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Confirmed Graham Alexander New Manager, Chris Lucketti as Assistant

Confirmed Graham Alexander New Manager, Chris Lucketti as Assistant

SF said:
I've no interest in reading all of that so I'll just pick some random points.

It's bizarre that people give credit to Heckingbottom for selling players that Lowe brought in. Lowe had no saleable assets, apart from ones that would weaken us massively if they left.

Heckingbottom didn't negotiate the sales.

As for the squad, nope not for me, Heckingbottom inherited better attacker's, more midfield depth, and a similarly shit defence.

Lowe was shit. Heckingbottom was shitter, and the amount excuses made for the latter rather than the former is weird.
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Is it because his media interviews maybe sounded more normal?
 
SF said:
I've no interest in reading all of that so I'll just pick some random points.

It's bizarre that people give credit to Heckingbottom for selling players that Lowe brought in. Lowe had no saleable assets, apart from ones that would weaken us massively if they left.

Heckingbottom didn't negotiate the sales.

As for the squad, nope not for me, Heckingbottom inherited better attacker's, more midfield depth, and a similarly shit defence.

Lowe was shit. Heckingbottom was shitter, and the amount excuses made for the latter rather than the former is weird.
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We're taking the thread off topic so I won't continue beyond this post because we've done this death before. FWIW, I think the club was right to sack Heckingbottom and ultimately he failed to get a tune out of a squad that he built.

On the point about selling players; it's simply not true that Lowe had no sellable assets. Browne, DJ, Riis, Whiteman, and McCann would've all probably generated substantial fees (even then we probably could've got fees for Ledson, Sinclair, Barkhuizen, Potts, etc if we tried). We simply shouldn't be afraid to sell players for fear of weakening ourselves otherwise we would never progress. All players are sellable ultimately. Even under McAvoy's one window, we were able to sell Stockley. Lowe's tenure saw us wasting money by losing loads of players for free. We need to sell players in order to supplement our transfer budget. This will still be true if Zedan takes us over. It isn't about how good the players are to sell. The players Heckingbottom sold weren't of a higher quality than the players available to Lowe to sell. It's simply that no effort was made to boost our transfer budget by selling players we had (be them high quality first team players who we could make a decent wedge on, or backup players who simply aren't good enough). The whole "if there's no one knocking" sales tactic that Ridsdale promotes is bollocks.
 
Bodney Rewes said:
We're taking the thread off topic so I won't continue beyond this post because we've done this death before. FWIW, I think the club was right to sack Heckingbottom and ultimately he failed to get a tune out of a squad that he built.

On the point about selling players; it's simply not true that Lowe had no sellable assets. Browne, DJ, Riis, Whiteman, and McCann would've all probably generated substantial fees (even then we probably could've got fees for Ledson, Sinclair, Barkhuizen, Potts, etc if we tried). We simply shouldn't be afraid to sell players for fear of weakening ourselves otherwise we would never progress. All players are sellable ultimately. Even under McAvoy's one window, we were able to sell Stockley. Lowe's tenure saw us wasting money by losing loads of players for free. We need to sell players in order to supplement our transfer budget. This will still be true if Zedan takes us over. It isn't about how good the players are to sell. The players Heckingbottom sold weren't of a higher quality than the players available to Lowe to sell. It's simply that no effort was made to boost our transfer budget by selling players we had (be them high quality first team players who we could make a decent wedge on, or backup players who simply aren't good enough). The whole "if there's no one knocking" sales tactic that Ridsdale promotes is bollocks.
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It's not a feather in Heckingbottom's cap though. His fringe players (Frokjaer, Thor, and Okkels) had European clubs willing to buy them for cash, while Lowe's fringe players were worthless.
 
Kaiser Sosay said:
If you would like my league table since I started following PNE, here it is

Moyes
Grayson
Peters
Davies
McGrath
Neil
Irvine
Beck
Simpson
C.Brown
Chapman
Ferguson
Westley
Heckingbottom
P.Brown
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You forgot Lowe and McAvoy.

Moyes
McGrath
Grayson
Davies
Peters
Irvine
Neil
Simpson
McAvoy
Lowe
Heckingbottom
Beck
Chapman
P Brown
Ferguson
Westley
C Brown
 
Ando60 said:
I would have Davies ahead of Neil ....

Moyes and Davies are the only two managers to get us to Championship PO finals...
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Going further back, good old Nobby Stiles built an exciting team, got us a L1 promotion, and then 7th place in the 'championship' the following year. Not bad at all yet poor Nobby rarely gets a mention in these managerial threads.
 
Dirty Harry said:
Going further back, good old Nobby Stiles built an exciting team, got us a L1 promotion, and then 7th place in the 'championship' the following year. Not bad at all yet poor Nobby rarely gets a mention in these managerial threads.
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We were blessed with the Bruce/ Elwiss partnership back then. Incredible to think it’s 50 years ago since he became manager.
 
Dirty Harry said:
Going further back, good old Nobby Stiles built an exciting team, got us a L1 promotion, and then 7th place in the 'championship' the following year. Not bad at all yet poor Nobby rarely gets a mention in these managerial threads.
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It was an extremely stupid decision to dispense with his services - although the mess we were in financially, it would have taken Shankly and Paisley combined to give us even half a chance the following season.
 
SF said:
It's not a feather in Heckingbottom's cap though. His fringe players (Frokjaer, Thor, and Okkels) had European clubs willing to buy them for cash, while Lowe's fringe players were worthless.
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Those are players we signed from Europe for one thing. Frøkjaer-Jensen and Okkels basically went back where they came from. But also being signed by European clubs doesn't really mean anything. We could sell a player to Hamrun Spartans and they'd be going to Europe. Plus they aren't the only players sold under Heckingbottom's watch. There's also Mawene, Stewart, Whatmough, Whiteman, and Osmajic.

The reason that Heckingbottom gets credit is because our transfer strategy is decided by the manager under the Hemmings ownership. Who we sell, who buy, etc. It fluctuates dramatically from one manager to another. There was a notable difference in approach so much so that Ridsdale commented about how all of a sudden under Heckingbottom we were thinking ahead to future windows (which really is just basic strategy so it shouldn't be so impressive to Ridsdale as it was which, if anything, is a damning indictment on Ridsdale's tenure and the approach of our previous managers). It'll be the same under Grezza. He decides who we sign and who we sell unless Zedan and Co buy the club and install a Director of Football.
 
Bodney Rewes said:
Those are players we signed from Europe for one thing. Frøkjaer-Jensen and Okkels basically went back where they came from. But also being signed by European clubs doesn't really mean anything. We could sell a player to Hamrun Spartans and they'd be going to Europe. Plus they aren't the only players sold under Heckingbottom's watch. There's also Mawene, Stewart, Whatmough, Whiteman, and Osmajic.

The reason that Heckingbottom gets credit is because our transfer strategy is decided by the manager under the Hemmings ownership. Who we sell, who buy, etc. It fluctuates dramatically from one manager to another. There was a notable difference in approach so much so that Ridsdale commented about how all of a sudden under Heckingbottom we were thinking ahead to future windows (which really is just basic strategy so it shouldn't be so impressive to Ridsdale as it was which, if anything, is a damning indictment on Ridsdale's tenure and the approach of our previous managers). It'll be the same under Grezza. He decides who we sign and who we sell unless Zedan and Co buy the club and install a Director of Football.
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Mawene would have been sold whoever the manager was. Whatmough and Stewart went for absolute peanuts. Whiteman would have left regardless of who the manager was, and the same for Osmajic due to his contract.

A really weird way to give credit to the previous manager that certain posters are running with.

Also, no idea why you're picking up on the 'European club' aspect, it's irrelevant. If Lowe could have moved on his fringe players for a decent sum of money like Heckingbottom was able to, he would have done so, same as any manager. But he couldn't, because no one would pay for the likes of Woodburn, Ledson, Ched, and Bauer.
 
Kaiser Sosay said:
I am interested to know why C.Brown is bottom of the list?
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Aye. Finished 12th and 15th, and brought in some of my favourite PNE players without spending much.

Davis, Fuller, Lewis, O'Neil, Gould, Mears... Laid good foundations for BD.

Plus we were genuinely great to watch at Deepdale under Brown. Just couldn't translate that to away games.

I'd probably put him about 6th, between Peters & Irvine.
 
IrishNorthEnder93 said:


Interesting take from a Bradford fan on how Alexander will set up, definitely don’t agree with his choice of striker that’s for sure.
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I actively avoid clickbait titles/thumbnails, but I think this is a decent video and the lad obviously knows what he’s talking about when it comes to how GA sets up.

He’s got the back 3, Clarke and the 2 CM’s spot on imo. I think a lot of our fans, myself included, have predicted those players playing in those roles since we got the green light from Bradford last week.

There’s some rogue shouts in there as well though 😅 I certainly wouldn’t be starting Burgzorg, let alone popping him up front as a lone frontman, nor would I be shoehorning Mills into LWB, but it’s interesting to hear the comparison he’s made to Tyreik Wright. That may be one to watch out for down the line, but I don’t see Alexander taking that big of a risk from the offset. Though where Mills best fits into the team is still up debate and remains to be seen until we’re back in action.

Personally, I think we’ll go -

Iversen

Offiah - Storey - Gibson

Clarke ———————————————- Vuk

Leroy - Thompson

Devine - Moran

Kenny​

Moran is obviously much more suited/comfortable with that role in attacking midfield, and while I can’t see Alexander not trying to mould Mills into a more versatile player that can play there, especially at 22, popping out of position from the jump might not be wise. I can’t see him jumping the gun with that, but wouldn’t be surprised all the same if he did get plonked more centrally down the line, if not out wide.

Should we not have Vukcevic fit, it’s hard to look past Small or Hughes as the alternative at LWB, which makes me wince a little as things stand. Who knows, GA could be the making of Small, but the WB experiment hasn’t been a success as of yet.

Clarke doesn’t necessarily strike me as completely suiting a bomb up and down, out and out WB role either, but I think he’s got some of they key qualities needed to adjust and will pick up the pace in that regard.

Bolton raised concerns about Kenny operating as a lone frontman, but he’s the best we’ve got and was brilliant (albeit greedy) in our last game, so. That’s a no brainer for me.
 
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Still cannot get my head around people wanting rid of the back 3/5 and negative tactics so giving a managerial team less than a month from the end of the transfer window to achieve attacking, winning, back four and wingers football...

...and now we bring in a successful lower League manager, and fans are immediately happy with survival and defensive security with the same back 3/5 we've always used and were trying to get away from.
 
Bobbage said:
Still cannot get my head around people wanting rid of the back 3/5 and negative tactics so giving a managerial team less than a month from the end of the transfer window to achieve attacking, winning, back four and wingers football...

...and now we bring in a successful lower League manager, and fans are immediately happy with survival and defensive security with the same back 3/5 we've always used and were trying to get away from.
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You don’t have to be happy with it, but it’s likely the reality of how we’ll set up under Alexander, assuming he doesn’t want to move away from the formation that has worked for him.
 
OB1 said:
Interesting point from the press conference, particularly for people suggesting he was well down the list. Sounds like the reason we only made an official approach on Wednesday was out of respect for Bradford with them having a game on the Tuesday, rather than just waiting for ages and then giving it to Alexander
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wld said:
Yes, I noticed that. To be honest, a lot of the not our first choice talk came from people thinking of Dyche, Gerrard, Cooper etc and that was unrealistic talk in hindsight (and probably without hindsight).

They’ll presumably have spent the first few days talking about what they wanted, how they wanted to approach the appointment, sifting through contacts and maybe sounding out a few agents. Obviously Alexander wouldn’t have been the only person they seriously considered but to commit a sizeable chunk to Bradford and to the previous manager, this is clearly not a cheap option and is clearly (at worst) one of their top initial choices. I honestly think it’s actually their top choice.
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Always a pleasure to read some common sense fellas ...... 👍
 
Kaiser Sosay said:
If you would like my league table since I started following PNE, here it is

Moyes
Grayson
Peters
Davies
McGrath
Neil
Irvine
Beck
Simpson
C.Brown
Chapman
Ferguson
Westley
Heckingbottom
P.Brown
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For me:

Moyes
Davies
Peters
Grayson
Neil
Irvine
Beck
C Brown
Simpson
Lowe
Ferguson
McAvoy
P Brown
Heckingbottom
Westley

Bit unsure about the McAvoy and Ferguson positions. Suppose I could just put them as a 'tie'!
 
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