16 points and unbeaten Rooney

[Chris_Martin]

1 hour ago, Bubbles said:

Rooney will learn and also develop.

Get an experienced assistant manager in, (not saying deffo him) someone like Mike Phelan. put an end to this uncertainty.

Roo’s Rams

 

 

 

[Big Trav]

I’m warming to the idea of Rooney as manager. He has the lampard affect of motivation and demands from the players. Technical absolute will only get you so far if there is no work rate. 

[Comrade 86]

For me the jury is still out where Rooney is concerned. I do think however, without wanting to sound like an apologist again, that there are some mitigating factors. Firstly, I think the new owners and / or Mel were hasty in letting Cocu go. In doing so, a tough job has been thrust upon Wayne before he was ready. I think even he would have rather had some more time to complete his coaching badges and get some more experience under his belt. I also think that the team was looking pretty disenchanted with life in general when he took over and that's tough. Rooney will understand the game well and probably has enough raw cunning and experience garnered from his playing days, to handle the coaching side of the role adequately given time. Man-management however, is a totally different skill-set and would be a steep learning curve for anyone of his inexperience. 

My ongoing concern is that we still look a bit porous at the back and this is the prime reason I'd advocate Terry in tandem with Mac. That to me is a really strong combo. Terry's well documented past discretions however, are an issue for some and that's entirely understandable. From my standpoint however, the Ferdinand incident, whilst reprehensible, was a long time ago. He was banned for 8 games, fined £220,000 and stripped of the England captaincy, so whatever we think of his behaviour, it can't be argued that he did not pay a heavy price. He was also absolutely dismembered by the media at the time and with the release of the Ferdinand documentary, he's again received some unsavoury headlines. Also, in modest mitigation, he is taking the knee in acknowledgement of the BLM's anti-racism drive and has already expressed a desire to bring Ashley Cole in as one of his coaches. After the court case, he took counselling and also undertook an applicable awareness course. I don't believe he is, or ever really was, a racist in the purest sense of the word. I believe his response to an also reprehensible comment from Ferdinand, whom, lest we forget, initiated the spat, was borne out of ignorance and immaturity, more than any deep-rooted bigotry. To a man, all the BAME players at Chelsea came out in support of Terry at the time and were adamant that while his comments were vile and that they fully condemned them, that in their experience, Terry was anything but racist. Indeed they argued that he'd been incredibly giving of his time with some of the younger players, BAME and otherwise, who had often come from difficult backgrounds and who's adherence to the straight and narrow could sometimes waver. I'm not much for religion, which will doubtless shock you all, but some of it resonates, nonetheless; “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone ...” I can't speak for you lot, but I know I've done stuff as a younger man that I bitterly regret, but we don't get the chance to revisit our follies. The best we can hope for is to not repeat them. People have forgiven me for past indiscretions and that itself imbued a degree forgiveness in me. I know this sounds a bit wishy-washy but trust me, it's a powerful and life-improving notion concept and it lowers blood pressure too!

Furthermore and perhaps more importantly, I think Tery has shown himself to be a major coaching talent already in his time at Villa. Their defence has improved leaps and bounds since his arrival and Dean Smith has himself been at pains to give Terry the credit for that. Had Villa not beaten us at Wembley, they'd be in a world of FFP pain with the money they'd spent, their squad size and wage bill, so the critical nature of his role in their surge into the top half of the Premiership should not be underestimated. Their back 4 were barely out of first gear for the entire game, after all. Equally, Terry is not the novice some on here would have us believe. He's been coaching for three years now and has, in my opinion, earned his chance to step up. Compared to the Lampard who first rocked up at Derby, he's a gnarly, wizened old pro. Conversely, Wazza, as yet, has not earned his stripes, which is not to say he won't, but rather that he has not to date.

So where does this leave us? I sense that for numerous reasons, Wayne will most likely be invited to stay on. I think the demise of Sheffield United might play into this as it's not certain, despite his amazing work with the club to date, how long Chris Wilder's services will be retained. Of the realistic AND available candidates, Terry is my pick. Were Wilder's services available however, he'd certainly give Mac et al pause for thought. This fact alone may encourage us to play the waiting game and extend Rooney's time in charge a little further. This is not ITK btw, just a theory of mine that might explain some inconsistencies in messages emanating from PP. If I were Mel, I'd be on the phone every day, that much I do know.

A final thought would be that despite me not being Wayne's biggest fan right now, I think we really do have to give him some credit. Three games unbeaten (yes, alright, two were against weak sides) and grafting an away win at Millwall is not to be sniffed at. Green shoots at least. Clearly if we get handed our arses by Brentford, then we're back to square one, but if we show we can compete with a team who are easily one of the better sides in the division, then even if we lose, the pro-Rooney argument strengthens further. Despite some silly posts on here, I don't think folk are willing the team to lose, I think they are concerned that we're jumping out of the frying pan, so to speak. Perhaps Wayne is on the way to proving me and them wrong!

Anyway, if you've made it this far, thanks for bearing with my rambling nonsense. A hard-earned win today gives us a little welcome respite. That's progress of sorts, right? 

COYR

 

 

[Tamworthram]

9 hours ago, Asheville Ram said:

Is it possible for you to make a post without slagging off

a) the club

or

b) Rooney 

 

Harsh. A well balanced post from @Millenniumram in my opinion. A case of great to pick up points and a win but let’s not get carried away.

[Shaftesbury Street]

Get results against Brentford and Swansea and I'll start to believe he's making a difference. 

[BondJovi]

Rooney has had the benefit of a fully fit squad and a kind run of fixtures.

The Brentford game will be a real test.

We have a lot of fixtures coming up, any new manager coming in will have very little time to make a real impact in training. I feel at this point unless the next game is a disaster we have to get behind Rooney and hope these improvements carry on.

[RoyMac5]

7 minutes ago, BondJovi said:

Rooney has had the benefit of a fully fit squad and a kind run of fixtures.

jakally: "Wycombe have only lost 2 out of their last 9 games and Coventry are unbeaten in 5." Millwall away.

Squad not fully fit even yet, still only one striker in CKR. Not a kind run of fixtures.

[BondJovi]

2 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

jakally: "Wycombe have only lost 2 out of their last 9 games and Coventry are unbeaten in 5." Millwall away.

Squad not fully fit even yet, still only one striker in CKR. Not a kind run of fixtures.

Who is out injured? You will make these excuses for Rooney but not for Cocu? At least be consistent.

Of course it is kind. That doesn't mean easy as no game is in this league. Even if people dispute our sqaud quality, it is still better than Wycombe and Coventry.

 

[jono]

11 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

jakally: "Wycombe have only lost 2 out of their last 9 games and Coventry are unbeaten in 5." Millwall away.

Squad not fully fit even yet, still only one striker in CKR. Not a kind run of fixtures.

And this isn’t a group that has played as a unit for any length of time or with any degree of mutual success to bond with. I’d like to think with Bielik so obviously on the way back now, Ibe just about there, first win in a while, CKR’s palpable on pitch leadership qualities .. a corner has been turned. Get anything from Brentford and we’ll be certainly pointing in the right direction.

[RoyMac5]

35 minutes ago, BondJovi said:

Who is out injured? You will make these excuses for Rooney but not for Cocu? At least be consistent.

You said 'fully fit' - Ibe for a start.

Cocu was on the way to getting us relegated whoever he picked, is the reality you don't want to deal with. What if, what if?! ?

[Ellafella]

12 hours ago, Jourdan said:

It’s a bit soon for plaudits.

If Cocu had overseen a win and two draws from Wycombe and Coventry at home and Millwall away, he’d be getting pelters.

 

Spot on @Jourdan. Too early to draw conclusions but there are some positive early pointers:

1. Our technical area no longer looks like a crowded bus stop. We have a hierarchy with 1 man in charge, who exudes a calm, firm demeanour ie vestiges of being a leader.

2. We are now playing a way that is suited to the Championship and which will be far more likely to bring us success in the form of points.

3. We can see more of a team application and a joint effort ie a blend. 
 

4. Wazza is not afraid to make selection decisions. He’s aided by the emergence of Kazim and the return of Bielik. I applauded him resting Lawrence who is in a very poor run of form and needed to be omitted. Ibe is now ready to get match fit and Stretton looks effective {shame that one hit the bar}.
 

5. I’m impressed with Wazza’s PR up to now. For months he’s been the “quiet man”. If he started now to show a little bit of love for the badge and a few Lampard-like pronouncements {this is a huge club, brilliant fans etc} his bandwagon would really start to roll. 
 

6. If he bags an unlikely win at Brentford, then it’ll be hard to displace him. I wonder if the “imminent” takeover delay is actually to his benefit as it gives a relative period of consolidation and quiet progress.

7. A win and comfortable clean sheet at Rowett’s Millwall is no mean feat. Wazza is shaping up. He’s a lot smarter than he lets on so beware of judging him on his tabloid persona. 
 

8. I’m intrigued...the season could become very interesting. A few goals going in from Ibe, Sibley, Stretton and who knows? That is the beauty of football...you just never know what’s next...

[ram1964]

13 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

Two of the teams with most to fight for when we're also struggling.

Hasn't every team got something to play for, congratulations to the lads for wining, let's hope we can move forward from this. But let's remember it's one win ! Against Walsall ! Hardly an outstanding achievement in the football world. We need to continue to improve and if Rooney can do it all well and good but I will hold out on judgement of Rooney the Manager until I see some thing worthy to shout about.

[RoyMac5]

27 minutes ago, ram1964 said:

Hasn't every team got something to play for...

Some don't play that way though.

[Tombo]

Let's not take the piss here

[Phoenix]

When Dave Mackay became manager, he was questioned about the difficulty of the job. He said something to the effect 'The tougher the going, the more I like it', and he didn't do too bad.

I'm not sure how many coaching badges big Dave had, if any, but like Rooney, as a player he'd been there and done it all at a very high level.

I see similarities, not least their shared Desperate Dan appearance. Let's see how this plays out.

[jono]

Wayne is interesting .. he doesn’t talk a good talk does he ? ... but looking back at the lift he gave us when he arrived, the lessons he taught Max Bird and now this tentative sprouting from the wild fire devastation at the start of the season. 
maybe quiet man of few words with a winner burned in to his dna might just work out. And it seems obvious to me that Mac is whispering in his ear and being a helpful eminence grise 

[Spanish]

20 hours ago, Jourdan said:

It’s a bit soon for plaudits.

If Cocu had overseen a win and two draws from Wycombe and Coventry at home and Millwall away, he’d be getting pelters.

 

It was always about the playing style.  We would never have beaten millwall because we never had players in the opposition box

[Spanish]

7 hours ago, ram1964 said:

Hasn't every team got something to play for, congratulations to the lads for wining, let's hope we can move forward from this. But let's remember it's one win ! Against Walsall ! Hardly an outstanding achievement in the football world. We need to continue to improve and if Rooney can do it all well and good but I will hold out on judgement of Rooney the Manager until I see some thing worthy to shout about.

I know we are bad but even we can’t be relegated 2 divisions

[RoyMac5]

2 minutes ago, Spanish said:

It was always about the playing style.  We would never have beaten millwall because we never had players in the opposition box

And Colin still wouldn't be playing because he hadn't either 'understood what Cocu wanted' or got into the 'right rhythm'!

[Srg]

I’m not going to crown Rooney, and I’m ok to admit I will never want him here. But 5 points from 2 of the worst teams in the entire division (at home) and a team in absolutely horrendous form is not anything to write home about. Improved? Maybe, but we could have easily lost any of those games too. Brentford will be a serious test.