Sorry if this has been flagged in one of the 732628 threads, but there's an article with some insight into yesterday's events on The Athletic today: [theathletic.com]
For those too tight to take out a membership:
- Rooney was shocked; lots of open comms between he and Cook, no hint that faith in him from above was waning
- Players told ahead of training yesterday; news was greeted with surprise, but relief by a few
- The squad had felt the sacking of Eustace had been unnecessary.
- Rooney wasn’t unpopular with his players, despite the results and some strong public criticism of them from the manager. Criticism of their mental strength, ability and personal pride had stung a few.
- Like many great players who become managers, Rooney had become increasingly frustrated when his players seemed unable to do what he found simple and second nature on the pitch
- Rooney not overly hands-on in training, with most work left to Carl Robinson and O'Shea. Rooney took a watching brief and intervened when he saw something he wanted to tweak or press home.
- Cole worked on set pieces.
- Squad surprised Rooney didn't do more with our attacking players 1v1
- Rooney struggled to get the rest of his group fully on board with the game plans, which frequently changed as he simplified them again and again.
- Eustace felt that a switch to no-fear football was too soon for a young group of players that were just getting used to a way of playing he felt was best suited to them
- Rooney quickly realised they weren't ready to play out from the back with high full-backs.
- Before Christmas, Rooney invited media to watch training to show them that players were capable and they just weren't replicating it in matches
- Whilst some players wanted to push on, there was a sense that others were coasting along
- Many staff members at the training ground disappointed Rooney has left
- Cook spent yesterday assessing options, but no immediate decision is thought to be occuring.
- Cooper and Potter mentioned, but dismissed quickly.
- We won't go back for Eusatce
- Lee Carsley gets an interestingly long write-up
- "England under-21 head coach Lee Carsley could be a candidate that ticks many of the boxes. Born in Birmingham, the 49-year-old has played and coached at the club in the past and would be popular with the fans. The way his young England side play is also in line with the club’s vision and he has experience coaching young players. Cole also works with Carsley in the England set-up."
Don't say I don't do anything for you.
No thanks, Carsley would be a bigger step backwards
He has just won a European Championships - I can't believe we think we can be overly dismissive of somebody with that on their CV.
ChrisHe has just won a European Championships - I can't believe we think we can be overly dismissive of somebody with that on their CV.
Southgate got to a final and a semi yet I still wouldn’t want him anywhere near us.
I have nothing against Carsley, but I do feel he’ll get a lot of time from the fans because “he’s one of us”
One addendum to that is I believe Shuttleworth walked yesterday
Yea he has but we also need to be realistic and look at the calibre of players he has available.
He won’t have that here. I think Lee is doing a great job but I don’t think BCFC is right for him currently, or us.
El Mayor🧹One addendum to that is I believe Shuttleworth walked yesterday
TrickyBlueChrisHe has just won a European Championships - I can't believe we think we can be overly dismissive of somebody with that on their CV.
Southgate got to a final and a semi yet I still wouldn’t want him anywhere near us.
I have nothing against Carsley, but I do feel he’ll get a lot of time from the fans because “he’s one of us”
My memory of Carsley as Blues caretaker was an awful drab 1-0 win against Sheff Wednesday and a pummelling at Hull. We were awful.
Different players and a long time ago, obviously.
One think I'd add is that he'd have fairly decent access to some of the brightest talent in the country, with clubs and the players themselves trusting him to handle them. Whether that's on loan or picking up people who leave PL clubs etc.
I'm not massively for or against him, but think he's worthy of consideration and if he impresses in the interviews then who are we to say he's not good enough..
Thought this was a good piece from Ronay of The Guardian:
[www.theguardian.com]
I think there will be many on here that don't like it but some of what he says is right on the money, IMO.
The Athletic article makes a lot of sense. Players were getting used to Eustace; owners wanted faster change and it backfired.
Ronay is making out the club to be starry eyed. A small club not sure what it wants to be. Not taking it seriously.
Staggeringly bad press for Cook and Knighthead all this.
KESRonay is making out the club to be starry eyed. A small club not sure what it wants to be. Not taking it seriously.
Staggeringly bad press for Cook and Knighthead all this.
You would take that viewpoint. I'd say they are ambitious for the club, but tried to run before they could walk. It happens, only bad press in your eyes I'd guess.
Some good little chunks of info in there.
Interesting that WR had no idea he was about to be sacked, if it was the away fans that sealed it for him then bravo.
Think Carsley could of had the job a few times couldn't he? Don't think he wants to manage day to day.
Still not convinced Cook and Wagner have not got someone/a few lined up - There were snippets of info about us tapping up Cooper last week or the week before and the noise is still fairly loud on that, think he is who we are after, however the rumours of it being done seem extremely premature.
Would hope that we are trying for Cooper/Potter in the first instance, then work our way down the list to Hassenhuttl and Mowbray.