Few League One comments earlier, interesting to see how the results went today. A good point for Ipswich in the end coming from 2 down but yet another draw. Sheff Wed probs a bit disappointed in the end but avoiding defeat isn't the end of the world. Plymouth responded with a win and go back top, they continue to impress and strengthened their place given Ipswich drew and Derby finally lost for the first time in 16 games at Wycombe. Massive wins for 10 man Barnsley and Bolton beating Peterborough 5-0 away, thats impressive. All still to play for down the bottom, Burton the winners on the day winning one nowt to move out of the bottom four. EDIT - Hell of a freekick from Nathan Broadhead today
But Jack Ross had to deal with Methven and Donald running the club, not backing him in with both transfers and back room coaches/support. And they were quick to hang him out to dry and undermine him ( Josh Maja) when it suited. Beheadie Howe has spunked £125 million in a year on forwards. The best you can say about Beheadie is that he's tightened up their defence. He's not Jack Ross, he's Phil "fracking" Parkinson
I liked Jack Ross. I think he will be a good gaffer in the future. He wasn't suited to L1 football tbh, would do OK in the Championship I reckon.
I think he's finished. Career been in a downward spiral since leaving us. Hard to recover from being sacked after 7 games at a club
Stoke fans turning against Neil in large numbers (if the Oatcake is a reasonable barometer) Delightful
He was on the back foot from the start with some of their fans. The owners have wanted him for a few years apparently but the fans never did.
His problem was he jumped into two basket case clubs after leaving us. Hibs were struggling when he took over, and had had a bit of a managerial turn over. He kept them up and got them into Europe the following season, but they never seemed to have the stability or finances to kick on. Then he gets sacked with them not doing great, not that they've done much better since getting rid of him. Then he goes to Dundee United, who were even worse. When your predecessor gets the club into Europe but decided to quit to go and manage in Hungary with Honved, a team that just avoided relegation and can't sign anyone because of financial problems, you have to wonder what kind of mess Dundee United were in. Going to those two has damaged his career. He has to be very careful picking his next job
I think he needs a job back in England tbf. No point pissing about at the lower Scottish teams. Needs to bite the bullet and take a job down here.
The football we played at the start of that season was excellent. Something changed around the time we lost Maja and he went ultra defensive
I did like his style at the beginning but then he did change as you say. He went from going for wins to not wanting to get beat which didn't seem natural to him. Shame. Always spoke very well.
8 wins in a row from October to November and 2 defeats in 26 had us perfectly placed, but what followed was horrific. To fail to get promoted with that squad was criminal
I always felt we had no style under Ross, it was like 11 individuals making it up as they went along, which usually saw us win because we had several who were well above L1 standard. Might explain the bizarre xG stats then also. Very low. Goals perhaps from individual skill rather than a cohesive pattern of play. Perhaps.
The squad wasn't that strong, in all honesty. Maja scored goals up until he left, McLaughlin was a good, solid keeper and McGeady had quality. The first choice starting team was good, but any injuries or loss of form showed how paper thin the squad really was. And that January transfer window weakened us instead of strengthening us. Grigg never wanted to here, Wyke struggled for form when he was fit as he didn't suit how we wanted to play. Maguire went started well, but by the end of the season started to turn up when he felt like it, and Baldwin and Flanagan always had a mistake or two in them. Personally, I think with out Maja to score goals and how vulnerable we were at the back, he became defensive to cover those weaknesses. As the league was tight that year, we never had much wiggle room for errors. Once our legs started to come off after the Checkatrade, some heads dropped and we stumbled into the play offs and he reacted to that. How different would it have been if we'd kept Maja or not wasted all that on Grigg, we can only guess. But I'd think we'd have certainly finished the season much stronger
That was certainly a problem we had with the recruitment then. When you remember we wanted to sign Mo Eisa but he chose Bristol City. Then it was Lyle Taylor, but he went to Charlton. Two pacey forwards to run the channels and get in behind. We don't get them, so we recruit Charlie Wyke, a target man, strong in the air but not much pace better suited to crosses in or being played into the penalty area. It was a scatter gun approach, not one with a thought out structure, so you couldn't really put a philosophy in place because you had different types of players who suit different styles. And for that I don't blame the manager, I blame Methven and Donald and the way they did things in a small time way
There'll be a madman along soon to tell you the club wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the two chancers mind....
