I've been quite impressed with the guy. When he came in I wasn't convinced he was a step up from Johnson....Now...I think he is. He has steadied the ship after that dreadful run and shorn up the defence. I like his no nonsense approach to pre and post match interviews. Wether we go up or stay in league one, I hope the club sticks with him, giving the right backing I think he will do well here.
His interviews aren't full of 'manager-speak' which is a blessing ... ... but nor are they just obvious answers to waffle his way to the end. He tries to answer the questions because he's talking to the supporters, not the journalist.
I like his straight talking, no nonsense approach. Identified the issues and deficiencies in the squad almost immediately and looks to have fixed a leaky defence. Needs to be give next season to build his squad as it's going to be absolutely threadbare in the summer with contract expirations and loans going back. Will be interesting to see how the power struggle goes with Speakman on transfers. Part of me is thinking that of we miss out on the playoffs it will help him plan for next season as we are facing a massive summer (again!) And he will need all the time he can get in the summer. The other part of me says we need to get the **** out of this league asap.
I too like his straightforward approach and have been impressed with the way he has quickly identified the problems and taken steps to fix them. Failure to get out of this league this season will be a disaster imo.,and will bring about wholesale squad change in the summer. Doyle,the two German boys,Broadhead,Clarke and Roberts will be away and we'll likely lose Neil and Stewart,maybe a couple more,including Pritchard. McGeady is probably finished already. Alex will have learned enough to know what we'll need for next year.....whether he'll want to do it is another question.
Crazy how few players we will have left in the summer. We need at least a dozen coming in and that's without any current players we actually sell.
Had he been available going back four managerial appointments we may well be playing in a much higher league by now
Looks like someone thats up for a game of snooker at the drop or a hat. "would you like to try the wine first,sir", "nah just get it in the glass". Probably got a Nokia 8210. "Anything you've got to say,say it to me face" kind of bloke. Seems to know his onions about defending, 5 clean sheets in 6 or something. I like how he isn't happy with a ****e 2-1 win if we haven't played well. it would be interesting to see what he is like in a transfer window with not much to spend, he could probably find a player or 2. Puts a local lad in goal rather than the fancy Munich player that's here on loan.
Upsides and downsides so far for me. As with all managers though I am with him and he deserves time, which as a club we seem to not to want to provide coaches these days. He is very much his own man which I like. He doeant strike me as taking much interest in things like 'Leadership groups'. He is the decision maker, nobody else I suspect. He seems to spend a lot of time on the opposition when preparing and he has a way of negating their strengths. So far it has worked for him. He seems to appreciate the data approach too which is a good fit. On the downside the standard of football hasnt been great at times. I suspect that will improve with time. I worry about young players as he seems to have gone to experienced players now. At first he said it was they were burned out but that is not the case anymore. Even Mattete has been benched, along with Neil and Doyle. I worry he doesnt see or value their quality, maybe because he is too focussed on negating the opposition. A minor frustration for me is he could try smiling from time to time, and at least look like he is enjoying it His track record is good elsewhere so I have faith overall. Just want the club to give someone a proper run at it.
As a personality, he is immediately a better fit than Johnson, Parkinson or Grayson. His football isn't as attractive as Johnson's but it's more pragmatic and pragmatism works well in the play offs. It's taken him time to find his best XI and seems to be comfortable changing formation & personnel to suit the opponent. I don't think we will go up this season, so all eyes will be on what he/Speakmann/KLD can do in the summer to retain some of the attacking flair and keep us tight at the back. His PPG (1.78) is better than Johnson's (1.75) [league games only] and extrapolated over a season would have us on 82 points, or more pertinently at this stage of the season we'd be exactly where we are in 7th. albeit on 1 point more So. He has work to do and there is no magic wand but the early signs are encouraging
Hard to say over such a short time, but he's doing okay after a slow start. Not sure we score enough goals to go up mind, but he came after the window so striker strength is not on him, if indeed it was even on LJ. I worry more about the people Neil works for, among whom he has named Speakman. Very hard to have confidence in him, or the set up, after the chaos following Johnson's sacking.
Johnson wanted to be one of the lads and they let him down. Neil will drop you like a stone if you don't work hard or stray from the game plan. The attack minded players, of which there are plenty, need to make a bigger contribution imo. With Roberts, Clarke, Pritchard, Broadhead, Stewart, O'Nien on the pitch we shouldn't need Neil, Embleton, Matete piling forward as well.
It was the same last summer when Johnson had barely any players and they had to go and recruit heavily. Jack Ross had the same problem. What I find odd about the way the club is run is we appoint a manager knowing they are going to need an overhaul (Ross and Johnson) but then dont really give them time to do what they are appointed for. Johnson in particular seemed to be focussing on gaps in the squad in January and then bang. Neil now has to go with Johnsons players until he can do his own overhaul. What I want is him to do his overhaul but then to actually have time to see it through, which is more than a year in post in my opinion.
While I agree with a lot there, I think Johnson’s instability was a hindrance to him succeeding in the long term. Losing his rag so many times and getting banned isn’t what is needed. In the heat of a run-in, a cooler head is called for. Neil on the other hand is a steadier character and looks like getting more consistent performances. Exactly what we need to get promoted. The defensive improvements under Neil are very welcome. Early doors, you could see us competing better for loose balls and that’s a trait of teams that I like a lot. I hope he gets a good run with us.
basically arrived in the middle of a sh1t show with all the media attention thrown towards keane and defoe and a seriously bad run for the squad. somehow he seems to have steadied the defence and got us playing football again, his initial games were all about not getting beat so he took the 'percentage ball' route, recent games have shown more attacking intent. i do NOT see him as second fiddle to keane, i honestly think he was one of the first choices for the club if not top of the list but when someone like keane throws his hat into the mix and it becomes big public knowledge then the club had no option but to go with it...right now, i feel he is the perfect man to take the club forwards. there is no waffle comes out of his gob, he does not do a diddy dance around the pitch or in front of the cameras if we scrape a win, he tells it as it is and he looks like he lives the job rather than 'we got a result, now i can forget football till the next game'...still early days of course but up till now he is the right man at the right time.
I like him, to me he looks a decent and honest man. and he has the courage to make changes when changes are required, a breath of fresh air in fact. OaU
It’s been the down fall of quite a few of our managers this refusal to make changes when it’s staring everybody in the face, we’ve had some right stubborn twats to be fair.
I think you are spot on mate. My only real issue with Johnson was his behaviour on the touchline which was childish and unstable. I am a big believer in leading by example, and Johnson on the touchline was too involved in every argument and confrontation where he needed to be a calming presence.
No nonsense and says things as they are. He quickly sussed the weakness’s in the squad and dropped or benched them. Can’t get my head around why he continues with Evans but I’ll trust his judgment. He has Patterson looking like a really good prospect and has definitely sorted the defence. I think he deserves a full season regardless of which league we are in next year
I like the way he’s focused on one thing, winning the next game. The defence is spot on now, one goal conceded in six, and that was a silly individual mistake. His substitutes are positive. We just need to start taking the chances and that will happen. Nine straight wins would be nice.
Good point....and, he's not trying to pull wool. I see a bloke telling it at it is, from his own honest point of view.
