In or out, that’s not really my question, just trying to gauge whether as a fan base we’d be happy to get rid of Hecky for a replacement? And if so who?
I personally don’t think he’s up to it when the going gets tough. A 3-3 against them is not good enough. We didn’t even start until it was vs 9 men. He looks tactically inept. Today the reactions were so slow and that’s the tip of the iceberg.
It’s a bit early to say. I used to think the same about Warnock at times, some of the things he did were baffling (and a lot of what he said,) at times but he’s the most successful manager outside the PL.
if it’s a Slav type situation where we’re down at the bottom, playing very badly, it’s much easier to think he’s never going to sort this out, he’s the wrong man but Hecky’s done OK so far. I think he deserves longer to show that the injuries aren’t down to him and that, with a fitter squad and more players available to him, he can make better tactical decisions.
I don’t think managers should be sacked unless the situation is irretrievable. It doesn’t always solve things and in some cases, it makes things worse. It’s expensive; you have to pay off the manager and his staff, and give the new manager funds to bring in the players they want. If you can’t afford to do that, you can get a Slav type scenario. Whatever he told the board, he absolutely couldn’t get us playing like Fulham without a lot more recruitment.
And finally, I have no confidence in the owner or board to actually recruit the right manager. At the time Adkins was appointed, the rumour going around was that Clough had been “McCabe’s appointment” and that, this time, PA and his crew at the time, Phipps etc wanted much more input. It appeared they were very much in favour of Adkins. The appointment of Slav was quite similar, in that he’d had previous success but appeared to be on the downward trajectory of his career. And with Slav, we had literally months to find the right choice and wasted a lot of time chasing a manager who wasn’t eligible for a work permit.
People say Hecky was the cheap option but I don’t see it like that, it’s the safe option; appointing someone you already know and trust. There aren’t enough proper “football people” at the club or UW to have the insider knowledge you need to make good appointments. We wouldn’t get a “Mick Beale” type appointment, we’re not going to get the next Steve Cooper, we’re more likely to get the next Steve Bruce; a manager once successful but now past his sell by date.
For long term success, you need both a good manager and a well run club, who can plan ahead. Otherwise you’re looking at a fire fighter type manager, who can get short term success at less well run clubs, usually by kicking cans down the road until they eventually catch up on them. Another Wilder, who can paper over the cracks. I’m not saying we’re a shambles but the club does need, in the background, to look at scouting and recruitment to make sure it’s top class; whether we go up or stay down, how we recruit next season will determine our success over the next few years.
We could sack Hecky and bring in a replacement but there’s more chance it will turn out like Boro with Wilder than Bournemouth with Parker as we don’t have enough money to back a new manager with enough new signings and I don’t trust us to get the right person in.
