Negative Nigel

[Deleted member 875]

Play an very negative 4-5-1 formation. Refuses to sacrifice one of his 2 holding midfielders for a 2nd striker. As a result we look poor in the middle of the park, and struggle to create any chances up front. His reluctance to ditch this formation which is not working is also making us probably the easiest team in the Division to play against, as teams know how to play against us, and we are probably the most predictable team in the Division.

He falls out with players for no apparent reason, had replaced the solid and steady Neill Collins with the shite McCarthy. He signed Andy Butler in the summer and gave him one game before ditching him, he also signed Ben Davies, a player with more than enough quality for this Division and for no apparent reason has ditched him completely as well.

He consistantly plays players out of position. Flynn at RB last night, Alcock at Centre Half, McEveley and Basham at centre-half, and to try and change things in games he recently has thrown Basham up front for the last 20 minutes against Oldham, and McGahey up front for the last 5 minutes last night.

He also has some of the best players in this Division. Higdon looks more than capable, McNulty looks an exciting young striker, Diego is still a hot prospect, Baxter is crying out to play the free role where he can create and prompt, and with players of this calibre we should be in a lot stronger position that we are.

I remember Bryan Robson playing slow, pedestrian and laboured football similar to the dross that Negative Nigel has served up and getting lambasted for it. I remember Kevin Blackwell playing a direct style of football and getting lambasted despite keeping us competitive in the Championship despite frequently having players flogged from under his nose. Yet Negative Nigel has had his period of grace. We are vastly underperforming playing some awful, dull football at the moment.

Time to go, he will never be anywhere near as good as his Dad, and as long as i have got a hole in my arse we will not get promoted under Clough.

 

[judge]

Negative nigel ! Negative nigel!

 

[Benny and the Blades]

Nowt like stretching the facts a bit Brownie, but then if you make mistake who gives a shit.......

 

[Deleted member 875]

Not stretching any facts at all son, just stating them.

 

[mark hones]

And who the fuck can we get in who'll be better? Fuck me Brownie, that's a post that a Pig would be proud of, get a fucking grip.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Play an very negative 4-5-1 formation. Refuses to sacrifice one of his 2 holding midfielders for a 2nd striker. As a result we look poor in the middle of the park, and struggle to create any chances up front. His reluctance to ditch this formation which is not working is also making us probably the easiest team in the Division to play against, as teams know how to play against us, and we are probably the most predictable team in the Division.

He falls out with players for no apparent reason, had replaced the solid and steady Neill Collins with the shite McCarthy. He signed Andy Butler in the summer and gave him one game before ditching him, he also signed Ben Davies, a player with more than enough quality for this Division and for no apparent reason has ditched him completely as well.

He consistantly plays players out of position. Flynn at RB last night, Alcock at Centre Half, McEveley and Basham at centre-half, and to try and change things in games he recently has thrown Basham up front for the last 20 minutes against Oldham, and McGahey up front for the last 5 minutes last night.

He also has some of the best players in this Division. Higdon looks more than capable, McNulty looks an exciting young striker, Diego is still a hot prospect, Baxter is crying out to play the free role where he can create and prompt, and with players of this calibre we should be in a lot stronger position that we are.

I remember Bryan Robson playing slow, pedestrian and laboured football similar to the dross that Negative Nigel has served up and getting lambasted for it. I remember Kevin Blackwell playing a direct style of football and getting lambasted despite keeping us competitive in the Championship despite frequently having players flogged from under his nose. Yet Negative Nigel has had his period of grace. We are vastly underperforming playing some awful, dull football at the moment.

Time to go, he will never be anywhere near as good as his Dad, and as long as i have got a hole in my arse we will not get promoted under Clough.

Nigel, take this on board, he's a football professional not one of us fans moaning.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B37i0QjIUAAs9Dh.jpg

 

[LoughboroBlade]

he also signed Ben Davies, a player with more than enough quality for this Division and for no apparent reason has ditched him completely as well.

He pulled a muscle in his foot at MK Dons and is recovering from injury. There are plenty of Clough decisions that have baffled me this season, but not playing an injured player isn't one of them.

 

[cooperblade]

Play an very negative 4-5-1 formation. Refuses to sacrifice one of his 2 holding midfielders for a 2nd striker. As a result we look poor in the middle of the park, and struggle to create any chances up front. His reluctance to ditch this formation which is not working is also making us probably the easiest team in the Division to play against, as teams know how to play against us, and we are probably the most predictable team in the Division.

If we're the easiest team in the section to play against, how come we're 5th?

Are we really the most predictable team to play against? It's rare that I can guess Clough's team selection in advance and we tend to change formation at least a couple of times during a game. Do the other 23 teams all vary their tactics and approach every week? Does Shaun Derry sometimes go ultra-attacking away from home? Karl Robinson is so predictable that you know he's going to drop a striker who has just got a hat-trick because it isn't his turn to play.

He falls out with players for no apparent reason, had replaced the solid and steady Neill Collins with the shite McCarthy. He signed Andy Butler in the summer and gave him one game before ditching him, he also signed Ben Davies, a player with more than enough quality for this Division and for no apparent reason has ditched him completely as well.

Whether you agree with him or not, Clough gave a detailed explanation of why Collins had been dropped. Maybe he's a bare-faced liar and actually he just hates Collins (although he'd played him plenty up to that point). As LoughboroBlade has said, Davies got a bad injury in his last game, hardly "no apparent reason".

He consistantly plays players out of position. Flynn at RB last night, Alcock at Centre Half, McEveley and Basham at centre-half, and to try and change things in games he recently has thrown Basham up front for the last 20 minutes against Oldham, and McGahey up front for the last 5 minutes last night.

Who should he have played at right back? Alcock, McEveley and Basham have all played centre-back before. Are you saying he shouldn't play McEveley (our most consistent player in recent weeks) there? What about Basham? Do you think he's looked out of place at centre-back? When did Alcock last play centre-back for us?

He also has some of the best players in this Division. Higdon looks more than capable, McNulty looks an exciting young striker, Diego is still a hot prospect, Baxter is crying out to play the free role where he can create and prompt, and with players of this calibre we should be in a lot stronger position that we are.

Obviously you saying Higdon looks more than capable is your opinion so can't dispute that, can only debate it and I'm sure plenty would disagree. Well done Cloughy for signing him though if you're right, and McNulty for that matter.

I remember Bryan Robson playing slow, pedestrian and laboured football similar to the dross that Negative Nigel has served up and getting lambasted for it. I remember Kevin Blackwell playing a direct style of football and getting lambasted despite keeping us competitive in the Championship despite frequently having players flogged from under his nose. Yet Negative Nigel has had his period of grace. We are vastly underperforming playing some awful, dull football at the moment.

Bryan Robson had a side which had just come out of the Premier League and added to it with millions of pounds worth of talent. Surely even Clough's harshest critic must admit the football is much easier on the eye than 95% of games under Blackwell? It's certainly more attacking than it was under our last manager and I'd be amazed if the stats didn't back that up.

Time to go, he will never be anywhere near as good as his Dad, and as long as i have got a hole in my arse we will not get promoted under Clough.

He'll never be as good as his Dad. So what? Who will? Or is that the new criteria for appointing a manager at Bramall Lane - must be as good as Brian Clough? All the best with that one.

 

[Deleted member 875]

Im sorry. I was a bit harsh with the original point.

In fact i'm more than happy with our magnificent haul of 2 points from the last 4 home games. I feel extremely lucky to have been able to see us score 2 goals in that time and fortunate to be able to see us scoring a goal every 180 minutes against globally renowned defences such as Oldham and Notts County, but even the best teams in the world struggle to breach to back lines of Barnsley and MK Dons. I'm also delighted that for a club of our stature we have managed to reach such heady heights of 5th in Division 3, despite having a crowd base and resources that exceed any other side at this level and have done for the last 3 years. I'm also absolutelute exhilarated by the free-flowing, instinctive football i am now seeing on a regular basis. In fact i can only surmise that we ought to be thankful that global giants such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid haven't seen Cloughs great success, and champagne football using his revolutionary 4-5-1 formation because there would be such a demand for his services.

 

[grafikhaus]

Bryan Robson had a side which had just come out of the Premier League and added to it with millions of pounds worth of talent. Surely even Clough's harshest critic must admit the football is much easier on the eye than 95% of games under Blackwell?

Can't let that one pass. I've been going for over 52 years and simply can't believe the boring, pointless crap being served up at the moment.

People defending Clough point out that 'we're fifth'. Not for much longer. And then we get the last, desperate defence of a poor manager - 'Who else would you bring in as manager?' At the Rochdale game, the bloke who sits next to me couldn't attend and gave his ticket to a mate who normally sits on the Kop. He pointed out Clough leaning, as usual, on the dugout. 'Does he just do that at every game?'

Let's face it. Once again we've stumbled on a poor manager who has all the traits of his father (who was, let's be honest, a total arsehole) but none of the success.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

has all the traits of his father (who was, let's be honest, a total arsehole)

OUT OF ORDER

 

[grafikhaus]

OUT OF ORDER

Can't agree. Just as Sir Alex was an exceptional manager, he was hardly 'Mister Nice Guy.' And that's my point. Just as we can see NC's style is 'my way or highway', he hasn't got the record of success to back this attitude up.

 

[cooperblade]

He pointed out Clough leaning, as usual, on the dugout. 'Does he just do that at every game?'

Personally, I think this popular trend for analysing (and almost always criticising) a manager's touchline demeanour is one of the stupidest things about modern football. However, perhaps worth pointing out that a friend of mine who is also a Clough critic says the way that Clough leaps about, shouting and screaming on the touchline is "embarrassing".

I would say he's the most animated manager we've had on the touchline since Warnock (although Carver would run him close) but I think whether he stands still or jumps around is entirely unimportant.

 

[madeinsheffield]

Wish we could adopt this stance, I know the players are different quality, but so are the weekly opposition.

"If you get 10 draws, you get 10 points. If you win five and lose five, you make 15 points. We are going to play matches to win. And, sometimes, we will lose. I'd prefer 15 points and lost matches than 10 points and being undefeated."

Jose Mourinho
3.12.14

 

[CyrixTheBlade]

Baxter is crying out to play the free role where he can create and prompt, and with players of this calibre we should be in a lot stronger position that we are.

From what I've seen so far from Baxter taking on that role this season, he's acceptable at holding the ball up but cannot turn a player, his distribution to players around him has been either sideways or backwards, never incising and not been a PROMINENT threat in front of goal. He spends time kissing the floor and looking for free kicks he's never going to get when he should be engaging in play and doing some graft. He's got enough mass to fight players off but goes down like a knackered daffodil at the first opportunity. Not really his biggest fan at the moment. I don't care what he did or where he was before, I care what he does now and what he's going to do in the future, and I would like to see more from him.

 

[MiserableBlader]

Personally, I think this popular trend for analysing (and almost always criticising) a manager's touchline demeanour is one of the stupidest things about modern football. However, perhaps worth pointing out that a friend of mine who is also a Clough critic says the way that Clough leaps about, shouting and screaming on the touchline is "embarrassing".

I would say he's the most animated manager we've had on the touchline since Warnock (although Carver would run him close) but I think whether he stands still or jumps around is entirely unimportant.

Personally I think one the THE stupidest trends is managers being at ground level - whatever posture and demeanour - instead of being in the stand where they can actually see what is going on . Like the last good manager we had - John Harris.

 

[Bladesman]

Personally I think one the THE stupidest trends is managers being at ground level - whatever posture and demeanour - instead of being in the stand where they can actually see what is going on . Like the last good manager we had - John Harris.

I think it's Nigel Pearson who is the only manager recently I have seen watch from the stands.

 

[Cyprus Blade]

I do agree that the players look to me like they are playing with fear in a system which is born out of fear and which several look to be losing faith with. The thing I don't understand is, if you are going to play players out of position ( which NC does repeatedly - sometimes out of choice and sometimes necessity because he didn't think about cover eg RB) or obvious weaknesses what are the coaching staff actually doing to help them adjust. Can anyone see an improvement in Baxter's "forward" play or signs that the coaching staff have been working with him about turning etc, Basham's timing for runs and his heading, the distribution in midfield, Diego getting his "chance" on the left wing, the ever changing defence as a whole for set pieces, JCR when crossing, the CB's at bringing the ball out etc.

I can also see a logic in playing to a system because it is playing to your strengths or covering a major weakness but all too often it seems to me like the tail is wagging the dog and the players have to fit into the system (hence the frequency of players being played out of position) instead of the system being designed to suit the players that, largely, Clough and his brother bought. We had opportunities in the JPT to experiment with 3 5 2 or any other system you care to name but it seems its always the same, scared to lose tactics and a fear mentality that seems to permeate what is being served up right now. I could take defeats a lot more easily if I thought we had seriously given it a go and tried to win a game from the off.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Personally I think one the THE stupidest trends is managers being at ground level - whatever posture and demeanour - instead of being in the stand where they can actually see what is going on . Like the last good manager we had - John Harris.

Didn't Dave Bassett do that on occasions?

 

[Cool Clint]

Just wait and see.

 

[Silent Blade]

Didn't Dave Bassett do that on occasions?

Yes, usually until sometime in the 2nd half. If we are winning comfortably he will stay in the stands until the last 5 mins, If we are struggling he will go down to the dugout to give instructions before going back to the stands

 

[Bladesman]

Scratch this post.

It's in another thread.