Resigned from Mansfield together with Raynor today.
Mansfield who gave him a job and backed him and who are in the playoffs with a vital run of games coming up.
The Peterborough job is vacant at the moment and plenty are putting two and two together, but surely a man like Steve Evans who made a big noise about integrity when he did a runner from here wouldn't resign just to get a bigger job, would he? Would he?
It's a strange one this. After Mansfield's home draw with Coventry at the weekend, Evans was as animated as ever and it was easy to believe that he was as attached to Mansfield as is possible. The decision to leave Mansfield appears to have been made solely by Evans and unlike the code of silence that existed when he left Rotherham, Mansfield's chairman has said that no-one is bigger than the club - suggesting that Evans has let the side down.
I was willing to believe after he departed Rotherham that a difference of opinion and direction between him and TS might have been the reason. However, his behaviour towards Mansfield suggests that Evans is more about himself than any club he manages and he sees Peterborough as a great personal opportunity, possibly in the same way he looked at Leeds when leaving Rotherham?
As unlikely as it seems, Peterborough could well reach the play-offs (if they win their games in hand they'll be level on points with Plymouth) and Evans no doubt has what it takes to enthuse the Posh to a strong season finish. What's the betting of a Rotherham v Peterborough play-off final at Wembley?!
Evans left Boston days after vowing to get them back into the league after they went out of the league when Crawley came in for him. He left Crawley mid-way through a contract when we were lower in the league than them. He left us in cir***stances that were never clarified. It was rumoured - but never proven - that he touted himself for the Leeds job while Rosler was still in it. We only ever heard from Evans (loud and often) about why he left us. Stewart maintained a dignified silence. Now he has left Mansfield of his own accord after the Chairman there Radford has backed him financially, and leaves at such a crucial time for them.
I will say this for Evans. He knows when to join a club and when to leave one. He knew that Boston was a busted flush. He knew that Crawley had limited potential. He knew that we were always going to struggle in and probably go down from the Championship. He knows that Mansfield can only go so far. And he probably knows that Posh (if that is where he is off to) will back him and that they have a shot next season if not this. Most of all, he knows how to look after himself.
I can't sympathise with Mansfield. Take Evans on and this is what you get. I won't sympathise with Posh if he does the same to them in due course. I only hope he never comes back here. His kind of integrity I can live without.
So I’m guessing managers contracts are very very different to players ones. Could you imagine a player resigning from a club to turn up at another the following day??
Maybe it’s difficult to write binding Maher contracts seeing as they can sack you with a days notice as well.....
Welcome back to the New York steve on the 30th, he certainly was a marmite manager. I remember being in the posh seats when we won wolves 1-0. God the stuff the game out of his mouth made me embarrassed to be a miller. He record was extremely good through.... so I’ll sit in the fence and and not boo or clap when he’s in the opposition dugout .
I'd clap him no problem. Their tenure at any club is brief and chairman demand results - you do what you have to do with the resources made available. I'm sure he would have rather signed half a dozen true championship players than go 'panning for gold' in the dregs of cast offs and has beens. He got Tavs, Dicko and others we wouldn't or couldn't sign. His record for us is excellent and that's what we judge him on. Look at all the top managers - rednapp, big Sam, George Graham etc none of em squeaky clean but play the game.
Couldn't abide the man when he was our manager, dislike him even more now. Anyone with half a brain cell could have got us up from L2 on the budget Tony gave him. He got very lucky getting us up from L1. His best season IMO was keeping us up the first season in the Championship that I will give him a lot of credit for.
He is an egotistical self publicising horrible man, his players past & present despise him & his style of football & touchline behaviour is abhorrant. Clap him if you must but I won't be joining in.
I haven't got much time for the man. His history, his boorish antics on the touchline and some of the things he did and said were not what I wanted representing our club. I was glad when he left and wish he had never come here at all.
I understand that some people will see back to back promotions and a season staying up which was a battle. For them that of itself is enough to get him hero status. I don't share that view. He has a history of picking clubs where he knows he will get financial backing, and moving on when they reach their funding limit. He leaves clubs higher up the ladder than when he joined them, but not necessarily in better shape. I could be wrong but that is how I see it. But for me the football side is almost secondary to how our club is represented on and off the field.
I won't be applauding him if and when he comes back. I won't be booing him either because he would love that just as much. I will just be seething inside if he gets anything like a decent reception, and hoping that we stuff him and his side by several goals to nil.
-- Edited by smiler on Wednesday 28th of February 2018 11:59:01 AM
Steve Evans had the talk but very rarely walked the walk. Nobody will forget him at Wembley with his trousers sliding down. His last season he started here his signings were apart from Newell were lame. He signed Camp that season but he didn't want to play for us his second season with us. But a Rotherham united manager in the championship has got to be up to standard else we'll just struggle. Warnock only one good enough so far but he only had a third of a season. Think over a season Warnock needs a lot of players to get it right so would we have been too restrictive for him.
Think it's doing us some disservice and Evans himself about the league one promotion. What was lucky about it? We finished on a massive 86/87 points playing some good football. Any other year that would get you automatic near enough.
All this is true, but I remember a post from a Crawley supporter when he came to us. I don't remember whether it was on this site or on MM, but he said that Evans would do well for us, but as soon as the going got tough he would be off and leave us as a club in a worse state. He concluded by wishing us luck. How prophetic his words were.
So he takes us from bottom of L2 and leaves us in the championship. We will never get it but id like to see the data there - increased fan base, more money, better to attract players. We made money in those years too, I don't get all the 'SE spends mega budget then leaves' nonsense. Wasn't our top price to buy a player 300k? About the price of a decent Championship strikers monthly wages.
But we also , as a result, went through four managers and had the worst season in the clubs history. We knew we'd struggle but it was shameful, and diabolical. In my opinion he knew what it was going to be like so baled out while the going was good and kept his clean CV, with no relegation black marks. Perhaps thats ok, why shouldn't he ? For me, he walked away instead of doing the hard work, which is what he did at Crawley as the Crawley fan said he'd do. Now he appears to have done the same at Mansfield. Does the job according to Steve Evans and then leaves the club high and dry.
Evans wasn't unique in what he did. Ronnie did it before him, with less resources, from a 1950's infrastructure, not a 21st century stadium and despite, arguably, limited assistance from the then in***bent board of directors. The big difference is Ronnie stuck it out; but without the investment needed we would always be on a hiding to nothing, as was the case last time and will be the case again if we get there. But Ronnie didn't run away. A better man, a better manager in my regard.
Well, in my opinion, in my lifetime, based on results, he was the second best manager we've had after Ronnie, so for that he gets my respect. I care most about RUFC and the league we are playing in. Success in the long term for our club means being in the Championship.
I think his tactics came undone in the Championship and he should have kept more of the League 1 winning team in place for longer. The Chairman didn't help him at times by not securing the better players we lost, or the targets we failed to land.
I would not be at all surprised if we end up playing Posh in the playoffs....
I fully accept that the football case for Steve Evans and whether or not he is a good manager is up for discussion and debate. I am not sure he is as good as his CV makes him look, but no doubt it looks pretty good from a straightforward results perspective and I get that some people see two promotions with us as evidence enough that he did a great job. As I said earlier though, to me some things are more important than results and personally (it is a personal opinion) I wouldn't want him in charge here even if a 90% win ratio was guaranteed, so to that extent the 'is he a good manager or not' debate is academic as far as I am concerned.
-- Edited by smiler on Wednesday 28th of February 2018 06:40:49 PM
