Steve Clake - New Poll

[Man Friday]

Who's this Steve Clake you speak of?

[Emmer Green Royal]

[quote="Lacoste"]I'm interested to see what peoples confidence in SC is now.

When he was appointed, I made my feelings clear that I was prepared to back him, however felt that it was the wrong appointment with no previous success or actual footballing ethos. He was just local and available.

He made an initial impact, like most new managers do. There is however no improvement and while the players appear to like him, I don't think he has the tactical knowledge to move RFC forward. I've been watching football long enough to realise that success doesn't happen overnight but this just looks and feels wrong.

Before people start calling this a knee jerk reaction, I have thought this from the start and the two other polls I have started on Brian or Nige have proved to be the right timing.

I really want him to succeed but I just don't think he will. The FA Cup success has massively papered over the cracks and our majority shareholder has made it clear recently that he is up to date with our current form so it's not like he's just burying is head in the sand. He is very aware and I think he'll pull the trigger if this goes on much longer but for this season I think the cup has saved him.

Worryingly, we risk wasting another season next year and I personally think we'll be worse. Whilst I'm slightly contradicting myself here, I would want Dolan in even though he hasn't the experience but I just have a feeling he would o a good job for us.

This really isn't just about today, Clarke is a decent up and at em coach but he really isn't a manager in my opinion.

I hope this gets stuffed down my throat in a few months I really do and I'm humble enough to take it if he succeeds and like I say, I hope he does.[/quote]

You are one of the reasons that people either leave Hobnob, or participate less. We are safe in the Championship and we are in the FA Cup semi finals - job done for this season. Clarke is a good option for Reading - stop generating polls after every result and wait six months to see how things develop. Just relax.

To suggest that Clarke doesn't have a reasonable track record but Nolan does is bonkers.

[Whatevs]

Just testing as not sure why there's a quote fail above--- ignore

I'm interested to see what peoples confidence in SC is now.

When he was appointed, I made my feelings clear that I was prepared to back him, however felt that it was the wrong appointment with no previous success or actual footballing ethos. He was just local and available.

He made an initial impact, like most new managers do. There is however no improvement and while the players appear to like him, I don't think he has the tactical knowledge to move RFC forward. I've been watching football long enough to realise that success doesn't happen overnight but this just looks and feels wrong.

Before people start calling this a knee jerk reaction, I have thought this from the start and the two other polls I have started on Brian or Nige have proved to be the right timing.

I really want him to succeed but I just don't think he will. The FA Cup success has massively papered over the cracks and our majority shareholder has made it clear recently that he is up to date with our current form so it's not like he's just burying is head in the sand. He is very aware and I think he'll pull the trigger if this goes on much longer but for this season I think the cup has saved him.

Worryingly, we risk wasting another season next year and I personally think we'll be worse. Whilst I'm slightly contradicting myself here, I would want Dolan in even though he hasn't the experience but I just have a feeling he would o a good job for us.

This really isn't just about today, Clarke is a decent up and at em coach but he really isn't a manager in my opinion.

I hope this gets stuffed down my throat in a few months I really do and I'm humble enough to take it if he succeeds and like I say, I hope he does.

You are one of the reasons that people either leave Hobnob, or participate less. We are safe in the Championship and we are in the FA Cup semi finals - job done for this season. Clarke is a good option for Reading - stop generating polls after every result and wait six months to see how things develop. Just relax.

To suggest that Clarke doesn't have a reasonable track record but Nolan does is bonkers.

[EverHopeful]

"To suggest that Clarke doesn't have a reasonable track record but Nolan does is bonkers."

sense above at last!!

as for going down, 8 games to play, 5 at home and two of the away ones against 2 of the bottom 4 - even we can't screw that up, especially with a nine point gap to Wigan who still have to play 4 of the top 8 in their remaining 7 as well as Fulham and Millwall (can't both win can they)

A day out at Wembley, including a small, tiny, minuscule chance of getting to a cup final can't be too bad so SC has done something right............we all knew the rest of the season would be crap anyway as everything that has gone on behind the scenes had to catch up to a squad that is unbalanced IMO rather than necessarily poor but incapable of being significantly changed until we get rid of deadwood or high earners....roll-on the end of the season for this to happen and then SC can be judged properly...

[MmmMonsterMunch]

How can people really judge Clarke fairly when:

a) The players have nothing to play for in the league so have mentally switched off
b) Many of those players know they will not be at the club come August so again they are going through the motions
c) There's a real possibility there are some 'bad eggs' in that dressing room that need removing before the club can really start to progress again

Let him get rid of the high earners, let him get his players in & then give him at least 6 months, if not the entire season (as was afforded to Adkins).

Talk of us getting a play off spot was just nonsense & most sane people realised that didn't they?!

Despite having little to work with he has managed to salvage something out of this p1ss poor season by creating a bit of history in getting the club to an FA Cup semi final. Monday night was the best atmosphere we've had in years as well.

Give him a break FFS.

I am genuinely excited about next season FTR.

[Ian Royal]

"To suggest that Clarke doesn't have a reasonable track record but Nolan does is bonkers."

sense above at last!!

I have a few problems with that.

Firstly, it's hard for it to be sense given the guy's name is Dolan. And that's not a simple typo, the 'D' is nowhere near the 'N' on any keyboard I'm familiar with.

Secondly, much as I think he's a total douche, it's not even remotely what Lacoste said either. He actively points out he's being inconsistent and explicitly states Dolan doesn't have the experience BUT he thinks he'd do a good job anyway.

[Whatevs]

"To suggest that Clarke doesn't have a reasonable track record but Nolan does is bonkers."

sense above at last!!

I have a few problems with that.

Firstly, it's hard for it to be sense given the guy's name is Dolan. And that's not a simple typo, the 'D' is nowhere near the 'N' on any keyboard I'm familiar with.

Colemak - D &N are pretty close

[CholseyRoyal]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

[Dr_Hfuhruhurr]

We wont know until next year if he's any good. Given that nobody can really be bothered to go to the games for the rest of the season, I think its a fair statement that the league season, bar the two wins we need is all but over.

So, operating on gut feeling, Im not sure either that he's massively committed, but I think he's more straightforward than Adkins which is probably what we need at the moment, so Im rigidly sitting on the fence and probably dont have a single opinion, good or bad, about him.

[Royalwaster]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

We need to appoint a mind reader next time then clearly - other managers would have come out with some cliche like mental fatigue or crap like that. Would you have liked that?

[Snowball]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

The pundits on the radio felt that subbing-off Norwood for Karacan
made a huge difference. Karacan couldn't get into the game whereas
Norwood was doing a very good job defensively.

IF that's true, I doubt Clarke is going to say
"I took Norwood off and midfield went to pieces."

[Ian Royal]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

We need to appoint a mind reader next time then clearly - other managers would have come out with some cliche like mental fatigue or crap like that. Would you have liked that?

Coppell said it after the trio of Xmas 0-3s. So obviously it's a sign of being a shit manager we should get rid of.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

The pundits on the radio felt that subbing-off Norwood for Karacan
made a huge difference. Karacan couldn't get into the game whereas
Norwood was doing a very good job defensively.

IF that's true, I doubt Clarke is going to say
"I took Norwood off and midfield went to pieces."

Clarke's substitutions have been utterly baffling at times, aye.

[Snowball]

Clarke's substitutions have been utterly baffling at times, aye.

TBF he needs to get Karacan game time. Decisions to be made soon

[peterroyal76]

Clarke's substitutions have been utterly baffling at times, aye.

TBF he needs to get Karacan game time. Decisions to be made soon

This and Norwood wasn't brilliant he was doing ok.. nothing more.

[jd82]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

The pundits on the radio felt that subbing-off Norwood for Karacan
made a huge difference. Karacan couldn't get into the game whereas
Norwood was doing a very good job defensively.

IF that's true, I doubt Clarke is going to say
"I took Norwood off and midfield went to pieces."

Norwood had an ok first half, but wasn't in the game at all in the second. Jem looked distinctly off the pace, and that possibly contributed to their second. We were already on the ropes before the substitution IMO, Charlton could/should have had one a few minutes after the penalty. As i said on the match thread, we just did not get started, or probably more accurately were not allowed to get started by a Charlton side who flew out the blocks in the second half.

As an aside, Norwood's delivery from set plays was absolutely dire. IIRC he had 3 in dangerous positions, and they all went directly behind for goal kicks.

[yappy]

In my view no matter who was in charge this season we were going to struggle. Having been on the brink of administration we were forced into selling first team players and essentially replacing them with kids from the academy. We were stuck with some players on big wages that we couldn't shift (e.g. Guthrie, Drenthe) meaning until the last few weeks of the transfer window we were unable to invest in players at all. Even with the new owners coming in, due to FFP, whatever manager we had in charge had his hands tied and wouldn't be able to invest the way he would have wanted. This has resulted in using now relying on a few cheaper short term options just to see the season out (e.g. Yakubu, Travner, Knight).

Just look at the likes of Leeds, Norwich, Southampton, Birmingham over the years to see what happens to teams who go down and fail to go straight back up. Wigan are a more recent example. I think some people may have quite unrealistic expectations for what they feel this squad can achieve.

Would've quite happily given Adkins the season for him to rebuild this summer, but I was getting increasingly concerned with performances. I would say I think performances have improved under Clarke, however we are inconsistent. That includes being inconsistent within a match, as we can sometimes look completely comfortable one half and fall apart the next. I think this is somewhat expected when you rely on what is a relatively young squad. If we want to bring players through the academy you have to accept they'll make mistakes from time to time. I think Hector is a good example of this, as on his day he looks like one of the top centre backs in this division, but he certainly has his off days too.

All in all I don't think it makes much difference whether it was Adkins or Clarke in charge right now, as I don't think it's particularly fair to judge either of them given the situation we were put in by Anton. Next season we can start assessing Clarke, but again I don't really expect us to go from relegation battlers to title challengers in one year. This club needs a bit of a rebuilding job post-Anton. All managers also need to be given time to create their squads, remember we were distinctively average under Coppell for 2 years before the 106 season.

[Ian Royal]

I had been very happy with SC until today but to hear him admit, not for the first time, that he hadn't a clue as to why the players were so poor second half today sets the alarm bells ringing. Add to that he will have no money in the summer to build his own squad does not bode well for next season no matter what league we are in.

The pundits on the radio felt that subbing-off Norwood for Karacan
made a huge difference. Karacan couldn't get into the game whereas
Norwood was doing a very good job defensively.

IF that's true, I doubt Clarke is going to say
"I took Norwood off and midfield went to pieces."

Norwood had an ok first half, but wasn't in the game at all in the second. Jem looked distinctly off the pace, and that possibly contributed to their second. We were already on the ropes before the substitution IMO, Charlton could/should have had one a few minutes after the penalty. As i said on the match thread, we just did not get started, or probably more accurately were not allowed to get started by a Charlton side who flew out the blocks in the second half.

As an aside, Norwood's delivery from set plays was absolutely dire. IIRC he had 3 in dangerous positions, and they all went directly behind for goal kicks.

From the highlights I saw one of Jem or McCleary (I think Gunter was occupied) should have been tracking their goalscorer. As it was he waltzed in completely unmarked. But that's not a particularly new trait in Jem (or in all fairness many midfielders). He's been at fault for goals by not tracking midfielders numerous times over the years.

[blueroyals]

The constant is the players, who are dog shit. When you're 3-1 down and you look to the bench and the best attacking option is Nick Blackman you know you're in trouble.

[MR. CYNICAL]

If the players are dog shit, which i do not disagree with,do you really want to watch them at Wembley?