Who's next then?

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Bigal2 said:
I don't know what it would take for me to give up my Season Ticket-I cant envisage it ever getting worse than the McCarthy years!
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Getting relegated to the third tier didn’t put me off - it’s about character and values, not results or who the opponents are going to be. The Farage thing was very troubling for me - failure to condemn rioting in Belfast, libraries being cleared of LGBT material, community projects being defunded, the threat to deport millions of people. I took the apology at face value but if Ashton continued to show a lack of judgement - with my 700 mile round trip to Portman Road - it’s not a given that I’m going to continue to put in the miles and hours unless I can get behind the club.
 
The deal looks done. Judging from the reaction on TWTD I’m not the only one utterly baffled by the appointment. Even more baffling it looks as though Ole was shortlisted and Ashton actually chose O’Neil instead.

The only rationale I can come up with is that Ashton is hurting that McKenna left and decided to give everyone the middle finger in a kamikaze gesture.

Or perhaps it’s the genius level ‘no one can follow McKenna so we’ll put O’Neil in for a few weeks to give the next manager an easy act to follow’ play.
 
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The only thing that’s baffling is that some people think they are in a better position to make the decision than the guy that has been doing the interviews and knows all the details.
 
As I said before, O’Neil feels like an underwhelming appointment. The main context though is that there was a distinct lack of high level available choices. The World Cup made it more difficult for us to bring in an England coach - such as Anthony Barry - or someone like Graham Potter. Managers like Thomas Frank were unavailable. Given we’re a favourite for relegation, maybe the job was not as attractive as some of our supporters on social media believed.

The main positives for O’Neil is that he did keep both Bournemouth and Wolves up in his first seasons with them. That experience is more useful to us than OGS, who failed keeping Cardiff in the Premier League and has worked for a top domestic club everywhere else. O’Neil is also bringing a couple of highly rated coaches with him - such as Neil Critchley - who will hopefully improve us.

My main concern with O’Neil is that he looked completely out of depth in his second season at Wolves. Despite having top players like Cunha, Pedro Neto, Joao Gomes, and Ait-Nouri, they looked relegation certainties before Pereira turned them around with the same squad. Another concern is that both Pereira and Iraola at Bournemouth improved on what O’Neil did, certainly the latter.

McKenna was always going to be massive shoes to fill. Given the available options, it feels like whoever we picked was going to look like a downgrade. I’ll support O’Neil and hope he can keep the pattern going of keeping teams up in his first season. But I really believed we would’ve attracted a higher calibre of manager.
 
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Nuggets said:
As I said before, O’Neil feels like an underwhelming appointment. The main context though is that there was a distinct lack of high level available choices. The World Cup made it more difficult for us to bring in an England coach - such as Anthony Barry - or someone like Graham Potter. Managers like Thomas Frank were unavailable. Given we’re a favourite for relegation, maybe the job was not as attractive as some of our supporters on social media believed.

The main positives for O’Neil is that he did keep both Bournemouth and Wolves up in his first seasons with them. That experience is more useful to us than OGS, who failed keeping Cardiff in the Premier League and has worked for a top domestic club everywhere else. O’Neil is also bringing a couple of highly rated coaches with him - such as Neil Critchley - who will hopefully improve us.

My main concern with O’Neil is that he looked completely out of depth in his second season at Wolves. Despite having top players like Cunha, Pedro Neto, Joao Gomes, and Ait-Nouri, they looked relegation certainties before Pereira turned them around with the same squad. Another concern is that both Pereira and Iraola at Bournemouth improved on what O’Neil did, certainly the latter.

McKenna was always going to be massive shoes to fill. Given the available options, it feels like whoever we picked was going to look like a downgrade. I’ll support O’Neil and hope he can keep the pattern going of keeping teams up in his first season. But I really believed we would’ve attracted a higher calibre of manager.
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A sensible and balanced view as ever,Nuggets.IF/when he is appointed I feel there's a vocal minority who will be against him from the start.
 
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Bigal2 said:
A sensible and balanced view as ever,Nuggets.IF/when he is appointed I feel there's a vocal minority who will be against him from the start.
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Reading some of the posts on TWTD and taking a glance at social media, the pitchforks are out already. A couple of my mates and my brother also think it’s a terrible appointment.

I don’t think it’s terrible, but it’s not an exciting one. I understand - and share - the feeling of being underwhelmed, as I felt when he was first linked. He feels like a downgrade on McKenna, despite having a better Premier League record. He will be more flexible with formations, rather than being wedded to the 4-2-3-1 McKenna stuck by. Maybe that will help? But the style of football is likely to be more pragmatic and less enjoyable. If it keeps us up, then I think we’d all take it.

Ultimately though, hiring Gary O’Neil isn’t going to relegate us. What will relegate us is botching our recruitment. This time, we need to be more ambitious than hiring top end Championship talent. We don’t want or need to recruit with an eye on bouncing back. We have a better chance of survival this season and have improved the facilities in line with a Premier League standard. We have to look for value abroad, look for height and physicality, and learn from our lessons last time while identifying what Sunderland and Leeds both did last year.

If he fails and we’re relegated next season, then serious questions have to asked of Mark Ashton. My general perception is he’s a very effective Championship level CEO, but not Premier League class. Big summer for him to prove otherwise.
 
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I do think it would be terrible and I think the barometer is the connection with the fans. That’s not an afterthought. Some people pointing to his ill judged comments after our encounter with them and his bully boy style and rightfully pointing out both his questionable character and his actual awful performance as a manager. The fans’ perspective matters and has a huge bearing on the chances of success. One of the major factors in getting out of scraping out of League One was the energy around the place and in the stands, the patience and backing for McKenna because we could see that he was building something and he’s a likeable person with exceptional character. I don’t think we expect the next Bobby Robson to walk in the door now but to appoint someone that a decent proportion of fans actually have contempt for may prove to be career suicide for Ashton.

The good news is that the appointment isn’t confirmed yet. Let’s hope Ashton is watching the reaction.
 
Nuggets said:
Reading some of the posts on TWTD and taking a glance at social media, the pitchforks are out already. A couple of my mates and my brother also think it’s a terrible appointment.

I don’t think it’s terrible, but it’s not an exciting one. I understand - and share - the feeling of being underwhelmed, as I felt when he was first linked. He feels like a downgrade on McKenna, despite having a better Premier League record. He will be more flexible with formations, rather than being wedded to the 4-2-3-1 McKenna stuck by. Maybe that will help? But the style of football is likely to be more pragmatic and less enjoyable. If it keeps us up, then I think we’d all take it.

Ultimately though, hiring Gary O’Neil isn’t going to relegate us. What will relegate us is botching our recruitment. This time, we need to be more ambitious than hiring top end Championship talent. We don’t want or need to recruit with an eye on bouncing back. We have a better chance of survival this season and have improved the facilities in line with a Premier League standard. We have to look for value abroad, look for height and physicality, and learn from our lessons last time while identifying what Sunderland and Leeds both did last year.

If he fails and we’re relegated next season, then serious questions have to asked of Mark Ashton. My general perception is he’s a very effective Championship level CEO, but not Premier League class. Big summer for him to prove otherwise.
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We can’t tell what the owners think. We are way ahead of their expectations. Have they reset their expectations, will demand more and he’s on thin ice? Do they even see the nuances down on the ground? Or are they looking at the commercial and revenue success and thinking the sun shines out of his behind?
 
YorkieLancsHampyLondoner said:
I do think it would be terrible and I think the barometer is the connection with the fans. That’s not an afterthought. Some people pointing to his ill judged comments after our encounter with them and his bully boy style and rightfully pointing out both his questionable character and his actual awful performance as a manager. The fans’ perspective matters and has a huge bearing on the chances of success. One of the major factors in getting out of scraping out of League One was the energy around the place and in the stands, the patience and backing for McKenna because we could see that he was building something and he’s a likeable person with exceptional character. I don’t think we expect the next Bobby Robson to walk in the door now but to appoint someone that a decent proportion of fans actually have contempt for may prove to be career suicide for Ashton.

The good news is that the appointment isn’t confirmed yet. Let’s hope Ashton is watching the reaction.
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Are these the same supporters who were booing and arguing with Morsy after the Bristol rovers game? We're a very fickle bunch, football supporters. We'll all be wanting to kiss him if he gets the team buzzing on the pitch and keep us up
 
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Comes down to the fact some ‘fans’ love to moan and by doing so they can feel a superiority if it doesn’t work out
(Which is often the case in football if you wait long enough most managers will fail).

I will back him and the club fully as I’ve always done and not be over critical of every little decision safe in the knowledge that all at the club are aiming for success in a business where success is soon forgotten.

‘We’ve got Super Gary O’Neil ……………and so on.
 
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Bigal2 said:
I don't know what it would take for me to give up my Season Ticket-I can't envisage it ever getting worse than the McCarthy years!
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Damn fecking right, nothing can ever be that bad!! Altho I recall there were a few on here, that I had several run ins with, that liked MM,
 
I just wonder if all the noise around O'Neil is a smokescreen,I'm probably wrong but just a thought.
 
Bigal2 said:
I just wonder if all the noise around O'Neil is a smokescreen,I'm probably wrong but just a thought.
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Let’s hope so!

On the topic of what’s valid for supporters to be thinking. Anything is. If you don’t care who the manager is and you’ll back them regardless. That’s up to you. Similarly, if you care passionately. That’s also valid. If you want to keep frustrations quiet. Valid. If you want to rant. Also valid. These chairmen and managers are on millions and they have ultimate control so for me they are accountable for the fortunes of the club. Players and supporters have a voice and I hope it’s listened to.

Mark Ashton is all about being as one but it’s up to him to facilitate and cultivate that. I want the experience of going to watch or play for Ipswich Town to be rapturous, not a chore and I genuinely believe our best chance of staying in the division is when the energy at Portman Road and in the stand at away days is joyful and contagious between the players, manager and fans. If McKenna had stayed in the building I don’t think being back in Europe within a few years would have been beyond us, even. Shirt sales, waiting lists. That was the Morsy and McKenna effect. Appointing O’Neil would be a massive, self inflicted downgrade on all of that.
 
When McKenna 1st arrived, pretty much everyone said who??? and because no one knew anything, he was given a fair chance to put his ideas into place and what a ride he took us on. With someone like GON who comes with baggage (as would any “known” manager), supporters already have their feelings about them and will look for anything to prove that they are right. He is not even through the door yet and there is already division - have a read of TWTD forums (I’m not on there but like to have a read for a laugh). If we were to let’s say, lose the 1st 4 games of next season which is not an impossibility, I think the chants for his head will already start
 
McKenna has never kept a team in the premier league but O’Neil has, supporters sulking because they didn’t get the manager that they wanted is a tad immature, it’s fine to moan and have an opinion but try not to place any importance on your own opinion, supporters are there to support the clue is in the name, we all think that we know what’s best what should be done who we should buy who should be playing how we should play who should be allowed to visit the stadium but among the supporters those things are rarely agreed upon, so to say the club should listen to supporters is impossible, which supporters?.
 
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