Slavs management

[Hagansbootlaces]

Great point! It's easy to give the old "but we didn't buy him any wingers" point again but from looking at the start of the season, was that really our problem? I don't think it was, it may have won us a few more points but would have been papering over the cracks of what our real problem was which was shipping so many goals.

If he wanted to play with 4 at the back and 2 wingers we arguably needed to buy 7 new players (new back 4, 2 wingers, and a CDM). That is on top of already needing a keeper, another LCM, a competent midfielder, and a creative outlet. That's a full team. Do we really think that is a reasonable ask for any club in a transfer window?

Maybe it was PAs fault for hiring someone who was tactically stubborn. Maybe SJ gave the impression he could coach the players into the new system. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

Reported at the time the short list was short because of the desire to keep playing with 3 at the back as it's now played through every age group.
As with most interviews, things get said by both sides, but strongly suspect Slav, agreed to 3 at the back, then thought he could change to his formation, if the results were there fair enough, but they weren't and neither was the enthusiasm or work rate from the players

 

[finlaytheblade]

Reported at the time the short list was short because of the desire to keep playing with 3 at the back as it's now played through every age group.
As with most interviews, things get said by both sides, but strongly suspect Slav, agreed to 3 at the back, then thought he could change to his formation, if the results were there fair enough, but they weren't and neither was the enthusiasm or work rate from the players

No doubt in the majority of Blades eyes he got it totally wrong .Makes me wonder what he was trying to do as a blind man could see the players hadn't totally bought into his methods .
It really bugs me that it wasn't working ! Yet he continued to play his way until his last 2 matches ,things improved straight away after the switch.
The Prince must have been annoyed as pre-season he stated we would start with playing a back 3.
We may not be flush with money but surely Hecki deserves backing as a bit of strengthening could see us do it.

 

[Bladesman]

No doubt in the majority of Blades eyes he got it totally wrong .Makes me wonder what he was trying to do as a blind man could see the players hadn't totally bought into his methods .
It really bugs me that it wasn't working ! Yet he continued to play his way until his last 2 matches ,things improved straight away after the switch.
The Prince must have been annoyed as pre-season he stated we would start with playing a back 3.
We may not be flush with money but surely Hecki deserves backing as a bit of strengthening could see us do it.

He saw where he went wrong as we went back to a 3 and started picking up results just before getting the boot.

 

[Hagansbootlaces]

No doubt in the majority of Blades eyes he got it totally wrong .Makes me wonder what he was trying to do as a blind man could see the players hadn't totally bought into his methods .
It really bugs me that it wasn't working ! Yet he continued to play his way until his last 2 matches ,things improved straight away after the switch.
The Prince must have been annoyed as pre-season he stated we would start with playing a back 3.
We may not be flush with money but surely Hecki deserves backing as a bit of strengthening could see us do it.

Totally agree, I understand the argument re not backing Slav in the transfer window re bringing in wingers, but lets be honest if you employ a guy to do X, who agrees to do X then 4/5 months later says he can't and then wants more money to do Y, its not going to end well

 

[Stu_Blade]

I was trying to explain to a mate that although a good manager Slav would always struggle unless he adapted to being a Blade if you look at the model player to play in a Blades shirt they don't have to be the best or most technical but if they put in a shift, wear the shirt with pride and involve themselves with fans they are 80%+ there. Although not always pretty to watch we do have the few wonder goals a season the Jags and Brown's are still being talked about and MGW and Ndiaye will be up there too. It will be an interesting 2nd half of the season

 

[finlaytheblade]

He saw where he went wrong as we went back to a 3 and started picking up results just before getting the boot.

It took him 15 matches to realise it ! That's not good enough for an experienced man like him .

 

[Bladesman]

It took him 15 matches to realise it ! That's not good enough for an experienced man like him .

Well in his defence and Norwood backed this up, we barely had a pre-season.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Well in his defence and Norwood backed this up, we barely had a pre-season.

No excuses he must have had people within the club or professional football people whispering in his ear!! It's not working ! He obviously ignored it advise that is .
Payed the price !!
It's also cost the club a few bob ,prince won't be happy! Good money which could have been invested in players this coming window .

 

[Captain2]

Useless, great improvement now he’s left

 

[JPBrods]

I wonder how we will look back at the Jokanovic spell in years to come. Will surely be filed as one of the strangest times at the club. We did the right thing on paper by going out of our way to get a fabulous manager (one I hailed as one of our most sensible hires ever in an earlier thread) and he was just such a poor fit for the club, the owners, the players and the fans it seems. I know it sounds daft to say 'X just isn't an X manager' because it's an ethos that suggests a strong degree of exceptionalism exists in club football when fans all just want the same thing, but Jokanovic just wasn't a United manager. Simple as that.

 

[Tezza1889]

SJ came in and I expected some better football, a lift, new manager bounce, say whatever superlative you like..

What we got was a confused, stubborn, surly teenager like, grumpy old man, mumbling to himself and staring at the floor..

Many of us didn't make it through one post match interview, he made cantona's seagulls speech seem like the work of William Shakespeare...

Whatever system he wanted to play, I can't accept that the players couldn't adjust to it because they weren't good enough, he was a manager on the way down, with his best years and ambition well behind him, and he was taking us down with him....

The sacking was perfect...

 

[Houston_Blade]

I think Slav perfectly laid the foundations for Heckingbottom to take over. He’d already realised that we needed to play 3 CB’s and PH has just stolen the idea. We’d probably have won 3 nil last night with Slav in charge

 

[FMBlade1]

I'm probably in the minority here but I think Slav did some useful things.

I don't think MGW would have signed without us having a manager of his calibre, and he of course got Ndiaye's contract sorted and gave him a chance in the first team.

We were in a rut after last season so picking things up was never going to be easy.

Was it a perfect fit, of course not. If he ever did return in the opposite dugout I'd politely applaud him.

 

[Weasel]

One thing Slav did do well is get us to attack quicker, it is just a shame like you say he couldn't get the wingers in he needed.

Sorry but I don't agree. We were so slow to attack it was untrue. We laboured, took 15 touches when 5 would do the same job, and had such a slow tempo that by the time we had worked the ball anywhere near the opposition box we had given them 5 minutes to filter back and get themselves back into their defensive default positions to easily clear the ball into the box after we had played pretty little triangles out wide for another 2 minutes. I seem to recall Hecky actually said before / just after the Bristol City game that we wanted a faster tempo from the players and quicker balls into the box. Which has happened.

I can go with the point made that SJ wasn't helped with not being allowed to bring in his targets and we were slow in the transfer market (remember his numerous quotes about desperate for fresh blood aka Dracula in a diet) but let's not paint aa different picture that what it was. We were slower than a set of asthmatic geriatrics in getting the ball up the pitch. No wonder everyone looked bored to death in the stands and the kids were all playing on their phones in the BL library. Again, even Hecky mentioned that he didn't want to be bored watching us.

Crap at the back, lifeless and confused, lack of confidence, and so slow to attack. It was that bad at times I couldn't be bothered to watch us and gave it a miss.

 

[VictoryBlade]

Can't accept the players downed tools.
Beleaf is a big word in anything you do be it sport or any walk of life.
It was clear the players lost beleaf in what SJ was trying to implant as early as August.
Beleaf in what your doing and things are bound to improve.SJ completely ignored ! You have to take the players with you or it won't work.
Did he finally realise this in his last 2 games? if so that was very niev of him considering his managerial experience.
First law of football management ! Play to your teams strengths.
I said this a few months ago on here ! A Robson situation is looming he would have taken us down or put us in a relegation scrap ! we got rid in time to have a punt at the play offs
(Blackwell)almost did it.
Roll on 15 years and the same scenario may be unfolding.
We have a better squad this time round can we do it.
I think we can!!

Please stop mispenning belief lol

 

[finlaytheblade]

Please stop mispenning belief lol

I will take that on board

 

[Carlton Blade]

Probably the least inpactful managerial spell in our history. Literally nothing has changed

 

[nopigfansintown]

The last time we were on this predicament, McCabe gave a man who had been successful in extremely favourable circumstances at Boro and West Brom the job. All he had to do was continue his success with an ultra expensive and talented United side. Names like Beattie and Hendrie arrived and we were on paper a shoe in for top spot. The man's name was one Bryan Robson.
Would SJ be the new Robbo? Would he be similarly backed? Can he manage without big backing?

You should have seen my next example: Robson. He was a cheque book manager given a cheque book. There was some logic there. SJ is a cheque book manager who may or may not be given the cheque book. If it's the latter - is he any good? The horrendous standard of the other candidates makes his appointment more palatable in my eyes. I don't get this overwhelming optimism before the transfer window has even opened though.

A lot of managers would regard us as a Ferrari or some other super car. He's failing to get a tune out of one of the best squads in the division, there's absolutely zero doubt about it. We've had managers getting a lot more out of a lot less.. He's been lied too, no doubt, (told you all this months ago) so he's having to show that he can actually manage for the first time in his Championship career. He's failing to do that. He's looking very much like the archetypal cheque book manager at the moment, which was always my fear. There's only one time in United's history where a cheque book manager was given a cheque book, that was the Robson era. The only times we've done well was when we had managers getting a pint out of a half pint pot (Harris, Wilder, Bassett, Warnock).

I don't have the confidence in PH to give him the job. Some of my fears about Slav are looking like they are happening though. I had him as a cheque book manager that got promoted with two unbelievably talented squads for the level. United, given our board and history, were always likely to need a fire fighter. A Warnock type that can get a pint out of a half pint pot. A guy that can make limited players better, and make the total better than the constituents parts. We have the flashy name to satiate the fans and have immediately taken him out of an environment where he has succeeded in the past. I do think if Slav is sacked in the near future Hecky will get the job. If he resigns we'll use his doubtless substantial salary to appoint someone else.

 

[Champagneblade]

Always maintain that professional footballers at this level should be able to adapt and learn a new system. Having said that, there's no doubting the improvement under Hecky.

I'd tend to agree but when you've just spent 23m on a striker and the manager is saying that he should be flexible and learn to play as a winger I can imagine the Board thinking 'fine, but if this doesn't work, we have to get rid of this guy'.

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

Ineffectual both on and off the pitch.
His English was so bad his interviews were just boring and I could never understand what on earth he was on about,
The thing I loved most about the Wilder early days was the feeling he was one of us, and I think the players he brought in in the beginning felt the same way,
I never felt that way with slav ever......

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

a blind man could see the players hadn't totally bought into his methods .

Those fans who had both eyes open could see the players had totally rejected his methods, including the ones who had some semblance of a clue as to what those methods were supposed to be.

 

[Sheff de party]

Slav’s problem was he came in wanting to play a style, formation and brand of football we simply didn’t have the players for. He changed, and learned, too slowly, then basically blamed it on not being given cash to buy his way out of trouble.

Gibbs-White is clearly our best player and he was on the wing. It’s no coincidence that he’s playing even better now he’s in the middle.

I have no sympathy for managers who won’t change when results aren’t going their way. And why would he care - nice big payoff and he can just say “well they don’t understand what I was doing and they wouldn’t give me the cash”.

That squad is easily good enough to finish in the playoffs and we were 16th. Why would you give him cash?

 

[FMBlade1]

To be fair we would have been higher in the league under him if not for some disgraceful refereeing performances

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

Still rate him as a manager but what has become clear is that he was the wrong manager at the right time or the right manager at the wrong time or...

 

[metalblade]

Chequebook manager but at least he got Ndiaye's contract sorted. To me the way he came to us was unprofessional he clearly hadn't got a clue about the players he was to inherit, you would have thought he would have done his homework before arriving maybe that explains his poor starts at Fulham and Watford. Placed too many square pegs in round holes too, players not in their correct position soon lose confidence and after the previous season that was already in very short supply. I'm sure Slav may have success elsewhere but he was never the right fit for Sheffield United.

 

[Revolution]

Let down by a number of the players and the board, but in some ways didn't help himself either.