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Ray

Common Denominators (Ever Presents)

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Throughout all our games this season, the ups and downs, the wins, the draws, the losses and the throwing away of games there has only been a small number of ever presents and none of them have donned the shirt but can all be found in the dugout, and I’m not referring to the medical staff, etc.

We can all blame players for individual errors, which of course cannot be legislated for or even influenced, however if we were to consider, such things as, mental approach, game management, tactics, team selection, etc. etc. they can be but are not being.

I do not lay the blame at manager’s door, I do however lay the blame at McNally’s door. We are a top drawer club in the whole scheme of things, but he made a bottom drawer appointment. Not AN’s fault but in reality what credentials did he have for the job of NCFC Manager, other than he was of course cheap and controllable.

IMO AN is out of his depth, not his fault, but McNally did him no favours in attempt to line his pocket.

Against the odds I hoped AN would prove to us all that he had what it took but I’m afraid my hope is disintegrating. I wish him all the best, but if you were the owner of a Div 1 or 2 club and he was available would you employ him?

His whole demeanour is of a man whole is lacking conviction, of a man who is all at sea and whose managerial career is on the line and for that he can blame our previous CEO for appointing him. I hope our current CEO can be decisive and take the actions required to either give AN the support he needs or to make the changes needed.

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Morty,

I do not dislike AN but I do have some issues with some of his decisions, surely just because you don''t agree with some of the things someone does doesn''t automatically mean you have to jump to disliking them as an individual. McNally on the other hand, I, amongst many others, did not have a lot of time for, mainly because of the way he behaved toward people from both inside and outside the club.

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[quote user="Ray"]Throughout all our games this season, the ups and downs, the wins, the draws, the losses and the throwing away of games there has only been a small number of ever presents and none of them have donned the shirt but can all be found in the dugout, and I’m not referring to the medical staff, etc.

We can all blame players for individual errors, which of course cannot be legislated for or even influenced, however if we were to consider, such things as, mental approach, game management, tactics, team selection, etc. etc. they can be but are not being.

I do not lay the blame at manager’s door, I do however lay the blame at McNally’s door. We are a top drawer club in the whole scheme of things, but he made a bottom drawer appointment. Not AN’s fault but in reality what credentials did he have for the job of NCFC Manager, other than he was of course cheap and controllable.

IMO AN is out of his depth, not his fault, but McNally did him no favours in attempt to line his pocket.

Against the odds I hoped AN would prove to us all that he had what it took but I’m afraid my hope is disintegrating. I wish him all the best, but if you were the owner of a Div 1 or 2 club and he was available would you employ him?

His whole demeanour is of a man whole is lacking conviction, of a man who is all at sea and whose managerial career is on the line and for that he can blame our previous CEO for appointing him. I hope our current CEO can be decisive and take the actions required to either give AN the support he needs or to make the changes needed.[/quote]It''s funny. For some years I was the only person here who had (in context) a bad word to say about McNally. How times change. Anyway, I don''t understand the highlighted comment, Ray. How was McNally trying to line his pocket by choosing Neil specifically, as opposed to any other manager?

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McNally out! I''m frustrated as the next man but AN got us promoted (so the appointment worked) and i also think we''d have been a lot more affective in the transfer market this summer had McNally still been here.

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Purple,

You were not alone, I have questioned his methods on here previously but that aside, one of the reasons I could have written what I did was that AN would have been far cheaper than say a Bruce for example, and he himself received quite a big bonus for financial performance, so for every £ he could save or make out of any situation that affected the bottom line put more money in his pocket. There couldn''t be any other way he lined his pocket surely.

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[quote user="Ray"]Purple,

You were not alone, I have questioned his methods on here previously but that aside, one of the reasons I could have written what I did was that AN would have been far cheaper than say a Bruce for example, and he himself received quite a big bonus for financial performance, so for every £ he could save or make out of any situation that affected the bottom line put more money in his pocket. There couldn''t be any other way he lined his pocket surely.[/quote]I don''t recall being not alone in those early years, but memory does sometimes fail. Anyway, I don''t know how McNally''s bonuses (footballing and financial) were calculated but it may well be they were based on a set percentage of his salary, or some other fixed criterion, rather than a percentage of what was available. But even if the latter, there is an obvious problem with your suggestion. Would McNally gamble on a cheap and inexperienced manager who might not get us up rather than someone more expensive but also with a promotion track record, such as Bruce, who would give us a better chance, and so make the two bonuses more likely, even if they were just not quite so large? Given that a Bruce would not cost that much more than a Neil - we are not talking several millions here but perhaps a few hundred thousand pounds - the amount McNally would get as a percentage of what was available would hardly be diminished enough to sway a crucial decision.It is up to you but I think your suggestion (which looks like it is motivayed by how McNally behaved towards staff) is best dropped. Unless you have facts. I like facts, especially with posts that really need some.

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Bruce is a dinosaur and only had Hull performing about on par with what we''ve achieved recently over his tenure despite imo having a better team than us man for man. I honestly don''t believe he''d do any better than AN. We''d need a really savvy tactician to sort us out, I don''t believe we need a motivational type manager who doesn''t really do tactics in his own words. We try, but our gameplan leaves us too open while not quite getting us enough goals

I don''t understand the calls to get Lambert back either. How many good crossers and headers to we have in the team atm? Not enough to suit his playstyle at all imo. Jerome and Oliviera aren''t good enough finishers to play his game. There''s a reason why he''s only ever been successful with Holt and Benteke in his team, those two were absolutely lethal from crosses, Jerome, Lafferty and Oliveira aren''t.

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I think the main problem with Neil now is that the things that were his strengths initially and carried us to Wembley that season are no longer working as they did (part of which is inevitable given what they are) and he does not perhaps have the full skillset to fall back on.

He came is as a fresh face, a motivator and we definitely benefitted from a new manager bounce that saw us through the season. He generally picks a team that is not outrageous, most of the players seem to quite like him and I think he had more respect from the players than Neil Adams. That, coupled with the fact that we had the best squad in the division that season was enough to see us get on a roll and build a momentum which carried on pretty much until that Newcastle away game in the premier league. During that spell we didn''t really need a manager who got the players [playing above themselves or who earnt us points with impressive tactics or game management because our players, playing to their ability rather than below it was enough.

Now, however, we face a very different situation. Last season has exposed him (and some of our players) and I think a bit of the belief has wavered. We still have a very, very good squad at this level, indeed possibly too big and too good which in itself has led to challenges that I am not sure he has handled that well (e.g. Lafferty, Naismith, Canos, Pritchard). That quality squad means we will always be competitive and we will win more than we lose at this level. But many of players are no longer performing at the level we know they can and its in such circumstances that a manager who can really add something to the mix (whether its in terms of getting players to run through brick walls for them, supreme defensive organization, tactical acumen or whatever) really comes to the fore. I am just not convinced that Neil has this and perhaps just as importantly I don''t currently see that any of our coaching staff do either.

I''m not saying I want Mick Macarthy as manager as his overall style of football would not be well received at Carrow Road but if we just had someone who could organize a side defensively like he or Allardyce are capable of doing then we would be laughing because this squad will always score goals whoever is managing them.

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Purple, I am taking a conscious choice not to present facts and FYI you do have my motivation wrong, that said your suggestion of how he behaved towards staff may have had some bearing.

I may not been as visible a few years ago but for a long while I had doubts and concerns and did raise them on here occasionally.

There are certain scenarios which could support my original case but as you suggest it may be prudent not to go into them here, so I won''t, perhaps better to revert to the thrust of the main point in the original post, that IMO AN was not the right person for the job, not his fault, I would have accepted it if offered, just as he did.

Yes, he got us promoted but what many people forget is that NA took us to the top of the Championship and then had a bad November before picking up again in December and then came the Reading defeat, my feelings are he would have continued on an upward trend and we would still have gone up. Does this mean I feel NA was the best man for the job, no, but I still feel he would have done as well as AN and possibly better - who knows?

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Does anyone think we look a better side now than we did at Wembley?

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McNally sacked/made redundant/said a nasty word/punched on Prince of Wales Road/knocked back/gave a Chinese burn to someone Ray is related to or something, clearly.

Boss in not popular with staff shocker.

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There doesn''t seem to me to be any mystery in McNally''s bringing AN to Carrow Road. He thought he was bringing in a second Paul Lambert. He was maybe more right than he realised given how Lambert''s limitations have been exposed by events since walking out on us.

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Duncan, If it was just he list you gave then I''d have no problem.

Poster in mock post he obviously has little knowledge of shocker.

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Hi Westcoast,

There is somewhat of a difference between the two, Lambert had done 4 years in management at 3 different clubs before he came here, including 1 year in League two and two in League 1 and came to us aged 40. His initial job was to get us out of League 1, a league he had experience in.

AN on the other hand came here aged 33 with a season and a half managerial experience with one club in Scotland and his initial task was to get us back to the Prem.

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The "somewhat of a difference" doesn''t refute what I said though Ray. What I''m saying is that McNally believed he knew a winner when he saw him; he headhunted Lambert on that basis, and the success in that instance confirmed his belief. It is true that AN was both less experienced and faced with a harder task. But you could argue that AN had actually shown and achieved more than Lambert when appointed, and I don''t believe for a moment that McNally only viewed Lambert as someone to arrest and reverse our downward trajectory. 

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Westcoast, I wasn''t intimating, nor did I think I said, that Lambert was only there to reverse a downward trajectory, I thought I said to get us out of League 1 and neither of us know what was really in McNally''s mind when he made any of his appointments. However I have experience of McNally at work, not personal but from arms length, and let''s just say, not my cup of tea in many areas.

Anyway all history now. Have a great evening.

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I''ve crossed paths with many people who were not my cup of tea -- and the vast majority were infinitely more successful in their line of business than I was in mine [:D]

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Most successful people have a ruthless streak within their character. In some it''s more blatant and obvious than others. From a fans point of view all I am really interested in is whether the CEO is making a success of our club as evidenced by what we do on the field.

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Guys,

"Not my cup of tea" was a euphemism.

Please take it as read I am acutely aware of what is right and wrong in business and the potential ruthlessness required, etc. etc. You don''t have to of course, that''s your choice.

Westcoast, if I ever end up in a bar in your neck of the woods I''ll share some info with you over a pint or two but until then, OTBC.

Cheers

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I must admit that AN had a bit of wounded look when interviewed after the Leeds game, very similar to Neil Adams just before his departure. It''s that look in someone''s eyes as if they''ve just been crying.

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Perhaps he''d been rustling up a warming, post-match, French Onion Soup for the players and the onion chopping had got the better of him?

Apples

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[quote user="Mr Apples"]Perhaps he''d been rustling up a warming, post-match, French Onion Soup for the players and the onion chopping had got the better of him?

Apples[/quote]If so, that''s a dreadful decision. Total lack of planning. No plan B eg tomato or minestrone in case we lost the match.

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Ray, classic case of shit or get off the pot mate.

The whole "I know something you don''t know.." thing is frankly ridiculous and belongs in a primary school playground, so yes, I am going to openly ridicule you for taking that stance.

If you''ve got something to say and it is true, say it. What are you scared of?

Until then, you just sound like an old woman gossiping over the fence.

"Oooh, Mavis, that McNally was knocking off brasses on the boardroom table and doing lines of sniff off the Milk Cup..."

"Ooooh, I know. And he lit a cigar with a £50 note and then stubbed it out in Josh Murphy''s face because he''d looked at his pint all funny"

"Dreadful"

"Dreadful"

"I know. John''s uncles sister in law''s brother John saw him drowning kittens in a sack while dressed as Jimmy Savile too"

"Oooh dreadful"

"Dreadful"

"He got sacked you know. Didn''t resign. He''d been having it away with Doris the tea lady and then they found a copy of Mein Kampf in his desk drawer.."

"Oooh dreadful"

"Dreadful"

For the avoidance of doubt, the above conversation is fabricated and cannot be treated as fact until Ray confirms it.

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I hear what you''re saying 93...he should have at least had a decent Scotch Broth or traditional Lentil on the go.

AN, sort it out...can''t organise a defence and can''t organise the soup.

Apples

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Duncan,

And you consider what I wrote playground stuff!

I do not want to expand on what I have already said and no amount of baiting from you will cajole me in to justifying my words.

You have a number of choices, take it for what it is, ignore it, get yourself steamed up over it, lash out, etc.

Duncan, please accept there is probably a very good reason for my stance and leave it at that, it''s probably best.

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There''s a very good reason that I''m going to tell you that I have but not say it.

If you were really sure then you''d just come out and say it.

But you''re worried about something, possible repercussions of spouting some unsubstantiated crud most likely.

Put up or shut up.

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Ray, we''ve been here before in an earlier thread if I recall correctly. You know stuff but because of the sensitive nature of what you know, you can''t post it.

Now from your regular posting you come across as credible and interesting poster and always add value to the board, so I don''t call you out on what you know. But it is a problem when you come on to the board saying you know inside stuff that would shed some interesting light on the insider workings at the club, but you aren''t/can''t tell us what those things are.

What''s the point of telling us?

What do you want us to take from these posts?

To be fair, this time you have dropped a hint somewhere along the lines of linking AN joining the club to DM benefiting financially from something, but you won''t say whether the two events are in fact linked or unrelated.

Since you''re a credible guy imo, you probably do know something, but for most people who post the way you do, they justly deserve the Duncan treatment. It would be better that you post nothing at all than posting rumours that you refuse to substantiate. At the very minimum you should explain your motivation for posting and what you want us to take from your posts.

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