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Derek McInnes talks of his time at Bristol City


SydneyCity

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A few minutes at the end of a Scottish football podcast.

Key points:

  • He'd knocked back a couple of job offer in England when Bristol City contacted him. He was warned by a few people that we'd had three managers in four years and it may not be a good move.
  • 2nd bottom when came in in October but felt there were enough games to stay up.
  • Staying up, given the circumstances, is as proud an achievement as any he's had in football.
  • Chris Wood was brilliant.
  • In the summer he feels he should have been kicking and screaming about getting rid of more players.
  • He presented to the board a number of lists of players that should be moved on but the board never acted
  • He felt there were 14 that should have been moved on but it was hard as Bristol City was as good as it was ever going to get for those players and they were all well paid
  • Four different managers signings in a dressing room made it difficult
  • Board talked of FFP and said he needed to cut the playing budget in half - from $15m to just over $7m - by shifting senior players and bringing young ones in.
  • Proud he gave Joe and Bobby their chances and brought Bolasie in from the reserves.
  • Bolasie was sold but he thinks the board should have worked much harder to keep him.
  • He loved his time at Bristol City.
  • He loved the club and wanted to be the guy that got it going… but he put too much faith in the board.
  • Was told: "If we go down with Derek McInnes, we come back with Derek McInnes… you help us sort out the financial mess and we'll come back up".
  • Lost a home game to Leicester and was given the boot as the board felt they needed to try something new.
  • Getting the boot was a shock - it shouldn't have been given the league position but it was given all the conversations he'd had with the club.
  • He took the learnings to his next role at Aberdeen a couple of weeks later and he had eight very good years there… so everything happens for a reason.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

Hmmm and that board, let's remind ourselves again who they were . 

Bit of Deja vu methinks, manager trying to sort another ones mess and having to deal with FFP , reducing the wage bill, and getting rid of over paid , quite average players. 

At least this time it looks like we are breaking the cycle, without getting relegated and getting set back on the right track. 

But the similarities are startling. 

Well said, I thought the same reading that. He’s calling out some of the same thinks Pearson has. 

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McInnes was left a bad hand from all the garbage that was left on long contracts who couldn't be shifted off the wage bill who were signed Gary Johnson and Millen. 

McInnes should have gone into sign Bikey in that Summer, but then I guess the board wanted to slash the wages in half

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21 minutes ago, SydneyCity said:

He felt there were 14 that should have been moved on but it was hard as Bristol City was as good as it was ever going to get for those players and they were all well paid

He certainly hit the nail on the head there.

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24 minutes ago, billywedlock said:

Hmmm and that board, let's remind ourselves again who they were . 

Bit of Deja vu methinks, manager trying to sort another ones mess and having to deal with FFP , reducing the wage bill, and getting rid of over paid , quite average players. 

At least this time it looks like we are breaking the cycle, without getting relegated and getting set back on the right track. 

But the similarities are startling. 

Indeed they are - you’d have thought that the board would have learnt by the time Nige arrived but SLs record of bringing in the right manager is not that impressive. Fraud Ashton being the common denominator with McGuiness and LJ/DH. 

Like many others I think Nige is a ‘proper’ manager - the first since Danny Wilson (why was he ever sacked?) and I’m confident that he’ll create a squad capable of promotion. Two more years on his contract

Edited by Robbored
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IMO one of the best managers we've had in the last twenty years. But clearly not backed or understood by the Board.

Cotterill in similar vein also came and went. It's taken a long time for SL to realise that we were a shambles, overpaying average players, a holiday camp attitude throughout the club which meant that we struggled to achieve anything other than mid to lower table in Championship.

Some may consider that the restoration into a football club under Pearson, is taking a long time. We'll, my view is that we have achieved in twelve months what it used to take three or four years. Real progress and I genuinely believe that we will surprise other clubs and our own fans, how we will do in the coming season.

Edited by cidered abroad
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35 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

As I frequently point out, probably tediously, Wilson was a failure.  Four years and ultimately achieved almost nothing except a destructive player culture which took years to dismantle.  

But we played nice football! Four years and he's only remembered for picking a joke of a team in Cardiff.

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2 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

IMO one of the best managers we've had in the last twenty years. But clearly not backed or understood by the Board.

Cotterill in similar vein also came and went. It's taken a long time for SL to realise that we were a shambles, overpaying average players, a holiday camp attitude throughout the club which meant that we struggled to achieve anything other than mid to lower table in Championship.

Some may consider that the restoration into a football club under Pearson, is taking a long time. We'll, my view is that we have achieved in twelve months what it used to take three or four years. Real progress and I genuinely believe that we will surprise other clubs and our own fans, how we will do in the coming season.

It's the culture of Football fans these days. Many want instant success and glory without any form of context and knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes at a club.
The whole Holden appointment thing was a total and utter mess and probably sent a whole load of alarm bells ringing for many City fans that we were still run so badly behind the scenes.

We've needed a Manager to come in and be straight talking, have a plan and get on board with what the club is all about. It might take a few years to be actually successful, but it will be worth the wait in my opinion. Yeah you can call it being a happy clapper, but I genuinely think we're finally in good hands on the playing side of things. Pearson as Manager, Tinnion as Youth manager, Gould as CEO. It could be much worse.

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1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

As I frequently point out, probably tediously, Wilson was a failure.  Four years and ultimately achieved almost nothing except a destructive player culture which took years to dismantle.  

Don't feed the troll. I don't think he actually believes that Wilson was the greatest City manager ever, but he certainly enjoys the reaction he gets from constantly saying so.

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41 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

some of which brought in by McInnes

I listened to the whole interview and he was talking about how he played with Jody Morris at Millwall. Derek went on to be manager at St Johnstone and he knew that Jody wasn’t getting much game time so called him up and offered him £700 p/w to play. Jody accepted and was the model pro, running the dressing room and instilling the right attitude in the young players (plus playing well).

I’m certainly not defending signing him as it clearly didn’t work that way at Ashton Gate but I guess it gave me an insight into why he brought him to City, especially if it was on similar financial terms.

Edited by SydneyCity
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3 hours ago, SecretSam said:

A familiar story. We were a bloody mess back then, I think people who criticise him and SOD forget what a state we were in. We're still getting over that mess. You'd think we'd learn...

And who’s the common denominator in all this? SL. Enough said, really. 

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22 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

I really liked McInnes and was very disappointed it didn't work out for him here.

He took on a massive job and I thought he was poorly treated by the Board.

He really liked the club and was appreciative of the fans. He was on his own in Bristol for much of the time and I've heard many stories of him being alone in restaurants in Bristol after a game and spending his evening happily chatting to fans.

One story. It was my son's 21st coming up and we sent a card in to the club asking for it be signed by the players and staff.

It was duly returned in good time and we put it aside as my son was going to be away for his birthday.

On his birthday the phone rang at about 7.30 in the evening and a broad Scottish voice asked to speak to my son, claiming to be Derek McInnes and wanting to have a chat and wish him a happy birthday.

Knowing my son to be a joker who often put on ridiculous accents on the phone I assumed it to be him. I laughed and said, ' Derek McInnes? Ha, ha, good try but you've overdone it!'

Anyway, it WAS Derek McInnes, who'd  taken the trouble to note the date and phone up.

Despite my initial incredulity (and inadvertent mocking of his accent) he was then happy to talk to this embarrassed City fan for a quarter of an hour and ended by asking me to pass on his birthday wishes to my son.

Top bloke who should have been a good fit for City and, as I say, really sorry he wasn't here for much longer.

Might be my memory playing tricks but was it McInnes who brought Cunningham in on loan? I think we were playing quite well and were in the top 6 when we had a Wolves moment, as per 2017. Cunningham got crocked through a bad foul and several others were injured and we just lost momentum.

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53 minutes ago, SydneyCity said:

I listened to the whole interview and he was talking about how he played with Jody Morris at Millwall. Derek went on to be manager at St Johnstone and he knew that Jody wasn’t getting much game time so called him up and offered him £700 p/w to play. Jody accepted and was the model pro, running the dressing room and instilling the right attitude in the young players (plus playing well).

I’m certainly not defending signing him as it clearly didn’t work that way at Ashton Gate but I guess it gave me an insight into why he brought him to City, especially if it was on similar financial terms.

Pretty sure I’ve listened to a podcast where Jody Morris wasn’t as glowing about McInnes by the end of his time here. 

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4 minutes ago, Midred said:

Might be my memory playing tricks but was it McInnes who brought Cunningham in on loan? I think we were playing quite well and were in the top 6 when we had a Wolves moment, as per 2017. Cunningham got crocked through a bad foul and several others were injured and we just lost momentum.

Pretty sure McInnes did sign Cunningham.

Cunningham and Skuse were stretchered off at Peterboro' in the September, and both the tackles should have resulted in red cards.

We'd already thrashed Cardiff and Crystal Palace at AG, scoring 4 against each.

We'd been looking really good, playing attacking football, but went on a terrible run after the side was disrupted by a very dirty Peterboro' side.

 

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3 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Pretty sure McInnes did sign Cunningham.

Cunningham and Skuse were stretchered off at Peterboro' in the September, and both the tackles should have resulted in red cards.

We'd already thrashed Cardiff and Crystal Palace at AG, scoring 4 against each.

We'd been looking really good, playing attacking football, but went on a terrible run after the side was disrupted by a very dirty Peterboro' side.

 

Exactly how I remember it. We beat Peterborough 2-1 at their place, but felt like a loss after Cunningham received such an horrendous tackle and was out for many months. 

Not long after we then got in George Elokobi on loan and he had his entire foot spin the other direction right infront of me in the Atyeo. 

We capitulated from then until January, our fate was then sealed.

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Looks like Tyrone Barnett and Mark Little were the main culprits and Fontaine fortunate not to be a 3rd bad injury from another dreadful challenge.

Excerpts from the match report: 

Sam Baldock's second-half brace proved enough in a game short of chances but high on controversy, with Peterborough's Mark Little and Tyrone Barnett both fortunate to escape red cards.

Cole Skuse and Greg Cunningham were stretchered off either side of the interval before Lee Tomlin's penalty in the second of eight added minutes ensured a dramatic finale.

Half-time saw Skuse stretchered down the tunnel with an ankle injury, as McInnes responded by introducing Adomah to open up the game.

Baldock broke the deadlock on 56 minutes thanks in part to a calamitous moment from Peterborough right-back Mark Little, who attempted a back pass from just inside his own half without noticing City's number seven lurking.

Little was visibly distraught, and Liam Fontaine soon became victim to his frustration as the man on the receiving end of a rash lunge near City's left touchline - the Posh defender fortunate to escape with no more than the yellow card branded in his direction.

If Peterborough were previously frustrated, by now they were apoplectic. With refereeing decisions not to the home fans' liking, Tyrone Barnett took matters into his own hands with another ugly tackle again resulting in a yellow card.

It looked bad on first viewing, and with Greg Cunningham grounded for five minutes after the challenge before being stretchered off, McInnes must have been wondering how his side were still facing 11 men.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

As I frequently point out, probably tediously, Wilson was a failure.  Four years and ultimately achieved almost nothing except a destructive player culture which took years to dismantle.  

 

To play Devil's Advocate, a drinking culture was quite common at most clubs up to about 15 years ago.  It's only in comparatively recent times in football that attitudes shifted, health and fitness advice was taken more seriously and a more disciplined approach favoured over the "boys will be boys" excuses. 

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1 hour ago, Midred said:

Might be my memory playing tricks but was it McInnes who brought Cunningham in on loan? I think we were playing quite well and were in the top 6 when we had a Wolves moment, as per 2017. Cunningham got crocked through a bad foul and several others were injured and we just lost momentum.

That was during a 1-0 win away to Peterborough and our season disintegrated soon after.

Edit: right game wrong scoreline.

Edited by Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan
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3 hours ago, Super said:

But we played nice football! Four years and he's only remembered for picking a joke of a team in Cardiff.

That Brighton final was the closest I have ever come to walking away from BCFC, that really DID hurt.

Didn't we beat them twice in the regular season as well?

I thought McInnes was a decent bloke and a very intelligent Manager, we should have stuck rather than twisted 'again'.

Edited by Ska Junkie
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1 hour ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

I really liked McInnes and was very disappointed it didn't work out for him here.

He took on a massive job and I thought he was poorly treated by the Board.

He really liked the club and was appreciative of the fans. He was on his own in Bristol for much of the time and I've heard many stories of him being alone in restaurants in Bristol after a game and spending his evening happily chatting to fans.

One story. It was my son's 21st coming up and we sent a card in to the club asking for it be signed by the players and staff.

It was duly returned in good time and we put it aside as my son was going to be away for his birthday.

On his birthday the phone rang at about 7.30 in the evening and a broad Scottish voice asked to speak to my son, claiming to be Derek McInnes and wanting to have a chat and wish him a happy birthday.

Knowing my son to be a joker who often put on ridiculous accents on the phone I assumed it to be him. I laughed and said, ' Derek McInnes? Ha, ha, good try but you've overdone it!'

Anyway, it WAS Derek McInnes, who'd  taken the trouble to note the date and phone up.

Despite my initial incredulity (and inadvertent mocking of his accent) he was then happy to talk to this embarrassed City fan for a quarter of an hour and ended by asking me to pass on his birthday wishes to my son.

Top bloke who should have been a good fit for City and, as I say, really sorry he wasn't here for much longer.

Another story:

Without being too disrespectful to the person in question, but an incredibly low ranking club employee passed away not long after McInnes had been sacked. McInnes and to be fair also I believe Tony Docherty, flew down from Scotland simply for the funeral.

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McInnes had a tough job at City, with the club being in a mess, but he signed some truly awful players too - the likes of Foster, Wilson and Bates. That relegation season started well, as has been mentioned in other posts, but by the time of that Leicester game (was it a 4-0 defeat? It was horrendous, anyway) it felt like Del’s time was up and the crowd had started to turn against him. 

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Remember playing Watford at home who were blowing everyone away under Zola at the time. McInnes parked the bus (much to the disgust of most of the old codgers in the Dolman around me) and Watford didn’t know what to do. We won 2-0. That’s probably the only time I’ve seen a city manager with a far inferior side to our opponent, tactically outdo his opposite number. You wouldn’t have wanted to watch it every week but it certainly stopped Watford from ripping us a new one. I thought McInnes had something about him after that and was excited about what he could do if he could have time to get rid of the overpaid deadwood. Bugs me when our fans say he was useless. The club and squad was such a mess, he was on a hiding to nothing. 

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