Heckingbottom

[billymac]

You have to ask if PH has improved any of our players this season, following on from the near disaster of last season and bringing in a few of his own plus the loan players, I really and honestly fail to see any improvement in any of our players over the full season .
Iversen has been great but his replacements maybe not, the the fuck scouted Walton?
I don't see any season long improvement in any of our defensive players
Whiteman was playing well at the start of the season but that is probably down to Armstrong covering for captain useless, with Dobbin and Devine excepted the rest of the midfield have been very poor.
Strikers are gash even though Milly has his moments (at least he tries) the rest are shite.

You then have to look at what PH and his team actually do, defensive minded even at home against shite, second half garbage, same shite at every presser, unable to lift the team or fans, HE is our biggest issue IMHO.

I think working under Ridsdale must be the most depressing job in football, you are fed shite and have to put up with the tax advisor watching your every movement at Euxton when he has achieved the square root of fuck all in football, perhaps Sock Shop was his professional zenith, sorry not going to jail was probably his greatest achievement.

I don't want PH here next season and he can take Murphy (thug) with him, I would give it to McCall and only let him bring in players and coaches.

 

[SoccerHQ]

That is more an issue of the owners and the lack of selling of any assets than it is of the recruitment team and manager.

If they don't have that kind of a pot to play with, then there's a smaller pool of players available compared to others who can spend more because they've made more money. Hence the fees we were paying are still small for this league which is what the point was.

The entire league, bar the four in the current bottom four and Hull, had a higher overall spend and also spent more on an individual player than we did on our biggest. Oxford may actually be more than us or at least close to us too. So it is pretty bargain basement relative to the league.

Hull would've spent plenty I'm sure last summer but for the embargo. And even in that scenario they still signed McBurnie and Gerhardt for decent wages.

So yes this club is firmly bottom six now in terms of budget and can easily go lower with potentially Pompey and Oxford going down and Cardiff coming back up so this is why a takeover in next few months is essential as the club have just been left behind so much by the decisions of last five years.

 

[Mick M]

You have to ask if PH has improved any of our players this season, following on from the near disaster of last season and bringing in a few of his own plus the loan players, I really and honestly fail to see any improvement in any of our players over the full season .
Iversen has been great but his replacements maybe not, the the fuck scouted Walton?
I don't see any season long improvement in any of our defensive players
Whiteman was playing well at the start of the season but that is probably down to Armstrong covering for captain useless, with Dobbin and Devine excepted the rest of the midfield have been very poor.
Strikers are gash even though Milly has his moments (at least he tries) the rest are shite.

You then have to look at what PH and his team actually do, defensive minded even at home against shite, second half garbage, same shite at every presser, unable to lift the team or fans, HE is our biggest issue IMHO.

I think working under Ridsdale must be the most depressing job in football, you are fed shite and have to put up with the tax advisor watching your every movement at Euxton when he has achieved the square root of fuck all in football, perhaps Sock Shop was his professional zenith, sorry not going to jail was probably his greatest achievement.

I don't want PH here next season and he can take Murphy (thug) with him, I would give it to McCall and only let him bring in players and coaches.

Agree with everything you have said but i dont think i would give the job to McCall though.Needs a clean slate. Needs a modern coach with modern ideas rather than coaching from the dark ages.

 

[OB1]

You have to ask if PH has improved any of our players this season, following on from the near disaster of last season and bringing in a few of his own plus the loan players, I really and honestly fail to see any improvement in any of our players over the full season .
Iversen has been great but his replacements maybe not, the the fuck scouted Walton?
I don't see any season long improvement in any of our defensive players
Whiteman was playing well at the start of the season but that is probably down to Armstrong covering for captain useless, with Dobbin and Devine excepted the rest of the midfield have been very poor.
Strikers are gash even though Milly has his moments (at least he tries) the rest are shite.

IMO Whiteman has had his best season here, even if as you say he’s tailed off since Armstrong left, he’s still been far from our biggest issue. Hughes is another who’s had one of his best years too.

The critical thing for me is how much of that is down to their coaching, and how much is down to two players who have really struggled with injuries finally getting fit.

Osmajic has done well but he’s so frequently unavailable it’s tough to judge if that’s improvement or not. Jebbison, Devine and Dobbin have had their best career seasons, even if Jebbison hasn’t offered much.

McCann, Lindsay and Storey have regressed. Storey had some bright moments but quickly reverted to type. You’d have to say Smith has too based on how he played at Sheff Wed. Valentin started brightly but is back to how he was at Sheff Wed now.

Mixed bag is probably a kind way of putting it

 

[prestonmadhouse]

P S. just tried an edit and it didn't work, just realised that my patron badge has disappeared even though I had notification I had paid, is there a glitch in the system? 🙂

Yeah.

https://pne-online.net/forum/threads/patronage.3443345/

Post your issues on there

 

[Durutti]

The new ownership will hopefully want a long term approach to the football played, not a 'hire a magician and hope it works' bollocks we've done here for years. If that's the case, Heck will probably be relieved of his duties at the end of the season.

As others have said, he's a bit of a dinosaur, doesn't play the right system, rotates players too much (look at WBA's resurgence: it's based on consistent selection), has the lowest win percentage of any manager, relegation flirtation two seasons running, forcing shit signings like Lang, comes across as a completely unlikeable dickhead in interview 'listen...does that make sense?'

I would be surprised if unknowns came into the club and went 'the manager seems fine'.

 

[djwoody]

i have some trepidation with the Xg - but i also enjoy listening to those who no more than i do and are better informed - your point is very well made here - i should for one take more attention to said numbers

I'm not entirely against xg but it's just one of a myriad of stats available nowadays.
Hull 19th and West Brom 8th for xg - would Hull like to swap current places with West Brom?

 

[wld]

i have some trepidation with the Xg - but i also enjoy listening to those who no more than i do and are better informed - your point is very well made here - i should for one take more attention to said numbers

I agree, we should listen to all views and not discount those who don’t agree with our own viewpoint. I have to say that when people discount others views, resort to ridiculing or laugh at them, that’s when I start to listen less.

 

[pne1881]

You have to ask if PH has improved any of our players this season, following on from the near disaster of last season and bringing in a few of his own plus the loan players, I really and honestly fail to see any improvement in any of our players over the full season .
Iversen has been great but his replacements maybe not, the the fuck scouted Walton?
I don't see any season long improvement in any of our defensive players
Whiteman was playing well at the start of the season but that is probably down to Armstrong covering for captain useless, with Dobbin and Devine excepted the rest of the midfield have been very poor.
Strikers are gash even though Milly has his moments (at least he tries) the rest are shite.

You then have to look at what PH and his team actually do, defensive minded even at home against shite, second half garbage, same shite at every presser, unable to lift the team or fans, HE is our biggest issue IMHO.

I think working under Ridsdale must be the most depressing job in football, you are fed shite and have to put up with the tax advisor watching your every movement at Euxton when he has achieved the square root of fuck all in football, perhaps Sock Shop was his professional zenith, sorry not going to jail was probably his greatest achievement.

I don't want PH here next season and he can take Murphy (thug) with him, I would give it to McCall and only let him bring in players and coaches.

Can't argue with most of that apart from the last bit.

Not sure what he's ever done in management to be worthy of a go with us. Don't get me wrong I like him, he comes across as a really nice guy & I'm sure he's a decent coach but our next manager?

Not for me.

 

[SoccerHQ]

The new ownership will hopefully want a long term approach to the football played, not a 'hire a magician and hope it works' bollocks we've done here for years. If that's the case, Heck will probably be relieved of his duties at the end of the season.

As others have said, he's a bit of a dinosaur, doesn't play the right system, rotates players too much (look at WBA's resurgence: it's based on consistent selection), has the lowest win percentage of any manager, relegation flirtation two seasons running, forcing shit signings like Lang, comes across as a completely unlikeable dickhead in interview 'listen...does that make sense?'

I would be surprised if unknowns came into the club and went 'the manager seems fine'.

Just had a look at league one time and was amazed Plymouth are as high as 7th now. They were really struggling up to December but clearly had a very good second half of the season.

If you're looking for domestic candidates then Tom Cleverley will probably feature pretty highly in any shortlist. Previously been north west based and had year of managing in the championship at Watford where he didn't do terribly. Now getting Plymouth going again.

Certainly with new ownership I'd be expecting them to look at likes of Cleverley, Skubala, Will Still and some decent up and comers from abroad rather than safety first figures like Gary Rowett.

 

[RibbletonWhite2.0]

Just had a look at league one time and was amazed Plymouth are as high as 7th now. They were really struggling up to December but clearly had a very good second half of the season.

If you're looking for domestic candidates then Tom Cleverley will probably feature pretty highly in any shortlist. Previously been north west based and had year of managing in the championship at Watford where he didn't do terribly. Now getting Plymouth going again.

Certainly with new ownership I'd be expecting them to look at likes of Cleverley, Skubala, Will Still and some decent up and comers from abroad rather than safety first figures like Gary Rowett.

Why will still keeps on getting mentioned I do not know why.

I think he is very over rated (like selles was.) wouldn’t go near him. If we appointed still we might as well announce our relegation now.

 

[Durutti]

Why will still keeps on getting mentioned I do not know why.

I think he is very over rated (like selles was.) wouldn’t go near him. If we appointed still we might as well announce our relegation now.

Yeah, liked a back 5 at Southampton. The new man has got to show a willingness not to

 

[SoccerHQ]

Why will still keeps on getting mentioned I do not know why.

I think he is very over rated (like selles was.) wouldn’t go near him. If we appointed still we might as well announce our relegation now.

He failed at Southampton but probably needs a club away from spotlight to get his career going again. Done good work in France so he can get good results in stable environment.

 

[El Guapo]

League Record under Heckingbottom

Played 86

Won 24
Drawn 35
Lost 27

Win Percentage 27.9%

 

[Durutti]

He failed at Southampton but probably needs a club away from spotlight to get his career going again. Done good work in France so he can get good results in stable environment.

Shoe Horned Flemming, probably their best player now on this current run to RWB. I don't know why but I know I don't want that kind of footie manager bollocks at my club. I think he'll need to return to France or take a league 1 job. Look at the table, he was the issue there.

 

[HunterLionheart]

Shoe Horned Flemming, probably their best player now on this current run to RWB. I don't know why but I know I don't want that kind of footie manager bollocks at my club. I think he'll need to return to France or take a league 1 job. Look at the table, he was the issue there.

Clearly went tits up for him there, never got a settled side, found the right formation etc.

Doesn't mean he is a bad manager though. And still very young, he will have learned from that.

Not to say we should be headhunting him, mind. Think we're all desperate to get away from the back 5 now!

 

[Mooney]

I’m going in to defend PH. He’s definitely above criticism and some games and runs have been absolutely dreadful. However, much of this lays at the feet of the players. As an example, had we conceded today, people would have been complaining about the subs, the formation etc etc… sitting back, but the truth is the players (not PH) were the ones who messed up so many opportunities to put the game to bed. Dobbin, Milly, Devine all guilty of fluffing their lines at key moments.

The other thing I’m going to put out there is that the 3 at the back formation seems to be very fashionable to criticise, with people calling it defensive and pleading for us to go 4231. Short memories for some as I distinctly recall Alex Neil getting pellets for ‘playing one up front’ constantly. Key element in a 352/343/3421/3412 or whichever shape we go into is that if the wing backs take up a high position and aren’t asked to mark the opponent’s wingers, it’s an attacking formation, and one that becomes even more attacking if one of the CHs can step into midfield, as we saw Offiah do a lot today, and even Gibson occasionally. When 352 becomes 532, that’s different, as the wing backs become extra defenders, which leads to boring football. We saw today Potts in particular and to an extent Hughes troubling the other team by being almost as high up the pitch as Dobbin, which caused Charlton all sorts of problems. It’s not 3 at the back that’s rotten, but how we sometimes implement it. Manager got it spot on today - credit where it’s due- and the players absolutely played their part. We played it quicker, shifted it well and probably should have been 3 or 4 up by the time the players started getting nervous and inviting pressure through their errors and poor decisions. To a man, I thought the team and management today did great. 3 points. UTW.

 

[york white]

For all we did well today, yet again the wing back system shows it’s a player killer. Probably the last we’ll see of Hughes this season.

 

[Doyler]

For all we did well today, yet again the wing back system shows it’s a player killer. Probably the last we’ll see of Hughes this season.

He just blew up - it’s a case of taking him off before he gets too fatigued and therefore more at risk of injury.

He was second MOTM for me, behind Dobbin, pipping Whiteman who gets my #3.

 

[NWB]

Should we see new owners take over, it feels like this summer would be a good time to part with Hecky/McCall in amicable fashion. There doesn’t need to be any bad blood, it’s just hopefully going to be a time for change from top to bottom.

I’d really like to see us tap into the foreign market for a replacement, though if we were to stick with going the domestic route, off the top of my head there’s only three managers currently in a job that I’d be happy to see us approach with a “realistic” chance of success.

Two of which will be coming up from League One (Skubala and Barry-Murphy), though I still get that dreaded Ryan Lowe feeling at the thought of appointing someone from the league below (at least as things stand) and the other is a potentially PL-bound Alex Neil, again.

The latter two are managers we know have previously been interested/interested in returning, but a lot has changed for both since then and we’d do well to poach either.

Jumping from Millwall to us would be ludicrous on paper and it feels stupid to even suggest, but Neil has history, given he did similar when moving to Stoke from Sunderland. The allure of being closer to home has previously appealed, and if we were to approach him under new ownership and offered a clear plan/vision, I think we would have a shot.

I think he’s eventually bound to land another job up here, be it Burnley or someone of that ilk, should he never return to us.

Skubala would be the best bet of the three imo, but don’t afraid to broaden those horizons, Nobbers.