Clough says get new players

[mattbianco1]

On the 2 interviews on YouTube he's a bit critical.

First he says we need new players.

The. He says defence isn't as good as Brayford & Maguire (which we knew but.)

Not sure what I read into that.

Is he pissed off with the board?
Players?
Just pissed off at the result?

Not sure ?

 

[Hartley Hare]

The BBC interview is very downbeat. Talk of last minute efforts to sign players, and he is still licking his wounds over the loss of Maguire, Brayford and Coady.

Still this is the first loss in seven, not time to panic just yet.

HH

 

[Bladesman]

The BBC interview is very downbeat. Talk of last minute efforts to sign players, and he is still licking his wounds over the loss of Maguire, Brayford and Coady.

Still this is the first loss in seven, not time to panic just yet.

HH

The tone in which he said the players that have been brought in are not as good as Brayford and Maguire which is true but harsh to actually say it publicly.

 

[Kev Gee]

Its a bad defeat & emotions will be high. However. we have lost the 3 best players who played for us at the end of last season.

We have got in around 14 players which were needed to at least give us a squad.

He doesnt know his best 11 now and chopping & changing players doesnt win you promotion.

The board are to blame on this one for me.

 

[wizadry]

The tone in which he said the players that have been brought in are not as good as Brayford and Maguire which is true but harsh to actually say it publicly.

Yes,really strange for him to come out and say that,and Di Canio got sacked for something not too dis similar to what Cloughy has done,i don't mind him slating a player but to actually compare a player with someone who used to be at the club is a very rare situation indeed.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

He's right about Brayford and Maguire being better than what we have now but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to actually say it. If it's intended as motivation to prove him wrong then there are different ways of doing that. He cuts a frustrated figure in that interview.

 

[pommpey]

Who can blame him?

Is there now anyone who doesn't believe he was lied to just a little bit regarding the investment and potential in the club?

He is a sound manager. I still have faith in him. But listen to what he says. We score goals away from home - that alone is worth a point. But looking at the goals tonight on The Football League, all of those goals were down to fundamentally shit defending from fundamentally shit defenders. No two ways about it.

And the three main anchors in his success story last season are gone. People say, 'but Cluffs bought 14 players'. Yes, so he has. But it's the same as saying to him, "Anything from the bottom shelf mate." You can have 14 players from the bottom shelf (and lets face it, who, amongst his signings do you think is 'quality'?) but if they are individually inferior in playing style and quality, we will be exploited time and time again. Seven goals in 180 minutes of football tells its own story.

pommpey

 

[Bladesmanstan]

The tone in which he said the players that have been brought in are not as good as Brayford and Maguire which is true but harsh to actually say it publicly.

I don't think that is harsh.if the players he bought are doing shit he needs to give them a kick up ass to get them playing at their best.alcock looks ok at the moment.mcevely can do a bit better from what I saw when he was at Swindon.mcgahey is apaulling again I know that he is young but when we signed him they were comparing him to Maguire if he can be a first team regular I can play every game.the best signing by a mile is Campbell ryce I know he as scored only once but he is so effective in everything he does just like Davies and Baxter.need a defffeeeennnnndderrrr desperately.

 

[metalblade]

Harsh but true I'm afraid, what I think Nigel is doing in those interviews is clearly letting everyone know he is sending a clear message to the boardroom that the current crop are not good enough and that he needs some backing and investment in the team to stand any chance of promotion. My current thoughts are that the investment is needed fast otherwise we will be in the same situation all be it not as bad as we were a year ago when we were playing catch up all season.

 

[breeny]

Who is he addressing those interviews to? Players? The board? Us as an excuse?

It's clearly true that the players aren't as good, he doesn't need to state this publicly.

 

[Woodwardfan]

After signing 13 new players who are still on our books, I don't think Clough can lay the blame anywhere other than his brother if he thinks he has been let down, otherwise he should simply blame himself.

Clough was all-square with Maguire leaving for the lad's sake and for the money involved. He knew Brayford had a big long contract with Cardiff. As for Coady, I'm not sure what happened there, though we do have an abundance of midfield players and I think Clough was expecting a lot from Basham.

If I show my ratings for those 13 players, perhaps it shows what a poor job our Chief scout has done. I acknowledge all players need time to settle in ( Murphy being a prime example last season), but at this point in time, and this point in time matters in a supposed promotion season, my ratings are judged on the fact we desperately need promotion this season:

Alcock 8
Harris 6
Wallace -not known- any rating has to be subject to fitness, potentially 10 but no player is any use when unfit
Butler 3
Basham 3
Scougall 9
McNulty 6
Davies 8
McGahey 5
Porter 2
McEveley 6
Campbell-Ryce 7
Higdon 2

12 players, total marks 65, average rating 5.4. That illustrates our problem. As for our Chief Scout, the choice of Davies and McEveley aren't really down to him and nor is Porter, and the average for truely new recruits is still 5.4. That is not good enough in anybody's book.

Regardless of budget, you don't achieve success if you can't identify good players. Added to that, we have not tapped the loan market at all, why?. Crucially we have not signed one striker who will make the difference needed in a promotion season. If we are caught in a vacuum waiting for Ched then it's folly.

 

[Tezza1889]

Ok, been looking at the interviews and I found it very strange he would be talking about harry and brayford, looking at it from a different angle, is he trying to say we had agreements in place for both of those players which were not backed by the club?

Remember the brayford tweets in the summer, it was as if a deal was done other than the formallity of the contract, maguire stalled and the club sold him off, pretty much the opinion on here was we chased after bruce dragging the lad by the hand begging them to take him..

Coady was the major hint that nothing had changed regarding player investment, that was a big give away that the board don't give a shit who we watch on Saturday, so long as we all turn up.

Jim phipps is a master of spin, going on about desso pitches, debts cleared, and shirt sales, wake up jim, we don't care about that jim, put a team on the pitch that has good quality players and can win games, then you have more fans coming to games, its no surprise man utd fill old trafford every Saturday, use that as a guide to british soccer as you call it, good team, more fans, more money, better value brand....

Finally, I think nigel clough is not far off walking, openly comparing our players to other clubs players is a frustrating development for him, its clear to all that we haven't anybody close to brayford, didn't realise he thought the same of harry, time for the board to back the manager financially, I mean who wants to see the current crop of donkeys tearing up the new fancy pitch.

 

[judge]

Its too late now ,the budget is set and it wont be changed .at least we know whete we are with the owners and the management i still think this squad could muddle together a play off spot and my anger earlier in the season is because i /we all know what that will lead to

Dont think ive ever gave up on a season in august but ive had 30 + years of this and the latest repackaging and rebranding is still the same done on the cheap leads to disapoinment ive always had

This one is a little more frustrating as i saw signs of one of those spasmodic peaks we have every ten years or so where the pheonix rises from the slurry pit and burns brightly but briefly in the blue skys over beautiful down town bramall lane

That seems to have been extinguished now and i wish cloughy all the best in his endeavours this season as i think behind the facade of friendly americans and new kits and pitches are some hard faced busibess men who are holding the purse strings and i fear a lack of success this season could lead to an even more dramatic turn of financial events in the future

 

[Woodwardfan]

Thing is Clough has the size of squad he talked about and he has reconstructed the squad with 13 new signings.. He has not quite got it right and the Board obviously backed him to extend the squad during the Transfer Window, logically he therefore will be exceeding his budget. That money is still available presumably and will soon be used on loan deals with at least one turning to a permanent deal in January. We recall that Clough was tussling with the dilemma of the 93 day loans and losing the new signings in mid-December. Presumably he looked at the fixtures at the front end of the loan period and the back end and bided his time.

Of the Back 4 yesterday Clough inherited only Collins who has played well for him since he arrived. These are your players Nigel, stick by them. To refer to Maguire and Brayford after the game yesterday was inappropriate and counter-productive.

Make sure your next 3 signings are better quality than your last 13, with only a couple of exceptions.

 

[Rodley]

12 players, signing on fees, wages, etc. He's spent good money at this level. Not sure why he didn't bring in 3 or 4 better quality players instead of volume but it's early days still. No manager gets every signing right.

I think we'll see 2 or 3 good quality loans in the next fortnight or so, we certainly need a centre half, centre mid and striker.

 

[Blade56]

The manager is always to blame, he is the fans conduit. If the board break the promises they made to get him here he should walk away. If they didn't break promises made and gave him funds for 14 players he selected with funds from Maquire made avaiable that he has chosen not to spend then it's his fault.

What I cannot respect is a manager coming out with coded messages making fans speculate on the meaning of those comments. Until now he has been fairly straight and outspoken but recently it's got me worried that all is not well behind the scenes.

 

[Menjo]

I was told by someone with good contacts at United that every effort was made to get Brayford and Cardiff wouldn't play ball, pardon the pun, they didn't want him going to a League 1 side. However good we think that Brayford, Coady and Maguire were for us last season. It was highly likely as proved that none would be back again for this season. Has an obsession with retaining these players cost us? Certainly their replacements aren't pulling up any trees. I have to ask why Clough made a point of increasing the squad size with such poor players when he categorically stated he didn't want a large squad. It was his poor team selection in the first two matches which cost us 6 valuable points.

There are so many questions, why are so many of our players injured or struggling for fitness, it's only September! Does Clough's obsession with his favourites cause a rift in the dressing room and why bring in so many utility players, I would much prefer a small squad with some specialist players and perhaps a few strong loanees if required, in the case of injuries.

 

[BerksBlade]

I'd agree with most of that Menjo. Clough's mantra at the end of last season was "quality not quantity". However - recruitment over the summer seems to have gone against this. Unlike many other clubs, Clough has been able to sign several players, but not sure he's gone about it the right way.
Did we need wholesale changes over the summer? Quality replacements for Brayford, Coady & Maguire and a couple of genuine match-winners should have been enough. Instead we've got a number of "squad" players. JCR may yet work out OK, but so far not been impressed with Butler, Higdon, Basham or McNulty. Jury still out on McGahey. Wallace has barely played.
The worrying thing for me is that we've lost the teamwork, pace and urgency from our excellent run last season. Harris, Flynn, Murphy & Scougall don't look the same players. We've also pushed our youngsters further down the pecking order.
Can't see how making more wholesale changes is going to help. The current squad should be good enough to challenge for promotion. Seems something's not right behind the scenes, as the Butler debacle demonstrates.

 

[UnitedBlade]

Harsh but true I'm afraid, what I think Nigel is doing in those interviews is clearly letting everyone know he is sending a clear message to the boardroom that the current crop are not good enough and that he needs some backing and investment in the team to stand any chance of promotion. My current thoughts are that the investment is needed fast otherwise we will be in the same situation all be it not as bad as we were a year ago when we were playing catch up all season.

Some good points in the whole thread and of course he'll be emotional doing an interview after that manner of defeat.

But I agree with you Metal, this is a message that whatever constraints (I suspect wages, and possibly agents fees etc) have to be relaxed in certain circumstances to land the right player. Big task replacing Maguire and I suspect he thought they had a good chance of getting Chris O'Grady if we offered more in wages.

Only Clough and ITK people in the club know who we nearly got.

What happens next is important, can we get better quality in two or three key positions? It requires parting with money - I think we all know that.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Some good points in the whole thread and of course he'll be emotional doing an interview after that manner of defeat.

But I agree with you Metal, this is a message that whatever constraints (I suspect wages, and possibly agents fees etc) have to be relaxed in certain circumstances to land the right player. Big task replacing Maguire and I suspect he thought they had a good chance of getting Chris O'Grady if we offered more in wages.

Only Clough and ITK people in the club know who we nearly got.

What happens next is important, can we get better quality in two or three key positions? It requires parting with money - I think we all know that.

Clough was all-square with Branagan and the agreed approach and numbers for the 3 players in the TW.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

12 players, signing on fees, wages, etc. He's spent good money at this level. Not sure why he didn't bring in 3 or 4 better quality players instead of volume but it's early days still. No manager gets every signing right.

I think we'll see 2 or 3 good quality loans in the next fortnight or so, we certainly need a centre half, centre mid and striker.

Will we see any players brought in over the next fortnight though Rodley ?. We were going to bring in some during the last transfer window and look what happened. They say it to get fans hopes up and then rarely does anything materialise.

 

[UnitedBlade]

Clough was all-square with Branagan and the agreed approach and numbers for the 3 players in the TW.

Seemingly at the time but given Clough’s interview yesterday it suggests a wider issue which is why I mentioned the O’Grady situation (although the issue he is concerned with right now is replacing Maguire and Brayford).

I’m not sure if you’ve heard Clough’s interview but the following are more or less verbatim comments

“… need some help in the centre half department, we’ve been talking about this since Harry Maguire left….”

“… keep lamenting massive losses of Brayford and Maguire…. replacements not as good…”

“..should have set the ball rolling in May to replace these two. We made some late bids on transfer deadline day, we don’t like doing business that late. We should have been more planned and measured over the summer – we shouldn’t have left it that late..”

“…want physical presence from senior players..”

“..want people who can defend better than we currently are…”

For what it’s worth on the recent last day of the transfer window, I think Clough was asked “what do you need to assemble a promotion winning squad”. He said a striker (thought to be Davies of Blackpool) a centre half (thought to be Jason Pearce of Leeds) and an unknown defensive midfielder. Maybe Clough is now being disingenuous but the result was we got no one.

This is a public message that we cannot wait for the January transfer window, we need to land some decent loanees now.

We will see whether we have the will as well as the money to do this.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Seemingly at the time but given Clough’s interview yesterday it suggests a wider issue which is why I mentioned the O’Grady situation (although the issue he is concerned with right now is replacing Maguire and Brayford).

I’m not sure if you’ve heard Clough’s interview but the following are more or less verbatim comments

“… need some help in the centre half department, we’ve been talking about this since Harry Maguire left….”

“… keep lamenting massive losses of Brayford and Maguire…. replacements not as good…”

“..should have set the ball rolling in May to replace these two. We made some late bids on transfer deadline day, we don’t like doing business that late. We should have been more planned and measured over the summer – we shouldn’t have left it that late..”

“…want physical presence from senior players..”

“..want people who can defend better than we currently are…”

For what it’s worth on the recent last day of the transfer window, I think Clough was asked “what do you need to assemble a promotion winning squad”. He said a striker (thought to be Davies of Blackpool) a centre half (thought to be Jason Pearce of Leeds) and an unknown defensive midfielder. Maybe Clough is now being disingenuous but the result was we got no one.

This is a public message that we cannot wait for the January transfer window, we need to land some decent loanees now.

We will see whether we have the will as well as the money to do this.

I have no doubt in my own mind that the budget is available, but my logic tells me that it has been increased recently because recruitment over the summer has been poor. Hence Clough is now exceeding his stated size of squad, and that costs money.

Clough said last week we would probably wait until the 93 days loan periods take us beyond 31st December and into the next window.

All that has changed since then have been two performances where we have shipped 8 goals and it could have been more.

I had not heard some of the comments listed by you above and they are a marked change of tone. Consistently in the past Clough has been singing from the same sheet as his MD and the Board. As for setting the balls rolling in May, surely he didn't know Maguire would definitely leave and that Brayford would not be coming. All in all Clough had a bad day at the office yesterday and for the first time said unmeasured things which did not join up with his previous messages.

Maybe all the public attention and emotion of the anniversary of his father's passing will have contributed as well as the Swindon drubbing. Whatever the cause, he was not in full control in his interviews.

In the past he has endorsed his budget as adequate for promotion. He has expressed confidence in his squad to get promoted. He chose the Chief Scout, IMO he chose the MD also. On the other hand he does not seem to be the type of bloke to divert blame if he himself is to blame. Surely Clough knew his budget all summer and knew he needed a mix of quality and quantity. Surely he has accountability for only signing Porter, Higdon and McNulty as his intended " strong strikeforce of four" to quote him on signing McNulty. Surely he has accountability for signing Butler, McGahey and Basham.

If there are cracks appearing with the Board we are all in trouble,

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Bemusing latest comments from Nigel.

I can only think that Clough gave "the powers that be" his list of targets in May and they thought they could get a better deal by playing "brinkmanship" with the selling clubs?

Maybe they made early offers to the likes of Blackpool and Leeds which were rejected and then didn't try again until deadline day, thinking the other clubs would be more desperate to offload?

That seems to be the only scenario which fits the comments made by both Clough and Brannigan.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Bemusing latest comments from Nigel.

I can only think that Clough gave "the powers that be" his list of targets in May and they thought they could get a better deal by playing "brinkmanship" with the selling clubs?

Maybe they made early offers to the likes of Blackpool and Leeds which were rejected and then didn't try again until deadline day, thinking the other clubs would be more desperate to offload?

That seems to be the only scenario which fits the comments made by both Clough and Brannigan.

You may be right but in terms of the two clubs you mention, Karl Oyston is notoriously difficult to deal with when it comes to transfers and Leeds have been in turmoil for months so they won't have been the easiest clubs to deal with.

What this does highlight once again is the ridiculous transfer system we have in this country.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Faces change but all remains the same at Bramall Lane. We sell cheap and buy dear.

Other clubs can play the "brinksmanship game", we can't and never could!!

 

[Cyprus Blade]

Other clubs can play the "brinksmanship game", we can't and never could!!

well its high time we bloody learned IMO.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Faces change but all remains the same at Bramall Lane. We sell cheap and buy dear.

Other clubs can play the "brinksmanship game", we can't and never could!!

There certainly seemed to be more 'brinkmanship' with the Maguire sale although it depends whether you believe Branigan or Bruce as to how that ended.

 

[Revolution]

There certainly seemed to be more 'brinkmanship' with the Maguire sale although it depends whether you believe Branigan or Bruce as to how that ended.

Same result though.

Player sold
Money not reinvested
Worse team

They've learned nothing.

 

[OllyBlade]

More and more excuses. Clough can moan all he wants but he's all smiles when players like Basham put pen to paper. If Clough has any eye for quality that donkey would have been barred from entering the S2 postcode let alone getting anywhere near Bramall Lane. I said before the season kicked off the transfer policy was craven and it is proving so now.