Thank You Sean O'd

[fka dagest]

It would be interesting to see how Cotts would have coped if he'd taken over when So'D did, I doubt if he'd have had any success for the first year either, he certainly took over at the right time and was able to build further on the foundations already laid down. I wonder if he'd have been given any longer than So'D was to turn the team around given that many supporters didn't support his appointment initially? The way things happened has worked out well for the club and I think both managers deserve some credit. The main reason we were in a mess in the first place was the succession of poor appointments following Johnson's departure and the ongoing problems we had with the stadium project. The squad So'D inherited was a complete mess, how many of those players are playing at Championship level or better now, only about four I can think of (Heaton, Gherkin, Skuse, Albert)?

 

Both managers deserve some credit?  You seem to imply that the current success is an much SOD's achievement as SC's.  Please tell me you don't really think that.

[Monkeh]

It would be interesting to see how Cotts would have coped if he'd taken over when So'D did, I doubt if he'd have had any success for the first year either, he certainly took over at the right time and was able to build further on the foundations already laid down. I wonder if he'd have been given any longer than So'D was to turn the team around given that many supporters didn't support his appointment initially? The way things happened has worked out well for the club and I think both managers deserve some credit. The main reason we were in a mess in the first place was the succession of poor appointments following Johnson's departure and the ongoing problems we had with the stadium project. The squad So'D inherited was a complete mess, how many of those players are playing at Championship level or better now, only about four I can think of (Heaton, Gherkin, Skuse, Albert)?

he turned round in 2 months what SOD couldn't in 12 months

[One BCFC]

Nicky Shorey who he bought in was absolutely dreadful aswell.

FWIW I was one who didnt want SOD to be sacked, he was 'slowly' turning things around but was too little too late. He did indeed bring In some good players but he couldnt get them playing to their potential. SODs biggest problem is that hardly any of the players were match fit imo.

[Frenchay Red]

Facts don't lie. Results confirm worst manager ever.

[prankerd]

Like lansdown mentioned it was so bad we got excited by drawing 2-2 with Leyton orient...

[AshtonGreat]

You make some very good points...however I'd like to make a point if I may, regarding your last sentence.

 

In short...I think SoD was the perfect fit for our Club at the time, as Like you allude, he got the Club working and thinking differently. What he put in place has enabled us to move forward under another manager. He even alluded to that fact, that the next manager will benefit.

 

I didn't like it when he left, but in hindsight, it was probably the best move.

 

No one expected us to have the season we've had, lets all be honest on that.

 

But SC and KB have added to the quality that SoD brought in and carried on his philosophy.

 

On paper we needed to take that one step back to take two forward.

 

I really believe our Club can make that jump from 'sleeping giant' now...because it's owner woke up and realised things had to change.

 

SoD made those changes as requested by SL and the board. SC and KB have taken it a step in the right direction.

 

Long may it continue.

 

Congratulations for uttering the biggest understatement in history.

[spudski]

Congratulations for uttering the biggest understatement in history.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...and easy for you now to utter the words you have...because none of us thought we'd have the season we've had.

 

In fact, I'd say more people were anti SC when joining, than when SoD did.

 

What is very frustrating, is the fact that many fans purely judge a manager by his results.

 

SoD was brought in to do a job, create a foundation for us to build from. To change the Club....to strip it back almost and start again.

 

He did that...but as we know, results were poor in the first team.

 

After seeing how much work he put in, it's no surprise the first team suffered.

 

The job was huge for one man.

 

I find it hilarious that certain fans think SC just came in and waved a magic wand and things improved.

 

This Club was dead on it's feet and spiralling out of control.

 

Of course SoD had to move on...but if it wasn't for the hard work he put in, no manager would have been able to come in and just concentrate on the first team.

 

Thankfully SC has moved in seamlessly and created a good working relationship with KB...their Recruitment since the January loan window of 2013/14 has been outstanding apart from El Abd.

 

But when I see comments of 'The results don't lie' and 'he was the worst manager ever', then it just goes to show how little understanding some have, of how badly our Club was being run.

 

Some people have no understanding it seems, of how football clubs are run and simplify it beyond all reason.

[Super]

Whatever he did off the pitch performances were dreadful on it, convinced had he stayed the season we would of got relegated. I certainly never saw any of those signs that he was "turning things around".

[phantom]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...and easy for you now to utter the words you have...because none of us thought we'd have the season we've had.

 

In fact, I'd say more people were anti SC when joining, than when SoD did.

 

What is very frustrating, is the fact that many fans purely judge a manager by his results.

 

SoD was brought in to do a job, create a foundation for us to build from. To change the Club....to strip it back almost and start again.

 

He did that...but as we know, results were poor in the first team.

 

After seeing how much work he put in, it's no surprise the first team suffered.

 

The job was huge for one man.

 

I find it hilarious that certain fans think SC just came in and waved a magic wand and things improved.

 

This Club was dead on it's feet and spiralling out of control.

 

Of course SoD had to move on...but if it wasn't for the hard work he put in, no manager would have been able to come in and just concentrate on the first team.

 

Thankfully SC has moved in seamlessly and created a good working relationship with KB...their Recruitment since the January loan window of 2013/14 has been outstanding apart from El Abd.

 

But when I see comments of 'The results don't lie' and 'he was the worst manager ever', then it just goes to show how little understanding some have, of how badly our Club was being run.

 

Some people have no understanding it seems, of how football clubs are run and simplify it beyond all reason.

 

Thanks Sean

 

PS I think you will find it was McInnes who started most of the work you referred to above

[ashton_fan]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...and easy for you now to utter the words you have...because none of us thought we'd have the season we've had.

 

In fact, I'd say more people were anti SC when joining, than when SoD did.

 

What is very frustrating, is the fact that many fans purely judge a manager by his results.

 

SoD was brought in to do a job, create a foundation for us to build from. To change the Club....to strip it back almost and start again.

 

He did that...but as we know, results were poor in the first team.

 

After seeing how much work he put in, it's no surprise the first team suffered.

 

The job was huge for one man.

 

I find it hilarious that certain fans think SC just came in and waved a magic wand and things improved.

 

This Club was dead on it's feet and spiralling out of control.

 

Of course SoD had to move on...but if it wasn't for the hard work he put in, no manager would have been able to come in and just concentrate on the first team.

 

Thankfully SC has moved in seamlessly and created a good working relationship with KB...their Recruitment since the January loan window of 2013/14 has been outstanding apart from El Abd.

 

But when I see comments of 'The results don't lie' and 'he was the worst manager ever', then it just goes to show how little understanding some have, of how badly our Club was being run.

 

Some people have no understanding it seems, of how football clubs are run and simplify it beyond all reason.

 

..and it's the fans who are praising Cotts to the hilt now who will be the first to call for him to be sacked if we have a poor run of results in the Championship. It should be remembered that Cotts appointed So'D as a coach at Forest and Keith Burt worked with both of them there, this must have helped Cotts decide to come here in the first place and make the transition between managers successful.

[Aussie]

200 passes across the back four and smash it up field to the smallest bloke on the pitch. Twas wonderful to watch.

 

In a nutshell that was it.

It was God awful football.

 

I recall Tues nights travelling down, listening to him on the radio talk about passing football, formations etc etc.

 

Then I would watch 90 mins of the most unbelievable crap served up in years.

 

To quota Lansdown in Crewe this season -

 

"I came back from a holiday to find people celebrating drawing two all at home to Leyton Orient. I said right we have to do something now, what on earth has happened to us"

[Aussie]

[REDOXO]

Just when you thought you would never have to read another SOD thread one sneaks up and bites you on the ass!

 

He was right about Flint, Williams, Fielding. Good on him. Wrong about Wynter but he was cheap and we took a punt.

 

Our team looked frightened and over coached by him. This was made worse by Baldock's almost complete failure to convert chances in early season.

 

In summary, he is long gone and what we have is so much better!

[HoldenBall]

Harewood.

 

The guy who missed the ball when it was thrown to him from the throw-in because he was clapping the East End.

 

Talk about just collecting a paypacket.

To be fair to Harewood after the final whistle against the SAGS he celebrated like a City fan. Will always remember that.

[Aaron-Bcfc]

To be fair to Harewood after the final whistle against the SAGS he celebrated like a City fan. Will always remember that.

Marlon Harewood was the best character we had at the club last season. Never seen a player like him, in terms of how he interacted to get the crowd going. Especially as it was during our most difficult time as a club in years. I remember drawing at home to Shrewsbury, the place was dead and then Harewood came on and got the place going again. I remember him very fondly, despite his not so impressive footballing ability.

Great player in his day, mind.

[Aaron-Bcfc]

On the topic of SO'D, I don't think he should be given much credit for the signings last season. In various interviews he was keen to stress that he was just the 'Head Coach' and that Keith Burt had the main responsibility of signing players. As previously mentioned he also publicly criticised the fee we paid for Flint. What a great way to inspire confidence that was:

Cotterill on the other hand, was given the title as 'Manager'. I get the impression that him and Burt very much share the responsibility of signing players, with Cotterill probably having the final say.

[Guest]

[AshtonGreat]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...and easy for you now to utter the words you have...because none of us thought we'd have the season we've had.

 

In fact, I'd say more people were anti SC when joining, than when SoD did.

 

What is very frustrating, is the fact that many fans purely judge a manager by his results.

 

SoD was brought in to do a job, create a foundation for us to build from. To change the Club....to strip it back almost and start again.

 

He did that...but as we know, results were poor in the first team.

 

After seeing how much work he put in, it's no surprise the first team suffered.

 

The job was huge for one man.

 

I find it hilarious that certain fans think SC just came in and waved a magic wand and things improved.

 

This Club was dead on it's feet and spiralling out of control.

 

Of course SoD had to move on...but if it wasn't for the hard work he put in, no manager would have been able to come in and just concentrate on the first team.

 

Thankfully SC has moved in seamlessly and created a good working relationship with KB...their Recruitment since the January loan window of 2013/14 has been outstanding apart from El Abd.

 

But when I see comments of 'The results don't lie' and 'he was the worst manager ever', then it just goes to show how little understanding some have, of how badly our Club was being run.

 

Some people have no understanding it seems, of how football clubs are run and simplify it beyond all reason.

 

What is this mythical 'foundation' that SOD is supposed to have built for us? I'm intrigued. If it was getting rid of the dead wood, er... anyone could have done that. If it was revitalising the youth system, er... only one of those players played in our promotion-winning team. 

 

The truth is that O'Driscoll was an overly deep thinker who didn't have the passion or the energy to transform an ailing football club. Steve Cotterill does, and that's why (or one of the main reasons why) we are where we are now.  

[joe jordans teeth]

To what extent SO'D has contributed to our success this year is a very interesting point, and you can't dismiss the notion out of hand that we owe him some gratitude. It strikes me that:

• After McInnes we needed an overhaul: O'Driscoll did that.
• We needed to clear out a lot of deadwood and sign some good players: if O'Driscoll had not signed Fielding, Flint, Williams and Pack, would we be where we are today?
• We were always going to go through a bad patch as the team was rebased: all clubs in the position we were in do that. It happened after Tinnion, when Johnson had to lead us through a very grim period before we turned the corner, and you can look at a club like Southampton which had to 'take its medicine' in League One before being able to progress.
• O'Driscoll got the whole club thinking differently and, I think, actually thinking more positively as whole. Yes, he appears to have been a poor man-manager; yes, he couldn't handle the media without making a fool of himself; yes, his team was far from attractive to watch; but I believe that if he had stayed things would have improved, even if we would not have got anywhere near where we are now. Don't get me wrong, I think he had to go when he did, but I certainly don't think that we would have been relegated if he'd stayed, and I think we would have still made some progress in the second half of last season.

To sum up, O'Driscoll was not a good fit for the club and could not have lasted, but I don't think we would have won the Division this season without what happened during his tenure, so I think we should thank him for that.

we wouldn't have even been in this league if he was still here

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

we wouldn't have even been in this league if he was still here

Clearly we disagree on that.

[Monkeh]

Clearly we disagree on that.

we wouldn't we would of been relegated by feb the bloke couldn't manage a curry he was a joke and the worst manager/coach this club has every had and will ever have, we were lucky we had so many season ticket holders because in some of those 10k crowds we had last season there were less then 7k in the gate,

such was the damage he did we are lucky we got such a forward thinker and miracle working in SC in to save our season and now give us a team the fans can be proud of,

I thought pulis and osman were bad but SoD made them look like brian ******* clough and bill shankley in comparison 

[GodEmperor Palpatine]

To what extent SO'D has contributed to our success this year is a very interesting point, and you can't dismiss the notion out of hand that we owe him some gratitude. It strikes me that:

 

• After McInnes we needed an overhaul: O'Driscoll did that.
• We needed to clear out a lot of deadwood and sign some good players: if O'Driscoll had not signed Fielding, Flint, Williams and Pack, would we be where we are today?
• We were always going to go through a bad patch as the team was rebased: all clubs in the position we were in do that.  It happened after Tinnion, when Johnson had to lead us through a very grim period before we turned the corner, and you can look at a club like Southampton which had to 'take its medicine' in League One before being able to progress.
• O'Driscoll got the whole club thinking differently and, I think, actually thinking more positively as whole.  Yes, he appears to have been a poor man-manager; yes, he couldn't handle the media without making a fool of himself; yes, his team was far from attractive to watch; but I believe that if he had stayed things would have improved, even if we would not have got anywhere near where we are now.  Don't get me wrong, I think he had to go when he did, but I certainly don't think that we would have been relegated if he'd stayed, and I think we would have still made some progress in the second half of last season.

To sum up, O'Driscoll was not a good fit for the club and could not have lasted, but I don't think we would have won the Division this season without what happened during his tenure, so I think we should thank him for that.

 

This is a very good post for me but one thing I disagree with slightly is that McInnes started reducing an over-inflated wage bill, was changing things behind the scenes and SOD carried it on in his time here. He wasnt a very good communicator in interviews but in his notes he came across as a very intelligent guy with good ideas,

 

One thing I did notice on social media outlets was that SODs popularity dwindled after his interview after the Gas game... He didnt condone the pitch invasion on national TV and all of a sudden he is public enemy number 1. Some of our fans who invaded the pitch that night were an embarrasment to the club.

[bs3]

This is a very good post for me but one thing I disagree with slightly is that McInnes started reducing an over-inflated wage bill, was changing things behind the scenes and SOD carried it on in his time here. He wasnt a very good communicator in interviews but in his notes he came across as a very intelligent guy with good ideas,

One thing I did notice on social media outlets was that SODs popularity dwindled after his interview after the Gas game... He didnt condone the pitch invasion on national TV and all of a sudden he is public enemy number 1. Some of our fans who invaded the pitch that night were an embarrasment to the club.

I watched the interview live on sky.

The interviewer never asked SoD about the pitch invasion but that is what SoD wanted to talk about, he didn't want to talk about the club and the game he just wanted to slag the fans off. It was a highlight after 4 years of pain and dross but he just didn't understand the feelings of the fans. He slagged the fans off not just for the pitch invasion but every other City fans for celebrating beating our local rivals.

Worst manager ever to have at our club , I could make a case for Osman, Pulis , Benny and Del boy but I have nothing good to say about him.

Awful dreadful manager it really saddens me now that he is manager of England U19.

[havanatopia]

Changing the subject Danny Graham, from Newcastle, has just scored his first goal for Sunderland at Goodison. Come on u Black Cats help send the Magpies down.

[Guest]

This is a very good post for me but one thing I disagree with slightly is that McInnes started reducing an over-inflated wage bill, was changing things behind the scenes and SOD carried it on in his time here. He wasnt a very good communicator in interviews but in his notes he came across as a very intelligent guy with good ideas,

One thing I did notice on social media outlets was that SODs popularity dwindled after his interview after the Gas game... He didnt condone the pitch invasion on national TV and all of a sudden he is public enemy number 1. Some of our fans who invaded the pitch that night were an embarrasment to the club.

Before that night we had 3 points from 15, conceded 8 in our past 3 games, we're playing crap and had just followed a toothless relegation where things didn't even flirt with improvement.

I don't think people started turning from that point, it was leading up to that point.

[ashton_fan]

we wouldn't we would of been relegated by feb the bloke couldn't manage a curry he was a joke and the worst manager/coach this club has every had and will ever have, we were lucky we had so many season ticket holders because in some of those 10k crowds we had last season there were less then 7k in the gate,

such was the damage he did we are lucky we got such a forward thinker and miracle working in SC in to save our season and now give us a team the fans can be proud of,

I thought pulis and osman were bad but SoD made them look like brian ******* clough and bill shankley in comparison 

 

So poor that he's now part of the England coaching setup and rated by Brendon Rogers as one of the 'best coaches in the country'. He had his weaknesses but he's had some good success with other clubs in the past, that's why we appointed him in the first place. Didn't work out here but he took over at a very difficult time.

[bs3]

So poor that he's now part of the England coaching setup and rated by Brendon Rogers as one of the 'best coaches in the country'. He had his weaknesses but he's had some good success with other clubs in the past, that's why we appointed him in the first place. Didn't work out here but he took over at a very difficult time.

Where there in lies the problem. Brendon Rogers is another manager who portrays himself and some sort of football guru and by talking in a slow and considers manner he thinks he part of the intelligancia. Where in fact when he loses his best players like Suarez ,Sturridge out through injury and Gerrard who legs are gone he becomes a very ordinary manager.

[Guest]

[AshtonGreat]

So poor that he's now part of the England coaching setup and rated by Brendon Rogers as one of the 'best coaches in the country'. He had his weaknesses but he's had some good success with other clubs in the past, that's why we appointed him in the first place. Didn't work out here but he took over at a very difficult time.

Like you and too many others, Brendan Rodgers was obviously sucked in by SOD's essays. They turned out to be a load of hot air. Awful manager

[Red-Robbo]

So poor that he's now part of the England coaching setup and rated by Brendon Rogers as one of the 'best coaches in the country'. He had his weaknesses but he's had some good success with other clubs in the past, that's why we appointed him in the first place. Didn't work out here but he took over at a very difficult time.

Bloody hell, people always trot out this Brendon Rodgers line.

Did Brendon Rodgers attend many games at Ashton Gate during SOD's tenure?

If so he might have changed his view watching a side unable to take or defend set pieces, unable to pass forward, make runs off the ball, and in many cases even trap the bloody thing. We couldn't even retain possession from throw ins.

As for working for England. This was the set up that had Psycho Pearce in charge and - due to the FA's ineptitude - is the worst performing major football nation. Joining a joke outfit doesn't stop a person being a joke.