The Head Coach Thread.

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

How exactly, did Southgate destroy Boro?

[AdamBoro 5]

12 minutes ago, D.Z. said:

How exactly, did Southgate destroy Boro?

Got us relegated and haven't been a good team ever since! 

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

11 minutes ago, AdamBoro said:

Got us relegated and haven't been a good team ever since! 

That was all Southgate's fault, was it?

[Tudders80 674]

27 minutes ago, TLF10 said:

Having had time to reflect on what was a very busy yesterday I like many others feel a bit more positive.

I, have openly been opposed to the appointment to JW and said so many times on here but now he is here I am not going to keep going on as to why I feel he is not the man for the job.

I fully understand why those posters (sorry i cannot name check you all) who were pessimistic about the appointment are now looking at the future optimistically.

I also fully respect those who say they are still to be convinced despite yesterday’s events (again sorry i do not have the time to name check you all). What I would ask these people is to give the club a chance.

It is easier to say things like people are easily pleased or that the club PR machine is working wonders but we cannot criticise the club for being disconnected from fans, not being transparent and open with the fans etc etc but when they attempt to be things we criticise them for us to dismiss it as a PR stunt.

I applaud the club hierarchy for coming out in force yesterday. One of my biggest gripes has been the lack of communication from our Chairman, last few seasons all we got is these small 3 or 4 sentence sound bites via the club website. He was not even present for the presentation of the last two permanent managers in Monk and Pulis. It was very welcome to hear from him and the others about the clubs plans at length. At least I as a fan now know what the club is trying to do.

I think the time for criticism and pessimism needs to take a back seat and us fans need to unite in giving the club a chance to deliver on the aims and objectives it outlined yesterday. And if the club fails to deliver on these then absolutely it delivers criticism but I think the club should be afforded the patience and opportunity from fans.

The above post of mine was not meant to be a rallying cry but it seems to have turned in to one. Therefore I feel every rallying cry in life (not just football) should end with the following.....#UTFB

I love the sentiment, and as said I will give woodgate a chance, and hope the club do follow through on this "golden thread" thing. 

The only thing I would say is that the club are very good at putting out the correct narrative at the correct time. 

If this goes tits up, a lot of fans will be annoyed, and rightly so. We've just been told the new direction and we gave the club time because of it. We didn't moan as we wanted to because we "had to back the club" in its attempts to change. 

But rather than us all going loopy about it the club will sign someone high profile or set out a new strategy, saying all the right things at the right time again, and we will be told by the pessimist-turned-optimists to give the club time and a chance. That's what I mean by the pr machine working. 

Of course, if this thing does work then we all move on happily. Let's hope this is the case. If not though, how many times can we go on before Mr Gibson et all actually have to take some accountability. 

One final point, CT wanted a load of questions asked and I support many of his points, despite knowing that the club would dodge the questions or simply use the answers we all expect anyway. What I wanted most was some kind of apology. Or not even an apology, just an acknowledgement that they got it wrong. And that the fans were those that got the short end of the stick. Openly admit that the last 18months was a failure. (apologies if this was said during the presser but I don't recall hearing/reading it). 

[AdamBoro 5]

3 minutes ago, D.Z. said:

That was all Southgate's fault, was it?

Yes ma'am 

[Rioch's Braves 711]

Woodgate like many wouldn't have been my choice, but I'll definitely give him full support and pray Gibson has made the right choice. If true I'm glad Woody isn't going to be involved in the transfers wouldn't want him scuppering our successful recruitment team

[Rioch's Braves 711]

25 minutes ago, D.Z. said:

That was all Southgate's fault, was it?

Phew thank god it was Southgates fault, I've been blaming Gibson for putting a novice with no managerial experience in charge of a PL club, glad that's been cleared up. 

[Barnaby 957]

1 hour ago, D.Z. said:

 

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

2 minutes ago, Barnaby said:

 

[Randy Sandwich 209]

1 hour ago, AdamBoro said:

Got us relegated and haven't been a good team ever since! 

Absolute ***

[BearSmog 1,382]

Whilst I respect everyone's opinion (or at least I try to) I can't get my head around the extreme responses to Woodgate's appointment. From the doom mongers saying its the worst appointment in their lifetime to the ones expecting an imminent return to the top flight (granted there hasn't been many of those). There is no way we can know how its going to go so we just need to give it a chance to see how it plays out. We all love the Boro so we need to give them our support (it doesn't need to be unconditional). 

[DanFromDownSouth 1,706]

15 minutes ago, BearSmog said:

Whilst I respect everyone's opinion (or at least I try to) I can't get my head around the extreme responses to Woodgate's appointment. From the doom mongers saying its the worst appointment in their lifetime to the ones expecting an imminent return to the top flight (granted there hasn't been many of those). There is no way we can know how its going to go so we just need to give it a chance to see how it plays out. We all love the Boro so we need to give them our support (it doesn't need to be unconditional). 

I also don't understand the doom mongers either. Woodgate wouldn't have been my choice, but I have always been willing to let him have a chance to prove me wrong. After yesterday's press conference I along with many others are feeling a lot more optimistic about the direction we seem to be heading in.

I don't think anyone has been mentioning that under Woodgate we will be at the top of the tree (yet). But I think the vast majority of us accept that the coming season will be one of transition and change. As long as we make a concerted effort to shift to our new philosophy this season I'll be happy.

A top 10 finish this season I think would be a good achievement. But I have hope that we can finish higher than that. But equally as long as we make improvements to our style I wouldn't mind if we weren't in the top 10.

[smogsterking the Inspirati 2,490]

I think at the moment a lot is possible in the championship. Last year was a poor championship and this year isnt much better bar possibly Fulham on paper at least. I think the squad we had last year was capable of the play offs and with a couple more attack minded players and having an attack minded approach theres no reason we cant be up there. That said Woodgate is inexperienced and he is going to make mistakes during the season hopefully he can learn quickly from these mistakes. For me I think play offs is a realistic goal this season.

[Randy Sandwich 209]

9 minutes ago, AdamBoro said:

Elaborate

 

The remit for Southgate was to get rid of big players and half the wage bill, Southgate was who Gibson turned to when all managers approached wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Southgate wasn't ready, Gibson has admitted it was his fault but you know better? 

 

[TAPOUT 361]

2 hours ago, Tudders80 said:

I love the sentiment, and as said I will give woodgate a chance, and hope the club do follow through on this "golden thread" thing. 

The only thing I would say is that the club are very good at putting out the correct narrative at the correct time. 

If this goes tits up, a lot of fans will be annoyed, and rightly so. We've just been told the new direction and we gave the club time because of it. We didn't moan as we wanted to because we "had to back the club" in its attempts to change. 

But rather than us all going loopy about it the club will sign someone high profile or set out a new strategy, saying all the right things at the right time again, and we will be told by the pessimist-turned-optimists to give the club time and a chance. That's what I mean by the pr machine working. 

Of course, if this thing does work then we all move on happily. Let's hope this is the case. If not though, how many times can we go on before Mr Gibson et all actually have to take some accountability. 

One final point, CT wanted a load of questions asked and I support many of his points, despite knowing that the club would dodge the questions or simply use the answers we all expect anyway. What I wanted most was some kind of apology. Or not even an apology, just an acknowledgement that they got it wrong. And that the fans were those that got the short end of the stick. Openly admit that the last 18months was a failure. (apologies if this was said during the presser but I don't recall hearing/reading it). 

In the gazette he said things haven’t been right for past decade so need to try something different. I suppose thats acknowledgement of failure.