Before and After Mladenball

Seen as the club likes it's data here it is in all ots glory.


Appointed 2nd Feb 2024

Since then

26 home games
Won 7
Drawn 10
Lost 9
31 pts
GF 35
GA 43
-8 GD

Ave Goals Scored 1.35
Ave Goals Conceeded 1.65
Ave PPG 1.19pts

Before Mladenball

26 games
Won 16
Drawn 3
Lost 7
51 points
GF 56
GA 26
+30GD

Ave Goals scored 2.15
Ave Goals Conceeded 1.0
Ave PPG 1.96

Neil Collins home games before Mladenball
Won 7
Drawn 3
Lost 5

24pts
GF 28
GA 19
+ 9 GD
Ave Goals scored 1.86
Ave Goals Conceeded 1.26
Ave PPG 1.60


Neil Collins home games after Mladenball
Won 2
Drawn 3
Lost 2
9pts
GF 10
GA 14
- 4 GD
Ave Goals scored 1.42
Ave Goals Conceeded 2.0
Ave PPG 1.28

Darrell Clarke home games during Mladenball.

Played 18
Won 5
Drawn 6
Lost 7
21 pts
GF 25
GA 29
-4 GD
Ave Goals scored 1.38
Ave Goals Conceeded 1.61
Ave PPG 1.16

Appointed amongst other things to implement a playing style and coaching methodology.
I refer people to his interview in the chronicle dated 15th May 2024 post playoffs on the sacking of Neil Collins and this interview in the Yorkshire Post.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spo...collins-was-sacked-by-league-one-club-4646903

Until we revert back to a head coach with autonomy on playing style, we are heading into oblivion.
I've been watching my club for 47 years and I can count on 1 hand the times I've left early, today was an absolute disgrace, I feel hurt to the core.

 

Yes, a bad appointment unfortunately.

 

IMHO this needs continually reiterating. He's an unmitigated disaster.

 

Blame lies firmly with Sormaz for me. He simply has to go ASAP.

 

Plus it seems it’s his strategy to play 5 at back and wing backs / and then recruit shockingly . Time for him to go

 

I was genuinely excited when we appointed a Sporting Director, naive perhaps without realising the huge influence it would have on the head coaches autonomy.

 

Indeed, question is have the owners got any shred of sense to change.
It's painful when you consider the financial impact of poor decisions, I'm not suggesting we go back to xyz manager signing 25 of his mates, but we're over staffed, over complicated, data is part and parcel of the game and there's a place for it but there's also place for a head coach to implement his stamp and have more influence.
We are so hamstrung right now, some coaches aren't interested in the job that previously might have been, recruitment is pigeonholed to a certain type of player hence we've collected poor wingbacks for fun.
It's not my money I'm sat watching from a far just giving my opinion wrongly or rightly, but things can't carry on in this way, strip it back and put an element of back to basics into the club.

 

I thought that at the time as well Red.
That maybe they've taken some advice on board, and made this appointment, which will surely help us.
But its just been yet another bad one!.

 

I still don't think DC picks his starting eleven based on form, but rather favoritism and sticking with tried-and-tested (even if they've failed the test).

As for his bizarre substitutions, I have no explanation.

 

Agree with this.

The club set up is correct, and we have spent money getting the organisation run right.

Mladen - his record doesn’t look great, but who knows what’s gone on?

We could have approached many top players, but couldn’t match wage demands - difficult with Wrexham, Brum and Hudds in same league to an extent.

Not saying he’s good, but not saying he’s dogger.

A bit more transparency would better.

 

Can I ask a couple of things then, are you in favour of a Sporting Director setting the playing style over the head coach? And what do you think this does for our chances of attracting a better calibre of head coach?

 

I think most clubs these days who are modern thinking, are going 352 with a press and try and play from the back where quality allows.

The intricacies of this fall with the coach.

If the Sporting Director’s playing remit is fairly common/modern, and the coach has his final input, then I don’t see a problem. The problem would lie if he imposed a style that was outdated or not possible within the budget set.

Like most managerial jobs - the owner sets the targets and parameters, and leaves the chosen specialist coach to achieve them.

In terms of achieving better calibre coaches - I don’t think our setup or style impacts that. It’s the budget and recruitment that impacts it.

Collins was sacked as his style didn’t press enough at times and was negative. A number of fans (myself included) were of the opinion that he didn’t high press, as he couldn’t trust his defence enough. Roll onto this season, where we do push higher, but have been killed at the back. So perhaps Collins was right.

 

I do not know what Mladen does to earn his coin . Clarke says he worked very hard behind the scenes to bring players in during the window. We know it's not easy, I've said so, more than once. But he or we've failed miserably.
DKD Last day of summer window. Season a month old.
Striker last day of summer window. (Free agent) unfit. Season a month old.
Striker last day of January window. French second division. unfit
Goalie to replace Killip. (According to Clarke. Deserved No.1 goalie) last minute to put a few pennies in the kitty
Clarke having to make phone calls across the water after window shuts.To an unfit winger. Amongst others.
They made a scapegoat of Collins. So are not fearful of wielding the axe. If we don't, I fear even more gloom for this coming summer window.
Pre- contracts need to be happening now or very soon . I know Clarke says he's still targeting the play-offs, I expect him to say no less, until it becomes impossible.

 

I cannot recall in full the remit applied to the role of Dof but I thought the gist was that it was to agree a playing style with the coaches and then implement it across the club. That doesnt mean he sets it himself.

 

Mladen is a dab-hand with a spreadsheet, I understand, but clearly knows sweet FA about football.

 

Not often you air dissatisfaction with state of things on here P.
Shows just how big a mess the club is in.

 

5 of the current top 6 all play with a back 4, Wrexham being the exception, both Portsmouth and Oxford were promoted playing a back 4 and Ipswich prior, Bolton Sacked Evatt playing a back 3 in 10th place, employed Schumacher who's switched to a back 4 they now find themselves 6th.
We've lost 14 games this season, 10 of those to teams playing with a back 4, just for balance we've won 15 games this season and 10 of those have come against teams operating a back 3, matching up.

The stats very much weight on teams operating 4231 or 4132 who have more players with pace in advanced positions being able to effectively press teams trying to play out from the back.

I'm not sure who at the club decided we were to become a back 3 one trick pony.
If you look into the roles of varying Sporting/technical/director of football at this level for the clubs that do have them, every one of them is responsible for recruitment, like Mladen as you correctly point out.
There is then a mixture of responsibilities throughout the clubs, most oversea the academy and connecting that to the first team, data and analitcs, I'm yet to see one implement a game model and coaching methodology throughout the club, you are effectively laying out the playing style instead of the head coach and putting in a coaching methodology, so in short the head coach is merely there to select what players play that style on a matchday and take the bullet.

Patterns change in football, its tactically an ever evolving monster, to have an opertion that doesn't allow the head coach the ability to apply his skill set in terms of playing style and players that can be adaptable is killing us, combine that with a one size fits all low quality recruitment plan has delivered us to this point.

Edit: if you looked at us yesterday trying to play against a 442, our back 3 were so wide Blackpool had 2 Strikers pressing 1 central CB if you looked at our attempt we had 2 up front trying to press a back 4, only once in the entire game (early 2nd half) did our NO:10 position push centrally and we split to a front 3 and pressed, forcing their keeper to knock it long, time and time again they just strolled out from the back, within 3 or 4 passes they were in our final 3rd.

 

bring back the REAL human scouts that we sacked en masse a few years ago too