Hourihane int chronicle

Its exactly the same - and very naive imo.

And as stated in the replies, it's doing wonders for his value.

 

I would imagine the best way to get the best out of Phillips is to play him more centrally & go back to a 3-5-2 like we have in the two prior seasons & stop having him out wide in the 3-4-3 we’ve played for most of the season. It might also stop sides from being able to run through us with the added cover centrally.

I also think Hourihane’s in no place to call anyone out currently. The board sacked Clarke before a run of three fixtures against a side who hadn’t won in 14, a side that’s going down & a mid-table side with nothing to play for. It was obvious the decision was made with an easier run of fixtures to come so that Hourihane could start well & it would look like the right decision. Up to now he’s been nothing short of a disaster. 2 points from 9 from that run is appalling.

 

I'm really surprised Hourihane has gone to that much detail, but maybe there is such a malaise behind the scenes that he's going for a shock to the system by saying that publicly.

I'm not a fan of that style of management. Better managers praise publicly and rebuke privately. Humiliating people in public glare isn't good, whoever you are and whatever your status.

But he's done it and we will see the fallout. I think it's highly likely Connell and Phillips are gone in the summer. They'll be among our higher earners and they just aren't cutting it, for whatever reason. But I'm not sure dropping and criticising them is going to do much for their motivation or transfer fees, though their performances aren't helping the latter either.

 

Didn't hinder Davey that much.

 

It’s a strange one this. I don’t agree with the management style used, but I agree with the reasoning behind them both being dropped to the bench. If he hadn’t given an explanation for dropping both Connell and Phillips then this would have raised questions as to why, and everyone would have been second guessing and making rumours up, which is unusual on here . He’s in a no win situation on this one, but he could have just said that he didn’t feel that both were performing well at the moment and he wanted to mix it up, which is also the truth.

 

I get that mate and I'm glad for the lad.
A very good talent.
But I reckon his true value diminished due to poor form under us. Just trying to make a point. As regards Connell and Phillips. In a similar position.
I'd not be surprised to see some on here, wanting rid of either. would moan. If going for peanuts

 

He's doing what Clarke never did - backing up the words. You could put all the words down on paper side by side and you couldn't tell if it was Clarke or Conor talking but when push came to shove, the same lads would be playing come Saturday.

I don't think a public kick up the arse for a couple of senior players who have been off it is a bad thing IMHO. It's how they react to it & how CH keeps his word.

 

Yep, agree that discipline is important, but Conor has also made himself look a bit of a pillock at the same time. If he wasn’t gonna play Phillips why put him on the bench? Why not either put another player on the bench to give us another option, should someone get injured, or put one of the young kids on the bench to give him a bit of matchday experience?

 

I agree with a few of the posters above regarding airing your dirty laundry in public. I'm not a fan and didn't like Clarke doing it, though I'll give Conor a little leeway, as I think there are subtle differences between the two. Clarke seemed to take glee in throwing younger players under the bus, which I thought at best was unproductive and at worst was tantamount to bullying. It's interesting that Conor has chosen to take on the captain and another senior player, which leads one to believe that double standards may exist and he, as the leader, is now creating a new environment which hopefully is more meritocratic and leads to better results.

 

Because he's no ostracised them both, he's told them they need to be better and he'll give them an opportunity to do that?

 

Sort of agree but with Clarke it became repetitive and all he had, slightly different context too but let’s wait see if it becomes a pattern.

 

People seem to be claiming to the decision will not motivate both players but what about the positive motivational impact on the rest of the squad when they see a coach recognising the problem and acting for the betterment of the team. Players are good at manipulating the rules and if the rule is thou shalt not get called out in public they will use it as a prop.

 

He referenced a meeting at a hotel, and Saturday. Here's what I would guess happened, based on experience.

On a fairly local away trip, the team coach sets off from Oakwell in the morning, looking to get to wherever town/city they're playing in just before lunch. It's usually a hotel. There, they have lunch together, maybe head out for a walk etc. There'll be a meeting just prior to getting on the coach and heading to the stadium for 1.30pm. However, if certain players live somewhere that works out being closer to the designated hotel, they're given the option of driving themselves to the hotel. One would therefore assume that Phillips took that option up, and was then late to arrive. It's just a guess though, but a fairly confident one.

In that case, there wouldn't be a choice to pick anyone else, as the squad is already determined. So the only 'punishment' was not to put him on as a sub.

As I say, I don't disagree with the methods at all. It's key to have boundaries, rules, discipline.

But to publicly air it is a new one on me. And as of learning of it just a couple of hours ago, I'm still not a fan. But, what do I know? Maybe that's how he intends to operate. Complete transparency. Informing the fans (and everyone else) about everything.
It doesn't put me off wanting him as head coach. I'd give him the job today and crack on.

 

You barely need all the subs though now you're allowed so many. And being on the bench probably makes the point more.
.

 

He did set up Russell for his chance though. Maybe we’re at the point where the odd moment constitutes a good performance. Quite a few of our players would fall into that category over the season.

 

I thought that Clarke did that and was slagged off for dropping Connell and told that he had to start

 

If they want to increase Philips' and Connell's value they should probably work on getting Michael Duff back through the door.

 

I agree. Although to be fair, he has always had a habit of disappearing, sometimes games at a time, and then reappearing and looking a good player. Frustrating really.

 

Since the day he walked into the club really.

 

I like that from Hourihane it's about standards on and off the pitch. The on the pitch stuff you can see with your own eyes last season I was quite willing to cut Connell some slack with his illness but this season he's not been good enough. The Phillips one it seems his on the field poor body language/effort and spilled over onto off field. They are both senior pros they should setting the standards, they are both paid well above the average man so higher standards and been called out publicly are fair do's for me.