Defending “the club” at every juncture

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Look the choice is not only between

A - pay journeymen mega millions over what they are worth and run up colossal debts while plummeting through the leagues

Or

B - run everything on a shoe string with key players and managers on short contracts, ticket office and shop closed, buying 18 year old wingers from Costa Rica when we need experienced defensive cover

We could have avoided losing AN by simply renegotiating his contract after promotion
While I've given a like to your post, because I agree, after reflection, as I've posted elsewhere, there's something that rankles with me now about Alex. We may have short changed him. Who knows. I wouldn't doubt it. But on the eve of a game he's done one. He seemed forthright, straightforward, a man of integrity. Nevermind the fans, or the club, but on the eve of a game he's dropped the people he works with day in, day out, who he's been getting to buy into him. He's dropped them in it a day before a game. Whatever the rights and wrongs if his situation, that's a lack of integrity. A lack of quality as an individual.
 
Any money we lose this year restricts what we can spend in the next 2 years because of FFP. But let's say we get this PSG lad in and Van Hecke on loan. With Alex Neil I'd be thinking we look pretty strong.
All depends if they want to come, so does the same rule apply until our return to premer league.
 
While I've given a like to your post, because I agree, after reflection, as I've posted elsewhere, there's something that rankles with me now about Alex. We may have short changed him. Who knows. I wouldn't doubt it. But on the eve of a game he's done one. He seemed forthright, straightforward, a man of integrity. Nevermind the fans, or the club, but on the eve of a game he's dropped the people he works with day in, day out, who he's been getting to buy into him. He's dropped them in it a day before a game. Whatever the rights and wrongs if his situation, that's a lack of integrity. A lack of quality as an individual.
I guess the unfortunate reality of football management is that it is a dog eat dog world

If we had been promoted and lost the first six matches AN would have been sacked. He knows that and he knows thats why the club did not want a long contract to protect them against having to pay out much if he was sacked.

But what goes around comes around. So when we were outbid in wages by Stoke - which it seems we were - he would obviously struggle to explain to his family why he turned the cash down

We created the opportunity though by not tying him to a longer contract
 
It’s a smokescreen.

He was happy with the setup last month and even if he wasn’t, why wait til now to leave?

Fuck all to do with being backed and all to do with cash.
This-
this transfer bollocks is nonsense- he hasn't resigned on principle he got offered a better job- the club has done exactly what it said it would at the start of the summer- bring in young players according to our model without putting ourselves at risk. The same situation he signed up for 6 months ago after he had been unemployed for a year. if he didnt like it he could have turned it down like Keane did.

he didnt- instead he said yes and then taken the first job offered to him
if he wasn't feels he wasn't backed and he was leaving on on principle it's very convenient that the stoke job has come up at the same time- he's suddenly decided he can't take it anymore.

he hasn't resigned because we didn't back him, he just got a better offer in his mind- which is fine, just be honest about it.
Stoke didn't back O'Neill in the transfer market so I fail to see why it would be different now
 
All depends if they want to come, so does the same rule apply until our return to premer league.
Think you can lose something like £20m over any 3 year period in Championship without points deductions etc.
I guess the unfortunate reality of football management is that it is a dog eat dog world

If we had been promoted and lost the first six matches AN would have been sacked. He knows that and he knows thats why the club did not want a long contract to protect them against having to pay out much if he was sacked.

But what goes around comes around. So when we were outbid in wages by Stoke - which it seems we were - he would obviously struggle to explain to his family why he turned the cash down

We created the opportunity though by not tying him to a longer contract
Same ownership gave Lee Johnson a multi year contract, whereas Neil always seems to start with a rolling contract.

If it was just being outbid by Stoke then aye we should have matched it and the club have fucked up.
 
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Look the choice is not only between

A - pay journeymen mega millions over what they are worth and run up colossal debts while plummeting through the leagues

Or

B - run everything on a shoe string with key players and managers on short contracts, ticket office and shop closed, buying 18 year old wingers from Costa Rica when we need experienced defensive cover

We could have avoided losing AN by simply renegotiating his contract after promotion

And the reality will be a compromise somewhere between the two extremes. I liked AN and am kind of gutted to see him go. That said, he's never been more than an impact manager. He's never done it over the long term (very few do). Maybe he just needed to feel loved for a longer period. The beauty is results will quickly tell us.
 
Let’s say you get offered a job that brings you back home to the area your family lives in, and for more money?

What ya choosing?

Obviously it's a factor, but you know that when you take the job.

Depends on your ambition as well as realising that he's actually a damn site nearer to where he was born or where he spent 10 years of his life after living around South Yorkshire/ Nottinghamshire during his playing career, before uprooting to the back of beyond (sorry Norwich) for longer than he's put up with the NE.

If things are going well in Football (which it seems to be) and the money is on the table then players and managers will put up with an awful lot. He doesn't come accross as someone (by previous actions) as someone who is going to be motivated by geographical location.
 
I guess the unfortunate reality of football management is that it is a dog eat dog world

If we had been promoted and lost the first six matches AN would have been sacked. He knows that and he knows thats why the club did not want a long contract to protect them against having to pay out much if he was sacked.

But what goes around comes around. So when we were outbid in wages by Stoke - which it seems we were - he would obviously struggle to explain to his family why he turned the cash down

We created the opportunity though by not tying him to a longer contract
Don't disagree with the reasons why. What I question is the integrity of a person who has lead a bunch of people (players/staff) to buy into him, seeking their faith in his ways, then sacking them off the eve of a game. After, fair enough if there's issues. But he's let them down. It's not leadership. It's not integrity. For me, he's shown himself up
 
The club is a mess from the manager up. Neil leaving creates a further complicationand I'm not sure if the likely lads will be as lucky in their next selection process.
 
How can it be said that he hasn’t been backed in the transfer market that’s insane !! We 3rd highest spenders in the league strong chance to finish biggest spenders by the end of the window

Wages O’Neil stoke old manager was payed 3 million last year surely that’s seen as stupid wages
We could be the biggest spenders in the division but if it’s all on teenagers then most managers-coaches-pundits would agree its not “being backed“. Alan Hansen wad tell you……
There is always an element of fans that will side with the club no matter what happens.


The club have to take this on the chin this time.

Why on earth would Alex neil leave us for Stoke if there wasn’t something not right behind the scenes??!

His family live near Preston.
It’s no where fuckin near Stoke !!
The clubs can’t be compared in terms of history, fan base and prospects if things are ok.

The club have fucked up here and hopefully it stops at Alex neil and doesn’t lead to more departures
50+ miles to Stoke. 130+ miles to Preston.
He's left to get more money. Nowt to do with the board or how the club is ran. That's why he wanted such a loose contract - so we had no control over him. It's blatent.

He has said, and will say that it's due to the club not backing him. They clearly have. He used the same excuse when he left Hamilton, and same excuse when he left Preston. He also said that he didn't feel Norwich backed him enough after he was sacked from Norwich. Wonder what he'll say when he leaves Stoke (who are very restricted in their spending due to FFP).

Played us like a fiddle. This one isn't the top brass' fault.

I'm not overly confident on them appointing a new head coach in an efficient manor mind, but it would be unfair to blame them for that yet.
He was sacked at Norwich for refusing to play players that went nightclubbing after an official club function. A family members a Norwich fan and I was aware of the incident within days. Norwich initially agreed with him then back-pedalled. It’s all on the record. Nowt to withbtransfers or funding.
 
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Sick of seeing people defend and refer to “the club” as a collective as if speaking against what happens is being detrimental to or against SAFC as a whole. “The Club” have owners, directors and senior management who are responsible for decision making and funding commitments. When you defend “the club” you defend them. You defend Donald, Sartori, Davison and KLD. That’s defending “the club”.

I’m f***ing pissed off with Neil that he saw fit to drive to Stoke the day before we play but I’m more pissed off with why he made that decision and what drove him to do it.

I wont defend the managemeny for their terrible issue of season tickets and inability to get people into the match.

I wont defend the management for the weeks of the ticket office being open for 30 seconds a week. Nor the poor wages offered that is the reasom for this.

I wont defend them for not having a club shop prescence or even really enough stock online.


I WILL defend their transfer policy since the January we signed Stewart. I think Alex Neil is wrong to try and change it. It is worth persevering with. And if a manager signs on long term they will reap the benefits. I believe anyway. I may be wrong. Time will tell.

Mind i wont defend the management for decimating the youth team so we dont have the likes of Sam Greenwood coming through this year to bolster the squad.
We have to spend more money than other Championship clubs because we start from a position of having a squad that finished fifth last year in League 1 - with two of the key players in that squad simply on short term loan.

Unless i am missing something we now have two goalscorers/strikers at the club - one of them on loan?

In the centre of the park do we have a competitive midfield ball winner who can play at this level?

How many more injuries to central defenders could we sustain with the squad as it is?

To your last sentance, its a shame neil f***ing off has delayed the Van Hecke signing then really
 
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Let's say you take a job then, leave them in the lurch on the eve of their most crucual part of the year with very little prospect of them getting someone in to carry it out?
What are people thinking of you and do you give a fuck?

Me? Nah, I don’t care one bit. I’m now loaded and get to kick the wife every night
 
So it’s just a split of those who think this is all on the club and those who think it’s all on AN. Nothing is going to change polarised opinions and it’s just going to rumble on.
Up to the club now to get someone in as a replacement immediately so we can move on
 
He's left to get more money. Nowt to do with the board or how the club is ran. That's why he wanted such a loose contract - so we had no control over him. It's blatent.

He has said, and will say that it's due to the club not backing him. They clearly have. He used the same excuse when he left Hamilton, and same excuse when he left Preston. He also said that he didn't feel Norwich backed him enough after he was sacked from Norwich. Wonder what he'll say when he leaves Stoke (who are very restricted in their spending due to FFP).

Played us like a fiddle. This one isn't the top brass' fault.

I'm not overly confident on them appointing a new head coach in an efficient manor mind, but it would be unfair to blame them for that yet.

He's wanted a loose contract as he seems to do it at every club. Probably as a way to make sure the job js right for him. Everywhere else once he's done well he's signed a long term contract.

He came when the club was a clusterfuck (still is in some ways). We had just sacked a manager for being third in the league, possibly instigated by not wanting Defoe who almost immediately quit the club and had a boardroom lying about owning the club, a demotivated squad and barely a pitch.

Neil had way more to lose by coming here. Predecessor's went from here to SPL and non league. A poisoned chalice with the odds stacked against him.

He didn't have a grand master plan to get a job at Stoke. He's left because he's not happy amd it's the ony way out.

I know it's hard to comprehend other people don't love the club as much as us (there's even a thread now complaining about it) but we aren't the be all and end all but the jilted ex lover denial and revisionism is bewildering.

That still doesn't mean he has gone about it in the right way a month into a season and 24 hours before a game, mind.
 
He's wanted a loose contract as he seems to do it at every club. Probably as a way to make sure the job js right for him. Everywhere else once he's done well he's signed a long term contract.

He came when the club was a clusterfuck (still is in some ways). We had just sacked a manager for being third in the league, possibly instigated by not wanting Defoe who almost immediately quit the club and had a boardroom lying about owning the club, a demotivated squad and barely a pitch.

Neil had way more to lose by coming here. Predecessor's went from here to SPL and non league. A poisoned chalice with the odds stacked against him.

He didn't have a grand master plan to get a job at Stoke. He's left because he's not happy amd it's the ony way out.

I know it's hard to comprehend other people don't love the club as much as us (there's even a thread now complaining about it) but we aren't the be all and end all but the jilted ex lover denial and revisionism is bewildering.

That still doesn't mean he has gone about it in the right way a month into a season and 24 hours before a game, mind.
This, people actually believe he was just here to put himself in the shop window then fuck off at the first offer.🤷‍♂️
 
There's a difference between defending the club and attacking the club.

You can't do either atm as no-one knows what the crack is. It sounds like your classing anyone who isn't attacking the club as the former which is just stupid.
 
There's a difference between defending the club and attacking the club.

You can't do either atm as no-one knows what the crack is. It sounds like your classing anyone who isn't attacking the club as the former which is just stupid.
Blame on both sides here but as we know on here that is far too nuanced for some as well as some wanting to run with agendas.

It’s shit, it feels awful because we actually felt the club was heading in the right direction .....we can only hope that this is just a very short detour
 
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