Questions For The Holy Believers Of The Sod Cult

[chinapig]

To be fair to SOd (I'm daft like that!) all the reluctance to speak of winning and such like, odd as it seemed, is standard sport psychology speak and theory, as used by Dave Brailsford and the British Olympic cycling team. The same approach - separate out what you can directly control and influence(how you train and prepare, selection, substitution, tactics, what you say to the bloke from radio briss) from what you can't (refereeing decisions, opponents strengths, bounce of the ball, direction of wind, fate, lady luck, what the bloke from radio briss will ask you - although he had a good go at the last) - or way of thinking about being successful, if less successful in implementing it. He was naive, though, not to expect people to go, "WTF?!" when he declined to look at the table, or discuss winning and losing, in the face of relegation. Always going to set you at odds with swathes of your own punters, that,

A very good argument I think and I read this week that the Premier League hired Dan Hunt from Team Sky as Director of Elite Performance. The incremental approach British Cycling took was very successful, it goes without saying. I could entirely accept SOD's argument, though he did not always communicate it as well as he might, but I suppose the difference is one of context. Cycling can afford to work in, say, 4 yer cycles. A football manager has to deliver in the short term as well or the consequences can be catastrophic. No sensible person was demanding SOD deliver promotion but nor did we or he expect quite such a struggle so you have to make a judgement as to when the risk becomes too high to continue. That doesn't mean the long term plan has to go out of the window but relegation could make it a lot harder to implement - eg in recruiting and retaining talented youngsters when the club is seen to be in a continuing downward spiral.

 

Personally I never advocated SOD's sacking and I would like him to have had a little more time. But we were rather clutching at straws in the hope that results were about to turn imminently and I can see why the Board did what they did. I can't help thinking that had he been recruited 2 or 3 years earlier....

[tiz]

So many people on here just don't get it.

Those that were backing the manager were doing so, because they realise we need stability and to stop changing managers every few months.

It's nothing to do with SoD or whoever was in charge.

It's the fact our Board panicked again... or that's what they have implied.

The real truth is, SL and some of the board don't get on with SoD, in the same way as they didn't with Coppell.

That's why they got rid of him.

People are annoyed at the Club and not that it was SoD as a manager that has left.

People are annoyed because deep down they know our Board and owner are not the right people to take this Club forward.

They maybe friendly and passionate and have put loads of money into the Club... but they have failed time and time again.

Could not agree more re why I was sticking with Sod and also go along a litte with yourvpoints about the board

[The Right Honourable Les Q]

A very good argument I think and I read this week that the Premier League hired Dan Hunt from Team Sky as Director of Elite Performance. The incremental approach British Cycling took was very successful, it goes without saying. I could entirely accept SOD's argument, though he did not always communicate it as well as he might, but I suppose the difference is one of context. Cycling can afford to work in, say, 4 yer cycles. A football manager has to deliver in the short term as well or the consequences can be catastrophic. No sensible person was demanding SOD deliver promotion but nor did we or he expect quite such a struggle so you have to make a judgement as to when the risk becomes too high to continue. That doesn't mean the long term plan has to go out of the window but relegation could make it a lot harder to implement - eg in recruiting and retaining talented youngsters when the club is seen to be in a continuing downward spiral.

Personally I never advocated SOD's sacking and I would like him to have had a little more time. But we were rather clutching at straws in the hope that results were about to turn imminently and I can see why the Board did what they did. I can't help thinking that had he been recruited 2 or 3 years earlier....

I think we are in agreement here! I didn't want him, or yet another coach sacked, but didn't want to be bottom four, or relegated again either. Rock and a hard place? Perhaps SOd could have been a little more pragmatic, a little less "clever clogs," to start with, but I don't think, for one minute, he imagined that group of players would take so long to win the first game.

Momentum seems to work both ways, sometimes. For Bradford, upwardly; for us....

[Red-Robbo]

I have a question for the advocates of Sean O'Driscoll and his "long-term" approach.

 

Much of his rep rests with his spell at Doncaster, where he took a team that had been in the conference a few years earlier and guided them to the second tier. Of course, once up there, they look pretty mediocre and every season is a bit of a battle against relegation. He finally got the push at Donny after a long string of winless games.

 

Now, surely, according to the SOD is GOD mob, he'd have started off with a team that would struggle to adapt to his "modern" thinking and radical coaching ideas and then he'd have created a footballing side that would have been very successful. In fact, the opposite occurred.

 

Why?

[chinapig]

I think we are in agreement here! I didn't want him, or yet another coach sacked, but didn't want to be bottom four, or relegated again either. Rock and a hard place? Perhaps SOd could have been a little more pragmatic, a little less "clever clogs," to start with, but I don't think, for one minute, he imagined that group of players would take so long to win the first game.

Momentum seems to work both ways, sometimes. For Bradford, upwardly; for us....

Hammer found in close proximity to head of nail.

[BS34Red]

A bit like a lard arse not looking at scales, but plenty of time looking in the fridge.

One question though, you don't think it helpful knowing whether the next team you are playing are top or bottom of the league?

As someone said below it doesn't really matter because you should always prepare the same if your playing top or bottom.

Looking at their recent form scouting their last few games etc is more helpful than looking at a league table. A glance at a table doesn't really give you a picture.

Tbh I couldn't tell you where Preston are in the league, only knew where orient are in the league cos everyone says their leaders. Apart from then I couldn't tell you where any other team is.

[Aizoon]

A bit like a lard arse not looking at scales, but plenty of time looking in the fridge.

One question though, you don't think it helpful knowing whether the next team you are playing are top or bottom of the league?

Interesting analogy. You're aware that nutritionists warn overweight people against looking too much at the scales?

It leads to fad and crash diets that often produce weight gain in the long run. A sensible diet is a much more productive approach.

[BS34Red]

Interesting analogy. You're aware that nutritionists warn overweight people against looking too much at the scales?

It leads to fad and crash diets that often produce weight gain in the long run. A sensible diet is a much more productive approach.

So we as a club need to go on a sensible diet? Maybe that's where and went wrong.

[Aizoon]

So we as a club need to go on a sensible diet? Maybe that's where and went wrong.

Difficult with Lindley's as caterers