[CONFIRMED] Another shit manager

[alcoblade]

You might well be right on the last paragraph, but the basic premise of "up or out" will remain in the thinking of any manager who considers the position based on recent history.

I'd contest that the squad is fucking rubbish. Unbalanced and lacking in key areas, yes. And you could argue that Clough has paid more attention to the medium term player development than to the here and now. But there is more than enough talent in that squad that allied with a few key acquisitions should be able to entertain and win us promotion.

The manager doesn't play a style that entertains so it matters not who we add.

We need an entire spine to the team. Given 18 months in charge and huge resource, that's unforgivable.

There's barely a team in the division that couldn't threaten promotion given "a few key additions"

UTB

 

[GlosBlade]

Strikes me we are badly missing a Derek Dooley wise old head type to inject some detailed footballing knowledge into the decision making in the boardroom. Clough's tactics bored me senseless most of last season but sacking him now is a huge gamble, hopefully it will pay off but thy have got to get it right this time. I have no idea who 'right' is but whoever comes in is going to have to hit the ground running. And I doubt that we are a very attractive opportunity for many potential candidates.

 

[pommpey]

I'd contest that the squad is fucking rubbish.

I'll contest what you are contesting, Coily. United's team need to look like and behave like a Championship side if we are to even dream of being promoted. Look at Brizzle this season. Okay, we wiped our arses with them at their gaff, but that was an off day for them and seldomly repeated. MK and Preston looked like another level upwards during and up to the run in. We didn't have the potatoes to get at teams and that is indicative of our poorness in outfield staff. Only Murphy, Brayford (in bits) and Basham (when played in the right place) did anything near show the world they were ready to move up ... and more crucially, stay there.

We are simply not good enough and I reckon yes, we could bring Mourinho in tomorrow ... but we'd still be the same dodgy-pair-of-hands, can't-defend-for-fuck-all, lightweight-midfield, anonymous-attack team. We need a clear out of players and a reorganisation at the boardroom level with someone who actually looks like they want us out of this fucking division, not hobbling each daft-arsed manager who takes the job and sacking them a year later because they know that the stupid fans will want more if we fuck up and actually succeed once in a fucking red moon.

pommpey

 

[Darren]

So, who'd take the job? Clough isn't a fool, and is a football manager, moreso than Wier, better slightly than Wilson (IMO) and better by far than the rest since Warnock.

Think about it. This fast rotation of managers is getting us nowhere. I swear, once Clough has all his stuff packed and is off premises, you'll start to gather some home truths about 'his' players he brought in. I refuse to think he is so tactically and technically inept to actively sign such horseshit as Coutts and Holt. I am still of the unfounded belief that given the investment he thought he was getting (which possibly brought him here in the first place) he would have hung onto Coady, possibly Maguire and certainly not signed a carthorse like Higdon.

Anyway. Once the new, McCabe-friendly robot is in place then we will see what he can do with the same set of underperforming, playing-leagues-above-their-ability players ... and we will see if the first massive earthquake of the new season isn't the sudden departure of Murphy to warm the bench of Norwich City or West Brom whilst the gaping hole he leaves gets filled with another fucking never-heard-of-him, Barry Oddnob.

pommpey

In terms of results (forget about the guff about enternaining), I would rank the post Warnock managers as follows;

1. Blackwell - consistently challenging for play offs/promotion from the 2nd tier
2. Wilson - only a freak set of circumstances prevented promotion in his first season and always challenging for promotion in his 2nd season
3. Clough - good cup runs, saved us from relegation to the 4th tier and play offs in the 3rd tier
4. Speed - always struggling in the 2nd tier, but probably would have done just enough to keep us up.
5. Adams - hopeless, took Speed's meiocree, but probably just about good enough for the 2nd Tier team and turned them into relegation certainties.
6. Robson - had players that should have run away with the 2nd tier and had them flirting with relegation
7. Weir - my dead gran could have done a better job.

 

[Caveblade]

Interesting list Darren. Reading it confirms Pompey's point that the common denominator in this shambles is one Mr McCabe. He has talked in the past about making instinctive decisions, I would call them knee jerk badly thought out decisions.

Sacking Blackwell after two games equals knee jerk stupidity. We had drawn with 10 men to a good Cardiff side and then lost to the eventual run away champions, but bowing to his instincts that early in a season KM had no idea of how the season would pan out. I hazard a guess if Blackie had been kept on, the style might have been poor, but we would have still been in the championship.

Sacking Wilson with 5 games to go and no back up plan other than Morgan equals knee jerk stupidity. He had seen Wednesday do it the season before and get over the line. The only difference being, that our Porcine neighbours did it earlier and had a backup plan.

Sacking Warnock and appointing Robson who frankly had the track record from hell, more knee jerk reactions. At that point we had parachute payments and the chance to bounce back. It is easy with the benefit of hindsight to see that NW would have got us back up, but even without it, there was a massive opportunity, with the right appointment to build on the premiership season. I awaited that appointment with bated breath. Bryan Robson for crying out loud!

Weir, a brave decision, but a bad one. No plan b and no suggestion of having an experienced head in place to support a Rookie manager who hadn't even managed an U21 team.

Adams, enough said. Wallowing around in the lower leagues and we think that he will be our saviour.

So actually the guy who should be getting sacked is McCabe, he is the common denominator who has a clear track record of bad decisions and bad appointments that have led us to the current position.

It is interesting reading some of the posts on here, particularly Bertie Blades which asserts we previously interviewed Di Metteo and didn't offer him the job on cash grounds. This sums up the other side of McCabe which is he thinks he can play supporters for fools with his spin. We didn't interview Di Metteo, McCabe merely said on Radio Sheffield when he was getting pelters from callers that he had had a text from him when the position was vacant following one of the many sackings. Let me ask you, do you seriously think Roberto Di Metteo just happened to have McCabes Mobile number!!

 

[Darren]

Interesting list Darren. Reading it confirms Pompey's point that the common denominator in this shambles is one Mr McCabe. He has talked in the past about making instinctive decisions, I would call them knee jerk badly thought out decisions.

Sacking Blackwell after two games equals knee jerk stupidity. We had drawn with 10 men to a good Cardiff side and then lost to the eventual run away champions, but bowing to his instincts that early in a season KM had no idea of how the season would pan out. I hazard a guess if Blackie had been kept on, the style might have been poor, but we would have still been in the championship.

Sacking Wilson with 5 games to go and no back up plan other than Morgan equals knee jerk stupidity. He had seen Wednesday do it the season before and get over the line. The only difference being, that our Porcine neighbours did it earlier and had a backup plan.

Sacking Warnock and appointing Robson who frankly had the track record from hell, more knee jerk reactions. At that point we had parachute payments and the chance to bounce back. It is easy with the benefit of hindsight to see that NW would have got us back up, but even without it, there was a massive opportunity, with the right appointment to build on the premiership season. I awaited that appointment with bated breath. Bryan Robson for crying out loud!

Weir, a brave decision, but a bad one. No plan b and no suggestion of having an experienced head in place to support a Rookie manager who hadn't even managed an U21 team.

Adams, enough said. Wallowing around in the lower leagues and we think that he will be our saviour.

So actually the guy who should be getting sacked is McCabe, he is the common denominator who has a clear track record of bad decisions and bad appointments that have led us to the current position.

It is interesting reading some of the posts on here, particularly Bertie Blades which asserts we previously interviewed Di Metteo and didn't offer him the job on cash grounds. This sums up the other side of McCabe which is he thinks he can play supporters for fools with his spin. We didn't interview Di Metteo, McCabe merely said on Radio Sheffield when he was getting pelters from callers that he had had a text from him when the position was vacant following one of the many sackings. Let me ask you, do you seriously think Roberto Di Metteo just happened to have McCabes Mobile number!!

Indeed. One consistent theme appears to be an inability to stand up to short term fan grumbling - the sackings of Blackwell, Wilson and Clough all seem to have been caused by that (perhaps Clough less so).

To be fair, the sackings of Weir, Adams and Robson were all thoroughly deserved, but then who appointed them in the first place?

 

[Lane Ender]

When the dust has settled we still need two centre backs, a front man O,Grady or similar and possibly a keeper if Howards back injury dosent clear up.
The next manager needs to be posetive and attack teams home and away its only way to get out of this division.
But lets play football and leave the hoofball in the archives

 

[The Fox]

[QUOTE="Lane Ender, post: 768087, member: 12830"
But lets play football and leave the hoofball in the archives[/QUOTE]

Agree with you regarding attacking football but some of my best days as a blade was watching what's now called "hoofball".
Yes there were some crap games too but on the whole we worried the opposition , whereas they now bring deckchairs .

 

[Pinchy]

Rumours on Blades Mad that the new bunch would only give it to Morgan if NW is made Director of Football. McCabe no likey.

Anyone with a vestige of sanity Double No Likey! In fact Fucking Hatey!

 

[Pinchy]

Agree with you regarding attacking football but some of my best days as a blade was watching what's now called "hoofball".
Yes there were some crap games too but on the whole we worried the opposition , whereas they now bring deckchairs .

It was a necessary evil for us under Bassett at the time, mate. It's gone now, thank Pele. Dead as a Dinosaur. Join the rest of the footballing world and let it rot in peace.

 

[Lane Ender]

[QUOTE="Lane Ender, post: 768087, member: 12830"
But lets play football and leave the hoofball in the archives

Agree with you regarding attacking football but some of my best days as a blade was watching what's now called "hoofball".
Yes there were some crap games too but on the whole we worried the opposition , whereas they now bring deckchairs .[/QUOTE]
From a personal point of view i always hated the big boot (hoofball) i prefer to play the ball to feet and that dosent mean tippy tappy stuff.
If Clough would have played posetive and tried to entertain us more especially at home he would still be in a job and we would have had more points on the board.
There is some good players at this club the next man needs to build on it.

 

[Lane Ender]

It was a necessary evil for us under Bassett at the time, mate. It's gone now, thank Pele. Dead as a Dinosaur. Join the rest of the footballing world and let it rot in peace.

Spot on

 

[bladesman3]

this one season and you are out is a myth.. if you play decent entertaining football.. battle with passion and don't make schoolboy management mistakes AND come 5th and lose in the PO i reckon the fans would cut you some slack actually.. we aren't stupid. You can be arrogant and good at your job .. or you can be a good bloke and average at your job.. you will get away with it.. but the situation never to be in is to be arrogant and crap at your job. this is true for all walks of life

you are spot on there.....he didnt lose his job because we came 5th....he lost his job because of the way we came 5th......

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

you are spot on there.....he didnt lose his job because we came 5th....he lost his job because of the way we came 5th......

Unfortunately, the club aren't coming out of this well because of the dismay coming out of the likes of Robbie Savage (Clough's bezzie mate incidentally) who are just looking at our position 18 months ago, the cup runs and finishing in the play-offs. It does look extremely harsh when you look at it that way but the fact remains that there hasn't been much improvement since Xmas despite the investment and the Board have taken the view, shared by many Blades fans, that they cannot see it improving next season.

It's not like we're mid table in the Prem, this is Division 3 and the likes of MK Dons, Bournemouth and Brentford have left us standing.

 

[oxonblade]

Unfortunately, the club aren't coming out of this well because of the dismay coming out of the likes of Robbie Savage (Clough's bezzie mate incidentally) who are just looking at our position 18 months ago, the cup runs and finishing in the play-offs. It does look extremely harsh when you look at it that way but the fact remains that there hasn't been much improvement since Xmas despite the investment and the Board have taken the view, shared by many Blades fans, that they cannot see it improving next season.

It's not like we're mid table in the Prem, this is Division 3 and the likes of MK Dons, Bournemouth and Brentford have left us standing.

The day I start worrying about what Robbie savage thinks is the day I know senility has set in good and proper. If you take out the cup games from this season( a big if I grant you) this season has been an unmitigated disaster in terms our output against expectation and enjoyment along the way. Home games in particular have been dreary in the extreme for the most part. Clough appeared to think he knew the answer, central defenders - but it is much bigger than that; and this realisation is way too late. If his plan for next year did not involve looking wider than the same strikers he has chased for 12 months and a couple of defenders then he had to go. Has he accepted any responsibility for sending most of us to sleep in home games?

 

[MalvernBlade]

From a distance I've seen a lot of confusing messages come out of the club in the last 12 months, especially after the bookies made us firm favourites at the start of this last season. I can't back this up with quotes & links but I remember thinking this was just based on the run we had had, not the pre season nor the signings we had made. I also think Mr Clough came out & rubbished the bookies favourites tag.

Then I read something that Mr Clough said that the target he had been given by the club was play offs. Some on here did comment on this being a possible 'McCabe' idea to wring more money out of the supporters pockets through the Wembley turnstiles.

I know it's irrelevant but after the transfer window and towards the end of the season the interviews coming from the club were about automatic promotion but not from Mr Clough who still seemed to be talking about achieving a play off spot but going for automatic if it was available, ie achieving playoffs were not seen as a failure as they had under Mr Wilson

If the club did leave him to think a play off spot was the ultimate aim of the season rather than the minimum and promotion through the play off final then how can anyone have any confidence that they will communicate with the next incumbent in no uncertain terms.

Again, it's not the fact that the managers have been given the boot, it's the choice of manager in the first place. It's also not hindsight as I was genuinely shocked when BR got the job after the premier league relegation and the same person who keeps making these appointments is still there so how can anything different happen? A genuine question.

At the end of the day we all support our team the best we can & hope for the best but have no real say in who gets appointed. Like others have said it's one knee jerk reaction after another

 

[Sothall_Blade]

No excuses he had full control of the ins and outs, it's the Clough way and was possibly a big part of his downfall when he told the owners he wanted to buy half the Derby or McBlackpool team

Clough apparently told the owners he didn't want to sell Murphy and Reed to Wednesday for £500K each. That's the only reason he got the boot.

(N.B. Possibly not true but it's easy to make shit up and pass it off as fact isn't it)

 

[Caveblade]

From a distance I've seen a lot of confusing messages come out of the club in the last 12 months, especially after the bookies made us firm favourites at the start of this last season. I can't back this up with quotes & links but I remember thinking this was just based on the run we had had, not the pre season nor the signings we had made. I also think Mr Clough came out & rubbished the bookies favourites tag.

Then I read something that Mr Clough said that the target he had been given by the club was play offs. Some on here did comment on this being a possible 'McCabe' idea to wring more money out of the supporters pockets through the Wembley turnstiles.

I know it's irrelevant but after the transfer window and towards the end of the season the interviews coming from the club were about automatic promotion but not from Mr Clough who still seemed to be talking about achieving a play off spot but going for automatic if it was available, ie achieving playoffs were not seen as a failure as they had under Mr Wilson

If the club did leave him to think a play off spot was the ultimate aim of the season rather than the minimum and promotion through the play off final then how can anyone have any confidence that they will communicate with the next incumbent in no uncertain terms.

Again, it's not the fact that the managers have been given the boot, it's the choice of manager in the first place. It's also not hindsight as I was genuinely shocked when BR got the job after the premier league relegation and the same person who keeps making these appointments is still there so how can anything different happen? A genuine question.

At the end of the day we all support our team the best we can & hope for the best but have no real say in who gets appointed. Like others have said it's one knee jerk reaction after another

Take the cup games out of the mix and I can honestly say I did not see a good game at home or away. The bookies just showed their complete lack of understanding of the summer transfer dealings by making us favourites. Anyone with a hole in their arse could see that the team had lost key components in Brayford, Coady and Maguire, without replacing them.

As for the pundits, again I have no respect for their opinions. They view from afar and on limited views (mainly high profile cup games), making pronouncements without the evidence to support them. I feel for Nigel, but he has broken the rules that he stipulated (small tight squad), he has bought badly and got the basics wrong in not filling the key positions.

A good team picks itself and doesn't change from week to week, unlike the blades this season where good performances were rewarded with a place on the bench.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Also. If it's true that the owners took exception to some of the answers Clough gave them, why the hell did it take them 2 weeks to ask him the question?

Haven't these multi-millionaire businessman heard of Skype?

 

[SandyMcBlade]

I can understand where they're coming from when they talk about Nigel taking us back from the brink, but we were put on that brink by another poor appointment in Weir ,and I shudder to think where we would be now if not for Nigel.
Looking back at the Adams appointment at a similar point in the Championship with it's dire result I still think we should be eternally grateful to Nigel..

 

[The Fox]

It was a necessary evil for us under Bassett at the time, mate. It's gone now, thank Pele. Dead as a Dinosaur. Join the rest of the footballing world and let it rot in peace.

Far from suggesting route 1 (as I agree that's gone) , the current football snobbery means that managers are scared to let the ball get lumped in and would rather piss about in midfield rather than get branded as a long ball manager . If anyone can tell me we played football last season ! It was predictable and sterile. The simple aim is to get the ball in the net , not go sideways and claim a points victory based on procession stats .

But no I don't want the keeper to pick out a target man , some pragmatism wouldn't go amiss ..

Even LVG had to do it this season by sticking it up to fellani. After one match allerdyce accused them of being a long ball team ... Apart from the irony , one lost his job and the others in the top 4 ..

I'd leave philosophy to philosophers and let football be unpredictable and have a bit of excitement ..

 

[super_pig]

Spot on

there is a difference between 4 2 3 1 and 4 5 0 1 i dont think clough understood it.. as for LvGs tactics i think most pundits thought it was a bit weird tbh and a short term solution at best

 

[oldblade]

Take the cup games out of the mix and I can honestly say I did not see a good game at home or away. The bookies just showed their complete lack of understanding of the summer transfer dealings by making us favourites. Anyone with a hole in their arse could see that the team had lost key components in Brayford, Coady and Maguire, without replacing them.

I don't think the bookies base their odds on their own understanding of summer transfer dealings etc. The odds they give are based on the amount of money the punters are betting. Therefore it is the punters, not the bookies who had shortcomings in their understanding. The bookies merely made some easy money.

 

[Kev Gee]

Strikes me we are badly missing a Derek Dooley wise old head type to inject some detailed footballing knowledge into the decision making in the boardroom. Clough's tactics bored me senseless most of last season but sacking him now is a huge gamble, hopefully it will pay off but thy have got to get it right this time. I have no idea who 'right' is but whoever comes in is going to have to hit the ground running. And I doubt that we are a very attractive opportunity for many potential candidates.

I would think that we are a very attractive proposition for manager who wants to make a name for himself.

We have money, a decent ground and facilities and great support.

Any manager that would be hesitant to take us on when approached clearly is not ambitious and not the right mentality for the job.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

I can understand where they're coming from when they talk about Nigel taking us back from the brink, but we were put on that brink by another poor appointment in Weir ,and I shudder to think where we would be now if not for Nigel.
Looking back at the Adams appointment at a similar point in the Championship with it's dire result I still think we should be eternally grateful to Nigel..

I don't think anyone can disagree with the job he did last season and looking back, if he hadn't done so well and maybe finished mid table he might have had a bit more leeway this season. The fact is that despite the loss of key players in the Summer, there has been big investment and as much as a coup Brayford was, we were sadly lacking elsewhere in the team throughout the season which has cost us, and him.

I wasn't calling for his head but as I've said elsewhere, we've not improved over the season and as such there has to be a doubt that next season would be any different. A 3 year plan is fine if you improve each year, and whilst Clough will argue that we have improved 2 positions, that's not the full picture.

 

[Lane Ender]

Far from suggesting route 1 (as I agree that's gone) , the current football snobbery means that managers are scared to let the ball get lumped in and would rather piss about in midfield rather than get branded as a long ball manager . If anyone can tell me we played football last season ! It was predictable and sterile. The simple aim is to get the ball in the net , not go sideways and claim a points victory based on procession stats .

But no I don't want the keeper to pick out a target man , some pragmatism wouldn't go amiss ..

Even LVG had to do it this season by sticking it up to fellani. After one match allerdyce accused them of being a long ball team ... Apart from the irony , one lost his job and the others in the top 4 ..

I'd leave philosophy to philosophers and let football be unpredictable and have a bit of excitement ..

Don't get me wrong here Fox when I talk about a passing game I don't mean how Clough interpreted it but for a handfull of games he did get at teams with posetive passing football next game he'd change the team and tactics and it would be a disaster couldn't get my head round that.

 

[Bladesway]

we keep employing shit managers. just because we had 8 shit ones before though doesn't mean that shit one number 9 gets to keep his job does it?? that is illogical

Yeah no mitigating circumstances for failure like idiot strikers going to prison or the chairman sitting his pants mid season? Come on get real. I can argue against Pommpey on occasion but he has this nailed. Rudderless ship that still thinks it is a cruise liner but has become a rusty old tug boat.

 

[Bladesway]

What worries me about that very good point is that it may be used as excuse to give the job to Morgan, after all he knows the squad and it's limitations. Huge gamble if they do...

Not often you and I are on the same page HG but I'm 100% in agreement here.

 

[Jonboy60]

Unfortunately, the club aren't coming out of this well because of the dismay coming out of the likes of Robbie Savage (Clough's bezzie mate incidentally) who are just looking at our position 18 months ago, the cup runs and finishing in the play-offs. It does look extremely harsh when you look at it that way but the fact remains that there hasn't been much improvement since Xmas despite the investment and the Board have taken the view, shared by many Blades fans, that they cannot see it improving next season.

It's not like we're mid table in the Prem, this is Division 3 and the likes of MK Dons, Bournemouth and Brentford have left us standing.

We will soon see wether the board have made the right decision, when we find out the calibre of cloughs next appointment. If he's that fuc@@n good Mr savage and the rest of the no nowts, Championship club next,it is then.

 

[blade too long]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32704496