View From Clough

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Every interview with Clough is like a Party Political Broadcast, the interviewer speaks the pre-arranged question and Clough agrees and expands. Bloody boring but well controlled.
 
Woodwardfan said:
Every interview with Clough is like a Party Political Broadcast, the interviewer speaks the pre-arranged question and Clough agrees and expands. Bloody boring but well controlled.
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Care to expand on this vague comment or is it just a statement from a member of the Anti Clough Party ?
 
Woodwardfan said:
Every interview with Clough is like a Party Political Broadcast, the interviewer speaks the pre-arranged question and Clough agrees and expands. Bloody boring but well controlled.
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Are you saying Clough clears the questions first, or that the interviewer doesn't ask any searching questions, and instead sycophantically sets Clough up to spout banal platitudes and thereby fails to do the main part of his job, or something else?
 
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A whiskey for the scots, not a bad interview, we don't want him being negative towards the players at this stage of the season, he will always look more to the positives.
 
Bladebri said:
View attachment 11284
A whiskey for the scots, not a bad interview, we don't want him being negative towards the players at this stage of the season, he will always look more to the positives.
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He generally says he's being honest when he criticises players but I'm not sure blaming Howard was right. If the ball did move then it's debatable how much it was his fault, and keepers are generally confidence players. I thought he played well today.
 
I'm still trying to fathom what the idea of a pre-arranged question is meant to be....is the inference that Clough decides the questions asked of him?

I'd really love to know if that's the case.
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
He generally says he's being honest when he criticises players but I'm not sure blaming Howard was right. If the ball did move then it's debatable how much it was his fault, and keepers are generally confidence players. I thought he played well today.
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True the ball could have swerved, I would not like to be a keeper, split second reactions, your never going to save everything but he has done a great job so far,
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
"I wouldn't say I'm the best manager in the business but I'm in the top one." Imagine Nigel coming out with something like that. This forum would go into meltdown.:)
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Oh please do Nigel light the blue touch paper and retire :D
He really would be like his dad then :eek:
 
Woodwardfan said:
Every interview with Clough is like a Party Political Broadcast, the interviewer speaks the pre-arranged question and Clough agrees and expands. Bloody boring but well controlled.
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Prime example of any reason possible to have a go at him.

His interviews are actually pretty honest and open, he always talks well. Only thing I wish he would say is the following:

'A section of our fans are a miserable, disgusting excuse for human beings. You serve no purpose and don't help our cause in any way. The support we received at Barnsley is actually the type of support that helps. But unfortunately, unless we're winning 2-0 and playing the opposition off the park the said section of fans just hurl abuse'

I would love it if he said that.

Good point today, good haul of points over the past 6 games. Keep up the good work Cloughy.
 



itsinyerblood said:
I'm still trying to fathom what the idea of a pre-arranged question is meant to be....is the inference that Clough decides the questions asked of him?

I'd really love to know if that's the case.
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It does seem to be as Woodward says. At every question Cloughy generally agrees and then expands without really saying anything. None of the questions are remotely controversial or challenging. It is very well orchestrated. I feel sure he's handed a list prior to the interview because he never has to stop and think of an answer.
 
Pittsburg Blade said:
It does seem to be as Woodward says. At every question Cloughy generally agrees and then expands without really saying anything. None of the questions are remotely controversial or challenging. It is very well orchestrated. I feel sure he's handed a list prior to the interview because he never has to stop and think of an answer.
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Most managers do that, all players do that throughout football.

In recent interviews he's been honest and said we didn't deserve to win a game that we won / he's said a performance wasn't good enough / he said mcnultys performance wasn't good enough / he's praised players. He's been pretty balanced and honest.

In this particular interview he gave a little insight into Reed, maybe a regret of not starting scougs etc.

Also has is dawned on fans that managers have to be very careful of what they say because said fans are very quick to pounce on every word spoken and criticize it!
 
Reminds me of someone ,getting rid of al; the black players and dictating orchestrated interviews ,ruling with a rod of Iron. maybe we should start singing Are you Hitler in disguise ?
I noticed you Clough haters dodged mentioning him sleeping out last night ,the bastard :(
 
Pittsburg Blade said:
It does seem to be as Woodward says. At every question Cloughy generally agrees and then expands without really saying anything. None of the questions are remotely controversial or challenging. It is very well orchestrated. I feel sure he's handed a list prior to the interview because he never has to stop and think of an answer.
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Don't you mean, " It seems very well orchestrated" ? These interviews are conducted in house, not by an outside agency, so what would anyone expect from the club? Putting a spin on this, as if there's some type of machiavellian plot at work, seems a little odd, possibly even delusional. I doubt any other club does these type of interviews any differently, but of course it's Sheffield United, so I guess there must be a conspiracy that we, the supporters, are deliberately excluded from.

Looking for problems where none exist is both worrying energy sapping. What next, 24-hour surveillance on Clough to discover some piece of evidence that completes this, frankly, weird mindset?
 
itsinyerblood said:
Don't you mean, " It seems very well orchestrated" ? These interviews are conducted in house, not by an outside agency, so what would anyone expect from the club? Putting a spin on this, as if there's some type of machiavellian plot at work, seems a little odd, possibly even delusional. I doubt any other club does these type of interviews any differently, but of course it's Sheffield United, so I guess there must be a conspiracy that we, the supporters, are deliberately excluded from.

Looking for problems where none exist is both worrying energy sapping. What next, 24-hour surveillance on Clough to discover some piece of evidence that completes this, frankly, weird mindset?
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Of course, I I Y B you are correct, in that all clubs, will put a positive spin on their 'PRODUCT. I do wish however, that Blades men and women would ignore 'PROFESSIONAL,internet opinions , make up their own minds , based on what they have seen , and do their best to get us over the line. IMO negative comments that will be ignored by the club and do nothing to enhance our efforts on the field to gain promotion are useless
. They are counter productive..
Why don't we stop in fighting and get 100 % behind the team? Just for a few games chaps.?
 
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In the PL, managers do press conferences after matches and receive plenty of critical, searching questions. These events aren't controlled by the clubs. Witness Nigel Worthington's meltdown with a journo after a recent Leicester game.

In League One, there isn't a need for press conferences as the games get very little coverage outside local media. If there was a press conference after the Oldham game, I can't think who would attend apart from James Shield, someone from Radio Sheffield and someone from the local Oldham rag.

As an alternative, the club makes Clough or other members of the backroom staff or players availabe to local media - basically The Star, Radio Sheffield and presumably the Yorkshire Post. It's a cosy relationship, and I think there's probably an unwritten agreement not to be too antagonistic or ask uncomfortable questions. They mainly stick to topics such as injuries, tactics, and appraisals of particular players. Not sure, but doesn't a longer version of the Blades Player interview go out on Radio Sheffield?

It's a shame if no one is asking more searching questions. As an example, I think that for many fans, the JCR loan to Notts County has not been explained adequately, which has led to unpleasant and unfounded gossip. If JCR and Clough had a diversion of views, I'd prefer that to be mentioned - no big deal, it happens. Why we haven't seen anything of Che Adams since he performed so well against Spurs is another that baffles me.

Possibly the worst example is that no one from the media questioned Clough or anyone else at the club about Neill Collins' supposed injury. When he moved to Port Vale and started in the first team immediately, what we all thought became obvious - that Collins wasn't really injured, he was out of favour. This hasn't been brought up since by anyone in the media. These kind of questions only seem to be raised by callers to Football Heaven.

While we don't want to wash our dirty linen in public, we should all be aware that the news coming out of the club is tightly controlled. Behind-the scenes events have probably led to the departure of two or three players this season, but no real probing questions have been asked by local journos.

Overall, though, I think the team spirit is very good. Clough may seem affable in his interviews but I'm sure he has a very strong personality behind the scenes and he wants strong, like-minded individuals playing for him.
 
itsinyerblood said:
Don't you mean, " It seems very well orchestrated" ? These interviews are conducted in house, not by an outside agency, so what would anyone expect from the club? Putting a spin on this, as if there's some type of machiavellian plot at work, seems a little odd, possibly even delusional. I doubt any other club does these type of interviews any differently, but of course it's Sheffield United, so I guess there must be a conspiracy that we, the supporters, are deliberately excluded from.

Looking for problems where none exist is both worrying energy sapping. What next, 24-hour surveillance on Clough to discover some piece of evidence that completes this, frankly, weird mindset?
Click to expand...
Not saying I disllike the interviews or I think it's a major issue. They all just "seem" a little bit bland for my tastes.
I think it's a good thing the club is getting more professional and polished in it's media output.
I'm still awed that I can watch the game the next day on my phone.
I can remember the days when I had to wait for the Sunday papers to arrive on a Wednesday before I even knew the score.
 
Dkc said:
In the PL, managers do press conferences after matches and receive plenty of critical, searching questions. These events aren't controlled by the clubs. Witness Nigel Worthington's meltdown with a journo after a recent Leicester game.

In League One, there isn't a need for press conferences as the games get very little coverage outside local media. If there was a press conference after the Oldham game, I can't think who would attend apart from James Shield, someone from Radio Sheffield and someone from the local Oldham rag.

As an alternative, the club makes Clough or other members of the backroom staff or players availabe to local media - basically The Star, Radio Sheffield and presumably the Yorkshire Post. It's a cosy relationship, and I think there's probably an unwritten agreement not to be too antagonistic or ask uncomfortable questions. They mainly stick to topics such as injuries, tactics, and appraisals of particular players. Not sure, but doesn't a longer version of the Blades Player interview go out on Radio Sheffield?

It's a shame if no one is asking more searching questions. As an example, I think that for many fans, the JCR loan to Notts County has not been explained adequately, which has led to unpleasant and unfounded gossip. If JCR and Clough had a diversion of views, I'd prefer that to be mentioned - no big deal, it happens. Why we haven't seen anything of Che Adams since he performed so well against Spurs is another that baffles me.

Possibly the worst example is that no one from the media questioned Clough or anyone else at the club about Neill Collins' supposed injury. When he moved to Port Vale and started in the first team immediately, what we all thought became obvious - that Collins wasn't really injured, he was out of favour. This hasn't been brought up since by anyone in the media. These kind of questions only seem to be raised by callers to Football Heaven.

While we don't want to wash our dirty linen in public, we should all be aware that the news coming out of the club is tightly controlled. Behind-the scenes events have probably led to the departure of two or three players this season, but no real probing questions have been asked by local journos.

Overall, though, I think the team spirit is very good. Clough may seem affable in his interviews but I'm sure he has a very strong personality behind the scenes and he wants strong, like-minded individuals playing for him.
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Why should Clough tell us everything that happens behind the scenes with players? We are there to support the team and not analyse working relationships.

As for the players you mentioned? JCR was in a poor run of form and wasn't getting a game. He is now getting match practice and is now on a 24 hour recall. If he came back he still wouldn't be starting so I can't see the problem.
How do you know Collins wasn't injured? If he wasn't, there wasn't actually been a queue of clubs after him in the transfer window. His stint early in the season showed that his legs were going and if he came back he would be about 5th choice centre half at best and rightly so

Adams is a kid who is learning his trade. Despite his two goals against Spurs he has clearly shown he is not ready for regular 1st team football
Can't see any issues at all with the way he is being handled

I think some people will look for conspiracies when when there isn't any. On any team a manager will often protect what happens behind closed doors and sometimes doesn't play plays as they are out of form or don't rate them. They don't have to explain every decision to us
 
Pittsburg Blade said:
It does seem to be as Woodward says. At every question Cloughy generally agrees and then expands without really saying anything. None of the questions are remotely controversial or challenging. It is very well orchestrated. I feel sure he's handed a list prior to the interview because he never has to stop and think of an answer.
Click to expand...

I think this is plain wrong.

There can be a (damaging) tendency among sports journalists not to ask the really difficult questions as they fear being denied access, but, to take one instance Clough has in the past been challenged on corners - when we were still floating them in. (Something incidentally that has clearly been worked on.)

There have been plenty of other examples where the interviewer has done his job of articulating the interests and concerns of the public. In fact istm that some hot topic among fans makes it into the questions, generally before the next game.
 
Borbokisfreekick said:
Prime example of any reason possible to have a go at him.

His interviews are actually pretty honest and open, he always talks well.

Good point today, good haul of points over the past 6 games. Keep up the good work Cloughy.
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I really like his interviews. I think he's calm, honest, generally clear-sighted, and thinks about what he says.

Off the top of my head I can't think of a better manager-as-interviewee.

But...there is the ability to talk a good game, so, of course, what actually happens on the park is fairly important as well :)
 



Dkc said:
As an alternative, the club makes Clough or other members of the backroom staff or players availabe to local media - basically The Star, Radio Sheffield and presumably the Yorkshire Post. It's a cosy relationship, and I think there's probably an unwritten agreement not to be too antagonistic or ask uncomfortable questions. They mainly stick to topics such as injuries, tactics, and appraisals of particular players.

[...]

It's a shame if no one is asking more searching questions.
Click to expand...

This is a problem with sports journalism in general. An obvious example is the Lance Armstrong business where only a couple of journalists were doing their job.
 
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