Heckingbottom tactical genius

[MobileBlade]

To be fair to him, he is changing things as games go on but it's clear as day that:

a. These players were bought and have been trained to only play one way in one formation. For the last four years. It's difficult to come in as a caretaker and change that at this stage.
b. They're nowhere near good enough to compete with world class players. They're, at best, mid-table championship players, with maybe one or two exceptions.

I don't want him to get the job but I think he's been left in a tight spot with these tossers.

7 of the team who started last night played for us (and won promotion) in the Championship two seasons ago. 2 of the team were playing for other championship clubs last season or the season before.
1 of the team was with a Premier Division club but was on loan at a Championship club.

Therein lies the problem.

However, for the bulk of the team they proved they are better than mid Championship. Will say the Championship is a much poorer league than the one we left two years ago.

 

[Blade58]

We are playing the same as with the previous manager, but we didn’t want to get rid of him. How odd.

But that Manager had 4 years of success, with two promotions and with that experience thought he might be capable of taking the club back up

Personally, I don't see that with Hecky. I just haven't seen anything that would indicate he's the right man to lead the club to promotion.

 

[Blade58]

At least give him some time. If it's still not working at Christmas then yes he needs to go

IMO, we need to get the decision right now and for me that means the board have to brave. The manager appointment is the biggest decision they'll make

Giving Hecky some time only then to sack him at Xmas isn't the right approach for me when we need promotion first time of asking. If we don't get out first time, we can forget promotion for years to come. The demise has already begun. We need to stem it and then reverse it

 

[Bookers Mullet]

Appointing Hecky and/or tindall would be a mistake, neither has shown over their careers that the are capable in the lead coaching/management role. Hecky had a brief glimmer of success at Barnsley, but that was such a long time ago, and until being thrust into the limelight with us, he'd faded into obscurity (through his choice if stories are to be believed)

Throw away their past endeavours, what's more concerning is the impact they've had since taking over, yes they've been handed a poison chalice, but that is a chance for talent to shine, and it's not. I didn't think anyone expected a massive turn around, we understand the players are so ingrained as Wilders team, that radical changes are impossible, but the tweeks our management duo have made, have made the situation worse. Playing players out of position, a stubborn refusal to give any of our youngsters anything more than a token run out and basically repeating Wilders after match comments. Worrying times.

 

[Bergen Blade]

To be fair to him, he is changing things as games go on but it's clear as day that:

a. These players were bought and have been trained to only play one way in one formation. For the last four years. It's difficult to come in as a caretaker and change that at this stage.
b. They're nowhere near good enough to compete with world class players. They're, at best, mid-table championship players, with maybe one or two exceptions.

I don't want him to get the job but I think he's been left in a tight spot with these tossers.

In the Championship Wilder was good at noticing that we were struggling in midfield on occasions. There were games when the opposition were getting on top and we seemed to lack numbers in midfield.

What we did was pushing Basham from RCB to RCM, changing to a diamond and an extra man in midfield. It was a move that several times helped us cope and compete better in midfield.

We've done it a few times in the Premiership, and Heckingbottom also tried the diamond last night, one of four formations played. But nowadays it's always a reaction to us losing, we're not brave or proactive enough to do it before we concede.

The point isn't really which particular formation we choose, and from a competing perspective, I wouldn't use what the players are used to as an excuse. We must have enough players affecting the game where it's most important. We can't have passengers, players who hang around in positions with not a lot to do, while other players are struggling to cope.

The tweaked formation (3-4-2-1) and high pressure worked against Brighton and Wolves. Against Tottenham it didn't. The management saw it - after all they made two substitutions and changed formations at half time, but again this was reactive and although it gave us a slightly improved 15 minutes, we were still vulnerable in midfield and they ran straight through us on a few occasions, including for their three second half goals.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Source?

I’m not claiming to be in the know, I’m just saying that he didn’t want to get rid of wilder, he didn’t want to pay a man off that was resigning which has clearly cost him millions to do so.

His preferred option will be the cheap one as it cost so much to get rid of Wilder and we’re relegated so we’re going to lose a lot of money.

 

[Revolution]

I’m not claiming to be in the know, I’m just saying that he didn’t want to get rid of wilder, he didn’t want to pay a man off that was resigning which has clearly cost him millions to do so.

His preferred option will be the cheap one as it cost so much to get rid of Wilder and we’re relegated so we’re going to lose a lot of money.

It was my understanding that he intended to sack Wilder at the end of this season, which would have saved a lot of money supposedly, but Wilder quit before that and forced the issue.

 

[robbiez666]

7 of the team who started last night played for us (and won promotion) in the Championship two seasons ago. 2 of the team were playing for other championship clubs last season or the season before.
1 of the team was with a Premier Division club but was on loan at a Championship club.

Therein lies the problem.

However, for the bulk of the team they proved they are better than mid Championship. Will say the Championship is a much poorer league than the one we left two years ago.

They proved they could be better than mid table Championship once. They've also just about all been worse as well. The team that got relegated to league 1 could have probably said the same.

 

[MobileBlade]

They proved they could be better than mid table Championship once. They've also just about all been worse as well. The team that got relegated to league 1 could have probably said the same.

4 of the 7 were in the side the season before that finished top half. The three that were brought in were all top half/promotion winning championship players that improved the side (Egan for Wright, Norwood for Evans/Coutts, McGoldrick for take you pick). Add to that O'Connell and Sharp and you 9 experienced Championship players who would make just about any top Championship side.

Having spent 3 years buying players that would improve the side, we suddenly changed and bought players on a par with what we already had or youngsters with no or little experience of top flight football. We were simply found out by top level opposition and at that level its brutal. That level is all about a bit of extra quality with players who attach a football to the end of their boot. We have spent a lot of money on being a top championship side.

 

[Snowflake]

IMO, we need to get the decision right now and for me that means the board have to brave. The manager appointment is the biggest decision they'll make

Giving Hecky some time only then to sack him at Xmas isn't the right approach for me when we need promotion first time of asking. If we don't get out first time, we can forget promotion for years to come. The demise has already begun. We need to stem it and then reverse it

Not necessarily true. We need to build a team during the next two years whilst we have (hopefully) parachute payments rather than try to race back immediately.
I appreciate that Norwich and Watford have done it but I think they had better squads than we have at present.
If we add 3 or 4 real quality players then maybe we can bounce straight back, but I think that is unrealistic

 

[wadblade]

Not pro Hecky but he saw what was wrong yesterday and made 2 changes at half time that improved us and we looked a lot better till they scored
Do any of you think any temp manager could get tune out of this team?

 

[BladeTillIDie]

Just watched the highlights as yesterday I was more interested In my beer than watching all that crap but how many times did we give the ball away in defence? Absolute disgrace.

 

[robbiez666]

7 of the team who started last night played for us (and won promotion) in the Championship two seasons ago. 2 of the team were playing for other championship clubs last season or the season before.
1 of the team was with a Premier Division club but was on loan at a Championship club.

Therein lies the problem.

However, for the bulk of the team they proved they are better than mid Championship. Will say the Championship is a much poorer league than the one we left two years ago.

So, of the players who took us up, for example.

Sharp - 35/36 next season - Passed his best
McGoldrick - 33/34 next season - passed his best and struggles to score
Basham - 32/33 next season - passed his best
Stevens - 31 next season - passed his best
JoC- Hasn't played football for over a year and has a knee injury he may never recover from
Fleck - 30 next season - Likely passed his best
Oliver Norwood - 30/31 next year - Likely passed his best
I'll give you Egan, but in a back 3. And Baldock.

Throw in:

Burke - Not played well at any level for years
Mousset - Unfit and never played well over a long period
Brewster - Played well in the Championship, once, for a different club for half a season
McBurnie - Showed he can do it at Championship level but doesn't fit into our style of play
Lowe - Played sometimes for a poor Championship team
Bogle - Played regularly for a ok to poor Championship team
Osbourne - one the bench for a then decent championship team
J Robinson - On the bench for a then decent championship team.
Moore - Not proven at Championship level
Fotheringham - Been a while and then debatable
Bryan - Never played at this level
RND - Looks promising in a mid-table side

You appear to be judging the ability of some of our current players on how good they were 2-3 years ago. The majority are no longer at their peak.

 

[john Mathison]

At the end of the day, say what you want, you get what you pay for. Bale earns more per week than our full first eleven. There lies the problem, a decision was made to cap wages. We could buy players but not pay premier league wages, hence they went elsewhere. Do not envy our next manager, where does he start????? Can we finance his requirements???? I feel that a lot of the Wilder era players will be gone shortly, and the side that takes to the field in our first championship match will totally different, player wise, than last night's team.

 

[PokerBlade]

I'm currently working on the assumption that it would be a huge insult to PH if he weren't given a token place on the short list. You'd basically be saying to him "You can win every game, play like classic Brazil, but you're not even being considered".

I think he ought to be on the short list just because currently he's an employee actually in the role.

If he's genuinely being considered then that would be utterly baffling. He got a job coaching u23's because he's already shown he isn't up to a decent first team role.

He gets some credit for getting a win on the board, but he's also got us thumped twice now, and the only thing sparing any dignity for us was that we'd only lost games by small margins.

 

[ThatJa]

It was my understanding that he intended to sack Wilder at the end of this season, which would have saved a lot of money supposedly, but Wilder quit before that and forced the issue.

Wouldn't have saved money, would have costed more.

 

[Deadbat]

Wouldn't have saved money, would have costed more.

Depends. More wages would have gone out between now and the end of the season but there may be clauses that the pay out is less if we got relegated? Would seem silly if any new contract did not have such stipulations (loyalty payments - more money for higher places and then the other way - his wages drop if we went down and may be the same for pay offs)

 

[ThatJa]

Depends. More wages would have gone out between now and the end of the season but there may be clauses that the pay out is less if we got relegated? Would seem silly if any new contract did not have such stipulations (loyalty payments - more money for higher places and then the other way - his wages drop if we went down and may be the same for pay offs)

Well, Prince said Wilder was paid off around 1 years salary, which was leaked to be around 2 million. He signed a new 4 year contract, which means 4 years pay off would be 8million, even if his wages dropped by 50% (which is pushing it) then it'd still be a 4million pound pay off, double what he was actually paid off.

That was my understanding anyway.

 

[Deadbat]

Well, Prince said Wilder was paid off around 1 years salary, which was leaked to be around 2 million. He signed a new 4 year contract, which means 4 years pay off would be 8million, even if his wages dropped by 50% (which is pushing it) then it'd still be a 4million pound pay off, double what he was actually paid off.

That was my understanding anyway.

I do not think anyone knows the specifics of what he got or would have got though. We are all guessing really. Even Abdullah's interview was not clear really in terms of what Wilder walked away with. It says what he asked for but no idea what he got.

 

[wavy-blade]

So, of the players who took us up, for example.

Sharp - 35/36 next season - Passed his best
McGoldrick - 33/34 next season - passed his best and struggles to score
Basham - 32/33 next season - passed his best
Stevens - 31 next season - passed his best
JoC- Hasn't played football for over a year and has a knee injury he may never recover from
Fleck - 30 next season - Likely passed his best
Oliver Norwood - 30/31 next year - Likely passed his best
I'll give you Egan, but in a back 3. And Baldock.

Throw in:

Burke - Not played well at any level for years
Mousset - Unfit and never played well over a long period
Brewster - Played well in the Championship, once, for a different club for half a season
McBurnie - Showed he can do it at Championship level but doesn't fit into our style of play
Lowe - Played sometimes for a poor Championship team
Bogle - Played regularly for a ok to poor Championship team
Osbourne - one the bench for a then decent championship team
J Robinson - On the bench for a then decent championship team.
Moore - Not proven at Championship level
Fotheringham - Been a while and then debatable
Bryan - Never played at this level
RND - Looks promising in a mid-table side

You appear to be judging the ability of some of our current players on how good they were 2-3 years ago. The majority are no longer at their peak.

All good enough to get back up next season , look at Kieran Dowell , would you have put him with this lot , yet couldn't get into our team , but has played a major role in Norwich's promotion this season , football is a lot about Moral and confidence and we haven't got any , we need a manager who can get it back .

 

[TimofeeVee]

Sir Alex needed time so does Hecky.

Screenshotted for when he takes us to the Champions League, I'll say I meant to press like.

 

[MobileBlade]

So, of the players who took us up, for example.

Sharp - 35/36 next season - Passed his best
McGoldrick - 33/34 next season - passed his best and struggles to score
Basham - 32/33 next season - passed his best
Stevens - 31 next season - passed his best
JoC- Hasn't played football for over a year and has a knee injury he may never recover from
Fleck - 30 next season - Likely passed his best
Oliver Norwood - 30/31 next year - Likely passed his best
I'll give you Egan, but in a back 3. And Baldock.

Throw in:

Burke - Not played well at any level for years
Mousset - Unfit and never played well over a long period
Brewster - Played well in the Championship, once, for a different club for half a season
McBurnie - Showed he can do it at Championship level but doesn't fit into our style of play
Lowe - Played sometimes for a poor Championship team
Bogle - Played regularly for a ok to poor Championship team
Osbourne - one the bench for a then decent championship team
J Robinson - On the bench for a then decent championship team.
Moore - Not proven at Championship level
Fotheringham - Been a while and then debatable
Bryan - Never played at this level
RND - Looks promising in a mid-table side

You appear to be judging the ability of some of our current players on how good they were 2-3 years ago. The majority are no longer at their peak.

I think the judgement is on you that players over 30 are past their best and therefore will not be good enough. Sharp at 33/4 two seasons ago was good enough to score 23 goals in 40 appearances but McGoldrick at that age and Stevens, Fleck, Basham and Norwood at younger than that are too old. It is obvious they are not good enough for the Premier League but they are proven top end Championship players.

 

[robbiez666]

All good enough to get back up next season , look at Kieran Dowell , would you have put him with this lot , yet couldn't get into our team , but has played a major role in Norwich's promotion this season , football is a lot about Moral and confidence and we haven't got any , we need a manager who can get it back .

The Kieran Dowell who has improved from playing two more seasons of football like young footballers tend to do? I'm unsure what your point is? The Kieran Dowell today is a better player than the Kieran Dowell who played for us.

In the same way, the Billy Sharp on 2018 is a better player than the Billy Sharp of 2022.

 

[KOP BLADE]

,,,,,,we dont have a manager ...we have a clever board ,,,,,and i really dont care whos in charge at the lane,,,, because ill always love the blades no matter what happens ,,,, utb,,,forza sufc,,,

 

[ATL Recs]

Ahhh,the board are impressed with what Hecky is doing,asking him what we need to go forward,and Hecky told them to keep this squad together.

Sadly the only sellable item is Ramsdale

Just because I don't agree with you. His start is no worse than Wllders. He beat Brighton last week

All good enough to get back up next season , look at Kieran Dowell , would you have put him with this lot , yet couldn't get into our team , but has played a major role in Norwich's promotion this season , football is a lot about Moral and confidence and we haven't got any , we need a manager who can get it back .

And if that list got us back up to the PL then what ???
It would be this season Mark 2
Kieran Dowell is younger and reaching his peak these players are going the other way we’ve benefited from their peak

 

[Russ]

What gets me - he says we need to make sure we keep this squad together. WTF!

We all want this bunch of losers to bite the dust.

Not for me sonny Jim.

 

[1066blade]

Not pro Hecky but he saw what was wrong yesterday and made 2 changes at half time that improved us and we looked a lot better till they scored
Do any of you think any temp manager could get tune out of this team?

Yeah, I remember him saying how we'd improved 2nd half, conceding 3 goals as opposed to 1. If that's trying to improve things, god help us.

 

[wavy-blade]

The Kieran Dowell who has improved from playing two more seasons of football like young footballers tend to do? I'm unsure what your point is? The Kieran Dowell today is a better player than the Kieran Dowell who played for us.

In the same way, the Billy Sharp on 2018 is a better player than the Billy Sharp of 2022.

My point is most of our players are good enough to get out of the championship !

 

[Bladesince59]

Its not Heckys fault. Wilder fucked us over.

 

[wadblade]

Yeah, I remember him saying how we'd improved 2nd half, conceding 3 goals as opposed to 1. If that's trying to improve things, god help us.

Do you think any temp manager could get a tune out of this team?