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Careful what you wish for
With the defeat to QPR on Saturday there has been much debate online as to whether Lee Clark is the right man for the Birmingham City job. With just two home wins this season and a gap that is slowly closing between Blues and the relegation trap door is it time to move on from the Clark era?
I know there seems to be this thing online where people are either “Clark apologists” or “doom merchants”; the apologists are seen as happy clappers who are ignorant in the face of adversity whilst the doom and gloom merchants are seen as unsupportive and as, well, doom and gloom merchants. I don’t feel I belong in either camp – I think Clark is a limited manager at this moment who has made many mistakes but I also think he’s been forced to operate at times with both hands tied behind his back.
One of the most obvious things about the defeat on Saturday was the sheer gap in quality; many of QPR’s players wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Premier League whilst one wouldn’t be surprised to see some of Blues playing in League One. How are Blues to compete in the Championship with a surfeit of quality on their books?
I think I should make it clear that I’m not disparaging players for the sake of it here. I’m sure that most if not all of them try their hardest but the simple fact is many wouldn’t have got into the Blues team of two years ago – and I think it’s a marker of how far Blues have fallen that we are so reliant on these players now.
What worries me more is of the starting eleven only four are contracted past the end of the season (Randolph, Caddis, Spector and Adeyemi). If you add the subs bench you’ve got a further two – Novak and Shinnie and there is an option on Olly Lee. A quick run through the current squad list reveals eighteen players who are out of contract at the end of the season; three of the older players out on loan also are out of contract. Thus Blues are going to have to do a massive rebuilding job again at the end of the year – and with things as they currently stand they won’t be able to offer more than 5k per week to any player – we will be without a doubt the lowest wage bill in the Championship. One would think that if we don’t get relegated this year without investment or a sale we definitely will next year.
I spoke to a friend in the media about this yesterday and the upshot of the conversation was if Clark walked (and I wouldn’t blame him if he did in honesty), who really would take on the poisoned chalice that is the Birmingham City hotseat in its current condition? A severe lack of finances, loanees that are now pure raw recruits and having to sign out of contract players looking for a way back into the game – it’s not the recipe for a fun start to any management career.
I guess what I’m trying to say is at this moment, be careful what you wish for. For all the thoughts that Clark could do better, if he walked we could be left in deeper schtuck, with the Blues board potentially promoting someone like Robbo to the job as a measure of desperation. It could get worse before it gets better.
Tags: Lee Clark
181 Responses to “Careful what you wish for”
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No brainer, Clark has to stay. Owners have caused this demise, they have to go-not Clark. How to get rid of them, no idea?
Bruce, McLeish (He orchestrated ninth place and the League Cup win-not Yeung) & Hughton all pulled the pin rather than work with the Yeung regime – give Clark credit for doing a workmanlike job in difficult circumstances.
Agree with the article and this comment. Clark deserves the chance to show what he can do in better circumstances if they ever come. The tinkering is frustrating but it is probably born of frustration. With a poor squad and players being much of a muchness it is hard for Clark to know what his best team is. Good players perform consistently week in, week out but the clalibre of player we have now turns in a good performance and then is poor next time out. Lee is typical of this; a lower division import who can occasionally look Championship class but only occasionally. He would probably not even have been a squad player a couple of years ago.
He’s shown what he can so ‘in better circumstances’ at Huddersfield. He couldn’t get the best out of his team but the next manager did
I’m afraid we’re a poor quality ( depleted ) squad , with a poor quality manager , who to his credit is doing his best , tinkering about with the players available , but his lack of real football nous is being hidden by his ‘circumstances’. I don’t actively criticise him these days because to be quite honest , it’s pointless.
We also (obviously ! ) have an extremely poor quality ownership that is slowly killing the club , and until that is sorted, forums such as this are just an outlet for all of our ever growing frustrations.
No one will force this board out until they want to go and/or get the opportunity to make one last ‘payday’ on their inevitable departure. Whenever that is , it is already too late to keep us in touch with the top two tiers.
Staffsblue , I’m sorry mate , but after tomorrow’s Burnley result , you’ll have to join the doom mongers such as myself……
The value of the whole squad of players is probably well short of a million pounds, so the value of the club, in total, is very low. Those idiots in Hong Kong have a lot to answer for. If and when they do sell the club, their losses will be astronomical. But, more importantly, us bluenoses have suffered the biggest loss. !
He just has to stop the tinkering unless it’s caused by injuries just keep to the set up where we have had the best results & stick to it no matter what.
My thoughts exactly…..he needs to start picking a team and stick with it. Every week we see a completely different line up that he picks to counter the opposition. LC is doing well in a difficult circumstance granted but surely he can see that his current negative approach at home that I would speculate cost him his job at Huddesfield and is imo our undoing at home, needs to be changed. Pick 2 strikers and play them up front; Ziggy and Macheda (not a bad pair for the Championship) and put balls in the box,…we will at least win the odd game. How many players has he brought into the first team, they do well and then just dissapear out of contention again; Howard, Arthur, Ferguson, Brown, Riley, Rusnak, Grey and now Hancox??
To be fair Stan, Hancox is out through injury otherwise I’m sure he’d be a regular starter. I agree about the others though.
Absolutely right. I think, when fit, Hancox is the first name on the team sheet. Clark loves the lad and his Bluenose spirit. I think if he could find 11 like Mitch, they’d be in the starting XI every week. Plus, we don’t lose when he’s in the team. Shame he’s going to be out for most of the rest of the season. We’ve missed him badly down the left flank.
I only threw Hancox into the mix as Kevin Broadhurst insinuated during his commentary last weekend that Hancox was NOT injured….though I’m going on what my old man said there as I didn’t hear that myself….
If he’s not injured, why would he be out for 6 to 8 weeks? He’s had ankle trouble all season.
I take what Broadhurst says with a pinch of salt.
Absolutely right… Stop the tinkering and give the players a clear style and shape to play. The owners may have created the unenviable job circumstances of being the brum manager but the tactical inconsistencies and inexplicable selection choices other than injuries are down to one man… LC. His chopping and changing of personnel must confuse the heck out of players. Guess the older heads just shake their heads in disbelief whilst the youngsters just get confused and disenchanted. One week they are remarkable talents the next week they are dropped !!
While I accept that he doesn’t have an easy job, sometimes he doesn’t help himself with this chopping and changing he keeps doing. Each week the starting XI is a lottery.
He is a passionate manager, it’s just sometimes I can’t see the reasoning behind his choices.
Perhaps its that word reasoning that sums it up. LC is no doubt extremely passionate but I’m not convinced he’s capable of well reasoned consistent decision making.
there wouldnt exactly be a que to the bull ring for a quality replacement would there so
stick with lee for now till the end of the season and see where we are and take it from
there…were stay up ime sure so dont panic unless yeovil, barnsley, charlton and
millwall all win and we loose tommorow….then you can panic!!!!!!! DNM & KRO.
Charlton have pulled the plug on powell.
Yes Clark has made mistakes but they are honest mistakes, he is trying to find a winning side with very meagre resources. You can’t take the QPR match as a benchmark, we’re not comparing like for like. As Dan says they had a lot of Premier League quality players where as we have youngsters, loanees and freebies. If they were quality do you think they would be playing for us?
We have no choice but to let Clark carry on and hope he can keep us up. Next season doesn’t bear thinking about if there is no change in owner.
QPR is not the bench mark – the bench mark is that we have won 2 games all season at home…and they were back to back at the end of Sept!! 6 homes games to go and he’s still tinkering!
Yep that’s the bench mark. Burnley next and they aren’t exactly big spenders but look what a good coach has done with their squad. Dyche clearly inspires his team with confidence whereas LC demonstrates a lack of confidence. Just hope we get lucky and get the monkey off our back .. the the home form hoodoo that is !
Agreed positive manager- come on LC – we all want you to succeed, but give us someting to shout about at home. None of us expect to win tomorrow so just go for it, play 4-4-2 with 2 proper wide men (and by that i mean wingers – NOT NOVAK!) putting in early crosses……who knows we might have something to get excited about for a change!!
Hi Dan,
I don’t think you meant to say a “surfeit of quality”. More like a large deficit.
Yes it’s definitely a dearth of quality rather than a surfeit at the moment unfortunately.
changing our manager wouldnt make an ounce of diffrence to results, theres 13 games left
and a new manager aint gonna change much because he cant.. lets hope were still here
next season and can start again with new owners in the championship..hopefully!!! KRO.
sorry i meant 12 games left.!!!!.
I agree with all of this but we are heading for relegation and Clark seems unable to pick the right team or to motivate them to win (or draw) home games. There are plenty of experienced managers out there who are not working at the moment and need to put themselves back in the public eye. They would get lots more out of this squad of players, keep us up, and do their own CVs a power of good in the meantime.
With The Charlton Manager getting sacked and the Leicester Manager getting promoted this season.. will that leave Clark as the longest serving championship manager?
Gary Johnson of Yeovil was appointed in Jan 2012, six months before LC, although he could also be heading out of the Championship at the end of the season. Even though LC has been in the job three months short of two years his stint is already longer than 67 other managers in the 92 clubs. That’s an astonishing statistic.
I’d like to think it was for the footballing side of the club, and taking the club forward, the only reason the statistic sounds so good is purely the fact we can’t, or couldn’t afford to sack him or pay him off. If we did we couldn’t afford to bring anyone qualified to do such a difficult job better.
KRO+DNM
It is a very true [ but sobering thought ] that we face this conundrum. Well documented that we are leaderless, [ board level ].and penniless hence the lack of exiting talent available to choose from amongst our players.
Lee Clark, is unfortunate that he did not get a grounding under the tutorlidge ,of a senior manager to learn his trade on tactics. but we have to respect his trying and enthusiasm to do his best.
As pointed out, — No one much better out there who would step in to do his job and no money to add quality to the team.
We have to keep sucking the lemon and praying hard, Methinks.
Whilst I would hate to see us go down it might not be the disaster we all fear. The club would be able to use more of the younger home grown players but more importantly the value of the club will plummet. If as it has been said there is no appitite in Hong Kong for investment in to anything associated with yeung then surely the asking price falls. The club will be pretty much in the the same state as it is now only with less overheads and the expensive wage earners gone. I desperately hope we stay up but if we don’t it may not be a disaster .
It is a difficult situation.
For me, the question is: Are there other managers out there who would be prepared to come in, that we could afford and that would have a better chance of keeping Blues up with the existing squad? There’s also the question of LC’s severance pay.
If PP and co do decide that it’s time to ring the changes, I hope they do their homework beforehand and don’t end up with the kind of shambles Wolves went through when they sacked Mick McCarthy.
As for next season’s prospects, I’d be interested to see the working behind your £5k max calculation, Dan. With eighteen players (including some dead wood) leaving, no more Zigic, Ambrose, and Lovenkrands, I’d have thought (or is that hoped?) the budget was a little stronger than that.
theres a few grounds in league one i havent been to so that would be a challenge and
quite enjoyable as we would be the big fishes of that division. but seriously theres no
way we will go down surely to god if we can just get a win at home, maybe tommorow
when everyone will expect burnley to turn up and turn us over we might just get that
bit of luck and sneek 3 points and suddenley everyone feels a bit more optemistic and
not so pesemistic but lets all prey till the end of the season. DNM & KRO.
We are simply a non league club based on our transfer dealings, Clark has got no chance next season if we stay up this season, club is a joke being run by people with absolutely no knowledge or interest in football whatsoever, they are there simply to make themselves rich and one day everybody will realise that, we are going absolutely no where but down
As others have said Clarke has been forced to operate with both hands tied behind his back, but this hasnt stopped the tinkering with the teams that have played well, a player being injured or loss of form I can understand not being chosen to play, but change for the sake of formations that have proved to be ineffectual ?, we were warned by Huddersfield fans how and what his methods were,the continual tinkering with teams, yes they went on a long run without defeat, they had players that were good for the standard of the league they played in, their only player of note was sold [Jason Rhodes},our players of note have been sold off, their replacements freebies ,I do not dispute their willingness or efforts but their skills are not Championship quality.
The Idea of making Robinson manager is laughable, I cast no doubt on his ability to manage but before you can run you have to learn to walk,Clarke learned how to crawl before us now its tottering time, Beale and Watson have more ideas of management if the promotion from with idea takes root
A good analysis Dan, as always, but I must disagree on the ‘Who would take on the poisoned chalice’ bit. The fact that it is widely seen as the ‘job from Hell’ is precisely why an up-and-coming manager would take the job. For a new guy it’s always going to be a win-win situation. If he fails, no-one would blame him, it wouldn’t be held against him at all, so low we have fallen (and look set to fall further).
If, however, he were to succeed and managed to arrest the decline, and maybe even reinvigorate our squad, he would be widely applauded as the man who turned around an obviously failing team.
-and that is what we are needing right now, a turn-around specialist (not a liquidator) such as business has been using for years. For the person with all the attributes we need, leadership, drive, strategic thoughtfulness and the ability to spot ‘the moment’, this challenge would be meat and drink.
Whatever you think of Clark, he is not delivering in the situation we now find ourselves in. Leaving him in place is no option, we are sliding towards League One and beyond. At some point we have to arrest this decline and turn things around, so why wait until we are relegated before acting?
Dan
There are only 92 manager jobs in the league.
There are thousands of wannabe managers so don’t think there would be an issue getting someone to replace Clark, even if a small budget.
That said if nothing changes re finances, agree that next season will be dire.
I would of sacked Clark after the Barnsley 5-0 and still hold by it. The board don’t want to pay him off, ergo he stays regardless.
I have been following this blog for some time and have not really felt the need to comment. However, recently there has been a tendency for a range of negative comments, often appearing in the form of “my complaint is better than yours”. In short ,there have been very few positive remarks. For example, the observations about the flag last Saturday were mainly neutral to say the least. It is about time to encourage those who are trying to create a less hostile atmosphere at the ground and the flag was one attempt to do this and better than the “get them out brigade” Weeks of abusive comments are not going to achieve anything, except provide some sort of self-satisfaction for those writing them
Dan,
I think you are sitting on the fence with your view on Clark so assuming you were the new owner with £10m to spend to get us out of this league would you trust Clark to achieve promotion?
The problem is not with the manager but the owners. It’s like a Formula 1 team manager being given Nissan Micras to compete in races. LC has done a great job is poor circumstances. We’d be firmly rooted to the bottom of the table had he not used is tenacity and contacts to obtain the loan players we have now. The root cause is with Yeung who has demonstrated that his prime motives are financial greed.
I think everyone understands the root cause and you are absolutely right but Clark’s record in his first season at ST was not good and yes I’m aware we finished strongly but for most of the season we struggled because he would not play a settled team….sounds familiar.
if Clarke did leave/dismissed i would go for Dean Smith at Walsall, look at what he is achieving there with no backing in the transfer market from his chairman, and according to Martin o”connor the smallest wage budget in league1.
Spot on! I’ve said to my dad (another die hard blues fan) someone like Dean Smith would be the ideal replacement should we get rid of the clueless Lee Clark In all my years of being a football fan and regulary listener to BBC WM I’ve never heard so many walsall fans phoneing up WM to beef up there manager. There are some gems in league 1 in terms of managers just look at Rosler at Wigan there on role under him I went to the DW on boxing day (not long after Rosler took charge) and wigan were awefull now look at them. I believe Clark will get us relagated this season if we don’t act now. It breaks my heart to see that inept manager with the toothy grin on his face because he can’t believe his luck that he’s manager of a club of our stature. I’ve stoped going to home games because of Clarks lack of a game plan, the fact it doesn’t matter what team we play there key players ALWAYS hurt us, the dire brand of football (just look at the possesion stats of most games) and last but not least Clarks baffling team selections/tactics it’s like watching a six year old play football manager. This home form is hurting the club finacially we’ve lost on average 3,000 to 5,000 supporters on the average home match day since he’s taken charge and I don’t have the faith or the vision to see how Clark will turn this around. God I hope I’m wrong but anything but a stuffing tommorrow will be nothing sort of a miracle.
Dean Smith? Nooooooooo – he’s a viler: he’d do his utmost to get us relegated :)
I don’t really think thats much of an issue it’s not like we are the bedsheet brigade from across the express way we’ve had countless players from villa or ex villa players in the past five yerars. Davies, Gardner, Ridgewell, Fahey all were fantastic players for us and apart from Fahey all now play in the premier league week in week out. I don’t see Dean Smith deliberatly sabotaging his own reputation because of old rivalry’s it would be a step up for him and a great (if not simular to Walsall) opportunity.
Just to see a settled side would help performances.Why does Clark keep changing the team and formation?I Agree his hands are tied but it is what it is now.All i heard from Clark after QPR was how good Morrison was.
Yeah you might have thought he’d have known about Ravel before the game and then made a team selection to stop him being the playmaker. Instead he opened the midfield for him to show his style.
I think Clark will leave in the summer, Terry Mac & Derek Fazack’ going was a pointer, they are a team.
The uncertainty over everything will be too much, he was asked at the recent Rover forum what team would we have on the pitch in August and of course he couldn’t answer.
The 5k wage cap will make things impossible in terms of persuading players to sign / resign.
I agree that LC has had to work without any help financially from the owners.
Some of the loans he has bought in have been more than adequate at this level, Burn and Bartley the stand outs for me, both can’t get into their respective teams struggling in the Premiership.
the current crop don’t seem to be that bothered, Macheda looked promising but seems to have fallen into the malaise that seems to be gripping the squad.
Only someone who is desperate to erectness their career, Warnock or Atkinson would even remtely consider the job at Blues, or, a lower league manager who would see it as a challenge and for the extra cash it would earn, I believe LC is on about a £900K p a, some say more some say a lot less, but CH was on considerably more.
Though I believe we will be safe this season, we need financial reassurances for the start of next season. Come the summer I feel a lot of season tickets will not be renewed early, sponsors and media will be looking at reduced deals along with the corporate contracts, this combined with renewing of any contracts will see BIHL in deep mire.
Though it has to be the very final straw but, unless a financial package, either the sale or from the Blues Trust, can be arranged then Administration is the only option to move the club forward.
Taking it early in the summer will give us a fighting chance of getting a saviour to invest before any deadlines and also, overcome the statutory 10 point deduction.
I do feel that LC will be poached come the summer or even earlier now that Powell has been sacked from Charlton.
KRO+DNM
POACHED???? IN the words of a well known tennis player you can not be serious,
A club like Charlton with a shoestring budget would look at someone with LC’s reputation in the loan market and use to working with nothing would certainly consider him, Blackpool were interested, they seem to be in freefall at the moment, so a short term fix could work, promise the earth, short term contract bye bye come the summer.
One thing about football is there are no guarantees, as we keep hearing “It’s a results business”, if we had someone at the helm then I think we would have joined the “change your manager” league, for better or worse is again, a lottery.
I doubt Fergie, Mourinho or Wenger could have done any better with the limited funds, maybe better motivators, maybe a more settled team who knows, we have LC, either until someone has the bottle to sack him, he walks or yes, he is offered a better deal somewhere else, that could include the conference league.
To quote Jimmy Greaves, for those who remember him, “It’s a funny old game”
KRO+DNM
Poached ??????,,, even the idea is half baked !!
The new manager of Charlton will be a foreigner. Probably Belgian.
Maybe Staffs, but a small club like Charlton on a shoestring budget might be looking for someone with LC’s experience in the loan market and dealing in cheap contracts.
KRO+DNM
I think their new owners have already made their minds up about the new manager (Jose Riga.) Charlton will just be a feeder club for Standard Liege from now on. All their best players will be shipped out to Belgium probably. That’s the sad state of our game now.
Poached ! It won’t be on the basis of his excellent Home Cooking ! We can only hope he is poached but he might have cooked our goose before he goes anywhere!
‘erectness’? I assume you meant resurrect :)
I certainly did, not sure how that happened because I can’t blame Auto-correct or predictive text, Might have been a LC moment and decided to jumble them all together and see what comes out…
Similar to LC, he gets all the fit players and jumbles them up into some sort of formation, if it looks odd or lop-sided he puts that in a bag then it is the best of three to see who is the lucky team members to join him for a game of cards for best position.
My 5 year old grandson picks better teams than LC, maybe he could become his new assistant, he is cheap too, anything with spider-man and a couple of crayons, one fruit shoot max a week, he insists on a bedtime story, no matter what time he goes to bed. At least he knows what he wants, and is consistent.
KRO+DNM
not long ago many of these players were good finds by lc and
even novac was our best player..in Lee Clark i see a manager
who is deep in frustration with players that have played well
away from home one game and rubbish the next at home
hence the constant changing…I see many young players being
picked for their country so who is right …for me there is too
much chopping and changing ..i would go for older players
with younger players coming on later unless the older ones
are not doing it .but we must get behind the team ..kro
Lee Clark deserves a medal, and the freedom of the city. What he has achieved is nothing short of a miracle. Last season, we were how far from the play-offs? This season he has had to rebuild after Christmas, yet we are still “heads above water”. I can’t think of any other manager better placed to keep us in this division next season. He has demonstrated beyond doubt his ability to motivate players. And how often do you hear him moan about the situation he has to deal with?
Football success is all about players, the better the players the more successful the team.
How do you get better players? Only 3 ways. Either buy them or produce them via the youth system or obtain players on loan.
Lee Clark has been successful in producing teenagers from the youth team and obtaining loanees, but has been unsuccessful or unable to buy players.
Until Clark has been able to pay transfer fees for players, which seems a long way off, I am reserving judgement.
Can anyone tell me, has the Media company paid up yet?
Apologies if this has been covered, but i don’t recall seeing anything!
No — see Dan’s earlier post.
And if you believe they were a real media company then we’re going to win the league.
if the attitude tommorow is anything like the comments weve had on here today, and i
include myself in that, it will be another miserable, down beat performance from both
the team and the supporters and were be beaten before a ball is even kicked in anger.
lets play a 4-4-2 and see what happens against burnley…besides 3 points what else
have we got to loose?………randolph, caddis, packwood, martin, robinson,burke, huws,
adeyemi, rusnak, novak, macheda. DNM & KRO.
I’d go for that team. Why don’t you send it to Clark, he’d only make about 7 or 8 changes !! Ha!
I spout off on hear, like many others do, but I go home and away and am just as frustrated, if not more so, than Clark, simply because I am not paid but do pay to watch this mis-match of a season.
Burnley will be no different from me, I will groan and clap and hopefully have something to cheer too.
The only fault with you line up Dave is a little lop-sided down the left. Formation is fine, but is Rusnak the right player and who is going to link with him with out leaving us exposed as we were against QPR?
Maybe Ibe could be wide on the left with Novak and Macheda as lone striker, in a 4-3-2-1
KRO+DNM
The only places I’d differ with you dave, is out on the flanks. I think Caddis leaves the right hand side too exposed when he attacks, because Burke doesn’t drop back to cover. So I’d play the more defensive-minded Spector at right back. Playing Robbo at left back these days is suicide… so I’d go for Blackett, with Ferguson in front of him and Robbo at centre back. We need to stop Burnley’s raids down the wings.
I wouldn’t disagree with the rest of your team.
Being a long way from the action makes an opinion based only on what I read and pick up from other posters etc but for sure the tinkering week after week with the selection is very obvious and had me rattled as well,LC has had the obvious injuries and the long term injured are known to all but he gets to me with his praise and talking up a player appears to play him once or off the bench for a spell then not at all for a match or two,his period of leaving Burke out was done because he said he could only play a certain way and not the particular method at the time I think he missed about 4 games,not sure about Elliot but most early reports seemed to say he always gave it110% which is what CLARK wants from his players but I believe he is with Bristol Rovers now.
So for me Clark try’s to be too smart and he just does not have the playing staff to mess around as he does,as with other posters despite his problems I’m sure a settled team for even 4 or 5 games would do the world of good,other than this I take my hat of to him,he has the guts of his own convictions has’nt ever complained to my knowledge and really deserves better support from the owners is I believe a 7 day a week kind of guy who in the big picture really puts in and deserves good local support if nothing more to the seasons end KRO,
Is Clark on a rolling contract or does he have a fixed term? If it’s a rolling one then Pannu can just bide his time and say ta-ta once the contract is up, that would solve the problem of severence pay wouldn’t it. As for LC and his tactics it’s been all a bit Football Manager, what works on a screen or back of a fag packet doesn’t translate into reality and given that he doesn’t know what his first eleven is at this stage is worrying to say the least. Players need a decent run in the side to generate form, they can’t do this if they’re in and out of the side from one game to the next. I won’t be upset if he leaves, to be honest, but if he’s here at the start of next season then it’s up to us Bluenoses to get behind him and the team from the off.
Dave, Clark is on a rolling contract which means that Panuu cannot bide his time. A rolling contract renews itself every day and thus always has its full term to run. Ron Saunders was famously the first manager with such a contract at Villa and later at Blues.
it will be interesting when lee clark finally leaves brum and get another job if he will appoint mcdermont and fazackerly. becauese i still think it came from across the water the decision
i may be wrong
although we have a team of triers there is still a lot of deadwood …. doyle ,allen,lovenkrands,ferguson ,greene.zigic….. although i,ve applauded clarke for giving our youth a chance ,i do think its time to change when we get new owners. but not before . terry butcher would be one to think about ….. has anyone else heard the rumour of a graham souness led consortium ?
Dave, Clark is on a twelve month rolling contract you should know that, we cant get rid because we cant afford to pay him up.
ffs. Make no mistake Birmingham City FC is a very famous club A club plenty of managers would love to manage even in the present circumstances. Some of you are blind utterly blind, Dan why do you sit on the fence so much? you have intimated plenty of times that you dont think Clark is good enough for gods sake say so.
I have to agree this club is still seen as a big managers job, ye the circumstances are very difficult at the moment but still think that there would be a lot of people applying for the job if it was available. Lets remember clark was out of work at the time after geting the sack at huddersfeild we didnt poach him because of what he did there. Agree that we also wouldnt be able to tap a lower league club up for another manager who we might want on what there achieving now because we don’t have the finances, but there ways round that. I mean how many managers do you see resign then straight away take up another vacant job, might not be the right way about it but that how football works. If clark can get the performances away but not at home that is his fault for me. I will give him the credit he deserves for the away form but also the deserved criticism for the shocking and most awful home form in our clubs history. As much as we slated mcleish for the boring football in his team everyone knew there job/position/tactics which brought continuity. I would be amazed that if in clarks tenure he has named the same time 3 games in a row. The huddersfeild fans said he was a tinkerman that changed tactics and personal every game and signed constant midfeilders, why would that change if he did have money backing him? It wouldn’t only this time instead of wasting wages (ie. loverkrands, ambrose, mullins) he would also be wasting transfer fees, and coincidently he had a large transfer budget at huddersfeild and he still didnt get them up. Football can be simple game but clark doesnt half make if hard for himself, think hed make a good youth team manager but other than that he his and his stats will back this up a very below average manager.
Tony – its called balance mate. You want to try it some day
Sorry Dan,
I have to agree with Tony on this one-think you’re sitting on the fence and being a little PC.
So I ask the same question as before-if you were the new owner with £10m to invest in new players for a crack at promotion to the premiership,do you think Clark would get us out of this division.?
I think if we had ten million we could afford a better manager. But then again, it my auntie had bollocks she’d be my uncle, its a nonsense question
Now THAT’S more like the Bluenose humour I remember. :))
I think that’s a no then Dan,
i said a few games into lees apointment that i thought the job was to big for him, maybe it is
i dont know for sure but he deserves to see the season out regardless of what league we
end up in….if we stay up, great and can look forward to next season if we get new owners
if relegated, deverstation but were have to get on with it with or without new owners or
manager.DNM & KRO.
Im getting a pain in my chest and its doing my head in,
i know hoe you feel Tony, all true blue noses are suffering heart ache and head ache pains
at the momment particuly on the home front, ive been lucky where away games are concerened
ive been to yeovil WON, huddesfield WON, barnsley WON, bournemouth WON, blackpool WON,
so pretty good on the away front but these last 13 home games have been a nightmare and its
been depressing to whatch, lets hope tommorow brings a ray of sunshine into our black days
and a well overdue 3 points at home. DNM & KRO.
With Powell’s departure, LC is now the the 3rd longest standing manager in the Championship. The stability brought to the team amidst all the off-field turmoil is admirable, and he’s obviously trying to change our current situation by modifying his backroom team. With Ziggy gone in the Summer, I’m putting my faith in him. He’s worked wonders so far.
Quote from The Telegraph last Friday sums it up for me;
“If Clark can guide the club to Championship safety, against a backdrop of such chaos, he should be in the running for Manager of the Year.”
Don’t often agree with much in the Torygraph but they are spot on with that !
Its not even a ‘moot point’.
Lee Clark has done an amazing job.
You sir are an agent provocateur or a pratt not sure which at the moment lol
Tony, Frankie is entitled to his opinion as are you. No need the insult the guy as he must also think that you talk bolloks and are also a pratt.
I truly despair at some of the bollo expressed in other forums, thankfully this one is pretty sound, with reasonable views expressed.
I do think Lee Clark has a huge future in the game, hopefully for a few years at Birmingham City, with a proper supportive board.
Blues does seem to have more than its fair share of doughnut supporters but A Mc says, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
this isn’t a forum ;)
Lc hasn’t really been able to build his own team as he would want
so he cant really be forced to fall on a borrowed sord as it were.
as far as in concerned he is an unproven manager for blues but that’s not his fault
I think that’s an excellent point. Not once since he’s been at the club, has he been able to Create a proper team… and when he’s been on the way towards it, he loses half a team and has to start again.
I don’t think Lee Clark is perfect by any means – some of his team selections leave even me baffled at times – but at the end of the day, as much as I think I know about football, he’s in the game doing it every day of every week, so he knows more than I do. I think the last 2 seasons have been down to 25% bad decisions and 75% bad ownership. If it was the other way round, he might have a chance.
If the Birmingham City Managers job is such a poisoned chalice , & Clark such a great manager why hasn’t he resigned & moved on to bigger & better things ?
Lee Clark need the fans to back him. NOT moan and suggest we get him out. He,s had little to no backing from the (owners) & Board…With what he’s had available should be put forward for Manager of the month every month just for keeping the club out of relegation
I don’t ever remember calling him a great manager (when did we last have one of those anyway?) He’s about 20 years away from being a great manager. I think he’s a good, up-and-coming young-ish manager, still learning his trade. I’m convinced he’ll go on to bigger and better things one day.
20 years away from being a great manager….!!!
Jose Mouriniho is a great manager , & Clark will never be a Jose
.
No one will ever be a Mourinho. Only Mourinho will ever be a Mourinho. None of us, not even you with all your undoubted wisdom, knows what kind of manager Lee Clark will become in 20 years time. I doubt Mouriniho or even Ferguson would have been “great” without millions of pounds to chuck at the job.
At the end of the season, if Clark moves on (for whatever reason) I’ll give him my thanks and best wishes for the future. Then I’ll give any new manager my full support, like all the others before (yes, even the ones I didn’t like.)
I think we have all said that if LC keeps us in the Championship he will have had a successful season.
I am still of the opinion that we will finish mid way, relegation is not in my remit, anymore than it is in LC’s.
Finish anywhere above the bottom three will be fine, a run like we saw towards the end of last season and everyone will be wanting play-off tickets.
The summer now has to be the time for several factors t happen, the main being substantial team investment, whether that is LC is up to whoever is pulling the strings at BIHL and BCFC. That will determine season ticket sales, sponsorship deals and any media deals along with new contracts negotiated.
It is also the time for any action to be taken by the relevant supporter groups, they need to work in unison and make their voices heard in the right places, namely Hong Kong and the Football League, it will be our duty as supporters who want change to support such actions in any way shape or form.
Until that moment lets stop arguing and slagging off, at £10 a ticket tomorrow night, get down there and make some noise, support the team and LC in the final home matches regardless of the results.
KRO+DNM
Clark doing a wonderful job sadly without alot of money at the moment…….
Oh dear another one disappears from charlton…… And out come the clark beaters lets stick the knife in…….. Tony you really need to see the doctor god help him lol
Sorry to say what ever clark’s team he does pick tomorrow there will always be a section say he should chose this formation. Again its the players on the pitch who need to solve the home form, making the correct decisions..
Cut out the individual mistakes,pass the ball correctly to your fellow player, stop the opposition from scoring eg giving teams one nil head starts, play with confidence, and most importantly take your chances when they come, finally kill teams off so they cant get back into the game. Worked for me on fifa 14 lol
An average manager doing a good job in one of football’s toughest jobs. We won’t do any better than Clark at the moment.
KRO+DNM
How many teams has Lee Clark had to build a team since he has been at Birmingham, 2,3,4? And then maybe another one during the summer! It is a complete joke, the laughing stock of the Championship and the blame lies with Carson and everybody connected to BIHL.
The other teams who have had this kind sh*tty ownership and having to sell all their best players every year, are Portsmouth and Coventry… and look at where they are now. At least Clark has kept us in the Championship. Hughton wasn’t daft, he saw the writing on the wall, he knew he couldn’t do as well again, that’s why he f***ed off.
Agreed staffsblue……
LC has to go Spector for Caddis did it for me when the midfield is so weak
Reality check time folks.
That Charlton team on a “shoestring budget” get higher gates than we do, they have a crowd that creates an atmosphere and now have an owner with at least some money.
15 teams in the Championship have higher gates than us, 2 teams in League 1 have higher gates than us.
We are no longer a “big” club except in our own minds. We will soon be the club with the lowest wage budget in the Championship, that is if we don’t go down this year, and even in League 1 would we really be considered big boys any more?
Unless we get rid of our Chinese criminal owner we will soon be at the point where we will only be a dream of being as big a club as Charlton or Yeovil for that matter.
“Make no mistake Birmingham City FC is a very famous club A club plenty of managers would love to manage even in the present circumstances” Would this be the same long list of high level managers that we had to choose from last time , and we got LC .How on earth has the situation improved since then?
Come on you rags ..lets prove all these doubters wrong you
dont need to dribble round four players to get the ball in the
box to score just get it there and force it home .you are not
wearing a pink kit any more .you are the power ..get out on
that pitch and rip them apart .playing for birmingham city is
the stepping stone to fame .take no prisoners you are thr force
your family awaits the fans await show us all he who dares kro
I can give Lee Clark credit for being committed, for working hard and for signing great up and coming loanees and for away form. So plus 4.
The minuses are tinkerman, an unsettled side, no consistency, players left out in the cold without reason, no obvious tactics, poor home form. Shall I go on??
The negatives outnumber the positives by around 2 to 1.
Therefore if we lose these next 2 games its time to act before its too late in my view.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the forum with Lee Clark the other week, so I’m wondering if anyone brought up these points, “an unsettled side, no consistency, players left out in the cold without reason, (apparently) no obvious tactics, poor home form.”
If they did, what were the answers/reasons? If not, what a chance missed.
Is the team rotation anything to do with players appearance money? Blues paying peanuts as a basic so incentives on appearances, however Blues being coy freezing players out Zigic Burke etc
I feel its out of LC hands most days, instructions from above….
Maybe one day, when Clark is no longer at the club, the truth might come out about what’s been going on behind the scenes. I think we might all be shocked.
To be honest Staffs, as much as I want new owners I am actually dreading the day they move in.
When G/s/g moved in they found a far worse state of affairs than was first feared.
This will be even more serious and I fear more for Administration once BIHL are history, if they don’t take us there first.
KRO+DNM
Well, the sooner they’re gone, the sooner we can get on with building the club back up. That’s what I think Chris. Like a toothache, it won’t go away until you’ve ripped the bad bit out.
I hear lots of rumours about LC the person. If Dan got close contacts at the club, as I would expect he has, he will be privvy to them too
Nope, thats not true
Clark is a hungry manager thats for sure, trips to Barca for training camps shows his intent. I agree with the sentiment that any manger would struggle at Blues with the current regime. I would like to see LC perform as any other normal manager with funds and a higher wage structure until then its hard to comment.
Hear hear matt well said
So I ask again If the Birmingham City job is so terrible & such a poisoned chalice why is Clark still here ?
The guy is obviously no quitter.. unlike some.
More like no other club would want his services..
Everyone’s entitled to an opinion.
Judging by the size hes getting hes always hungry
Unfortunately he missed the sessions on ‘how pass to a teammate’; ‘how to control the midfield’; ‘balancing a settled team with player rotation’; ‘why playing players in their optimum position is best practice’
Instead of the trips to barcelona, why not go back to basics this pre season if this clown is still here. Pick your formation then try and stick to it 4 2 games!! We had about 3 or 4 different formations last pre season. And he still cant pick one of them now to stick 2. What has LC bought to the table this season regarding the barcelona trip? The training cant have improved if you let your 2 assistants go 2 thirds of the season in, nothing on the pitch thats clear to the eye. This year save on the plane fair IF he still here, go down to chelsea and speak to the great one about his settled backline,formation and starting 11. The more you get to see of clark the more baffled you get. What machine and balls will he be picking the team from tomorrow? Dreading this one tomorrow lets hope he makes me eat my words, wouldnt hold my breath though!
So with Zigic, why does he disappear for 5 games…. This must of happened 3 times this year. It just doesn’t add up
Zigic disappeared after the Carling Cup final!!
Dan this blog is brilliant and I really appreciate your efforts in seeking accountability of the board. You might want to look up ‘surfeit’ though. Unless you are being sarcastic you have misused it twice now.
Thoroughly agree with your balanced assessment of Clark.
I’m not sure of the stats, but I would think that Zigic has played more games under Clark than he ever did for McLeish or Hughton. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
The Lee Clark love in brigade are out in force today. I have never heard such a load of shite in all my life. He’s no quitter!. No bloody wonder when he is getting very well paid, doesn’t have to answer to anyone and most importantly nobody else wants him. We still haven’t recovered from him wasting money on Ambrose and good wages on Mullins and Lovenkrands – all complete and utter failures. He started last season with a squad every bit as good as the one that finished 4th under Hughton. We were a complete embarrassment until the last third of last season when he finally stopped pissing about with formations. He has wasted two loans this season on Ferguson and Allen. He is an absolute muppet.
Yes, I distinctly remember you saying Mullins, Ambrose, and Lovenkrands were bad signings at the time. As for Ferguson ad Allen, you were the only one that said Ferguson wouldn’t reproduce his form of last season, and Allen would be an absolute waste of time.
You call Clark a muppet, look in the mirror mate, at least Steve and Tony are anti Clark, but offer an informed alternative view, you just talk what you are accusing others of…… shite!
As for starting last season with virtually the same squad, your just regurgitating crap, as that just is not the case.
The man makes mistakes I agree, but he’s had to rebuild three four times in two seasons, so no matter what people like you say, I will support him in this current climate. I may talk shite, but at least I don’t talk out of my arse…. Muppet
Why not draw up a balance sheet. List Lee Clark’s positives eg his commitment and then list his negatives eg being a tinkerman with tactics and personnel. Ps that’s 2 negatives. I think you might find the positves being heavily outnumbered. Then draw a conclusion?
Contradiction in terms Blue surely. if you talk shite how can it not be out of your arse?.
lol
So how many games have you managed to get to over the last two seasons Mr Blue in Spain?
What the hell has that to do with it, your foul mouthed tirade means more because you go. muppet
Sorry blue in spain when clark came in we had already sold mutch and foster, he then added to the squad with loverkrands,mullin and ambrose noone else left that season. Butland went in the jan but was loaned straight back and we added wes thomas. In clarks first interview on the blues website after being appointed HE said ‘hopefully this year with a bit more luck we will get over the line with promotion’. It was only after a month or two he realised them players wernt playing for him that he changed his stance. The squad he inherited from hughton was easily, easily a top ten team but under his guidance we were a bottom 4 team for a long time. It only changed when injuries kicked in and he was FORCED to play the youngsters, thats what turned our season around. Admittedly he has had to rebuild the team twice this season, but last season with a more experienced manager who didnt fall out with players as much as clark (king,burke,fahey and davies at start were shadows of theres former selves) we would have had a much better season that im sure of!
Maybe he can become a hero with the last 12 matches, stop tinkering play the same 11 without changes barring injuries of course.
KRO+DNM
burnley will probably name the same team for 9th game in a row – as the great bill shankley said ‘ never change a winning team unless forced to’
stop tinkering clark and get us a home win tomorrow – i will be there backing you and the team, please do your bit !!
I may talk shite, but I don’t have to resort to hurling insults around to make my opinion sound more valid… when it’s not really.
I apologise Staffs. I was completely over the top.
If that was a genuine apology, I genuinely accept it.
It was genuine. I’m not a fan of Clark and he would be off tomorrow if another club came in for him and offered more money. I just don’t think he is anything like as highly rated in the game as other people do on here but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let’s be honest we haven’t had to fight other clubs off him have we except for some fleeting interest from Blackpool last season. A little strange with the number of managerial changes there have been.
Fair enough.
As far as we know, no one’s enquired about Lee Clark, No one but people inside the club would know for sure. What we do know for absolute certain, is that Clark is highly rated by people like Patrick Viera, David Moyes and the like. So who am I to argue?
Blues have got to treat every game like its a cup final make no mistake!! Question is can Clark instil that in to the players KRO
What price Danny Ings scoring hatrick tomorrow?
He’s got a good incentive… with Hodgson pencilling him into go to the world cup. It would probably gee me up too. Our team need to be on their toes tomorrow more than at any time this season. We need to be on him and Vokes like a dog on a rabbit.
“… be careful what you wish for.” Unfortunately on balance of probability we would likely end up with an even less effective manager. However if you feel, as I do, that we will go down would you still want to stay with Clark next season given that he has shown that even with money he cant get a League 1 team promoted?
That’s not strictly true. He wasn’t given the chance to complete the job. After a record breaking run, they had a downturn in fortune, which wasn’t really that surprising. Grayson came in and got them up with the same squad. But, he was first to give Clark the credit.
Didnt he three goes at it?
Didn’t he have three goes at it
Yes, I think so. But you have to remember where Huddersfield came from. They were nowhere really until he took over. Many had tried to get them back on the map and failed. If someone offered us a 42 match unbeaten run, even with half of those games being draws… I’d rip their hand off.
I just fail to see how anyone could have done any worse. I still shudder at the thought of that home game against Barnsley last season. I think we were 3-0 down in games on eight occasions as well. We were a desperate shambles for quite a long time. It took him two thirds of the season to realise Ravel Morrison was the new Paul Gasgoine. There have been far too many fall outs with players for comfort.
While I don’t think McDermott and Fazackerlly are any great loss it does concern me that if we do get in a relegation battle there is no-one with him with any real experience to help him when the pressure is really on. I guess it’s just me that thinks two home wins all season and nine out of forty since he took over isn’t acceptable or normal.
I don’t think that anyone would disagree with you over the home form… not even Lee Clark. But the guy is working his bollox off to change that. I just wish the players would too. As bad as it is, I can’t see us going the rest of the season without a home win. *crosses fingers*
As for Morrison being the new Gascoigne.. not a chance. Gascoigne did it week after week, season after season, Morrison turns up when he feels like it. It’s not just Lee Clark who has dropped him because of his attitude. Ferguson bombed him out of Utd for the same thing and it looks like Allardyce is thinking the same way. They can’t all be wrong surely? Morrison will only go as far as he can be arsed to.
I really hope I look a complete prat by 10pm tomorrow and we turn Burnley over. I don’t expect him to perform miracles but all I can ask is for him to most of what he has got. I don’t actually think they are giving their all for him and I think that might be something to do with constant unforced changes of formation and personnel. You can’t be a cohesive unit when that is happening. He over thinks it for me.
I think that, because he wants that win so badly, he ties himself up in knots sometimes. But, a lot of our downfalls this season (and last) have been down to individual errors. No manager can legislate for that. When you lose a goal, a game plan goes out of the window, at least until you get that goal back. But when, because of those errors, you’re chasing the game all the time, it doesn’t give you a chance to impose your game on the other team… and the longer it goes on, the more desperate it gets. It would be nice to take the lead… and hang onto it for a change.
We are as we are until the end of the season. It’s as simple as that. Much as we might rant and rage! Relegation or no relegation. Unless the club is sold. Miracles might happen. I might win the lottery. If I buy a ticket for once! Take it on the chin lads. Things will get better one day. I miss Karen Brady. At least she was attractive!
Pannu or Brady… Pannu or Brady… Daddy or Chips
Chips. :)
Chips every time!
Spot on Dan. Clark is a general put in charge of irregulars and inexperienced youth. Such squads can be made to excel but it takes years – 2 seasons at least. The comment about Bruce, McLeish and Hughton walking because they would not work for the Pannu/Yeung regime is also spot on. All 3 are good managers with high integrity (although Eck going cross-town really annoyed me). The Gold-Sullivan-Brady era was a fantastic business machine; probably none better when we were in the Premiership. Let’s not forget, certain fans did not help by antagonizing Gold with Osama bin Laden masks etc…it bordered on anti-Semitic racism. They fell out of love with the club and were glad to sell.
Remember Sullivan ‘I don’t like footballers anymore?’
Yes, we do need to be careful what we wish for; BCFC is on a knife-edge at every level and I won’t be surprised if we end up on life support before a miracle cure.
I personally take my hat off to Lee Clark and the back-office staff. If the players can focus on one game at a time (as a cup final like you say), and play for great personal pride as well as the team; we will get points and stay up. Hopefully our Winter of discontent will turn into a Summer of content, to quote the Bard (a MIdlander); and we’ll be back causing disruption to higher clubs for the 14-15 season.
Bruce, Mcleish and Hughton left because they were offered better contracts with more money. They are professionals not Blued fans. So will Clark if he gets the chance.
Incorrect Shirley…Steve Bruce could not get contract assurance from Yeung – in other words ‘keep working for us but we can sack you anytime without penalty’ A man of SB’s calibre would not tolerate that so he accepted the Wigan offer and Wigan paid BCFC 3 million. He would have stayed..he was out longest serving manager. McLeish just didn’t want to manage a non-Premier club and did not respect the new owners. Hughton did get an offer from Norwich because they offered him a 3-year contract. He always spoke highly of Birmingham and the fans after that.
So what? They got offers of good contracts and in all likelihood more money. The point I was making is that they have no particular emotional connection with the club and neither does Clark. If he gets a better offer he would go.
New broom required!!!
Amen to that. Well said Aussie Blue. Whatever Lee Clark gets he deserves it. He must have one of the most difficult jobs in football!
Barnsley and Yeovil lost – Millwall losing – calm down everybody
Just get a tenner out your pocket and give LC , players and any potential investor some encouragement tomorrow – you never know
Millwall now lost too
Oh and I forgot the ‘get off your arses ‘ bit ‘- was having a diplomatic moment
After all of the bollocks that has been spouted (which I skim read other than StaffsBlue cos he has a balanced view) FINALLY here is a comment that I can get on board with.
Simple.
Be there and support. That’s our mission.
KRO
Compliment returned neil!
We have dropped a place to 19th and Doncaster on same points now. That Millwall away game soon could be vital. Let’s hope Charlton losing patience with their manager doesn’t pay off.
nothing we can do – nothing ANYONE can do till Mr Woo the Launderer has washed his last wash and spins away for EVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No so get over it
All we can do , as said by bluenoseneil , is show our support and make the ‘all we care about ‘ flag and song a reality
Hope you’ll be there tomorrow – but maybe you’re watching Man City on TV
Millwall lost too. Lady Luck smiles on us. Perhaps we long suffering Blues fans deserve it.
Okay our team compared to QPRs is poor and so it should be as they have spent millions assembling it. However if you don’t play to your strengths and set out your team to exploit your opponents weaknesses or change your tactics when they clearly are not working then you are at fault. As you yourself pointed out in your summary on the QPR game the age of their defenders should’ve been tested by using pace. If you can see that and I can see that then why can’t an ex professional footballer Lee Clark not see that. Careful what you wish for or wishful thinking? Lee Clark is a poor manager but we can’t afford to get rid of him. Would Robbo be any worse? Could Robbo be any worse?
We have played 11 League games since the turn of the year and picked up 8 points. That worries me because if that doesn’t improve it is going to be very close at the end of the season. I don’t think its going to go as high as 50 to be safe this year but at this rate we are going to be around the 45 mark.
Poor old pragmatists weren’t given a shout! I think if everyone could get their heads around administration – and relegation, there may be a chance. The untrustworthy in HK should be put in a position where:
A) They have to sell the club and B) There is someone who WANTS to buy the club. I personally do not believe Clark was up to scratch when he first come, moreover he surrounded himself with like minded people. You see the results week in week out. Money is being paid out week in week out and the club sinks further. If it were any other business it would fold. I don’t think they board will try to sell at a realistic price until it’s taken out their hands and no one will pay what they’ve been asking, hence why we have the same crew (effectively) in charge. I argue for administration now, and relegation and not relegation followed by administration!
Blooflame – the only people who can put us in admin are the board though, and it’s the last thing they want.
One ingredient you need for a relegation fight is a calm and logical leader who can inspire confidence together with players who care enough to fight and battle.
Has Clark successfully fought a relegation battle before? Do we have enough players who care sufficiently to put the club ahead if themselves?
Certainly in agreement with you Julian only on the players front. It the group of players who are to blame, they train together, they should know each other strengths, and they should be confident playing with each other……they are paid well. Once these players go on to the pitch is out of the manager hands………
Powell was sacked by charlton for refusing to play the new’s owner’s players……what a horrible climate football is dragging itself into…….
At least he saw his owners, maybe PP sends an e mail with a set of numbers from the local take-away that LC interprets into the team sheet.
There should be rules governing owning two clubs, but quite honestly I would be happy with owners who were able to meddle or be there and not 6000 miles away.
KRO+DNM
are sure pp does not keep in touch with clark via phone, skype, technology is wonderful……emails can be used anywhere in the world
Get Kevan Broadhurst involved that is what I say. Someone who has the desire and is not afraid to say his piece. Talks a lot of sense, currently works at the club, it is madness not to have him portray the Blues belief and what it means.
I bet these calling for Clarke’s head are the same as the ones who complained about Sullivan and Gold and while they did not force them out it made it easier to go so we ended up with present bunch do they never learn