Thetownend.com

Was just looking at his managerial career and there seems to be a pattern that emerges.

It appears that in the first full season he is in charge of a club, they tend to do well (Barnsley came 6th in old division 1, Sheff Weds 12th in the Premiership, kept Franchise up in league 1, got Hartlepool promoted and then took us to playoff finals).

However after his first season, he didnt really progress with any of these teams (except Barnsley who he took up a couple of seasons later.)

Can anything be read into this ?

Yeah. Sack him then appoint him again at the start of next season.

Time for him to go methinks.

Maybe he has one incredibly good team talk but only one, so once they've heard it a few times it doesn't work.

Or he sold his soul to the devil.

No...he should have to the seasons end......no its highly unlikely but a good run will have us moving up the table.
Its annoying because the crowds were just starting to return....for me i want him to stay.

The bottom one for me is the key. It's a shame that when we were finally winning back some of the old fans, playing well, having a decent manager and at long last a great board things were finally heading in the right direction. How will the board see this? Results going badly.....the 5 year plan for promotion now looks like it'll go into the 5th year.....crowds will drop again with this form and money has been spent on players.

Sorry but for me it's time for him to go, He has never got a team out of this division and i feel last season was just a very lucky one, His tactics have been found out this season.

I think the board will get rid very soon.

Is the problem Danny Wilson.......or are the players not performing?

We have all heard tales of unhappiness in the dressing room, but is that coming from the management or from the other players attitudes?

Or is it bad coaching?

Friday is a huge game for us now.

If the players aren't performing or there's something wrong in the dressing room then surely it's Wilson's job to sort it out.

I don't think you can blame Wilson for players switching off, which let's face it is what's costing us games.

you can blame him for sticking with the same players who always switch off surely?

CB and RB please along with a forward to help charlie out

Why the fuck can't we? It's his fucking job to instil the attitude to concentrate through and win.

I think Wilson is still the man for the job!

If he proves it in the coming weeks then I'll chuffed to bits. But, honestly, at this moment, I would not be upset if he fucked off.

Dd the forwards switch off as well tonight?...the whole team is playing pants not just the defence.

What if the taps leak or the bog is blocked up, would you expect him to sort that out?

Rubbish. We've scored loads in the last few games.

The best managers double up as club janitors

It's Wilson's fault. If a player isn't performing then you change him for someone else. If none of them are performing then you have to question the signings in the first place.

As a final point. HOW HARD IS IT TO SIGN A FUCKING CB?! Why has it taken 4 months to find one!?!? Even if it's someone from Baghdad U9 Dyslexic Girls FC (probably better than our shit anyway).

Is it too tough to go back to last year?

Get Cuthbert back in the centre, manks at RB, rose or sheehan LB. Get dougie and ferry ticking again with ritchie and mcgovern out wide. replace the two we lost in greer and paynter and surely we still have a chance to get playoffs?

league stats suggest we score goals fine, we just cant defend!

didnt shirtliff get praise for sorting the defence last year? shouldnt he get criticism instead of Wilson?

Not tonight though....a big OOOOOOOO.....the defence did ok tonight and last week v Colchester..

Conceding 1 goal away is not a disaster.............except when your midfield and attack dont back you up with goals.

The team is playing bad...not just the defence.

Agree. What's is weird is that when we play well going forward we don't at the back and vice versa. It's like the focus switches too much in one direction or the other.

fitton should share blame for this seasons shiteness.not just wilson.

wonder if we'd have had as bad a start as this if we still had greer and paynter or not?

250k for greer looks like terrible business these days, guess fitton has to answer for something on the policy that was put in place there.

Players who are on good bucks should take most of the blame.....shit hot one match...shit the next.

What has Ritchie brought to the team in the last few matches?...looks a worldbeater in the odd match.

Last seasons side would piss the league this season, the league is weaker thats for sure.

We have gone backwards, not sure how long Wilson has got to sort it out but we need a run of form and very quickly.

If Wilson were to be sacked, who is available and who would you like to be appointed as our new Gaffer, could we tempt a guy working wonders in a league lower than ours, or is there a great guy who is a free agent? personall i'd follow the NFL route and appoint someone who has been an assistant at a higher club and achieved success, think it might be ideal to appoint Steve Clarke the former Chelsea ass man, or maybe Ray Wilkins after he was said to be the secret to Chelseas success

Why? Because he's put cash into the team? Because he's supported Wilson with players he wants to bring in? If I was Fitton i'd be wondering why it isn't clicking yet given the money that's gone into the team. He's probably scratching his head tonight like the rest of us.

As a final point. HOW HARD IS IT TO SIGN A FUCKING CB?.





I think you will find very difficult as to why brighton went for greer.

Andy King 8)

Has to be Sheena Easton....

PAUL JEWELL purely because of his accent.

Well if he were to go then why not go for a Prem centre half coming to the end of their career as  player manager. Can't think of any off hand though - and certainly not that loony cunt Campbell.

Wilson should stay who are we going to give the job too?

And fans moan about the lack of loyalty in football.........

Alan Pardew, Paolo Sousa,  Paul Hart, Kevin Blackwell would all be fairly realistic appointments.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

HA.

Fuck off.

The words good appointment should never be mentioned along with the names Paul hart and Kevin Blackwell

I don't want any of that shit.

Maybe we should do the latest trend of appointing physios as our new manager, step forward Kate Cady and dick Mackey

Surely last season guarantees Wilson until at least this time next year?

I was thinking the same the other day and couldn't come up with any centre backs.

It's a long shot but how about Ryan Giggs? Wants to move in to management and might be prepared to step down a couple of divisions to learn the job without the pressure. If Wilson does go, we could always make a move for Giggs and get him signed up to take over in the summer and get someone else in to cover the rest of the season.

Otherwise there are plenty of decent managers out there without jobs, if Fitton is willing to pay their salaries.

Ryan Giggs?

Ryan fucking Giggs?

Really?

Jonny?

What. The. Fuck.

Have a word.

Bollocks, Why does it? Last season is history it's here and now that matters!!!

Perhaps we are at are natural level. History would support this.

You've lost me there. What exactly is your point?

Seemed to work well with Macari, Ardiles and Hoddle.

I think fitton has to take a lot of blame. Only signing young potential you might be able to profit off is all well and good for wingers, full backs and strikers, but it really doesn't work for central defenders, because they need to shout and organise and have experience.

Saying that though, he did splash out wages for Prutton (28?) and last season Douglas. You can't argue that he wouldn't pay the wages out for an older player.

So no. Whilst persuading Fitton to give money to sign Ferris and Caddy might have been easier. There's enough evidence that we've signed other older players.

Wilson out.

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Danny Wilson had us playing the best football for years last season, when I have seen Town play a few times this season I thought it is only a matter of time before we take this league by storm, Huddersfield, Colchester for example.
Now I feel low, fucking low - we seem to be able to raise our game against the bigger clubs and then the likes of Dagenham, Notts who at the time were both on awful runs beat us.
Something is definitely wrong in the changing rooms and a change is needed and not my changing the side, the players are good enough. To me it is a problem with the management, and the buck stops at Danny Wilson.
Only two weeks ago I was full of support for him, but its time for a change and soon before we find ourselves (we already are) in a relegation battle, out of the FA Cup and nothing to play for this season.

I don't think the primary quibble was whether or not it would work ;)

You lot make me fucking laugh. Why not support the manager instead of fucking him off. He's obviously trying, and once the players cross the white line then it's down to them. A lot of the goals are down to errors this season. Not a lot a manager can do about that. Yes he could sign extra players, but some times you need to be consistant. There is still along way to go in this campaign yet!!

I hate clubs who sack managers on a whim of a few bad results, but this is not just a few bad results, lose on Friday and Wilson I believe will be shown the door.
What a great season we had last season, everything was in place to move forward, we are not though are we, we are going so far backwards that one more league defeat and we will be in the relegation zone.

Do we wait until January to see if Danny can turn it round, in my opinion its a no - change now before we become relegation fodder - again.

If we change now who do we go for ? plus it's likely to be a long drawn out process which is likely to do more harm than good if you go by how long it took us to appoint Mr Wilson in the first place. Im sure he wont take us down but whether he can take us to where we want to be is another matter.

if we sack wilson then it will cost money.it will cost money to bomb him out.it will cost money to bring a replacement in.it will cost money to fund the players a new manager will want.
wilson has bought badly.not all his fault though, as lads with pedigree aint lived up to their potential.
you also have to remember that fitton interferes in team matters too.i got slated for saying this recenty but it's true.
he needs to change his role slightly i think and leave the football to the manager(wilson or whoever)he needs to realise he isn't a great football brain.he is a businessman.

This is the post that best reflects my views.  Danny Wilson is the best manager we've had in years.  He took us to Wembley 6 months ago.  Since then, it's gone backwards and he, like us, will know the reasons why.

If we are worth anything as fans, we'll give him a little more time to sort things out.  Otherwise, what's the message?  We demand loyalty of our players, loyalty of our manager.  And when the going gets tough...show no loyalty what ever ourselves.  Need to be clever about this.  We're probably not going to mount a promotion challenge this season...and that's a shame.  But in my view, the man best placed to put together a challenge for 2011/12 is Danny Wilson.

He has a very able assistant, why not give him the reins.

He's the coach that is supposed to teach the defenders how to defend so Im not sure that would be a good idea, but if you are going internal then another gamble would be bodin but i would rather we give wilson a chance and see what he can do in the january transfer window.

Who with board backing and the fans on his side managed the same as Andy King.

Well said.

wilson has done a good job here previously.does that mean he and his signings will deliver the same again?
personally i think not.but i'd give him longer yet.....

Keep the faith chaps.
in Wilson we trust.

Not sure I follow your point, Ben.  Are you saying that you rate DW's prospects of taking us higher no better than Andy King's after 2003/04?  King did give us a good season, built largely on the astute signing (because scouting/finding players was always his strength) of a superb strike force in Parkin and Mooney.  I think we all knew it wasn't going to last.

No it does not. It also doesn't perclude his next signings being even better than last year.

Alex Ferguson: Appointed @ Man U in 1986. First league title: 1992-93. Took him a while to get it right. He'd never get that amount of time now. Managers these days are sacked too quickly.

Great Post! THERE'S ONLY ONE DANNY WILSON!!!!

I just think it's an interesting comparison when people start saying that Wilson is the best manager we've had in half a century or whatever

Said it before and I'll say it again: why isn't Ardiles Prime Minister? No, dammit, President of an enlarged EU SuperState for life!

Yes. Those fucked off at danny wilson are not worth anything as fans.

 :-[ :-[

Thanks Paul.

Ok so we sack Wilson 6 months after taking us to Wembley. Last season was memorable for so many reasons, Regardless who is here, we need a CB I am sure Danny Wilson is well aware of this fact and is working to address this. Not sure who else I would want apart from maybe Pardew even if Wilson did go. I think it would be a massive step back to sack Wilson. He has a proven record as this level and I am sure come January the signings will come, Who is to say Frampton still is not the answer if he gets fit?

Last season was last season. We are out the Piss Pot Cup, League Cup, FA Cup?! and one place off relegation.

What was Malpas's record at this time of the season when he got sacked?

I just think we need to be realistic.  If we're saying that three months of poor form is sufficient to warrant the dismissal of a manager - even when the previous season he performed strongly - the conclusion you have to draw from that is that we are expecting permanent success.  And since when has that been realistic, or achievable?  Never.

Life isn't like that.  We are going to have poor spells.  But the clever teams don't jettison their key staff during every one of those poor spells.  For what it's worth, I'm pissed off too.  I think we should be doing better than we are - and yes, I think DW does need to raise his game.  But the key points for me are that:

(a) I believe he is capable of raising his game; and
(b) I think he is more likely than not to raise his game and turn things around for us.

Clearly, if these things do not happen, he will need to go.  I just don't think we're anything like near that point yet.

Well its obvious to me the board are planning to go down the "short arsed Argentine world cup star" route again.

DIEGO! DIEGO!

I completely agree with Ardiles. We need to stick by Danny. He deserves more time.

That said, I am as concerned as the next man, and I am sure that Mr Fitton is not impressed that after two years we are in a lower league position than when MM was fired and when Danny took over.

He has done a good job in bringing in some decent flair players, but the backbone of the team in not solid enough and we will never do anything without a solid defence. We must sort out the centre backs, and in my view the keepers are not reliable enough. The staggering thing is that I am saying this at all. We all know it, so why is nothing being done about it. The writing has been on the wall since the day Greer was sold. So fix the effing problem, or deserve the sack.

Apparently he was in the area getting his beard trimmed, so I would say he's a shoe-in.

I asked him once, "Diego, was it your fault that we lost in the World Cup semi-final in '86?"
He said "No, it wasn't entirely my fault, however I had a hand in it!"

We need to stick with Wilson, I agree with Ardiles' post 100%.
We'll beat Crawley and then Sheff Wed and everything will be rosy again :)

Excellent post! This perception that all clubs need instant success and promotion is surely at least partially to blame for the numerous clubs almost going down the drain which has suddenly become "common place" in English football...

"We're probably not going to mount a promotion challenge this season...and that's a shame.  But in my view, the man best placed to put together a challenge for 2011/12 is Danny Wilson.".

Could anyone already have forgotten that only 5 years ago, Kingy was in his 4th season for us and we worried about administration (yet again!) as we couldn't afford to pay 1/2 million pound tax bills or whatever it was?

If I were Fitton, I wouldn't even dream of sacking Wilson at this moment in time! I'm quite positive that Danny and Andrew speak about the team problems frequently. AF doesn't strike me as a "hands off" silent partner at all.

This club is a business first, and expecting instant success on the field cannot undermine that, under any circumstances.


This will naturally mean that Danny's hands are tied on certain things (do you honestly think DW would 'choose' to get rid of Greer, or Cox etc?). It may take another couple of seasons after this to mount a serious promotion challenge (I hope not, but it might!) but get behind the team.

It won't be too many years, before we're watching Championship football and moaning about the board and manager being responsible for us not being in the Prem etc! ;-)

For a while now DW says the same things after games. Which is along the lines of " when you are going with young players you will have to expect inconsistancy".  It sounds to me like there is no money from the board to change things.
Fans from day one of the season said we need to replace Paynter, Ward and Greer.  To be honest of the new signings in the summer only Prutton is now looking good.  Money was spent on Ferry and Caddis, and neither have done a things this season.  Thou we were all glad to get Ferry back.  Dossevi doesnt give you want Paynter did.  We dont hold the ball up like we did.  The ball comes back at our defence to fast and they arent up to it.  Promising individuals but there is no "Old head" there.

 Im not old enough to know about "Berts babes" but im told there were experianced proffesionals in that team who organised and helped the youngster in games.  We have this scouting network now dont we ?  What are they doing ?  At one time it was suggested we had this huge folder full of potential players we were keeing an eye on.  Yet when we needed to replace important players we lost in the summer we seem to struggle big time.

Surely Fitton must be thinking what is going on ?  The attendances will drop and unrest will cause some fans to turn on the manager.  Is he not getting Danny into his office to say, " its not working, how can i help you?  What do you need ?
Im not a DW fan,  i just cant take to him but thats me,  im a season ticket holder and i go to games whatever.  What annoys me more than anyhthing is getting beat by pathetic teams.  This leagues rubbish.  And the thought of charlie going in Janauary almost puts us back to square one again.

On a more practical note, although I was never completely convinced by the idea of Wilson as our manager, I'm not sure that sacking him now would really serve much purpose.

Realistically, could someone else coming in fresh take us to the play-offs this season? If not we might as well stick with what we've got and see how well Wilson can turn it around before the summer.

In the long term though I'm not sure about him. Bristol City stuck with him for the 4 years of his contract and he took them nowhere.

I've just got the feeling he might be a bit of a one note manager, good at establishing the basics of running a club, his scouting network and coaching team, but without the ability to adapt and change.

I haven't the first clue of who I'd want as a replacement, biut I think the days of giving the first management opportunity to a top class player, might be gone.

If you think back to the days when Ardiles was prepared to come here and then think of the modern equivalent, can anyone seriously imagine Lionel Messi pitching up at the County Ground in 10 years time?

Been thinking about a possible successor, there are some ideal replacements out there should Mr Wilson be handed his p45:

Paul Trollope: Could we tempt the 'Swindon' fan to manage his boyhood team?

John Sheridan: Did incredibly well with Oldham when he was with them, and in his final season was in the playoffs the majority of the season until murdering psycho got into a brawl with him at the racetracks, which resulted in Sheridan leaving, now working wonders with Chesterfield.

Steve Tilson: Did well in this league with Southend, only just joined Lincoln, but the lure of League One may tempt him

Jim Magilton:Has Pox connections, but had Ipswich in top half every year and was doing well until 'that' incident with Buzsaky which resulted in Magilton going

Dean Holdsworth: The next Paul Tisdale? did a cracking job at Newport last year by getting them promoted in March, and now 4th in BSP

Paul Sturrock: I would hate for him to come back and know it will get shot down, but Fitton had an infatuation with this guy and had some man love towards him, Fitton might bring him back for all we know , which would just be a god darn awful decision, but you never know

None of those are credible.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

What a truely fucking terrifying list! This is a bit of reverse psychology to persuade us to stick with Wilson right?

Tisdale.

Haha Ryan Giggs! What the f*ck?

I got one.............. Gary Neville?

Wilson will learn from his mistakes, he's here for atleast another year.

I was just thinking of who might be contenders and his name occured to me as well. Either him or Gary Waddock, who I always liked as a player.

You said it, after looking at possible replacements and that shocking list,I  am now for Wilson staying, there's no one out there who can does a just as good job :( 

Surely with the tables as they are, we are now a backwards step? even though it hurts to say it , he turned down Southampton before to

Yeah, I think we might haev missed the tisdale chance. Should have appointed him instead of Wilson.

Not really. He's had to put that team together on free transfers (except for one £50k fee) and realise a profit on transfers every season. If you compare the resources available at Exeter to what he might have at Town, and the size of the support, and the set up, it's a step up.

Wise words, hopefully with Fittons smart talking of getting us some big deals, like sponsorships for example, hopefully he can talk Tisdale into coming here, plus we then get to have the Fashion Icon of the football league ;)

Right then so based on your argument even if we got relegated this season because he got us to the play-offs last season he should keep his job?

Since Colchester last season when our form tailed off if you solely look at normal league games it's 6 wins out of the last 24 and that is relegation form no doubt about it!

Last season means nothing now as if we get relegated that would make Fitton's 5 year plan completely impossible and we'll have actually gone backwards in footballing terms compared to when Fitton took over and I can't see him standing for that so I can't see Wilson getting much longer....

I have no desire to see Wilson sacked, I enjoy watching Swindon play more under his management than I have under anyone's since Glenn Hoddle and he has played a big role in stabilising the club. There is no one readily available to come in that I would have any faith in being able to do a better job.

That said, while we were faffing around getting nowhere (or waiting for Danny to fall into our laps if we can credit the board with psychic abilities) following the demise of Malpas, the two 'favourites' for the job seemed to be Ian Holloway and Paul Tisdale. Where we would be now with either of them in charge is pure conjecture, but they're doing alright in the jobs they do have, aren't they?

I'd have Tisdale, but he would have to be sold a vision of a future for the club that is very different to the present, and I reckon that can only come with planning permission for the ground development.

The quality of the names listed here and the fact that potential replacements are even being mentioned makes me want to cry.

Anyone who wants a change of manager every time their team hits a bad period of form should attend the Milan Manderic School of Football Club Ownership.

No my arguement is, whoever comes in knows we need a old head at the back, and surely Danny Wilson knows this too. So we sack Wilson pay him off and bring someone else in who will do exactly the same thing as Wilson but we are down a few bob now to spend on transfers becuase we made a knee jerk reaction and sacked a proven manager. Given his previous record I am confident Wilson will find a decent player and get his man. Too many times sacking a manager is a knee jerk reaction and results dont really improve.

If by end of January once he gets the chance to bring in decent players perhaps a holding midfielder and a central defender then re-evaluate the situation. Last year counts for nothing but it shows what the team is capable of. We lost the spine of the team and didnt replace. Are we relying too much on Charlie up front, People complain that Ferry has done nothing but he hasnt been given a decent run in the team. Cuthbert will come good again, he just needs that experienced head to lead the way beside him like Greer did last season.

If there is dis-harmony in the dressing room as some have alluded too, it doesn't matter if we sack Wilson and bring in a new manager, those players arent all of a sudden become best friends are they? Sacking now would be a knee-jerk reaction and IMO premature. I am sure no one is sitting back and letting "whatever will be will be" and "they will come good".

He can, hence Miiiiiiiiiiiiil's Andy Frampton.

Without knowing the facts its hard to say why it took so long to bring him in and why he hasn't gone elsewhere following the injury.

True, I mentioned Frampton in a previous post, saviour? maybe not but apparently is a leader and thats what we need.

You said exactly the same with Malpas though you pretty much loved the bloke and were dead against sacking him. In a round a bout way I kind of wish I had your rose tinted specs and could only see the good things in a manager. But sadly i witnessed that mess last night, as I did Yeovil, Dagenham, Leyton Orient etc etc and as well as the players underpermorning the set up and mentality of the tactics are at times just bizarre.
This season thus far has been nothing short of a disaster and I find myself rapidly losing interest.

Bloody hell, if we're relying on Andy fucking Frampton as a "saviour" we're really fucked.

Fair enough he was alright a couple of years ago but he has a shocking recent injury record. We missed the boat in the summer when there were experienced Champ CBs out of contract well within our budget that have now gone to other L1 clubs.

I honestly cannot see DW here beyond January, whether that's right or wrong.

Glos_Robin - If you've not already done so previously in the thread, can you explain what you thought the tactics where last night.

Cheers

Fair enough he was alright a couple of years ago but he has a shocking recent injury record. We missed the boat in the summer when there were experienced Champ CBs out of contract well within our budget that have now gone to other L1 clubs.

Who?

Playing for a point against a team very short on confidence. Basically barr the back end of the first half we didn't try pressing them or put them under any concerted pressure. It was almost as if we were trying to avoid losing rather than going for a win, in some cases that's fair enough if your playing a good team on their patch but not last night against a struggling team.

no way would we have played for a point.

Accepted last night was not the greatest performance and wasn't even a particularly good game to watch. At no stage did i ever feel we were playing for a point though.

As I said at the time and after last night, off the top of my head, Liam Chilvers (100 games for PNE), Gary Doherty (although he's seriously old, and before anyone says that Charlton spend far more than us, they're fucked financially).

Then you've got the like of Michalik and Sam Sodje who left clubs at the top end of this division and would have been average additions, and Marcel Seip has just left Plymouth for Charlton.

Of course there are more too, that anyone in the game charged with finding these players should know of.

One thing nobody has mention..............the financial budget for the season.
Fitton said when he tok over, that Bidgets would be set and stuck with.
Fitton also said [among other things], when he sacked Malpas one of the reasons was that we were OUT OF ALL CUP competions and as such we were not going to hit our budget [target was a word also used].

Therefore, the future of Wilson will be decided this Friday evening. Go through and have a decent Cup run, then he will be here for some time to come. Fail to go through [god forbit - but quite likely], then some faily big questions will be asked at board level. This will be thin ice time.

is top 6 or 8 in this league, no doubt.

Who is above it?

Soton, Hudders, Wednesday, BHA, Pboro

Plymouth and Charlton because of old contracts still running, but they're doing everything they can to reduce them.

We're probably similar to Franchise and Col U, although the dons have slashed their budget in recent seasons.

And another point, we're 2 points and one place off the bottom four, but Notts County have a game in hand, against either Rochdale, Oldham or H'pool which should they win would obviously dump us into the relegation zone.

Not good enough, and the excuses are running out.

Not read the whole thread so I'm probably covering old ground but the problem with sacking Wilson is who is available to replace him? On footy manager whenever I leave Swindon we always appint Russell Slade and that the level of replacement we'd be looking at.

 Wilson has brought some high quality players to this club, the likes of Douglas, Prutton, Greer, Sheehan, quality we haven't seen for a while, and it was Wilson who convinced them to come to Swindon. Yes his tactics haven't been working this season, we've not replaced some big players but the way this divsion is we're still only a run of games away from launching an attack on the play-off positions.

If we're still here at Christmas then it's time for a change but Wilson deserves the chance to turn this around.

I was against Malpas being sacked to start with but in the end even I said he had to go. FFS people were chanting they wanted him out after about 7 games without giving his squad time to gel. Ultimately yes he was clueless. Wilson has provided the goods before where as Malpas knew nothing but failure.

I think I was the last man standing on Malpas (on TEF). Who admitted it anyway.

We're in a sorry ol' situation at the moment.

Who did malpas sign to change the team?

The majority of that squad were already when he arrived were they not.

At least he gave us that useless cunt Casal.

And old man Nalis.

Top class

Well has he? Wilson has not ever got a team promoted out of this division, he's had a couple of play-off finishes with us and City and relegation scraps with Hartlepool and Franchise.
Wilson obviously aint a crap manager but is he good enough to get a team promoted out of this division or is he ultimately lacking when it comes to the crunch...

My personal opinion is Wilson is an average league 1 manager who if you kept in place for say 10 years the majority of the time you would end up floating around mid-table, you'd have the odd flirt with the play-offs and the odd flirt with relegation. History says this is our natural position and if we want to maintain Status Quo then Wilson could probably do that. If that is the limit of our aspirations then fair enough but sometimes you need to take a punt as steady will only get you so far and in the long run could see you go backwards.

I think in the next few weeks a big decision will need to be made one way or another....

Totally agree a decision must be made but maybe let's see who he brings in before making a knee jerk reaction. On paper there aren't many decent replacements (or those that would come to us), need to remember Fitton was looking at Kinnear and Richard Money (who will be gone from Luton soon no doubt after falling out with their fans over and over), not exactly the calibre of manager to take us forward either or better Wilson's results thus far. Also Wilson has had some good signings as we know Douglas, Cuthbert, etc. although some may attribute them to David Byrne or Fitton but on paper who could do better that is a reailistic target? 

For me the problem is pretty simple.... It's the defence. Stop conceeding most of the stupid goals & we win most of our games. Wilson obviously knows this cos he bought in Frampton who promptly got injured.
Morrison & Cuthbert have undoubted ability, but are too inexperienced to operate in their on their own. Lecinel, also makes too many mistakes back there. Although all have promise, they lack the experience. We need to replace Greer, & maybe give Charlie some help upfront & we will go up the table no question. I'd have an experienced head in their with Cuthbert & Morrison fighting for the other CB position.

The way I see it is that we over performed last year and our expectations were high this - so its been a complete disappointment so far.

However, if the motivation isn't there and the tactics aren't right then somebody has to take the blame. I like Wilson and like most of you I'd like to see him work it out - but results is results.

I just don't want to replace him with another Malpas/King/Macca fuckwit.

It's not knee jerk though is it, 6 wins in our last 24 leauge games is piss poor gaz, teams have figured us out and know how to play us and we have no answer to it.

As others have alluded to though if you keep a manager in purely because you don't think there is anyone better around then it's over and you may as well give up. There's always people out there and it is upto the chairman to find them, most of us laughed when Poyet got the Brighton job........we're not laughing now are we?! They took a punt and it worked, we could take a punt and fall on our arse but it's the nature of the beast. Who would have though that people like Adkins would go from a physio to sought after manager? To believe there is no one better around would be very naive.
I

I think we should let the man do his job. Like it or not he IS our best manager for years. I've no doubt he didn't want to lose Greer but money and contract issues talked and we have (lost him). We haven't replaced him and that has to go down to the manager, however decent centre back leaders don't grow on trees which is why Brighton were prepared to push the boat out for ours.

In my opinion none of the centre backs listed by Panda would fill me with confidence that they could be the leader we're missing anymore so than Frampton or our own big Shaun (before the season started). The only one in that list might well be Docherty but he is a carthorse of the highest order and despite Charlton's documented financial struggles they were still probably a more attractive propostion than us.

Lose on Friday and the pressure really mounts on Wilson, we would be out of all cup competitions and in 20th place in legaue 1.

As i said yesterday i do not think we should lose Danny my concern is the next 3 games is the honeymoon over? as fans where we expecting too much for this season after the playoffs?
Our form since we beat Leeds away last season  has not been good

The biggest problem this season has been the loss of Greer's organisational/motivational/whatever it was ability on the defence, coupled with an inconsistent team selection.  The latter has been largely due to injuries to key players, or complete loss of form of others.  Douglas - in and out, Ferry - largely missing, Manky - injured even when playing it seemed, Sheehan - in and out, Austin - missed games where he didn't last year.

Last season's patchiest form was whenever the core players were missing.  The team is generall young and once that key experience and ability goes, so does the teams confidence or organisational ability.

Greer went, Wilson clearly didn't want that to happen, but we know the reasons why even if we disagree with them (and at the time I thought his lack of form personally and general injury record etc meant it was ok).

None of the above get solved by a new Manager.  Douglas' toe does not get better, Manky doesn't reover over night back to his best, Lucas' back doesn't fix itself (which may be part of the reason for his up and down form as well).  Last season we got lucky, lucky in that we could generally select our best eleven players for most games once we got through the first couple of months.  In that period we hit form.

If the best eleven were fit right now, and picked for a period of weeks, I have no doubt we'd be winning more than not.  We'd still have a bit of problem in the defence that needs work in January (if not before), but we'd be ok - nothing more, but not this bad.

The defender is something Wilson can fix, and he tried, but getting 28-32 year old central defenders worthy of top half League one teams means going for players probably already getting picked in their teams, which means they are not in the loan market.

In summary, I don't see a change of manager fixing the things listed above.

For the record, I don't think Paynter's loss has a huge impact.  I think his loss is the difference between fighting tooth and nail right at the top and being a team capable of being in the hunt for play offs or safely top half.

Everyone knows the problems is in defence. I know it, you know it, the poster above knows it, we all know it. I would imagine the budget is tight (probably minimal purchase cost, and low wages compared to some other clubs) and anyone in charge may struggle to find the right player with that setup (as much as we think there are parallels, this isn't Champ Manager!  :doh:).


I ran a little exercise shown below for the last 10 league games. There are the actual results, and the "adjusted" results. All I did for the adjusted results was cap the numbers of goals conceeded for each game down to 1 (just to see how "big" the effects were).

                Lost   Draw    Won   Points   *4.6 (season worth)
Actual            5   3          2        9             41
Adjusted*       2   1          7         22           101

In short, we would have won most of our games. We scored 1.9 goals per game over that period ffs!

Before someone points it out, obviously this is not a fair exercise and I'm not suggesting we'd finish on 100 points. I'm just trying to show a very obvious point that the team isn't "massively" away from where we all want it to be, and that it's a lot closer to being a good team than people are giving the team, and Danny credit for

COYR!  :beers:

The problem is, when results are going against us we end up with all the fucktards like Glos Red spouting their depressing shit. Why do you only post negatives?

I'll keep faith with DW, he kept us up the season before last and got us to Wembley last season. The guy deserves some loyalty.

Indeed he does, but I think he'll be struggling to get that loyalty from the board if we are still down there come January and out of the Cup, rightly or wrongly.

IF being the operative word.

I see where you are coming from Gazza but he's had since July to sign replacements so what makes you think he will sign the right/enough players in January?

Bring in a holding midfielder? Thats the last position we need to look at bringing in.

I think the fans popular opinion has more influence over this than we give ouselves credit for. If the fans are showing loyalty and singing Danny's name, that will probably have a very different outcome to if we're all protesting for his head!  :headhurts:

within the next 2 seasons (after this one), we'll be back at Wembley!  :clap:

And I'd take that.

Because clubs are more likely going to let players go now, especially those like Greer (when at Donny), say who are out of contract etc and the club will let them go. Normally with other clubs bringing players in they normally let players go out the other way as well. Whats Franck Queudrue up to these days? Before anyone mentions Demerit he is playing in the MLS for the Vancouver Whitecaps

 I meant creative midfielder to hold the ball up for our strikers to get forward and lead from the middle of the park.

Wilson will just sign more full backs if he's here in January.

amended for you

I'm still confused as to why I'm a cunt for suggesting Giggs.

I'm guessing it's because no one thinks he would want to slum it at a League One club?

Or because they think Gigg's is a cunt?

Could someone clarify for my own piece of mind.

he is still premiership class with no need to move to us.

He's got another season left in him at best in the PL, with a chance of this being his final season. He wants to move in to management and is prepared to drop down to get the experience he'll need for the PL. Unlikely yes, but not impossible - Glenn Hoddle is proof of that.

You don't know unless you ask. Though I suspect we'd be told to take a running jump.

Glenn hoddle was TWENTY years ago. the game has changed.

Yeah managers don't need to gain experience any more. They just do what Paul Ince does and become really succes.... oh....

End of Jan and then take a look.

I am no where near as suicidal as when Malpas was running the ship.

2005 Andy Kings 4th season, £650k tax bill or administration (again!)... league position may not be ideal right now, but compare the club to the years of Iffy, Kingy and Malpas!  :nod:


Oh, and just noticed your signature - Dave Syrett used to be my football teacher at school. Really nice bloke!

I never said you were, but I think those who were guffawing at your suggestion did so because they felt it was unlikely to be an opportunity that would appeal to him.

FWIW, I'd suspect even if he did want to drop down the Leagues to move into management he'd prefer to start at a Welsh club. Bristol City, for example

Poyet is a shit example, easy to say a manager is good when it's going well.  All that Brighton had this season was momentum they kept winning because it was a habit more so than he was a tactical genius or he has great players. 

If you include the 2 cup games (where they failled to beat Woking twice) they have failed to win in 5 games which is actually a worse current run of form than ours. 

I expect Brighton to tail off and finish towards mid table as Poyet has no experience in a job of when things go pear shaped.  Managers prove themselves as good managers in the tough times and that's exactly what Danny must do now, I am sticking by him but I would rather see him try to go out and bring some loanees in rather than just keep saying these are young players and they will learn, get some experience in to guide them.

Worth pointing out just how bad things were with Malpas. On top of the shit results we had shit football to watch as well.

Sure we've played bad at times this season, but there have been some good performances and we're scoring a fair few goals. The way Malpas had us playing made committing suicide look an attractive alternative.

 Finding a new manager is just such an inexact science....Eddie Howe is probably the best thing around, but what are his qualities? Could he replicate them at a different club?

 Wilson knows his trade...it's going to be one of those seasons, where we're a bit hit and miss.

Wilson In. End of.

We need action in the transfer market in january. 4 out and 6 in perhaps?

I have thought that the play offs were unlikely for quite a while now. But when Danny Wilson gets it right, his sides are brilliant.

Wilson In. End of <-- glad common sense prevails! ;-)

Eddie Howe, Bournemouth through and through. I believe he even turned down Saints which is only just up the road

Howe probably learned all he knew from his loan spell at STFC under Kingy  :)

Are you an ex public schoolboy?

My Old man also worked at Warminster School.

Yeah I am, old man was a Loady in the RAF etc...

That's the one, who is your dad then?  :sherlock:

Errrr... I don't really get your point?  How are we not '"massively" away from where we all want to be'?

We're 19/20 places and about 15 points away from where I want to be. And your "analysis" basically amounts to saying, "if we conceded fewer goals we'd be doing better", which I think we're all pretty clear on.

You do realise that the team are missing that goals conceded target by 140% at the moment don't you? That means we need to do MORE than just cut out one careless goal a game to achieve the dream world points total in your post.

Have you detected any hint of that being possible? Even in a game where we played defensively to try to keep a clean sheet, against the fourth lowest scoring side in the league, we can't manage it.

if we conceded fewer goals we'd be doing better - My point was trying to emphasise how much better we would be doing. Some fans seem to talk as if the whole team bar Charlie is shit, and that the world is ending, when in reality it's not quite that bad.

You do realise that the team are missing that goals conceded target by 140% at the moment don't you? - Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? A defence with destroyed confidence will always let in a LOT more goals, not just 10% more goals...heads drop, more silly mistakes get made.

we need to do MORE than just cut out one careless goal - I never said "cut 1 careless goal out per game", I said cut the goals conceeded TO 1 per game. It was a simple exercise to emphaises just how much of an effect a defence performing even only half decently would have on our league position.

to achieve the dream world points total in your post - I knew someone would pick up on this hence me needing to write the very clear caveat in my post: "obviously this is not a fair exercise and I'm not suggesting we'd finish on 100 points"! Not sure what else to say on that one...

Have you detected any hint of that being possible? - Nope I haven't though fans are fickle and 1 good signing in January could make all the difference. It's a very tight league. I don't know what's going to happen any more than the next bloke, it's all part of being a supporter.

You see that is my point. You're trying to say the teams not that far off where it needs to be, and I'm saying they're clearly not.

In the 10 games you used in your sample Town let in an average of 2.4 goals a game. That's a fucking long way from the 1 goal a game you're assuming in your potential points tally.

Do you really think that the circa 60% improvement in our defensive performances that's required is such a small thing.

"clearly not"? Do you mean "clearly are"?

statistically 2.4 is a lot bigger number than 1 yes, and I believe you're stating the team is far off where it needs to be. I think you're wrong on that, and that all it could take is 1 or 2 quality players in certain areas, such as an experienced player providing leadership in the defence and that could have a massive impact on this team and thus it's results!

If I remember correctly under Malpas our defense was shocking. Danny joined on boxing day, and quickly brought in Greer on loan who then signed in Feb. We went from a relegation battle to almost ending up mid table.

I with luckyluke, it's so fucking obvious and simple what's needed to fix our squad. The fact Danny hasn't managed to do it isn't exactly a glowing illustration of his managerial ability.

Well I think pretty much everyone is agreed that we need a change of personnel to provide some leadership in the defensive third. The "not that far away" comment made me think you thought we just needed to tighten up a bit,

Exactly, the problem is an obvious one. We should have found a replacement for the one whose name we shall not speak but Wilson/the board took a risk by using the young lads.

lets see who turns up in January

I was trying to show (via the numbers), just how good our team is bar the defense. We're certainly not relegation fodder, and we'll be back at Wembley within 2 seasons after this one... ;-)

I still think Wilson will be sacked if we lose tomorrow night.

I don't think he will. I'll take that bet...  :headhurts:

I bet you that he wont be.

He will walk i reckon if we lose.

Malpas was sacked after poor league form and after going out of the cups, I wouldn't bet against it happening again.

The whole team was pretty shite under Malpas though, and there were protests outside the Arkells stand going on after each game... this is why I'm not so sure, that coupled with Danny's record (season1: saved from relegation, season2: Wembley) suggesting we should be a lot more loyal to him!!  :hmmm:

More likely than being sacked IMO.

We kind of all knew that already. Sadly defense is a fundamental part of the game, and I think your conclusion is sounding a little bit complacent.

We're just outside the relegation zone now and could topple into it very easily. As plenty have pointed out, our form for the last 25/26 games is serious relegation form. No-one is too good or big to go down as we've found out god knows how many times previously

I heard Wilson's gone and Lumps is in charge for tomorrow night.

I can't see Danny losing his job if we lose tomorrow. Nor can I see him walking away.
However, after the game on Tuesday he was far from his usual calm self, and I think the fact we dropped right down to 20th has finally set alarm bells ringing. Although we don't seem to be bringing anybody in, which is very disappointing... though we can only speculate as to why.

There seems to be a fair mix on here of those who think Wilson needs to go now, those who think he should be given more time and the fence sitters.

I'm a fence sitter, but unfortunately am starting to sway towards thinking we need a change.  This is based on all sorts of points that have already been raised on here - Danny's failure to sort out the defensive issues (even though he's stated that they've been there since the beginning of the season), continual switching of formation and general lack of ideas at times.  I like the bloke, he's genuine and honest and I would be sad to see him go.  However that'ss what happens in football when the team isn't performing and the results do speak for themselves.  6 wins in 24 isn't inconsistent it's downright shite!  I'd love to see him turn it around and will be the first one to apologise for jumping the gun if that happens, sadly I don't think it will.

Tomorrow's game is a big one and the performance/result could sway a lot of people's opinion as to whether he should still be in charge on Monday morning including the Board, whose opinion is fundamently the only one that matters!  However, should we win 3-0 or something similar it means very little if we then lose our next 3 or 4 league games.  Personally, I'd rather be doing better in the league than going another round in the FA Cup.

Doubt it.

Can't see why he'd do that...most outside observers would probably have this down as a home win. We could very well be playing these next season as things stand, so not a lot between the sides.

The longer our underperformance goes on the more I wonder how close to a Malpas situation we're in.

Certain players are not doing enough and Wilson isn't getting them to perform. I don't know whether this is down to internal conflicts but if it is then the lack of professionalism of the players would disappoint me. Wilson did a fantastic job last year and with everyone on song nearly took us up - the bloke should be respected.

Of course it may not be that, but I'm hearing a lot of shit on the grapevine and I suspect some of it is true and some is not.

The major difference between "the Malpas situation" and Wilson's current situation (even if we lose tomorrow) is that Malpas went from one bad season to another. Whereas Wilson had a pretty successful season last season, which will buy him more time. You can argue the toss as to whether it should, but it will, I'm sure of that (prepares to look an arse come shock sacking on Monday)

Things weren't great at the tail end of last season either. If you start our poor run where it really began and not at the start of this season then we're effectively in January.

Again Wilson has failed to bring in anyone to shore up our defence, I think he could end up regretting that this time! It's baffling, We clearly needed someone to come in and tighten things up at the back.

I'm grateful to Wilson for last season but that's history and that cannot be used as an excuse or as a reason to give him more time in my opinion.

It seems as if some people are now coming out and saying a change needs to be made and i think i agree, Something has gone very badly wrong this season, I don't know if there's problems in the dressing room or what but maybe he has lost the dressing room? Things have gone downhill very quickly and i cannot see the board being happy at all with our league position bearing in mind they will expect the play-offs at the minimum.

The crowds will get lower and lower and we could be at risk of relegation although i don't think we would go down but it's going to be a mid-table to lower table finish this season if things carry on the way they are, Maybe the board would think that a change of manager now might see us get into the play-offs?

I can definitely see the board losing patience if we lose tomorrow, I could be wrong but surely he's had enough time to bring players in and sort things out?

Malpas was given too much time, I'm not sure Fitton will stick with Wilson if we continue like this for much longer

I think Fitton is a loyal chairman, we don't know what goes on behind the scenes but you do wonder if Wilson's budget has been cut, it is plain for all to see that we need an experienced centre half and a decent partner for Austin which should help to push us up the table, so you would think that Wilson would have dipped into the loan market and with Frampton back at 'wall you would have thought he would replace him.

Is there anything to what Wilson says about if you continue to play the younger players - are the board telling him they want him to play them ?

I do think that Fitton will stick with Wilson until at least Easter and then if there is no improvement in results perhaps he will think of making a change and rightly so - he does not become a bad manager overnight

Fucking hell. It's not as if we're being hammered every week. 7 defeats, 6 by a single goal, would suggest it wont take much, maybe just a little bit of luck to start reversing defeats into draws, and draws into wins. 28 games to go yet boys.

Agree with the above, and people are always slating Wilson for not bringing a player in, but both AF & DW have always stated that they would only bring the "right" players in.

If anything I think the current situation may make AF more willing to allow Danny extra funds for January if the right player can be identified, unless things get really bad before then...  :headhurts:

Dont think he will be sacked or he will walk tonight, but will probably only have three games, starting with the easy fixture Sheff Wed.
Anyway we will win tonight.

we were gaining results last seasonmore or less in the way we are now losing them.we aint miles away in a league of much of a muchness,but are far enough away for it to be unacceptable.

although I don't think sacking danny wilson is a good idea, I have to be honest, we haven't been playing well since about Feb. We only scrapped into the play off's as we had a brilliant start to the season.

Since Feb..

Charlton (Home) 1 - 1
Oldham (Home) 4-2 Win
Huddersfield (Away) 1-1
Carlisle (Home) 2-0 Win
Leyton Orient (Away) 0-0
Rovers (Home) 0-4 Loss
Franchise (Away) 1-2 Loss
Brighton (Away) 1-0 Win
Southampton (Away) 1-0 Win
Norwich (Home) 1-1
Hartlepool (Away) 1-0 Win
Leeds (Away) 3-0 Win
Tranmere (Home) 3-0 Win
Colchester (Away) 3-0 Loss
Exeter (Home) 1-1
Walsall (Home) 1-1
Wycombe (Away) 2-2
Brentford (Home) 3-2 Win
Millwall (Away) 2-3 Loss

Play-offs

This season... Up to this season i wouldnt say its been all bad since Feb.

We actually had a fairly average start...only really got going in October.  Which is why I didn't want to write this season off too quickly.  With a run before Christmas, you never know.  I just can't see where the run will come from at the moment though.

A run of 3,4,5 wins and everything is Rosy again. Ok, we are 1 place above the relegation zone but its still early days with lots of points up for grabs.

This thread is why the internet should be shut down occasionally.

Thank fuck for the few living in reality (Ardiles Pauld etc)

87% of Modern football fans are retarded.

I think you just have to accept that it's all well and good being measured and sensible, but those who actually care about the club can obviously get a bit emotional sometimes.

So back to retarded then.

HOW VERY DARE YOU etc

I just don't think some internet geek who's never had a job should be allowed to comment on whether or not someone else in the real world gets to keep theirs...

Are we not well past the point now where just because someone posts on an online forum they are automatically 'some internet geek who's never had a job'?

Not where some on here are concerned.

I don't think those with a touch of the Bertie Brayleys should be calling other people retarded. So I guess we're even.

Not everyone on here is an internet geek who has never had a job, just those who have never had a job.

They aren't qualified to comment on wilson's employment situation.

If things do not improve I still think it would be some time before the board would consider binning DW if at all before the end of the season. I also can't see DW going of his own accord. I truly hope that things turn around soon but right now DW seems unsure in his selections, tactics and substitutions and that has rubbed off on the players and fans. Clearly he must and will be given time to try and turn things around. He has earned that opportunity at least while he has been with us. The rub of the green wouldn't come amiss at this stage either and although no one has the right to that, we (DW included) have had little of that this season.

How dare you accuse me of living in reality? I'm as retarded as the rest of them :)

Are you bored flammableben?  I see you've gone and found your big prodding stick.

The basic fact is that Mr. Wilson is not a good nor a bad manager - he is an average one and his record demonstrates that.
Sean and Lecsy are not bad players, nor are they stupid, and if repeated basic errors are being made by the defense (which they are) does this not come down to coaching rather than the competance of particular players? If 'schoolboy' errors are repeated time and time again, is that not, just possibly, the fault of the teacher?

No, fundamentally it has to be the competence of the players, of course it is. The purpose of the coaching is to remove those errors, obviously, and you can, if you wish, point a finger at the failure to do so, but if a player makes a mistake it is his error. Pretty much by definition

 
... and I've been looking for a job as an internet greek for ages. Ennit?

Agree - a one off error is down to the individual.......but a defence in turmoil?

You made a typo, I'm sure you meant 97%?

Well, you're changing the question, before you were trying to claim that repeated errors were not down to the players, which they clearly are. The question I think you're trying to pose is whether or not the failure to correct those errors rests with the players' ability (and their ability/willingness to learn) or the coaches' ability to teach them? Bit of both, I'd imagine.

Even the best teacher in the world will not be able to teach the most stupid child much, conversely even the brightest kid will struggle under a badly incompetent teacher. But most teachers and kids are somewhere in between. If a kid is struggling to learn something, is it because he's unteachable or because the teacher's crap? A better teacher might get more out of the child, but the first teacher might get more out of a brighter child.

Until we know for a fact we have a superb set of players that can only improve by superb coaching, we can't really say whether the defence being crap is because the players are crap or the coaches are. Or whether the same players would do better under different coaches, and the same coaches do better with different players. Such is football. And many other things in life

You are right, I'l let the coaching staff know not to teach defenders to gormlessly watch the ball float over their heads to the striker, not to promote fuluffed clearnces, not to forget to put challenges in and not to react the slowest.

Not sure why the coaching staff didn't pick up on this in the first place really.

No, his record demonstrtates that he is a very good manager, one of the best in the lower divisions. It never ceases to amaze me how many people wilfully choose not to see this.

An average manager could get a team up the top end of a table for a while with a bit of luck but Wilson has won (or gone very close to winning) promotion at four different clubs. If that is your definition of average I suggest you give up on STFC until the board have the foresight to poach Jose Mourinho from Madrid.

The Greer thing has been done to death already but it is quite clear that the one thing the squad needs is some experience in the defence to organise the rest of the back four. We've got good (or potentially good) players back there but as a unit the combination isnt right.

You could argue that Wilson should have foreseen this and signed an experienced centre back in the summer, maybe he tried and couldnt get the right one in? The signing of Frampton was effectively an admission that that was what we needed, but typical of the way things have gone this season he got injured after one game so we dont know if he's the answer or not.

A signing or two in January could easily transform this team into serious play-off contenders. The one thing we dont need to change is the management.

I agree.  Sometimes we make it all too complicated.  To me it just boils down to the players having 3 things, Fitness, skill and belief.  I've seen enough of them this year to know they are fit enough and the skill is about right for the division - in some cases it's higher.  So that makes it a matter of belief and there are times when we lack confidence.  People get really tense and fuck up.  Whether you can coach confidence into players is a really difficult question but it certainly isn't the sole reponsibility of the manager.  For what it's worth I can never remember a time at Swindon where we didn't make stupid mistakes at the back and gift teams goals including the golden era of Taylor and Calderwood at the back

But we're a results based business. We could be the nearly guys all season and still go down. Regardless of that I still want to keep Wilson as I think he has proven himself as a decent manager and should be respected. But the 'reality' boys are starting to bury their heads in the sand.

Wilson deserves more time than most managers because of what he's done for us in the past. He's earnt it

Absolutely bang on in every respect.

If we lost last night he may of had to look over his shoulder.#

Not convinced that any other manager that could come in would be an improvement.

depends if the players like Wilson I guess

That is a very good point. And from what I hear it could be a 50-50 split on that front.

Doesnt bother me. I want the team to do well.

I dont think Macari was very much liked at all.

Any word on a new contract for him? It runs out in a month...

For Wilson? He signed a 2 and a half year deal did he not? So runs till the end of the season.

The vast majority of them signed for him. Besides, whats not to like? Hes a very reasonable man.

Danny Wilson will still be here when a lot of the players are gone. They can like it or lump it.

You are correct there, Macari was hated by a lot of his players (just ask Bobby Barnes and Dave Hockaday about that!) but they respected him and wanted to do well as a unit and for the team, Macari also had a good assistant and that always helps, the players respected both Macari and Trollope.

Kamara wasn't his biggest fan either after the Melrose incident.

Yeah he has few good words to say about him, but, even now...he still respects him, there does seem to be a little bit of a lack of respect currently, which is really the point I was getting at Spencer, its not about liking him, you dont need to like someone to repect them as a boss.

Its all about respect and belief and trust.

I have worked for plenty of good bosses who i didnt like but they ticked the above boxes.

I can.1995/96. Despite hating McMuck it has to be said that team could defend properly. I think you can count the number of games we let in more than 1 in that season on the fingers of one hand.

4 losses all season if I recall.

When does Danny's contract run out exactly? I think it's end of this season right, so would it be in July? And does anyone know which player's contracts run out then also? I know Vince's does. Any others?

Apologies if this has been answered, but I can't be arsed to trawl through 20 pages to check!  :hmmm:

I think Danny Wilson's been having too many parties.
[too many parties, too many parties]

Ah, but is he always in the kitchen at said paties?

Pericard
Cuthbert
O'Brien
Dossevi
Timlin
Sheehan
Thompson
Scott
Jensionkowski
Bodin?
Evans?
Lucas?
Douglas?
Morrison

The back 4 of Thomas Burrows Harland Trollope, with Joe Butler playing the holding role could defend....particularly at home.  35 goals conceded in 3 seasons from 68....71

Those were the days.....what a team.

68/69, only 6 teams managed to score at the CG and 2 of those went for 5 at the other end.

Rovers managed 2, 5 others 1...

If they're his parties, does he cry if he wants to?

Easy when you have funds...like he had.....fuck me he was in millionaires row compared to what dosh Wilson has to work with.

I think if you look back you'll find he probably made a net profit on transfers over the course of the 3 or 4 seasons he was in charge. (£1.3m for Fjortoft, £1.5m for Horlock, £400,000 profit on Allison etc.)

Admittedly he got to retain and spend a fuck sight more of what he brought in than Wilson has ever done in his later seasons, but the team that one that Divvy 3 title was largely inherited or bought on the cheap (the disaster that was Mark Robinson being the main exception).

Agreed Lumps.....the word inherited is interesting...because he inherited a very good team and decided to dismantle it.
Though i take your point about his defensive record....it was good.

In fairness to Mark Robinson, he was actually solid as a rock in that 95/96 season when he moved to centre half when Mark Seagraves got injured. He was never worth anywhere remotely close to 600k though I will grant you that.

The fact that Robinson had a perfectly adequate season means (in my opinion) he cannot be considered for such a list.

I think if you look at his fee £600k and allegedly £6k a week when he signed, which seemed to drop down when he was here then for value for money, he's right up there. He really was fucking shit and to think he was captain for a while. Amazingly consistent as he was fucking useless in every department and in virtually every game. God knows how he survived so long. 

Robbo was decent in 95/96

Over 300 appearances over 5 different managers says to me that history has been unkind to Mark Robinson. I never disliked him.

Although if I'm honest, I cannot to be bothered to fight his corner!

You know I've gone back and looked at this and Robinson wasn't even a Macmahon signing, Gorman brought him in during the summer of '94.

He was a reasonable player, just massively overpriced. I think we took a punt that he might recover the sort of form he'd had at Barnsley, before he signed for Newcastle, but he never really got over the broken leg he picked up in a pre-season friendly. I don't think he ever played much under Keegan, who sold him on first chance he got.

I thought he did his knee when he first signed for the geordies.

Anyone else remember him fighting with Scott Leitch during a game?

Class 8)

I think he signed for Newcastle in their Div 2 promotion winning season and played a few games. Then sat out the first Premiership season after the leg break at Hartlepool in pre-season, and signed for us the following summer.

Should never of gone down in the first fucking place.....anybody with half a brain knows that.

I forgot about that! Just after a goal had been conceeded IIRC.

Robinson was 'ok' like Tudor-Jones and Prutton.

I remember the fat cheat cunt John McGinlay getting him sent off in the League Cup Semis.

In typical STFC style in the season when 4 go down, rather than 3 we manage to finish 4th bottom.

I worry about you Flash.

No need.

I only watched from the goggle box on Friday night.

Prutton seemed to be a passenger (like all the midfield), did i miss something?

I