Still the unluckiest club?

[Bartleby]

There have been quite a few threads about this being the unluckiest club and it is true. Only this club could get in the best qualified manager for the job in hand and fail. Southampton got into the PL from L1 down to him but it hasn't worked out here and I don't think now that it will. The relationship started to sour a while ago. This is not a condemnation of Adkins or a criticism of fans booing it is just a sad acceptance that we are an unlucky club which, barring a miracle, is doomed to be in L1 for at least another season and I wouldn't discount a second spell in Div 4.

 

[I should coco]

We should never have built that hotel on the old Indian burial ground.

 

[davidpinder]

Difference with the other teams he managed is that there boards supported him and didn't sell the best players

 

[Bartleby]

We should never have built that hotel on the old Indian burial ground.

If only Doris Stokes was still alive ...

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

We're hankering after past glories.

We all wanted Adkins because he'd done it in the past. Same as he wanted Billy Sharp & Dean Hammond because they'd done it in the past.

Football's moved on quickly though, & has left folks behind. We're stuck in the past with a manager who used to be successful but who doesn't seem to have a clue what to do in the here & now.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Difference with the other teams he managed is that there boards supported him and didn't sell the best players

David this has been discussed before.
All clubs apart from Real Madrid and possibly Barcelona sell their best players.

Name me a club and I'll give you a list of "best players" they have sold, it's called business.

However there is the odd exception when best players aren't sold is then there aren't any best players.
Some clubs have orgsnisation, work ethic and team spirit where the whole is much better than the individual parts.

 

[Bladesman]

I wonder if we get an award.

 

[Sheffsteel]

We're hankering after past glories.

We all wanted Adkins because he'd done it in the past. Same as he wanted Billy Sharp & Dean Hammond because they'd done it in the past.

Football's moved on quickly though, & has left folks behind. We're stuck in the past with a manager who used to be successful but who doesn't seem to have a clue what to do in the here & now.

Alfreton. That's how all ambitious appointments are done based on pedigree and past glories.

Are you saying we should choose the cheap option and just give it an unknown up and coming manager based on a hunch. Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink has started well but has no longevity and no experience of handling pressure.
In fact you can't name any manager in the lower divisions that isn't as highly rated as Adkins.
Mark Cooper at Swindon was highly rated last season but look at him now.
Longevity and track record is the best guarantee of success.

It's a bit like saying Jose Mourinho is struggling at Chelsea so he's obviously now past it and lost his touch.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Alfreton. That's how all ambitious appointments are done based on pedigree and past glories.

Are you saying we should choose the cheap option and just give it an unknown up and coming manager based on a hunch. Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink has started well but has no longevity and no experience of handling pressure.
In fact you can't name any manager in the lower divisions that isn't as highly rated as Adkins.
Mark Cooper at Swindon was highly rated last season but look at him now.
Longevity and track record is the best guarantee of success.

It's a bit like saying Jose Mourinho is struggling at Chelsea so he's obviously now past it and lost his touch.

I don't know, Sheff. Adkins had his failure at Reading that we've all tried to explain away. Maybe it was more of a knock-out blow than it seemed?

The problem is that Adkins doesn't seem to have any sort of answers for the actual problems that are facing him.

In all honesty, I don't know what should have been done - I can certainly see the logic of appointing Adkins (& I was all for his appointment). Sort of feel a bit for the board - they must have expected much more.

It's not just that he's not having the sort of positive instant impact you'd expect a top manager to have (& like he had at Southampton), it's more than we're falling apart before our eyes & the slow progress that was made under Clough is being buried. There doesn't seem to be any method that's visible.

Hopefully, he'll make big changes for Barnsley & motivate a win (against a side that's lost about 9 of the last 10). Can't really see it happening tbh.

 

[Bartleby]

We all wanted Adkins because he'd done it in the past. Same as he wanted Billy Sharp & Dean Hammond because they'd done it in the past.

Football's moved on quickly though, & has left folks behind. We're stuck in the past with a manager who used to be successful but who doesn't seem to have a clue what to do in the here & now.

So we choose someone who hasn't done it in the past? David Weir? Like I said unluckiest club. This season is a write off now for me and I'll be amazed now if Adkins survives the season. As Evans just said about Leeds, surely someone has got to get it right here eventually.

 

[oldblade]

We're hankering after past glories.

We all wanted Adkins because he'd done it in the past. Same as he wanted Billy Sharp & Dean Hammond because they'd done it in the past.

Football's moved on quickly though, & has left folks behind. We're stuck in the past with a manager who used to be successful but who doesn't seem to have a clue what to do in the here & now.

Which past glories are those?

The last time we won any major honour was 90 years ago. I am not young, but I doubt any living Blade can remember that.

Anyone who has done anything has done it in the past. That is obvious. As soon as something is done it is in the past, but Adkins' previous record is hardly ancient history.

 

[bornablade]

We should lose this fallacy that SUFC are the 'unluckiest club.' With the level of support it attracts it is in fact the 'luckiest club'.

The supporters on the other hand are the unlucky ones.

 

[Barry Blunt]

You create your own luck, through hard work and determination. Whether that's football, career or whatever in life.

 

[grafikhaus]

David this has been discussed before.
All clubs apart from Real Madrid and possibly Barcelona sell their best players.

Name me a club and I'll give you a list of "best players" they have sold, it's called business.

However there is the odd exception when best players aren't sold is then there aren't any best players.
Some clubs have orgsnisation, work ethic and team spirit where the whole is much better than the individual parts.

All true and of course, Southampton have never sold their best players...

As bornablade says, it's us poor supporters who are the unlucky ones. The rest is all down to lack of organisation, professionalism, forward planning. As someone says on another thread, even the ball boys can't be arsed to do their job. This entire club wants pulling through with a holly bush.

 

[COME BACK CHED]

Come Back Ched

 

[super_pig]

We should never have built that hotel on the old Indian burial ground.

no. .we shouldn't have introduced a daft shirt. we always struggle when we play in daft shirts.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Which past glories are those?

The last time we won any major honour was 90 years ago. I am not young, but I doubt any living Blade can remember that.

Anyone who has done anything has done it in the past. That is obvious. As soon as something is done it is in the past, but Adkins' previous record is hardly ancient history.

I'm on about Adkins' past glories, not ours.

The point I'm making is, despite Adkins' past successes, he failed at Reading - something we've all chosen to gloss over or excuse in one way or another. Maybe he's a busted flush?

Goes without saying I hope not, & that he can somehow find it within himself to rescue this situation. Just that its impossible not to have your faith in him shaken after last night, after all that's gone on before.

 

[davidpinder]

David this has been discussed before.
All clubs apart from Real Madrid and possibly Barcelona sell their best players.

Name me a club and I'll give you a list of "best players" they have sold, it's called business.

However there is the odd exception when best players aren't sold is then there aren't any best players.
Some clubs have orgsnisation, work ethic and team spirit where the whole is much better than the individual parts.

But Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man u, Man City, etc etc etc etc. They all reinvest the funds, getting out of this league is called good business being in it is not. Season ticket sales will be a record low if we don't go up this season

 

[oldblade]

I'm on about Adkins' past glories, not ours.

The point I'm making is, despite Adkins' past successes, he failed at Reading - something we've all chosen to gloss over or excuse in one way or another. Maybe he's a busted flush?

Goes without saying I hope not, & that he can somehow find it within himself to rescue this situation. Just that its impossible not to have your faith in him shaken after last night, after all that's gone on before.

I agree that at the moment Adkins is making a right dogs dinner of things. But having him as manager is hardly living in the past. He was still at Southampton less than 3 years ago.

To my mind, given the level we are at, I don't think we could have got a better qualified manager. However, things are definitely not looking very rosy. He doesn't seem to be able to use the players he inherited to very good effect, and the impact of the players he has brought in has been mixed.

 

[Bladesince59]

I agree that at the moment Adkins is making a right dogs dinner of things. But having him as manager is hardly living in the past. He was still at Southampton less than 3 years ago.

To my mind, given the level we are at, I don't think we could have got a better qualified manager. However, things are definitely not looking very rosy. He doesn't seem to be able to use the players he inherited to very good effect, and the impact of the players he has brought in has been mixed.

The impact of the players he has brought in has been non-existent.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Which past glories are those?

The last time we won any major honour was 90 years ago. I am not young, but I doubt any living Blade can remember that.

Anyone who has done anything has done it in the past. That is obvious. As soon as something is done it is in the past, but Adkins' previous record is hardly ancient history.

We must have won the county cup in those intervening years Oldblade, maybe its that, that they are referring to.

 

[Grecian2000]

All true and of course, Southampton have never sold their best players...

Thing is they sold them all AFTER getting into the land of milk and honey and had the position and wealth to actually replace them with decent players.

I don't think it's unlucky sacking managers every five minutes and selling your best player every summer from a position of weakness.
We are almost there though, there can't be many more managers to try and we've not got a lot to sell anymore.

 

[oldblade]

The impact of the players he has brought in has been non-existent.

Not true. Sharp and Sammon were playing well together earlier in the season, and when he first arrived Edgar looked far more solid than anyone else we have in central defence. I even remember Woolford playing a superb pass to Sharp at Swindon which put him through for the second goal.

It is since the break after the Swindon game that things have gone downhill on an ever steepening slope.

 

[Bladesince59]

Not true. Sharp and Sammon were playing well together earlier in the season, and when he first arrived Edgar looked far more solid than anyone else we have in central defence. I even remember Woolford playing a superb pass to Sharp at Swindon which put him through for the second goal.

It is since the break after the Swindon game that things have gone downhill on an ever steepening slope.

OK - I was at Swindon and they did look good (for the one game). Since then, IMO, their contribution has been non-existent.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

You create your own luck, through hard work and determination. Whether that's football, career or whatever in life.

Only partially true. Of course you can help to make your own luck but If for example if you get hit on the head by a falling meteorite I think it's safe to say that you were a bit unlucky.

No-one can tell me United aren't an unlucky club. Some things we could have avoided by a bit of planning and foresight but too many times there's been the 'it could only happen to us moments'

How many times have we lost out to corruption?

Everton v Wimbledon, Spurs not being docked points. Tevez and probably more.

Inept refereeing. Graham Poll for instance. The weak officials when we played Liverpool in the semi and god knows how many more examples in major major matches that could have transformed this club.

Others before have listed the ill fortunes of our club and some could have indeed been altered for more favourable outcomes by our actions. But not all by a long way.

We have been and are an unlucky club for as long as I can remember and we can only hope that one day our luck does change.