Next manager

According to SP interviews next week probably preliminary followed by second interviews and appointment. Unless we are hammered on Saturday I would probably say about 10 days away

 

Some on here say that it doesn't really matter what kind of football we play, so long as we win. Here is the problem though. If we play a "negative" brand of football, an it doesnt work, the fans get on the players back an things quickly go to shit. Its been well documented over the years that if you keep the city faithful quiet, you increase the chances of winning at VP. However, if we actually play with a desire to win every game, the fans will actually support the team an push them on, an be that "12th man" that everyone goes on about

Playing shit football at the biggest Club in League Two does not work. Hughes, Bowyer, Adams are all primary examples of that. Parky only made it work because he actually brought in players that suit the style that he wanted, he wouldnt feck about with funds like Hughes did

 

Saying his appointment wasn't "universally supported", is a bit like saying not all Liverpool fans wanted Klopp to stay during their bad run last season, i.e. of course no set of fans 100% agree, but I'd put the support for Hughes appointment at 90%.

It was motivation of the players, that we can see was the biggest issue - not his tactics. It isn't as if we were outsmarted every match of last season. Indeed, when he changed it after Christmas we hardly lost any games and still have a great unbeaten run against our 'rival' (i.e. teams that were in the Top 7 last season or are expected to be in there this season).

He also had Hodges, who knows lower league football, but seemed to be just a yes man. After all he managed Wimbledon and kept them up for the whole season he was there. Then as soon as he left, the got relegated at the end of the following one - so you'd think he'd be able to advise Hughes correctly.

 

Had he have gone all out to win the playoffs I believe we'd have got to the final and more than likely won it with the momentum gained. He never recovered from that, his insistence of starting this season with three centre backs was complete madness. The usual well worn phrase is that these guys have been in football for decades, they must know more than the standard fan but sometimes they make decisions that completely defy any logic.

 

The football was "shit" a lot of the time under Parky. He used to get loads of abuse on the forums because of it. Some were delighted when he left and Stuart came back (not me by the way!!)

I don't disagree, it's just that the reality is that 'quality football' is largely irrelevant to get out of L2. I'll give you the Exeter team of 2022, the Cheltenham team of 2021 and the Plymouth and Swindon teams of 2020 (but who knows if that style would have lasted all season that year) as great examples.

Stevenage and Northampton did not have reputations of been teams who were a 'great watch'. I remember watching Orient v Stevenage last season and it was worse than the average entertainment we served up last season. Northampton were terrible at Salford - in what was another poor quality match. Small margins cost us last season.

I always thought that if Sparks had supported Adams, after all he bent over backwards to cave into all his demands, he would have taken us up, i.e. last season.

Remember, entertaining as last Saturday was, Swindon should have scored twice, i.e. you are more prone to letting a goal in and then it's even harder to get that win.

 

Totally agree. We should been 3-0 at half time in the first leg and Hughes tellling them to carry on that way.

Instead, from that 46th minute on right through to the end of the 2nd leg, he was outthought / outmanaged by Simpson.

Worse he then did a pointless reset in a season where his tactics from January onwards of last season, would have been very well suited to this year - where more teams are playing attacking football, because we got more clubs with resources to do so.

 

Here we go again, the deluded Hughes was a better pick than Wellens arguement.

Wellens did not fail at Salford. He achieved their highest ever league position at that point (8th and two points off the playoffs) in a team that were in their second season in the league, having risen from way down the pyramid. They were no Wrexham at that point, who had never been below level 5, and finishing 8th, 12 points and 7 places ahead of us was relative success.

I've already said he failed at Doncaster, but what part of two league titles and an EFL Cup victory in a six year managerial career, don't you understand about success. We can all take six months at one club as failure, but I'm damn sure Wellens isn't losing sleep over the impact on his CV and I'm damn sure if he left Orient tomorrow he would have his pick of jobs in L2, unlike Leslie.

In comparison, Hughes has managed over a 24 year period (with around over 4 years of that being unemployed) and has never won anything, his best achievement being taking Wales to second in a qualifying group, losing to Russia in a play off. A potted history of his career tells you he was the wrong man by some considerable distance

Blackburn - Hughes's side was accused of being "over-physical" and "dirty" on multiple occasions.
Man City - only two wins in 11 successive Premier League matches at the end of his tenure (Sacked)
Fulham - owner Mohamed Al-Fayed called him a "strange man" and a "flop" and said he rescued him from becoming a forgotten man after being sacked by Manchester City. (Resigned after one season and out of work for six months). Absolutely lost the dressing room.
QPR - stayed up in 2011 because Bolton failed to beat Stoke and in 2012 went 12 games without a win before being sacked and out of work for another six months.
Stoke - spent in excess of £60million in his last season and although he had relative success in their top ten finishes, when he was sacked in the January they had the worst defensive record in the PL by a mile and had conceded over two goals a game.
Southampton - lasted six months and was sacked with them in a relegation spot before being out of work for three and a half years.

Harry Hindsight is an absolutely marvellous thing, but no-one in their right mind can tell me that a two time L2 Winner, with one failure on his CV, wasn't better suited to OUR vacancy than a man who had ultimately failed in 5 of his 6 previous jobs.

 

Gary Neville has tentatively admitted that he got rid of Wellens too hastily. From Wellens celebrations and post match comments last season, when Orient won at Salford, it's clear there is no love lost between these two, i.e. a clash of personalities.

And listening to them both on footie matters, you can see that you've got two very knowledgable footie people and a clash would be inevitable.

Also, lots of Rovers fans blamed the club and its chaotic nature, more than Wellens.

I did like the idea of Wellens, but admit that when I heard Hughes was interested - preferred him.


But you can look at it the other way................

Wellens wasn't a two time L2 winner at the time we were interested. He'd been sacked in two consecutive jobs.

Plus there is an asterix against all the promoted and relegated teams during the abandoned Covid season, who know who'd have been promoted if the season had run it's course, i.e. in 21/22 Bristol Rovers wouldn't even had made the play-offs. So I can fully see why lot of fans would prefer Hughes and at the time, were indifferent to Wellens.

I always thought that as soon as Adams left, we should gone for Evans. I couldn't care less about what happened 10 years previously!!

 

Neville has a personality, interesting.

 

Hmm sacked at Salford sacked at Doncaster. Against experience at premiership and international level. There isn’t a side in the lower leagues who wouldn’t have appointed Hughes

 

Peterborough turned him down in League 1, so that’s just not true.

 

Wrong. 75% of them couldn't afford him. I don't disagree that I loved the idea, who wouldn't, but with the use of harry (hindsight) it was a lazy "glory" appointment done without much thought.

 

The return of the messiah. John Sheridan.

 

Daragh "knows football". I bet he told Hughes to apply to Bradford so they can keep the application on file ready for our next sacking.

 

Of course it was proven wrong. But without hindsight it’s the decision which most other sides would have taken

 

Well you might have trawled for an exception I am sure that wouldn’t have been the case in most instances

 

Maybe other clubs would have done a more thorough interview process and Hughes would have been shown to be well passed his best and out of touch with modern day coaching methods, who knows. But all people like you talking about hindsight are just going off a name, no one can know who should be appointed as it should be down to a proper interview process not checking your spam or what’s the point?

 

He's also a Hypocrite, He called for managers to be given 2 to 3 years in the job and then showing Richie Wellens the door at Salford after 4 months.