Of all the managers we have had since O'Neill, Di Matteo is just about the only one who could feel miffed at not getting more time. More games wasn't going to give Lambert a Eureka moment. He'd tried young and hungry, old and wobbly and in the end just fugly.
My instinct is still to tough it out and give him this season at least. His own ineptitude might force a decision before that, of course. If we get through to the summer and he has only scraped survival despite having one of the best squads in the league, I'd see no argument to keep him on in that scenario. But at least then we would have a bigger pool to pick from when it comes to a replacement. Carvalhal at Wednesday is well used to dealing with a basketcase club with big expectations. He has had Wednesday in the shake-up for the play-offs for the past two seasons after years of shite. Monk is doing well at the mother of all basketcase outfits. Both have managed to do this with without resorting to eye-bleeding football as per Rowett or our own spoofer boof baller Bruce. Wagner looked the most intriguing option back in October and we did show interest apparently. Not all of them will be able to squeak up via the play-offs this year. A full pre season with us and a chance to mould a team exactly as they see fit with the resources we offer might still hold some appeal.
Quote from: Ad@m on February 22, 2017, 02:00:39 PMOut of interest, when was the last time we had a new manager bounce? Sherwood to an extent I suppose but before that - JG?Surely the current guy?
Out of interest, when was the last time we had a new manager bounce? Sherwood to an extent I suppose but before that - JG?
Of all the managers we have had since O'Neill, Di Matteo is just about the only one who could feel miffed at not getting more time. More games wasn't going to give Lambert a Eureka moment. He'd tried young and hungry, old and wobbly and in the end just fugly. More games wasn't going to turn Sherwood into some sort of tactical wizard. In the cold light of day, Di Matteo probably did deserve longer. Points-wise, our start with indifferent>poor, but performance levels were there, for the most part. Even a competitive loss to Preston might have seen him keep his job. But with the pressure on, playing so poorly up there (and the brainfreeze of going with just one central midfielder second half) did for him.
Quote from: KevinGage on February 22, 2017, 05:13:31 PMOf all the managers we have had since O'Neill, Di Matteo is just about the only one who could feel miffed at not getting more time. More games wasn't going to give Lambert a Eureka moment. He'd tried young and hungry, old and wobbly and in the end just fugly. More games wasn't going to turn Sherwood into some sort of tactical wizard. In the cold light of day, Di Matteo probably did deserve longer. Points-wise, our start with indifferent>poor, but performance levels were there, for the most part. Even a competitive loss to Preston might have seen him keep his job. But with the pressure on, playing so poorly up there (and the brainfreeze of going with just one central midfielder second half) did for him. It does make you wonder if there was anything else going on other than the results. I thought at the time it was a bit early although anyone who was at Preston would have seen how shambolic it was in that second half.
We have done so many things poorly in the past 2 years (post Lambert era) to reach the state we are in, but for me, prominent amongst them is consistently appointing inexperienced managers and/or changing managers at the wrong time.1. TS was in charge 23 games, spent an awful lot of money in summer 15, and secured just 29% of points available to him. Almost no experience of management, job was far too big for him, found out after a false FA Cup dawn. Almost none of his signings have proven to be value for money. 2. RG was in charge 21 games and given no new players, and secured 19% of points available to him. Appointed mid-season as the club was in virtual free fall. Given no support in the January transfer window (the last vestige of the Lerner era). Undermined by revolt in the dressing room. Inexperienced in British football. 3. RDM was in charge just 11 games and secured 30% of points available to him. Inexperienced manager (again), and panic button hit too soon given the club desperately needed stabilizing (again). The thing with SB is that at last we have a manager who has vast experience (both in British football, the PL, and the Championship, and who played at the highest level for likely the best manager in British football). He has been in charge for 21 games of which 16 of those were pre his spending spree in January - he has secured 42% of points available to him. For me, its nailed on that our general decline will continue if we keep repeating the managerial merry-go-round. Our position is self inflicted - big club, big money, but put into the hands of inexperienced managers who ought never have even been considered (TS, RDM). And the thing is that every time we change manager (particularly after he has brought in a lot of new players), the confidence of the squad takes another hit. Its almost like we can't help shooting ourselves in the foot. Fire Bruce now and I genuinely fear we will be relegated again either this or next season. He has to be given the time to change the culture, mold his style onto a squad recently infused with 6-7 key players, and see if it clicks. If it doesn't, then fire him at the end of the season, and give the new man the summer and a pre-season to exert his influence. We cannot change mid-season yet again...
Ive read on Facebook that Wyness has said that Bruce will stay as manager even if he takes us downthis can't be true surely, has anyone actually heard him say this as its sounds like bullshit to me