I think Duff was a very good coach for us. Quickly turned downbeat into positive thinking. However, he did have a good squad with us and there were many things aligned for him, like the culture of the town/people and the way the club wants to play football. I was so shocked he left for Swansea because of the words he spoke but also because of the differences between Duff and Swansea in football terms. He could well turn it around there but it appears he’ll need to do something quickly.
Did a cracking job for us but that’s football. If the dressing room aren’t having him or it takes too long to get them understanding his style of play he’ll be gone. Wasn’t here long enough for me to grow any kind of attachment & I wasn’t daft enough to buy into the loyalty quote. They all want to leave if they get a better offer.
He did a great job for a single season at Barnsley, and if he hadn't given us the long haul ******** then I'd be looking out for his career, and wishing him the best. As it is, can't wait for him to fail. He didn't have to say any of the things about being here for the long term that he did to become our manager - we'd have taken him anyway. But he chose to, and here we are. Fúck him.
More happy to see Wednesday lose again TBH. Missed the game today, as I was DJing in a bunk barn venue up near Settle. Down for Pompey on Tuesday, that will be a proper test. Duff will make plenty of money, if he is sacked & will easily get another L1 job in future. I thought Swansea was a bit of a poor choice of move for him, but money talks, to quote Stevie V.
I think he was genuinely stupid to take that job. What was he? 4th/5th choice? Got to think to yourself why are so many others turning it down and how much do they actually rate me? When you look at the situation there it’s a hiding to nothing; an American owner the fans hate. A quite sharp budget cut for players wages and transfers meaning that other teams are demanding high transfers based on the clubs past largesse, and new players demanding wages the club can no longer afford, so losing out on transfers while your best players have either already left or for sale or looking for a move out of the sinking ship. Meanwhile their fans have had a taste of the big time and still think they can get players like Ayew on a bizillion pounds a week but those days are gone and they’re not coming back. I think given a full season he can probably keep them up, but only because there’s probably just enough teams worse than them, he won’t get that though, sacked by Christmas. He’s made some money out of it but ruined his building reputation, back to Cheltenham probably.
duff was a good manager for us but i think collins will be better, he has us starting to play some good football and getting the best outta devante long way to go but got good vibes
Why Luton? I hope they stay up. They’re a club that had been run in exactly the right way since the fans took over. I think it’s a great story. They are realistic, they knew they were likely to go down, hence building a squad more in mind of getting promoted again next season, but they are giving their all to try to stay in the top flight. It’s disappointing that clubs that have spent most of the past 20 years some way behind us in the league are taking our players, but I bear no ill will to Luton, because the club is being run properly. Hopefully they’ll start to pick up some points soon.
The game has changed now. Managers have been replaced by coaches, and today’s coaches often have the same ego as footballers - largely because they’re the same people. Loyalty just doesn’t come into the equation. Modern contracts mean coaches are in a no lose situation. If they fail they get paid in full, and another gig is never far away. If they succeed they have get out clauses. Michael Duff’s ego told him he was good enough to go and succeed at Swansea. His agent told him it was a financial no brainer. Duff isn’t daft. He’ll know he’s already lost the fans, and by the sounds of it possibly some of the players as well. With the window shut he’s got a huge job on his hands, and he might not make it to January. I’d love to think he’s sat thinking he made a mistake and should have stayed with us. I don’t think he will be though. I just don’t think he’s wired that way. I don’t blame the Swansea fans one bit. We’d be reacting in the same way, if we were sat on 2 points.
The Huddersfield ship might just have set sail before Duff gets the boot (assuming Colin leaves), otherwise that might have been a likely destination after interest towards the end of last season. There was talk on here prior to the end of the window that some of Duff’s motivation for leaving us was that he had insight into future transfer policy. To compare therefore our options on the bench with Swansea’s poor striker alternatives (albeit at a different level) would suggest his motives were more financial.
I was surprised that he jumped ship in the summer, given his record of loyalty to other clubs. I do wonder if he felt that something had changed the conditions under which he had accepted the job in the first place. I would have expected him to try to get us promoted to the Championship this season and then spend a season stabilising us in the Championship, only then moving on to a bigger Championship club and trying the same formula to get them into the Premiership. I think that he may have messed up his perfect CV with the move to Swansea, especially if it goes pear-shaped. I don't think that he has been able to bring in the players he would have wanted to play most effectively in his preferred formation, in which wing-backs are crucial. Tymon is a good signing, but I can't see that the others fit the style yet and may struggle to get there. He did a simply wonderful job in preventing us going into free-fall and turning us into a play-off side. He may have gone too soon to a Championship club, as he has no experience of that league, unlike League One when he moved to us. I'd love to know what changed his mind not to see out the three years with us. It may cost him, but i would wish him success, as he is clearly a good manager and coach. Have to say, he looked pretty stressed at Cardiff even before the kick off. Could be a long old season for Michael.
I really don’t believe this loyalty angle he still spouts. I think it was just circumstance that his talent wasn’t right up there for bigger clubs to take him from Burnley. His Cardiff post match interview when he boasts of his past managerial record is cringeworthy. Similarly he has repeatedly pushed the narrative that he arrived with Barnsley as a basket case. I think if you now look at the players that we had last year we should have been one of the better teams in the division. His high energy tactics did work well with the young players we had but particularly if you saw him try a get his point across to a disinterested Grimes he has not only lost the fans but also the players.
Hope you’re alright guys. Haven’t been on here for a while but thought I’d pop on to gauge your opinion on the Duffer. Personally, I think he’s doing a great job and hope that they keep faith in him lol. That was the worst Sw*nsea side I’ve seen in a long, long time. No shape, no discernible tactics and absolutely no attacking intention. They were content with a draw from the start. Unusual from them as we always complain that their side want it more than us. The fans hate him and the players don’t rate him by all accounts - not a good combination for him and can’t see him lasting much longer than another couple of poor results. Shame lol. What I will say though is that the Yank consortium that own them have done him no favours. They’ve shipped out their best players over the past few years and replaced them out of the bargain basement bucket. There’s 27 of them in this consortium who all want their dividends. Great when they could generate cash in the Prem, struggling to do so now. Long may it continue....