Empty Mirror

Whatever Gunn''s merits as manager, allowing him to bring in 12 players and then sacking him after two competitive matches played with those players at his disposal (one of which was a 4-0 away win against a team in our division) is crazy.   The difference in the morale of the players between Yeovil on the one hand and Exeter / Brentford on the other is testimony to the affect it has had on the players Gunn brought in.   Name me one team that has let a manager remodel a team and then sacked him after two competitve games, one of them a win.    

The fact that they have resigned does not mean there is no compensation to pay. Their resignations are likely to be in breach of contract.  Not many resignations allow you to resign and walk out at a moment''s notice.  So, the new dream team could find themselves sued.  To get them to do that, they will have asked NCFC for an indemnity against claims.  Which we will have to pay up on.

Don''t think who we''d rather have matters any more.

He has stopped Colchester''s decline.    I guess we could do with stoppping our decline.  It would be a start.

Nice list, but it''s none of them.

It''s not Robbins.

I remain far from convinced that sacking Gunn, in the manner and at the point we did, after giving him the Summer to bring in his own team, was the right decision. But I''d have been pleased enough with Lambert, I think, if he''d been appointed when we sacked Roeder.    First, he does have his coaching qualifications.   Theory doesn''t count for a lot, but it''s a start.  And, he got them in Germany, where (I''ve heard) it''s probably tougher.   Then, he has playing experience at the highest level with Borussia Dortmund and Celtic, as well as at lower levels.   He got Wycombe into the play offs (admittedly, league two) and took them on that cup run, both with very meagre resources.  And even if the 7-1 result was a fluke (perhaps we should hope it wasn''t?) it''s plain that (in this league i.e., league one) he has arrested Colchester''s decline and has turned them into contenders.  Again, on meagre resources.   It''s rumoured that he was so highly regarded in Germany that Bayern Munich seriously considered him for their recent vacancy, though I don''t know if that''s right. But, all in all, given that Gunn has gone, if we wanted a young manager who is highly regarded, with a track record in the lower divisions of getting into play offs and arresting decline, I guess Mr Lambert fits the bill.  And no, he doesn''t have green and yellow DNA.  Some might think that doesn''t matter.  And if it does, he''s assisted by a certain Mr Culverhouse....

Like you, Bly, I feel very sorry for Gunny.    I still hope that our new man can turn it round and get us promotion - and if he does, since he''ll be doing it with Gunny''s squad, we may come to feel differently about Gunn''s tenure as manager, and come to thank Gunny for having laid the foundations of our recovery.    Wishful thinking, perhaps.

Saying it again won''t make it true.

Not Worthington.  And, strange to say, Smudger''s prayers on this thread will be answered also.

It is none of the above.

It''s none of the above.

It is not Nigel Adkins.

It is not Crook.

Nope.  It''s not Jewell.

Sadly, it''s not Coppell.

We''ll know if it was panic when we see who the new manager is.   If, say, Steve Coppell, or  Curbishley were announced as manager on Monday then, maybe, what happened is that a proven manager with a real track record was available and  they couldn''t risk waiting for something more tasty to become available.   Which wouldn''t be panic, it would be decisive action and seizing the moment.If we drift and then they reveal someone whose name has come up every time there''s a vacancy - Boothroyd, say - then we''ll know that the timing wasn''t dictated by getting the new man whilst he was available.  In which case, sacking the manager one league game after letting him make 12 signings plainly was panic.

Dismissing Gunny after a 4-0 win, on the eve of a crucial match, two games into a season for which he has totally reshaped the squad could only make sense if a top manager with genuine credentials had suddently become available, or just expressed an interest, and the Board were worred that he might go elsewhere if they waited.  Coppell, Curbishley, some one like that.  JFH doesn''t begin to fit those criteria.  I can''t believe McNally would even entertain an idea as daft as that.

As you say Barry Brockes, the timing suggests that a high profile name had to be secured now before any other tempting jobs became available.  Which would suggest it''s not Boothroyd, or Robbins, or one of the usual suspects.

Mason, you are right, the timing is extra-ordinary.   We can only hope that it will be explained when the new man is unveiled: someone they had to move quickly for.

There seems to be a widespread assumption that Gunn has a big pay off.    Nobody on here knows that.    My impression when he got the job in May was that there wasn''t much security in there for him.

You''re assuming Gunn had a healthy pay off.    None of you know that.    I had the impression when he got the job that he didn''t have a long fixed term or notice period - and does anyone think we''d have been able to afford a big pay off?

Yes! Gunny remains a legend and always will do.  And, if the new man takes us up with the players Gunn bought this Summer, we may all look back on his tenure as manager a little differently too. 

It won''t be Butterworth.   They have someone in mind and had to move quickly to get that person, nothing else explains the timing.  There would have been no need to move quickly for Butterworth.

The two accounts aren''t mutually exclusive.   Gunn was still the Manager until this afternoon.   But he wanted to send out the same team as Saturday, including Theo, to "redeem themselves" on Tuesday.    Butterworth disagreed.    The Board effectively told Gunn he had to send out Butterworth''s team, with no Theo.  The 4-0 win thus did not strengthen Gunn, it weakend him.  The players made a point of congratulating Alnwick very publically after Yeovil, which shows what they thought.   Gunn''s days were numbered from that point.   The timing still requires some explanation.  We can only hope that they have a new man identified already and felt they had to get him now, before (for example) the Premiership gets underway and some other higher profile vacancy came along to tempt their man away, which would suggest a relatively high profile manager will be unveiled shortly.