I don't like Simon Davey, he doesn't appear to be a very nice man at all, I'm far from impressed by his managerial abilities, but I don't think the cup run was lucky. Yes, Luke Steele pulled off a number of good saves at Anfield, but none of those chances were a gimme that Liverpool fluffed, they had good efforts at goal and Steele made good saves. We were desperately unlucky not to be given a penalty, although it turned out we didn't need one. At home to Chelsea they hardly troubled us, Steele made few if any good saves and we thoroughly deserved the victory. When lower league clubs play the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea they tend to park the bus in front of goal, fill the team with tough tacklers and hope to nick a goal from a set piece. We didn't do that, we stuck 2 up front in both games and played flair players in midfield: Leon, De Silva, Howard, Devaney and Campbell-Ryce. He got a lot wrong did Davey, he signed some right *****, but his tactics in those two games were bloody genius. There's an element of luck in every game of football, but I think the players and manager deserve real credit for that cup run and our progression had very little to do with luck.
I was thinking more of the game before those two when we were awful but luckily scraped through setting up those games
We weren't much good against either Blackpool or Southend, but I don't think we were lucky as such, we didn't get hammered and pinch a goal, they were both equally as crap as us. Could have gone either way but it wasn't a massive slice of fortune that we progressed.
They're not mine to share, is what I originally meant. The Simon says thing was a play on words. I've never met/spoken with him. I just don't think it'd go down well with certain people if I opened my big gob as I've been known to int past. I'm 32 in August, still learning etc. But aye, he was a bit of a character by all accounts. Jekyll and Hyde in his way of talking to and treating folk from one day to the next. Which I'm afraid, is no way to go about managing human beings.
I disagree. Longest serving 2nd tier manager we'd had in a long time. That despite taking over with no previous managerial experience of a professional first team. We've had managers with much more experience than him not do anywhere near as good. He signed some garbage but no more than most managers we've had. Signed plenty of well thought of players like Ferenczi, Sousa and Muller too.
I neither know nor care about Davey's personality, though everything I've heard points to him being a ****, but the only fun I've had as a Barnsley fan in the last 8 years came with him as manager other than about 6 games under Hill and 10 under Flitcroft the rest is one miserable blur. Sent from my iPad using Tapata
He had more money at his disposal than the rest put together!! With his spending power we should have finished a lot higher than we did.