I believe that the whole issue with reforming the squad is going to be a very difficult ask.
In that respect it surprises me in some ways that Mr Warnock would be interested in taking over. He also lives in the south somewhere and the prospect of travelling / renting short term with or without his wife must be a big consideration. His immediate staff will also I assume be in the same boat.
Probably having to sell first to finance the overhaul could make any progress very slow. Of course Mr Gibson may take a gamble and commit to signing players before we sell, although that would have its risks.
My biggest issue besides the lack of CB's, is the midfield. Although we won at Sheffield and deserved to win, I though McNair and Saville again looked slow compared to their players. The other obvious problem was lack of won balls through tackles. We have been poor in this area since Clayton and Leadbitter passed their prime.
So will NW sign on the dotted line and if so for how long. Then it would be start again with another Coach in one or two years.
@pedro. Good post Pedro and a big concern for me is the time to sort out the squad is likely to take. NW is the second manager requested by SG to give him an overview of the club and what needs to be done to get us going forward in a short space of time. This is not going to be a quick fix and is NW really interested in anything other than a season. My concern is that once he departs the merry go round starts again.
I think we need to be trying to build a degree of continuity in terms of a lot of aspects of the business which do not appear to be currently present, recruitment, playing style, contracts and management team etc. 😎
Isn’t there some sort of living accommodation provided at Rockcliffe? With the season set to kick off again in seven weeks, I would say time is against SG when it comes to appointing a new manager.
NW seems the obvious choice and I expect the club will find some way to attract him and his coaching team. Time is of the essence now. No time for dawdling.
I get the impression that SG was determined to continue on his fiscal aims for the club and NW was brought in to try and ensure they didn’t result in relegation.
Now that those aims have broadly been achieved ( the departure of a large block of high earning individuals) he now needs someone to carry on in that vein.With his vast experience of managing in the Championship and a reported encyclopaedic knowledge of the players in it, I can only repeat that I don’t see the chairman has much of a choice.
Actually I don’t see any other managers with the credentials to pull it off. The club is still in a period of transition and NW can prepare a base for a younger appointment in the 21/22 season.
I’d like to see NW start the season as manager but bring in a young manager to work with for the rest of the year. He’d be able to impart his Championship knowledge, so a lower division up and coming manager might fit the bill.
I’d like to see NW start the season as manager but bring in a young manager to work with for the rest of the year. He’d be able to impart his Championship knowledge, so a lower division up and coming manager might fit the bill.
Martin - I was thinking along similar lines - NW for a period of time whilst we find someone else.
As long as that younger manager isn’t JW and actually has some management experience!
Starting again September 12th.
Need to get on with the decision making.
Absolutely. Last minute decisions are not going to do it this year.
@k-p-in-spain I think we need to be trying to build a degree of continuity in terms of a lot of aspects of the business which do not appear to be currently present, recruitment, playing style, contracts and management team etc. 😎
Spot on KP. We have tried everything else and basically failed. Back to basics, start from there with a 3/4 year goal.
@grovehillwallah What’s in it for Mr Warnock GHW. Not money surely, as he won’t be hard up. Promotion, very, very difficult for even top six.
There’s an article by Philip Tallentire that does a fairly standard rehash of the season. Nothing earth-shattering but he does remind us of the ten game unbeaten run and 5he MOTM award for JW. This made me reflect on the nature of management.
What caused JW to deliver such runs of success and failure in the same season? When we were winning his system was working and the players were doing well.
So, is management primarily about telling the players what to do or is it more about creating an environment that allows both the group and individuals to deliver success.
The way that NW sets up the team is not revolutionary; in fact is it just highly functional but it worked better. Surely a lot of this must come from the way that he dealt with the group and individual players.
if this is the case, then is he prepared to pass on those skills to someone younger. That seems to me to be the key question?
Utb
Should Mr Warnock wish to pack in after a year well, as a thought, are his two colleagues capable of managing if he does retire and he'd always be on the end of a telephone for them for advice and mentoring. We all talk of continuity but perhaps the obvious is staring MFC management in the face. Not that that would help based on recent history.
UTB,
John
I think when we talk about managerial continuity it’s about continuing with an overall strategy, the playing style and the types of players you bring in and bring through. I think a different figurehead with a different personality and tone every 3-4 years is a good thing to keep it fresh and renew the message.
it starts with a perpetuating strategy though and we haven’t had that.
The last ten-plus years have been a mixture of boom and bust in terms of spending and even in the boom times we’ve only managed a couple of good seasons, whilst the playing style has lurched from one extreme to the other with almost every managerial change.
Maybe the current financial constraints, which would appear set to be more long term than ever before in Steve Gibson’s time, provide an opportunity to define what kind of club we are and how we’ll operate.
In the short term though, I think it’s another season of crisis management.
i go along with the idea that Warnock is considerably best placed to carry that through but don’t think he’s the answer for much else to be honest.
I wonder what plan B is if NW tells SG that he does not want a full time role? I am sure (not) they will have considered this as part of the strategic plan! 😎
I wonder what plan B is if NW tells SG that he does not want a full time role? I am sure (not) they will have considered this as part of the strategic plan! 😎
KP - I don’t think there as ever been a plan B on anything relating to the club has there?
We always appear to be on the back foot and reacting rather than being proactive.
Looks as though the Gazette boys are continuing to read this blog, as a few of their articles mirror what has been said on here. Only later!!
Here is one from Bernie
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/pace-aggression--playmaker-what-18658422
I think nw would be the right appointment in Boro’s precarious position but only if there was a 2/3 year plan. I like the idea of nw being in sole charge in year one leading to his 2 lieutenants taking over in year 2 with nw being the adviser in the background using present day communication technology and making trips up north when needed.
I wouldn’t favour nw mentoring ano because when nw left the newcomer may want to change direction. The Club needs stability in playing style and everything else on and off the pitch.
But what’s in it for nw? Not a lot really. Not much fun being based up north when his wife and home is 300 miles away. And despite his enthusiasm for a challenge he is 71 years old. And he will not get promoted in year one and will effectively be leaving a part finished project. So the best he can achieve is to set Boro on a better path.
Philip of Huddersfield
ps. Does Huddersfield Town’s appointment of a new unknown manager- the number 2 from Leeds feel like the “unknown Karanka “ of a few years ago ?
Whatever happens in the short close season, I’d like to see the manager get to grips with Lewis Wing next season.
A lot of players went backwards over the past twelve months but I think Wing suffered more than most, used in unfamiliar positions by Woodgate and then barely at all by Warnock.
When confident and in form, Wing brings a bit of match winning X-factor and crucial goals from midfield We need that in our generally sluggish central midfield that rarely supports the forward players as well as it could.
Part of the problem is identifying what type of player Wing is and what works around him. I see him as a central attacking midfielder but he doesn’t possess raw pace and isn’t one for dribbling past opponents. He needs space in which to operate and get those sizzling drives off.
When playing deeper, I think he works hard enough and isn’t afraid of a tackle but I suspect his defensive positioning is, well, suspect.
I think, then, that he needs a proper defensive midfielder in with him, pace and mobility ahead of him to pull defenders away and create space for him and a bit of freedom from the manager to get forward. That’s no criticism of him - I think Paul Scholes, who was a terrific player and had the benefit of a long footballing education at the highest level, needed that too.
Otherwise, his option is to work intensively on that defensive positioning and try to reinvent himself as more of a deep-lying playmaker (as Scholes himself ended up) but I think that might be asking too much and risks blunting his natural skills.
Maybe with a better structure around him next season and clearer instructions, he can flourish again. It would be a bonus to our Goals For column if he does.
I think Lewis Wing suffered when the opposition became aware of him. Once he was identified as a danger they found ways to nullify him, the main one being not to give him any space.
If you look at all the truly great players they have the ability to make themselves available to receive the ball and more importantly in the aforementioned space.
Jordan Henderson has just been named the Football Writers Player of the Year. If you watch him during games the whole Liverpool team revolves around him. He may not be the most gifted player in the team but he’s definitely the most important cog. Always there as an outlet to receive the ball and hardly ever gives it away and usually the first player to win the ball back when the opposition have it.
Can Wing become that kind of player, that remains to be seen. I think he could.
https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/jordan-henderson-best-worst-player-premier-league-109773
When considering Neil Warnock’s age, I wonder if he has ambition to out manage Roy Hodgson who is 1 year senior and still managing a Premier leagues side, at their age they need targets to motivate themselves, just a thought.
Come on BORO.
KP - I don’t think there as ever been a plan B on anything relating to the club has there?
We always appear to be on the back foot and reacting rather than being proactive.
I totally agree, when looking from the outside there doesn't appear to be any sort of plan. We may be doing the club and hierarchy a disservice in thinking that is the case but they have not communicated that they, as a business, are working to any specific plan or target other than to win promotion.
That is laudable but meaningless if it is not underpinned by short, medium and longer term objectives which are timebound. I think it was Andy that hit the nail on the head when he said that MFC just seems to lurch from one crisis to another interspersed with occasional periods of success.
The appointment of NW seems on the face of it to be the only option but it is again a very short term solution which brings with it a number of challenges. Some have mentioned that with only seven weeks to the new season that it is the only option but this crisis started much much earlier and whilst it was the correct decision to appoint NW as a stop gap in the hope of securing Championship status the medium to longer term needs should also have been addressed.
I accept that in football terms medium to long term might only span 3-5 years at best and the days of a Fergie tenure are long gone.
Fail to plan = plan to fail and it appears that unless there is a major change in this direction then the club will continue to lurch from one crisis to another and NW will be another part of that cycle. 😎
I think there is a plan, it just hasn't worked. If you look at the Gibson era, the pattern is quite clear.
1) Splash the cash and buy trophies. It worked for Jack Walker and Kenny Dalglish. Gibbo chose Robbo who was great at attracting players but couldn't build a team to save his life. During this era we were probably spending in the top 6 of premier league clubs but we were let down by Robbo's failings as a manager.
2) I'm pretty sure SG would have given anything to keep TV. It didn't work so he switched to buying the best young coach in England. The aim was to develop young players. McClaren, however, had other ideas. He focused on slightly over-the-hill top class players looking for one last pay day. It partly worked but it's clear that McClaren was looking to move on at the first chance and seemed to have no interest in building for the future. When we failed to qualify for Europe it seems Gibson realised that he could no longer compete with the top 10 financially and the money from European matches wasn't what he hoped.
3) A local club for local people. So Gibson switched focus to the academy and downsizing but made a catastrophic mistake by not appointing his first choice (O'Neill) or other experienced manager. As we have sunk down the placings, Gibson's financial muscle has been out-classed. He knows that but figured the academy investment would pay out.
4) Spanish eyes. After we stabilised with Mowbray, Gibson funded AK at the level of a top 6 championship club aiming to match European contacts with academy players. This was sort of what he was aiming with under McClaren. It worked, just, but fell apart in the premier league. SG either hit a fork: stick with AK and abandon a lot of local staff or revert back to a local club for local people. He chose the latter.
5) Local club part 2. His first plan was splash the cash part 2 but it was wasted. We'll probably never know what was going on with Monk but as results have spiralled downwards, each choice has made it worse.
Right now he has no money, no model and, with no crowds in the stadium, we're bleeding money. Probably the only hope is to keep Warnock, stabilise and see where we are in 18 months. That all said, pretty much every club out of the 10 richest in the premier league is looking down the barrel of a gun when it comes to going out of business. We have every chance of being one of those with great infrastructure but relatively small debts who could prosper.
Just thought I’d drop the C-Bomb in here, its not really worthy of a new topic merely an observation.
Jofra Archer was dropped from the test team after breaking the “ Bio-Bubble” rules. ( allegedly visiting his girlfriend) Rules that have enabled live Test Cricket to be played he was fined and missed the next test match.
Today he is back in the bubble and playing at Old Trafford. No media “outrage” or “ fury” from social media. He broke the rules, was fined, missed the next Test and is now back in the team.
Somehow I don’t think it would have been so simple if a footballer had been involved.
Neil Warnock has a very strong personality , and will tell SG ,I'm the boss as far as what happens on the field,
This is what might scupper a deal, Gibson whether you believe it or not ,has been very involved , across the board, otherwise ,why have all the recent managers left after five minutes , and everything about the club seems like a labrynth , everyone running in different directions ,
Gibson keeps changing direction , Buy anyone then sell everyone,
Buy decent sell decent ,replace with inferior ,
This type of thinking as got to stop, this season of a new beginning didn't last long did it, because they didn't have the players yet to change, what where they thinking, absolute stupidity.
Give NW the reigns , allow him to sort it out, and don't panic , forget promotion , fix the club and its obvious tangled mess.
Liked all the comments on our lack of playmakers/ sharpshooters good comments, and theories.
I believe that, in the depths of some awful runs (and awful play), looking back we seemed to have a death wish the number of times we willfully refused point blank to play Wing, Tav. and Fletcher, up front and let lesser players look after the defense.
When challenged (and they were) they resorted to playing them separately, or as a sub (After the game was long gone).
In these last few games, they have got on the field, and shone, Wing was brought on with the game lost, but still managed to get in the box and give Britt a knock in, which he duly did, that was a First for us in quite a while. He got on the pitch in the last match, in which we managed a win. The worry is that according to the press, there are a que of clubs glad to sign both Tav. and Wing, and looking forward to doing so. I always thought that a prolific scorer in non league would easily translate that skill to a higher level, and was surprised to see us asking him to score wonder goals from 30 yards (which he did) but his value to us is in and around the box. As for Tav. His talent is accepted, all our supporters now how good he is. It does not explain his seat on the bench as we played disgracefully?
I was certainly not knocking NW, he is just the victim of his predecessors, I would guess they marked his card when he walked through the door (and that worked out well).
@plato I agree that getting Wing, Tav and Fletcher on the field together is the way to get this team scoring and would join up the midfield to the attack. Allied to pace on the flanks, which could be staring us in the face with Coulson and Spence, there might might be enough there to be a threat.
If we can bolt on a solid left back, absolute no-nonsense centre half to complement Fry and a tenacious defensive midfielder, we might have a balanced team that could do something:
4-4-1-1
Pears/Stojanovic or New
Djiksteel Fry TBC TBC
Spence Wing TBC Coulson
Tavernier
Fletcher
It’s not exactly Leeds and certainly not Wolves from the season before but it could be enough to have a go at the top half at least if those new signings work out well, though the wider squad lets that idea down considerably given there’s next to no back up as it stands.
Just a gentle reminder for the play off contestants, especially those in a different time zone, the cut off time for submitting your entry is 1800 hrs tomorrow, half an hour before the kick off of the first leg of Swansea v Brentford.
I like Wing but he’s a liability when asked to defend and always on the verge of a yellow card when trying to tackle.
he would be best played as the 1 in a 5, 2, 1, 2 formation, or at the apex of a midfield diamond.
He could at a push play number 10, but as others have pointed out he’s at his best playing in space and I don’t think that position would offer sufficient space to exploit his undoubted talent.
I like Wing but he’s a liability when asked to defend and always on the verge of a yellow card when trying to tackle.
he would be best played as the 1 in a 5, 2, 1, 2 formation, or at the apex of a midfield diamond.
He could at a push play number 10, but as others have pointed out he’s at his best playing in space and I don’t think that position would offer sufficient space to exploit his undoubted talent.
I’d agree with that but I think we’re quite far off having three centre backs plus cover and also I’m not sure how you also fit Tav into that shape without playing him out of position.
I went with the 4-4-1-1 as I think that might be the simplest way to get Tav, Wing and Fletcher into the side in their natural roles whilst it may also require only three first XI signings (maybe only two if we think Howson or Saville can play the holding role to a high enough standard), which seems achievable amongst the time and financial constraints.
presumably you would agree Fletcher plays 9, so what do you consider Tav’s best position?
Is he best at number 10? Could he play as a wing back?
Or is it possible Tav and Wing are too similar to play in the same team? I admit this seems counterintuitive to myself but am happy to listen to the argument.
I agree we lack CB’s, but the solution to that is to recruit CB’s, not to square peg Wing or Tav.