The small lines between success and failure

[HuddsTerrier]

I honestly think at times Town fans, me included, are too impatient for success and that impatience has meant we've stayed in League One longer than maybe a club our size should have.

Ternent aside (who was the wrong man, at the wrong club in the wrong era!) I actually think on reflection both Jacko and Richie would have got use promoted or on our way to promotion to the Championship by now

I called for Jacko's head by the end, I felt he'd lost the dressing room and was struggling to make signings. Hindsight is a great thing but my reaction was completely knee jerk and personally based on heightened expectations following a season when we'd finished 4th. I should have shown more loyalty based on three previous years of solid progression under his tenure

Under PJ we only missed out on promotion due to bad luck (automatic promotion was still in our hands with 5 ish games to go (Chesterfield at home?), we battered Barnsley at Oakwell in the play offs but did not capitalise, then Barnsley got the rub of the green at the Galpharm, soft penalty and goal keeping error - on balance the best team lost). I honestly feel now if we'd shown more patience with PJ he could have cleared out the faces that no longer fitted for him, Adams, Hudson, McIntosh (no real loss all went to sides a division lower) and got the side moving forward again that summer.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I also think Andy Richie is one of the most unlucky managers in our history (again though I called for his head in the end, lack of patience!). If Davy hadn't been so tight we'd possibly have signed Jason Scotland, 20 goals from him would have meant AR wouldn't have got the boot in first season I'm sure, and with Rob Page signing and shoring up the defence I really think this season under Richie we'd have been in business. Even more so if Holden had come in as assistant (maybe the disciplinarian we were missing!)

You may disagree but IMO a side with Page and Scotland, then throw in Smithies to the good players already here and we would have taken some stopping

Whatever Lee Clark does, and personally I feel letting Worthy and Holdswoth go without giving them a fair crack (in AH's case in central midfield) is stupidity of the very highest order, LC will have my support. Even if next season we are in for a fourth year on the spin of mediocrity (as I think we could be if we have massive summer upheaval). Changing managers isn't the way forward

[Dell12]

I think not it's imperetive to have faith in Lee Clark whether or not be get promoted next season or not. With Jacko it all went wrong when Yorath wasn't replaced, and a lack of passion did for Richie. Ternant was a bully and now we're on to Clark.

I'm not convinced that there is any one single manager who will be the magic ticket. I think we're the Newcastle of League One. Sticking with our man (something Newcastle have failed to do) is the ONLY way forward. I think in terms of potential we've got the best team in ages (i'd hope so to given the money spent). Get a couple of strikers in over the summer and we've got the makings of a very good team! As Jacko would say "keep the faith"

[Davey Monroe]

I didn't call for Jacko's head but I wasn't too disappointed to see him go. He did seem to lose the plot after Yorath left (tactically) and he certainly lost the dressing-room but, as you say, it was nothing a good clear-out wouldn't have fixed - possibly?

As for Ritchie, I'm not so sure he would have got things right. At times the football we played was truly awful and he instilled no passion what-so-ever into the side; at times he looked to be just going through the motions and whether that was down to Davy's poor backing or not we'll never know but personally, I was glad to see the back of him.

The jury is still out on Clark & co. for me but hopefully, after a hard-working pre-season, he'll get things right...hopefully!

[Deleted]

Jacko was the face that was out their whos name was on the line with us - Yorath was the brains behind the operation though - as demonstrated by our downturn in performances when he left.

Ritchie was a weird one cos occasionally he got a good result (the first to beat Swansea away springs to mind). But then more often than not it was crap.

Ternent wasn't right for us, the time, the fact that we have an academy didn't agree with him = not right for us.

Lee Clark and his team are the only ones out of them where I think "give him a chance for God's sake!" despite our end to the season being poor - because he speaks well, knows his stuff and also in the transfer market has picked us up 1 real gem in Pilks, 1 potential gem in Ainsworth and the other 3 (Jutkiewicz, Werling and Tehoue) have cost us nothing but their wages.

If the thread regarding the players leaving is to be believed then he obviously is smart enough that he has recognised who to get rid of as well.

The way we go through managers is getting to the point of being beyond a joke.

[blueb]

The way we have performed since his dismissal, particularly this season, highlights what a great job Jacko was doing. Jacko got us up from the 3rd and challenging for play-offs whilst shopping at Aldi, Ritchie got to shop and Asda and we have shopped at Harrods this year and have achieved absolutely nothing. Our league position this season is frankly embarassing bearing in mind the quality in the squad and the money spent.

Macaris dismissal should have been a lesson to the club, to sack him after what he achieved on such a pathetic budget and appoint w@nksworth was one of the worst decisions ever and you could say the board and certain fans got what they deserved for being so fickle.

The jury is well and truly out on LC but he certainly deserves more time. Play offs ought to be an absolute minimum next year though, this is division 3 after all and we have a budget which most league 1 sides could only dream of. You can't buy success but you should be able to buy a top 6 finish in this league with a competent manager in charge.

It is a fine line and I am clinging to the hope that our pathetic strike force has been the main reason for our overall form this season.

[terrierpark]

yes there is a small line between succeess and failure and none so appropriate at the moment than the line that runs between each goal post that at one of the pitch the ball finds it very easy to cross and at the other extremely difficult.

jacko deserved the sack in the end.He ruined and destroyed a great player in Pavel Abott by constantly criticising his performance on the radio even when he had scored winning goals. Once he brought in his replacement, Beckett (a season too late) IMO, his legs had gone and he clearly wasnt the same beckett we had seen on loan. For me it was downhill from there.
Even now when i hear the pav music pre match i wish we had him back, yes he might not be doing nothing these days, but just hearing that music makes me think of himn and what we had compared to the rubbish we have now.

lee clark,s job is to MANAGE
Why couldnt he MANAGE to bring in effective strikers in the jan trsfr window?
Plenty of other managers MANAGED it.
hope you catch my drift, because for me its not about how many wins on the trot, games without a defeat , etc etc, its about HOW the club is been run.
Yes were going to have a fantastic chairmen but all this crap about a full pre season etc doesnt wash with me, as he still as to get these wonderful mysterious right players in, that he couldnt because they cost too much in jan. SO either there is a sale on in july OR THESE RIGHT PLAYERS ARE FREE TRANSFER IN THE SUMMER.
Just bear in mind everybody that we were playing like a good side that all we needed was a couple of strikers to clinch the deal and make the play offs. The way weve gone about it like a cheapskate club you'd think we didnt want promotion.

i could and probably have already listed loads of clarks failings some of which he has repeated and not learned from in other posts and threads, but i dont want him to fail because like someone else said if he fails town fail but its hard not to criticise a bloke who shows no sign of learning from these mistakes no matter how good a game he talks or how committted etc he is.The facts are he as an experienced staff that should be telling him where he is going wrong .

So yes give him the summer to prepare and all that but dont hold your breath imo on the evidence so far.