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Steve McClaren


David

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I still don't see any difference from when Clough was here to now...

 

That's because, quite obviously, you don't go to matches at the moment.

 

When did Clough EVER take 3 forwards off and replace them with 3 forwards when we were winning at the time?

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I think the one big change is positivity, around the entire club and from the supporters.  I think a majority of fans were just going through the motions most matchdays.  Turning up out of loyalty as opposed to actual enthusiasm...

 

Yes that is very noticeable!  Although I don't quite understand "why?" (other than a change being as good as a rest), it's very welcome!  All the positivity on here has been a bit strange but I prefer it.  :)

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Never and he never would. I remember walking out on 85 minutes once after we had brought Buxton on and were clearly time wasting

 

The thing is, time and time again he came unstuck doing it but persisted with it. So it annoyed the fans and it didn't work. Taking the ball into the corner and trying to shield it wastes seconds only. Getting into a potentially scoring situation such as an opportunity to cross the ball, but then not doing, turning round and playing it backwards or refusing to cross the ball into the box when you have a corner. Absolute rubbish and one of the reasons why crowds dropped off   

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That's because, quite obviously, you don't go to matches at the moment.

 

When did Clough EVER take 3 forwards off and replace them with 3 forwards when we were winning at the time?

 

That's a bit of a conclusion you've jumped to!!!  :angry:   Although you're right of course... ;)

 

I've heard people talk about the new flowing attacking football.  Had we not already seen that?

 

People say the results speak for themselves.  Well pre-season I predicted the result for each match - when NC was sacked we were -1 point off my prediction; we're currently -2 off it.  I think our fixture list has had far more bearing on the results than the change of managers.

 

I'm not trying to say SM isn't doing a good job, or even that we should have kept NC, I just can't quite connect the dots to some revolution that some seem to be feeling.  I think we're just carrying on pretty much as we were - my point is - I think that's good as I thought we were going all right to begin with.

 

It's still a little bit early to say, but the first sign of change I can see is it looks like we may have finally got back to defending crosses in the last couple of games.

 

Now that is filling me with confidence for the rest of the season ahead!  :)

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I don't think we've ever been so comfortable in the lead - I just don't see us throwing it away.

 

and we're still playing nice football

 

I agree with that, the players do seem more confident about holding onto a lead.  I think that, rather than NC being negative himself, has more to do with why don't get more and more defensive.

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I agree with that, the players do seem more confident about holding onto a lead.  I think that, rather than NC being negative himself, has more to do with why don't get more and more defensive.

 

McClaren plays with quick players upfront in the last 15 minutes when we're winning, it means we can hit on the counter...

 

against Bournemouth we should have had a couple more because of that, was unlucky/poor infront of goal though.

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That's a bit of a conclusion you've jumped to!!! :angry: Although you're right of course... ;)

I've heard people talk about the new flowing attacking football. Had we not already seen that?

People say the results speak for themselves. Well pre-season I predicted the result for each match - when NC was sacked we were -1 point off my prediction; we're currently -2 off it. I think our fixture list has had far more bearing on the results than the change of managers.

I'm not trying to say SM isn't doing a good job, or even that we should have kept NC, I just can't quite connect the dots to some revolution that some seem to be feeling. I think we're just carrying on pretty much as we were - my point is - I think that's good as I thought we were going all right to begin with.

It's still a little bit early to say, but the first sign of change I can see is it looks like we may have finally got back to defending crosses in the last couple of games.

Now that is filling me with confidence for the rest of the season ahead! :)

Hmmm. How on earth do you know that your predictions would or would not be correct with Clough still in charge?

sounds like you got lucky and are telling yourself otherwise or maybe you should get yourself down the bookies and make yourself a fortune!

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Hmmm. How on earth do you know that your predictions would or would not be correct with Clough still in charge?

sounds like you got lucky and are telling yourself otherwise or maybe you should get yourself down the bookies and make yourself a fortune!

 

Well I don't of course, but it's all I have to go on!  ;)

 

All it is really, is a record to myself of where I think we ought to be without letting the emotions of good/bad in-season results swaying my guesses.  It helps me to get an idea of whether we're under/over-performing.

 

At the moment we seem pretty much on course, which is nice because I predicted 80 points!

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That's a bit of a conclusion you've jumped to!!!  :angry:   Although you're right of course... ;)

 

I've heard people talk about the new flowing attacking football.  Had we not already seen that?

 

People say the results speak for themselves.  Well pre-season I predicted the result for each match - when NC was sacked we were -1 point off my prediction; we're currently -2 off it.  I think our fixture list has had far more bearing on the results than the change of managers.

 

I'm not trying to say SM isn't doing a good job, or even that we should have kept NC, I just can't quite connect the dots to some revolution that some seem to be feeling.  I think we're just carrying on pretty much as we were - my point is - I think that's good as I thought we were going all right to begin with.

 

It's still a little bit early to say, but the first sign of change I can see is it looks like we may have finally got back to defending crosses in the last couple of games.

 

Now that is filling me with confidence for the rest of the season ahead!  :)

 

 

I do wonder how close your predictions have been in the previous seasons under Clough. Did you predict so many away victories last season?

 

Just to add, are your predictions right? Did you predict away defeats and home wins under Clough, and get them totally wrong?

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I do wonder how close your predictions have been in the previous seasons under Clough. Did you predict so many away victories last season?

Just to add, are your predictions right? Did you predict away defeats and home wins under Clough, and get them totally wrong?

Would imagine it'd be more a case of predicting winning against brum and drawing away at Watford? Both incorrect but still end up with 4 points. Started fancying us to win away, but it's been a long time coming.

Saturday i was convinced we'd win and we did. Not as confident with Wigan but can see us sneaking it.

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Just to add, are your predictions right? Did you predict away defeats and home wins under Clough, and get them totally wrong?

 

Oh god no, I not claiming that, else I'd join in with the prediction league!  I've only got half (8) results actually correct, but the unexpected points gained have mostly evened-out the ones lost.  Predicting individual results is far too hard, too many variables but statistically you should be able to get pretty close in the long run if you guess the relative quality of the sides.

 

Yes I've done it in previous seasons, with, ahem,  less accuracy.  ;)   I've always been too optimistic in the past.  Strangely this season, I was feeling even more confident we'd built a P/O-chasing side and that's what I ended up predicting (I don't predict results to get finishing position, I predict individual results based on opposition and H/A and see where that averages out to us finishing).

 

 

I do wonder how close your predictions have been in the previous seasons under Clough. Did you predict so many away victories last season?

 

I don't remember saying how many I predicted this season...  ;)

 

 

Last season I predicted 8 away wins.  And looking back now, I've just noticed that the away form was solely responsible for effing-up my predictions last year!  Home points was spot on!  Arse!

 

 

I'd predicted we'd have 3 away wins do far this year - Yeovil, Millwall & Bournemouth - which are all pretty reasonable I think.

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Steve Mac's win percentage so far is 66%, it will reduce over time but it's a great start. 

 

As you can tell, I love my statistics.  But whenever I hear people even mention a manager's win percentage I want to hit them over the head with a pie chart!

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Tbh McClaren gives me more confidence the Nige. We are soo much better when in the lead. I think Mac said a while back that he can't understand why the team is so eager to defend with over 20 mins to go. He seems to have completely eradicated the fear.

I always just wanted Nigel to let the lads loose a bit. I wouldn't call him negative but he's certainly quite cautious. But when we did play more aggressively we looked like we have done under McClaren. Mac just keeps the shackles off.

The first half v QPR was pretty much how Nigel would have played. It was tactically there to restrict QPR and play our football when we got the ball. But the thing is you end up so focused on being reactive that you don't produce your own game.

Second half was what I've come to expect from McClaren. We played our way first and worried less about QPR. And behold!... They aren't that good and we matched them.

It's alright keep saying we don't fear anybody but that QPR game (to my eyes) is a Clough v McClaren example. Yeah, I know Mac was in charge for the whole game! But the first half was identical to what I'd expect from 90% of Nigel's games.

I still maintain if Nigel had been more reckless that we'd have tightened up naturally. He recruited some tidy ball players.

Now Mac has come in, brought Wisdom, and asked the lads to play. For 90mins! And move it with a purpose. We are here to win.

I sort of looked at the fixtures like Martyn and I expected the early home games to be tough and take a few defeats. I expected wins at Yeovil and Millwall. I expected to beat Blackburn but lose to Watford. I looked at December as a month where Nigel could get a run going.

So really Mac is mostly getting the results I sort of expected Nigel to get if this was indeed his season of judgement. Remember a lot of us said that we have to make a play off push and for that to keep going past February or it might be time to change manager.

But the way McClaren has won has been convincing. The shackles are off. We're not showing teams the respect that we used to and we're playing our own game for a full 90 each week.

We used to show too much fear. We now play like we've got a pair

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Would you say we're still a team of tryers? Or have we gone past that now?

We're a very fit side, can see how some construe then as trying! I think there's genuine abilities in all the areas it's needed.

Bryson obviously runs his arse off, but for me has quality as well.

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