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Roy Keane

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George Kaplan said:
What happens if Keane is offered the position but turns it down?

Will the criticism switch to “they offered him a crap deal because he scares them, or because they’re incompetent”?

Or will it be “they didn’t want him, they just wanted to appease the fans, so they didn’t try hard enough”

Or will it be “the bastard was stringing us along, never wanted to come unless it was a stupidly beneficial deal for him”

Or will it be “he wasn’t convinced that the current group of players, or the ownership, or the structure were viable so he obviously turned us down”

And in any and all of these scenarios, how stupid will we all look and how hard will it make the job for the alternative managerial option?

Sorry to ask- I’m just trying to make plans for the forthcoming week and I like to make checklists.
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I’d imagine that it’ll be because they didn’t offer him what he wanted, given that he himself said on live TV on Friday that “the contracts got to be right”.

And I’ll be livid if that happens. Give him what he wants and let him deliver some fukcing home truths. The club is crying out for some straight talking. It’s drowning in ineffective “philosophies” and “structures”.
 
George Kaplan said:
What happens if Keane is offered the position but turns it down?

Will the criticism switch to “they offered him a crap deal because he scares them, or because they’re incompetent”?

Or will it be “they didn’t want him, they just wanted to appease the fans, so they didn’t try hard enough”

Or will it be “the bastard was stringing us along, never wanted to come unless it was a stupidly beneficial deal for him”

Or will it be “he wasn’t convinced that the current group of players, or the ownership, or the structure were viable so he obviously turned us down”

And in any and all of these scenarios, how stupid will we all look and how hard will it make the job for the alternative managerial option?

Sorry to ask- I’m just trying to make plans for the forthcoming week and I like to make checklists.
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I'm going for the last one and I completely understand his point .
He will have looked at that shower ,recognised the true lack of character in it and said " stick it up yer bollocks " . If he comes now he wont be giving confident assurances of promotion this year and will be talking funds for the summer to clear a mid field, a defence and the loans and rebuild . Even if he fluked a playoff win he's going to be honest about the cash he'll need
Sweeper said:
I’d imagine that it’ll be because they didn’t offer him what he wanted, given that he himself said on live TV on Friday that “the contracts got to be right”.

And I’ll be livid if that happens. Give him what he wants and let him deliver some fukcing home truths. The club is crying out for some straight talking. It’s drowning in ineffective “philosophies” and “structures”.
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I honestly don't think they will now , they won't be able to fund his honest appraisal of the situation
 
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Skandhaless said:
I'm going for the last one and I completely understand his point .
He will have looked at that shower ,recognised the true lack of character in it and said " stick it up yer bollocks " . If he comes now he wont be giving confident assurances of promotion this year and will be talking funds for the summer to clear a mid field, a defence and the loans and rebuild . Even if he fluked a playoff win he's going to be honest about the cash he'll need

I honestly don't think they will now , they won't be able to fund his honest appraisal of the situation
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I hope you’re wrong, albeit I can see the point.

If we’ve reached a point where the club won’t appoint a manager, because they’re afraid he’ll identify and call out the clubs problems, then we really are totally fucked. That’s what a manager is supposed to do, after all. That’s what he gets paid to do.

“Your “data” told you that this fucker could do a job in the middle of the pitch, did it?! Or that this shambles could defend? Well I think you need a new data machine mate. Or maybe just a pair of eyes and some football experience”.
 
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jsdftm04 said:
I'm happy for Keane to have 18 month deal tbh.
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Yes, I think there is only so much anyone could do with this set of players in 15 matches
TravellingMackem said:
I’ve never seen such an erratic team in my life. The fall from grace after pasting Doncaster and then Sheff Wed within a few days of each other is something on a whole other plane entirely
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it can only be confidence. We are or were third in the table with the same players.

Something is seriously lacking though. Do we do anything in terms of sports psychology? Those players were rabbits in the headlights in front of a huge crowd today. Similar last week.

When it starts to go wrong, they just implode.
There is zero game management or leadership on or off the pitch.

These are the things that Keane or whoever need to address immediately otherwise we’ll be sitting in mid table with the season over in 5 or 6 games time.

Get back to basics, pick players who can cope with a little bit of adversity and pressure (if we have any) and install some confidence
 
Sweeper said:
I hope you’re wrong, albeit I can see the point.

If we’ve reached a point where the club won’t appoint a manager, because they’re afraid he’ll identify and call out the clubs problems, then we really are totally fucked. That’s what a manager is supposed to do, after all. That’s what he gets paid to do.
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That's my fear now . We've hitched our wagon to a flawed total football philosophy in league one that only a chancer will say he can pull off. Roy's not such a man
 
George Kaplan said:
What happens if Keane is offered the position but turns it down?

Will the criticism switch to “they offered him a crap deal because he scares them, or because they’re incompetent”?

Or will it be “they didn’t want him, they just wanted to appease the fans, so they didn’t try hard enough”

Or will it be “the bastard was stringing us along, never wanted to come unless it was a stupidly beneficial deal for him”

Or will it be “he wasn’t convinced that the current group of players, or the ownership, or the structure were viable so he obviously turned us down”

And in any and all of these scenarios, how stupid will we all look and how hard will it make the job for the alternative managerial option?

Sorry to ask- I’m just trying to make plans for the forthcoming week and I like to make checklists.
Click to expand...
Whatever happens, if it isn't Keane it has created a nightmare for the next manager, Speakman and the ownership, and I have no sympathy whatsoever - unless the contract has been sitting there signed since about Thursday then it has been handled incredibly badly by the club in allowing the story to run and backing themselves into a corner. After yesterday Keane could name his own price and if they don't do the deal they will be crucified for it, and whoever the next manager is will get zero time and leeway if things aren't perfect.

It's either all part of a very clever game to raise excitement to fever pitch, or an example of incredible naivety bordering on incompetence in managing the stories coming out of the club. I'll be honest, I tend to err on the side of cock-up over conspiracy.
 
Turnip from the Tip said:
Yes, I think there is only so much anyone could do with this set of players in 15 matches

it can only be confidence. We are or were third in the table with the same players.

Something is seriously lacking though. Do we do anything in terms of sports psychology? Those players were rabbits in the headlights in front of a huge crowd today. Similar last week.

When it starts to go wrong, they just implode.
There is zero game management or leadership on or off the pitch.

These are the things that Keane or whoever need to address immediately otherwise we’ll be sitting in mid table with the season over in 5 or 6 games time.

Get back to basics, pick players who can cope with a little bit of adversity and pressure (if we have any) and install some confidence
Click to expand...
We need the players to be more afraid of disappointing the manager than they are the crowd. After a poor first half they should be scared to go in at half time and not relieved. They could not get down the tunnel faster.
 
This has all the hallmarks of a huge anticlimax. Friday night the fanbase was on a high prompting a huge crowd to attend yesterday. Despite a 6-0 drubbing in our last game, the return of Defoe and the suggestion that the club were on the verge of appointing Keane gave our wearied supporters some genuine hope once again.

Yesterday’s performance and the wall of silence that now seems to have sprung up regarding any new managerial appointment has put one enormous very sharp pin in the optimism balloon.

I can see toot and plute overseeing a defeat at Cheltenham before Neil Lennon is announced as our new manager on Wednesday.

We were hugely impressed by Neil’s references ….
 
Skandhaless said:
That's my fear now . We've hitched our wagon to a flawed total football philosophy in league one that only a chancer will say he can pull off. Roy's not such a man
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Although I’m sure we can all see the value in signing young players and developing them, the “recruitment team” has clearly been naive in how far they’ve pushed that.

Our first choice back five now (assuming Huggins was fit) would include four players with an average age of 20, none of whom have ever played a full season of senior football. They’ve got a 20 year old kid playing in front of them, who’s in the same boat.

Sorry like, but League One isn’t a league in which you get promoted with that sort of inexperience. It’s a tough, streetwise, pragmatic league - often played on mediocre pitches at shit little grounds. Our own pitch is of course also shit.

If their expectation was that a back five/six with that level of inexperience could stand up to a 46 game League One season, then they’re mugs. I don’t give a shit what their “data” says. Sooner or later they have to use their eyes and some common sense.
 
HoxtonMackem said:
They didn't even look arsed the whole game. Not one order barked to the players.
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This is exactly what I thought when I watched the Dodds interview, looked like he wouldn't have it in him.

It says everything when your leaders on the line don't have it in them to try and get the players at it.

He's only 35, jobs for the boys spring to mind. Its too big for them.
 
Sweeper said:
Although I’m sure we can all see the value in signing young players and developing them, the “recruitment team” has clearly been naive in how far they’ve pushed that.

Our first choice back five now (assuming Huggins was fit) would include four players with an average age of 20, none of whom have ever played a full season of senior football. They’ve got a 20 year old kid playing in front of them, who’s in the same boat.

Sorry like, but League One isn’t a league in which you get promoted with that sort of inexperience. It’s a tough, streetwise, pragmatic league - often played on mediocre pitches at shit little grounds. Our own pitch is of course also shit.

If their expectation was that a back five/six with that level of inexperience could stand up to a 46 game League One season, then they’re mugs. I don’t give a shit what their “data” says. Sooner or later they have to use their eyes and some common sense.
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It had to be perfect to work ( and only a mug gambles on anywhere near perfection happening ) . I honestly think if Huggins , Broadhead, Wright and cirkin had stayed fit it might have.
I think one of our main vanities has been putting too much expectation on the Hoff , a top mature, vocal keeper ( with a fit Wright ) would have steadied the ship a lot . Doyle's about shot with it all and Hoff's heading that way
 
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They sacked Johnson with no replacement lined up, we’ve got 16 games left, the transfer window looks poor because we’re now top heavy with wingers and well short in defence, are these happy staying at this level
 
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