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Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders :

Conor McLauglin, Tom Flanagan, Jordan Willis, Bailey Wright, Dion Sanderson, Arbenit Xhemajli, Callum McFadzean, Jake Vokins, Denver Hume. 
 

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders who aren’t injured :

Bailey Wright, Denver Hume. 
 

I think this might have quite a considerable impact on Sunderland’s current form. 

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1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

What, even after Ricky Foster??

 

The match where he experimented by moving Foster into midfield, must be up there with the appearances of Nicky Hunt, Lois Diony and Stefan Marinovic  in the "most inept performance in a City shirt" role of shame. 

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27 minutes ago, Harry said:

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders :

Conor McLauglin, Tom Flanagan, Jordan Willis, Bailey Wright, Dion Sanderson, Arbenit Xhemajli, Callum McFadzean, Jake Vokins, Denver Hume. 
 

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders who aren’t injured :

Bailey Wright, Denver Hume. 
 

I think this might have quite a considerable impact on Sunderland’s current form. 

The biggest shock there is that Wright isn't one of the injured ones.

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57 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

The biggest shock there is that Wright isn't one of the injured ones.

He actually was for quite a while. He returned only recently, likely not 100% fit, and is their only centre back available for selection. 
I know we’ve had our injury problems, but imagine if Mariappa had been our only fit centre half for about 20 games!! That’s the size of the challenge they’ve had. 
Luke O’Nien has been playing at CB and actually making a decent job of it. He’s a midfielder who’s filled at RB for a while and is now being relied upon as a CB. 
They’ve had Max Power (a CM known for his goalscoring) playing at right back. 
 

Their defence has been the equivalent of us playing a back 4 of Paterson - Mariappa - Nagy - Pring.  
Been a bit of a struggle to say the least. 

Edited by Harry
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7 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

Not sure what you were watching over the last couple of years, but this form has built up over LJ's spell in charge . He gathered more and more players of a similar standard, we got worse and worse at home, and only got away with it because of our away form. That wasn't likely to hold up over time. We don't retain possession at all, which means we can't dominate or control games, or even see them out.

2018 - 2019 we were 18th in the home form table, saved by a promotion standard away season. Not likely to keep that up.

1576519730_Screenshot2021-04-28at07_41_14.png.494b18bf04d4551e556f812473e26b66.png  1400577982_Screenshot2021-04-28at07_41_29.png.932dcaec63dc4b3f2770e978569a0781.png

2019 - 2020 positionally better, in reality a point worse off,  again very good away glosses over a mid-table finish.

324025410_Screenshot2021-04-28at07_40_30.png.974d283cbbb99763e8bd692a54155a1b.png  1110075674_Screenshot2021-04-28at07_40_49.png.59886f88574f629597424e9783ce3396.png

2020 - 2021 a drop off both home and away. 

1234027710_Screenshot2021-04-28at07_39_27.png.799e63dde18521bf39e5428460b438d8.png  1859053437_Screenshot2021-04-28at07_39_41.png.031cab6b84369a9e33558ff1a3df9610.png

I've said a few times, I put most of the blame on LJ. He set this "style" of football in place. We have been awful to watch for years, we struggle to keep and pass the ball and he was in charge as we completely lost his (our) way , we end up where it is ingrained through the squad and is now a big job to shake them out of it. 
He should have been sacked 18 months earlier, the problem was compounded with the Holden appointment. It was a big job even without COVID, we needed a big shake up and what we basically got was a continuation. 

We have a group with no leaders, soft and directionless. Have no doubt, this is a big, big rebuilding job. With Walsh (?), Williams, Bakinson, HNM, JD, Vyner , Palmer even Wells, we have players that can play and pass. We need Pearson (hopefully) to shake the squad up and change what we have become.
LJ is central to where we are now, sound like he's doing a similar job at Sunderland reading some of these posts.

Screenshot 2021-04-28 at 07.42.47.png

I like how you've turned the tables on the LJ accolytes.

 

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5 hours ago, Robbored said:

I supported LJ in his early days at AG. I could see what he was trying to do and was willing to to be patient with him.

However over time he began to morph into his father. Same boring, dreary and predictable football began to develop and once I saw that happening that was it for me. I was as delighted as pretty much every City fan when SL told Aston to sack him.

People were warned about the potential side effects of Johnson & Johnson.

IMO the Oxford (Mr Ashton) was even more detrimental.

Anyway, they're all gone now, so let's celebrate and drink up thee pfizer.

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2 hours ago, Harry said:

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders :

Conor McLauglin, Tom Flanagan, Jordan Willis, Bailey Wright, Dion Sanderson, Arbenit Xhemajli, Callum McFadzean, Jake Vokins, Denver Hume. 
 

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders who aren’t injured :

Bailey Wright, Denver Hume. 
 

I think this might have quite a considerable impact on Sunderland’s current form. 

Sorry I simply don't believe this. I was under the impression that an injury list this long could only possibly be the result of an evil plot devised by Mark Ashton and implemented by Andy Rolls, and that we are the only club in the country with such a problem

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8 hours ago, Harry said:

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders :

Conor McLauglin, Tom Flanagan, Jordan Willis, Bailey Wright, Dion Sanderson, Arbenit Xhemajli, Callum McFadzean, Jake Vokins, Denver Hume. 
 

Here is a list of Sunderland’s defenders who aren’t injured :

Bailey Wright, Denver Hume. 
 

I think this might have quite a considerable impact on Sunderland’s current form. 

McFadzean's not injured. He's been on the bench for at least the last couple of games so presumably fit for selection.

LJ apparently choosing to move someone from a different position instead of picking an established defender.

 

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9 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

McFadzean's not injured. He's been on the bench for at least the last couple of games so presumably fit for selection.

LJ apparently choosing to move someone from a different position instead of picking an established defender.

 

My bad. Sorry yes, McFadzean had been available and has had to fill in at left back, despite spending most of his career as a left mid. 
Playing out of position due to necessity. 
He’s been benched because he’s not very good there and he’s brought in a youngster instead, Hume. 
I know you don’t like LJ Noggers, and that’s fine, but it simply cannot be denied that the defensive injuries he’s had this season are horrendous. 

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1 minute ago, Harry said:

My bad. Sorry yes, McFadzean had been available and has had to fill in at left back, despite spending most of his career as a left mid. 
Playing out of position due to necessity. 
I know you don’t like LJ Noggers, and that’s fine, but it simply cannot be denied that the defensive injuries he’s had this season are horrendous. 

I don't 'dislike LJ' Harry, in the personal way you disliked Cotterill, I just don't think he should ever have been appointed City manager.

McFadzean is described on wiki as being a left sided wing back. His versatility has also seen him play as a centre back.

Perfect then, you'd think, for a defence with injury problems.

LJ for whatever reason is apparently choosing to play midfield players out of position in defence instead of including a recognised and experienced defender.

In effect choosing to weaken his defence further - a bit odd really if he's apparently down to bare bones in that area.

Anyway, he's one more defender who is not injured and is available for LJ to pick.

 

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14 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

I don't 'dislike LJ' Harry, in the personal way you disliked Cotterill, I just don't think he should ever have been appointed City manager.

McFadzean is described on wiki as being a left sided wing back. His versatility has also seen him play as a centre back.

Perfect then, you'd think, for a defence with injury problems.

LJ for whatever reason is apparently choosing to play midfield players out of position in defence instead of including a recognised and experienced defender.

In effect choosing to weaken his defence further - a bit odd really if he's apparently down to bare bones in that area.

Anyway, he's one more defender who is not injured and is available for LJ to pick.

 

I don’t personally dislike Cotterill. I didn’t want him as manager when appointed (if I recall, I was in the majority with that view). 
I appreciate what he did for us and will always look upon him with good memories. 
McFadzean is a midfielder who can play a bit of left back. LJ HAS been playing him left back but he’s been shit so he’s brought Hume in instead. 
Even if you want to include McFadzean, there are still only 3 fit defenders, which was actually 2 at times a few weeks ago. So inevitably players are going to be played out of position. 

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9 hours ago, Harry said:

I don’t personally dislike Cotterill. I didn’t want him as manager when appointed (if I recall, I was in the majority with that view). 
I appreciate what he did for us and will always look upon him with good memories. 
McFadzean is a midfielder who can play a bit of left back. LJ HAS been playing him left back but he’s been shit so he’s brought Hume in instead. 
Even if you want to include McFadzean, there are still only 3 fit defenders, which was actually 2 at times a few weeks ago. So inevitably players are going to be played out of position. 

Afaic you made it very clear you didn't like SC personally, continually saying you found him arrogant. You also said, 

'I think this is the most likely appointment, sadly.

For what it's worth, he'd probably do a half decent job in the short-term, but it won't be pretty.  And you can be damn sure JET, Pack, Baldock, Bryan, Cunningham won't feature in his high tempo, high pressing, high ball game.

This appointment will swing the club away from the long-term strategy it set in place only 12 months ago.

Remember that at Forest, Cotterill took charge of 6 consecutive home defeats and 11 weeks of not scoring a goal at home.  If you think the football under SOD has been lacking inspiration, you ain't seen nothing yet.

So, for what's it's worth, I rate you highly as a really good poster on this forum who gets the majority of things right, but you got a lot wrong on Cotterill simply because you pre judged his likely positive impact at City on a personality you didn't like.

Back to LJ at Sunderland - a defender who you say was not playing well is different to him being injured - LJ has chosen to play a midfield player out of his accepted position instead.

LJ saying O'nien has fitted in very well in defence, been 'very good' so is now being preferred in that position to a regular defender. Power being played at full back, also playing well there according to LJ, is a bit like City moving an experienced dependable player like Korey Smith from midfield to cover short term.

No doubt LJ has issues defensively to contend with but all clubs have injuries and Sunderland will have more resources player - wise than many of their rivals.

Looks like McLaughlin may be available for the Plymouth game at the w/e, and Flanagan and Vokins back for the play offs, so it will be interesting to see if LJ picks them instead of other players who are apparently doing well in defence, in order to bolster his midfield.

 

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Havent looked for a while but Sunderland fans continue to be unimpressed with the LJ bullshit.

Worst run since 2017/2018 doesn't ruffle Johnson

Just a question of pressing the right re-set button apparently. He's even confident and looking forward to the play offs. Is he right or is he alright?

My instinct tells me he’s waffling shite.

He's done here, proved he's not upto the job.

Needs to reset himself the fkn chancer. If he spent as much time picking the team as he does on selecting his touchline attire we'd be sound. Bloke's not fit for purpose.

Well it should. I dont like him and his smirk.

I’ve watched blokes in betting shops confident that the next one will win and wipe out all their losses. Johnson’s the same as them. He’s a gambler dressed up as a tactical and motivational genius.

 

johnston thinks he some sort of genius

Why does he always come out with riddles clichés etc. starting to really get on my nerves now. speaks a good game but cant deliver. he would have a great career in politics. dont like him

Lee Johnson says one or two players have been affected by their contract situation at #SAFC.

Sounds to me like he's throwing them under the bus.

Seems like it’s look at them and not Lee scenario

He's such a bullshit merchant. ******' hell.

Maybe they don't know their pomos from their super strengths.

Surely all the other clubs must have some players in the same situation...?

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29 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Afaic you made it very clear you didn't like SC personally, continually saying you found him arrogant. You also said, 

'I think this is the most likely appointment, sadly.

For what it's worth, he'd probably do a half decent job in the short-term, but it won't be pretty.  And you can be damn sure JET, Pack, Baldock, Bryan, Cunningham won't feature in his high tempo, high pressing, high ball game.

This appointment will swing the club away from the long-term strategy it set in place only 12 months ago.

Remember that at Forest, Cotterill took charge of 6 consecutive home defeats and 11 weeks of not scoring a goal at home.  If you think the football under SOD has been lacking inspiration, you ain't seen nothing yet.

So, for what's it's worth, I rate you highly as a really good poster on this forum who gets the majority of things right, but you got a lot wrong on Cotterill simply because you pre judged his likely positive impact at City on a personality you didn't like.

Back to LJ at Sunderland - a defender who you say was not playing well is different to him being injured - LJ has chosen to play a midfield player out of his accepted position instead.

LJ saying O'nien has fitted in very well in defence, been 'very good' so is now being preferred in that position to a regular defender. Power being played at full back, also playing well there according to LJ, is a bit like City moving an experienced dependable player like Korey Smith from midfield to cover short term.

No doubt LJ has issues defensively to contend with but all clubs have injuries and Sunderland will have more resources player - wise than many of their rivals.

Looks like McLaughlin may be available for the Plymouth game at the w/e, and Flanagan and Vokins back for the play offs, so it will be interesting to see if LJ picks them instead of other players who are apparently doing well in defence, in order to bolster his midfield.

 

I’ve fully acknowledged on here a number of times that I got it wrong on Cotterill and I’ve also said I really enjoyed his time here and am grateful to him for what he delivered. 
You’ll note however, from the quotes you found above, that I was right on one thing - I clearly said he’d do a good job in the short-term ?

It was actually very interesting that Cotterill’s style, everywhere he’d previously managed, wasn’t pretty. It was a surprise to me and I’m sure many others that he adopted a totally different philosophy whilst here. So yes, I got it wrong, but only because he changed his philosophy entirely. Not many expected that. 
 

As for LJ. As I’ve said, judge him at the end of the season. Playoffs was a minimum expectation and he’s achieved that. I’m just pointing out that he’s had a huge defensive injury crisis to contend with. Surely you can acknowledge that? 

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19 hours ago, red panda said:

Sorry I simply don't believe this. I was under the impression that an injury list this long could only possibly be the result of an evil plot devised by Mark Ashton and implemented by Andy Rolls, and that we are the only club in the country with such a problem

People wouldn't moan about the injuries if they were your bog standard muscle strains that were 2-6 weeks out BUT we seem to have more than our fair share of "season enders". Add to that one complete mis-diagnosis in the case of Paterson and Williams openly criticising the rehabilitation programme he was given which subsequently saw him come back for two matches and miss the rest of the season and it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out that we might have significantly more than a bog standard injury situation caused by Covid. It can be dressed up any which way you prefer but our last three Managers have moaned about it causing a club internal investigation to apparently take place.

When you then sprinkle a Head of Performance on his third catastrophic injury crisis at consecutive clubs you must be able to understand if you are not blinkered on behalf of the club that supporters have perfectly legitimate concerns rather than simply laughing it off as an "evil plot"?

Edited by Numero Uno
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23 hours ago, Harry said:

I’ve fully acknowledged on here a number of times that I got it wrong on Cotterill and I’ve also said I really enjoyed his time here and am grateful to him for what he delivered. 
You’ll note however, from the quotes you found above, that I was right on one thing - I clearly said he’d do a good job in the short-term ?

It was actually very interesting that Cotterill’s style, everywhere he’d previously managed, wasn’t pretty. It was a surprise to me and I’m sure many others that he adopted a totally different philosophy whilst here. So yes, I got it wrong, but only because he changed his philosophy entirely. Not many expected that. 
 

As for LJ. As I’ve said, judge him at the end of the season. Playoffs was a minimum expectation and he’s achieved that. I’m just pointing out that he’s had a huge defensive injury crisis to contend with. Surely you can acknowledge that? 

I haven't gone into the full details of his defensive problems Harry, i.e. how long these players have been out/how important these particular players were, how many would be nailed on to be picked if they were fit -  I just noted that one defender McFadzean, whatever your view of his quality, isn't being picked - but YES, I do accept from your list he has a problem with a number of players unavailable in that area, if easing, although Willis for one is obviously long term.

Interestingly, one thing LJ does stress is how well both O'Nien and Power have been playing in their unaccustomed positions so perhaps it is not so much a question of his defence being vastly weakened but perhaps more his midfield suffering from their absence. Again I have little idea of the quality of the replacements in that area, but Sunderland appear to have a good squad for the division.

At this stage of a long season no doubt his promotion rivals will also have numerous players ruled out.

My current interest in Sunderland is only because LJ's there. I'm fairly indifferent to their fortunes, rather than hoping LJ succeeds (or looking to find excuses for him if he doesn't) just because he's ex- City.

In the end if Sunderland - and LJ - deserve to go up, they will. 

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52 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

I haven't gone into the full details of his defensive problems Harry, i.e. how long these players have been out/how important these particular players were, how many would be nailed on to be picked if they were fit -  I just noted that one defender McFadzean, whatever your view of his quality, isn't being picked - but YES, I do accept from your list he has a problem with a number of players unavailable in that area, if easing, although Willis for one is obviously long term.

Interestingly, one thing LJ does stress is how well both O'Nien and Power have been playing in their unaccustomed positions so perhaps it is not so much a question of his defence being vastly weakened but perhaps more his midfield suffering from their absence. Again I have little idea of the quality of the replacements in that area, but Sunderland appear to have a good squad for the division.

At this stage of a long season no doubt his promotion rivals will also have numerous players ruled out.

My current interest in Sunderland is only because LJ's there. I'm fairly indifferent to their fortunes, rather than hoping LJ succeeds (or looking to find excuses for him if he doesn't) just because he's ex- City.

In the end if Sunderland - and LJ - deserve to go up, they will. 

McFadzean has played nearly every game, they hate him and says he’s awful. Hume is their preferred LB, who is injured. (He’s actually back now, apparently, but LJ isn’t starting him, Sunderland fans are bemused)

Also, O’Nien has played better at CB than their actual CB’s so not really a fair point re limitations, in my opinion.

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14 minutes ago, Alex_BCFC said:

Just accept he is a streaky manager. Not brilliant and not terrible overall (OK like his time here) though we know he talks bollox often. If Sunderland get on a streak, with defenders back, in the play-offs they will win them.

Their stuttering form might help them in the playoffs. I would've been amazed if they kept the winning run up until the end of the season, albeit they'd have probably got autos if they did. They may hit form at the right time for the playoffs.

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The thing I've always found weird about LJ discussions - both in terms of him as a player and as a manager - is that he was basically just about okay in both roles.

As a player he is never going to make my list of top twenty players I've seen in a City shirt but he's a world away from the worst twenty too. He played his part in our play-off push and was decent if not spectacular throughout his time at the club.

As a manager, he had some very good and very bad moments but essentially managed the club steadily for four years, never took us into a relegation or a promotion battle at the absolute end of the season, and did a competent job without setting the heart racing. You'd obviously put his Dad, Joe Jordan and Steve Cotterill above him on your list of City managers but you'd also put Benny Lennhartsson, Tony Pulis and Brian Tinnion well below him. 

So what I find weird is how the Hell does someone who was basically competent but not spectacular whip up such strong feelings and cause so much controversy?

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4 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

The thing I've always found weird about LJ discussions - both in terms of him as a player and as a manager - is that he was basically just about okay in both roles.

As a player he is never going to make my list of top twenty players I've seen in a City shirt but he's a world away from the worst twenty too. He played his part in our play-off push and was decent if not spectacular throughout his time at the club.

As a manager, he had some very good and very bad moments but essentially managed the club steadily for four years, never took us into a relegation or a promotion battle at the absolute end of the season, and did a competent job without setting the heart racing. You'd obviously put his Dad, Joe Jordan and Steve Cotterill above him on your list of City managers but you'd also put Benny Lennhartsson, Tony Pulis and Brian Tinnion well below him. 

So what I find weird is how the Hell does someone who was basically competent but not spectacular whip up such strong feelings and cause so much controversy?

I think it's because he talked as if he was in our Top 3 managers of all time, and there was a disconnect between that talk & the reality on the pitch.

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5 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

So what I find weird is how the Hell does someone who was basically competent but not spectacular whip up such strong feelings and cause so much controversy?

Top post - agree with everything you said. 

I can only assume that people get wound up with the way he talks - the bullshit bingo etc. 

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18 minutes ago, TonyTonyTony said:

Top post - agree with everything you said. 

I can only assume that people get wound up with the way he talks - the bullshit bingo etc. 

I don't know who LJ thinks his "target audience" is but it certainly wasn't the average BCFC fan and isn't the average Sunderland fan. Therein lies the problem, you have a manager who is trying to give a coaching and/or psychology masterclass every interview when the majority of fans just want to hear the truth about the game in plain language. When you look at the backgrounds of many footballers themselves I could imagine that the language he uses, if replicated with them, would grate with quite a few after a while particularly when the guy delivering it does not have a track record of actually winning anything.

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41 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

 So what I find weird is how the Hell does someone who was basically competent but not spectacular whip up such strong feelings and cause so much controversy?

I think, in part, the answer to the OTIB vitriol lies in something LJ had no control over...the way in which he was defended for so long by many on here as though he was some sort of messiah. They went on defending him long after his flaws had been exposed and loved doing it as it wound others up...myself included on occasion! I notice that a few of the same folk passionately supported the almost indefensible appointment of Dean Holden, and having been let down then decided that Pearson was the wrong choice. There's a contrarian tendency who greatly enjoyed LJ's tenure.

Personally I liked him as a player, made the most of the talent he had. As a manager I found him irritating and pretentious.

The opposite of the man we've just appointed.

Edited by Red Exile
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7 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

I don't know who LJ thinks his "target audience" is but it certainly wasn't the average BCFC fan and isn't the average Sunderland fan. Therein lies the problem, you have a manager who is trying to give a coaching and/or psychology masterclass every interview when the majority of fans just want to hear the truth about the game in plain language. When you look at the backgrounds of many footballers themselves I could imagine that the language he uses, if replicated with them, would grate with quite a few after a while particularly when the guy delivering it does not have a track record of actually winning anything.

Embarrassing when commentators are saying he measures the grass before games .Don’t no how that helps the team . Does he say it’s a quarter of an inch long so you need to pass the 0.3% harder. Getting hammered by Leeds and they say LJ says a new player needs 30 training sessions before they can play his way that day they could’ve had 300 sessions and wouldn’t beat Leeds just nonsense 

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8 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

 

Personally I liked him as a player, made the most of the talent he had. As a manager I found him irritating and pretentious.

 

 

I'd say the reverse.

Couldn't stand him as a player. If an opposition player came within 6 feet of him he'd pass the ball as if it was an unexploded grenade, often with little thought or accuracy. He was static and lightweight. It didn't help that father dearest picked him even when he was out-of-form. 

As a manager, I think he makes the most of what he has. He isn't the best, but is by no means the worst. Many of the poor recruitment decisions seem to be the fault of someone else.  I never minded his interviews as much as others seem to. He always seemed pretty straightforward. His habit of bringing on obvious substitutions 20-30 minutes too late was infuriating though.

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