The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Walsall Saturday 30th September 3:00pm

It's less than 10 years ago that the one man band Phil Parkinson was responsible for all things football, signing players, formation/system we played, the scouting of new players, I'm sure you remember the " he's taken all the paperwork with regards players" scandle when he left.
I believe at the time of the take over he said he was open to working along side a DOF unfortunately not one called Edin Rahic, I'm not sure at our level things have changed that much.

 

Who would you have with regards interviewing then appointing the new manager genuine question, Rupp is a very successful businessman but knows little with regards the game, Gent ?.

 

Agree he’s been the most consistent . A very good signing as it turns out Johnny.

 

When we played Liverpool in the Stephen Darby charity match about 3 or 4 years ago,the attendance was 25 thousand and we had a massive turn out from our Asian community but most were supporting Liverpool.

 

It was toxic in my front room as the game wore on, I think he's lucky that he has the Tranmere game to get a result ( it has to be a win) or as you rightly say fans will be attending the Swindon game out of loyalty rather than believing we can win it, were in a mess mate there's no doubt about it.

 

Nobody is suggesting otherwise, but you are completely missing the point. If the “strategy” or “vision” us the right one, let’s say for the sake of argument IT IS and the person paid to implement and ACHIEVE that vision isn’t delivering what the owners vision is, then who is to blame? It’s NOT the “ vision” rather its delivery. I hope that makes sense ?

 

We're approaching this from different angles Kev. The bottom line is, when you're on the verge of appointing a 5th manager in 3 years, and making a hash of getting out of this toilet bowl league, with ineffective recruitment that sits at odds with any sense of playing style, the problem doesn't sit with just the manager.

 

2 points from 3 very winnable home games just isn’t good enough!

 

Good post mate but no way any manager will deter me from attending although at times its a chore and I'm attending because of loyalty rather than belief, I said it before if I wasn't at the game I'd be watching on TV or listening on the radio (although that would be my last place of call if Kiwomya was commentating) or William Hills live games, I would be lost without my fix, be that good or bad, I wasn't there yesterday but you could see there were plenty of empty seats even though the club announced over 17,000.

 

Pay Dave Baldwin a 'consultation fee' to do it. No conflict of interest.

 

Of course, but Adams and now Hughes and all the dross before them were well funded, so the were funds available .
I go back to my point earlier made in another thread. How many contributors thought Adams and MH were bad choices on the week they were recruited? Hindsight us easy to fall back on!

 

Our front room was similar, the other half after the third goal got up and walked out, and told me to switch it off. We are at the point of not turning up until we see a massive improvement. Like everyone else we are so fed up of turning up to watch either mediocre or totally abject football. I don’t have any answers, but both Rupp and Sparks need to look at manager and back room recruitment.

 

Well we thought Adams was a bad move right at the beginning. I respect my other half assessment in these things, and he said he is the wrong type for us, it will very poor fare. Hughes we didn’t really know tbh, we thought if he can make the transition it will have been a master stroke.

 

We have gone from a team on the edge of promotion to a team that could end up in the bottom 7 without any trouble at all.

The person(s) responsible for that must go. And go now.

We still have time to get the team back on track and playing to our strengths not set up to negate the opposition.

 

Steady enough but not great in the formation or how we want to play. Yesterday, summer that up perfectly. Tried his heart out but offered nothing!

 

But therein lies the rub. If I gave my 13 year old son an ample budget to nurture a healthy and nutritious diet and educational development programme, and he makes a meal of it, who's fault is it?

The job of the CEO isn't just to give the manager a decent budget and let them have at it. Good backing is a sub-part of a bigger whole. The job of the CEO is to establish a plan to implement enduring success and improvement on the pitch. To nail down a way of playing, principles of recruitment and 'philosophy', then see past 'shiny things and big names' to hire managers who can deliver that plan. And if the execution fails, you move on without having to rip up the plan.

Now, because we've let Hughes and Gent run amok, we're saddled with plenty of crap players on long term contracts, and in the absence of a plan at the top, we have no idea what sort of manager we want or whether that manager will be a fit for the squad.

We'll be starting again. Because we're not operating to a plan.

Without an ownership change and/or genuinely capable leader at the top, we'll keep circling the toilet bowl until we get lucky with a manager that clicks.

 

Yes, Rupp and Sparks need to go! That simple!!

 

My view of yesterday.

1. Up to the penalty we looked half decent
2. Harsh penalty, looked like it was in the D from my seat (upper kop).
3. Lewis to blame for the equaliser, with a half arsed attempt to dive, but hampered by too many players in the box retreating rather that trying to stop the man.
4. Never seen a team capitulate so badly and so quickly after taking the lead.
5. Second goal was always coming once they equalised
6. No fight at all in the second half, apart from Halliday, they all looked like they had been drugged at half time.

Until yesterday I'd said give Hughes up to match 15 before making a decision. Now I'd say give him until next Saturday and a 4 point target.

The biggest worry is he has had 18 months and 70 matches in league two but still doesn't seem to grasp how this league works. You simply can't pass your way out of it.

I'd make an analogy between his football and parkys and the way England play rugby compared to now and 2003.

In the 2002 autumn International they played running rugby, attacking opponents on the deck running with the ball and swinging passes from side to side moving with pace. Result they won the world cup.

Now it's all kick, kick, kick and no attacking intent.

Woodward quickly learnt how to win in international rugby, Hughes still hasn't learnt to win in l2 football.

Current record is 4 wins in 14 league matches and only 18 points. He needs to realise that 26 wins and 20 defeats will get you closer to the promotion than 15 wins 20 draws & 11 defeats

 

And this is why Sparks won't act yet. He knows he's done for, and has no idea how to right the ship, and another sacking could be the nail in his own coffin. That mixture of desperation, self preservation and lack of cojones, will leave him clinging on and praying things just come good.

 

Hang on, how come you are giving him until next Saturday if he's already resigned?