Speed

[Greavsy]

Taken from another website, Interested to hear your views.

Gary Speed


"Is he really the right man for the job? Lots of fans and players seem to be saying that he is however lets have a look at the stats, we havent won a game by scoring more than one goal this season? Every defeats has seen us failing to score. We have only scored more than once in one game.

So we can pass the ball now but does it really matter when there's no end product, Everyone knows if you dont score you dont win, and we are becoming a bit of a pushover, teams know that if they score one goal they can shut up shop.

Its starting to get frustrating and how long can we be unlucky for? How long before were looking over our shoulders and consider ourselves to be in a relegation scrap.

I hope it does come off for Gary as he is an absoulte legend in the sport and a great embassador but that doesn't make him a manager.

RANT OVER"

 

[Highbury_Blade]

This season is very much like the Robson season, in that Speed is trying to change the style of play. The difference between Speed and Robson, is that Speed doesn't have the largest budget eve given to a Blades manager to do it with.

Major squad overhaul needed.

Would have said more, but given there are umpteen threads on this very topic already, i can't be bothered to add more.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

In my opinion (for what its worth) he'll end up being the right man at the wrong time. I think we're seeing that at the moment. He will go on to be a good manager somewhere else with better resources. The way he talks about the game and the respect he has from his peers suggests that he has all the tools to be a good manager but he's been given an impossible task here.

If he lasts the full season (and I cant see any reason why he wont), he can consider keeping us up a success IMO. Very, very difficult job with someone else's team and not a very good one at that. Good luck Speedo!

 

[Greavsy]

I hope he does do well and I think SteelCity hit the nail on the head saying right manager wrong time. Sorry for starting a new thread, just starting to get involved with discussions, thanks for the input.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

I hope he does do well and I think Highbury_Blade hit the nail on the head saying right manager wrong time. Sorry for starting a new thread, just starting to get involved with discussions, thanks for the input.

That was my comment Greavsy

Dont give Highbury the cred.....he already has enough kudos on here

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

He just needs a couple of good wins under his belt and he'll be fine. With luck he could turn out to be the best manager we ever had.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

In my opinion (for what its worth) he'll end up being the right man at the wrong time. I think we're seeing that at the moment. He will go on to be a good manager somewhere else with better resources. The way he talks about the game and the respect he has from his peers suggests that he has all the tools to be a good manager but he's been given an impossible task here.

If he lasts the full season (and I cant see any reason why he wont), he can consider keeping us up a success IMO. Very, very difficult job with someone else's team and not a very good one at that. Good luck Speedo!

In my opinion (for what it's worth), he isn't making the best use of the resources available to him. With no previous experience or track record of proven success there's no reason to believe he will (or won't) eventually be a good manager. The truth is he's been parachuted straight into one of the top 30 managerial jobs in the country when he should really be learning how to do the job and making his mistakes lower down the leagues. It's a bit like making Jensen Button the Managing Director of Ferrari because he's a good and respected racing driver.

After seeing his side score only 8 goals in 13 matches, I was amazed to see Speed persisting with his ultra-negative tactics of one man up front at home again on Saturday. Once again, he switched the formation and started attacking only when we had gone a goal behind. Why can't he ever start the game in "attacking" mode as it definitely suits the players we have better? We've been crying out for pace up front all season and Speed, to his credit, quickly identified this as his top priority. Since then, he signed four players on loan but none to meet his most urgent requirement. Not one of the loanees he's spent his limited funds on started the game on Saturday. Is that making good use of his resources?

Having said all that, I came away from the game on Saturday feeling fairly optimistic for the first time in ages as he'd finished the game with two forwards, two skilful wingers and creativity in central midfield. Was that Speed panicking in an effort to rescue a point or was it the sign of things to come? If it's the latter then I'll be fully behind Speed until Xmas at least. If he goes back to the ultra-negativity and boring safety first then I'm afaid there is no hope for him.

My team for Saturday would be:-
Simonson
Lowton, Nosworthy, Bartley, Jordan
Yeates, Ertl, Britton, Reid
Creswell, Ward
Subs:- Wright, Calve, James, Montgomery, Quinn, Slew, Bogdanovic

 

[SteelCity Blade]

Sothall - I disagree with most of that. Best use of what resources? He is working with someone else's team, is working outside of the transfer window and with next to nil financial backing. A tad harsh to blame Speed as ive said all along and I stand by that.

I dont understand where this "ultra-negativity" jibe comes from. Having one up front doesnt automatically mean you're playing a negative system. The formation is just the shape of the team.....a lot of the worlds best club sides play with one centre forward and two wide men.....does that make them negative?

The reason we dont play high enough up the pitch, dont create chances and dont score goals is because our team isnt very good. Unfortunately that is the long and short version of the truth. We have no midfield, no natural wingers with any pace/movement and our forwards are relatively average. Put better players into the same formation and they would do a lot better.

It's simply about the playing staff we have and Gary Speed's first lesson is to learn how to compromise his way of playing and his beliefs to get what we have playing to their strengths. Very tough task for a young manager!

Agree with your team selection mostly. Only changes I would make are Monty and Reid in the middle with Quinn out wide for a natural left footer. Reid would offer much more in the middle for us IMO. Ertl serves no purpose and has proved to be a complete passenger and we cant accomodate Britton's talent at the moment.....he is completely wasted in this team and needs to be dropped until we can find some way to use him to his full abilities.

 

[Greavsy]

Haha Sorry SteelCity, My apologies, I shall fix my error. Nice to see different opinions, to be honest when Speed was appointed I didn't think we would see to much of a change. We need to survive this season and then let him bring in his own players, then we can judge him.

It's a shame the most a manager has had to spend in the history of SUFC from what I can remember was Robson. Shame we did't show Neil the same funds when we had a great chance of survival. Lets hope we can stay up this season and then look to see what Gary Speed can do with a full summer in charge.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Sothall - I disagree with most of that. Best use of what resources? He is working with someone else's team, is working outside of the transfer window and with next to nil financial backing. A tad harsh to blame Speed as ive said all along and I stand by that.

I dont understand where this "ultra-negativity" jibe comes from. Having one up front doesnt automatically mean you're playing a negative system. The formation is just the shape of the team.....a lot of the worlds best club sides play with one centre forward and two wide men.....does that make them negative?

The reason we dont play high enough up the pitch, dont create chances and dont score goals is because our team isnt very good. Unfortunately that is the long and short version of the truth. We have no midfield, no natural wingers with any pace/movement and our forwards are relatively average. Put better players into the same formation and they would do a lot better.

It's simply about the playing staff we have and Gary Speed's first lesson is to learn how to compromise his way of playing and his beliefs to get what we have playing to their strengths. Very tough task for a young manager!

Agree with your team selection mostly. Only changes I would make are Monty and Reid in the middle with Quinn out wide for a natural left footer. Reid would offer much more in the middle for us IMO. Ertl serves no purpose and has proved to be a complete passenger and we cant accomodate Britton's talent at the moment.....he is completely wasted in this team and needs to be dropped until we can find some way to use him to his full abilities.

What resources?

The resources that allowed him to sign Calve, Wright, De Laet and now Reid on loan. We could have managed with Aksalu as sub and only signed a goalie if required. Speed’s first signing was a loanee right back who he is not now selecting. Was Calve’s signing a priority when we have home-grown Lowton warming the bench and Nosworthy and Kozluk as other options? Most managers with limited resources wheel and deal when they inherit another manager’s team. Why hasn’t Speed sent some of Blackwell’s “not very good” signings out on loan to free up more resources and bring in his own players?

Ultra-negativity?

8 goals in 13 matches. 7 games where his team has failed to score. Only scored 2 or more goals on one occasion. Only playing one forward in every game, home or away. Playing three defensive and/or uncreative midfielders behind that solitary forward (perm any three from Monty, Ertl, Britton, Quinn). Only having two players with any pace and skill in the squad (Ward and Yeates) and never starting them both in the same game until last Saturday.

Gary Speed’s way of playing?

How do we know what his chosen way of playing is? Should we base it on the teams and formations he’s selected so far or base it on our own hopes of how we’d like to see him play? Has he ever said that he wants to play more exciting, attacking football? If he does, why did he never start Yeates and Ward together until Saturday? Why have we still not signed a pacy forward he said was urgently required?

Very tough task for a young manager?

I agree. All the more reason not to give a young unproven manager a three year contract. A short-term contract until Christmas would have been sufficient and that’s still how long he should be given as far as I’m concerned.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

What resources?

The resources that allowed him to sign Calve, Wright, De Laet and now Reid on loan. We could have managed with Aksalu as sub and only signed a goalie if required. Speed’s first signing was a loanee right back who he is not now selecting. Was Calve’s signing a priority when we have home-grown Lowton warming the bench and Nosworthy and Kozluk as other options? Most managers with limited resources wheel and deal when they inherit another manager’s team. Why hasn’t Speed sent some of Blackwell’s “not very good” signings out on loan to free up more resources and bring in his own players?

Ultra-negativity?

8 goals in 13 matches. 7 games where his team has failed to score. Only scored 2 or more goals on one occasion. Only playing one forward in every game, home or away. Playing three defensive and/or uncreative midfielders behind that solitary forward (perm any three from Monty, Ertl, Britton, Quinn). Only having two players with any pace and skill in the squad (Ward and Yeates) and never starting them both in the same game until last Saturday.

Gary Speed’s way of playing?

How do we know what his chosen way of playing is? Should we base it on the teams and formations he’s selected so far or base it on our own hopes of how we’d like to see him play? Has he ever said that he wants to play more exciting, attacking football? If he does, why did he never start Yeates and Ward together until Saturday? Why have we still not signed a pacy forward he said was urgently required?

Very tough task for a young manager?

I agree. All the more reason not to give a young unproven manager a three year contract. A short-term contract until Christmas would have been sufficient and that’s still how long he should be given as far as I’m concerned.

Regarding resources; he's not exactly being allowed to break the bank there is he Sothall. An unknown french full back, a goalkeeper passed his best, an inexperienced defender and finally a quality player that we can only have for a month! By the looks of things those four players are about all Gary Speed could afford on what he's been given.

He needed to get someone in, he did - if they're not good enough thats down to what is available and what he has in terms of funds. Perhaps in signing Calve he didnt want to simply rely on Lowton (inexperienced) and Kozluk (passed it).

Regarding negativity;
Again see my comments about the irrelevance of team shape in this context. In terms of the midfield.....goes back my comment about the team not being very good and Speed lacking options.

Regarding Speeds way of playing; Mostly see comments above and how irrelevant this subject is as he has NOTHING to work with. I dont think there is any reason that Ward and Yeates never start together.....mainly coincidence, but individually theyve performed no better than anyone else so whats your point?

"Why hasnt he signed a pacy striker?" - perhaps there isnt a good one available in our salary range Sothall.....goes back to resources and availability again. He cant just magic a pacy world beater. I'm sure he would have signed one given the chance!

Regarding contract comments; Perhaps they shouldnt have given him three years. But if that proves to be the case then it is yet another mistake by the club hierarchy and is not something you can blame on the manager. As ive said earlier "right man, wrong time."

 

[Bergen Blade]

What resources?

The resources that allowed him to sign Calve, Wright, De Laet and now Reid on loan. We could have managed with Aksalu as sub and only signed a goalie if required. Speed’s first signing was a loanee right back who he is not now selecting. Was Calve’s signing a priority when we have home-grown Lowton warming the bench and Nosworthy and Kozluk as other options? Most managers with limited resources wheel and deal when they inherit another manager’s team. Why hasn’t Speed sent some of Blackwell’s “not very good” signings out on loan to free up more resources and bring in his own players?

Ultra-negativity?

8 goals in 13 matches. 7 games where his team has failed to score. Only scored 2 or more goals on one occasion. Only playing one forward in every game, home or away. Playing three defensive and/or uncreative midfielders behind that solitary forward (perm any three from Monty, Ertl, Britton, Quinn). Only having two players with any pace and skill in the squad (Ward and Yeates) and never starting them both in the same game until last Saturday.

Gary Speed’s way of playing?

How do we know what his chosen way of playing is? Should we base it on the teams and formations he’s selected so far or base it on our own hopes of how we’d like to see him play? Has he ever said that he wants to play more exciting, attacking football? If he does, why did he never start Yeates and Ward together until Saturday? Why have we still not signed a pacy forward he said was urgently required?

Very tough task for a young manager?

I agree. All the more reason not to give a young unproven manager a three year contract. A short-term contract until Christmas would have been sufficient and that’s still how long he should be given as far as I’m concerned.

Always enjoy your posts Sothall, and urge people to take notice of what you've actually said (in some good detail and being very specific), rather than branding it as just another negative knocker's post. Regarding the formation I don't think it's a problem in itself, but we can't keep playing three holding/defensive midfielders and as we're struggling for creativity we need full backs who can go forward overlapping and get crosses in.

In a 4-4-2 that's the team I'd like to see as well, though maybe Bogdanovic can show some better form than Cresswell at the minute?

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Always enjoy your posts Sothall, and urge people to take notice of what you've actually said (in some good detail and being very specific), rather than branding it as just another negative knocker's post. Regarding the formation I don't think it's a problem in itself, but we can't keep playing three holding/defensive midfielders and as we're struggling for creativity we need full backs who can go forward overlapping and get crosses in.

In a 4-4-2 that's the team I'd like to see as well, though maybe Bogdanovic can show some better form than Cresswell at the minute?

Thanks Bergen, ditto regarding your posts. The odd thing is I’ve normally been the one defending the manager (Bassett, Spackman, Warnock, Blackwell) and now I find myself on the other side of the fence in saying that we should be expecting more from the current one. I think that you and I both have similar views on how United can improve with OR without new investment being pumped into the club.

I’m in total agreement about the need for overlapping full backs in a 4-5-1 and we did play that way in the first half against Scunthorpe. As others have said that is the best display of attacking football we’ve seen under Speed and I honestly think that the second half of that match knocked his confidence in playing attacking football. Since then we’ve retained the three defensive midfielders but the full backs have also been instructed not to venture too far forward. Hence Calve being dropped and replaced with the more defensive De Laet and Nosworthy for example.

There were positive signs on Saturday that we’re finally going to play with more pace and skill and take the game to the opposition more. We finished the game with five attack-minded players in the front six and the full backs pushing forward where sensible to do so, which is the way I’d like to see us start games. I have nothing against Speed and I hope he succeeds but I don’t see the point in turning a blind eye to his mistakes just because he’s a nice bloke and new to the job (E.g. “If he signed someone who is not good enough that’s down to what is available and what he has in terms of funds”). I don’t remember Blackwell and Warnock being cut that sort of slack.

 

[bladesadviser]

He was the wrong sort of manager to be appointed at that time. It was no time for a novice, the situation needed an experienced manager. Equally if when Blackwell was sacked we had a Barry Speed working on the coaching staff who had done his coaching badges etc he would not have got the job or if he had it would have been considered a poor choice. The fact he was a "name" negated some of the disenchantment

 

[Tony Currie]

What traits do successful football managers have :-

Single minded, ruthless, arrogant, supreme confidence, never wrong, blame outsiders, decisiveness, tactical ability......etc

Unfortunately I haven't any of these in Gary yet. Has he got any of these?

 

[Sirius]

Steve Bruce was considered to be a promising manager when he walked out on the Blades. Was that through lack of funds: will Speedo be tempted to jack it in and move on? I hope not but he will need a lot of time and patience from us lot.
UTB

 

[lenners]

In my opinion (for what its worth) he'll end up being the right man at the wrong time. I think we're seeing that at the moment. He will go on to be a good manager somewhere else with better resources. The way he talks about the game and the respect he has from his peers suggests that he has all the tools to be a good manager but he's been given an impossible task here.

If he lasts the full season (and I cant see any reason why he wont), he can consider keeping us up a success IMO. Very, very difficult job with someone else's team and not a very good one at that. Good luck Speedo!

That carries worrying echoes of what was said about Chedwyn.

 

[Sirius]

Pittsburg. You win the award for the most optimistic Blade ever. I do so hope that you are right.
UTB

 

[super_pig]

>The difference between Speed and Robson
as well as speed not being a total knobhead and piss artiste extraordinaire..