Meet The Manager 9th Jan 2013: Feedback

[HarryBosch]

I

 

I understand the point your making, I went to the first fans forum and took in LJ and still do however I am beginning to ignore the LJ PR stunts.

 

Thats not me having a go at LJ i just want to see results improve, i want him to do well, I want him to win with Oldham, i like him I just dont want him to turn into Dickov with the same "unlucky" press conference.

 

This is his team and its time for him to deliver!

 

This is exactly where I am.

 

I hope & think it's where any similarity ends but Dickov's spiel bought him more time than he should've got and LJ's, despite seeming to have more substance, was never going to wash as much (with the fans at least) if results were poor, unfortunately for him.

[Stevie_J]

 

This is exactly where I am.

 

I hope & think it's where any similarity ends but Dickov's spiel bought him more time than he should've got and LJ's, despite seeming to have more substance, was never going to wash as much (with the fans at least) if results were poor, unfortunately for him.

Me too. I don't really like the 'refs have cost us X no. of points' and 'Syd has cost us 8 goals' (immediately before he's shipped out). Schmeltz hasn't played enough to be made a scapegoat for an awful league position and we're not there because of bad luck.

 

There's no doubt that the meeting was precipitated by a slight turning of the tide with respect to Johnson, for all Barry will claim it was planned all along. It was the right thing to do though. Johnson should be afforded the time to prove there's more to him than there was to Dickov and these things help to ensure he gets that.

[nzlatic]

Where I see a difference, although I could be massively wrong about Dickov, is that Dickov seemed to come in, get them playing good football with confidence which worked for a few months. Then things got tougher, injuries suspensions etc and the back up players weren't up to it. It was almost like his skills were in finding an attractive style but mainly motivating the players in a more superficial way.

 

The way LJ talks about stats, analysis, pyscology, getting all teams to play the same way and all the other details that have been raised suggests he's more about a long term strategy so that when we do get injuries/suspensions we have reserve/youth team players who can step in and know the roles required.

 

This doesn't lend itself to a short term spike in performance (like we had with Dickov), but we should hopefully start seeing the benefit next season if not sooner.

 

That's my hope anyway! Always the optimist.

[jsslatic]

Me too. I don't really like the 'refs have cost us X no. of points' and 'Syd has cost us 8 goals' (immediately before he's shipped out). Schmeltz hasn't played enough to be made a scapegoat for an awful league position and we're not there because of bad luck.

 

There's no doubt that the meeting was precipitated by a slight turning of the tide with respect to Johnson, for all Barry will claim it was planned all along. It was the right thing to do though. Johnson should be afforded the time to prove there's more to him than there was to Dickov and these things help to ensure he gets that.

Barry stated at the start the meeting was called at LJ's request as he thinks it's important to have these when things aren't going as well. LJ was nodding in agreement.

 

LJ said as he was sitting down that he thought he may need to put his tin hat on.

[Monty Burns]

 

LJ said as he was sitting down that he thought he may need to put his tin hat on.

 

This is why I appreciate him doing it. I wouldn't like to go to one in case there was a ranter there, because I would be embarrassed. But it seems he expected at least one of the Getitforward brigade to be in attendance, and was ready for it.

[Lags]

 

This is why I appreciate him doing it. I wouldn't like to go to one in case there was a ranter there, because I would be embarrassed. But it seems he expected at least one of the Getitforward brigade to be in attendance, and was ready for it.

 

There was Barry!!

[jsslatic]

 

There was Barry!!

Indeed it was!

 

I had wanted to echo Lags' advice to LJ not to abandon his style of play with a reminder that his predecessor had started off playing high tempo passing football but abandoned it after a few months and we then went through two years of a lot of rubbish. Unfortunately I was cut off at the start by voices elsewhere in the room!

[PhilStarbucksSilkySkills]

 

Where are we with Sydney, because it was out there that Sydney was leaving the club?

 

It got taken a little bit out of context that one. It was after a defeat and it came out in press. What happened was they asked me about how I felt, and what I said was "if people can't produce my personality on the pitch then they'll move on". Then we had 10 minutes of press conference and someone said "why wasn't Sydney Schmeltz in the squad" and I said "Sidney Schmeltz wasn't in the squad because Sydney Schmeltz didn't make the squad. I'll have a chat with him, see where he is in his head and what he wants to do". So take that middle 10 minutes out and push them together and all of a sudden Sydney Schmeltz has gone. And it wasn't quite like that.

 

Now...it's a really awkward one this because it's difficult. Sometimes things can go on behind the scenes. Sydney's a great lad actually, a really nice lad. I like him as a person. But we have had an incident that was not major, nothing like a fight or anything like that, but it was earlier on in the season. But what it did was knocked him from being there in my mind *gestures with hands* to there, and I can't quite get over it. And there are certain parts of his game, and you probably won't realise it when you're watching back the highlights, but he's cost us about 8 goals this year

 

We do realise it

 

Yeah, you do realise. I didn't know whether people had picked it up. For example Brentford away. Last 3 minutes of the game where I want to go on and win the game, switches off, balls gets put in over the top. Cross. Goal. Soul destroying. The lads put a great effort in. Probably could have won that game. He comes on at Gillingham…plays his own game. Nearly, nearly lost that one. We won it………nearly lost it because he played a game that was not required at the time.

 

Now…. I brought Sydney in because I didn't feel in England that I could find someone who was quick, exceptional 1 v 1, which he is, and got decent quality for the wage. And he's got all that, and he still frustrates the life out of me because he has got that quality. Now what he doesn't do is really understand how to earn a yard, stuff like that. A bit like Dayton, clever, pops in the pocket. Phillskirk, pops in the pocket. Knows the right time to leave a marker and get on the ball. Sydney switches off. Even in training he switches off...unless he's got the ball at his feet.

 

And I knew this before I signed him. It's my fault. I thought I'd be able to get it into him by a certain pattern of coaching. It just hasn't clicked for what I wanted. Coupled with the incident, coupled with the goals that I feel maybe are his fault. I haven't got the slightest bit of problem with him. Great lad. Trains well every day. But as a manager you have to make decisions based on the whole picture. And it's not that I wouldn't use him, I would use him. But do I see him maybe starting. No.

 

And whether I made a mistake or not, he's got a year on his contract. But until he shows me what he's lacking......

 

What's his explanation for why he makes these mistakes?

 

He knows. We've sat him down and talked about it. We've tried different targets. For example I set up a little points scoring system with him. A cross was 10 point, a shot 20 points, an assist was 30, a goal was 40. And that's the sort of thing he needs in his mind. He's quite militant Sydney. He needs a target all the time. But you can't target understanding.

 

And he can be effective Sydney. Shrewsbury away he was exceptional in the JPT. He was world class that game. But it's getting that out of him a lot, and the decision making. And ultimately that's why the player is at this level. Because they can all do what the top players can do, but it's the decision making...

 

Now that Petrasso has come in and you are looking to tie him up till the end of the season, does that make Sydney expendable as one person who might go out?

 

I don't know. It's always difficult to get someone out. Obviously Mikey has come in. You don't know with these young players. We had Plummer who didn't produce but he's decent. Mikey on his first two games was a bit shy. But all of sudden I bring him on as a sub and he's electric ever since. So you just don't know really.

 

So to answer you question, we don't know yet. I know that what we've done for Mikey that we've added value for him. Because now there's clubs interested in him as well. QPR are now seeing him play at Liverpool the other day and thinking "should we bring him back". That's their prerogative. We've got him till the 18th. I think he'll go back to QPR for 3 or 4 days and Harry is going to assess. I think there is alot of clubs in for him. But we'll get him back if they let him back out on loan. And he wants to stay. If we can just improve his time when to cross and time when to dribble then you've got a real top player on your hands

 

Is there a possibilty of any other player coming in?

 

There's a possibility yeah. Since I’ve been in here I’ll tell you now.....oh here you go....Graham Turner's rang me from Shrewsbury

 

He’s probably after Schmeltz

 

*laughter* Well maybe. Here I've had 7 missed calls since I’ve been in here. I've got targets, but it's like anything, we've probably got to move out now to move in. And it's not actually so much about wages, it's numbers. We've got too many now. I wanna get Winchester games, I wanna get Kirk Millar games, Gossett games.

[disjointed]

 

 

Where are we with Sydney, because it was out there that Sydney was leaving the club?

 

It got taken a little bit out of context that one. It was after a defeat and it came out in press. What happened was they asked me about how I felt, and what I said was "if people can't produce my personality on the pitch then they'll move on". Then we had 10 minutes of press conference and someone said "why wasn't Sydney Schmeltz in the squad" and I said "Sidney Schmeltz wasn't in the squad because Sydney Schmeltz didn't make the squad. I'll have a chat with him, see where he is in his head and what he wants to do". So take that middle 10 minutes out and push them together and all of a sudden Sydney Schmeltz has gone. And it wasn't quite like that.

 

Now...it's a really awkward one this because it's difficult. Sometimes things can go on behind the scenes. Sydney's a great lad actually, a really nice lad. I like him as a person. But we have had an incident that was not major, nothing like a fight or anything like that, but it was earlier on in the season. But what it did was knocked him from being there in my mind *gestures with hands* to there, and I can't quite get over it. And there are certain parts of his game, and you probably won't realise it when you're watching back the highlights, but he's cost us about 8 goals this year

 

We do realise it

 

Yeah, you do realise. I didn't know whether people had picked it up. For example Brentford away. Last 3 minutes of the game where I want to go on and win the game, switches off, balls gets put in over the top. Cross. Goal. Soul destroying. The lads put a great effort in. Probably could have won that game. He comes on at Gillingham…plays his own game. Nearly, nearly lost that one. We won it………nearly lost it because he played a game that was not required at the time.

 

Now…. I brought Sydney in because I didn't feel in England that I could find someone who was quick, exceptional 1 v 1, which he is, and got decent quality for the wage. And he's got all that, and he still frustrates the life out of me because he has got that quality. Now what he doesn't do is really understand how to earn a yard, stuff like that. A bit like Dayton, clever, pops in the pocket. Phillskirk, pops in the pocket. Knows the right time to leave a marker and get on the ball. Sydney switches off. Even in training he switches off...unless he's got the ball at his feet.

 

And I knew this before I signed him. It's my fault. I thought I'd be able to get it into him by a certain pattern of coaching. It just hasn't clicked for what I wanted. Coupled with the incident, coupled with the goals that I feel maybe are his fault. I haven't got the slightest bit of problem with him. Great lad. Trains well every day. But as a manager you have to make decisions based on the whole picture. And it's not that I wouldn't use him, I would use him. But do I see him maybe starting. No.

 

And whether I made a mistake or not, he's got a year on his contract. But until he shows me what he's lacking......

 

What's his explanation for why he makes these mistakes?

 

He knows. We've sat him down and talked about it. We've tried different targets. For example I set up a little points scoring system with him. A cross was 10 point, a shot 20 points, an assist was 30, a goal was 40. And that's the sort of thing he needs in his mind. He's quite militant Sydney. He needs a target all the time. But you can't target understanding.

 

And he can be effective Sydney. Shrewsbury away he was exceptional in the JPT. He was world class that game. But it's getting that out of him a lot, and the decision making. And ultimately that's why the player is at this level. Because they can all do what the top players can do, but it's the decision making...

 

Now that Petrasso has come in and you are looking to tie him up till the end of the season, does that make Sydney expendable as one person who might go out?

 

I don't know. It's always difficult to get someone out. Obviously Mikey has come in. You don't know with these young players. We had Plummer who didn't produce but he's decent. Mikey on his first two games was a bit shy. But all of sudden I bring him on as a sub and he's electric ever since. So you just don't know really.

 

So to answer you question, we don't know yet. I know that what we've done for Mikey that we've added value for him. Because now there's clubs interested in him as well. QPR are now seeing him play at Liverpool the other day and thinking "should we bring him back". That's their prerogative. We've got him till the 18th. I think he'll go back to QPR for 3 or 4 days and Harry is going to assess. I think there is alot of clubs in for him. But we'll get him back if they let him back out on loan. And he wants to stay. If we can just improve his time when to cross and time when to dribble then you've got a real top player on your hands

 

Is there a possibilty of any other player coming in?

 

There's a possibility yeah. Since I’ve been in here I’ll tell you now.....oh here you go....Graham Turner's rang me from Shrewsbury

 

He’s probably after Schmeltz

 

*laughter* Well maybe. Here I've had 7 missed calls since I’ve been in here. I've got targets, but it's like anything, we've probably got to move out now to move in. And it's not actually so much about wages, it's numbers. We've got too many now. I wanna get Winchester games, I wanna get Kirk Millar games, Gossett games.

 

Go on admit it you really did have a tape in there. Either that our you can write shorthand. I think next time I dont need to book time off work I'll just read your reports. I still cant decipher my scribble, and i did ask O4U to print out what he had.

[GravityGrave]

Anyone with latics player there's an interview with Sid on the shrewsbury equivalent . Emphasises how much he wants to prove us wrong . Fair play .

[PhilStarbucksSilkySkills]

Go on admit it you really did have a tape in there. Either that our you can write shorthand. I think next time I dont need to book time off work I'll just read your reports. I still cant decipher my scribble, and i did ask O4U to print out what he had.

No No No. This is all paraphrasing ;)

 

Plus I don't think they make tapes anymore.

 

And just incase you think you can rely on me typing all this up for future events. I think I covered maybe 15 minutes or less in total out of the two hours. And it's taken me ages. I think I'll do some other segments from this meeting, but only on request.

 

Does anyone have any specific parts of the meeting they want fleshing out?

[Zorrro]

All of it you lazy get.

[4froale]

apart from mills and Gregory did he mention any other players who were 'interesting' him?

[GravityGrave]

When lj was talking about forging close links with prem clubs he mentioned he talked to Brendan Rodgers about Jordan Ibe.

[peter_headen]

 

If the manager of a professional football league club, logged onto the fans message board and took even the slightest bit of a notice of what was being said then i'd want him strung up on the town hall steps.

 

What a load of bollocks.

 

So basically we all have to be positive all the time about manager, club and players in case anyone of them happens to log on here and gets upset or offended by it. Ok then. zzzz

 

Just as I mentioned last week, a few people were getting on the manager's back, I said it wouldn't be long before the brews and biscuits were out in play again, he's a brilliant salesman.

 

I hope you're all still so positive after Oldham 0-1 Stevenage tomorrow.

 

He's a good salesman, which is no bad thing in terms of what he is trying to do with the club. I attended yesterday and one of the things he said that stood out was that he's trying to create ' a premier league club on a conference budget' ( Barry did point out it would have been a top end Conference club! ) Yep, he was on a charm offensive and it was a nice soundbite but it's clear that there has been big changes for the better since LJs appointment off the pitch. It was a very open and frank chat which maybe doesn't sound as positive as it was when written down/reported, but I think it's fair to say everyone left the room very impressed with his passion and vision for the club. He was also quite open about how we're not where we want to be in the League. After yesterday, I've no doubt we will be up there soon enough. Many thanks to the club for organising and for everyone who reported on it.

 

"So basically we all have to be positive all the time about manager, club and players in case anyone of them happens to log on here and gets upset or offended by it. Ok then. zzzz"

 

Barry did say that the club uses the site to gauge fan's opinions. Which again is no bad thing - but with all the toss posted on here I hope that they will use forums such as yesterday's q and a more. Doubt very much LJ would bother with the site and I really hope none of the players do!

Edited January 10, 2014 by peter_headen

[GravityGrave]

Remembering the first Lj fans forum on his first day . He was asked what his ideal striker was and he replied Aaron McLean of hull . Strong, mobile and a decent finisher . Just heard McLean is in talks with Bradford as a replacement for Huddersfield bound nahki wells . Wonder if there is an offer on the cards for Rooney we can free up his wage and act quickly to beat Bradford to him ? Can we compete with Bradford ?

 

It was plain to see yesterday that Lj is totally torn with what to do with Rooney .

[Forte_Baby]

Remembering the first Lj fans forum on his first day . He was asked what his ideal striker was and he replied Aaron McLean of hull . Strong, mobile and a decent finisher . Just heard McLean is in talks with Bradford as a replacement for Huddersfield bound nahki wells . Wonder if there is an offer on the cards for Rooney we can free up his wage and act quickly to beat Bradford to him ? Can we compete with Bradford ?

 

It was plain to see yesterday that Lj is totally torn with what to do with Rooney .

He also talked about a young lad from Stoke called Scott I think.

[4froale]

id imagine will probably want more than we can afford

[peter_headen]

Edited as I am a tit who can't use a computer.

Edited January 10, 2014 by peter_headen

[alex_balls]

 

What was the refreshment situation, incidentally? Were there brews and biscuits? What kind of biscuits?

 

Not sure why you have such a massive downer on Johnson, like. The guy's been in the job less than 12 months and hasn't exactly done a lot wrong. Hasn't done much right yet either, granted, but I'm surprised/concerned by a few people's passive-aggressive attitudes. What is your best-case scenario for Oldham? Who do you wish we had in charge instead of Johnson and why?

 

 

 

 

Would you rather he just bore us with how skint the club is, how everyday Is a tough battle needing bigger crowds to stay afloat?

 

 

I

 

I understand the point your making, I went to the first fans forum and took in LJ and still do however I am beginning to ignore the LJ PR stunts.

 

Thats not me having a go at LJ i just want to see results improve, i want him to do well, I want him to win with Oldham, i like him I just dont want him to turn into Dickov with the same "unlucky" press conference.

 

This is his team and its time for him to deliver!

 

 

I've replied to you guys, because I know that whether I agree or I don't agree with you, you are fair.

 

BUT the reason is similar to what Wizzo just said, lots of talk about this that and the other, but the fact of the matter is, we're in another relegation battle and i'm struggling to see how we're going to get out of it, and i'm extremely concerned, that is why I have been spouting off.

 

Yeah I know i've been going on recently so i'll knock it on the head for a bit.

[Zorrro]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've replied to you guys, because I know that whether I agree or I don't agree with you, you are fair.

 

BUT the reason is similar to what Wizzo just said, lots of talk about this that and the other, but the fact of the matter is, we're in another relegation battle and i'm struggling to see how we're going to get out of it, and i'm extremely concerned, that is why I have been spouting off.

 

Yeah I know i've been going on recently so i'll knock it on the head for a bit.

 

 

I don't necessarily disagree with you on it looking like we're in for another relegation battle. But where I'm at is this is definitely another transitional season and I can't lay the blame for that at the door of the manager. He can talk as much or as little as he wants for me, regardless of results. He's brought a fair few players in - sometimes they click immediately, the team hits the ground running and the manager is lauded as a genius. Quite often it takes time and you've got to prepare yourself for the risky, uncomfortable season in the trenches. If the methodical approach he purportedly uses works, then we've got a good chance of progressing. If it doesn't, there's a chance we're :censored:ed. The problem here is that no one can know in advance how it plays out, and with that in mind I'm happy to err on the side of (whisper it quietly) optimism.

 

My personal opinion is that finishing 16th-19th wouldn't be a massive tragedy. If next season looks similar then it's time to think about how we start progressing.

[BP1960]

 

 

It shows the difference between what scouts are looking for and what a fan sees. A defender rampaging through the middle of the pitch with the ball then losing it 10 yards outside of the opponents box might be exciting to watch as a fan but there is a big hole that needs filling at that point that Smith usually does. This means we are compromised if we win the ball back as Smith could be blowing from sprinting to cover Tarky meaning he isn't in the middle of the pitch threading balls through.

 

Similarly with wingers, getting to the line faster than Usain Bolt and whipping cross after cross into an empty box doesn't do anyone any good.

 

I like Tarkowski, he has ability and the heart of a lion, a future team captain for sure.

He does have his weaknesses of course, he's still young and learning the game, from what I've observed he tends to become isolated around the 6 yard from goal area leaving players unmarked, when in that position there's not much time to react.

I expect him to continue improving though and eventually play at a higher level.

Edited January 10, 2014 by BP1960

[rudemedic]

Waves at any member of the Stevenage staff who has come on here.

 

Tarky's weakness is he isn't comfortable with the ball at his feet, always looking to get rid of it that lad.

[BP1960]

Waves at any member of the Stevenage staff who has come on here.

 

Tarky's weakness is he isn't comfortable with the ball at his feet, always looking to get rid of it that lad.

 

And he can usually be dispossessed after beating 6 men.

Edited January 10, 2014 by BP1960

[leeslover]

It is a problem with Tarky's runs that the only possible outcomes are a lunging recovery tackle or beating 14 men to score. He could do to get rid of it after beating the first 3 sometimes