WaggehThe impression I got was that he was pretty popular with our away fans but was never really given a chance at home.
Was still a very small number of people vocally on his back at home from the beginning though.
He failed because he wasn’t very good at his job, but I can’t see too much issue with those quotes specifically, not interested in semantics between some fans or all from someone who isn’t great at communicating as we know.
HackneyBlueWaggehThe impression I got was that he was pretty popular with our away fans but was never really given a chance at home.
Was still a very small number of people vocally on his back at home from the beginning though.
He failed because he wasn’t very good at his job, but I can’t see too much issue with those quotes specifically, not interested in semantics between some fans or all from someone who isn’t great at communicating as we know.
This is the problem, really.
He's not a great communicator & he tends to have a generally downbeat demeanour - these are not great attributes for a manager.
I think the fans were pretty reasonable on the whole - despite not really wanting him in the first place.
The fact that Tony has been able to get the team winning (& playing) again in the period since he left, seems to suggest that the problem was more with him than it was with the players.
Nothing he says is particularly critical of us. The attitude to him was pretty hostile. Not quite Beale levels, but not far off. Substitute scouse for cockney as well.
It’s a pretty realistic take. He says time to move on, fair enough.
fradgeHackneyBlueWaggehThe impression I got was that he was pretty popular with our away fans but was never really given a chance at home.
Was still a very small number of people vocally on his back at home from the beginning though.
He failed because he wasn’t very good at his job, but I can’t see too much issue with those quotes specifically, not interested in semantics between some fans or all from someone who isn’t great at communicating as we know.
This is the problem, really.
He's not a great communicator & he tends to have a generally downbeat demeanour - these are not great attributes for a manager.
I think the fans were pretty reasonable on the whole - despite not really wanting him in the first place.
The fact that Tony has been able to get the team winning (& playing) again in the period since he left, seems to suggest that the problem was more with him than it was with the players.
I think your idea of the word ‘reasonable’ is pretty different to mine. Though the notion of reasonable in football has changed quite a lot.
HackneyBlueNothing to argue with there really
Yeah, I agree. What he is saying is fair and accurate.
At the games he was largely supported, I wouldn’t use this site or social media which is pure toxic as a measure of the levels of support he had
The Hull game was pretty weird but we had an awful start in that game which didn’t help.
Leeds away things turned very toxic but with the games before that, in particular stoke, it was inevitable. His spell in charge of us was dreadful
Robert HopkinsI don't think he was popular with anyone. He was supported better by the away fans despite not liking him, as they didn't see the point about being negative about it as it wouldn't help the team.
this
i didnt like him but wanted him to do well for the club
My Blue HeavenAt the games he was largely supported, I wouldn’t use this site or social media which is pure toxic as a measure of the levels of support he had
The Hull game was pretty weird but we had an awful start in that game which didn’t help.
Leeds away things turned very toxic but with the games before that, in particular stoke, it was inevitable. His spell in charge of us was dreadful
Mate, I heard a lot of abuse toward him at games starting from about ten minutes into the Middlesbrough game.
And the Hull game he had people screaming at him that he was a c..t and should eff off back to America.
Even the game at Cardiff which we played well in and won, there were loads of people screaming abuse.
For whatever reason, there were a lot of people not having him from day one.
I couldn't see too much to argue with there - he wasn't exactly 'lashing out', was he? I think he's right in as much as that he generally wasn't wanted by the fans, particularly as we'd just won the last couple of games, and he's a bit of a 'marmite' character anyway. False position or not, that was the position at the time and a lot of fans were annoyed at the applecart being upset for someone to be parachuted in as a 'mate' who hadn't had the best managerial record anyway.
The hostility was there (on social media at least) from day one, and only increased. I think that the club did give him a hospital pass with the manner and timing of his appointment, but I didn't thin that Rooney ever looked as if he wanted to be here either. He wasn't the best communicator, and his demeanour was definitely downbeat. It seemed to be one of those appointments that was destined never to work.
Although I thought it was a poor appointment at the time, I still felt sorry for him coming into the type of abuse that he got at the Hull game. Nothing against him at all - it's evident that it's shaken him and I hope that he manages to overcome it and carve out a managerial career.
I've just listened to it, he seems torn between taking responsibility and using excuses. Started off by saying he can separate him as a player from him as a manager and "starting right off from the bottom" well, you haven't really, you got the Derby, DC and Blues job. None of these are "starting at the bottom" jobs at all.
The comment on the fans not accepting him is bull too. It's fair to say that he wasn't immediately accepted, though he seemed to understand why and explained the last 10 years, JE being well liked, the scars from Zola, so he gets that. But it's like he heard the minority at the Hull game and chose to ignore all the support he had from then on which was about as good as we can give with the results we were getting, probably better than most clubs would give. I'd argue if he wasn't Wayne Rooney he would've had less support.
Also says he wants his next job to be stable as his first 3 weren't, Derby and to an extent DC I get, but we're a stable club now. That excuse doesn't wash with me.
And says he had "one coach too many". Wonder if that was Cole he was talking about? But even still - that is a terrible excuse.
Bemoans not getting the January window, well, you have to get more out of what you have to earn that window. Mowbray's only used 2 new signings (Pritchard not being counted with his 45 min cameo so far) and picked up far better results and largely better performances; I get the impression WR wanted a whole new team.
Yet, at the end, Neville asks if he feels let down and he says no, disappointed but it's how you come back from it (etc etc) and then goes on to say the owner was fantastic.
He seems torn. Hope it works out for him but he needs to take on more responsibility and learn from his mistakes better to make it IMO. No particularly hard feelings from me though. - wish him well elsewhere.
From memory it was handfuls as opposed to the entire fan base? I remember quite a lot of people wearing Rooney masks and carrying a Rooney flag to his first away game?
I’m not saying he was universally loved but I think he’s responsible for his own downfall. Results and performances go a long way to how a fan base feels about a manager and he completely failed.
Yeah I think there were decent numbers who never gave him any support right from the start to the end. Rooney seems to understand why but it's not purely down to us being 6th and him replacing Eustace. Had Mowbray come in at that time, there would be people who were unhappy but I think he'd have won them over eventually. Nice interviews, walking over to the fans at the end of games and so on are nice but ultimately, it all comes down to performances on the pitch and it wasn't anywhere near good enough under Rooney.
No I don’t think he’s lashing out either, I think it’s a reasonable interview and I can’t see anyone going on there and saying “ perhaps I’m just a crap manager” in fairness to him
I wanted him to workout but I was never convinced it would bar a decent period against Ipswich we looked like anything but comfortable with his plan. Telling players they would be gone wasn’t necessarily the right approach either, not in the way he did it anyway
come on guys put yourself in Rooney's shoes...there is no way on earth you could come away from your time at the club and think the fans had accepted you
that's fair enough thing for him to think and feel...it doesnt mean he's absolved of criticism though
SpikeMy Blue HeavenAt the games he was largely supported, I wouldn’t use this site or social media which is pure toxic as a measure of the levels of support he had
The Hull game was pretty weird but we had an awful start in that game which didn’t help.
Leeds away things turned very toxic but with the games before that, in particular stoke, it was inevitable. His spell in charge of us was dreadful
Mate, I heard a lot of abuse toward him at games starting from about ten minutes into the Middlesbrough game.
And the Hull game he had people screaming at him that he was a c..t and should eff off back to America.
Even the game at Cardiff which we played well in and won, there were loads of people screaming abuse.
For whatever reason, there were a lot of people not having him from day one.
There was also a lot of pro-Rooney chanting at Cardiff.
Straight after we scored and throughout the second half.
I thought the anti- Rooney shouting was mostly grumbling that we weren't playing very well in most games,
Not many managers could go on a run like that and be popular.
It was clear that there was an anti-Rooney element from the start. If we had done ok they would have accepted him, or at least kept quiet after a game or two. I don;t think he could easily have reached Mowbray levels of popularity, but the vast majority of fans wanted him to do well as you'd expect.