Simon Grayson - worst Bradford City manager record ever

But Ronnie, the "off field issues" you refer to were between the board and McCall were they not? Therefore, when Grayson walked in the door they should no longer have been a consideration should they? No more off field issues + Grayson's ( as atated by himself) superior managerial skills, = improved results... or do they?

 

The "off field" issues didn't end when Stuart walked out though. The fans were/are disgruntled. The owner-fan relations are at a low point. The owners cant turn back time and invest in January. Plus whatever else may or may not have occurred. So these off-field issues are not solved with one man being sacked and replaced.

If Grayson had come in with a full pre-season, opportunity to sign players and a none soured atmosphere then we could judge his tenure more harshly. The reality is he walked into a club with a lack of quality/depth in their first team squad, disgruntled fans/chairmen and a run of pretty poor form. He's had to try to turn around an oil tanker with a canoe paddle and I for one give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

I agree with most of that, but my opinion has been formed by the short term contract Grayson demanded and the one the board agreed to. I believe they acted through both nievity and desperation. I think it was their belief that results would immediately improve and therefore the off field problems would be negated as a result. And yes, if Grayson had started "turning the ship around" perhaps they would have been proved right. But you yourself, and countless other City fans could see this was never going to happen so why couldn't they?

 

Well, I think the general consensus is the board saw this deal as a coup for the club and offered Grayson a longer contract that he turned down in favour of a short-term deal. Grayson has stated he doesn't want to be "stuck" in league 1, so he's dipped his toe in the water to see what our club is like and likely judge our promotion chances after this initial contract.

I think the board rolled the dice with a short-term deal for Grayson rather than sticking with McCall in the hope they can convince him to stay, believing he is a better long-term option than McCall. I think this is why they were so concerned about the fans "getting behind" the new manager.

 

serious question. Has SG's stock gone down in terms of the managerial market due to City's record under him (notwithstanding the "not his players" argument).?

 

Not at all if we don't sign him up on a longer contract he won't be out of the game long.

 

His exploits this year will make him less attractive to the better teams

 

First of all, I'd like to say that if Grayson commits to Bradford City, then yes, we have a chance of progressing, but the board said from the outset that they wanted a programme of steady growth at the club. If they were going to be true to their own ethos, then wouldn't they have said no to Grayson's short term demands? Are they not running the risk of leaving us high and dry in the summer without a Manager and little time for a new one to bring in the players many believe we are going to need?
If Grayson doesn't want to be "stuck in league 1", then why take a risk with a club who are already in freefall in league 1? For me, all this talk about him (Grayson) "dipping his toe in the water" "seeing what our club is like" and "judging our promotion chances" is frankly a bit sickening. He's done all that now, so by your reckoning, he must be packing his bags.

 

I agree @Tillo ...............
Of course SG is testing the waters. And why not ? Many of us do this inbetween jobs anyway.
By being temporary, he has an inside view of how our Club is being run, and the faults which lie within all that.
So what if he does go ? It's no worse than 22 months ago, and we got through that OK ! In addition, apparently both SG and GA have been preparing for next season. I applaud SG's professionalism, here. He is actually advising our owners of what is required ........ So look at it as pro bono ?
No real axe to grind with SG, from me - however it turns out.

 

Like I said I think the board rolled the dice when Grayson rejected a long-term deal, the board then had a choice, look elsewhere or give him the short-term deal. Why would we risk not getting him at all? a short-term contract suits us better than a searching for a 'poorer' manager on a long-term deal.

And we were hardly in freefall when he took over, there was still a very real chance of playoffs. It is another argument about what has happened since...But I don't think its sickening, Grayson is just someone weighing up a career choice its completely normal. If discussions between him and the board go well then there's a very real chance he will stay but it's all speculation until they tell us otherwise I suppose.

 

Sorry but I cannot agree, tell me how Grayson's short term contract has benefited Bradford City in any way? (Other than the possibility that he might decide to stay) The only person (potentially) benefiting from this is Grayson as he is the one with the option to walk away from the (bigger) mess he has put us in. By the way, I'm sure there are other managers out there who could have achieved what Grayson has achieved to date. And having someone in place on a longer contract from the point Grayson took over would have meant we could still have had a shot of the playoffs, but the rebuilding for next season could have been well underway.

 

It benefitted Bradford City by getting us, Simon Grayson. You view the decision to hire SG with the luxury of seeing us months down the line. The Chairmen had no such luxury, they viewed SG as the best possible candidate at the time. As I have already said what has happened since is irrelevant in the decision to hire him in the first place.

Preparations are already underway, we know Abbo has a list of players ready, Mason and Rahic have both said they are working hard for next season. (Pitch planning and the rest) and if SG does stay on then we are right on schedule. If he doesn't I'm sure the club already have tabs on some people to take over in line for the summer.

 

I admire your positive spin on what has been nothing short of a shambles. As for Greg Abbott leaving a list of players, yes I read that too, however, taking into account Abbo's situation, I will leave my thoughts on that for another day, suffice to say, I don't think mine would be the same as yours Derrie.

 

I think @Bronco describes are current situation pretty accurately in a witty fashion. There IS a lot of truth in what he says and I sure can't imagine how Edin can describe all these events in a business like fashion without there being some serious questions asked by any potential investors.

 

I believe once Stuart was sacked knowing Grayson's track record with regards promotions from league one they persuade him and have given him the job (on far more money than McCall was on) hoping he could come in and save their bacon the club getting the "new manager bounce" and he could stop the rot and save our season.
They made it clear that they wanted to sign him on a longer term contract which sounded/looked good at the time not sure as many City fans are as convinced with what they've seen even accepting they are not Grayson's players I personally expected better even when he has obviously been setting his team up not to lose which made sense in trying to stop our slide down the league.
If Grayson takes the job longer term I believe he would only have done so on guarantees he will have a decent transfer budget to give him a chance of being successful (he has his reputation to keep) and no transfer committee nonsense, him and his backroom team will be on more than the last manager/backroom staff IMO, and the owners have told us the pitch will be sorted, if Stefan is not prepared to invest any more we know Edin can't so it is a situation of Grayson not being around, Stefan coming up to the ockey or Edin convinces new backers to come on board and purchase Stefan's share holding.

 

Or soldering on a reduced budget. Not a great option I know. Using the loan route

 

PP used it well but the system has dramatically changed since

 

Sadly yes, and all the bad feeling that goes with that after the fans expectations were so high when the new owners took over and made several comments about our club going forward, are well at least we'll still have a team to support .

 

Maybe we need to cut our cloth according to our means.

 

We've only just got rid of the "rag bag of a club" comments, don't want to go back to sack cloth mate .