by hector » 08 Mar 2015, 10:13
In terms of Hargreaves, his time and days are probably numbered. Once speculation and reaction starts hitting this sort of fever pitch, the departure of the manager is somewhat inevitable - when polls are being introduced on forums and the overwhelming view is that a manager should go, then it is surely only a matter of time.
Tuesday could spell the end, as a sub-1500 crowd, watching the club meekly lose to Chester, after the defeats to Telford & Wrexham, offers no way back, for manager, team or credibility.
I have desperately wanted CH to succeed. He was probably the right manager at the wrong time and a year under Sturrock would have served him well, in the way that Bruce Rioch wasn't too proud to work under Frank O'Farrell for a year. Can you ever imagine a situation, when we have a World Cup captain as player-coach?
Back to the question of the thread - and if Chris goes - who to come in? Paul Cox is the obvious candidate for me, in that he is available and has a very successful track record in non-league football with Eastwood Town and Mansfield Town. Whether that success would be restricted, geographically, to Nottinghamshire, where he would know the players and footballing landscape is another matter - players from that neck of the woods are increasingly unlikely to relocate to the shambles that is now TUFC.
Steve Burr, now at Chester would have been a favoured option, but now Chester are doing better than us, with crowds to match, so we are unlikely to be able to tempt him. Mark Yates, ex-Cheltenham, Dave Hockaday (currently at Coventry) are two with West Country links who have had their good moments at this level.
My concern is that the parochial elements amongst the fanbase (and directors, for that matter) would call for the obvious names like Alex Russell, Steve Tully, Kevin Hill, Leroy, Sean Joyce - you may even get a revival of the halfwits who used to call for Martyn Rogers, now he is back at Tiverton. I even saw someone on twitter calling for Guy Branston.
Why is it, that some people cannot see beyond someone who has worn yellow and blue? Ex-players coming back rarely works (although admittedly it did with Buckle, but he was hardly a legend and became more synonymous with Exeter than Torquay) and we have seen with Saunders and Hargreaves that being a 'legend' does not qualify you for successful management.
However, Hargreaves, I thought might be someone who could make the transition. He is intelligent, passionate, had been serving his apprenticeship coaching at Exeter and Bournemouth - there right credentials were there for an up-and-coming manager but not in the middle of a relegation battle, and those ruling with their heart, rather than their head, when selecting Hargreaves, not only did for the league status of TUFC but also the fledgling management career of Chris Hargreaves.
In terms of Hargreaves, his time and days are probably numbered. Once speculation and reaction starts hitting this sort of fever pitch, the departure of the manager is somewhat inevitable - when polls are being introduced on forums and the overwhelming view is that a manager should go, then it is surely only a matter of time.
Tuesday could spell the end, as a sub-1500 crowd, watching the club meekly lose to Chester, after the defeats to Telford & Wrexham, offers no way back, for manager, team or credibility.
I have desperately wanted CH to succeed. He was probably the right manager at the wrong time and a year under Sturrock would have served him well, in the way that Bruce Rioch wasn't too proud to work under Frank O'Farrell for a year. Can you ever imagine a situation, when we have a World Cup captain as player-coach?
Back to the question of the thread - and if Chris goes - who to come in? Paul Cox is the obvious candidate for me, in that he is available and has a very successful track record in non-league football with Eastwood Town and Mansfield Town. Whether that success would be restricted, geographically, to Nottinghamshire, where he would know the players and footballing landscape is another matter - players from that neck of the woods are increasingly unlikely to relocate to the shambles that is now TUFC.
Steve Burr, now at Chester would have been a favoured option, but now Chester are doing better than us, with crowds to match, so we are unlikely to be able to tempt him. Mark Yates, ex-Cheltenham, Dave Hockaday (currently at Coventry) are two with West Country links who have had their good moments at this level.
My concern is that the parochial elements amongst the fanbase (and directors, for that matter) would call for the obvious names like Alex Russell, Steve Tully, Kevin Hill, Leroy, Sean Joyce - you may even get a revival of the halfwits who used to call for Martyn Rogers, now he is back at Tiverton. I even saw someone on twitter calling for Guy Branston.
Why is it, that some people cannot see beyond someone who has worn yellow and blue? Ex-players coming back rarely works (although admittedly it did with Buckle, but he was hardly a legend and became more synonymous with Exeter than Torquay) and we have seen with Saunders and Hargreaves that being a 'legend' does not qualify you for successful management.
However, Hargreaves, I thought might be someone who could make the transition. He is intelligent, passionate, had been serving his apprenticeship coaching at Exeter and Bournemouth - there right credentials were there for an up-and-coming manager but not in the middle of a relegation battle, and those ruling with their heart, rather than their head, when selecting Hargreaves, not only did for the league status of TUFC but also the fledgling management career of Chris Hargreaves.
