Most liked posts in thread: Steve Evans

Hi, Stags fan here with a cautionary tale.

We asked these same questions before signing Evans as manager. He was famously nasty and a convicted fraudster, but we took him on and true to form he conned us all.

He joined with the promise of success and talked up his 9 career promotions. In truth some of those were at non-league levels and he was counting ones where he'd left before the end of the season (we should have been warned by this). He's a very good self-publicist and he had our owners hook, line and sinker.

We did OK in the league after a slow start, although the football wasn't great to watch, and as we rose up into the playoffs, most fans were willing to overlook the constant shouting, swearing and complaining on the sidelines. Then Peterborough sacked their manager and suddenly Evans needed releasing from his contract for a dream job in China that our owner felt obliged to let him go for. Surprise surprise, it wasn't real and days later he turned up at Peterborough.

We dropped from 4th to 8th, missing out on the playoffs with egg on our faces. If you want to risk this kind of thing (he also ditched Crawley during a promotion push for a higher job I believe), as well as astronomical wages and a toxic dressing room, then good luck to you. He can't work without a big budget and has no morals or shame. The whole squad, to a man, will despise him for his bullying. He will drop players for months for single mistakes and try to shout them back into form. The only club I would wish him on is Chesterfield.

 

The thing with Evans is, it's not 'outrage', it's deep dislike.

People can say they don't like Evans because he flashed a staff member at VP, or they can say they don't like him because he's blatantly corrupt, as he proved at Boston, or whatever else.

But the reality is, a lot of people just hate that particular human being, and don't want him in charge. They don't like the way he treats players, they don't like his antics on the touchline, they don't like the fact he instigated a brawl at VP, lots and lots of things that add up to this: They dislike Steve Evans, and don't want him at the club.

Trying to compare him to every person past or present that's broken the law but still been accepted at VP is missing the mark by quite a distance. It isn't hypocritical to think Evans is a terrible fit for us, but someone who also broke the law might be a good fit. There's more to it than that.

 

It's not just the Crawley brawl and the subsequent sexual harassment incident.
He cheated Dagenham out of promotion to the FL by his fraudulent player dealings at Boston Utd and compounded the felony by deliberately impeding the subsequent inquiry. He then received a 12 month suspended sentence for defrauding the public revenue.
He's a serial abuser of match officials, for which he's received numerous yellow and red cards.
The man is trash. He's an even more divisive figure than Derek Adams. We need a stable manager with a clear long term strategy, not a spendthrift hothead who'll split the fan base and has achieved nothing of note for years.

 

It matters not what people are saying. The evidence speaks for itself. Key decisions made by Sparks in the last 16 months:

Nov 2020 - Extends the contract of a struggling Stuart McCall until the end of the 2022 season.
Dec 2020 - Sacks Stuart McCall
Dec 2020 - Appoints Lee Turnbull as Recruitment Director, citing the need for continuity and stability as an aside from the Manager role
Dec 2020 - Appoints Trueman and Sellars as Caretaker Managers
Jan 2021 - Promotes Trueman and Sellars to Interim Managers
Feb 2021 - Appoints Trueman and Sellars as Joint Managers until the end of 21-22 season.
May 2021 - Removes Trueman and Sellars from their Manager role
June 2021 - Appoints Adams as Manager on a 3 year contract
Sept 2021 - Sacks Lee Turnbull
Feb 2022 - Sacks Adams

Right now, we have no manager in place, and we're still paying the contracts of 3 previous managers until the end of this season.

'Letting him get on with the job' isn't working. In fact, its actively destroying this club. He urgently needs help, or replacing. There isn't a single person in a leadership role at this club, with enough interest, ambition AND capability to take this club forward. If nothing changes, this club is heading for the Conference, probably next year. If you have any genuine affection for this club, leave your ego at the door, speak to Sparks and implore him to get help through the door. Before its too late.

 

So he extended Stuart's contract to give him 'the best chance', then terminated it two weeks later. One of those decisions must have been wrong then, so which one was it?
In terms of T&S, there was absolutely no need to make their positions permanent. Had he not done so, he wouldn't have needed to sack them at the end of the season. As for Adams, he clearly had him in mind for a long time, so ample opportunity to carry out due diligence before employing him. However, he seemed to have no idea that Del boy isn't a fan of heads of recruitment, and that resulted in him having to get rid of the head of recruitment he had employed just a few months earlier, claiming it was the way forward for the club.

A lot of people agree with you that Sparks is doing a decent job off field, but you really need to take your blinkers off regarding footballing matters because he is clearly out of his depth on that front.

 

Your comment regarding getting 3 points and then analysing is part of the problem. Like how some on here thought the luckiest of wins against Walsall or circumstantial win against a poor Salford somehow would see us turn the corner.
Make no bones about it this club is deep in the shit. Cracks papered over, a squad that has never looked so unbalanced. I could go on but if folk can't see how big the problems are then I can't help them.
A change of manager isn't turning this club around. It needs a change of philosophy and strategy.

 

Park defending the indefensible really. Daft thing is I think even Sparks would admit he’s made mistakes on the footballing side and that it isn’t his area of expertise. Very few are actually saying Sparks out just he sticky’s to his strengths, if we weren’t run on such a tight budget I think he’d prefer a DOF style of person to make the footballing decisions. The club structure is simply geared towards failure when it comes to football. Go listen to Morais yesterday and Jones when he’s on, they both say the same as have Jewell and Greg Abbott in the last week. It’s smacking us in the face people wake up and stop burying your heads in the sand. If anyone actually believes a simple managerial appointment will change our fortunes then you have no idea of modern football.

 

Will you stop attending matches if Steve Evans is appointed manager at City?

1. Yes, I will no longer attend matches.
2. No, I'll still go to matches.

Holy double negative Batman!

Who wrote that poll?

 

I admire your loyalty mate, but how many mistakes does he have to make (given the situation were in) before he gets one right football wise.
I have no doubt he is a very genuine guy and has the club at heart, why wouldn't he be the more successful this club is the more in demand his services would be at a bigger club.
Sorry mate we can't keep papering over the poor appointments with regards football matters.

 

And if MacAnthony rates Ev*ns as much as he claims, he can take him to save the Posh.

 

You are talking as if it is nailed on that Evans would get us promotion. How many times has he got teams promoted in the past 5 years? or 10 years?

 

There's no doubt he wants the job making comments that he could get us in a play off place, he should be doing stand up comedy.

 

@wetherbywhaler was quoting
it would be 5 years to right Rahics time at the club and that's looking a little conservative at this moment in time.

 

The present regime has killed this club. Its a rudderless ship with no Captain to speak of. Repapering the walls ain't gonna stop the cracks coming back.
I don't know how they'll stop it but bringing a devisive manager in is not the answer.

 

Jesus wept, this obsession people have with McAnthony is truly bizarre.

 

I’ve long gone past caring about what Steve Evans has done in the past. I’m at the stage where I’d accept Colonel Gadaffi as manager if he could string back to back wins together.

But Evans recent track record is pretty poor. He’s another old school manager who’ll want do everything his way, and when we inevitably limp towards a lower mid-table finish and he gets sacked next February we’ll be starting from scratch yet again.

 

It seems as though a DOF strategy would really benefit us atm.
Some real footballing experience.
That needs to be the next appointment. Then the DOF is part of the process of selecting the next Manager.

 

Or maybe it's just that it's not so much about criminality and more about the fact he's an odious tool who people don't wish to support?

Maybe it's that the memories of Evans' idiocy revolve around VP, whereas Jamie Lawrence committed a crime that had nothing to do with Bradford City and didn't affect fans, no matter how bad the crime.

Trying to muddy the waters with 'criminality' is daft.

It's not about who is most criminal. It's about who is most DISLIKED.

 

You do understand what a self sustaining club is don’t you? It literally means you aren’t backed. And he could have brought in 17 pub players(some are) doesn’t mean they’re particularly expensive. I prefer quality over quantity, the numbers are irrelevant.