Breakfast with Mel and no Bacon or Sausages!

[RoyMac5]

4 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

if you're purposely making everything be spelt out to the enth degree when things are pretty obvious, then you're being either deliberately difficult and awkward. I never wrote what was being quoted, but it is mentioned on here that Wassall will be part of selecting it if he doesn't get the job.

Not towing the Mel Morris Party Line and asking questions to clarify things happening at my football club? Then yes awkward!

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

Quite a few years ago I applied for a job which paid a lot more money than I was on at the time. A management job. I recognized from the job description that I would be stretched but it was the next logical move for me. I was on paper & experience wise qualified for the job so I went for it, had a good interview, said the right things (genuinely) and seemed to get on well with the MD. who was conducting the interview and lo & behold I got the job.

A month into the job I realised I had bitten off more than I could chew. I felt out of my depth but pride wouldn't let me admit it. Suffice to say it eventually caught up with me & I agreed the role wasn't for me & down the road I went.

I think the same happened to PC.

[Srg]

1 minute ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

Quite a few years ago I applied for a job which paid a lot more money than I was on at the time. A management job. I recognized from the job description that I would be stretched but it was the next logical move for me. I was on paper & experience wise qualified for the job so I went for it, had a good interview, said the right things (genuinely) and seemed to get on well with the MD. who was conducting the interview and lo & behold I got the job.

A month into the job I realised I had bitten off more than I could chew. I felt out of my depth but pride wouldn't let me admit it. Suffice to say it eventually caught up with me & I agreed the role wasn't for me & down the road I went.

I think the same happened to PC.

took until the last line to know whether you were talking about Clement or Wassall.

[cosmic]

I honestly don't get what all the fuss is about. For me, the bacon is the least enjoyable part of a fry-up.

(I hope it's these sort of controversial opinions that will someday earn myself an invite to Moor Farm).

[Mostyn6]

5 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Not towing the Mel Morris Party Line and asking questions to clarify things happening at my football club? Then yes awkward!

if you think I am towing the Morris Party line, then you've paid no attention to this thread whatsoever. Asking questions is not being awkward, but focusing on something trivial and nitpicking is.

[CornwallRam]

3 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

if you think I am towing the Morris Party line, then you've paid no attention to this thread whatsoever. Asking questions is not being awkward, but focusing on something trivial and nitpicking is.

Is the selection process of the next head coach trivial? Surely it is actually the most important decision which the club makes, and messing it up last time has cost Mel tens of £millions.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

8 minutes ago, Srg said:

took until the last line to know whether you were talking about Clement or Wassall.

Got to give him (Wassell) at least the first month! 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

45 minutes ago, bcnram said:

Certainly tells a story when you compare it to Nigel Clough's recruitment policy where every member of the senior coaching staff went to see the player in question before a decision was made. I think I know which has been the most successful recruitment policy. Maybe, the extra investment made those responsible a little less focused on what was required for the team.

This all sounds great and I almost completely agreed until I remembered that Clough signed Conor Sammon for 1 million pounds

[bcnram]

5 minutes ago, BurtonRam7 said:

This all sounds great and I almost completely agreed until I remembered that Clough signed Conor Sammon for 1 million pounds

Sometimes you still end up with a turkey 

[jono]

What an enjoyable, illuminating thread. Thanks to all for giving us the fascinating insight from the engine room

Reading all the back and forth I am left in quite an optimistic frame of mind.

The sea might be a bit rough at the moment but it strikes me that we have a well built ship and some good crew members. As Thos antipdean fellows often say "She'll be right mate" 

I am however, profoundly concerned about the lack of Bacon. Could this be the reason for our on field woes ? Did anyone notice if there was brown sauce, ketchup or both ? 

I'll be renewing my season ticket this week, but that was never in any doubt anyway ! 

[Hector was the best]

Did Mel admit it was a mistake to appoint Clement in the first place. Was the question asked ??... seens to me this whole sorry

story as set us back, again.

[rammieib]

36 minutes ago, Daveo said:

On the subject of Wassall being on the selection process I saw it as this and I don't want to quote anything to back this up as I can't remember word for word what was said, was a long day...

1) Performances improve, we're fully on course with The Derby Way and go up, there will be no selection process, Wassall will get the job.

2) Performances improve and we don't go up, Wassall will still be in the frame and consulted, my feeling is he would get it.

3) Performances don't improve and we stay down, Wassall will be consulted.

4) Performances don't improve and we go up, this is the worst possible scenario for the club in terms of the manager/head coach position, you could understand why Wassall wouldn't be happy to return to the U21's with a promotion on his CV.

Others that were there may agree or disagree with that, just thought I would throw out what I came away feeling. I know with Mel's reply earlier in the thread to clear up misunderstandings that The Derby Way wasn't just the style of play but it's hard to believe that after 7 years with the club Wassall wouldn't be on board with what the bigger picture is already.

Agree with the above but with one thing - If point 1 occurred, MM did say he would be 'unsure' on the reaction from the fans if Wassall was given the job as we could at that be seen to be attractive to much 'bigger names'.

I think on this subject people are trying to read into our answers too much. The above from Daveo sums it quite well. There is nothing else he discussed on this topic.

[Mostyn6]

31 minutes ago, CornwallRam said:

Is the selection process of the next head coach trivial? Surely it is actually the most important decision which the club makes, and messing it up last time has cost Mel tens of £millions.

no, again, I worded it wrong, the trivial bit was that it wasn't mentioned this was only if Wassall wasn't appointed full time, which I thought was obvious.

6 minutes ago, Hector was the best said:

Did Mel admit it was a mistake to appoint Clement in the first place. Was the question asked ??... seens to me this whole sorry

story as set us back, again.

Mel asked us if we thought it was a bad decision, most of us said no (at the time), and I said I considered it a "coup". But in hindsight, Mel admitted perhaps Clement wasn't the right choice in hindsight, but he is not going to say otherwise, having just sacked him. Mel said he was onboard with the decision to give PC the job so doesn't hold it against though who recommended him.

[Sparkle]

Thanks to everyone for the write up, most interesting.

main points to me were the lack of personal awareness of mr clement regarding the championship and the opponents and maybe in my own mind he didn't know much about the players he had at his disposal hence the constant changing of the side.

[G STAR RAM]

13 minutes ago, Hector was the best said:

Did Mel admit it was a mistake to appoint Clement in the first place. Was the question asked ??... seens to me this whole sorry

story as set us back, again.

Yes.

If I remember correctly he said in hindsight it was a mistake by us hiring him but also a mistake in his part accepting the job.

[G STAR RAM]

49 minutes ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

Quite a few years ago I applied for a job which paid a lot more money than I was on at the time. A management job. I recognized from the job description that I would be stretched but it was the next logical move for me. I was on paper & experience wise qualified for the job so I went for it, had a good interview, said the right things (genuinely) and seemed to get on well with the MD. who was conducting the interview and lo & behold I got the job.

A month into the job I realised I had bitten off more than I could chew. I felt out of my depth but pride wouldn't let me admit it. Suffice to say it eventually caught up with me & I agreed the role wasn't for me & down the road I went.

I think the same happened to PC.

Hello Mr Jewell, what are you up to these days?

[toddy]

59 minutes ago, Daveo said:

On the subject of Wassall being on the selection process I saw it as this and I don't want to quote anything to back this up as I can't remember word for word what was said, was a long day...

1) Performances improve, we're fully on course with The Derby Way and go up, there will be no selection process, Wassall will get the job.

2) Performances improve and we don't go up, Wassall will still be in the frame and consulted, my feeling is he would get it.

3) Performances don't improve and we stay down, Wassall will be consulted.

4) Performances don't improve and we go up, this is the worst possible scenario for the club in terms of the manager/head coach position, you could understand why Wassall wouldn't be happy to return to the U21's with a promotion on his CV.

Others that were there may agree or disagree with that, just thought I would throw out what I came away feeling. I know with Mel's reply earlier in the thread to clear up misunderstandings that The Derby Way wasn't just the style of play but it's hard to believe that after 7 years with the club Wassall wouldn't be on board with what the bigger picture is already.

That does sound like a win, win, win for Wassall -something very wrong here.................

[eddie]

1 hour ago, RoyMac5 said:

That is different to what was being said. For Wassall to be part of the selection process he cannot be in place as Head Coach.

Oh and I hope you're not suggesting I'm being dumb.

Not dumb. Obtuse?

[Mostyn6]

6 minutes ago, toddy said:

That does sound like a win, win, win for Wassall -something very wrong here.................

why is it wrong?

If you're successful at your job, and offered a temporary promotion, should you lose your original job if the temporary promotion doesn't work out?

[Rich84]

Thanks for the info to those who went.

General observation on the transfer comments 

Lots complaining about 5 left footed attackers and Mel shouldn't have sanctioned the signings if he had doubts, are these the same fans that keep believing and complaining that Mel interferes with footballing matters? Make your minds up! 

From reading all of the comments I believe Mel genuinely didn't want to hamstring his coach by refusing his requests for certain players, yes Camara and Blackman are odd signings and really no improvement on what we have from what we've seen so far, although I assumed Clement wanted them to freshen it up and give us an option to play slightly different as neither look the sort to be in a team playing possession football, Blackman especially needs the ball forward quickly so he can use his power and pace, more suited to a team on the back foot and breaking quickly as Reading were.

The transfers last summer, tbf the 1st batch made sense whoever was in charge in my opinion. Bent and Ince were already part of the squad, Baird was a younger replacement for Eustace with added bonus of being versatile, we were 2 ch's l right last year unless y o u were ok with Shotton so Pearce on a free also made perfect sense, Grants injury affected performances justified  Carson and Weimann was a straight replacement for Ward. We weren't far off last year and most believed adequate cover in certain areas and a focused coach and we'd be sorted this year so those signings were a good foundation.