oldskyblue58
CCFC Finance Director
Sorry but like everything that follows that is an opinion or your truth it is not THE Truth. So this is my opinion or truth
Yes as with any manager Pressley had a positive effect on some players but you could highlight other players like Conor Thomas or Billy Daniels that have gone backwards under his tenure.
Nor did Pressley take Wilson from having no ability to being the player he is today. First and foremost the lad had one inherent attribute that can not be coached - pace. There were plenty involved in his development it wasn't just about Pressley - there was Rioch and his staff, the staff supporting Pressley and lately Eddie Howe and his staff at Bournemouth who have taken a L1 talent and pushed him on to borderline Premiership. Pressley added to the mix for the lad perhaps and gave him his chance (largely because of injuries to others I seem to remember) but that's football isn't it? That's the job of a manager to get the best from the talent he has isn't it? SP is not unusual in that and if you look at the teams achievements he hasn't managed in 100 games to mould a consistently winning team from those raw talents.
Yes we lost the 50+ goals from last season. Some of that was out of his hands but the man himself said he made the player decisions including the sale of Wilson. He can not cry unfair if that's the case. He knew what he was losing and failed to even replace even half those goals with the players he brought in. Those more senior players clearly did not respond to his man management, got shipped out, bombed out or ignored, wasting 1000's of pounds of money the club clearly does not have room to waste
Yes we were more attacking but for all the goals scored what was the goal difference come end of last season? Following Clarkes departure and Wilson's injury how did we fare? Poorly. The decline hasn't been this season it started around about January 2014 and continued, and that is with, for at least part, some of the players you champion as brought on by SP.
Yes of course the budget and other problems at the club have an effect, the slide is not all his fault. Of course he did some good things. Some players have grown in to better players with him as manager, but some players may also have failed because he was manager. Did the players leave for the money well in part yes but the players you name are all now playing in the Championship or the top end of L1 in arguably better performing teams influenced by their own managers - you could argue they were ambitious and right to be
It is hard to get away from the comments on the budget though isn't it. Top 6 budget, bottom 4 position. There is usually a good correlation between spend and team performance so if the money was there why didn't it work. We replaced some talent with loans yes but who identified those players coming in. If we hadn't sold some of that talent how do you think our budget would have looked?
A managers job is to consistently get the best from the squad of players that he has assembled. Did SP do that - I would say no. To get the best from a player you need to play to their strengths - how many times have we seen a square peg in round hole approach from SP? - far too often. Yes the players didn't perform to their abilities (although I think some did but didn't have great ability in the first place) I would argue that over the recent 4 or 5 seasons the players that I have felt let down by are the more senior ones, and largely because they have failed to take enough responsibility. But shouldn't a good manager bring that sort of responsibility and attributes out of senior players? isn't that part of a managers job too?
Our play once we lost any real ability to hold the ball up and pace up front in Wilson & Clarke has been slow, ponderous, stretched, lacking speed of thought and action, free from any real flair - that is not all down to the players. The stats might read well but 60% possession is no good unless you do something with it, unless it carries a threat - and yet SP was always happy with the stats wasn't he. We have lacked pace all over the pitch, we have lacked strength and players willing to do the darker things on a pitch, we have chopped and changed formations and still not found one that consistently achieves. That is not all down to lack of funds or the players.
SP is a good honest guy, he works hard is committed but to achieve in L1 you need more than that and on far too many occasions he simply did not achieve. Good luck to him you and he may choose to focus on the first 20 or 25 games of last season but ask any decent manager and it is the here and now that counts.
Yes as with any manager Pressley had a positive effect on some players but you could highlight other players like Conor Thomas or Billy Daniels that have gone backwards under his tenure.
Nor did Pressley take Wilson from having no ability to being the player he is today. First and foremost the lad had one inherent attribute that can not be coached - pace. There were plenty involved in his development it wasn't just about Pressley - there was Rioch and his staff, the staff supporting Pressley and lately Eddie Howe and his staff at Bournemouth who have taken a L1 talent and pushed him on to borderline Premiership. Pressley added to the mix for the lad perhaps and gave him his chance (largely because of injuries to others I seem to remember) but that's football isn't it? That's the job of a manager to get the best from the talent he has isn't it? SP is not unusual in that and if you look at the teams achievements he hasn't managed in 100 games to mould a consistently winning team from those raw talents.
Yes we lost the 50+ goals from last season. Some of that was out of his hands but the man himself said he made the player decisions including the sale of Wilson. He can not cry unfair if that's the case. He knew what he was losing and failed to even replace even half those goals with the players he brought in. Those more senior players clearly did not respond to his man management, got shipped out, bombed out or ignored, wasting 1000's of pounds of money the club clearly does not have room to waste
Yes we were more attacking but for all the goals scored what was the goal difference come end of last season? Following Clarkes departure and Wilson's injury how did we fare? Poorly. The decline hasn't been this season it started around about January 2014 and continued, and that is with, for at least part, some of the players you champion as brought on by SP.
Yes of course the budget and other problems at the club have an effect, the slide is not all his fault. Of course he did some good things. Some players have grown in to better players with him as manager, but some players may also have failed because he was manager. Did the players leave for the money well in part yes but the players you name are all now playing in the Championship or the top end of L1 in arguably better performing teams influenced by their own managers - you could argue they were ambitious and right to be
It is hard to get away from the comments on the budget though isn't it. Top 6 budget, bottom 4 position. There is usually a good correlation between spend and team performance so if the money was there why didn't it work. We replaced some talent with loans yes but who identified those players coming in. If we hadn't sold some of that talent how do you think our budget would have looked?
A managers job is to consistently get the best from the squad of players that he has assembled. Did SP do that - I would say no. To get the best from a player you need to play to their strengths - how many times have we seen a square peg in round hole approach from SP? - far too often. Yes the players didn't perform to their abilities (although I think some did but didn't have great ability in the first place) I would argue that over the recent 4 or 5 seasons the players that I have felt let down by are the more senior ones, and largely because they have failed to take enough responsibility. But shouldn't a good manager bring that sort of responsibility and attributes out of senior players? isn't that part of a managers job too?
Our play once we lost any real ability to hold the ball up and pace up front in Wilson & Clarke has been slow, ponderous, stretched, lacking speed of thought and action, free from any real flair - that is not all down to the players. The stats might read well but 60% possession is no good unless you do something with it, unless it carries a threat - and yet SP was always happy with the stats wasn't he. We have lacked pace all over the pitch, we have lacked strength and players willing to do the darker things on a pitch, we have chopped and changed formations and still not found one that consistently achieves. That is not all down to lack of funds or the players.
SP is a good honest guy, he works hard is committed but to achieve in L1 you need more than that and on far too many occasions he simply did not achieve. Good luck to him you and he may choose to focus on the first 20 or 25 games of last season but ask any decent manager and it is the here and now that counts.
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