Please tell me when to stop laughing at SHA

[stewiek2]

1 minute ago, Follyfoot said:

It’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant

I know. I just text my nose mate. He's awfully silent about it

[stewiek2]

Just now, Follyfoot said:

Got previous for this though haven’t they

They sure don't like it when DVB managers get them doing well

[Follyfoot]

3 minutes ago, stewiek2 said:

They sure don't like it when DVB managers get them doing well

They don’t need any help from that lot up the road

 

 

mate

 

A total car crash of a club

Edited October 8, 2023 by Follyfoot

[rodders0223]

How can the same club with entirely different owners make the exact same God awful (and not even in hindsight) baffling change of managers in recent history.

[Follyfoot]

1 minute ago, rodders0223 said:

How can the same club with entirely different owners make the exact same God awful (and not even in hindsight) baffling change of managers in recent history.

It’s the gypsies curse again
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[useless]

Most of their fans seem to actually like Eustace, he's done well in that sense, if you can call being liked by them doing well, even the ones that want a new manager seem to like him, from what I can tell barely any of them want him replaced with Rooney, many of them thought they were going to go for a big name like Potter, Bielsa, Nuno, or Hasenhüttl, but looks as though Rooney to them is actually going to happen.

Eustace has done well enough that he will get another Championship job, presuming he's not going to Rangers, might end up at Queens Park Rangers.

[stewiek2]

My nose mate has replied:

"Yes heard this crap this morning seems madness to me but at least it’s not Tom Brady becoming the manager"

[Follyfoot]

18 minutes ago, stewiek2 said:

My nose mate has replied:

"Yes heard this crap this morning seems madness to me but at least it’s not Tom Brady becoming the manager"

Not yet

[Demitri_C]

Surely they cant be aacking eustace? That makes no sense

[Don_Simon]

7 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

Sacking a competent coach and replacing him with a 'name'

No. Will never happen down there..

I mean, we did it too.

[Demitri_C]

52 minutes ago, Don_Simon said:

I mean, we did it too.

We didnt. Smith deserved the sack its just we recruited the wrong manager.

At blose eustace dont deserve sack he doing a good job.

Its like when they sacked rowett unfairly 

[Grunthos]

So as a DC United season ticket holder, I feel I can comment pretty strongly on Rooney, regardless of whether dismissing Eustace is a good, bad, or silly* idea.  Safe to say that they're wanting the recruiting advantage he brings them, if nothing else... the famous name does make a real difference outside of the top flight.

Whatever else one might say, Rooney is very, very clearly an excellent coach.  As a team, DC developed and displayed competencies that were largely, often totally, absent in the last 15 years.

• In the first half of the season, control of the midfield was absolutely superb.  There were games where opposing teams simply could not get a ball through the middle third.  The squad played a sophisticated, modern possession game and played it well, with a proper sweeper keeper and smart interchanges between defense and midfield.  This was a night-and-day change from everything the organization has done since at least 2010.  Furthermore, DC maintained their focus on good ball progression despite the presence of Christian Benteke, who may not be a Premier League grade player any more but is an absolute beast of a target man at the level of MLS... they could have just fallen back on hoof-and-hope, but stuck to the better principles.
• A few matches into the season, we switched to a back 3 despite not having planned for such formations in the offseason.  The defensive line quickly settled in with the change and coordinated well, regardless of which of our six defenders were put into the lineup.
• We had a bunch of ppl in and out mid-year, and the team had to change styles as a result, so there was less focus on possession and more on incisive attacking combinations.  Again, despite having no recent organizational history of give-and-go, pass-and-move attacking in and around the box, DC rapidly became very effective at creating dangerous chances through intelligent combo play.  The teaching effect was obvious and powerful.

Wayne mostly played veterans, but we did rely heavily on two young players, Ted Ku-DiPietro and Donovan Pines.  Ku-DiPietro was, I suspect, going to have a strong positive impact regardless of manager, but Pines was a real coaching success story... he's a tall, rangy defender with a ten cent head, and last year he was absolutely scatterbrained, but Rooney got him settled down and contributing consistently.

Being a good manager is more than just coaching, however, and the rest of Rooney's record is a mixed bag.

• Tactics: on the one hand, Wayne showed tremendous flexibility, switching between several formations over the course of the year and implementing a significant style change to match the shift in available personnel.  When the team's starting goalie (a pure sweeper keeper type, mediocre at shot stopping and handling but top-notch with the ball at his feet) was lost for the season and we had to plug in his backup (the complete opposite, a conservative shot-stopper with meh distribution), Rooney did not insist on staying in a style the keeper couldn't support.  However, matching tactics to the opponent and the situation was a real weakness.  Near the end of the season, for example, he trotted out a diamond four in three consecutive matches where the resulting personnel matchups did not and could not favor us.  There were a few matches where his choices really hurt our chances out of the box.
• Motivation and man management: He clearly had the respect of the locker room at all times, but the team had more games where play was on the flat or uninspired side than can be chalked up to "well, you can't be perfectly dialed in every time."  It looked to me like players were properly held accountable, with players having to (and being allowed to) earn their minutes and starting roles fluctuating depending on actual performance.  We had a mid-year crisis with a prominent player using a racial epithet during a game (at a teammate, no less!), and Rooney navigated that fairly well so far as I can see, except for the irresponsible moment when he sent his assistant to handle a postgame presser where everyone knew hard questions were going to be asked.
• Recruitment: DC has poor ownership** and a limp front office, so Rooney was effectively the GM, at least where personnel handling was concerned.  We brought in a bunch of players, some good (Benteke, Mateusz Klich from Leeds, Derrick Williams from Blackburn by way of LA, Lewis O'Brien on loan from Forest, Panamanian international Eric Davis), some limited (Victor Palsson, Ruan, Cristian Dajome, the above-mentioned goalies), and some poor (Pedro Santos, Jose Fajardo, the ever-useless Ravel Morrison).  In terms of quality, this was a solid enough record, you don't hit the mark with every guy you buy; but there were three problems.  First, it was always likely that Wayne would return to the UK sooner rather than later, but we brought in mostly veterans to help him try to win right away, with little thought for what might happen after, so that the team is now built around two guys (Benteke and Klich) in their thirties.  Second, MLS is a salary cap league, and the efficiency of dollars spent was quite low.  Third, the team's ceiling was limited; Rooney does not seem to have appreciated that he was assembling a team that lacked pace overall and would not have the technical ability to carve open a determined defense, and we ended up having to play perfectly to our strengths to overcome those weaknesses.

I think Rooney would benefit more from serving as an assistant for a couple of years at least, but he's clearly the sort who likes to set a challenge and meet it head-on, so I suppose he'll sink or swim while learning on the job in the Championship.  On the whole, I respect the work he did and wish him well; but of course if he goes to work for SHA, naturally it can crash and burn and I won't shed a tear.

* This being SHA, my money is on the latter, however.

** It's the same group, headed by Jason Levein, that owns Swansea, much to Swansea's detriment it would appear.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Grunthos
misremembered name

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, Grunthos said:

So as a DC United season ticket holder, I feel I can comment pretty strongly on Rooney, regardless of whether dismissing Eustace is a good, bad, or silly* idea.  Safe to say that they're wanting the recruiting advantage he brings them, if nothing else... the famous name does make a real difference outside of the top flight.

Whatever else one might say, Rooney is very, very clearly an excellent coach.  As a team, DC developed and displayed competencies that were largely, often totally, absent in the last 15 years.

• In the first half of the season, control of the midfield was absolutely superb.  There were games where opposing teams simply could not get a ball through the middle third.  The squad played a sophisticated, modern possession game and played it well, with a proper sweeper keeper and smart interchanges between defense* and midfield.  This was a night-and-day change from everything the organization has done since at least 2010.  Furthermore, DC maintained their focus on good ball progression despite the presence of Christian Benteke, who may not be a Premier League grade player any more but is an absolute beast of a target man at the level of MLS... they could have just fallen back on hoof-and-hope, but stuck to the better principles.
• A few matches into the season, we switched to a back 3 despite not having planned for such formations in the offseason.  The defensive line quickly settled in with the change and coordinated well, regardless of which of our six defenders were put into the lineup.
• We had a bunch of ppl in and out mid-year, and the team had to change styles as a result, so there was less focus on possession and more on incisive attacking combinations.  Again, despite having no recent organizational history of give-and-go, pass-and-move attacking in and around the box, DC rapidly became very effective at creating dangerous chances through intelligent combo play.  The teaching effect was obvious and powerful.

Wayne mostly played veterans, but we did rely heavily on two young players, Ted Ku-DiPietro and Donovan Pines.  Ku-DiPietro was, I suspect, going to have a strong positive impact regardless of manager, but Pines was a real coaching success story... he's a tall, rangy defender with a ten cent head, and last year he was absolutely scatterbrained, but Rooney got him settled down and contributing consistently.

Being a good manager is more than just coaching, however, and the rest of Rooney's record is a mixed bag.

• Tactics: on the one hand, Wayne showed tremendous flexibility, switching between several formations over the course of the year and implementing a significant style change to match the shift in available personnel.  When the team's starting goalie (a pure sweeper keeper type, mediocre at shot stopping and handling but top-notch with the ball at his feet) was lost for the season and we had to plug in his backup (the complete opposite, a conservative shot-stopper with meh distribution), Rooney did not insist on staying in a style the keeper couldn't support.  However, matching tactics to the opponent and the situation was a real weakness.  Near the end of the season, for example, he trotted out a diamond four in three consecutive matches where the resulting personnel matchups did not and could not favor us.  There were a few matches where his choices really hurt our chances out of the box.
• Motivation and man management: He clearly had the respect of the locker room at all times, but the team had more games where play was on the flat or uninspired side than can be chalked up to "well, you can't be perfectly dialed in every time."  It looked to me like players were properly held accountable, with players having to (and being allowed to) earn their minutes and starting roles fluctuating depending on actual performance.  We had a mid-year crisis with a prominent player using a racial epithet during a game (at a teammate, no less!), and Rooney navigated that fairly well so far as I can see, except for the irresponsible moment when he sent his assistant to handle a postgame presser where everyone knew hard questions were going to be asked.
• Recruitment: DC has poor ownership** and a limp front office, so Rooney was effectively the GM, at least where personnel handling was concerned.  We brought in a bunch of players, some good (Benteke, Mateusz Klich from Leeds, Derrick Williams from Blackburn by way of LA, Lewis O'Brien on loan from Forest, Panamanian international Eric Davis), some limited (Victor Palsson, Ruan, Cristian Dajome, the above-mentioned goalies), and some poor (Pedro Santos, Jose Fajardo, the ever-useless Ravel Morrison).  In terms of quality, this was a solid enough record, you don't hit the mark with every guy you buy; but there were three problems.  First, it was always likely that Wayne would return to the UK sooner rather than later, but we brought in mostly veterans to help him try to win right away, with little thought for what might happen after, so that the team is now built around two guys (Benteke and Klich) in their thirties.  Second, MLS is a salary cap league, and the efficiency of dollars spent was quite low.  Third, the team's ceiling was limited; Rooney does not seem to have appreciated that he was assembling a team that lacked pace overall and would not have the technical ability to carve open a determined defense, and we ended up having to play perfectly to our strengths to overcome those weaknesses.

I think Rooney would benefit more from serving as an assistant for a couple of years at least, but he's clearly the sort who likes to set a challenge and meet it head-on, so I suppose he'll sink or swim while learning on the job in the Championship.  On the whole, I respect the work he did and wish him well; but of course if he goes to work for SHA, naturally it can crash and burn and I won't shed a tear.

* This being SHA, my money is on the latter, however.

** It's the same group, headed by Craig Levein, that owns Swansea, much to Swansea's detriment it would appear.

* defence 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hank Scorpio]

8 hours ago, Brumstopdogs said:

 

Do they not learn. It's Rowett and Zola all over again Isn't it. Eustace is doing well. Let's sack him for the shiny big name manager regardless of any other consideration. 

Absolutely thick they are. 

[Hank Scorpio]

7 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

Not yet

Going full Ted Lasso. Except Ted is likeable, Brady is an massive massive massive word removed.

[stewiek2]

Eustace SACKED!

[VillaChris]

Wow.

This is going to be like when they sacked Rowett isn't it? They were in th play offs then with a style that worked for them. Zola came in as the big name replacement under new ownership, tried to change everything and they won about twice in four months and just stayed up on the last day.

Rooney won't do much there this season I'll confidently predict if that's who is taking over.

[Follyfoot]

3 minutes ago, stewiek2 said:

Eustace SACKED!

Let the games begin…..

[HalfTimePost]

They've actually done it.

What a mess

 

[VillaChris]

13 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Do they not learn. It's Rowett and Zola all over again Isn't it. Eustace is doing well. Let's sack him for the shiny big name manager regardless of any other consideration. 

Absolutely thick they are. 

Really they're still a season away from properly challenging. Their forward options compared to many teams around them aren't good enough to challenge for play offs, Dembele and the Japanese guy are good players but Hogan, Stansfield and Jukewitcz is pretty limited at CF.