Clough story on bbc website

[mjtreharne]

If Clough does leave at the end of the season, anyone who replaces him is going to have a very tough job. The fans are going to expect no less than a top 6 finish, there will need to be a sustancial improvement in the league standing, and an immediate one, if the club goes down that route. With the way we've gone about things as well, I doubt the board will fund the club to try and do this, leaving the next man in with the task of getting top 6 football with the current squad and at best a couple of decent additions.

Personally, I like Clough, I like what the club has done in the last few years and I really don't see any need for drastic change. We've gotten back on our feet after the mess that Billy and Jewell left us in, and we're moving forward on and off the pitch. Sometimes we need to realise that you've not learned to walk after your first step, and at this point even if progress seems slow to some it's important to make sure we take our next step as carefully as the first, because the last thing anyone of us want is to see us end up back on our face with another broken nose.

tough job? I could do a better job than Nigel with my closed! Get Wassall and Dawkins in the middle! Put a bit of Kwame up top and Josh Lelan at the back with Ross Etheridge in goal thats a championship winning side!!!! 

[Badlands]

^ I especially feel sorry for Nige when i remember what moronic fans we have 

[DCFCfranco]

tough job? I could do a better job than Nigel with my closed! Get Wassall and Dawkins in the middle! Put a bit of Kwame up top and Josh Lelan at the back with Ross Etheridge in goal thats a championship winning side!!!!

Now come on be serious.

[G STAR RAM]

I knew someone would say this. 

 

 

What I implied is how much has been invested into the squad. 

 

 

So he "spent":

 

 

1 million on Keogh

 

1 million on Sammon

 

150k on Coutts

 

100k max on Oconnor

 

nominal fee on Jacobs, Freeman, 

 

 

So he spent up to around 3 million.

 

 

However the club accumulated sales from

 

 

Shackell

 

Davies

 

Maguire

 

 

So overall I am saying Nigel was allowed an equivalent of like 1.5 million or something. 

 

 

If he was given 3 million investment so 3 million including player sales that is when I think he would do quite well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sammon your point could be valid he has not been good enough as a leading the line centre forward in the eyes of many. 

 

Keogh is our player of the year, consistently quality except the past 4 or 5 games. Not as good as Shackell but is 100% NOT a HUGE part of the problem this season. 

 

Everybody knows the problem this season was not having a CB to partner Keogh, away form, a goal scorer.  

 

I don't think either Buxton or O'Brien has so badly let the team down that you can say that Keogh has not had at least an average player alongside him.

 

His positioning is very suspect, the amount of times he gets sucked out is quite shocking in my opinion, sometimes he makes up for this and his saving tackles are certainly one of his redeeming features.

 

The amount of goals that we have conceded in the second half where he has lost header is also a major problem and not something I would expect from a commanding centre half.

 

Maybe I was spoilt by having Mark Wright and Rob Hindmarch as one of the first centre half pairings I got to see but believe me Keogh is a long long way of that sort of commanding centre half and in my opinion is not even in the running for player of the year based on his performance in the second half of the season.

[BigBaller]

Now come on be serious.

 

I personally feel the youth team don't get enough credit!

[Albert]

Think he has done a great job on limited resources, think it is wonderful how he is bringing the youngsters through, am really happy that at last he has got us trying to play football and has continued to stick with that philosophy even now things are going wrong. On the other hand playing players out of position, negative tactics away from home and puzzling substitutions continue to be part of our downfall. It would be interesting to hear your views on these points.

You want to know some views on these points:

"Playing players out of position":

He does this no more than any other manager would with the same squad. We have a small squad, and we don't have the kind of bench that some teams in the division have, when players like Hendrick and Bryson are both out, we don't have many options left. In previous seasons we went for long periods with a singular left and right back, as such, if they were injured we had to play players who could play there, even if it wasn't their best positions. Elsewhere it's just the kind of tinkering you'd expect from a manager who actually knows something about the players.

"Negative tactics away":

Our results away this season haven't been great, but it's hardly that negative when you compare it to many other clubs. In fact, if anything the stats seem to suggest we're one of the more positive clubs away, at least in terms of scoring consistently away from home, sitting top half in terms of games scored in. The key issue has been a defence away from home, and that isn't something that is going to be fixed by "being positive", if anything we're being too positive if the stats are to be believed. I get the impression that it's the use of a lone forward at times that spawned this complaint, particularly in past seasons, but it certainly doesn't seem to be the cause of our away woes.

"Puzzlingly substitutions":

One of the most cliché complaints about a manager. No offence, but this is the usual "go to" complaint when supporters have no idea what to complain about, I've seen it time and time again, and to be brutally honest, I've never seen in said in a situation where a real problem is apparent.

I don't know, hearing these kind of complaints just gives me the impression that people are looking for things to complain about, but don't know what to complain about, so the same stock nonsense is rolled out. The thing about these three is they are so generic and so airy fairy it's hard to slammed them down properly. All managers at some point are going to play players "out of position", it's a squad game and everyone from Sir Alex to Mourinho has done it. As for negative tactics away from home, pretty much all teams are more negative away from home, and the stats clearly show that our issue is to do with conceding, not scoring, away from home, suggest we aren't negative enough if anything, but in football "being negative" is just a generic complain. Then the substitutions, seriously I could take quotes about most managers that are disliked at one point or another and just do a "find replace" with their managers name with Clough and people probably couldn't tell the difference, the moment results start coming this kind of nonsense vanishes quickly.

[DCFCfranco]

I personally feel the youth team don't get enough credit!

Yes they are quite good, but would you thrust half of our youths straight into the first team set up? Very risky, almost suicidal youths will be brought through slowly and only if they're ready.

[BigBaller]

Yes they are quite good, but would you thrust half of our youths straight into the first team set up? Very risky, almost suicidal youths will be brought through slowly and only if they're ready.

 

But i don't think they have the chance, Will Hughes got his chance and hes took it very well! Look at him now! However people like Mason Bennet get 5 maybe 10 minutes if he is lucky! I don't think we are using the youth as much as we should is all.

[DCFCfranco]

But i don't think they have the chance, Will Hughes got his chance and hes took it very well! Look at him now! However people like Mason Bennet get 5 maybe 10 minutes if he is lucky! I don't think we are using the youth as much as we should is all.

We give our youth loads of chances. Would half the young players we have get a chance anywhere else? I doubt it. Bennett is 16, he's hardly going to play every game. We have one of the best youth set ups in the country I trust what the club is doing with them. They will be brought into the team when they're ready and when they're good enough.

[eranio20]

Just can't see Nigel leaving to be honest.

Even if we dropped into league one, still convinced he'd be here in some form of capaticy.

He is cheap, he's got million plus prices tags hanging over Hughes, Brayford and Hendrick and he's exactly the manager owners love.

[Albert]

But i don't think they have the chance, Will Hughes got his chance and hes took it very well! Look at him now! However people like Mason Bennet get 5 maybe 10 minutes if he is lucky! I don't think we are using the youth as much as we should is all.

Bennett is 16 years old.

[cannable]

 

1 million on Keogh

 

 

 

 

I know what the papers said but surely we didn't spend that much on Keogh? He was in the last year of his contract, Coventry had just been relegate and they aren't exactly in the best financial position. Just a thought...

[BigBaller]

Bennett is 16 years old.

 

And? he is still better than Connor Sammon!

[DCFCfranco]

I know what the papers said but surely we didn't spend that much on Keogh? He was in the last year of his contract, Coventry had just been relegate and they aren't exactly in the best financial position. Just a thought...

I heard we paid a reported fee of undisclosed.

[G STAR RAM]

You want to know some views on these points:

"Playing players out of position":

He does this no more than any other manager would with the same squad. We have a small squad, and we don't have the kind of bench that some teams in the division have, when players like Hendrick and Bryson are both out, we don't have many options left. In previous seasons we went for long periods with a singular left and right back, as such, if they were injured we had to play players who could play there, even if it wasn't their best positions. Elsewhere it's just the kind of tinkering you'd expect from a manager who actually knows something about the players.

"Negative tactics away":

Our results away this season haven't been great, but it's hardly that negative when you compare it to many other clubs. In fact, if anything the stats seem to suggest we're one of the more positive clubs away, at least in terms of scoring consistently away from home, sitting top half in terms of games scored in. The key issue has been a defence away from home, and that isn't something that is going to be fixed by "being positive", if anything we're being too positive if the stats are to be believed. I get the impression that it's the use of a lone forward at times that spawned this complaint, particularly in past seasons, but it certainly doesn't seem to be the cause of our away woes.

"Puzzlingly substitutions":

One of the most cliché complaints about a manager. No offence, but this is the usual "go to" complaint when supporters have no idea what to complain about, I've seen it time and time again, and to be brutally honest, I've never seen in said in a situation where a real problem is apparent.

I don't know, hearing these kind of complaints just gives me the impression that people are looking for things to complain about, but don't know what to complain about, so the same stock nonsense is rolled out. The thing about these three is they are so generic and so airy fairy it's hard to slammed them down properly. All managers at some point are going to play players "out of position", it's a squad game and everyone from Sir Alex to Mourinho has done it. As for negative tactics away from home, pretty much all teams are more negative away from home, and the stats clearly show that our issue is to do with conceding, not scoring, away from home, suggest we aren't negative enough if anything, but in football "being negative" is just a generic complain. Then the substitutions, seriously I could take quotes about most managers that are disliked at one point or another and just do a "find replace" with their managers name with Clough and people probably couldn't tell the difference, the moment results start coming this kind of nonsense vanishes quickly.

 

Disagree with you on the first point. Moving Brayford from right back when we had other centre halves available was a disastrous decision. Playing Bryson on left mid with Jacobs on the bench is a poor decision. Both in my opinion of course.

 

On the second point you can quote stats to me all you want. I don't need stats to tell me that what I am watching is negative or not. It has reached the stage where I have stopped going to away matches because I have absolutely no optimism that we will come away with anything other than a draw at best.

 

No offence taken on the last point. I have been watching football long enough to give myself a good idea of when things need changing and to suggest one of the more positive members of this board is 'looking for something to complain about' may show that you actually don't read what certain posters are saying and just go on the attack any time anybody says something against Nigel Clough...no offence meant by the way.

[Albert]

Disagree with you on the first point. Moving Brayford from right back when we had other centre halves available was a disastrous decision. Playing Bryson on left mid with Jacobs on the bench is a poor decision. Both in my opinion of course.

 

On the second point you can quote stats to me all you want. I don't need stats to tell me that what I am watching is negative or not. It has reached the stage where I have stopped going to away matches because I have absolutely no optimism that we will come away with anything other than a draw at best.

 

No offence taken on the last point. I have been watching football long enough to give myself a good idea of when things need changing and to suggest one of the more positive members of this board is 'looking for something to complain about' may show that you actually don't read what certain posters are saying and just go on the attack any time anybody says something against Nigel Clough...no offence meant by the way.

Believe me, I do read what other people on here say, if anything I spend too long doing so.

Speaking of the direct points you raised though:

Brayford in the centre, this has been discussed at length. Gjokaj was not used most likely because Clough didn't want a defence with 2 players with less than 5 Championship games between them. With Hoganson at fullback it would have been madness to have Gjokaj along side him at centrehalf, it was also a bad time to throw a second youngster in, although injuries have brought him in now and he's done alright. Brayford is a very accomplished centrehalf and Clough should know this, overseeing his development as a young player. In fact, Brayford has played of the order of 200 games under Clough and from what I can tell, more than 7 seasons. Now, maybe it's just me, but it seems that Clough should have a fair idea about Brayford abilities.

As for Bryson, that one was pretty stock standard as well. He can certainly do a job outwide, and he's better defensively than Jacobs. From what I could tell it was a case of having the better player on the park and a bit more cover for the defence. Madness I know...

Our memories are silly things, we cling to them like they are worth the World, but they are easily fooled and heavily biased to what is remembered rather than what is seen, that's why I like stats and other metrics. What we see is all well and good, but the vast majority of what we see doesn't even get processed, let alone remembered. If you think you have an eidetic memory, that's fine, but I'd suggest seeing a medical professional of some kind to confirm it before you brag about it. If not, then I guess you're like the rest of us and actually have the same flawed memory, in which case I'd suggest taking a bit of time to consider what it is that you remember exactly and realise that if there is information out there to re-evaluate what you think you 'know', sometimes it's worth taking the time.

[Alex W]

tough job? I could do a better job than Nigel with my closed! Get Wassall and Dawkins in the middle! Put a bit of Kwame up top and Josh Lelan at the back with Ross Etheridge in goal thats a championship winning side!!!! 

As trolling efforts go, this is a rather poor one.

[Duffield Ram]

Alex, he's gone now as his mums made him go out and clear the dog muck out of the lounge. Pleasant little troll

[Ambitious]

Well if I was manager...

 

Legzdins and Fielding in goal... half a goal each, why hasn't anyone ever tried this.

Brayford and Keogh in defence.. 

Hughes and Hendrick in midfield

Ward Sammon Martin Jacobs and Bennett..

 

piece of piss this manager lark... more strikers = more goals... more keepers = less goals. 

[CornwallRam]

tough job? I could do a better job than Nigel with my closed! Get Wassall and Dawkins in the middle! Put a bit of Kwame up top and Josh Lelan at the back with Ross Etheridge in goal thats a championship winning side!!!! 

Well at least we know we've got a member of the academy squad posting n here