We are a true circus - to go from the togetherness of NW to how we are now is utter implosion - we deserve to go down and TS better know how to stop the rot because we will end up like Donny in 2 years if he doesn't sort this out pronto
Blimey! I didn't see that coming at all.
I wonder if KJ has been "tapped up" for a better job? Why would you walk away from a 3 year pay packet after less than 40 days? Just doesn't make sense.
I would think the players feel like they have been given another kick in the guts, they must be already at rock bottom (like the supporters) and now the manager has thrown in the towel!
Oh well, here we go again, onwards and upwards! See you at Burton with whoever is fit and whoever is in charge.
I think there are some unpalatable but inescapable truths to face up to.
Money is, like it or not, by far the biggest factor in dictating where a team will finish in a league. We just do not have the same amount of money as our competitors.
We hung on for two seasons in The Championship by carrying some momentum with us from League One success and then turning over lots of experienced players and loanees and surviving by the skin of our teeth. We were also fortunate in that in both seasons a couple of our rivals self destructed.
I get the feeling that we have fallen well behind Tony Stewart's medium term plans off the pitch. The lack of improvement of training facilities, the lack of progress with the Guest & Chrimes building, the empty units (easier to fill with a hotel next door). I imagine that the off-field revenue streams were a big part of the business plan and were needed to fund a Championship quality team - one that would attract bigger crowds and merit stadium expansion. Unfortunately what might have been a virtuous circle seems to have stalled and we have fallen into a downward spiral.
We have been faced with a dilemma of whether to throw short term resources at the playing staff to maintain our second tier status (the Evans and Warnock approach) or whether to try and build something longer term but risk the drop doing so (Redfearn/Stubbs). Tony clearly wants to build (hence the long term contracts given out) but has pulled the trigger quickly to try and avoid relegation. He hasn't been able to have his cake and eat it.
I think that perhaps we reached The Championship before we had the infrastructure to give us much of a chance to stay there and be sustainable there. I also think that some of the rhetoric about being a top half club was a bit daft, and that the fans of the club (perhaps drawn in by that rhetoric) have been ridiculously impatient and quick to turn when things haven't gone well.
We as supporters need to do our bit and stay behind the club in every sense. We may (will) go down this year, but it might not be the end of the world in the long run.
Although the running of the club by the Board of Directors is crucial in the medium to long term, Neil Warnock proved that it is possible to use what you've got and, by instilling some passion and desire into the players, even the most unlikely results become achievable.
Unfortunately the man management skills of Alan Stubbs, coupled with some very poor player signings, were very quickly exposed and the 'Warnock factor' disappeared overnight. Kenny Jackett immediately found himself in the same position as Warnock but, whatever his approach on the training ground he failed to get a response from his inherited team. Perhaps he thought that he could make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and it didn't take him long to realise the team was in freefall and he didn't want to be on that particular sinking ship.
After a two week break I was hopeful that we would see signs that Jackett had put the time on the training ground to good use but the first half display against Leeds was as bad as anything under Alan Stubbs. The frantic end to the game looked more down to the individual efforts of one or two players rather than a tactical change by the manager.
If we accept that our problem will not be solved by a bulging cheque book in January then the only way out of this mess is to get the players sweating blood for the team and that needs someone who really cares about the club and isn't afraid to puncture a few inflated egos. Ronnie Moore, John Breckin, Paul Hurst, Guy Branston and Paul Warne are names that have been thrown in the ring - whether any of them could pull off an even greater escape than Warnock I don't know but they certainly couldn't do any worse than those who have departed in the last two seasons. I'd rather the club didn't start preparing for League One just yet (I'm not even sure how you do that with so many Championship games remaining) - if we are going to go down lets do it with all guns blazing.
Just one final point, on the subject of the training ground. If it is such a substandard mess with poor facilities (I don't know because its a long time since I lived in Rawmarsh) then why don't we just train at the New York Stadium? If they don't want to damage the pitch then it is all very well to have a playing surface like a bowling green on match days but I'd rather see a good team on an odd bare patch than our current lot on today's pitch. Excuse me if I've got this wrong but I don't recall 'Sheenie' Wilson and his assistants being beaten by a few divots. A few of the fancy opponents who turn up in their pink slippers might not look so good on it either.
Pockmiller, first of all welcome to the site & may I say that your opening post above is one of the most well thought out, reasoned posts I've read & I cannot disagree with any of it.
Pockmiller, first of all welcome to the site & may I say that your opening post above is one of the most well thought out, reasoned posts I've read & I cannot disagree with any of it.
agreed, nice post Pockmiller
The only thing I'd add is that I'd like to see a manager who knows some of the defenders in league 2 and League 1 who can tackle and shut up shop, which some of the managers mentioned would come with... (not just their name and CV, but has actually seen them play and know they will graft for the shirt/team)
We could afford proven league 2 and league 1 players too, instead of looking at Championship, Premiership or Scottish cast-offs and 12 year olds on loan, who don't come with experience, and on the face of what we have seen, have zero capability of actually defending.
We obviously need a blend, and in the long run need players that can take us forward - but at the moment we need defenders, and ones that can at least give the rest of the team a chance to win a game.
I still say that if we start to defend, this squad is not without ability - we have scored in most of our games, but conceded too many, too easily. We need a defensive foundation of grit and 'thou shall not pass me' mentality. Some of those playing in leagues below us are capable of stepping up. (in fact - If I was the manager and given any sort of budget in January - the first player I'd re-sign at left back would be Scarz)
I would NEVER play Mattock, Fisher or Kelly ever again.
Emergency Loan window not being available any more has killed us this season, we have relied on it for too long, coupled with inept signings from inept managers.
Reap what you sow - as my mother would say.
Defence is the problem, So Tony that £2m that Stubbs didnt spend coupled with some other off loads off the wage bill. Could mean we survive with the skin of our teeth with some above average signings, but can anybody stomach this crap season in season out, i know i cant.
Agree with Ian, i said on twitter get someone who has millers in the blood.
end of go from there set up ready for next year
how far are we from the days of the Wembley / league 1 team
a big step backwards.
TV Money, Parachute payments, totally changed the championship
a big ask of any club coming up to compete with a club coming down
Pockmiller, first of all welcome to the site & may I say that your opening post above is one of the most well thought out, reasoned posts I've read & I cannot disagree with any of it.
