Don't Blame Pressley For Off-Tune Sky Blues (1 Viewer)

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
Top six budget sounds great, doesn't it? But if top-six players won't touch you a bargepole, all that cash is about as much use as a Somali Shilling.

Remember Huul's second year in the Premier League under Phil Brown? They yakked on about a transfer warchest, made a song and dance about bidding for Michael Owen. But while they had the money, they didn't have the kudos. Owen was so desperate not to join the Tigers he actually knocked up a glossy brochure advertising his wares. The England striker eventually signed for Manchester United; Hull got a load of mercenaries and ended up in the Championship.

So when Coventry Chief Executive Steve Waggott says manager Steven Pressley was sacked for failing to "make the most of a top-six budget", we shouldn't pay too much attention.

Maybe Coventry could pay big wages. But that didn't stop them missing out on the likes of Jacques Maghoma and Kris Boyd during the Summer. Nor did it prevent a host of others heading for the hills when a contract was waved their way. Why? Sixfields, of course. BAck in the summer, Coventry were still playing 35 miles away in Northampton. Their owners were still pouting and litigating. Their fans remained absent in protest, it wasn't until September that Waggott finally knocked a few heads together and engineered a return to the Ricoh. By definition, a top-six player will have top-six options. And who in their right mind would choose to spend their Saturdays pottering about in front of 1000 fans when they could play for say, Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday or Bristol City?

HAving lost the likes of Leon Clarke and Callum Wilson - who scored 40 goals between them last term - Pressley had little hope of replacing them with players of even similar quality.

That's not to say the 41-year-old is blameless. Ambitious targets should always be backdstopped by viable alternatives and Pressley himself admitted that those initial failures meant he didn't go through the "correct procedure" (i.e., background checks) on the players he did sign.

The resulting procession of loanees and injury prone has-beens flopped badly and Pressley's scattergun approach (he has signed 24 players this season alone) suggested a man thrashing around for ideas.

You can also understand by Coventry pulled the trigger. A new manager always sparks a short-term reaction, and with just six wins from 28 games, that looks the only thing that can save the Sky Blues from League Two.

Nevertheless, it is disingenuous to suggest Pressley wasted Coventry's cash. He was forced into that position by a board so hell-bent on fleecing their landlords that they uprooted a club, alienated its support and prompted potential to run a mile.

The blame for Coventry's current plight goes far beyond one young manager who had one bad season in the transfer market.
 

covcity4life

Well-Known Member
bitch please.

we back at ricoh and the current team is good enough to be far far higher up the table than it is.
 

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
That was in the Football League Paper, BTW. Forgot to put that.
 

shy_tall_knight

Well-Known Member
Torch a lot of truth in that but the Carl Baker situation bothers me to replace him with inferior players and still pay off part of his contract seems such poor judgement, also Reeda was another poor call, Pugh unlucky but Swanson Tudguy Miller - the last 2 had hardly scored a goal in recent seasons they were doomed to fail

Lack of pace - in midfield and upfront
Webster
Ineffective central midfield
Revolving door of players
Inexperienced goalkeepers
Worcester
Bomb squads
Changed formations more often than strictly come dancing

He was a busted flush and if he had stayed we would have been relegated.
 

jimmyhillsfanclub

Well-Known Member
The "Michael Own to Hull" comparison is ludicrous.....

Situation1: Michael Owen, Former top international, Real Madrid & Liverpool star, European player of the year......going to one of the smallest least glamorous trophy-free clubs to ever have played at the top level...

Situation CCFC: Relatively large club (in small 3rd division pond") who, despite the sixfields debacle still managed to sign players who (on paper) were good enough for a top half, 3rd tier club.

SP was rightly fired......should've gone at Xmas !!
 

LB87ccfc

Member
It is a spot on article tbf. We missed so many of our first second third fourth choice targets it was unreal and was left with waggott and his little book of contacts with agents begging for us to sign their clients at the very last minute.
 

Captain Dart

Well-Known Member
It is a spot on article tbf. We missed so many of our first second third fourth choice targets it was unreal and was left with waggott and his little book of contacts with agents begging for us to sign their clients at the very last minute.

Missing a few first choice targets is one thing, missing the lot means the system of transfer target selection is not being managed correctly, whether the blame for that that should be on Waggott or Pressely or shared is open to debate.
 

torchomatic

Well-Known Member
Seems that way. On the face of it, signing players like Pugh and Johnson were just what we needed; experience to compliment the kids...

It is a spot on article tbf. We missed so many of our first second third fourth choice targets it was unreal and was left with waggott and his little book of contacts with agents begging for us to sign their clients at the very last minute.
 

Evo1883

Well-Known Member
Im sorry ... footballers sign for money be it playing at the ricoh arena or the memorial park
 

stupot07

Well-Known Member
Even the CT are being defiant in SP's sacking, lots of digs in the match report.


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Evo1883

Well-Known Member
Even the CT are being defiant in SP's sacking, lots of digs in the match report.


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I have never known a manager at ccfc to hold such a weird spell over people ..
Its like all his post and pre match bullshit got into their heads
 

SkyBlue_Bear83

Well-Known Member
Even the CT are being defiant in SP's sacking, lots of digs in the match report.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors :)

Still trying to save credibility as they realise they have egg on there face.

I think the next manager (Mowbray?) will prove to all of us just how poor a manager Pressley was.
 

Evo1883

Well-Known Member
Still trying to save credibility as they realise they have egg on there face.

I think the next manager (Mowbray?) will prove to all of us just how poor a manager Pressley was.
I think pressley will prove it himself over his managerial career
 

mrtrench

Well-Known Member
Well we know soon enough if it was the transfer policy or the coaching that caused the problems.
 

ccfcway

Well-Known Member
You can also understand by Coventry pulled the trigger. A new manager always sparks a short-term reaction, and with just six wins from 28 games, that looks the only thing that can save the Sky Blues from League Two..

no it doesnt. How are Blackpool getting on ? their new manager has won 3 out of their 21 games !
 

rupert_bear

Well-Known Member
Somebody else feeling sorry for a lame duck manager, Steven Pressley was simply not doing it and we were dropping like a stone towards division 4. Lets see what a new manager does with the same players Pressley had at his disposal.
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
Im sorry ... footballers sign for money be it playing at the ricoh arena or the memorial park

I'd have signed for a club I was more confident was actually capable of paying my cash, mind you.
 

dongonzalos

Well-Known Member
Top six budget sounds great, doesn't it? But if top-six players won't touch you a bargepole, all that cash is about as much use as a Somali Shilling.

Remember Huul's second year in the Premier League under Phil Brown? They yakked on about a transfer warchest, made a song and dance about bidding for Michael Owen. But while they had the money, they didn't have the kudos. Owen was so desperate not to join the Tigers he actually knocked up a glossy brochure advertising his wares. The England striker eventually signed for Manchester United; Hull got a load of mercenaries and ended up in the Championship.

So when Coventry Chief Executive Steve Waggott says manager Steven Pressley was sacked for failing to "make the most of a top-six budget", we shouldn't pay too much attention.

Maybe Coventry could pay big wages. But that didn't stop them missing out on the likes of Jacques Maghoma and Kris Boyd during the Summer. Nor did it prevent a host of others heading for the hills when a contract was waved their way. Why? Sixfields, of course. BAck in the summer, Coventry were still playing 35 miles away in Northampton. Their owners were still pouting and litigating. Their fans remained absent in protest, it wasn't until September that Waggott finally knocked a few heads together and engineered a return to the Ricoh. By definition, a top-six player will have top-six options. And who in their right mind would choose to spend their Saturdays pottering about in front of 1000 fans when they could play for say, Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday or Bristol City?

HAving lost the likes of Leon Clarke and Callum Wilson - who scored 40 goals between them last term - Pressley had little hope of replacing them with players of even similar quality.

That's not to say the 41-year-old is blameless. Ambitious targets should always be backdstopped by viable alternatives and Pressley himself admitted that those initial failures meant he didn't go through the "correct procedure" (i.e., background checks) on the players he did sign.

The resulting procession of loanees and injury prone has-beens flopped badly and Pressley's scattergun approach (he has signed 24 players this season alone) suggested a man thrashing around for ideas.

You can also understand by Coventry pulled the trigger. A new manager always sparks a short-term reaction, and with just six wins from 28 games, that looks the only thing that can save the Sky Blues from League Two.

Nevertheless, it is disingenuous to suggest Pressley wasted Coventry's cash. He was forced into that position by a board so hell-bent on fleecing their landlords that they uprooted a club, alienated its support and prompted potential to run a mile.

The blame for Coventry's current plight goes far beyond one young manager who had one bad season in the transfer market.

The lure of the Ricoh over Sixfields should make a big difference
 

stupot07

Well-Known Member
I'd have signed for a club I was more confident was actually capable of paying my cash, mind you.

We have never not paid the wages, or paid them late IIRC. A lot of other clubs have......


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torchomatic

Well-Known Member
Yep, Leyton Orient being the latest.

We have never not paid the wages, or paid them late IIRC. A lot of other clubs have......


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Paxman II

Well-Known Member
Too many draws is what got SP fired. He needed to convert those into wins. Just don't think it was his time to be here. Mowbray's experience and standing should make all the difference.
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
Why were we in danger of not paying player wages ?

I'd look at a club playing away from home with next to no season ticket holders having signed up, having just undergone an insolvency event... and it wouldn't exactly give me the faith to commit if I had other options!
 

Evo1883

Well-Known Member
I'd look at a club playing away from home with next to no season ticket holders having signed up, having just undergone an insolvency event... and it wouldn't exactly give me the faith to commit if I had other options!
Well yes ,but like i said footballers go for money ..i very much doubt we missed out on players if the right money was offered ,just because we were playing at sixfields
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
Well yes ,but like i said footballers go for money ..i very much doubt we missed out on players if the right money was offered ,just because we were playing at sixfields

You would, if you didn't have confidence we could pay it.

If random bloke in a long leather trenchcoat offers me £150k pa to go and work for him... I'd probably say no.

If Apple offer me £120k pa, then that'd be a far, far more attractive deal as I'd be fairly confident my job would last more than a month.
 

Evo1883

Well-Known Member
You would, if you didn't have confidence we could pay it.

If random bloke in a long leather trenchcoat offers me £150k pa to go and work for him... I'd probably say no.

If Apple offer me £120k pa, then that'd be a far, far more attractive deal as I'd be fairly confident my job would last more than a month.
There was never any danger (that we know of ) that player wages would not be paid ..so its irrelevant, its a made up theorry to fit this particular discussion
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
There was never any danger (that we know of ) that player wages would not be paid ..so its irrelevant, its a made up theorry to fit this particular discussion

Well... there was.

Like it or not, sod all cash coming in, no fans and no ground... along with having gone bust once makes it a danger!

Maybe I should offer you a job...
 

Evo1883

Well-Known Member
Well... there was.

Like it or not, sod all cash coming in, no fans and no ground... along with having gone bust once makes it a danger!

Maybe I should offer you a job...
So why did jim o brien sign for us if barnsley had just offered him a contract that he turned down ,im trying to understand your view ..but maintain money is what drives a player to a club
 

henry the wasp

Well-Known Member
Which players is he talking about when he says he didn't go through the correct procedure (background checks), before he signed them?
 

stupot07

Well-Known Member
Which players is he talking about when he says he didn't go through the correct procedure (background checks), before he signed them?

Manset is definitely one of them.


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