The Odyssey continues: Erik Palmer-Brown at Panathinaikos

No. The problem is that the current coach, an Australian with just 2 seasons of head coaching experience, all of it in the A-League, is out of his depth.

To be clear, he was very successful in Australia - the equivalent of the Supporter's Shield and MLS Cup in successive seasons - but his team's outstanding qualities were things like "self-belief", "tenacity", "fight", etc. In Ligue 1 people demand more. Much, much more.

He's gone straight from a league that's not a whole lot better than USL to Ligue 1, which means he started with a credibility gap, plus a language barrier, from the get-go. He's clearly lost the dressing-room, in much the same way and for very similar reasons to Bob Bradley at Swansea but Jesse Marsch, to be fair to him, didn't at Leeds.

Every player looks bad in these situations, but defenders' and goalkeepers' errors are more obvious so the terrace ire is focused on them.

 

I posted this on March 12th. They've played 6 games since and picked up 2 out of 18 points, slipping to 10 points and a 16+ GD from safety.

At this point, it's the coach.

 

Zoukrou is 19 and has already looked better than Erik the two games he's played.

 

Nothing. That's what he is, overhyped and underwhelming.

 

So I take it when relegated, he'll be joining them in Ligue 2?

 

Since he's registered with them and not Man City, the answer is probably yes.

Whether he actually sees a Ligue 2 pitch in their colours (and for how long if he does), is sold to another club or is transferred within the City Group network is another story.

Part of it may have something to do with where Bruno Irles lands in the summer. Already looking pretty good when he was in charge, his departure led to some head-scratching. Given what's happened since since he left, he should be in demand in the summer.

Maybe he'll take EPB to his new destination.

 

They'll be officially relegated next game.

 

Update: they are now officially relegated.

(EPB went the full 90 in a 4-0 defeat at Rennes.)

 

That's how it ended. EPB picked up a yellow, seems to have played OK.

 

2-1 loss. Weah's LOSC next week.

 

It's irrelevant now. The only question is whether he's staying down with them next season or if he'll get a move.

I can't imagine anyone in that dressing room is thinking about anything other than "when will this nightmare end".

Ligue 2 isn't that bad a standard at the upper end and, with his contract up this time next year, he'll have shop window for his abilities and maybe Troyes will bounce back. Wouldn't put any money on it though. A season like this will leave its mark across a club

 

Or he could return to MLS. He's not going to make much in the Ligue 2. And the quality is arguably lower there.

 

Overhyped? Yes, at one time (before the rise of Wes, Claudio, Tyler, etc.) he was mega-hyped. I would say at his height he was easily one of our five most hyped prospects (along with guys like Cameron Carter-Vickers, who at least has become a very respectable, if not Top 5, guy for us). But recently? No.

 

Some leagues do the simultaneous starts for (at least most of) the last 2 matches. La Liga has 9 games at 1 PM Eastern today for matchday 37.

I'd imagine it helps teams achieve things more often while actually playing, as opposed to winning the league while sitting at home.

 

Builds excitement around qualification for the final CL and EL places as well as the final relegation slots. "Can they do it today? Tune in and find out!" milks the TV audience for all it's worth.

Something you have to do if the destination of the championship is known 6 games before the end of the season, or even before the season kicks off

 

Inarguably IMO, certainly outside Ligue 2's Top Six.

There's a big, big drop in quality once you exclude the likes of Metz, Le Havre or Bordeaux.

 

I don't see that happening. He was in Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria and now France. I wonder if he's open to Germany next.

 

He was chasing the big breakthrough and the big payday that goes with it. The thing is he's been in Europe for 5 years now, with 2 seasons battling Ligue 1 relegation as his career peak and with him turning 27 next April, he must know that that's ever-less likely to happen.

In the meantime, MLS has kept improving and the salaries have gone up accordingly. He'd be foolish not to consider coming home.

In his shoes, if there's an offer from an EL side in Holland, Belgium or Switzerland I'd give Europe one more shot. Otherwise, I'd come back.

 

This is done to prevent collusion between two teams, profiting from the knowledge of the result of a competitor.

 

I met a Porto back from England who just got the drop in France, headed to Mississippi and the MLS big dance...