[Archived] Back Or Sack?

[Proudtobeblue&white]

I chose not to attend the Bournemouth game, I was looking forward to Friday's game. What a crock......that was not a team picked to come out of the traps like a greyhound, more tortoise IMO. What did he have to lose? We needed to take the game to the bottom club......I don't believe GB has any right to have a go at us......we cannot pick the team, his job, Gary, it was a bad week at the office!

[AllRoverAsia]

Maybe he'd be good at this one?

There's a job for DJ too!

[davulsukur]

Personally I liked the rolling 12 month contract that Mark Hughes had here. It worked for both parties. Many on here argue that Bowyer has only had twelve months so it would be decision time on his new contract.

He's on a 12 month rolling contract as well but I imagine that it doesn't need renewing, we just pay him 12 months if he gets binned off.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I've finally lost patience. I'm leaning towards getting rid of our super coach.

The post Yeovil match interview from GB actually made me angry. Mumbling how the fans should be happy we're not in a relegation battle after the previous 3 years. He's kind of like a boring girlfriend that you tolerated for sex, but now she's gone all celibate.

Nah, nothing in football's that bad.

[TBTF]

Nah, nothing in football's that bad.

I am moving away from the stability crap and saying he was uncontroversial and a safe pair of hands who wouldn't rock any boats whilst the dust settled and wouldn't be too demanding ie grateful to have the job. That's completely different to stability. 19 players brought in , bus loads out on loan and the probability that we will have lost £25million this season is not stability in any business we would recognise.

But it has been like having a PE teacher in charge of the team completely one dimensional, very limited tactically and always wanting to stay loyal to the little group he has chosen. Not always an easy environment to work in for various reasons but its a shot to nothing for him personally because he can always point to ''circumstances''. So at micro level he has done ok as a fairly cheap option whilst Venkys dither a bit longer and wonder what to do next.. However the macro level is that we need to get promoted financially and the fans demand at least a massive attempt at it if there is to be an ounce of recovery from past glories and PL status.

The macro level is a major failure therefore and he is most definitely not the guy to pick this up by its boot laces and march us forward. I hate to say it but Sean Dyche would have had us in the play offs at least as would McClaren , and probably several others.Tactics, respect and track record of success would be trademarks that we cannot identify with after a season and a bit of GB. Get him back to his Academy richer for the experience, thank him for his efforts and bring in a proven manager not somebody learning on the job.

Not something we have a recent history of doing well but until we do its going absolutely nowhere and more and more fans will drop off.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I am moving away from the stability crap and saying he was uncontroversial and a safe pair of hands who wouldn't rock any boats whilst the dust settled and wouldn't be too demanding ie grateful to have the job. That's completely different to stability. 19 players brought in , bus loads out on loan and the probability that we will have lost £25million this season is not stability in any business we would recognise.

But it has been like having a PE teacher in charge of the team completely one dimensional, very limited tactically and always wanting to stay loyal to the little group he has chosen. Not always an easy environment to work in for various reasons but its a shot to nothing for him personally because he can always point to ''circumstances''. So at micro level he has done ok as a fairly cheap option whilst Venkys dither a bit longer and wonder what to do next.. However the macro level is that we need to get promoted financially and the fans demand at least a massive attempt at it if there is to be an ounce of recovery from past glories and PL status.

The macro level is a major failure therefore and he is most definitely not the guy to pick this up by its boot laces and march us forward. I hate to say it but Sean Dyche would have had us in the play offs at least as would McClaren , and probably several others.Tactics, respect and track record of success would be trademarks that we cannot identify with after a season and a bit of GB. Get him back to his Academy richer for the experience, thank him for his efforts and bring in a proven manager not somebody learning on the job.

Not something we have a recent history of doing well but until we do its going absolutely nowhere and more and more fans will drop off.

I agree with you. My remark you quoted was a misguided attempt to lighten the general mood.

[Husky]

That says more about you than her!

Although a metaphor comparing Bowyer's football to sex is a bit strong too.

I was meaning more her becoming a nun.

[USABlue]

I thought that! Howe and McCarthy are the same. tbh I think the same applies to Mourhino and Pellegrino.... I dont think they want to win the Premier League either!

Just odd that several time we can touch the playoffs only to mail one in when we need to just win.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

He's on a 12 month rolling contract as well but I imagine that it doesn't need renewing, we just pay him 12 months if he gets binned off.

I know but it can't be incentive driven, ie with a promotion bonus, unless his first bonus was top 10 finish. If promotion rather than safety was the incentive surely we'd of gone for it on Friday rather than try not to concede a goal.

[den]

I think what we're seeing on the pitch and what we hear from the manager is what you get when you have a "long term plan".

It's a dangerous route to go down when a manager loses sight of taking every game as it comes, isn't demanding of the very best at all times and is happy just to see a slight improvement at the end of the season. To take that kind of stance is just ridiculous, because at what point do you change from accepting a slight improvement, to demanding we win every game possible and get promoted? That should be the aim at all times, not at some point in the future. Tomorrow never comes.

[JBiz]

I think what we're seeing on the pitch and what we hear from the manager is what you get when you have a "long term plan".

It's a dangerous route to go down when a manager loses sight of taking every game as it comes, isn't demanding of the very best at all times and is happy just to see a slight improvement at the end of the season. To take that kind of stance is just ridiculous, because at what point do you change from accepting a slight improvement, to demanding we win every game possible and get promoted? That should be the aim at all times, not at some point in the future. Tomorrow never comes.

In a way I completely agree however we ain't a normal club with average aspiration any more. The club haemorrhaged talent, experience, money and sanity. Without those four ingredients, moving forward is impossible and I think GBs first season has been reasonably successful considering what went before.

Analogies are not my strong point but expecting a generous level of success for this season was akin to expecting an athlete to hit the ground running after 3 years of injuries.

I could be slammed again for thinking like this but the level of optimism and expectations alone speaks volumes for Gary's progress this year. It had got to the point last year where I just didn't want to lose anymore or see anymore sodding headlines.

The shame is, if it wasn't for inconsistency - we'd be easily in a promotion position. It's quite easy to think we'd be there with a more experienced manager and team also- and therein lies the frustration.

Without experience, we will always lack that consistent edge. It's a proven fact. The question remains; do we stick of twist?

In a normal club at this point - I say thanks Gary and offer him reserve manager or nothing for next season. I then would interview Malky Mackay or other proven managers (not sherwood esq coaches) and appoint someone whose happy to work low budget with that experience in this league or above.

It's a pointless thought though, because we are not a normal club. As I had said a million times, the precedent suggests that Gary's replacement will likely be in the ilk of Colin Hendry! Personally, I'd rather shave my head and wear leggings than see that.

[Stuart]

JB, at what point does 'the last three years' stop being an excuse for mediocrity?

Because, before you know it, we will be saying 'the last four years', etc, etc.

Make no mistake, we have had chance after chance to reach the play-offs THIS season but the manager hasn't taken the appropriate action during matches to capitalise.

What is going to change next season?

[Peter]

Trouble with Bowyer as far as I can tell is that he earned respect initially by being sincere, frank and self-effacing. No bull and no shortage of empathy for the supporters. I don't think too many were under the illusion that he'd suddenly make us an all-conquering outfit this season as Dyche has Burnley, but that was tempered by the fact that he was appreciably a trustworthy bloke of principal who, lets be fair, saved us from the indignity of successive relegations last campaign.

However.......

It has reached the point now whereby I actually find not just the contents of his post match "insights" irritating, but more so the fact that he has freewheeled into the irksome territory that Kean did where reality is suspended; and the man representing Rovers on the rock-face has once more jerry-built a facade so false that it is undermining the affections of yet more from a stadium that is already as empty as the Rao's heads. Blinkered gratification and wilful defiance of the facts are not what I want to hear from the Rovers manager, even less so after a black hole in footballing basics that was insult enough without the spiteful swiping of a man scarcely qualified to sugar-coat such poor fair. With just 3 fixtures remaining or "to be fulfilled" if you look through the prosaic eyes of GB, it is beyond my fathom why you would opt against putting a lowly Yeovil to the sword and instead actively seek to protect a barely beneficial point. But alas, if you are to judge his job security through his post-match comments it has to be said that he has assumed a level of ease and self-satisfaction that his personality is in my view ill-suited to do. Then again thats the Rao's for you. They wouldn't recognise a decent manager if it was sat in the dugout hence the sacking of Allardyce, loyalty to Kean and endorsement of the tenderfeet of Berg and Appleton.

As the shadows lengthened on Friday we looked less and less likely to score and GB as ever resembled a cold daguerrotype. He has had good steady backing from the owners and supporters and remarkably failed to ingratiate himself with many and continuing to condemn those who attend is just exceptionally silly. Im not yet in the "Sack" camp by any means but I can't abide the notion that we cant expect better. Yes much of GB's work has been worthy of gratitude and he's done well to heal some of the ballistic trauma and general maltreatment that the club has suffered, but to elevate him as if he's as resourceful as Admirable Crichton - when he's signed just shy of two-teams-worth of players - and just submit to the party line that the club is performing at the peak of its powers, because of the variety of lows we've suffered in recent times, is in my view defeatist. People are right to be cautious with regard to the Rao's track record of recruiting managers, that doesn't make GB infallible though and when he and his players deliver performances like that and he makes remarks like he did, they become fair game for scrutiny from those who have sacrificed time and money on a precious Bank Holiday to sit through it. "Push for promotion"? The only thing they're pushing is their luck

[JBiz]

JB, at what point does 'the last three years' stop being an excuse for mediocrity?

Because, before you know it, we will be saying 'the last four years', etc, etc.

Make no mistake, we have had chance after chance to reach the play-offs THIS season but the manager hasn't taken the appropriate action during matches to capitalise.

What is going to change next season?

It you can't take into account the reality we find ourselves in then what can I say? It's not an imaginary concept that the club is bereft of any experience- it's a fact.

And as of next season- we have a platform of "stability" to build on. Can see less major ins and outs, so expectation has to be higher. Simple as.

[den]

It you can't take into account the reality we find ourselves in then what can I say? It's not an imaginary concept that the club is bereft of any experience- it's a fact.

And as of next season- we have a platform of "stability" to build on. Can see less major ins and outs, so expectation has to be higher. Simple as.

I guess what you mean by the reality of the situation, is what's gone on in the past. It doesn't matter, it makes no difference. Bowyer has his own squad and if the majority of fans are to be believed, it can compare with the best squads in the league. The argument that we would have been happy with a mid table finish at the beginning of the season means nothing. Judge the games as they come. Should we have performed better than we did? Should we have got points from games that we lost? We aren't in the PL, it's a mediocre league at best and there's no reason to accept losing half of the games we have.

Would a ferguson, Mourinnho or any other decent manager walk into a club and hide behind the past, or would they walk in and demand that everything starts now?

[Stuart]

It you can't take into account the reality we find ourselves in then what can I say? It's not an imaginary concept that the club is bereft of any experience- it's a fact.

And as of next season- we have a platform of "stability" to build on. Can see less major ins and outs, so expectation has to be higher. Simple as.

The club is bereft of experience, I agree. Including the playing staff. We are missing exactly that a major 'in' (I.e. An experienced player, successful at Championship level).

So how can you say, without that 'expectation has to be higher'? If anything, I'd say the opposite, Bowyer's brand of 'stability' (if you call mountains of debt that the club couldn't support, and a probable transfer embargo 'stability') is actually lowering expectation. So much so that a top half finish next season will probably been seen as a success. We are not yet guaranteed that this season by the way.

Just think if Bowyer loses his job for not finishing 10th, when we were in touching distance of the play-offs for so long...

[ABBEY]

And they wouldn't slag the fans either

[Stuart]

it is beyond my fathom why you would opt against putting a lowly Yeovil to the sword and instead actively seek to protect a barely beneficial point.

Mine too.

I guess you have to be very astute to consider Yeovil's record of 4 away wins, plus that recent point against promotion-elect Leicester to understand that they are actually a tough team, despite being bottom after 43 games.

"Y'know there are no easy games in the championship. We don't have a divine right to beat anyone in this league. Today's 0-0 draw proves that. It doesn't matter that they are 18 points below us, remember Birmingham won the League Cup not that long ago. Yeovil winning at St. Andrews earlier in the season just shows how hard we've had to battle in these last two games. But we are still only 4 points away from 6th so we are still in the hunt and we look forward to the next game against Charlton. The fans who are with me will move on be able to move on from this - except of course when I need to remind them about the last three years. And when I say 'the last three years' of course I make no accusations at all in the direction of Pune."

[Riverside67]

Stuart you can hardly say Dyche is the most experienced manager on the planet.

The difference is he is braver and has a stronger will to win than what we have seen from Bowyer so far.

Leadership qualities.is my main question mark

[broadsword]

how about tactical awareness?

[LDRover]

I wonder if Dyche was given objectives of consolidation from his board pre-season and responded with something along the lines of "sod that, no point accepting mediocrity before a ball is kicked, we can push for the play offs at least"

I'd assume Gary just had a 1 to 1 with Balaji and an Honest Joe of Delhi bet slip as he tapped the side of his nose.

[Stuart]

Stuart you can hardly say Dyche is the most experienced manager on the planet.

I must have missed where I said he was.

But he's still light years ahead of our 'head coach'.

In fact, I suspect Bowyer is the better coach our if the two of them but there is no doubt in my mind that Dyche is the better manager. His injury list hit at a crucial time and he still had enough belief in his squad to get then over the line.

I don't think Dyche is the best manager in the world but while Kean and Bowyer talk about being positive, Dyche set up his team to play positively.

[Majiball]

All that matters is ability.

[thenodrog]

Stuart you can hardly say Dyche is the most experienced manager on the planet.

The difference is he is braver and has a stronger will to win than what we have seen from Bowyer so far.

Leadership qualities.is my main question mark

But everybody except Leicester in this Div will be envious of Dyche. There is only 1 and rem if there were 23 still only two would be promoted and 3 would be relegated.

All this is talk after the event is just daft. Hindsight is wonderful isn't it?

1. Who on here is prepared to say they thought hand on heart that we would get promoted this season? I didn't.

Most would not have thought it likely so why the recriminations when we haven't been? Hardly been a massive failure then has he? I'd suggest that Arry has been one of the worst performers gauged against expectancy. Freedman and McDermott too. Suffice to say that many on here cast envious eyes toward them last year.

2 . Who would have envied Burnley their manager and been prepared to swap Bowyer for him last summer? I wouldn't.

Now come on...... and be honest!

[LDRover]

I wouldn't, in fact I'm pretty sure I posted on here that I thought they'd go down and we'd be mid table.

However, that's before the event. Now, with the season almost over, I can't believe we're not at least in the playoffs. I seriously overrated this league, the truth is that it's a poor one and this season is a big opportunity squandered.