Lee Trundle - Under the Cosh

[tin]

2 hours ago, Riaz said:

I could not disagree more.

League one we are a massive club. Championship is where we are tested. 

21st in the champ is better than any finish in league one. 
 

And we saw Cotts struggle in the championship. 
 

Even when things were bad under GJ we were still usually top half of the table 
 

 

I don’t buy that at all, but you’re entitled to your opinion and I respect that. 

That Cotts side was the best I’ve seen and had SL not pulled the plug on deals for Maguire and Gray, I would not have been at all surprised if we’d have matched or bettered GJ’s achievement. We’ll never know, sadly. 

I had some great times under GJ, not least Palace away in the play-off semi. But the club had outgrown him IMO and just like his boy, he allowed costs to spiral out of control. 

[ralphindevon]

I look at GJ’s tenure almost as an outsider as I wasn’t a season ticket holder and didn’t even live in the country for any of it.

One thing that stuck in my mind was the motivational quotes he put around the changing room, which he then got made up from hand written bits of paper to proper printed cards. He was so proud of them but you couldn’t help think that kind of thing had a shelf life and once you’d read them 50 times then what?

But that playoff season was great and I loved my trips back to watch City that season, even Wembley was hugely memorable and I’m glad we got there despite the result. 
 

Edit. Oh and as it’s a Lee Trundle thread, I loved watching him play, in fact I remember coming back for one game, may have been Sheffield United away, and spent 15 minutes before the game watching him warm up with a ball at his feet. Comfortably the best part of the afternoon for me. 

Edited March 26 by ralphindevon

[38MC]

7 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

The biggest issue I have with GJ is the mess he left when he went.

He did exactly the same at Yeovil second time round.

Zero foundations. 

I don’t think he left it in that bad a state, but maybe my memory is playing up. Just looking at the squad we finished his reign with, it looks alright on paper. Just fast forward to the god awful transfer window we had after he left and there lies the mess  signing the likes of Damien Stewart, Nicky hunt, David James and martyn woolford to name just a few on long term deals that hamstrung the club. 

He left a decent nucleus and I’d say the only losses we had going out the door were Orr and Hartley (and Sno, but criminally underused him and that is a stick to beat him with).

The state if anything was SL pissing off Coppell, and Coppell buying shite 

Edited March 26 by 38MC

[W-S-M Seagull]

11 hours ago, TV Tom said:

Struggle to see how anyone can say he wasn’t a success, but like 99% of managers he ended up getting the sack

He got the sack because he turned us into to a team that was going down. Losing 6 nil to Cardiff should have been the end of him here. 

Losing a play off final isn't a success. Getting us into the Championship was granted. 

 

[TV Tom]

23 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

He got the sack because he turned us into to a team that was going down. Losing 6 nil to Cardiff should have been the end of him here. 

Losing a play off final isn't a success. Getting us into the Championship was granted. 

 

Not quite my point, I don’t dispute that his time was up though after that Cardiff debacle

[Shauntaylor85]

13 hours ago, tin said:

I remember hearing the hat story around the time it happened and that summed up my opinion of GJ’s management style. It worked in the lower leagues, but he couldn’t manage the better players’ egos. His boy is cut from the same cloth. Both awful man managers. 

How they carved a career in football is amazing. Good luck to them, never saw the talent personally. 

[nebristolred]

In the context of the fact that we would have been happy just to stay up that year, reaching the play-off final (even though we lost) absolutely was a relative success.

[Riaz]

1 hour ago, tin said:

I don’t buy that at all, but you’re entitled to your opinion and I respect that. 

That Cotts side was the best I’ve seen and had SL not pulled the plug on deals for Maguire and Gray, I would not have been at all surprised if we’d have matched or bettered GJ’s achievement. We’ll never know, sadly. 

I had some great times under GJ, not least Palace away in the play-off semi. But the club had outgrown him IMO and just like his boy, he allowed costs to spiral out of control. 

How can it be the best side you’ve seen when the same team were woeful the first half of the next season? In the championship?

Edited March 26 by Riaz

[W-S-M Seagull]

27 minutes ago, nebristolred said:

In the context of the fact that we would have been happy just to stay up that year, reaching the play-off final (even though we lost) absolutely was a relative success.

So if Ipswich blow promotion this season then that should be seen as a success because at the start of the season they didn't think they would go up? 

Bonkers. 

Expectations are fluid. 

We blew top 2 and then lost the final which we should have won. That can't be considered a success. 

It's a decent achievement to go from league one to championship play off final within one year but its not a success. 

The fact we are supposed to consider these failings a success is exactly why we are known as 'little Bristol City' who are happy to accept mediocrity. 

[ciderwithtommy]

Funny how the true highlight of trundles career, objectively, was under Gary Johnson. I actually thought he got better  second half of his first season, started playing as part of a team, which makes it a shame he mentally checked out on us. 

[Ron W]

1 hour ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

So if Ipswich blow promotion this season then that should be seen as a success because at the start of the season they didn't think they would go up? 

Bonkers. 

Expectations are fluid. 

We blew top 2 and then lost the final which we should have won. That can't be considered a success. 

It's a decent achievement to go from league one to championship play off final within one year but its not a success. 

The fact we are supposed to consider these failings a success is exactly why we are known as 'little Bristol City' who are happy to accept mediocrity. 

In the wider context, yes. Being second after 30 games doesn't mean you're good enough to be there after 46 games. That's exactly what we found out when the momentum started to ebb away in the second half of the season.

[W-S-M Seagull]

34 minutes ago, Ron W said:

In the wider context, yes. Being second after 30 games doesn't mean you're good enough to be there after 46 games. That's exactly what we found out when the momentum started to ebb away in the second half of the season.

My opinion is if you don't go up then its no more of a success than finishing 18th for example. Both teams will be spending another season in the Championship. 

The problem was that other clubs strengthened and we didn't. 

[One Team]

6 hours ago, ciderwithtommy said:

Funny how the true highlight of trundles career, objectively, was under Gary Johnson. I actually thought he got better  second half of his first season, started playing as part of a team, which makes it a shame he mentally checked out on us. 

I thought that too hearing him talk about his career, his time with us was the peak. As good as he could be I thought he came across as pretty unprofessional. 

[Roe]

6 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

My opinion is if you don't go up then its no more of a success than finishing 18th for example. Both teams will be spending another season in the Championship. 

The problem was that other clubs strengthened and we didn't. 

That's ridiculous

[2015]

16 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

The biggest issue I have with GJ is the mess he left when he went.

He did exactly the same at Yeovil second time round.

Zero foundations. 

This is why I find it very hard to really be a massive GJ fan. You're correct

[Silvio Dante]

6 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

My opinion is if you don't go up then its no more of a success than finishing 18th for example. Both teams will be spending another season in the Championship. 

The problem was that other clubs strengthened and we didn't. 

So…

By that logic can I deduce that you will be happy with Liam Mannings performance this season and stop calling for him to be sacked? After all, by that logic the progress Nige was making is no more a success than Liam will deliver come May, and even if Liam had delivered the fabled top six, it wouldn’t matter without promotion as that would be no more of a success than finishing 20th.

The truth is that success is relative and depends on the base and resource. By that measure, GJ was a success as he outperformed his resource level in that first season. Same way as if Luton stay in the prem it will be a success, if Plymouth stay in the championship season one it will be a success. 
 

Its relative.

[Robbored]

21 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Can't agree that Gary was an "awful" man manager. You don't squeeze what he did out of a limited group of players, taking them to the top end of the Championship if your man management skills are poor.

His methods were old school and I agree had a ceiling, much in the same way someone like Cotterill did.

If we're looking at who maximised the potential of their careers, then let's not forget Gary made the most of his, but there's a reason Lee Trundle certainly didn't. 

Absolutely right Kid - a one trick pony who suffered from ‘little man’s’  syndrome and his man management style eventually got him sacked.

[GrahamC]

9 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Absolutely right Kid - a one trick pony who suffered from ‘little man’s’  syndrome and his man management style eventually got him sacked.

If only you’d told us this before..

Three of the 5 best placed finishes since 1980 were all under him. So in his 5 years he achieved this & promotion after inheriting the shambles Tinnion left him.

Let’s find another “one trick pony” soon because no one else has achieved what he did since the great Alan Dicks.

[Robbored]

4 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

If only you’d told us this before..

Three of the 5 best placed finishes since 1980 were all under him. So in his 5 years he achieved this & promotion after inheriting the shambles Tinnion left him.

Let’s find another “one trick pony” soon because no one else has achieved what he did since the great Alan Dicks.

If only you’d had told me that before Graham…………

[GrahamC]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

If only you’d had told me that before Graham…………

Really irritating facts, aren’t they?

[spudski]

I enjoyed watching that. 

For all the ' negatives' mentioned by Trundle about GJ in his time here, it's worth noting how many times Trundle mentioned that he was wrong in his reaction to GJ, and that he should have dealt with the situation differently. 

There speaks a man who's matured and realised it wasn't so professional. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and comes with experience and maturity. 

Which imo, is why we need experienced older heads in the squad. To speak to and educate the younger less experienced players when things don't go accordingly to how they expect. 

We need experienced leaders in the squad on match day and whilst training. 

You don't want to hear it from just the coaching 'hierarchy '...you need to hear it from the players as well. 

Otherwise it becomes a them and us situation. 

[Son of Fred]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

Absolutely right Kid - a one trick pony who suffered from ‘little man’s’  syndrome and his man management style eventually got him sacked.

Get over it, Robbo..

[Northern Red]

12 hours ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

How they carved a career in football is amazing. Good luck to them, never saw the talent personally. 

[The Journalist]

2 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Really irritating facts, aren’t they?

I've had to put him on ignore. I just couldn't go through it anymore, so you're a better man than me.

[GrahamC]

Just now, The Journalist said:

I've had to put him on ignore. I just couldn't go through it anymore, so you're a better man than me.

So have I but occasionally his nonsense gets through (especially if others quote him).

[The Journalist]

Just now, GrahamC said:

So have I but occasionally his nonsense gets through (especially if others quote him).

Every time I see him talking about Gary Johnson in a thread I picture myself holding you back in a bar shouting "it's not worth it Graham, the bloke's an idiot".

[Ian M]

GJ was definitely a bully though… I heard he made the then Chairman of the Supporters Club soil his pants in his office too.

[CodeRed]

39 minutes ago, Son of Fred said:

Get over it, Robbo..

He can't 

[robinforlife2]

If anything, all this video shows, was Trundle's attitude stank, had no respect for the club. He enjoyed being the big man in league one, and wasted himself here. He can say that he didn't take to Johnson etc, but the fact is, he knows he didn't want to graft, work hard for his place, and when he didn't get his way, threw his toys out the pram. Yes, he was a good player, but he took the royal out of us. 

[Wedontplayinblue]

3 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Really irritating facts, aren’t they?

Robbored doesn’t like facts, it’s probably his memory in old age to be fair, everyone starts to forget the truth.