..a lot was talked up about how ‘he was refreshing to say it how it was’ in the summer so to counteract that, ‘I want to apologise to MY fanbase’ - you aren’t speaking for me, sunshine… ‘we will have them in tomorrow’ Does he automatically think sending them through punishers is a way to sort this **** out? How old school can you get?! He’s had 4 months to sort out individual errors, he’s had 4 months to sort out the daft substitutions, he’s had 4 months to sort out things defensively at set-pieces & he’s had 4 months to make us a potent, attacking threat… It’s really not going to get any better is it? And now he’s alienated 2 of the playing squad in McCarthy & Craig to make matters worse, zero unity in this squad. And now we’re ******* stuck with him because the board will not accept any failures…
I understand your frustrations Scott, & he’s not totally blameless in regards to poor substitutions & team selections, but Clarke is not the problem. Any Manager would have the same outcome as Clarke having to work with a bunch of players who just clearly aren’t good enough. Questions need to be asked of the sporting director Sormaz for providing us with one of the worst transfer windows in the clubs history. Leaving us with one left footed left back, no strikers, & no wingers in order to be flexible when players get injured or suspended. Then those above him at boardroom level, dictating what formation we play & limiting the type of players the sporting director has to choose from. It’s all part of modern day football, the manager or “head coach” these days are just another cog in the machine, they have little say. Sacking Clarke will make no difference.
"He's had 4 months to..." Between watching the match yesterday and reading this post I'd been thinking the right decision was to part company with Clarke. It wasn't just a bad performance yesterday, there was something more fundamental that was very wrong. Tactics, formation, team selection, leadership, discipline, substitutions.. everything was falling apart. But now, having had it reiterated again and again that he's only had 4 months, it seems ridiculous to want someone sacked after so little time. So thanks for that Scott, you've helped me realise how impatient I was being and that of course he needs more time, he's only had 4 months.
Oh come on, Jay… he’s with these players every day and the same fundamental mistakes are being made every game? The players we had last season have regressed under him - Connell, Phillips, Pines, MDG are all worse, a lot worse than last year I’d say. I understand he’s been dealt a ****-hand from those above based on the flexibility of this squad but he cannot be trusted after this January transfer window, don’t see how things will improve. They’re not going to.
Absolutely correct Jay. 4 months is such a small sample size to sack a manager. 3 or 4 transfer windows are a fairer reflection.
It does make me laugh when people talk about Connell & Phillips & no one mentions the obvious miss from last season. Kane was our best player. He was the only midfielder we had who could control a game. When he joined Huddersfield & turned up overweight & then had a month out injured there were several posts on here & on social media mocking him for not featuring for them. Now he’s starting week in, week out for them & has been their best player for the last couple of months there’s nothing said on here about him. Also Nicky Cadden was a very good left wing back for us & is levels above what Gent is currently producing. Don’t get me wrong Gent’s a good prospect & may well go onto have a better career but in the short term Cadden’s a massive loss. He’s also playing really well now for Hibs after signing for them late & taking a while to get up to speed. We lost a lot of quality last season. Jordan Williams would be far better than O’Keeffe or Cotter at wing back & in my opinion would even do a better job as the right centre back alongside Roberts & Earl than De Gevigney does. The big problem for many of our fans is that they put 2 & 2 together & got 5 by automatically assuming that all the problems last season were just down to players running their contracts down when most of the poorer players were the ones we were stuck with & they won’t concede that they were wrong.
At the risk of being shot down, because of who he is... I don't understand why we would offer our set piece coach the assistant head coach role, when a big weakness is been defending set pieces this season!
According to this we are actually quite good at set pieces unless you mean defending them? https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/a...-piece-kings-top-travellers-and-niche-records
Do we know he does the defensive set pieces? He stands on the touchline when we have an attacking one but when we are defending, the goal keeper coach (I think it’s him anyway) is usually the one barking orders out.
Fair point. I've made calls for him to go, and thats hypocritical compared to what I've written about Clarke.
A genuine question: Does the Set Piece Coach only handle attacking set pieces, and the Defensive Coach handle the others?
Thing is if a coach does well he gets poached and there's no loyalty so why when it's other way round should the club show loyalty?
I was just reading the Coaches' Voice interview with Conor and while it didn't say outright and it could be taken either way, it read to me like he was only talking about attacking set pieces. "I'm doing set-plays, so it might be analysing them, or taking a set-play meeting. It might be something simple, like a passing drill, possession, crossing or finishing, or whatever I feel is right." https://learning.coachesvoice.com/cv/conor-hourihane-barnsley/
He should have gone now, after that debacle yesterday. Especially when he refuses to listen to his coaches, yesterday walking away from Hourihane