Most liked posts in thread: McCall speaks...

I like the talk about getting rid of the players he didn't want in January.

He'd just signed 2 of them in the summer transfer window and spent the rest of the summer bigging up another!

I love Stuart and he'll always be a legend in my eyes but to I can't in any way agree that he was capable of turning this around. Sacking him was unfortunately the absolutely right decision.

 

No game so put a story on the back page of the local paper to fill the void,nothing more to say that hasn't been said before.
Great player,Poor manager
Good Luck in Scotland Stuart.

 

Cant believe the shite that gets talked on here sometimes, menta be a Bradford City forum and people are dragging McCall’s name through the mud for not following his runner in a game in 1996...

 

Good luck to Macca for the future

 

Depends on you context of best. I'm guessing you're referring to Chris Waddle or Benito as the best player to play for City. But their influence on our football was actually minimal to next to nothing compared to McCall. Depends on your voting criteria but Stuart McCall will never be beaten as the most influential player we've ever had.

 

Is someone seriously trying to tarnish McCall’s legacy with us, by bringing up one time he lost his runner in an international match when he wasn’t at our club 25 years ago? Hard to take some comments seriously on here.

 

I personally believe there is an element of truth in what McCall says. Injuries did hamper him and it certainly exposed the lack of quality and paper thin squad he had at his disposal. The poor run of form coincided with this. However, McCall et al. took a conscious decision to go with a small squad. It was a risk and it backfired.

I do understand his frustration though. He always maintained he was not going to panic buy and bring in any old striker. He indicated this area would hopefully be addressed in Jan. The club were prepared to back him, more resource came in with the recruitment of Turnbull and it would appear Rowe was Stuart's target. To be denied the opportunity must be frustrating.

That said, I have to agree McCall made some questionable tactical choices. When you are down to the bare bones and you lack quality the first thing you need to do is protect them. Keep things simple and make the team hard to beat. Instead the formations were not clear and far too open.

In the end given the teams position and recent performances his sacking was understandable. I do believe things would have improved under McCall but I doubt the turnaround would have been as impressive as what we have witnessed under T&S.

 

Really dont known what to make of that article. We were plummetting down the league with no continuity of team structure. Players who clearly are not good enough that he signed and we were being beaten week in week out without putting up much of a fight.

T and S take over the exact same team and go 8 games unbeaten. And we looked organised and the players seem to know what their jobs are.

His last few radio interviews were mad, defensive and dismissive. That didnt sound like someone with a plan. Strange behaviour if he did have a plan that he really believed in.

 

He’ll always be a club legend/icon so a couple of the comments on here regarding rumours of drinks and calling him a clown are pathetic in my eyes.

That said I’m glad he’s gone and don’t agree with a lot he’s saying, although it was bizarre by the club to give him a new contract and sack him two weeks later.

But it’s best everyone just moves on Stuart is more suited to punditry imo, and we are suited to a different manager although I’d happily have him in some kind of honorary role like other clubs do with club legends. Doesn’t look like that will happen under this regime now however.

 

Let's be fair. Comparing waddle to mccall in terms of what they did in a team is like Comparing Stanley Matthews to nobby stiles.

Stuart McCall isn't a very good football manager, but as a player he was, and probably will be for the rest of my life, the best central midfield player ever to put on a city shirt.

No question about it.

 

The most skilful? No, that’s a Carbone or a Waddle. But the best player, certainly in the modern era, 100%. Anyone who says otherwise is just wrong.

 

I mentioned that regualrly in whatsapp conversations before games. One look at the team sheet and formation and you knew the poor sods had no idea what they were supposed to do before they'd even stepped on the pitch.

 

It appears so. I recall Hendrie being sent off at Man City and that affected the Ipswich home game that ultimately cost us promotion.

 

This thread is insane. Is lockdown getting to people?

I suppose "best" is a subjective term and if you're using it simply to mean "most skillful" then no - McCall doesn't fit that criteria in the same way that Juan Sebastian Veron is better than Roy Keane. If it's taken in a more rounded way then of course McCall is the best and analysing his role in a 1996 top level international game is among the most bizarre rabbit holes I've ever seen anyone fall down on here.

McCall as a manager is woeful with his achievements constantly overrated with many excuses being provided for him. But that doesn't take anything away from what his playing days should represent to this club, Half of the problems with his recurring management here is that people don't seem to be able to separate the two.

The interview that started this off is delusional from McCall but it seems to fit in with the narrative that he builds around himself when he fails. Let's not tarnish his playing legacy because of it though.

 

As suspected, Stuart had a plan on and off the pitch, and Turnbull, Trueman and Sellars are just carrying it out.

Get him back in the dugout on Tuesday and judge him at the end of next season, when we'll be celebrating promotion to the Championship.

 

Despite Ryan saying there was no bitterness in his WOAP interview, there are a few digs at him in that.


“There was this hysteria, and I think some at the club got caught up in it, when they were discussing the National League with 30 games to go.

“I think that had a lot to do with it. I found it strange that one week people think you’re the right man for the job long-term and you’re signing a new deal and then to lose faith like that was disappointing.

 

I wonder if he was reluctant to implement new things into training/prematch warm ups etc, I've heard AK make comments with regards pre match warm ups before the kick off and on entering the pitch after the half time break many times.

I thought the injury situation didnt help him and T&S have certainly benefited from the better players coming back but it wasnt solely down to injured players, shame Simon has to get print inches with this article the vast majority wanted Stuart to succeed as manager to follow on from his player legacy but it wasnt to be.

 

The fact that McCall thought Mottley Henry was good enough to play in the side says it all,