The Next Oldham Manager

[Steve_R]

1 hour ago, JoeP said:

 

The Latics link separates him from your run-of-the-mill backroom staff member, granted - but he was actually half decent here (something which Unsworth never was...) last time.  Had us on the edge of the play-offs even with The Brothers Dumb in charge... 

I remember plenty wanting shut of him early doors, and was at Hampton and Richmond when everyone to a man was saying he had to go until two late goals saved his skin. A month or so later, when Abdallah did get rid, everyone was up in arms.

He’d never managed before and hasn’t since, and although I’d be 100% behind him I think we should be looking elsewhere 

[JoeP]

16 minutes ago, Steve_R said:

I remember plenty wanting shut of him early doors, and was at Hampton and Richmond when everyone to a man was saying he had to go until two late goals saved his skin. A month or so later, when Abdallah did get rid, everyone was up in arms.

He’d never managed before and hasn’t since, and although I’d be 100% behind him I think we should be looking elsewhere 

Probably..

 

After seeing Thommo's post-match interview, he talks so much sense and no one else is going to come in and get this squad working any better, I don't think - so can we actually do any better??

 

Glad it's not my decision to make..

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by JoeP

[Fervid]

Not so sure, he signed most of these boys and they just aren’t good enough to lead a promotion charge. 

[yarddog73]

2 minutes ago, Fervid said:

Not so sure, he signed most of these boys and they just aren’t good enough to lead a promotion charge. 

He infers in his post match today that these were Unsworth players and he knows what we need, it's a fair point you make but I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Summerdeep]

On 10/6/2023 at 9:48 PM, Summerdeep said:

 

 

In any event, the man the club wanted as manager was Frank Lord, who was coaching in South Africa at the time. The board had already agreed terms with him and offered him the job, but for some reason he didn't show up to sign his contract. If Lord had got onto the plane that day in Cape Town, it would have been all over for Frizzell. I don't think we missed out on much with Lord - I remember him briefly turning up as caretaker manager of Preston in the 1972-73 season, but other than that he seems to have made no impact on the managerial scene.

 

 

As well as the somewhat bizarre mini-saga involving Frank Lord prior to Frizzell's appointment as manager in 1970, there was the even more bizarre saga of Jim Lyness: I wonder if anyone else has any recollections of it....

 

Lyness was a private detective with no background in football management or coaching, though I think I can vaguely remember reading that he once played at schoolboy level for Leeds United. His application for the manager's job caused a real stir, and a surprisingly large number of fans wrote letters to the Chronicle and the Green Final urging the club to take a punt on him. Jim Williams wrote a scathing anti-Lyness piece in the Chron, provoking a furious response from the latter which may have included the threat of legal action. It'd be interesting to know whether he got an interview, though I think it's unlikely. Lyness came briefly to public attention again in the late 1970s with some controversial theories about the Yorkshire Ripper, though I'm not entirely sure what they were - I think he claimed to know Peter Sutcliffe personally and to have been aware of some of his activities well before he was arrested.

 

There was also quite a bit of speculation about other possible applicants for the manager's job, most notably the Rochdale manager Dick Conner and Alan Ball Senior, who was with Halifax at the time. One man who definitely seems to have applied was Workington's Brian Doyle, who later went on to manage Stockport. I'm glad we didn't get him.

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Summerdeep

[PeteG]

If ST now knows what we need to bring in why didn't he know in his role as head of recruitment or was it Unsworth who was choosing to ignore him? I can understand to a certain point a manager wanting total control over signings but then who's actually running the club atm? Sounds like Unsworth was allowed to do whatever he wanted and if I was Frank I'd be asking why I've been paying a head of recruitment for a year who's had no impact on signings.

[Lukers1]

13 hours ago, Lags said:

 

Just answering a question . He was there though

I can clear this up for you straight away.

 

He and his wife were staying with friends who are Oldham fans and they stayed at the White Hart. He was there purely for a social.

 

I spoke to him at the bar, what an absolute gentleman.

[IanMarshall's Mullet]

1 hour ago, PeteG said:

If ST now knows what we need to bring in why didn't he know in his role as head of recruitment or was it Unsworth who was choosing to ignore him? I can understand to a certain point a manager wanting total control over signings but then who's actually running the club atm? Sounds like Unsworth was allowed to do whatever he wanted and if I was Frank I'd be asking why I've been paying a head of recruitment for a year who's had no impact on signings.

I don’t think it’s the head of recruitments job to tell the team manager what type of player the team needs. Surely it would have been DU saying I need this type of player so go and find me one? I’m not bothered what anyone says I think DU would have or if not should have seen the potential signings first.

[Steve_R]

3 minutes ago, IanMarshall's Mullet said:

I don’t think it’s the head of recruitments job to tell the team manager what type of player the team needs. Surely it would have been DU saying I need this type of player so go and find me one? I’m not bothered what anyone says I think DU would have or if not should have seen the potential signings first.

I don’t think anyone really knows how the recruitment really works here. The podcast boys reckon they knew and were telling us everything was hunky dory, but it hasn’t turned out that way and all seems a bit of a mess to me.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

1 hour ago, PeteG said:

If ST now knows what we need to bring in why didn't he know in his role as head of recruitment or was it Unsworth who was choosing to ignore him? I can understand to a certain point a manager wanting total control over signings but then who's actually running the club atm? Sounds like Unsworth was allowed to do whatever he wanted and if I was Frank I'd be asking why I've been paying a head of recruitment for a year who's had no impact on signings.

 

Because all a head of recruitment's job is to manage the number of scouts we have, identify targets and report back to the manager with said targets. The manager, one would presume, had issued instructions to the players he needs.

 

The mental gymnastics to land this at ST's door is impressivem one has to say! It's almost like building a National League Winning Machine™ takes more than a calendar year. Who'd have thunk it?

[nzlatic]

If ST doesn’t get it I’d really like it to go to a younger coach with ST in a director of football role. He clearly knows his shit. 
 

I think the club needs to either put something like that in place now or decide that long term strategy goes on hold until we get out of this league. And then appoint a manager purely on that basis. Don’t worry about infrastructure or future planning etc. One short term goal of promotion as soon as possible. 

[frizzell54]

Just looked at our squad and the number of players contracted to 2025 is frightening, particularly as many will be next to impossible to off load.

 

May as well stick with ST with a brief to avoid relegation, unless Frank has a bottomless pit of money.

[yarddog73]

16 minutes ago, frizzell54 said:

Just looked at our squad and the number of players contracted to 2025 is frightening, particularly as many will be next to impossible to off load.

 

May as well stick with ST with a brief to avoid relegation, unless Frank has a bottomless pit of money.

This squad with a bit of help should easily make the play offs, we will be nowhere near relegation but we need 3 or 4 decent signings.

 

We may have to go in to the loan market until the right players become available  and I'm not quite sure why we haven't brought a couple in for a month just to give us options.

 

It pisses me off that we've put players up on here like Linney, Colclough and Berry yet all three have ended up at teams far more progressive than ours yet we have managed to bring in two of the most inconsistent wide men available, we are that bad that there is no pressure on Green or Dickinson to perform because we literally have nobody to bring on to replace them. Yet in other positions we have a plethora of options which is almost embarrassing. Raglan, Freeman, Norman, Fondop all struggle to get in to matchday squads recently yet would walk in to 80% of teams in this division.

[mcfluff1985]

3 hours ago, PeteG said:

If ST now knows what we need to bring in why didn't he know in his role as head of recruitment or was it Unsworth who was choosing to ignore him? I can understand to a certain point a manager wanting total control over signings but then who's actually running the club atm? Sounds like Unsworth was allowed to do whatever he wanted and if I was Frank I'd be asking why I've been paying a head of recruitment for a year who's had no impact on signings.

Boards fault...

[True Tic]

34 minutes ago, frizzell54 said:

Just looked at our squad and the number of players contracted to 2025 is frightening, particularly as many will be next to impossible to off load.

 

May as well stick with ST with a brief to avoid relegation, unless Frank has a bottomless pit of money.

Almost feels like we’ve wasted a year. This manager/recruitment lark isn’t an exact science but I do suspect we’ve dropped a clanger with some of these players. ST must have told them from the off to keep playing, don’t go to sleep at the 70th minute yet they’ve done it now for the last 4 bloody games. This makes me think they actually can’t do what’s being asked of them. ST has dropped a few comments in now about new players and we need them . 

[Sparkleking]

Barry Owen tweeted last night that Bunn's appointment is virtually a done deal but the players want ST.  Not sure if he is ITK these days or just talking through his fleece.  Make of it what you will.

[yarddog73]

18 minutes ago, Sparkleking said:

Barry Owen tweeted last night that Bunn's appointment is virtually a done deal but the players want ST.  Not sure if he is ITK these days or just talking through his fleece.  Make of it what you will.

If that's the case we're fucked before we start.

[Punce]

2 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

 

Because all a head of recruitment's job is to manage the number of scouts we have, identify targets and report back to the manager with said targets. The manager, one would presume, had issued instructions to the players he needs.

 

The mental gymnastics to land this at ST's door is impressivem one has to say! It's almost like building a National League Winning Machine™ takes more than a calendar year. Who'd have thunk it?

 

 

Yes, and no doubt the manager might ask for available players to be scouted for specific positions, sound them out negotiate with agents on fees, wages etc.   I think some people are making out that ST had the role of Head of Football or Deputy Manager.  Any road up...

 

Thompson's record, so far, is bested  by very few since the war, probably the Great War.   I reckon that this season may be fallow anyway so little lost if ST gets his chance.   By late spring we will know which way the wind is blowing.

 

.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Punce

[Steve_R]

2 minutes ago, Punce said:

 

 

Yes, and no doubt the manager might ask for available players to be scouted for specific positions, sound them out negotiate with agents on fees, wages etc.   I think some people are making out that ST had the role of Head of Football or Deputy Manager.  Any road up...

 

Thompson's record so far cannot be beaten by any manager since the war, probably the Great War.   I reckon that this season may be fallow anyway so little lost if ST gets his chance.   By late spring we will know which way the wind is blowing.

 

.

I know it’s not Thompson’s doing how the fixtures fell, but he couldn’t have had a much easier set for his audition. We’ve played four of the bottom five, the highest placed opposition we’ve played are 15th, and four of the six games have been at home. Overall the points total and performances have been disappointing if anything

[TheBigDog]

2 minutes ago, Steve_R said:

I know it’s not Thompson’s doing how the fixtures fell, but he couldn’t have had a much easier set for his audition. We’ve played four of the bottom five, the highest placed opposition we’ve played are 15th, and four of the six games have been at home. Overall the points total and performances have been disappointing if anything

It has to be said that ST did have a good spread of games and that, for me, he and the players did well but they should have done so much better. 

[nzlatic]

I think the majority of players we have on long contracts are pretty good players who, if available, would attract interest from other clubs. They might be just what another team is missing but just don’t fit what we need. 
 

That’s a big difference from the recent past where we were saddled with a load of garbage that disappeared off the face of the earth once they left us. 

[deyres42]

20 minutes ago, TheBigDog said:

It has to be said that ST did have a good spread of games and that, for me, he and the players did well but they should have done so much better. 

2 points a game with this limited squad, the man should be given the Freedom of the Borough...

[longtimeblue]

Bunn was unfairly treated first time round. That said, it was an underwhelming appointment at the time. Would rather stick with Thompson and Redfearn.

 

Similarities yesterday with some Unsworth's games but at least Thompson's honest with his assessments after. 

 

[yarddog73]

13 minutes ago, longtimeblue said:

Bunn was unfairly treated first time round. That said, it was an underwhelming appointment at the time. Would rather stick with Thompson and Redfearn.

 

Similarities yesterday with some Unsworth's games but at least Thompson's honest with his assessments after. 

 

Another game we should have won....

 

Would have been rhinos assessment. 

[longtimeblue]

41 minutes ago, yarddog73 said:

Another game we should have won....

 

Would have been rhinos assessment. 

 

And to be fair, we created more actual chances yesterday than we did in some of Unsworth’s "we should have had 4" games.