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Heckingbottom

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Heckingbottom

I am in two minds about Hecky. At one level I agree that he obviously does have a good eye for a player and can recognise quality as the loans of Devine, Dobbin and Armstrong show and so with a much better transfer budget he might well bring in some really decent players. One the other hand there are not just the results since the New Year but the manner of them - the aimless mix of sideways passing and punts forward to nobody in particular and the general lack of energy and motivation that could have gone at least some of the way to compensating for the fundamental lack of creativity in the squad that became so evident after the recall of Armstrong. If the takeover happens then deciding whether Hecky and McCall stay or go will be the absolute priority for the new owners and I really have no idea what that decision will be.
 
ernest said:
I am in two minds about Hecky. At one level I agree that he obviously does have a good eye for a player and can recognise quality as the loans of Devine, Dobbin and Armstrong show and so with a much better transfer budget he might well bring in some really decent players. One the other hand there are not just the results since the New Year but the manner of them - the aimless mix of sideways passing and punts forward to nobody in particular and the general lack of energy and motivation that could have gone at least some of the way to compensating for the fundamental lack of creativity in the squad that became so evident after the recall of Armstrong. If the takeover happens then deciding whether Hecky and McCall stay or go will be the absolute priority for the new owners and I really have no idea what that decision will be.
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I'm thinking post-any takeover, we'd get a Director of Football in.

Could either support Hecky in finding players if we stick with him, or just conduct that role wholesale as a specialist for whoever comes in. It'd be a much needed structural upgrade though.
 
Jack Daniels said:
@Durutti

Cifuentes gives me Selles vibes.

Mowbray is past it imo and his health, which is a factor, should be more important for him than PNE.

Struber is just meh.

Just my opinions.
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I wouldn’t be making a beeline for any of them, especially under new ownership but under these owners, that’s the pick of the unemployed list, for me personally.

I think Struber is the best of them, think he was sacked way too soon at Brizzle.
 
I see he is still talking about what he needs for next season??? With his win ratio he wouldn't have kept his job at most clubs in the championship...it's all too cosy and safe no point in giving him any cash when he signs decent players and leave them on the bench or drops them when they have a good game or takes them off when playing well...he ruins players none have improved under his coaching...We need a complete re set as a club our negative mid table going nowhere club has got to change starting by saying goodbye to PH
 
simo said:
What was I expecting this season?

On pitch improvement. The previous season was awful, with a dreadful end.

This season we saw the first half with some good results but a sense (to me anyway) that we were massively dependent on our goalkeeper and a couple of loan players. We looked a team of “moments” with a very effective safety net.

The second half of the season saw us lose the safety net for a long period and the moments dry up. That exposed us for what we actually are which is a fairly limited squad, coached poorly and performing badly.

All through this Heckingbottom has made no difference. No imagination or flexibility tactically, no change or improvement to patterns of play and no discernible improvement in individual players.

It’s been months of scraping together enough points to avoid relegation and marking time.

I’m at a complete loss as to what he can offer going forward.

As others have said, he isn’t the only problem by any stretch but he remains a massive problem.
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The thing for me when it comes to discussions on the quality of football is that I think the football has been poor at North End throughout the 2020s. I think the football we were playing in the first half of this season is among the best football we've been playing in the 2020s. Obviously we can and should do better but I don't think it's a quick fix. I think it takes time because a good squad needs to be built and that takes seasons to do with our budget. It says a lot that losing both Iversen and Armstrong can have such a dramatic impact on our season. Heckingbottom will carry the blame for the poor form but when have our previous managers had to contend with losing their first team goalkeeper for a substantial period of the season not once but twice? It was always bound to have an effect. Ultimately we need a better squad to get the wins that makes the football seem more entertaining.

In terms of scraping together points to avoid relegation, we're 13 points off relegation. We're well above the drop zone.

With regard to his tactical flexibility, on the one part he gets an unfair reputation in this regard because he has tried a bunch of different formations throughout the season. The core is built upon the 5-3-2 we play but there have been many times where he has changed shape to try and change the game. Just recently against West Brom, he switched to a 4-4-2. On the other part, there are limitations within our squad that limits our ability to change tactics. I always use this example but a target man is a classic example of how to change a game. You go from playing it on the ground without them to playing it long and direct with them. In his first season, we didn't have a proper target man available to change the game so we were stuck following similar patterns of attack (Osmajic and Riis are both too similar as attackers). In this season, we gained Smith but Smith is ultimately too slow and limited to have an impact on the game. Without him, Osmajic and Jebbison are a bit too similar as attackers. One difference this season has been Dobbin whose tight control and ability to dribble has given us a different option. I think Lang was meant to be an alternative to him but we lost him to injury. As such, we're reliant on Dobbin and whoever is partnering him in being able to unlock chances. This is why improving the general utility of the squad is important because it gives us different options to throw on to change the nature of the game. In my view (which is albeit a bit simplified) we need more dribblers and physical presences in attack. We need players with tight control or who can muscle their way into creating space.

With regards to making improvements in players, there's a few players I can pick out. Devine, Dobbin and Jebbison are all having their best ever seasons. I think it's noticeable how Jebbison has improved since his initial showings. Like a lot of our squad he's got his limitations but he's better at keeping a hold of the ball than he was at the beginning of the season. With Devine and Dobbin, their quality was clear from the outset but the fact this is their most productive seasons, surely that's down to the way they're being used? Offiah I think has improved. He looked shaky at first but he's quickly grown in confidence and looks incredibly assured on the ball. I think Moran has been getting better with each appearance. He's still got some work to do but the signs are there that he's a decent signing. Many people on here have remarked that this is Whiteman's best season in years. Storey I think looks the best he's been at the club under Heckingbottom when compared to the previous managers. Some players are largely as good as they were like Osmajic, Hughes and McCann. Even if we look at someone like Small who appears to have regressed a bit since the beginning of the season, it's worth remembering that he's only 21 and this is his first season at this level. I think even Charlton fans were saying about him that he blows hot and cold. The only player I can say has regressed is Gibson but even then Hecky signed Gibson so his best football with us was under Heckingbottom anyway.
 
Jhiac said:
That may have something to do with him playing |Potts centrally, where he used to be shite, is still shite and always will be shite. Play Potts outside Offiah, naahh lets stick him in the middle
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Who would you have played in the middle?
 
Durutti said:
Not sure about Mowbray. His giving youth a massive chance would be a huge tick for me.
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But PNE don't have any Youth of their own.
And the only youth that do play are Premier Clubs that want their youth to have
" The Champ. season-try-outs " - like Devine.
The Club can't build a team around such lads.
 
noelpne said:
But PNE don't have any Youth of their own.
And the only youth that do play are Premier Clubs that want their youth to have
" The Champ. season-try-outs " - like Devine.
The Club can't build a team around such lads.
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No but I think Heck's management of Small and Offiah has been borderline insane. Here are young talents can either progress us or make us money and they are hemmed in with nothing to play for. Just play them for fuck's sake. And Moran.

Think back to Davies dropping the incredible Lucketti for Davis. Was Claude the polished article? No chance. He was younger and could be moulded or sold for massive fee. There was a manager with a strategy and an eye on the future.

I hate this about Heck. It's not always about the three points he rarely gets these days. It's about player development. He's wank at it.
 
cragtek said:
I like that from McCall.
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Really? Are we falling for this?

It's essentially 'me and Paul can't do any more with what we've been given'

If PNE fans are lapping that up, I'm in the wrong place. I need to go.

Is the Lincoln manager making similar points?

No. We know the division is hard. What are you as an assistant manager, Paul as a manager and Peter as a whatever the fuck the old cunt is going to do differently to ensure we thrive in that difficult environment? What are we as a club working on to ensure we flourish like Ipswich and Luton and countless others had in the past and now?

If you don't know, what the actual fuck are you doing here at a potentially massive club?
 
Durutti said:
Really? Are we falling for this?

It's essentially 'me and Paul can't do any more with what we've been given'

If PNE fans are lapping that up, I'm in the wrong place. I need to go.

Is the Lincoln manager making similar points?

No. We know the division is hard. What are you as an assistant manager, Paul as a manager and Peter as a whatever the fuck the old cunt is going to do differently to ensure we thrive in that difficult environment? What are we as a club working on to ensure we flourish like Ipswich and Luton and countless others had in the past and now?

If you don't know, what the actual fuck are you doing here at a potentially massive club?
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I’m more lapping up his “I’d take three months to prove what we can do” over a long term 3 year contract.
 
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