There has been a lot of doom and gloom an this board in fact it's been on and (occasionally) off for the past few years and it seems that there is a very vocal bunch who want Jewell gone, I'm certainly not going to disagree that I was never a huge fan of him being here but was determined to get behind my manager for better and for worse, unfortunately the worse seems to be the most regular. I'm at peace with the idea of sacking him, but only if we can get someone good in to take us further, I'm certainly not of the school of thinking of "anyone else will be better" as this is a dangerous road to go down, this would be (probably) the biggest decision in the clubs history. Personally I'm gutted Sean O'Driscoll has gone to Forest he was always my favourite choice before we brought in Jewell So the question is.. Who should replace him? Karl Robinson would be a 'one to consider from me' (Please No Harry Redknapp comments)
I don't think ther will be any change in our fortunes until Clegg goes, we could push the boat out for anybody but if we are being run by somebody (i.e. Clegg) with as much clue as a chimp (sorry all the chimps out there) to running a football club then we are ****ed big time.
Karl Robinson is a good shout, I will put a name out there don't quite know how well it will go down, how about Gary Johnson from Yeovil? was doing well as brizzle before getting shunted out, wasn't doing that bad at Posh before getting the shove.
Whilst I do think things are going a bit overboard after 2 league losses away to Blackpool and Middlesborough, I think we've played well, unfortunately it appears we do not have the killer instinct at either end, we're not too far away from being a very good team in this division. If PJ were to go (I'm not convinced it would be the right decision), I'm also not convinced that we would make the right appointment. Keane was possibly the worst appointment the club could have made whatever the circumstances but particularly because we really did need someone experienced with good man management to come in. I'm not sure who would have been the right appointment after Keane, I don't think it was time for an amatuer, we needed someone to come in sort out the short term mess and change the direction of the club, I think to a certain extent PJ has done that he went to far with the short term though but we need to see the results on the pitch change!!! We now have a core of very good young players that we can build upon. So if we were to replace PJ in my mind we need a young up and coming manager like Karl Robinson to really evolve with the club and take these youngsters on. The direction we appear to be going in now, we don't want a big name manager.
My biggest problem with sacking him is I dont know what the club are playing at. Are we looking for a guy who is certain to get us promoted but can only do it with decent finances or one which can work on a tight budget? For example from our past we have seen both Magilton and Burley were great when they had to look out for bargains and freebies but were totally useless when the joys of cash were given to them. For me the talk of Redknapp is dillusional and none of my ideal choices are available (Adkins, Mowbray, O'Driscoll) Karl Robinson is interesting. He has done well but his predecessors also done well at the club but were failures when the left which to me suggests that they are possibly working with a budget that means they can buy the best available. This is partially backed up with the fact they have had Bentley & Smith on loan and have now signed Bullard. My main wish when Jim got sacked was Curbishley supported by Holland (charlton association) but he has now been out of the game a long time and as everyone is always quick to point out the same can be said of Jewell. Off the top off my head I honestly cant think of a decent contender which is why I have sat on the fence for so long. I also think that the 'lambert' effect at Norwich was a rarity and we should expect a team to be built over a few seasons rather than call for the managers head if we dont automatically turn into a winning team. If Jewell does go then it will be understandable but our support needs to give the new guy time to get his ideas across.
The most damning thing as far as I'm concerned is that we spunked £1.5 Million on a Striker and yet have spent nothing on getting the much needed Centre Backs that we are crying out for! Like everything else at this club over the last few years it just doesn't make any sense! We can speculate on new managers until the cows come home but until we get rid of Clegg we are ****ed! And as for the point that ptc makes that we have only lost 2 games away to good opposition, my point is just look at the GD coloumn and then look at the number of goals we have managed to score! We have lost 3 out of the last 4 and one of those games was against lower league opposition! Mick McCarthy would be good shout as we are in such a mess. He has the experience and won't take any bullshit from those upstairs and he hates Keane so that's good enough for me!
for the first time ever JWM I may have to 100% agree with your post. I think the upper management is the biggest problem but also that the blackpool stuffing cant really be seen as a 1 off as it seems to happen a couple of times a season.
Clegg gets a lot of flack, I have no idea if he does a good job or not but he doesn't seem to come accross that well. But it's all good pointing out Clegg as a problem or PJ as a problem but will things change if these 2 go? Isn't ME the problem, Clegg does what he is told as many have said he's ME puppet!! Sometimes as has been alot of the time with ITFC the thought of getting rid is worse than keeping. I felt that way about Sheepshanks and Jim who both really got hounded out of the club by supporters because they were seen as the problem at the club Not a big fan of Mick McCarthy despite sharing a hatred for Keane!!
But Clegg is the public face of the club so if it is a case of 'we are skint and working on the bare minimum' then tell us and we will lower expectations and ask more questions. There is no talking. Sheepshanks for all his failings was the perfect face of the club and would keep us informed of everything. He would have said if a player needed to be sold to balance the books or if we would have to 'deal' a bit in the summer as there isnt much spare cash. Clegg is probably on a very good wage and although part of his job is rightly behind the scenes then he has to realise that the club may be privately owned but the fans all consider it to be theirs aswell and feel they deserve to be in the loop.
The supporters are being treated like Mushrooms by this club. Always kept in the dark and fed on ****!
Part of Cleggs remit must also include to report to ME if there is any problems with attracting players to the club (i.e. we aren't offering enough), it seems to me that clegg will do anything to save his own skin before doing whats right for the club which is for him to **** off the sooner the better!
