Can we not just stick with a manager for a while?
John Collins…
his time at Easter Road was marred by player unrest and rumours of a dressing-room mutiny
Great. Another unproven manager who might alienate people. Who’ll want to build his own squad. Great.
This might just be made up, of course…
The Club would like to inform supporters that articles which appeared in Tuesday’s Times and Daily Mirror newspapers are untrue.
Unfounded speculation concerning our football manager’s position is unhelpful, particularly at a time when the Club is focussed on preparing for this weekend’s important fixture at Reading.
Unfortunately we dont know the details of it, maybe Roy doesn’t fancy front line football anymore in which case it would make great sense to retain him for the experience and the contacts. If that is not the case then its another weak decision at the top. Or it could all be tosh..
Comment by Bruno — April 8, 2008 @ 9:39 am |
Sorry i posted this in the wrong section previously.
Unfortunately we dont know the details of it, maybe Roy doesn’t fancy front line football anymore in which case it would make great sense to retain him for the experience and the contacts. If that is not the case then its another weak decision at the top. Or you are right, it could all be tosh..
Comment by Bruno — April 8, 2008 @ 9:41 am |
I could have sworn I saw this article months ago…oh wait it said Slaven Bilic then. Now, if we must do this, we might as well bring in Collins today as an assistant and try to make it somewhat of a seamless transition.
Or, you know, keep a manager for more than a few months.
Comment by Colin — April 8, 2008 @ 11:33 am |
The telling part of this article was this statement: “the board believes that by acting quickly, it will boost season ticket sales for next season and give the team the best chance of returning to the top flight at the first attempt.”
So, it’s all about ticket sales? Hmmm, not sure about that because later in the article it says that, “Al Fayed is so desperate to be back in the Premier League as soon as possible that he is contemplating waiving the club’s contractual right to reduce some of players’ wages if they are relegated.” So if they leave the team close to intact, why bring in another manager?
If the later is true, that the team will waive the contract rights of the club to reduce wages should they drop, then I think it’s a really great thing in that most likely many of the players will stay on and we will be up in a year or two. Otherwise it could be a long struggle back up. As we’ve discussed many time previously, it’s a difficult task getting out of the fizzy pop league once you go down. Much harder than most Americans understand. And, as the article states, it’s a different sort of animal. Skill is not as high and the physical nature of the game goes up a notch or two.
As to Collins, I’m of the mindset of the quote above. Collins did well in cup play but average in league play two years in a row before he ditched the team, and his players really didn’t take to him very well and at one point they did nearly have a mutiny. I just don’t see this one. I’d rather they wait for Bilic if they really are looking for someone.
And Rich is dead on, the manager merry-go-round can’t be good for the players. If they do this it will be the fourth manager some of these guys have had in the last 2 years. Please! Everyone needs some stability here.
Comment by bqfootball — April 8, 2008 @ 1:50 pm |
I find myself strangely ambivalent about this, probably because I’m also somewhat ambivalent about Hodgson at the moment.
On the one hand I recognise the obviously difficult situation that Roy inherited and the lack of time he had in which to assess things and bring players to the club. He has apparently improved our training sessions, has loads of contacts around Europe, vast exerience, excellent media skills and is an all round good egg to boot. I think it’s probably true that our academy and scouting system need a bit of an overhaul and Hodgson strikes me as a good man to do it. Totally agree, too, with the general principle that managerial stability is a good thing.
I dunno, I like Roy but what nags away is how we’ve performed on the pitch. He has had some time now to sort out tactics, get a starting eleven reasonably settled and build up a bit of confidence. But it hasn’t happened, and after Saturday for the first time I found myself thinking – you know what, on the pitch I’m not sure he’s done a very good job. He just hasn’t had the hoped-for impact.
Maybe he’s not an ‘impact’-type manager – if he remains in charge next year we’ll find out – and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did reasonably well under his extended stewardship. Then again, the installation of someone young and hungry like Billic, Ince or John Collins would be quite exciting and I kind of like the risk (bravery) involved in giving that type of man a go. If Hodgson was moved upstairs we’d also retain the ‘plusses’ of his experience and contacts anyway. It’s a difficult one. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be shedding any tears. We’ll see – next year should be interesting, that’s for sure!
Comment by JamieR — April 8, 2008 @ 3:03 pm |
I’m shocked … shocked that the Daily Mirror would print speculative nonsense.
I REALLY hope that the Collins thing is dead. If Roy’s to stay, let him build a side in his image and see what it can do. The sad thing of it is, every site I look on I see many vairiations on “if Coleman had been given the same dosh that Sanchez and Roy got, we’d not be in this mess.” Why compound your base ignorance with more base ignorance?
Here’s hoping that MAF doesn’t turn into Milan Manderich and change gaffers just because an equinox or solstice is upon us.
Comment by HatterDon — April 8, 2008 @ 3:34 pm |
I would be ok with this only because I wanted Collins to begin with. That being said I still feel its not the right time for such a move. I said I would be “ok” with the decision, not “thrilled”.
Comment by Jason Gatties — April 8, 2008 @ 3:35 pm |
[...] Lot’s of speculation about Mr. Hodgson’s future. I think Roy is a good manager, and I think he’s doing the [...]
Pingback by Mr. Hodgson « With A Plum — April 8, 2008 @ 3:47 pm |
Unless Roy decides that he wants to go (after missing out on his big bonus, I wouldn’t blame him if he did), we do need to keep him. This constant changing of managers isn’t helping the club at all.
Even bumping him upstairs doesn’t solve anything because if the new mgr then gets off to a slow start, the supporters will start clamoring for Roy to come back and take over. To me, that’s not a workable solution.
Comment by George H. — April 8, 2008 @ 4:39 pm |
We just need to leave it. Hodgson definitely seems like a longer-term manager (an arse kicker might get short term results, arguably what we needed but not in the club’s longer term interests), who can identify an approach and build accordingly. We can’t judge him on this, it’s a mad, mad scramble and he’s desperately trying to find something to keep the club up.
I take Jamie’s points but really I’m not sure that we can reasonably judge him *fully* yet (obviously the initial challenge has been or will soon be missed). And change? No, that can’t be right. The next manager wouldn’t reasonably be judgable until he had his own squad… there would be no end to it.
I’d only accept something like this if it’s a Ferguson, a Wenger, or someone with a track record like that. Which obviously won’t happen.
Comment by weltmeisterclaude — April 8, 2008 @ 4:49 pm |
Wow, strong stance by the club. Good for them!
Speaking of Ferguson and Wenger, aren’t they the ones who are always saying the clubs replace their managers too quickly these days?
Comment by bqfootball — April 8, 2008 @ 6:40 pm |