It occurred to me when I was listening to an interview he did the other day. It was all about we are one team, all 25 players in the first team squad, + management + owners and (KB ) fans. All going together in one direction, he said, or some similar phrase. The reserves and first team all play in the same way, train together, he watches the reserves (and youth players) etc etc - just struck me this was a man with a clear vision of the sort of club he wanted, and was there for the long haul. Reminded me of the Revie era - even though of course it was easier to achieve then, as players were not paid fortunes, no agents, no Sky millions available, and players tended to stay with a club for longer.
Guys with regard to Brian McDermott and his 12-years at Reading. He has gained the respect of everyone inside the game and everyone seems to know who he is and what he's done. he is still one of the top scouts in the European game and he knows everyone. So for me he is the manager we stick with whatever happens, as he is not over promising us anything, he tells the truth to the fans and we can all see that every player on the park wants to play for him. He doesn't slag players off and pass the blame onto them for bad performaces and results. He tells the media what he needs and hopes the owners back him. If they don't back him and we suffer it will be the owners who get stick When we do get promoted we will be one of the favourites for relegation and thats a fact. Our owners will not be able to do a chelsea they will only be able to do what hull have done this season or what wigan and Stoke did. It will need to be baby steps and continual improvement and in fact a relegation or 2 may make us stronger as the parachute payments allow us to spend and improve again to get stronger. Reading fooked up big time when they sacked BMD, as he knew he wouldn't be able to spend huge cash. When he went and the other guy took over with no luck, you just knew it was a pointless sacking. Brian had done the best with what he was given and he gave the people of Reading their first taste of prem football. The fans down there won't forget him either. We need some long term decisions now that Bates has gone.
completely agree Doc. spot on. Except I would say getting relegated and yo-yoing back up is not as easy as it sounds, what we need to do is somehow hang in there for the first two seasons and gradually get stronger. On being sacked by Reading, not blaming Adkins as I rate him, but there were relegated anyway, and I did notice they were hammered 6-0 in the cup recently. I wonder if BM allowed himself a smile when he heard that.
2020 WBA only got to where they are now by bouncing up and down, in fact they budgeted for it and it has paid off with dividends. But completley agree that carfull, steady stewardship will bring rewards and long term safety. I see Forest are chasing Bakary Sako the Wolves winger? Is he any good? but the Vaz Te story is still around and i've just read a great piece about him: http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-vaz-te-hands-in-transfer-request-at-west-ham where he tells the fans why he has handed in a transfer request and the guy seems a real genuine character. In summary he says sam asked him to play out of position even though he was the clubs top scorer who got them promoted by hitting the net 24 times. he was out for 3-months and still finished up as the clubs top scorer and the clubs mosts assists and the as he was playing on the wing last season still finished up as the prems top scoring winger ....
Doc, Sako is awesome but will put any club back around 1.5m-2m I'd imagine. As I have also said, Vaz Te is pure class and especially at this level but I'm really struggling to believe it. Also I woulda thought that we would be looking at an out and out winger rather than a striker that occasionally plays on the wing
We need to do exactly what Norwich did really. They hung in for two seasons without producing anything particularly special (although they were quite good in their first season under Lambert), and now they're established they've been able to bring in players with a little more quality. I'd be very surprised if they were sucked into a relegation scrap now
Cheers fellas, all solid stuff. I do worry though that if this feel good factor and BMD's positive part in it continues, we might have to find a new team to support as we'll have soo little to moan or worry about. Heyho, I'll cope.
Guys in that vein then, how about this: Would you agree that BMD is from the same mould as Adkins and Lambert? Adkins did a great job at Southampton and was shafted and sacked, and Lambert who was great at Norwich left of his own free will and went to Villa. Villa gave him no money and he decided to bring their kids on and he has done an awesome job, even though he took some stick to start with. Even Delph is shining now under him and he takes no **** from the likes of Bent. he sticks with his policy and it works. 2 of those managers won back to back promotions and the other missed out in play-offs before gaining promotion the following year. I say stick with them and they will give you trophy's at some stage. Hate to say it but look at the scum
Bosman's Stephen Hunt (Noel's older brother) & David Bentley are still without a club If we can not sign a player before the window closes, they both could still be signed after it. Just a thought!
Bentley is ex Spurs and as such, his wages might be a problem. More to the point, he's been drifting along for a couple of years or so. Not sure he'd actually be guaranteed a starting spot in our team, daft though that may sound.
Bentley was great at blackburn and did well for England U-18, U-21 and England senior level. he had skill and used it to great effect and was compared to Beckham and even the media posted stories about him being the new Beckham. I liked him and can't understand what happened when he went to Spurs, as he was **** under Gus and **** under harry and was then sent out on loan to Russia, West Ham, Birmingham so what the fook happened because you don't turn into a pile of shyte just like that? From what I understand he is wanted by a host of clubs in Germany, Spain, Chezh, Russia so guess he's waiting to see who to chose, cant see him running down the right wing at ER anytime soon, but would give him a go. Guess he believed his own press
Wouldn't take Bentley. Can't see him fitting into the team ethic McDermott's creating, he seems to have a big ego, definitely believed his own press. I'd imagine his wage demands would be ridiculous as well, off the back of 2/3 good seasons at Blackburn a while ago. Stephen Hunt might be worth a go on a short term contract if we come up short in the search for a winger though, at least then we'd have an option...
I think he had a point to prove at Blackburn first time around after Arsenal let him go! Since then I agree he has believed his own press, yet at just 29 if he wanted to prove himself I can not see a better team than Leeds and BM. He will soon be forgotten abroad. Plus we are on the up and a 2 year deal would put him back in the shop window for his last big contract at 31, I suppose it depends how long his contract offers abroad are for?
Evening all Bentley coming to us despite how much I would like won't happen. We are more likely to get Hunt but I think we'll get another lower league player that has something to prove in the Champs. Arsenal and the Scum have got a history of letting good kids go with something to prove and there are too many of them to count.
