So if we sack Clarke, what next ?

The shouts against Clarke are getting louder and stronger aren't they.
In fairness I can understand why, but I still don't want to see it happen.
But if we sack him then, what next ?.
What about all of his coaching staff, and that includes Hourihane as well!.
That would mean paying more compensation wouldn't it, although we apparently have hardly anything to spend anyway.
And we'd have to start from square one yet again with another new manager/coach. Like we're having to do now every season!.
And if it isn't ruined already, our reputation when it comes to hiring (and firing) manager/coaches, will get worse. Which will keep making all future appointments harder, and drag on longer.

 

Would we want the same people recruiting Clarke's successor?

 

I think is quite obvious what will happen imo. The board will decide when they think the right time is to get the fans back on side, i.e. season tickets, so if there is no sufficient improvements in results over the next weeks/months then they will use their “Joker card” and appoint Connor Hourihane as our next head coach. This being whether he warrants it or not but safe in the knowledge that as a former fans favourite he will take the heat off them for a while.

 

We appoint someone else. I wouldn’t sack Clarke, don’t get me wrong. I think these next two games are massive for him as he could well find himself very much under pressure from the board. That Rotherham away game points out to me that his job will either be safe or gone afterwards due to our current form and the games we have coming up.

 

No I wouldn't because I don't trust them.
Its always debatable of course whether Clarke (and Collins) was the wrong choice after all.
But I just hate this situation happening as often as it does now.

 

If they haven't got the money to appease the fans with decent signings then sacking Clarke is the only red meat they can chuck at the fan base. The problem with bringing in Connor and hoping it takes the heat off them is they tried that last season and a lot of the fanbase thought they were getting Connor as a player and that soon proved not to be the case. They'd find it harder to pull it off again.

 

I get you definitely, wouldn’t surprise me at all if it happens though. But there’s hoping that Clarke proves to be the man and it no need to happen.

 

It’s not a case of if it’s a case of when.The short answer is Hourihane,nailed on.

 

Yeah I know they will try to appeal to the majority of course, on various subjects. Especially if it affects season ticket sales.
But I still think they handled the Neil Collins situation appallingly.

 

in fairness all the head coaches we have had in many a year wouldn’t have been on a high salary, with most been unknown names and unproven.

 

I really wouldn’t care if they sacked him. I suspect it will happen fairly soon if the current run of results is extended much longer.

I think we can apportion blame at the door of the owners, the coaches and the players. In such an instance it’s pretty much always the coach that takes the fall.

We should have won today, but it wasn’t enjoyable to watch, slow, pedestrian, lacking in quality and energy while looking vulnerable to one of the least attacking sides we’ve come up against.

 

Genuinely who comes in that improves us with that group and under those constraints?

I'm not saying DC is the messiah but I think we'd be into very very cheap unknown foreign territory and at the end of it a system and group of players pretty much turning out the same stuff.
Just don't see sacking DC as the solitary answer.

 

I'm glad people not just on here but the fan base in general are starting to put serious scrutiny on the owners. For too long now they've had a free pass with the Chien and Conway fiasco but IMO they're absolutely abysmal at running this football club. We clearly have very little money due to the lack of transfer activity this window but I fail to understand how we've been allowed to get in a position with a bloated / unbalanced squad. It's clearly quantity over quality with the hope we unearth a couple of gems. We're also driven down a route of the HC needs to play 3-5-2. There's little to no flexibility on that front. The squad needs a huge overhaul and that will take time. I'd rather see a reduction in squad size but try to add little more quality in key areas (this could take until summer 2026 due to existing contracts). I doubt DC will be here in 2026 but he's got my backing for now and deserves this summer's window to try and re shape the squad again. I suspect a number of the fans will want him out before the end of this season.

 

I genuinely don't see Hourihane taking the job right now if it was offered to him. He is a switched on bloke and would know that he would be on a hiding to nothing and it might kill his managerial aspirations before they even got off the ground.

 

Yeah I'm not completely defending Clarke anymore either. Not like I used to anyway, because this current form is very disappointing.
But he's not the main problem here, and I firmly believe sacking him will not make a single bit of difference in the long run.
And that's because of these owners, and those constraints you mentioned.
The next time and the time after it, how many more manager/coaches are going to turn us down, because of the way they run things.

 

I don't know if they could appoint him currently. I seem to recall reading something about him not having the required pro-licence yet.

Not sure how accurate, or otherwise, this is. The logical expectation that everyone seems to have is that Hourihane is the next in line, whenever a change is made, but if the licence thing is a real issue then it points to the club persevering with DC to the end of the season and beyond.

I don't expect any imminent change of Head Coach. I'm unconvinced that DC is the right person for the role, but I just can't foresee that they're going to make any kind of change this season, regardless of how we perform from here.

 

It will be really disappointing if our season does fall apart, and if we maybe drop down to about 14th.
But I still hope we'll stick with Clarke, and properly back him, in the hope of giving stability a chance.
How do we know if it will help us do better next season or not, if we never try it.
Just sacking the manager/coach again and again is a terrible way to go about it, but it looks like we're going down that route.

 

Clarke can only shuffle the pack and has inherited some average players. Stead and Devanney pinching a wage as they are unable to motivate the squad into giving 100% from minute 1 to 90+ minute.

 

That's an interesting, and maybe even controversial point there Pete.
How much (if any) blame should Devaney be getting here, as he's a big part of the coaching set up.
If or when Clarke does go, I wonder if any fans will want to see a total clean sweep. Get rid of them all and start from scratch etc!.