I am generally mr optimistic and am not keen on speaking bad of people who I think did their best but failed. Moyes though makes my blood boil. I do not think he ever wanted to be here and I would rank him my least favourite manager of my time. I dont think he gave it his all. I try not to hold a grudge but i think he has a lot to answer for at our club. He has done a great job of re-writing history about his time here to get everyone to blame the club for his abject failure and think he was blameless.
I think his biggest problem was he'd decided to take the job and signed his contract. Then he realised what a **** state the club was actually in, he then I believe gave up before he even stated, that to me is inexcusable,
I think that is quite probably what happened. Things must have been bad at SAFC for him to take that approach though and other people must have been aware of it too as I know for a fact that, despite all that, he's still highly regarded by his peers.
I think he knew before he started mate and took it anyway for his profile. He will have got the inside track from Allardyce before he signed. To me he spent his time telling everyone it wasnt his fault while putting himself in the window so as not to be forgotten. Every interview i saw looked like he had given up but was talking for his next job.
You know when Salford spent their way through the leagues, then when they reached league Two they couldn't do it any more as they had stricter regulations to follow. Yeah, that.
I'm really interested in the SAFC recruitment team, potential signings and eventual squad ... ... yet couldn't give a monkey's about Wigan, Ipswich or f*****g Wrexham.
Wrexham's 2018-19 attendance figures averaged about 4,600 (3,600 to 8,400) and were approx 2.5 to 3 times those achieved by Salford and Salford's record home attendance is only 4,500 against a championship Leeds Utd in the league cup. When I used to watch Wrexham in D3 as a teenager their crowds were between 16 to 20 thousand. So I'm sure the owners are happy that, unlike Salford, Wrexham will have enough income to cope with the financial fair play regs they are bound to comply with.
Smug, posters are always going to make benchmarking comparisons with other clubs, you'll just have to ignore what you aren't interested in.
Fair enough, consider me put back in me box. I just meant that I can't see Wrexham doing the equivalent when they are in league football. Salford did the same with Adam Rooney when they were non league, but have not managed to replicate the equivalent now they are in league two. Maybe it would be different for Wrexham, I guess time will tell.
To be honest, getting out of the national league is so tough (with only 2 teams promoted) that, after 14 years of trying (including numerous play-off and play-off final defeats) just the thought of seeing Wrexham in League 2 still seems a bit remote. The high profile ownership means that Wrexham are a marked team and now every game will be the opposition's cup final. I've set up to enjoy the ride and the comparison of KLD's ultra professional approach with that of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
Appreciate that mate, it just gets a bit daft when other clubs signings are used as a stick to beat us with, especially when those players aren't what we need or wouldn't fit our style. Also, as you know, a player might want to come here and be offered better terms but his missus simply puts the block on it. I've just spent 15 months, in rural SW France, where Mrs Smug was going nuts. Covid has changed everyone's perceptions and outlook. Moving to a new area is often exciting because you can socialise, join groups/clubs/gyms, explore the area, etc. But, imagine if there's another lock down. You could have a players wife stuck in a new house/area for weeks, even months without family and friends being able to visit. As much as I love the Sunderland area I can't expect everyone to feel the same.
Saw an interview with LJ earlier today that said Pritchard looked 3-4 weeks behind everyone else before he got COVID so will be another 2 weeks behind everyone (LJs words not mine). not massively encouraging considering his (potentially unfair) “reputation” from Huddersfield fans
Definitely think we won’t see him up and running fully until September at least. Not the worst thing in the word though. Means we should really need to keep hold of Embleton and give him a chance in that position before bringing Pritchard in to challenge him. We have gone from zero central attacking midfielders last season to potentially two quality ones this season.