Will Wagner stay.

[repman 652]

1 hour ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Funny, isn't it, that our record under Wagner since Knapper took over is that of a team going for automatic promotion. If, as these snippets suggest, they don't work comfortably together, it's quite a productive discomfort!

Our record did improve when Knapper walked in the door but truthfully we were pretty bad for a while even as we were picking up points. Only been the last 2 months when we've looked better.

[Robert N. LiM 5,087]

45 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

That kind of tension can help focus the mind and bring out the best of those around them if they do not take it personally but try to prove the other wrong

Indeed, I sort of had that in mind. And of course, the reverse can be true, that herd thinking can creep in if everyone is on the same page. Obviously I have no inside knowledge of the Webber-Wagner/Knapper-Wagner relationships to know what applies in this case. But it must be an interesting part of the SD/Head Coach dynamic.

[BroadstairsR 2,272]

7 hours ago, Canarywary said:

As a football fan the opposite of having too short a memory is to never let things go, regardless of how long ago they were. Surely there has to be a point where you move on from a bad spell of form? You can't sack a manager for a poor run that came before a much more significant good run (resulting in a playoff place), that would make us a laughing stock.

A clean sweep is moving on.

Neither 'Boro nor Wednesday weren't that long ago, and he was heavily criticised on this forum and elsewhere for exhibiting the same shortcomings.

"Tuesday night was always going to be awkward, but having totally dominated a poor Sheffield Wednesday team and missed chance after chance, a combination of carelessness on the pitch with sloppy mistakes littering the second half, and Wagner’s bizarre decision to change a shape that was clearly working as he justifiably sought to protect Josh Sargent, completely changed the game."

Robin Sainty .... Pink Un.

Edited April 15 by BroadstairsR

[BobLoz3 537]

On 15/04/2024 at 02:11, BroadstairsR said:

Despite this recent run, the turnaround and the support of the players (nothing particularly unusual there) I want him gone. Preferably on a high, as I like the man.

There have been enough ups and downs, bad runs (the end of last season, along with this mid-season's collapse) curious selections and substitutions and tactics that I, for one, will never be entirely convinced of his tactical credentials.

Memories are short, but surely not short enough to forget the derision the man received on this forum at virtually his every move and decision during that recent bad run? It was intense, and apparently the atmosphere at Carrow Road reflected this.

A complete clean out is much needed. New owner (hopefully), new Director of Football and a new manager.

So much has been good about the last five years, the training ground, the youth turnout, the successes on the field of play, the level of support. 

Let's build upon this with a new, young, innovative beginning.

Is a sporting director and director of football not the same thing?! 

I understand your reasoning but let's just think about it for a minute. We are currently top of the form charts (or thereabouts) since Jan 12 and that is also down to Wagner. So I think it would be more fair to judge him on what's happened recently than in that poor run of form when we were missing key players. 

If we get promoted are you saying we should get rid? I actually think that would be counter productive. 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,876]

On 15/04/2024 at 18:50, BroadstairsR said:

A clean sweep is moving on.

Neither 'Boro nor Wednesday weren't that long ago, and he was heavily criticised on this forum and elsewhere for exhibiting the same shortcomings.

"Tuesday night was always going to be awkward, but having totally dominated a poor Sheffield Wednesday team and missed chance after chance, a combination of carelessness on the pitch with sloppy mistakes littering the second half, and Wagner’s bizarre decision to change a shape that was clearly working as he justifiably sought to protect Josh Sargent, completely changed the game."

Robin Sainty .... Pink Un.

That was a time when we no longer had Idah, Barnes doesn't really hack it without Sargent, Hooijdonk has shown since he's not really up to it yet, and Rowe was also injured; in hindsight he had no choices other than to try and make the best of it if he was to protect Sargent, which now looks more and more a good idea seeing as a healthy Sargent has been a large part of why we're now increasingly secure in the playoffs.

To put it another way, a seemingly bizarre decision to protect a not fully fit sargent that lost us a couple of points that game that did turn out to have good reasons, may well have been a foundation for having picked up so many points now. Sounds like good management to me.

But still obsessing over the 'should we sack the manager' question at a critical point in the season where we're unexpectedly in with a viable chance of promotion and it really is only down to whether our current manager and players can pull it off underlines how absurd this obsession with sacking managers is. Is it just general boredom?

Edited April 17 by littleyellowbirdie