidic, I think 'All you need is Slav' could become legendary.

Catchy tune, original and positive!

I will mate.

Some more snippets from the last couple of days..

About a possible raise:

'Who can think of money when you're living through these unforgettable moments!'

'5 minutes after we arrived from our 90 mile trip to Brighton, in our sporting centre, promotion became a sealed deal. We listened to the radio on the entire way home. You may wonder who was the first to congratulate me before we went and celebrated?'

'Right next to me sat Dean Austin. The fact that I mention him is not by chance. Why? Once upon a time he played for Tottenham and later Crystal Palace, where he played with my long time friend Gordan Petric (ex-Rangers). Fate! From fate to celebrations at Watford's base, later also on the streets with the masses!'

About a new contract

'We'll talk about that. First I have to see what Watford's plans are. In England it's often the case that a promoted side struggles to stay in the first season. And therefore while it's clear as day that Watford now has an excellent side for the Championship, it's a big question if we're good enough already for the EPL. With a few signings however, it could be an entirely different story.'

Will you talk with them before the weekend?

'No! The start of next week is ideal. I want to sit at that table with my 11th career title won, I want us to beat Sheffield in the last match!'

 

That is extremely encouraging - I don't think he wants to go anywhere, just wants some recognition for his achievements when contracts are discussed.

Great updates Serb - whereabouts in Serbia are you from?

 

Absolutely brilliant insights again Serb. You are a new star!

 

Ours do. After one match.

 

I've seen a lot of newspapers pick this up, so it's good to get your insight Serb. I think he'll sign, but as fans we can make sure he feels like this is the club for him.

 

Yes, it is.

 

This is a slightly strange/worrying one - he is basically saying unless he gets promised a ton of money to spend on new players, and/or if an already established Premier League side offer him a contract, then he'll be off...

 

What a strange way to interpret that.

 

Agreed!

 

Well for a start Slav doesn't hold the purse strings. Secondly, they'll sit down and discuss where they need to strengthen...and we will need to strengthen. Thirdly, I think he's earned some time with his family, it can't have been easy for him with them abroad.

I think UEA said it right, if he doesn go then Gino has more than enough credit with the fans to make the right choice.

I wouldn't worry...Jurgen Klopp is available if Slave decides to go...but I don't think he will.

 

There has to be a middle ground between Kelso's idea of putting him on £100k a week and HG's idea of making him a slave.

 

Really? Is he? Reads to me like he just wants reassurance the plan isn't just to cash the promotion cheque and be relegated by Christmas. There can't be a lot of attraction to any coach to be in that situation. I think we'd all agree we need a few signings and I'm encouraged that he thinks it won't take many.

 

Joka's ambitious. He doesn't want to ruin his own career by being put into an impossible situation where he has zero chance of finishing anywhere other than 20th. He's going to want reassurances over investment levels and I've no doubt he's going to get them.

I hope this is put to bed soon. I can't take another summer of Roberto Di Matteo will he/won't he speculation.

 

Oops

 

There's always blackmail

 

The ballpark figure mentioned (originally by you in the passing) was £30K p.w. Please do not trivialise the discussion by throwing meaningless figures about for advantage. I've admitted that the idea that the manager/head coach should earn more than the leading players is aspirational. But it would be a good way of recognising the hierarchy at a club and help restrain players more exorbitant wage demands if it could be more widely adopted as a point of principal. That's all.

I've done a bit of research today on what other prem managers/head coaches are getting (some of which are advertised and some kept secret), both at bigger clubs and smaller ones like our own, and the figure you introduced into the discission still looks to be about right to me. Neither profligate nor stingy - the middle ground that you suggest then.

The points made by the Joka as reported by Serb @81 seem entirely clear and reassuring. They are:

1. The Joka 'gets it'. This is a special, wonderfully positive and emotional time for him, all the staff, the players and the fans at our club.

2. So, in the meantime, let's not lose sight of that and enjoy all of it for its own sake without being distracted by talking about money.

3. The job isn't done yet though. He desperately wants to concentrate all his efforts on delivering the Championship and see Troy lift the trophy on Saturday.

4. When that job's done and after the party is over then he will sit down and talk about money (he has entirely the right attitude as to the order things should be done in).

5. As part of those discussions he will wish to ascertain that the club's owners match his own ambition and have a realistic strategy for delivering on it. Luckily, from everything we have learnt about the Pozzo family over the last three years, he is more than likely to be entirely reassured on this.

How much better is it to be part of building something special than simply being parachuted in to fix it a la Tony Pulis? Ask Troy Deeney and Eddie Howe about that. Reading between the lines, I suspect the Joka realises we are now (with his help) on the cusp of something very special indeed. We have classy and pragmatic owners, an astute and brave manager who is quite clearly a man of real integrity, an excellent and very professional chief executive (witness the way Scott dealt with all the developments and initiaves following the Nic Cruwys attack), terrific support staff across the board, a lovely four-sided stadium with further improvements planned, a terrific training ground (again with further improvements planned), wonderful technical support (both at home and in Udinese), the best scouting network on the entire planet, increasing support both in numbers and in their vocal efforts (thanks to the magnificent efforts of the 1881), dare it be said - a particularly classy club forum (thanks to the sterling efforts of Meister et al)! and, above all, a pragmatic and realistic model to deliver on all our ambitions. So, if we keep the faith, then we really could be going places, not just because we have some of the necessary elements in place, but because all our stars are now lined up at the same time. None of any of this will be lost on the Joka.

And he's obviously at ease with working within an owner/director of football/head coach/ extensive scouting network model and no doubt also with the broad thrust of the identify globally/ purchase young/ increase in value/ sell if necessary and if it makes sound business sense without being overly detrimental to the team way of doing things. Don't sell if it would be detrimental to the team though (well we didn't sell Troy did we?). The Joka will want to have his input, identify the team's needs and be listened to and generally be kept in the loop and consulted so that nothing comes as a surprise to him. But, at our club, that's what he's got! Not for us any silly stuff like at Newcastle where Dennis Wise (Director of Football) and whichever manager it was back then (Joe Kinnear?) set up their own personal fiefdoms and once didn't speak to each other for over six months! The Joka could, reasonably, request that the Pozzos step outside of their model on occasion though. Let's hope he does so regarding Adlene Guedioura and suggest they pull out all the stops to secure his permanent signature a.s.a.p. A player like that - strong, skilful and energetic who left it all on the pitch for us just like Lloydhinho and Troy (despite only being a loanee) and obviously loves our club (and consequently is also a very wise man too!) - is worth his weight in gold and worthwhile stepping outside of the box for.

Finally, on the Joka's new contract again. What he should expect next week is that his sterling efforts so far will be properly recognised as will his ambitions for the future. He should get a fair and generous offer which is at the same time realistic and pragmatic bearing in mind the size of our club but also what others are getting at other clubs too. And with another man of integrity, Mr Gino Pozzo, in charge, then I suspect that's exactly what he will be offered. The Joka is quite obviously not a man who is entirely money orientated and absolutely not the kind of guy to try and hold our club to ransom (not that he could anyway). If he receives a fair and generous offer then that is the thing that will make him heppy.

Onwards and upwards. COYH!

 

tldr

 

Whatever.

 

Well, quite. All I know is Slav will not be paid more than our highest paid player, and rightly so.

 

OK. Agreed. But haven't we moved on?

 

Why?

 

Think about it.

 

Like blood from a stone.

 

He's good ... but is he Carling?

 

The Joka? A well on the way to maturing large quaich of Talisker for me ....

 

Interesting.

 

Philippine asked Why? You never explained that. This really is becoming insufferably boring. I accept it's not the established order of things and that's why it would be impossible to make happen without 'cutting off our nose to spite our face'. Not that it shouldn't be broadly aspirational for all clubs. You implied earlier that head coaches (including the Joka) might be freely interchangeable under the 'Pozzo model' despite them having unearthed a real gem on this occasion. I disagree.

Ain't my fault that you are currently acting like one of the twitterati generation, with a.d.d. and only capable of dealing with posts of 140 characters or less and responding in kind or with something even more minimalist.

 

And yet you're still here. Bizarre.