Steven Gerrard

[Jas10]

1 minute ago, Woody1000 said:

Tbh I’m not so much of it being a disaster or impending doom finishing 14th, it’s more that I do not see the point of removing a very well liked and decent manager from the role to bring in someone else on a lot more money just to do what the original guy would’ve done.

Bang on. What was the point then?

[jim]

3 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Bang on. What was the point then?

We were on a downward trajectory under Smith with no signs of improvement. A change was needed.

[Jas10]

Just now, Laughable Chimp said:

I'm sure the owners still want continuous improvement but jesus christ cut the guy some slack. He's a relatively inexperienced manager coming into a club in turmoil on the pitch right now, I'm sure the owners wouldn't be too disappointed if he took the rest of the season to stabilize things and get himself used to the club and the league unless the results are genuinely disastrous.

Yes, they would be holding him to a different standard than Smith. But Smith had been at the club for a couple of seasons already, they had plenty of time to evaluate his qualities until they finally decided he was no longer the man for the job. That's the key difference between the 2 situations. Gerrard is an unknown who's ceiling might be really high for all we know, he'll be given enough time for them to evaluate how good of a manager he really is.

 

“Jesus Christ”? Calm dow…

I’m not expecting him to be a resounding success from the off but again, why did we appoint him if we’re happy to drop down the league (may as well have retained Dean) and are, reportedly, paying him so well and are going to back him financially in January?

It goes against all communication from Purslow.

I don’t think finishing between 10th and 14th is huge expectation, I’m certainly not expecting or demanding Europe. 
 

[Jas10]

1 minute ago, jim said:

We were on a downward trajectory under Smith with no signs of improvement. A change was needed.

We may have been on an upward trajectory if we got all the players fit, out on that pitch and played them into form. Who can know?

Again, I’m not making major demands. Just going off the club communication and the fact that we can’t stagnate or decline under a new manager or what was the point in making the change? Why put so much faith and finance in the new man if he ends up being no better or even worse than the previous one?

[hippo]

4 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Bang on. What was the point then?

They wanted a bigger name.

They initially wanted Henry as manager - we signed Danny Ings 

Really not sure DS would have turned it. Imo the departure of his coaching team was the writing on the wall.

For better or worse Stevie G has his own coaching team all singing from the same hymm sheet. Not sure DS had that at the end.

[hippo]

1 minute ago, Jas10 said:

We may have been on an upward trajectory if we got all the players fit, out on that pitch and played them into form. Who can know?

Again, I’m not making major demands. Just going off the club communication and the fact that we can’t stagnate or decline under a new manager or what was the point in making the change? Why put so much faith and finance in the new man if he ends up being no better or even worse than the previous one?

That's the gamble - if he's worse we are right in the poop. Will NSWE want to continue if the prodigal son doesn't deliver.

[Jas10]

1 minute ago, hippo said:

They wanted a bigger name.

They initially wanted Henry as manager - we signed Danny Ings 

Really not sure DS would have turned it. Imo the departure of his coaching team was the writing on the wall.

For better or worse Stevie G has his own coaching team all singing from the same hymm sheet. Not sure DS had that at the end.

Ok, so I guess that’s where the real difference of opinion then:

Some of us believe that things would have improved under Dean once he had his best players available to him.

Others don’t.

Ok, I think I understand.

[Laughable Chimp]

5 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

“Jesus Christ”? Calm dow…

I’m not expecting him to be a resounding success from the off but again, why did we appoint him if we’re happy to drop down the league (may as well have retained Dean) and are, reportedly, paying him so well and are going to back him financially in January?

It goes against all communication from Purslow.

I don’t think finishing between 10th and 14th is huge expectation, I’m certainly not expecting or demanding Europe. 
 

Ah, I think I misread your first comment. Expecting him to finish between 10th and 14th is pretty much bang on where I think he should finish too. 

[Jas10]

Just now, hippo said:

That's the gamble - if he's worse we are right in the poop. Will NSWE want to continue if the prodigal son doesn't deliver.

I don’t think it’s a case of would NSWE continue. 

It’s Purslows ass that is on the line here and the money he has invested in “his guy”.

Hoping it all works out, but if it doesn’t then we are going to pay dearly for it. Will the gamble pay off?

[Jas10]

2 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

Ah, I think I misread your first comment. Expecting him to finish between 10th and 14th is pretty much bang on where I think he should finish too. 

No problem mate… I don’t expect wonders this season but I won’t be happy with decline either…

I would’ve been happy to retain Smith if we weren’t expecting to do really well this season and then try to kick on the next… but he has been punished for not living up to (unrealistic?) expectations after all… rightly or wrongly…

Edited November 14, 2021 by Jas10

[newhavenhibby]

28 minutes ago, Weechops said:

Nice to see @newhavenhibbycommenting on Rangers by way of calling us Sevco. The hurt is strong up here. In answer to his comments, Nathan Patterson has huge potential going forward as a RB. A left back? We currently have the first choice Croatian, Borna Barisic,but the spoonburners have Doig- that boy is a talent and he has youth on his side. We are a selling club up here. We won't give them away, but I doubt that we would be difficult to deal with. I'm going to be interested in who, if anyone, AV come in for.  I can only see it being Ryan Kent.  He's SG favourite. 

Agreed re Ryan Kent, who I have mentioned before as the only possible player SG may want, then I remembered Patterson. 

Doig has the potential to go on to be a star but he is far from English Premier League standard. We are most definately a selling club ( more so than Rangers, I'll be respectful as we are guests on this forum) and he will go sooner rather than later and hope he goes to an English Championship club first to continue his education, especially in how to defend!!

Edited November 14, 2021 by newhavenhibby

[jim]

7 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

We may have been on an upward trajectory if we got all the players fit, out on that pitch and played them into form. Who can know?

Again, I’m not making major demands. Just going off the club communication and the fact that we can’t stagnate or decline under a new manager or what was the point in making the change? Why put so much faith and finance in the new man if he ends up being no better or even worse than the previous one?

Our form for 2021 suggested otherwise. Smith wasn’t sacked just because of the 5 games lost in a row. The extremely poor form this year also contributed.

Pointless sticking by him when the statistics point towards a season of under achievement.

[Jas10]

2 minutes ago, jim said:

Our form for 2021 suggested otherwise. Smith wasn’t sacked just because of the 5 games lost in a row. The extremely poor form this year also contributed.

Pointless sticking by him when the statistics point towards a season of under achievement.

I get that, we didn’t pick up enough victories during the year.

But I don’t think you can discount the mitigating factors either… I doubt we agree on that.

Stats without context are meaningless too…

Again, we never saw our best available team and didn’t see the best of any players either…

It’s gone, it’s done. Time for Gerrard to take this forward…

Edited November 14, 2021 by Jas10

[foreveryoung]

11 hours ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Anyone else still find it totally surreal the Steven Gerrard is our manager.? Only a few short years ago we were celebrating his birthday on the way to a cup final while he sat at home.

I'm gonna find it more surreal Smith managing Norwich.

Still can't understand why he has jumped in there, seems a little desperate to get back into management.

[DCJonah]

32 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

So why sack Dean?

What was In Purslow’s statement… something like “we didn’t see continuous improvement”?

The only reason to sack the previous manager if is you think the new one can do better right?
 

Rught now, I’d take a similar finish to last season, of course. But I think settling for 14th (though not a complete disaster) is a little crazy… below that is terrible… how far can we fall before it’s too difficult to recover and progress? You can’t stand still, let alone decline, in this league or you could be left in the dust or even relegated. The competition is fierce.

I don’t think anyone has implied that there is “impending doom”.

But again, why appoint a new manager if it wasn’t to arrest a decline and the intention wasn’t to move forwards/upwards?

If we all agree that we wouldn’t have been relegated under Smith, then sacking him was pointless IF we’re happy with 14th-17th. I think it’s inaccurate to state that.

Purslow and the owners certainly won’t be…

I didn't want Dean to be sacked, but clearly the owners didn't believe he was going to progress us much further. 

I think calling staying in the Premier League a disaster, is impending doom. As long as We're a premier league team, then we can dust ourselves off, spend money and look to progress the following season. 

You can stand still or decline. West Ham and Crystal Palace are perfect examples of this. Liverpool declined last season and look back to being serious title challengers this year. Chelsea have the odd down year and continue to bounce back. 

I said 14th would be disappointing but it doesn't really matter. Same way that it didn't really matter if Smith finished there. Next season is where the pressure to improve and finish top half will be on Gerrard. 

[DCJonah]

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

I'm gonna find it more surreal Smith managing Norwich.

Still can't understand why he has jumped in there, seems a little desperate to get back into management.

Yeah, what a fool, wanting to be a premier league manager. 

[Jas10]

Just now, foreveryoung said:

I'm gonna find it more surreal Smith managing Norwich.

Still can't understand why he has jumped in there, seems a little desperate to get back into management.

Good luck to him, I hope he gets an amazing reception when he returns to VP. His legacy and achievements should never be forgotten, brought us back on our feet…

Let’s see how the new man will compare…

[DCJonah]

23 minutes ago, Woody1000 said:

Tbh I’m not so much of it being a disaster or impending doom finishing 14th, it’s more that I do not see the point of removing a very well liked and decent manager from the role to bring in someone else on a lot more money just to do what the original guy would’ve done.

I guess because it's not just about this season. The owners clearly think Gerrard will do more than Smith in the future. It might turn out wrong but I think that's the feeling. 

[Jas10]

2 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I didn't want Dean to be sacked, but clearly the owners didn't believe he was going to progress us much further. 

I think calling staying in the Premier League a disaster, is impending doom. As long as We're a premier league team, then we can dust ourselves off, spend money and look to progress the following season. 

You can stand still or decline. West Ham and Crystal Palace are perfect examples of this. Liverpool declined last season and look back to being serious title challengers this year. Chelsea have the odd down year and continue to bounce back. 

I said 14th would be disappointing but it doesn't really matter. Same way that it didn't really matter if Smith finished there. Next season is where the pressure to improve and finish top half will be on Gerrard. 

Get what you’re saying but you need some sort of momentum to progress of move forwards…

[Villa_Vids]

It will be interesting to watch Gerrard's press conference tomorrow. We will learn more about his motivations and his plans for the team.  Also, I am guessing Purslow will be there to answer questions too, so we will get to know why he felt the change was necessary and what they see in SG. A good press conference can set the mood straight off.