Steve Clake - New Poll

[SapperBRoyal]

I really don't understand why people are getting their knickers in a twist.

Team with nothing to play for in the league does badly in the league shocker.....

It really is as simple as that. If they get closer to the red line I'm sure they'll get a couple of league wins. Plus the nearer we get to the Wembley game, they will up the ante as they'll want to show they are worthy of a start.

Psychologically the players are not up for the league any more & taking aim at Clarke is pointless IMO.

Disagree. Clarke inherited a playing squad under performing, to which we added the Yak, and now the performance is marginally worse. What value added? Nothing to play for? Forget the shirt, and the fans, and the cup, and all of that romantic guff - the objective is clear, deliver now for your chance next season, be you a player or the first team manager? Were there any investment money to be had next season, on what grounds can the owners have any faith in SC? Has he made us harder to beat? Organised us? Has he identified and/or pulled some talent forward from the reserves/youth? New ideas? If nothing else, has he gripped the players and dependant on style, inspired or motivated better performances out of them? Stopped the rot? Nothing. He won't be able to buy himself out of trouble here, and therefore he hasn't shown us he has the skills to do this job. We could've had ED as caretaker - would it have been worse? For me, he has missed his opportunity. Out.

[Vision]

So basically RB's ( and Gooding's apparently) definition of interfering in Team matters amounts to the manager not being given the money from the Chairman to buy any player he wants.

As for the Sugar thing, why would he specifically want to do a deal with him? Was he after a free Hi Fi system as a sweetener?

Still at least you didn't regurgitate the "Madejski went into the Wembley dressing room at half time and told them not to win because he didn't want us to get promoted guff" so I'm thankful for small mercies.

FWIW I and most others don't think the sun shines from JM's arse or that he's got everything right but as Floyd says his balance sheet is massively in credit for anyone without a hidden agenda against him. And the one stick you really can't use to beat him with is the interfering in team matters one given that consistently former managers have said the best thing about working with him is he lets them get on with the football side.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Top position as ever Vision, people lile RB really have so little idea. Happy to spend someone else's money, JM has run this club in the right way.
If a manager blows the money, see T Burns, then those that follow have to make do with less. This time is is Anton that blew the future, and the whole club are having to deal with the current situation.

[Sutekh]

Mick Gooding has stated previously that when he and Jim were the managers they used to present JM with budgetary options, 1 being for a promotion challenge and the other for survival and every time JM went for the survival option. At the time the reasoning for this was the vast amount of money needed for the new stadium development so is probably somewhat justified.

Where it all fell down was the replacement of Q&G in favour of the Taxi just when there seemed to be a bit of money being made available for the team. That, in essence, was the first real cock up made by JM on the footballing front.

[KC Royal]

I remember at the time as a distant observer not being impressed that we were selling off our best players and seemingly replacing them with players of inferior quality, although tbf at the time I didn't know the cost of the stadium development and how it was impacting on the ins and outs. Was also sad when Q&G were sacked, as from afar it didn't seem warranted. Always remember in the Match of the Day magazine preview that summer in 1997 Madejski was quoted as saying that we were aiming for promotion and I just laughed and thought there was more chance of relegation. How right I was!

I've always believed that if Madejski hadn't been in Malaysia in the late 90s then Tommy Burns would have been sacked at the end of the previous season, and maybe Pardew would have kept his job as well. I don't think him being away helped us, but it was a long time ago now and the success we've had in the last 15 years has more than made up for it.

Going back to something that was raised earlier in the thread. If we'd gone up in 1995 what would have happened? JM has said in the last decade that capacity at Elm Park would have to have been halved, but a school friend at the time thought we wouldn't be able to play at Elm Park and mentioned playing elsewhere. At the time I took it as pure speculation but there's been mention on here about Stamford Bridge? Was that ever likely?

[melonhead]

from what I heard it basically amounted to the board/JM/Squeaky not giving the manager the players/money he wanted every time he asked.
specifically: that caskey was 4th choice , after a neil lennon request was refused, and then two others.


hardly earth shattering or particularly surprising.
if anyone thinks Brian had the pick of the worlds footballers, but said - nah, its ok im happy with this akpan bloke, then you are a mentalist

So basically you did not hear what Gooding said!

So to answer your question Vision, according to Gooding, the assistance/interference the Mad Man provided was:

Gooding and Quinn asked for four different players, all ahead of Caskey on their wish list. All were declined because, according to Gooding, the Mad Mad wanted to do a deal with the Spurs Chairman - one plain (at that time) Mr Alan Sugar.

that's what I said

apart from the random and irrelevant sugar bit

[melonhead]

So basically you did not hear what Gooding said!

So to answer your question Vision, according to Gooding, the assistance/interference the Mad Man provided was:

Gooding and Quinn asked for four different players, all ahead of Caskey on their wish list. All were declined because, according to Gooding, the Mad Mad wanted to do a deal with the Spurs Chairman - one plain (at that time) Mr Alan Sugar.

So any chance the great man's halo might start to slip a bit, what with massive recent blunders and now these sort of revelations?

And you are clearly a blind/ignorant ****

Only an absolute dumbarse could try to claim that Madejski didn't completely balls up the sale of the club. Only someone who is blind can deny that he sat there on his honorary throne as some crazy business decisions were made post sale - decisions he either agreed with or wasn't bold enough to publically speak out against.

And now, even when people who definitely know how he can behave finally start to reveal some of the things that have gone on in the past, his disciples cover their eyes, stick their fingers in their ears and repeat their mantra 'it's not true, he didn't do it, he's not like that'.

I'm pretty sure there will be more interesting info to come in the future.

Here we go again, RB on his barking mad hate campaign against the most influential, important and successful figure in the club's history. Its like the appointments of McGhee, Pardew, Coppell and McDermott never happened.

I would agree that he has made some horrendous mistakes too, but the balance sheet - did you enjoy our two promotions to the top flight, a league we hadn't come even remotely close to challenging for before Madejski came along - is overwhelmingly in the positive. I challenge you RB to come out and say that overall Madejski has been a hugely positive influence over the club for the majority of 25 generally successful years, go on it won't hurt.

I decline your invitation thank you because I am more principled than that.

I believe McGhee was lost because he was not happy with some of the ridiculously tight spending restrictions imposed on him by a man who believed, and still appears to believe, that he can consistently buck the economic model of top level professional football in this country.

Yes, I enjoyed the promotions but what a shame that the good work of those guys was subsequently undone because the guy at the top again felt he could buck the economic model of top level professional football in this country.

And now, having marched us to the top of the hill, the grand old duke is in danger of marching us back to whence we started. This, I believe is due to an initial reluctance to share his toy with other investors and then, when money started to become a real issue, his eagerness to offload as soon as he could.

'nuff said. The two opposing views will never agree. Time and history will be the judge.

overall Madejski has been a hugely positive influence over the club for the majority of 25 generally successful years, go on it won't hurt.

[melonhead]

And now, even when people who definitely know how he can behave finally start to reveal some of the things that have gone on in the past

that he was stingy with his own cash, and that managers would have to work hard to get owt out of him is not news.
in any way.
its certainly not the mind blowing revelation you seem to think it is

[Extended-Phenotype]

Anyway, wtf does he have to do with anything again? Fine him being a fcuking miser with his own dough but he better not be talking the Thais into buying the bargain trolley dented tin type players we're stuck with now.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

So who.Is going to pay for the club, living within your means makes most sense. Owners should never be able to loan clubs money. It really doesn't work out.

[Man Friday]

Agreed. We want an owner who's prepared to GIVE the club money, not loan it. We want a billionaire who's prepared to lavish money on us, not run the club in the frugal way that SJM has run the club. There must be someone out there who's prepared to do that.

[Man Friday]

Yup

8 Goals and 1 assist in 16 Appearances, 1,323 Minutes

a Goal every 165 minutes


Obviously crap we were well got rid of

A goal every other game. That's a good rate of return for a striker. Would love to have a player with that ratio.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Yup

8 Goals and 1 assist in 16 Appearances, 1,323 Minutes

a Goal every 165 minutes


Obviously crap we were well got rid of

We were forced to sell him to stave off the tax man

[Stranded]

I remember at the time as a distant observer not being impressed that we were selling off our best players and seemingly replacing them with players of inferior quality, although tbf at the time I didn't know the cost of the stadium development and how it was impacting on the ins and outs. Was also sad when Q&G were sacked, as from afar it didn't seem warranted. Always remember in the Match of the Day magazine preview that summer in 1997 Madejski was quoted as saying that we were aiming for promotion and I just laughed and thought there was more chance of relegation. How right I was!

I've always believed that if Madejski hadn't been in Malaysia in the late 90s then Tommy Burns would have been sacked at the end of the previous season, and maybe Pardew would have kept his job as well. I don't think him being away helped us, but it was a long time ago now and the success we've had in the last 15 years has more than made up for it.

Going back to something that was raised earlier in the thread. If we'd gone up in 1995 what would have happened? JM has said in the last decade that capacity at Elm Park would have to have been halved, but a school friend at the time thought we wouldn't be able to play at Elm Park and mentioned playing elsewhere. At the time I took it as pure speculation but there's been mention on here about Stamford Bridge? Was that ever likely?

I could be wrong but I think there may have been an understanding in place that we would have played home games at Loftus Road if we had gone up. Although I may just be mis-remembering an interview with JM at the time where he was clear that we couldn't play at Elm Park and would likely have to play somewhere like QPR.

I

[Ian Royal]

Agreed. We want an owner who's prepared to GIVE the club money, not loan it. We want a billionaire who's prepared to lavish money on us, not run the club in the frugal way that SJM has run the club. There must be someone out there who's prepared to do that.

Why? How many precedents are there?

You don't generally become a millionaire / billionaire by giving money away.

[Tamworth_Royal]

Yup

8 Goals and 1 assist in 16 Appearances, 1,323 Minutes

a Goal every 165 minutes


Obviously crap we were well got rid of

We were forced to sell him to stave off the tax man

True
Well done again Nigel Howe (clueless when it comes to accounts)