Must stay calm this time

[Steve_Mac_Fan]

I honestly believe that apart from the well documented problem is we’ve been too quick to sack McClaren and this is exactly why we need to back Warburton to the hilt now as change again is just not the answer. I think Holloway to McClaren was the right call but we should have kept Steve and if we continue to struggle this season then I think parting with Warburton would have dire consequences for 20/21. I honestly believe we can stay up this year now, 11 wins by early Feb whilst not amazing is solid enough to stabilise our position in the division providing we win a couple here and there and it becomes a big summer. One thing Warburton has done is instilled a clear style of play and religiously stuck to and defended that from inside and outside and it’s admirable. McClaren came in last season and had similar ideas but acknowledged after 4 games that the squad just wasn’t suited to it and changed tact to make sure we were competitive. Under a transfer embargo this was completely understandable as he wasn’t allowed to bring in over a dozen players like Warburton has been (regardless of how much Warburton has spent) Warburton has been able to go back to players who know how he likes to play in Barbet who we have missed badly, Wallace etc. Yes there have been some questionable decisions in Kane and Matt Smith and a tendency to go back for last year’s players for continuity: Rangel, Cameron and Wells but he has stuck to his philosophy in winning drawing or losing and with time we can stabilise in this division and then grow. I honestly believe we would be further on now had we kept McClaren in April. The summer would have been about moving forward after continuity and if we change again I’m sure we will be in the same position next year saying we would be further on with Warburton should we get someone else and I genuinely believe that would be the death knell in our Championship status.

[davieqpr]

Yet despite all the manager changes not one other club has appointed McLaren and Holloway had to buy shares in Grimsby to get appointed and the last time I looked had won 2 in 7. I whole heartedly agree Warburton should be given longer and await the next transfer window to see what changes occur. The squad at the moment is too thin, the 4 loans will have to be replaced plus Cameron and Rangel might be too old .Plus out of contract players and others in the last year of their contracts. Think we can expect quite a few changes again next season.

[SheepRanger]

Doesn't matter what manager you have if the game plan is to get as many points as possible by Dec, cut the playing budget for the second half of the season and try and limp over the line.

Not many managers of quality would work to that strategy either. We need one big player sale in the summer to stop this so we can move forward.

The manager isn't the issue, it's the budget

[FurtiveFox]

Yet despite all the manager changes not one other club has appointed McLaren and Holloway had to buy shares in Grimsby to get appointed and the last time I looked had won 2 in 7. I whole heartedly agree Warburton should be given longer and await the next transfer window to see what changes occur. The squad at the moment is too thin, the 4 loans will have to be replaced plus Cameron and Rangel might be too old .Plus out of contract players and others in the last year of their contracts. Think we can expect quite a few changes again next season.

Agree with this in the main. Both Holloway and SMC were poor appointments. I am expecting another busy summer, maybe not quite to the degree of last year. Then we can hopefully start to work towards some stability.

What has hurt us this year is losing Wells and nothing we could do about that. Strikers are very expensive if even half decent and if we have a loan who does well there is a good chance they will be nicked off us. Somehow in summer need to get at least one decentish striker in permanently and supplement with a loan or two.

Somehow we have to limp over the line and that is not a given. In theory with likes of Eze, BOS and Chair we should have enough spark to get a few wins. We will see.

[Hope & Faith]

I remember Simon Jordan on Talk Sport saying that McClaren 'never really says anything'.

On Sky Sports today, I don't know if any of you saw it, Steve McClaren was offering some analysis. He was very red faced, and spoke with empty words. It was really strange and cringey watching someone with seemingly so much knowledge, saying so little and offering so little insight.

He was rambling and making stuff up.

In Warburton, we have the answer.

I agree with the OP here; now is the time for bravery and calm. The next 18 months will see the fruits of this lean period.

Ive really enjoyed this season, on the whole, and the new blood will see us through; and raise much needed revenue.

[72bus]

Style of play , the continuation of the back 4 passing it between themselves then back to anxious keepers is not what I want to watch , all that does is let the oppo get into their shape . Move the ball quickly to BoS , eze or chair if play breaks down so be it at times it WILL work and it's good to watch

[Joe90]

You've got to read the game. There will be times when the team is in control and we can pass out from the back and there will be others when we need to move the ball quickly up the field. We've got to mix it up. When we've played well the back four have a held the line and we've moved the ball quickly.

Style of play aside, we need to stick with the manager, see what happens over the summer. I still believe the good times are coming!

[Stainrod]

I haven’t heard any calls for Warbs to go and doing so would be crazy anyway considering the club are still paying McLaren a wage until this summer as he had a 2 year contract .

[Steve_Mac_Fan]

Revisiting this now. I have been very silent for most of this calendar year. I have generally become more despondent in the last few months. It’s no secret I am a huge Steve McClaren fan and thought he was a great fit for us long-term. I didn’t think Warburton was a bad appointment at all and the way he tries to play and stays with his philosophy is to be admired I think. However I think the behaviour around the time of the suspension of the league in March and subsequent restart in June started the worry for me. It was still mathematically possible to make the play-offs. We had been playing well but the negativity about restarting with no real forewarning from the FA and timeframe was strange. This was a QPR team that was safe and anything we could achieve between the restart and the end of the season, a real bonus when it looked like at one stage the season might not be completed at all. I don’t understand this stance from Mark, it sent a negativity through the club and I think we’ve been on a downward spiral since then if I’m honest. This coupled with a recruitment issue. I look back to the chance we gave McClaren and he was operating under FFP and Embargo in the January and I was looking forward to seeing what he would have done with the squad in summer 2019, it felt like a big time with Freeman, Bidwell, Furlong, Lynch, Baptiste, Cousins, Pav all leaving in terms of an overhaul and I’m not convinced we have got it right. It must be said a lot players can be linked to Warburton as he has worked with them in the past, Liam Kelly, Yohan Barbet, Lee Wallace, Dom Ball have all worked with Mark in the past namely at Rangers. Some of the other signings were extensions of the McClaren era. Wells, Rangel and Cameron and Hugill (who we wanted ahead of Hemed in summer 2018) all in then there’s been Todd Kane, Ramkilde, Marc Pugh, the little Matt Smith who I don’t think have progressed us. I think recruitment simply hasn’t worked and obviously we’ve lost Eze and I’m really worried about our Championship status now. I was happy to give Mark until the end of the season with a hopefully comfortable league finish and review the situation at the end of his current two year contact but we are plummeting towards the drop zone and whilst it would cost the club money, you have to wonder if we don’t change, the consequences could be more alarming. Interesting to see McClaren going in at Derby alongside Rooney and I think he’s had a huge part to play in their recent unbeaten run. I know the run he went on from when we were 8th on NYD after the 2-2 at Aston Villa was very poor but imagine if we hadn’t have had an embargo and could have made a couple of McClaren signings to try for play-offs. Imagine if Bidwell, Pav, Lynch, Cousins could have been rewarded for the great league form with new deals to help them settle instead of knowing they were probably leaving in June 2019 despite being 8th in the league. We were as good as safe when we sacked McClaren with 7 games to go on April 1st 2019 so should we afford Warburton more time when teams are 4 points behind us now with a game in hand in the relegation zone and breathing down our necks with current form?

[Abseits]

Warburton has been garbage from the get-go. His kamikaze football did work for about 10 games but the leaking of goals was always present and once his style was rumbled by the opposition he has never come up with a plan B. He has been a disastrous appointment - he needs launching ASAP.
I think an experienced lower league manager is way forward, I had the feeling McClaren felt he was "doing us a favour" managing our cruddy little club and he became complacent so he had to go too. Sticking with duff managers has no place in 2020 football.