Dean Holden interview about his time here

[bpexile]

On 27/10/2022 at 22:16, Davefevs said:

That is so true.

Quite likely the right answers from the other candidates weren’t what MA / JL wanted to hear!

Who's this JL you mention Dave ?

He's been invisible of late (well, even more so).

[bearded_red]

Good way of outing yourself as not having watched the last couple of months of his reign if you try claiming we weren’t in total free fall.

We we’re getting absolutely battered every single game. Couldn’t even manage a shot or a corner sometimes, let alone a goal. For the xG nerds among us there were games where we were racking up figures such as 0.02
 

Even in the McInnes/O’Driscoll relegation season I have never seen a team that gets so utterly outclassed game after game. Was really impossible to believe you were watching two teams in the same division most of the time.

Edited October 29, 2022 by bearded_red

[The Humble Realist]

I think it was a complete holding appointment  until people knew more about how covid would impact finances etc. Dont forget when he was appointed no one had any idea when fans would return etc. In the end it was over 12 months. Was pre vaccines etc.

Point is...I think the club thought 'we wont go down' so it's a risk free appointment until we know more.

Obviously  if he had turned out to be amazing it would have been happy days!

Unfortunately...we may well have gone down but then by that point we were 6/7 months further into the pandemic and in came Pearson and ultimately we were fine .

What was particularly depressing that season is we had bottom of the league form for the last 42 matches of the season. I think we got 41 points (we won the first 4 I think). This effectively gave us a false league position for about 80% of the season as it turned out. To any neutrals we never looked in too much danger but to the fans we went through bottom of the league football, during a covid lockdown in the winter watching Robin's tv tell us all how great we were. 

A time I'm happy to forget both in and out of football. 

All this being said, as people have said Holden was very likeable.  Mainly because of his honesty which was so refreshing after LJ. Perhaps he was a bit too honest at times but I'm not sure many managers who had such a poor record would be as liked as holden was. I think we all wish him well. 

 

[Davefevs]

51 minutes ago, bearded_red said:

Good way of outing yourself as not having watched the last couple of months of his reign if you try claiming we weren’t in total free fall.

We we’re getting absolutely battered every single game. Couldn’t even manage a shot or a corner sometimes, let alone a goal. For the xG nerds among us there were games where we were racking up figures such as 0.02
 

Even in the McInnes/O’Driscoll relegation season I have never seen a team that gets so utterly outclassed game after game. Was really impossible to believe you were watching two teams in the same division most of the time.

As per my post at the bottom of the previous page, I believe that a big part of the reason for our decline (yes, we were struggling) was injuries.

Much as I liked 5122 it was heavily dependent on a few players…who got injured, long term. Players like Sessegnon also getting injured meant Hunt played through injuries.  Even Mr Reliable - Tommy Rowe - lost form and then got injured.  It also highlighted that certain players can only perform when others take the strain, e.g. Nagy, but when they aren’t there to take the burden, he couldn’t raise his levels.

I do think Dean was a bit naive in certain things, and he really could’ve done with a Nige figure helping him.  I don’t think he got the support he deserved.  Having said that I wonder how he’d have coped with the post-Covid budget constraints that Nige has.

If he’d have been able to put out:

                    Bentley

         Kalas Mawson Baker

Hunt           Williams             Dasilva

           Weimann Paterson

                  Wells Martin

most weeks, we’d have done ok, swapping in Sessegnon, Rowe, Moore, Massengo, Nagy, Diedhiou, Semenyo, O’Dowda, etc when required.  The players in bold were barely available, if available at all.  Paterson, Martin and Dasilva missed large chunks too.  Yes, shit happens re injuries, but it showed up the lack of true quality and character beneath the starting eleven.

Instead we ended up with a shadow of that team, playing 433 and players going through the motions due to contract situations, not helped by a gossiping CEO.

Edited October 29, 2022 by Davefevs

[Mr Hankey]

Anyone who claims that Holden laid some foundations for Pearson is absolutely off their tits, gimme some of them shrooms!

[chinapig]

53 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

As per my post at the bottom of the previous page, I believe that a big part of the reason for our decline (yes, we were struggling) was injuries.

Much as I liked 5122 it was heavily dependent on a few players…who got injured, long term. Players like Sessegnon also getting injured meant Hunt played through injuries.  Even Mr Reliable - Tommy Rowe - lost form and then got injured.  It also highlighted that certain players can only perform when others take the strain, e.g. Nagy, but when they aren’t there to take the burden, he couldn’t raise his levels.

I do think Dean was a bit naive in certain things, and he really could’ve done with a Nige figure helping him.  I don’t think he got the support he deserved.  Having said that I wonder how he’d have coped with the post-Covid budget constraints that Nige has.

If he’d have been able to put out:

                    Bentley

         Kalas Mawson Baker

Hunt           Williams             Dasilva

           Weimann Paterson

                  Wells Martin

most weeks, we’d have done ok, swapping in Sessegnon, Rowe, Moore, Massengo, Nagy, Diedhiou, Semenyo, O’Dowda, etc when required.  The players in bold were barely available, if available at all.  Paterson, Martin and Dasilva missed large chunks too.  Yes, shit happens re injuries, but it showed up the lack of true quality and character beneath the starting eleven.

Instead we ended up with a shadow of that team, playing 433 and players going through the motions due to contract situations, not helped by a gossiping CEO.

You make a fair point Dave but I maintain that the key problem was culture, something Dean didn't have the experience or authority to handle. Nor was he in a position to challenge Ashton's interference.

Nigel identified the culture issue immediately and has addressed it, ruthlessly where necessary. And let's say it was probably just as well Ashton was already half way out of the door when Nigel arrived!

[Sheltons Army]

Dean laid the foundations for Nigel Pearson ...

 

[Davefevs]

6 hours ago, chinapig said:

You make a fair point Dave but I maintain that the key problem was culture, something Dean didn't have the experience or authority to handle. Nor was he in a position to challenge Ashton's interference.

Nigel identified the culture issue immediately and has addressed it, ruthlessly where necessary. And let's say it was probably just as well Ashton was already half way out of the door when Nigel arrived!

Very true. 

[Mr Chappers]

On 28/10/2022 at 21:57, Bris Red said:

With all due respect how anyone can say they thought Holden was the ‘right’ appointment really is a baffling one.

As has been said on this thread he has reverted back to type as an assistant at Stoke and has applied and failed to get jobs at clubs much smaller than ours. 
He seemed a nice enough guy but he was another woeful appointment by the Lansdown family.

Sorry that our opinions clash. I liked the idea of a young management team with fresh ideas, coupled with the continuity aspect, and didn’t go along with the ‘Experienced Manager’ bandwagon. As I recall, it was Hughton being demanded… Dodged a bullet there. 
All opinions