How would you feel if.....

[Ray 111]

Willo,

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not have an agenda other than I want to see the very best for our club and at the moment I have a concern about the ''style'' of man management given we have many youngsters.

I understand that taking knocks is part of growing up, that''s life, we have no doubt all gone through it and for some it is probably the best style to get the most out of them, for others it may be the complete opposite. I do not want to ''beat the manager'' I want him to become one of, if not the best, managers around and I fully appreciate he is a very young man himself when it comes to managers and is no doubt on a steep learning curve, but the point I was attempting to make (perhaps not that well and maybe the Carlton Morris example wasn''t the best option) is that my concern is this is an area which could be improved, and then we would all benefit.

Someone mentioned Ranieri, AN is long way off that level but then Ranieri has years more experience, so that is to be expected.

I want our manager to be deeply passionate but I also want him (or her) to be taking a balanced and calm stance. AN is constantly on his feet, constantly shouting at players, etc. I''m not sure this is the best way to help the players stay in control of their own game, at some stage I would imagine this becomes counter-productive, insomuch as the players are worrying (which cannot be a good emotion to have whilst playing) more about what the manager will do or say if they try something audacious and it doesn''t come off or if they make a genuine mistake (I think this has manifested itself a little recently) than concentrating on their performance. Alternately, they could end up shutting him out all together.

I have no idea what other posters do for a living, or did do, but I can''t imagine many of their performances would have been enhanced by having their boss constantly in their ear, especially if the boss has had all week (or in last night''s case two days) to prepare them, will they need some instruction as the game goes on, change of tactics, some encouragement to get tighter, etc. of course.

My feelings are based on my own personal observations and I''m not advocating AN should be got rid of, quite the opposite, I''m hoping there is someone helping him strive for continuous improvement and that he listens as well as he expects the players to listen.

All that said, and I as I said previously, what do I know?

[The gut 0]

For the avoidance of further doubt .... Our manager is a him.

[Ray 111]

The gut,

For now yes, but once ''he'' is poached away by Scotland, who knows whether ''his'' replacement will be a ''him'' or a ''her'' perhaps the Scots will swap AN for Nicola Sturgeon??

[westcoastcanary 0]

Ray talks as if the man-management of players, and in particular young players, is the sole responsibility of AN. This completely ignores the fact that AN is leader of a team (of coaches) the other members of which have as much, if not more, responsibility in that respect. The people who deride Frankie McAvoy, for example, clearly have never researched his career, and in particular his contribution to the success of the youth set up at Hamilton, in which AN was also heavily involved before his elevation to the post of Accies manager. If you want some insight into what I''m getting at, read the following: http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2012/11/12/hamilton-academical-the-future-of-scottish-football-is-here.html in particular McAvoy''s account of the approach to youth development on which the success of the development programme at Hamilton is based, from which this is a quote: "There are five pillars in our coaching," McAvoy continues.

"First of all there is the match where we prepare players for

competition and in an environment where they''re familiar with what

they''ll have to do in a game.

"Secondly there is tactical

skill where we work to have clever creative players capable of adapting

to the game and the changes that might be needed. Then there is the

technical pillar that relates to each position requiring its own

abilities. For instance a central midfielder will need different

technique than a central defender.

"Fourth is the

physical aspect where we''re looking for strong and resilient players. If

they struggle to handle the physical side they will commit errors so

they must be ready for that.

"Finally there is

psycho-social as every player is a human being and has his own worries.

We have to help them and guide them so that they can handle themselves

when they move up."

(the emphasis in the final paragraph is mine).

Does it really seem likely that Neil and McAvoy are deficient in their "intelligence" and understanding of the mental side of developing youth players and doing what is needed to help them realise their potential and become the best they can?

To pursue my point about AN being one member of a coaching and man-management team, the aim is for the coaching team as a whole to work effectively, and that, more often than not, involves the leader (in this case the manager) distancing him- or herself to an extent from those the team are managing. That doesn''t mean he doesn''t recognise or take into consideration the psycho-social aspects of management even if, in particular contexts, such as an on-going match, he gives precedence to other things. AN''s priority, after all, has to be to keep fielding teams capable of winning football matches. His actions on the touchline need to be understood accordingly. Fans listening and looking on (as Parma keeps reminding us) generally have a quite different perspective on events from the professionals whose decisions and behaviour they claim to find baffling.

[Katie Borkins 1]

Coventry were on the beach, a decent side would have beaten us last night.

Obviously.

And now poor Carlton has hurt feelings.

Neil out.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

Nutty has been to Cromer today so i wonder if he can confirm whether Coventry were on the beach ? [:P]

[Katie Borkins 1]

I though the this was going to be one of those hypothetical question threads like

"How would you feel if James Blunt bummed you?"

Not a weak attack on our manager after a 6-1 home win.

[Ray 111]

Katie,

I assure you if my intent was to attack the manager, there would be nothing weak about it. I am not attacking the manager, merely raising an issue that I thought was worth debate. Something requiring deeper thought than discussing rumours surrounding potential strikers.

Westcoast put a lot of thought into his post, some of his points I found interesting, didn''t agree with them all but then that counts for bu88er all.

Westcoast, I get your point, however there is a saying I often use, and here I am referring to your Frankie McAvoy quote, What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say. Who knows if and to what extent this applies to our Frankie or any other members of our management team?

[paddycanary 538]

[quote user="andyc24_uk"]Does seem an odd decision, the only thing I can see to explain it is if AN wanted Mulumbu to get the game time as he''s a little behind the rest of the first team in fitness and he''s planning on using him at the weekend. Morris does need to either get a chance or go out on loan to a lower Champ club though, otherwise he;s going to slip through the net I fear. Let''s see what deadline day brings... looks like Oliveira is on his way, and I fully expect at least one more striker in and one out at the deadline, plus possibly Mbokani who I reckon is waiting on a better offer but will likely come back to us last minute if noone in the Premiership goes for him. I think we''ll see 2 possibly 3 new faces up front in the next week; and Morris quite possibly out on loan again.[/quote]

Nitpicking from the OP - although I called for Morris myself during live commentary, the logic of experimenting with the Murphys and giving Mulumbu some more valuable game-time is sound. The starting midfield selection was brave and there was lots of youth on the bench - who can argue with that Godfrey goal? Mulumbu could become a very important player this season, possibly a guaranteed starter and needs to gain full fitness. The option of a pacy alternative up top in the last 20 minutes of tight matches could garner some priceless late equalisers or late winners - the sort of late goals that lift spirits and propel teams back up to the top table!

I also expect to see Morris out on loan again by next Wednesday. Not too sure about the Oliviera link if it comes to fruition but I''ll reserve judgement. Like everyone else and probably like most other clubs, I still hope to see the permanent signing of a forward/striker who can cause serious problems for the opposition and who can hopefully be effective up top alone for at least 70/80 mins.

[westcoastcanary 173]

Ray, with respect, your "Who knows if .........." sits ill with your innuendo regarding FM in the immediately preceding sentence. If you don''t know, surely the fair thing is you don''t cast aspersions? How to manage young players is a perfectly good subject for debate which can be discussed without aiming barbs at individuals, barbs the accuracy of which you then acknowledge to be wholly uncertain. 

[Legend Iwan 30]

An interesting question and hard to know the answer to how Carlton felt unless, suppose, we had long-term connections with the club''s academy players and had been fed information, hey, Ray?!

Maybe we''ll see what Carlton''s made of later when he can respond to not being played by putting a few past Boro.

[Ray 111]

Westcoast,

Hi ya doin''?

There are things I know I know, there are things I know I don''t know, etc, etc.

Cheers

[TCCANARY 263]

[quote user="Katie Borkins"]I though the this was going to be one of those hypothetical question threads like "How would you feel if James Blunt bummed you?" Not a weak attack on our manager after a 6-1 home win.[/quote]

 

Before, during and after James would be telling you that "You''re Beautiful".

 

 

[curious yellow 184]

I would feel that it was a tactical substitution whe we didn''t need goals and I would expect a run out pretty soon in a league game.

[westcoastcanary 173]

[quote user="Ray"]Westcoast,

Hi ya doin''?

There are things I know I know, there are things I know I don''t know, etc, etc.

Cheers[/quote] Hi Ray. How''m I doin''? I''m blessed, as they say in the southern States. I''m sure there are things you know, but I''m equally sure what you know doesn''t constitute the whole story. My reference to the Accies youth development programme and the roles of AN and FM in it, was simply intended to make that point.  

[Ray 111]

Westcoast,

Glad to hear you are doing well.

Reference you being equally sure what I know doesn''t constitute the whole story, that''s what I meant by, there are things I know I don''t know, so you find me in total agreement with you there. In my experience, no matter what the subject matter is, no-one knows the whole story

Keep well.

Ray

[westcoastcanary 173]

Re. AN''s verbals and body language on the touchline during games, I have the impression that what agitates him most is when players fail to adhere to the priorities he and his coaching staff are trying to instil, in particular the importance of retaining possession once possession has been gained. The cardinal sin is needlessly giving the ball away, the operative word being "needlessly". I don''t think it matters to AN whether we are five goals up, a goal down, or all square. He wants the team playing in the style he is trying to develop and careless deviation from the blueprint incurs his wrath.

The article I referenced above about the Accies youth set up (from In Bed with Maradona) contains a quote from FM about the style of football they aspire to: "We try to be as offensive as we can based on a system of keeping possession. We work on having good speed of play and players who are organised." AN said the selfsame at the start of this season. Not only AN''s touchline antics but also his team selections and substitutions are best understood IMO by bearing in mind those oft stated priorities.