BPAS PODCAST: 14th Nov '22, S3:E15: Darren Royle Part 1

[BPAS]

In the week that saw us win the North West Football Award 2022 for Fan Media, Channel or Podcast of the season, we bring you the first part of our chat with Latics CEO Darren Royle. It's been a tough couple of weeks on the pitch as we sunk to our fourth straight defeat and dropped into the National League relegation places for the very first time.

 

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Title music is by Manchester DJ and producer Starion find out more at www.redlaserrecords.bandcamp.com

 

 

[nzlatic]

Without wanting to blow more smoke up the arse of an award winning podcast, I have to thank @lookersstandandy for perfectly articulating why I'm in the "give him time" camp and that it's not just blind faith. Its faith in the new owners knowing how to succesfully run a business and how to give employees the right tools and environment to help them do their job properly and to improve if under performing. I also have faith in the owners to make difficult decisions for the good of the club if things aren't working out over time.

[oafc1955]

An excellent listen as always. We are so so lucky to have proper local folk running the club and proper  ‘Latics fans’ on the board.

 

There’s a hell of a lot going on behind the scenes and it’s all geared to getting a successful club out on the pitch.

 

We need to be patient and we need to give it time. We’re coming out of a very dark period in our history.
 

We know the football isn’t good just now and it’s difficult to watch but if we can continue to give them our full support during this transitional period I’m 100% certain we have the people on board who are definitely capable of taking this club forward!!

 

[BP1960]

By the looks of it the club will soon have 40 full time players on the books, add in the management, coaching and other staff the wage bill must be astronomical.

Does anyone know how this is funded?

[oafcmetty]

5 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

By the looks of it the club will soon have 40 full time players on the books, add in the management, coaching and other staff the wage bill must be astronomical.

Does anyone know how this is funded?

I heard something about a wealthy man taking over? Might just have been a dream though.

[BP1960]

Just now, oafcmetty said:

I heard something about a wealthy man taking over? Might just have been a dream though.

 

Would this wealthy man pay toward the wage bill though?

[oafcmetty]

1 minute ago, BP1960 said:

 

Would this wealthy man pay toward the wage bill though?

Would seem a pretty safe assumption.

[deyres42]

3 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

Would this wealthy man pay toward the wage bill though?

We are in a pickle if he doesn't.

[JoeP]

Comparing Unsworth and Royle is like comparing cheese and road signs. How do we know, because Unsworth has been dire in his first 11 games (like Royle was - even though Royle wasn’t actually as bad..) that Unsworth will follow the same path? I would say there’s zero evidence of him - or anyone - doing that. Joe Royle was a one off.

 

If we’re making ridiculous comparisons - Uni Emre takes over a struggling Villa side and wins his first two games. That’s how you do a new manager bounce!

 

The story goes that Royle, on his first day, had bailiffs in his office trying to take his desk. I don’t see any of that sort of stuff happening, which suggests the club is in a better place, so surely Unsworth should be doing better? The off field stuff is progressing nicely in spite of what’s gone before, so why isn’t the on field stuff?

 

Where’s the evidence against Unsworth?

Kind of answered your own question - appalling tactics, not getting the best out of what he’s got and is taking us backwards.

 

What’s the solution?

Personally wouldn’t give Unsworth much more time. His replacement should involve an application process, interviews and if that isn’t fruitful - go for a young, hungry manager like Greening, who has proven successful in the lower leagues.

 

”I know the fans expectations and they want to hear we’re going to win the league”.

 

Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave…that couldn’t be further from the truth. We want stability, with an iota of progress. That is not a big ask and our expectations really aren’t that great. Bit of a lack of awareness there. We know how bad the club’s been run - we’ve seen it first hand. 

Hope Darren gets to have a go on Laticsmind, by the way?

 

[PeteG]

Unsworth's remit was to keep us up? Shez can only have been expected to do the same then surely, which begs the question as to why he was sacked when we nearly half way? Someone is talking bollox.

[BP1960]

1 minute ago, PeteG said:

Unsworth's remit was to keep us up? Shez can only have been expected to do the same then surely, which begs the question as to why he was sacked when we nearly half way? Someone is talking bollox.

 

 

We were 14th and 5 points off the play offs with Shez. However, his squad was very poor and we'd likely be in the same position now. Investing money in players is what Wrexham have done, we don't have to splash out the sort of transfer fees they paid, but I'd say £250,000 on 3  better quality players in the positions most needed would bring a vast improvement.

A tiny chunk of the amount Frank says he's put in. Not free transfers wasted on wages for players no one wants or kid loanees who make no impact.

[PeteG]

4 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

 

We were 14th and 5 points off the play offs with Shez. However, his squad was very poor and we'd likely be in the same position now. Investing money in players is what Wrexham have done, we don't have to splash out the sort of transfer fees they paid, but I'd say £250,000 on 3  better quality players in the positions most needed would bring a vast improvement.

A tiny chunk of the amount Frank says he's put in. Not free transfers wasted on wages for players no one wants or kid loanees who make no impact.

Agreed and I don't believe the remit was to finish 5th bottom.

[Londonboy]

2 hours ago, BP1960 said:

By the looks of it the club will soon have 40 full time players on the books, add in the management, coaching and other staff the wage bill must be astronomical.

Does anyone know how this is funded?

Not for us to worry about BP.

Frank and DR are successful business men so wouldn't spend what we/they cant afford...you would hope.

Let's be honest, if we wait to get rid before we add to the squad,then we are really up the shit creek as what we have bar a couple are dire.

[nzlatic]

Of that lengthy squad list on the back of the programme, I think 8 are recent academy graduates so will be on peanuts, 1 has gone back to his parent club injured and 1 is "the fans".  Still a lot of players in the squad but that's unavoidable if we're looking to improve on the quality of player we have. We can't just rip their contracts up.  Also, another 6 players are on loan (when you add in Clarke and Peck), we don't know the wage contribution of those and I'm sure they could be terminated if costs were an issue.

 

We need to be down to a squad where everyone is capable of contributing or pushing for a starting spot. But that's not possible until next season now unfortunately.

[Dave_Og]

1 hour ago, PeteG said:

Unsworth's remit was to keep us up? Shez can only have been expected to do the same then surely, which begs the question as to why he was sacked when we nearly half way? Someone is talking bollox.

It's blindingly obvious why - because they wanted someone who could oversee long term restructuring, which Shez was never going to do

[LightDN123]

I get the whole long term plan, I really do.

But he needs to win games asap to have time to implement the long term plan. I won’t be happy until I either see results picking up or performances getting better. Until then, we can get someone else just as eager to implement a long term plan. 

[yarddog73]

1 hour ago, Dave_Og said:

It's blindingly obvious why - because they wanted someone who could oversee long term restructuring, which Shez was never going to do

Does Unsworth have experience of this then? By restructuring does that mean he should be coming out from day dot demanding a whole new team/squad, surely it's the CEO's job to restructure Unsworth is nothing more than a coach and will be judged as such, there will be little to structure if we continue to plummet through the leagues.

 

 

[Dave_Og]

8 minutes ago, yarddog73 said:

Does Unsworth have experience of this then? By restructuring does that mean he should be coming out from day dot demanding a whole new team/squad, surely it's the CEO's job to restructure Unsworth is nothing more than a coach and will be judged as such, there will be little to structure if we continue to plummet through the leagues.

 

 

 

i didn't say they'd got it right

[League one forever]

6 minutes ago, yarddog73 said:

Does Unsworth have experience of this then? By restructuring does that mean he should be coming out from day dot demanding a whole new team/squad, surely it's the CEO's job to restructure Unsworth is nothing more than a coach and will be judged as such, there will be little to structure if we continue to plummet through the leagues.

 

 

Spot on. 
 

Listening to DR- everthing is being put in place for a manager to succeed. (And I’m positive we’ll get there) 
 

 

[League one forever]

1 minute ago, League one forever said:

Spot on. 
 

Listening to DR- everthing is being put in place for a manager to succeed. (And I’m positive we’ll get there) 
 

 

pressed send to early. . 
 

And having been given everything he’s asked for, Unsy needs to be more accountable for what he’s paid to do- win football matches. 

[yarddog73]

Every Oldham manager we've had in the past decade must be looking at us and thinking he can't fail, best owners we've ever had, a board the envy of most EFL clubs, crowds approaching 10k with a modicum of success and an away following unrivalled in the lower leagues given we've finished nowhere in any league for about 12 years, he's set up to succeed, can't really fail can he?.

[League one forever]

6 minutes ago, yarddog73 said:

Every Oldham manager we've had in the past decade must be looking at us and thinking he can't fail, best owners we've ever had, a board the envy of most EFL clubs, crowds approaching 10k with a modicum of success and an away following unrivalled in the lower leagues given we've finished nowhere in any league for about 12 years, he's set up to succeed, can't really fail can he?.

This is why constantly bringing up the past grates on me. Shez- I could understand a bit, because he was recruiting at a difficult time. But Unsy has taken over with the club in mid table, with fabulous owners, and been given everything he’s asked for. He’s made 7 signings, and we still haven’t had any semblance of a performance- let alone a result. 
 

Andy mentions on the pod- he didn’t blame Kewell or Dino because the environment was toxic- ok fine. 
 

But now we have a fabulous environment and we still don’t blame the manager- how does that work? 
 

The lads rightly said on the pod, that the squad is unbalanced- well of the 7 signings he’s made, wouldn’t be an idea to rebalance it?? 
 

He’s being judged under a false narrative IMO- one in which you can’t expect him to turn it around with a limited squad. Turn what around? He’s been given everything he wants, works for great people and all he has to do is a win a few. No one expects top half, everyone is ok with building it slowly. But he can’t win a game, and it’s not good enough. 

[True Tic]

I want to give him time like most but he now has to give back and deliver something. Like people on here are saying the fans have little in the way of expectations in general. That’s been knocked out of us over the years but expecting 3 or 4 wins from 11 games in charge is not asking for the world 

[wiseowl]

2 hours ago, Dave_Og said:

It's blindingly obvious why - because they wanted someone who could oversee long term restructuring, which Shez was never going to do

Question is, does Unsworth's C.V. back that up?

 

Having seen DU first hand, I thought I`d go away and do some reading about his time as Academy Director, manager of U23s (with whom he won the title twice) etc. at Everton. Quite sobering reading and often not very flattering tbh. I`ve read lots (and obviously there are some differing opinions) but GENERALLY the consensus is that he was a bit of a "dinosaur" (ring any bells?) and there was a lack of talent coming through to the 1st team. A particular theme seems to have been his "inflexibility" - he stuck to one style, with no plan B. Jeez - if I wasn't worried before, I sure am having done this research. 

 

"Despite receiving criticism from many quarters for the dearth of young players breaking into the first team squad, he has always had the strong backing of club chairman Bill Kenwright."

 

"The probability is he was 'asked to leave' as part of a wide-ranging change in the backroom staff behind the scenes. It was long overdue, the number of young players ready to challenge for a first-team place is negligible."

 

"Very limited player who lacked ambition and given the lack of anything coming from the U23s a coach who way outstayed his welcome for nearly 10 years.

Good luck to the bloke but a change in that department is way way overdue."

[oafc1955]

1 hour ago, yarddog73 said:

Every Oldham manager we've had in the past decade must be looking at us and thinking he can't fail, best owners we've ever had, a board the envy of most EFL clubs, crowds approaching 10k with a modicum of success and an away following unrivalled in the lower leagues given we've finished nowhere in any league for about 12 years, he's set up to succeed, can't really fail can he?.

No!!  But I reckon you will keep reminding everyone that he will!