... A bit of a different thread to the recent 'Who should be next Town manager' but I thought I would go with the debate of how the next Blackburn manager discussion will affect us and who is available. I've seen Keith Hill being strongly linked as well as Mick McCarthy, Billy Davies and Karl Robinson. It's a big decision for a club and I think Blackburn will plump (if they have any sense) for McCarthy or Hughes when he gets sacked from QPR. I'd love us to get Keith Hill (as I've said many times before I think he's a good footballing guy who has turned Barnsley into a good team with limited resources) It's fair to say the Managerial merry go round is yet to kick off but I imagine someone will flinch soon and then there will be some trigger happy owners, hopefully ours included and we may end up with the likes of Nigel Pearson or Nigel Adkins being available and then it's a case of strike while the iron is hot in my opinion
No one in their right mind will want to go to Blackburn. They might well have the big resources but no respecting manager will want interference from the owners. They don't know the first thing about how to run a football club (sounds familiar!) but to actually pick the team for the manager is just plain mad! Even the faceless one wouldn't do that or is this going to be Jewell's latest excuse! I want to see Mick McCarthy as the next Town manager when Jewell finally gets his marching orders after the Cardiff game next Saturday. We then have a 2 week international break which will be the perfect time for him to come in and assess the squad (god help him) before we start again.
Has Jewell gone? I find it difficult to believe a change in manager can truly turn the club around, unless the players have lost respect for the current boss. The players are usually the ones that should shoulder the majority if the blame and yet remain, generally, unscathed. You can't really sack some players, especially with some commanding the transfer fees they do. The easiest, and cheapest, option is always to get rid of the manager. At our lowest point, we shook up the board room as well as the management team. Lambert used the small budget we had to bring in pure grit and determination. He got players he knew would fight for him. I'm honestly interested in what you guys think is wrong there, do you think it is all Jewell or is a board room shake up required? Do they players you have there have the heart?
The whole club needs one almighty shake down from top to bottom but I'm not holding my breath! Something is fundamentaly wrong inside our club and its no coincidence that things started to go wrong as soon as ME and his lacky got involved. It will take more than sacking the manager to solve all our ills but at least its a start and may well signal a whole different approach in tactics and player recruitment. We need a stromg and experienced manager and Mick McCarthy would be the ideal choice. This season is all about survival i'm afraid but with the right man in charge and a good summer of sensible signings we should be in the mix for next season. Relegation doesn't bear thinking about as I really don't think we would recover quickly especially with this clueless owner in charge.
Of course the players should share some of the blame but we've seen it many times before where a new manager can come into a club and do a lot better with the SAME players at his disposal. JWM is right, things having been going steadily backwards ever since ME arrived and something's not right. It's actually embarrassing to have an owner as wealthy as ours and be in the position we are in.
Not disputing a manager change can turn things around if the players have lost faith in the manager. The fact a manager change with the SAME players can culminate in a change in fortune only shows that, again, the players are mainly to blame i.e they always had in their gift to win again. It's a strange one...
Exactly JWM, what if he's telling Cressy "don't go forwards too much in case you leave a hole at the back" rather than "bomb on lad and get some crosses in". It's only one example I know but shows how one player can be used completely differently.
I agree with JWM that something is fundamentally wrong with our club. Looking back now, one of the things that worries me greatly is that at ITFC we had Shane Supple who decided to QUIT being a pro footballer??!! - On the basis that this "job" is most peoples dream, what was it at ITFC that made him reach that decision??
Not meaning this to be as a comment in favour of keeping Jewell but until the heirarchy at this club comes out and explains what they want to achieve having taken nearly two thirds of our wage budget away in 3 seasons (£11m down on the y/e 2010 results) then I think we are in for a long period of frustration. Certain fans (not those on here but ones I hear at the ground/ on the radio) seem to think that we are still competing on the same terms that saw Keane appointed and splash £7m in one transfer window. We have had a complete turn around in policy yet the club has kept quiet and made Jewells job even harder then it needs to be. I'm not saying he has done a decent job at all but I think fans would have accepted lower standards if the club had made the operating spectrum clearer, even though current results would still not be acceptable. This change of attitude may also affect the next appointment. As we have seen in the past, managers capable of working without cash (Burley, Magilton) can not always make the adjustment to spend money and the opposite is nearly always true.
Not sure about Shane Supple, but I do remember at Plymouth a few years ago watching Magilton talking to Supple on the pitch before the match (Richard Wright was a last minute fitness test pass, I believe) and, I kid you not, apparently whacking him with a rolled-up newspaper! In other news, although McCarthy would be a rocket under the team, I'm inclined to steer away from another journeyman. His record isn't as great as we all seem to think and personally I'd prefer a young, fresh coach, maybe a #2 or in a lower league who's ready to kick on and build a reputation for himself... a David Moyes type. Just wish I could think of one
I quite like McCarthy but he reportedly turned down Forest in the summer because he wants a premier league job and Im also not sure that with our current financial contractions we could afford to pay anyone of his experience His overall record is Managed 672, won 264, drawn 175, lost 233- win % 39.29 The win % can be broken down as 36.45% Millwall, 44.23% Ireland, 42.86% Sunderland, 38.52% Wolves. Jewells current Ipswich win % is 36.59 and an overall career of 38.84% Not that you can take alot from stats alone as it doesnt put anything into context but thought I would add it to the discussion.
So what tactical decisions is PJ getting wrong? I am assuming that you feel either his selection or tactics are questionable, genuinely interested I'm not taking the piss.
It's fair to say the balance of our side is something that has been questionable for some time. We have good attacking full backs who offer us a lot going forward (one of our main strengths on our day) but also leave our two CB's isolated. Hyam is well loved on this forum (rose tinted spectacles in my opinion) and he is a real talent at breaking up play and covering the DM role. We also have brought in a lump at CM (N'Diaw) and LM (Murphy) to give us some more bite and physical presence which is fine but we lack a physical presence up front to partner Chops, Taylor, Scotland or Martin and flair when the Lumps are playing across midfield. So to answer your question the tactics are probably a little off as we have been gung ho (and not scoring) and the team selection* has not been one that has smacked of consistency as it's difficult to guess what PJ considers as his best XI (he clearly doesn't know - which isn't a complete disaster) but he should have an idea and be sticking to it. Which he sort of has.... It just hasn't been working *Obviously every supporter has the luxury of the armchair and so I won't be too critical of team selection as I don't see the players in training or even know what they are like at a personal level but I'm sure at every club - even one that's winning the fan's will have issues with player selections..
From our home games at least, I dont think he has got many things tactically wrong. The problem being with our form than whatever happens fans will have a go at the tactic selected, as with all teams, play 1 upfront to make things tighter (in theory anyway) and you are accused of being negative. Play 2 up front get opened up and your an idiot for being adventurous. Not saying we havent got problems but I think alot of the problems come from the training ground routine rather than the actual tactics (formation etc) used on match days. We have got into plenty of goal scoring positions in the home games and have failed to take 75% of what I would call easy chances. We can have the majority of the play, fail to capitalise and concede a sloppy goal through poor judgement. With Higginbotham coming in, Im hoping that the defensive fraility will be partially irridicated (hes good but not a god!) as he appears to be a good communicator and knows what he is doing, ie when to just give it the big hoof rather than being clever). I also think alot of our errors are down to a lack of confidence. We concede 1 goal currently and the team seems to give up. Its worrying how little belief they seem to have and until we get a run going then I think this will be one of our biggest problems.
I would also have to say, as KOPR has alluded to, our actual squad is very badly balanced which means we do have to make compromises on who plays rather than a team of 11 players who compliment each other well.
My own personal view is our full backs play like wing backs. I think with these 2 (Cresswell & Edwards) in the team, we need to play with 3 CB's & play 3-5-2. However, due to a managerial masterclass, we don't have 3 CB's so can't play this system. BTW - This isn't a wind up, I just feel with the players we have (other than at CB), 3-5-2 would suit us better
