Mark Trueman

So what if the new manager wants Tueman as his assistant? Would you be happy with that?

 

I wouldn’t, however it’s up to him , one thing for sure he’s going to revise his one track football style. Once sussed it’s been proven not to work in L1 and most certainly not with our existing squad.

Any other hypothetical ways you can think of him staying around the new manager?

 

All the club have said is that Trueman is in caretaker charge for now, nothing more.

He did such a good job the last time he was caretaker he and Sellars deserved their permanent deal.

Results dropped off thereafter but there were a few factors which didn’t help.

1) disinterested players / inconsistent players
- disinterest happens all over the leagues in those final months and wasn’t exclusive to City
2) lack of experience in the dugout and at the club. Two rookies working together with no senior football man above them
3) player unrest. We heard rumours of a bust up on the training ground and Rowe was swiftly sold
4) As Sparks says on Radio leeds, we were playing behind closed doors. Our 14k fans couldnt lift the players. We have the chance to do so now.

I’m not saying Trueman is the answer as I think we will have stronger candidates applying. But let’s not undermine the good work he was responsible for (with Sellars) during his caretaker run.

get behind him and the lads on Sat and if we can follow up and beat Harrogate, with the honeymoon factor of a new boss then possibly coming in…..who knows how high we can climb

 

Trueman is NOT the answer. Makeweight until the new team arrive.

 

Someone has to train and pick the team until a new manager is appointed that's my take on the Trueman situation.

 

I don’t think Sparks has ever intended to give the job to him, Kevin.

It looks bad on himself given, in firing him not long before the summer, he was effectively admitting he wasn’t the answer.

He’s just taking charge as a caretaker this time as he knows what’s needed to lead the team over the next few weeks.

Sparks says he won’t rush the appointment but he also said he’s not given up on this season and there’s only about 15 games left so I can’t see him hanging around if he truly does believe top 7 is still worth going for…..

 

I've listened to Sparks interview yesterday. His comment on managers having contacted him before Adams was even sacked, but not entertaining any such discussions on moral grounds sounds very noble. But given that he also indicated that this decision has been deliberated strongly for the last couple of weeks, haven't we missed a trick here? Succession planning is a fundamental aspect of managing any business or football club. We could have been in a decision to work up a shortlist and lay the groundwork for a new appointment, so we're ready to move quickly and give ourselves half a chance of getting into the playoffs.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Trueman here for several weeks. Possibly even until the summer.

 

Another reason why sacking in February is the worst possible time - as soon as promotion and/or relegation are mathematically impossible, the season is over.

Yeah, you've got the shop window/playing for contracts issue, but it's not the same as everyone busting a gut for a massive cause.

As soon as we were safe last year, the team downed tools.

I can't say enough about how terrible an idea February managerial changes are. They are a disaster.

 

McCall twice, Hopkin, Bowyer, Adams, all sacked in February. A perfect illustration of how badly run we are, and how half arsed our approach to recruitment is.

 

Your first point doesn't add up for me. Players that become disinterested in the final stages of the season usually do so because there is nothing left to play for. We had momentum and had been on a brilliant run that had taken us from relegation favourites to having a real chance of getting into the playoffs. Point 2 is more accurate imo. Two rookies who fair play to them, had done a fantastic job getting us to where we were, but when other teams worked us out, they had no answers. Point 3 I have no idea whether true or not but if it was, it was as you say, quickly dealt with so I don't see how that can be used as a reason for our results to completely fall off a cliff. Point 4 is a ridiculous excuse when you consider that a) every single other club was also playing behind closed doors, and b) it didn't seem to do us any harm at all when we were winning.

Like you say, what T&S achieved last season shouldn't be undermined and he deserves everyone's backing whilst he is at the helm again, but I'm hoping it will just be for a handful of games this time, rather than until the end of the season.

 

It does sound very noble doesn't it? Didn't seem to stop him approaching Adams last season when he was still at Morecambe though did it!

 

Not really they could bring in

going through the right channels all the time even the Morecambe chairman said that Bradford had n
Gone about things the right way

 

Agree, hence the makeweight comment.

 

Not planning your options for replacing a manager you're contemplating sacking, is 'the right way'?

 

I believe Ryan did it with the blessing of the Morecombe owner I, and they hardly put a fight up to keep him, mybe they knew something in Adams make up we didn't?.

 

By the sound of the interview I think they know who they want

 

Yes other teams played behind closed doors……. but they didn’t have 14k fans sat at home like we did. We know that when our fans want to, we can create a good atmosphere - better than 2,500 at some of the other tin pot shacks.

These days, though, there is more atmosphere on the moon than at VP. If getting something to get behind on the pitch we will support the team, however.

During lockdown I watched every game on Ifollow, even the aways, and I wouldn’t even consider myself a die hard as I never do aways. During that caretaker run everyone was buzzing.

The problem was that we rode our luck at times and the xG showed our results weren’t going to be sustainable. xG rarely lies (people may say well give Adams longer on that basis but you can’t when he’s been so abrasive and ruined relationships…..he wasn’t building anything here).

You look at overhead kicks like Lee Novak’s at Grimsby and you aren’t going to be able to rely on chances like that opening up every week to maintain that run we had.

I thought Sparks played things right in giving them permanent deals (cheap, low risk with safety assured) to see how things panned out, and felt he also also played it right sacking them when he did as morale had dropped ahead of the next ticketing campaign. It was clear we hadnt unearthed the answers to the managerial conundrum.

T&S got response from a limited group of players but the players weren’t consistent enough and the win rate was always going to come down. For all we were winning games, we weren’t blowing teams away.

ironically, earlier this season we were creating good chances so Derek Adams was quite right to point out that improvement, yet for all the process improved, the end result didn’t in the short term. We look a mediocre team now, just as we did at the end of last season.

The fans here need to see more attacking intention and to take the mentality of ‘in every three games we’ll try win two even if it means losing one’ rather than ‘keep it tight and register three draws’.

There’s two pre-requisites with the next appointment IMO;

1) entertain and excite the fans. Like Stuart did……but not Stuart
2) galvanise the fanbase…..which rules out Evans and Warnock (yes some will still see him as ex Town and quickly turn)

In the past you sensed when we needed a senior figure or not and I don’t get that incling now.

I can’t see it. I think they’ll get a lesser name this time and look to build……if the manager doesnt call out his employers, fans and players publicly maybe they will be afforded the luxury of time Adams (quite rightly) was not.

 

Yawn

 

All this talk about Trueman is bit of a side issue. No I wouldn't want Trueman as the permanent manager but if the new manager gets it right on the pitch is assistant could be Trueman, Fordy or Darren Slingsby as far as I am concerned.
Which brings up an interesting point. Has anyone ever seen Fordy and Darren together in the same room?

 

Yeah, Trueman.