Steve Clake - New Poll

[Ian Royal]

Steve Clarke is failing too. So he joins Adkins and McDermott on the pile at the moment.

Like others have said, starting to wonder if the team has some fatal flaws that three (supposedly) decent managers could not overcome.

Although of course, SC still has time.

McDermott definitely failed but was, in hindsight, undermined by Zingaravich to a certain extent.
Adkins failed, but largely due to the total arse situation put together by Zingaravich. There's very little he could have done to address the squad level problems. Though he had a major weakness at defending.
Clarke is failing worse than Adkins, but is coming out from under the Zingaravich cloud, so should absolutely be able to fix the problems if he's any good. If he doesn't have a good summer, he's not going to last long.

[RoyalBlue]

Might be, if I was the manager. Someone please reset the poll after Saturday. He will then either be hero or zero.

Nice attempt at an escape but it doesn't wash.

Adkins is gone and he failed, get over it. You're doing the exact same thing you accused many of doing with McDermott except you're backing a manager that did nothing to earn that amount of support.

Like you got over McDermott?

Yep, the irony of that didn't escape me!

I have got over Adkins going, although I never felt he was the real villain of the piece. They were those who sold him the job (and funding) in the first place and then spectacularly failed to deliver on those promises.

But Adkins is gone; it's just a shame that those in charge don't seem (at least at this stage) to have replaced him with someone who can do a better job. Indeed, currently he is doing a far worse job when you look at results and points gained/lost. Performances appear little or no better either. IR is right. A poor summer/early season and he is likely to be gone (or us heading for relegation).

[Ian Royal]

Like you got over McDermott?

Yep, the irony of that didn't escape me!

I have got over Adkins going, although I never felt he was the real villain of the piece. They were those who sold him the job (and funding) in the first place and then spectacularly failed to deliver on those promises.

But Adkins is gone; it's just a shame that those in charge don't seem (at least at this stage) to have replaced him with someone who can do a better job. Indeed, currently he is doing a far worse job when you look at results and points gained/lost. Performances appear little or no better either. IR is right. A poor summer/early season and he is likely to be gone (or us heading for relegation).

I would say I'd like to distance myself from the bold bit. He's by no means doing a far worse job. We'd be level pegging (or worse) Millwall by this point if that was the case.

It's certainly no better, and it's just hitting 'a bit worse'. IMO Adkins went because his position with a large section of the fans had become untenable, largely because a small and vocal minority wanted him out from day 1 and carried the negativity along quicker and louder than it would otherwise have been.

By comparison, Clarke's had very little flack, because both factions wanted to see him do well.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Adkins went because things were going wrong and he wasn't doing anything to rectify it. Same with McDermott. Clarke is currently doing much the same thing - if he doesn't change what is happening then he too will go the same way - he's just earlier in the process.

[Ian Royal]

Adkins went because things were going wrong and he wasn't doing anything to rectify it. Same with McDermott. Clarke is currently doing much the same thing - if he doesn't change what is happening then he too will go the same way - he's just earlier in the process.

I don't think he was doing enough... but I think the Birmingham result wasn't indicative of the previous few games where things had improved.

If you take six game chunks Adkins last six games, even with what I consider to be an anomalous result against Birmingham (which was considered worse because of their then position which has subsequently dramatically improved). You get the following:

Previous 6: W1, D1, L4, F5, A12, P4
Last 6: W2, D1, L3, F7, A10* P7

Remove the worst and best results in those runs (to try and mitigate anomalous results) and you get:

W0, D1, L3, F2, A9, P1
W1, D1, L2, F4, A4, P4

We're undeniably tighter defensively and less prone to just total collapse. But we're also less capable of actually winning games, particularly against those around us, who are the most important to beat. Clarke's record against the bottom third is nothing short of horrendous.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Like you got over McDermott?

Yep, the irony of that didn't escape me!

I have got over Adkins going, although I never felt he was the real villain of the piece. They were those who sold him the job (and funding) in the first place and then spectacularly failed to deliver on those promises.

But Adkins is gone; it's just a shame that those in charge don't seem (at least at this stage) to have replaced him with someone who can do a better job. Indeed, currently he is doing a far worse job when you look at results and points gained/lost. Performances appear little or no better either. IR is right. A poor summer/early season and he is likely to be gone (or us heading for relegation).

I would say I'd like to distance myself from the bold bit. He's by no means doing a far worse job. We'd be level pegging (or worse) Millwall by this point if that was the case.

It's certainly no better, and it's just hitting 'a bit worse'. IMO Adkins went because his position with a large section of the fans had become untenable, largely because a small and vocal minority wanted him out from day 1 and carried the negativity along quicker and louder than it would otherwise have been.

By comparison, Clarke's had very little flack, because both factions wanted to see him do well.

I don't think that's quite right about Adkins - there was very limited negativity at games towards him which I noticed ( I wasn't at Brum though). Its largely been a hard core dozen or so individuals on here who as you say never accepted him from day one.

[sandman]

He didn't exactly get positive reactions either. Most people just didn't take to him and I've heard far more songs during games that back Clarke than there ever was with Adkins.

[Ascotexgunner]

Steve Clarke is failing too. So he joins Adkins and McDermott on the pile at the moment.

Like others have said, starting to wonder if the team has some fatal flaws that three (supposedly) decent managers could not overcome.

Although of course, SC still has time.

How do you put BM on that list? One playoff final, a championship, and never completed the task in the EPL due to a ridiculous sacking where there was a chance we could still stay up. He even won a EPL manager of the month award. He signed quality and got the best out of players with the miniscule funds provided.

[Ascotexgunner]

Steve Clarke comes under the spotlight for me next season. The moment he uses the word "reflection" he will lose me.

[blueroyals]

He's a poor transfer window away from losing his job. The indication is that he'll be able to spend in the summer and if we're still in the same position he won't make it until Christmas.

I'm happy to place the blame on the squad rather than Clark. But if he has the opportunity in the summer to sort that out and fails then he should go.

[Platypuss]

Has to completely gut and revamp the squad in the summer and then he only gets til Christmas?

You're the type of short-termist reactionary belm who would have got both Pardew and Coppell sacked early.

[wingnut]

Like you got over McDermott?

Yep, the irony of that didn't escape me!

I have got over Adkins going, although I never felt he was the real villain of the piece. They were those who sold him the job (and funding) in the first place and then spectacularly failed to deliver on those promises.

But Adkins is gone; it's just a shame that those in charge don't seem (at least at this stage) to have replaced him with someone who can do a better job. Indeed, currently he is doing a far worse job when you look at results and points gained/lost. Performances appear little or no better either. IR is right. A poor summer/early season and he is likely to be gone (or us heading for relegation).

I would say I'd like to distance myself from the bold bit. He's by no means doing a far worse job. We'd be level pegging (or worse) Millwall by this point if that was the case.

It's certainly no better, and it's just hitting 'a bit worse'. IMO Adkins went because his position with a large section of the fans had become untenable, largely because a small and vocal minority wanted him out from day 1 and carried the negativity along quicker and louder than it would otherwise have been.

By comparison, Clarke's had very little flack, because both factions wanted to see him do well.

The fans had as much to do with Adkins going as they did with Brian and Rodgers going - absolutely nothing at all.
There was no groundswell of opinion shown at the stadium against any of them. As has been shown many times, the collected "wisdom" of this site does not reflect the feelings of all supporters.

[winchester_royal]

Indeed, Adkins just wasn't doing a very good job.

On paper Clarke isn't doing any better, people are right to point that out, but for me the performances have definitely improved, and we've lost/drawn plenty of games where on the balance of play we could/should have won.

My major gripe is the reluctance to chuck some of our academy lot into the team, but again I can understand why - especially with safety far from assured just yet. Hopefully we'll be safe by the time the final couple of games come around and we'll be able to see the likes of Kuhl and Stacey get some game time.

The whole playing side of the club needs a thoroughly good shake up. I think Clarke has shown enough awareness of this to be able to enact it, and he has the experience and coaching expertise to do a fine job of doing it. He's popular with the fans, the FA cup run has seen to that, so hopefully we'll give him the time he needs to make a success of it.

[Hoop Blah]

My major gripe is the reluctance to chuck some of our academy lot into the team, but again I can understand why - especially with safety far from assured just yet. Hopefully we'll be safe by the time the final couple of games come around and we'll be able to see the likes of Kuhl and Stacey get some game time.

Agreed. I hope the kids get a good chance under Clarke over the last few games and next season.

All those comments about Clarke doing no better than Adkins or having such a bad record against those around us totally overlooks what he's been trying to over the last couple of months. He's basically thrown a number of games in order to prepare for the Cup and to both keep players fresh and experiment because we're pretty much safe.

He's had to do that without a proper centre forward since Murray left which has, IMO severely hampered our ability to win games.

It's good to hear he's identified the problems in the squad. I just hope he's backed over the summer to address them.

[tidus_mi2]

My major gripe is the reluctance to chuck some of our academy lot into the team, but again I can understand why - especially with safety far from assured just yet. Hopefully we'll be safe by the time the final couple of games come around and we'll be able to see the likes of Kuhl and Stacey get some game time.

Agreed. I hope the kids get a good chance under Clarke over the last few games and next season.

All those comments about Clarke doing no better than Adkins or having such a bad record against those around us totally overlooks what he's been trying to over the last couple of months. He's basically thrown a number of games in order to prepare for the Cup and to both keep players fresh and experiment because we're pretty much safe.

He's had to do that without a proper centre forward since Murray left which has, IMO severely hampered our ability to win games.

It's good to hear he's identified the problems in the squad. I just hope he's backed over the summer to address them.

Isn't next season the first one where we'll be able to go as high as £13m loss with owners covering any loss above £2m?

If so, there's a lot more leeway to overspend, especially with the decrease in wages from several high earners leaving.

[Ian Royal]

He didn't exactly get positive reactions either. Most people just didn't take to him and I've heard far more songs during games that back Clarke than there ever was with Adkins.

There were chants backing Adkins virtually every game you deaf plank.

[No Fixed Abode]

He didn't exactly get positive reactions either. Most people just didn't take to him and I've heard far more songs during games that back Clarke than there ever was with Adkins.

There were chants backing Adkins virtually every game you deaf plank.

It's good that today's The Sun newspaper recognises the good work done by Steve Clarke so far. A club destined for relegation before he took over. He's virtually steered them to safety and got them in an FA Cup semi-final.

[Lacoste]

[Ian Royal]

The fans had as much to do with Adkins going as they did with Brian and Rodgers going - absolutely nothing at all.
There was no groundswell of opinion shown at the stadium against any of them. As has been shown many times, the collected "wisdom" of this site does not reflect the feelings of all supporters.

Revisionist nonsense.

Loads of booing of Rodgers. Particularly QPR away, but certainly at home too.
McDermott was booed plenty at the end but he was always going to get it fairly restrained because of his successes.
Adkins had a fair few games of booing at the end... the turn had definitely happened. The club just moved quickly as soon as an excuse result came up.

[Ian Royal]

If Clarke didn't want to be crippled by having no decent strikers Hoop, maybe he shouldn't have signed two shit ones and a shit defender then.