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What has Speakman done to be so hated?

Houghtoner said:
Said on here in past week I would never say he hasn’t done plenty of good. But he’s clearly played a big part in sacking a head coach who was doing a good job in difficult circumstances and popular with fans and players alike. Then replaced him with someone who isn’t. This mess is on him and KLD.
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I agree the sacking of Mowbray to take a couple of weeks to hire Beale was baffling, when I saw Mowbray went I thought they must have someone good lined up and ready to go. Then 2 weeks later they announce Beale :lol:
 

hardlife said:
Not realising that we have to have a mix of youth and experience, he's left us well short.

This is why we are regressing. Far too many also look out of their depth.
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Speakman is quoted as saying..

"Effective player recruitment is pivotal to our strategy and its vital that we create and develop an approach that takes every age group into consideration. Stuart will lead on all aspects of player recruitment and we are delighted that he has chosen to join our project – he will be instrumental in the creation of our player recruitment strategy. We are seeking success and sustainability and this area of our football operations will be crucial for us as we strive to achieve these things over the long term”.

It is shown on the website at the time Stuart Harvey arrived.

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Angelic Cynic said:
Speakman is quoted as saying..

"Effective player recruitment is pivotal to our strategy and its vital that we create and develop an approach that takes every age group into consideration. Stuart will lead on all aspects of player recruitment and we are delighted that he has chosen to join our project – he will be instrumental in the creation of our player recruitment strategy. We are seeking success and sustainability and this area of our football operations will be crucial for us as we strive to achieve these things over the long term”.

It is shown on the website at the time Stuart Harvey arrived.

You must be logged on to see external links
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So that's another person in the mix. Stuart Harvey.

How is it that this professional group of people cannot get this age group mix correct..every person who knows about the game knows that this is essential.
 
Mixed feelings for me.

I think he had overseen until this summer alot of smart signings that got us from plodding in League 1 to genuinely exciting Championship play off team. We can't forget that.

Its whenever they move into the foreign market that it goes a bit scattergun on quality. Even back to Hoffman and Dajaku as their early experiments.

If we had a fully stocked first choice 11 (decent striker + defensive midfielder etc) then i could accept it a bit more as the cheap foreigners would be ok (ish) squad players. But obviously the likes of Hemir have played because their first 11 players like Bustow and Rusyn have been poor.

But we dont know the budget and we dont know the brief from Kyril. He might be working miracles for all we know.

I'm absolutely sure he would love to buy us a real quality striker, but he obviously can't.
 
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sb022x1030 said:
He's signed some exciting young players, managed to get 10 mil for a crock with only a year left on his contract, got out of league 1 then the next season immediately in the championship play offs under him. We are moving in the right direction under him after languishing in league 1 for years. He has made a number of mistakes in a short period of time in the last couple of months, but overall he is doing a good job IMO
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He hasn't become hated.
Its just the Social Media effect where those who shout the loudest and spout the most hatred think everyone agreed with them. Overall I think he's done OK except for the striker issue and now Beale.
 
sb022x1030 said:
He's signed some exciting young players, managed to get 10 mil for a crock with only a year left on his contract, got out of league 1 then the next season immediately in the championship play offs under him. We are moving in the right direction under him after languishing in league 1 for years. He has made a number of mistakes in a short period of time in the last couple of months, but overall he is doing a good job IMO
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Presume you haven’t met him…….

Remember it’s Stu Harvey who unearths the gems….
 
Whitburnmakem said:
He spends what he’s given to work with yet people blame him I’m sure if he had 50 million he would sign different players
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Kristian, erm i mean whitburnmackem theres not loads wrong with the squad / 1st team but we have stood still recruitment wise for this team and still rely on players bought 2 or 3 years ago to keep us competitive which lessens the confidence in recruitment plus slows dpwn the develoment of some of them as they clearly need more on field mentors.

Add into that the hiring of an atrocious tactician / manager and all of a sudden any good work has been completely ballsed up and confidence is being lost.

It will go sour just as quickly as it got good. Smart decisions are needed sharpish otherwise anything is possible.
 
bugman said:
A few things I think:

I don’t think some people have accepted our (not so recent) decline, which probably saw us very close to complete collapse as per Bury. I think Speakman gets a lot of that unprocessed frustration directed at him, unfairly in many cases.

I think the change of fortunes of them lot up the road has compounded a lot of this frustration in the past 12 months, I think the penny only dropped for some when they beat us the other week.

I believe a lot of people are disenfranchised with football and the modern way of running things. Many (myself included) wish it could be like the days of Reid. I think Speakman very much embodies the new way of running football clubs, with his suit and tie and lack of northern accent. This is one of the reasons Mowbray and Allardyce are so popular, cos most can identify with them in some way.

Speakman isn’t perfect, and perhaps I have been conditioned to have low standards over the past decade, but I see the club going in the right direction, considering where we were 5 years ago.
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The club isn’t going in the right direction though it’s going backwards and fast. We had half a season under alex neil where we got promoted and yes last season overall was a success but when we lost simms and stewart to injury around xmas time last January was the time when an ambitious or decent owner would have got us a decent striker and we probably would have made top two. Since then we have been trying to tread water. The last few windows have been disgraceful. Speakman maybe has his hands tied in the transfer market but the beale appointment and the ‘best training i’ve ever seen’ quite sum him up for me
 
rentaghost said:
I agree with this. I think the starting point by many is to look at 'the bad things' such as the failure to buy a meaningful centre forward, the last window in general and what looks like a really bad mistake with Beale. Its only right to call these issues out but they are alongside a lot of good stuff. Always though for me on the playing side of things its about overall progress as a whole. We got promoted and had an excellent year last year and that was down to his managerial choices and player purchases. We have plenty of players of value and the squad is night and day now compared to when he arrived. He derserves credit for that and criticism for more recent decision making.
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A lot of the decent signings were domestic 18 months ago. Let's see how it pans out in the next 3 months.
Angelic Cynic said:
Speakman is quoted as saying..

"Effective player recruitment is pivotal to our strategy and its vital that we create and develop an approach that takes every age group into consideration. Stuart will lead on all aspects of player recruitment and we are delighted that he has chosen to join our project – he will be instrumental in the creation of our player recruitment strategy. We are seeking success and sustainability and this area of our football operations will be crucial for us as we strive to achieve these things over the long term”.

It is shown on the website at the time Stuart Harvey arrived.

You must be logged on to see external links
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Speakman writes KLD statements - so obvious.
 
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HitchBerg said:
Player....................Age.........................Capped...............................Contract length

Pembele.................21..........................France u-20..........................5 years.
Seelt.....................20...................................................................5 years.
Trantis...................20..........................Australia u-23........................4 years.
Bellingham..............18..........................England u-19.........................5 years.
Aouchiche...............21..........................France u-20..........................5 years.
Semedo..................20..........................Portugal u-20........................5 years.
Mayenda.................18..........................Spain u-17...........................5 years.

The young players signed in the Summer, and there was a good few more of a similar ilk already signed previously.

This is what is being invested in, the length of the contracts, and the number of players at the club of a similar age and with a similar contract length show how hard it would be to reverse the project, even if the club decided to.
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Buying potential is all well and good but how many of the most talented youngsters fulfil their potential?
You only have to look at the England u19 squad that won the Euro under 19s tournament in 2017 who have made it at the highest level. The likes of Isaac Buckley-Ricketts who was one of our star players in the tournament is now playing for Warrington Town. Darnell Johnson who can't get a game for Fleetwood.

I think only three or four of the entire squad are currently playing Premier league football.
 
Look at the squad and league position Speakman found when he came here. Look at the resources he has been given to do the job. Now look at the squad and league position of today.

You can't argue he's done a bad job imo. You can pick things that he's said and dislike him for that, or even just the way he speaks, but he's improved his side of the club without a doubt.

I think if you hate "the model" then the problem is above Speakman and probably wouldn't change no matter who was in his job.
 
hardlife said:
So that's another person in the mix. Stuart Harvey.

How is it that this professional group of people cannot get this age group mix correct..every person who knows about the game knows that this is essential.
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Because in the end, there is only one gaffer and that’s Kristian Speakman.
SH recommends players but KS ultimately decides which deals he wants to do or not.
 
scott934 said:
Look at the squad and league position Speakman found when he came here. Look at the resources he has been given to do the job. Now look at the squad and league position of today.

You can't argue he's done a bad job imo. You can pick things that he's said and dislike him for that, or even just the way he speaks, but he's improved his side of the club without a doubt.

I think if you hate "the model" then the problem is above Speakman and probably wouldn't change no matter who was in his job.
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Shitload of AM's
No CDM for about 18 months
No RW because Lihadji was not fit for purpose
No LW because Jewi isn;t ready
4 CF's 3 of which are development level

Go outside and give your head a shake lad.
 
BumbleBee said:
Shitload of AM's
No CDM for about 18 months
No RW because Lihadji was not fit for purpose
No LW because Jewi isn;t ready
4 CF's 3 of which are development level

Go outside and give your head a shake lad.
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You must yearn for the days of lads like Josh Scowen and Dylan McGeouch, proper defensive midfielders signed by old school managers. 😍

I'll enjoy the shite Speakman has lumbered us with like Clarke, Roberts and Ballard. Altogether brought in for about the cost of one Will Grigg.
 
scott934 said:
You must yearn for the days of lads like Josh Scowen and Dylan McGeouch, proper defensive midfielders signed by old school managers. 😍

I'll enjoy the shite Speakman has lumbered us with like Clarke, Roberts and Ballard. Altogether brought in for about the cost of one Will Grigg.
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