Is Hargreaves fit for purpose?

tommyg · Post by **tommyg** » 28 Feb 2015, 19:22

arcadia wrote:I have supported Chris since he got the job and thought that he would do well. I came away from todays game thinking that I would have picked a better team and played better tactics against a team that we played against last week. It's a good job I'm not chairman as we would not have a manager tonight after a total lack of discipline during a ten minute spell cost us a £100000 pay out. There is no excuse that we've not got the players. When the best team is picked the team perform a lot better todays selection was shocking and if you look at my previous posts I have thought this for sometime. Chris does not know his best team.

Out of interest, what team would you have picked today? With the exception of McQuilken playing wide right, I was happy with starting XI selected by Hargreaves.

OllieGull · Post by **OllieGull** » 28 Feb 2015, 19:37

I too will hold my hands up and say I believed Hargreaves was a good appointment, and thought he'd done relatively okay this season, however today's performance was atrocious, I feel I could've put out a better team and got more out of them. I don't think it would be the best for him to be sacked considering our financial situation but does anyone know how big a contract he was on e.g. when it runs out? Potentially we let it run while looking ahead to a potential new manager...

Post by **SuperNickyWroe** » 28 Feb 2015, 19:51

I (and several others on here) said he was the wrong choice as manager when he was appointed - and we were shot down as he's a legend...
Well guess what? he's another legend in the failed manager category.

6667GULL · Post by **6667GULL** » 28 Feb 2015, 19:55

Get rid of him now so that whoever takes over can see the useless bunch we have now and start planning well in advance for next season.

Burnhamgull · Post by **Burnhamgull** » 28 Feb 2015, 19:58

SuperNickyWroe wrote:I (and several others on here) said he was the wrong choice as manager when he was appointed - and we were shot down as he's a legend...
Well guess what? he's another legend in the failed manager category.

SBP · Post by **SBP** » 28 Feb 2015, 20:09

Someone phone Gary Johnson and see if he wants to earn a couple hundred quid a week, also just mention its a challenging job but very rewarding.

Sesimbra · Post by **Sesimbra** » 28 Feb 2015, 20:15

When I started this thread last October I was shouted down and in one case called a moron for daring to ask the question. I wonder what that charming contributor is thinking tonight. In my view Hargreaves' appointment was the wrong person at the wrong time. A good player but someone without any experience of management. As I thought at the time he is clearly out of his depth.
Where United go from here clearly depends on the financial situation of the Club but whilst Hargreaves is in charge there is little hope for Torquay making any sort of progress.

Burnhamgull · Post by **Burnhamgull** » 28 Feb 2015, 20:20

The remit of anybody stupid enough to buy the club is to understand that the management team need replacing from day 1. Then the squad needs a massive clearout.....

After today's performance on "Yellow Day", I'd say this will be difficult on crowds of 1200.......

Tamargull · Post by **Tamargull** » 28 Feb 2015, 21:17

Time for CH to go?- what exactly has he achieved since becoming manager? Can accept that someone can get his tactics wrong but not being able to motivate a team for a semi-final is very, very worrying.

Tamargull · Post by **Tamargull** » 28 Feb 2015, 21:17

Time for CH to go?- what exactly has he achieved since becoming manager? Can accept that someone can get his tactics wrong but not being able to motivate a team for a semi-final is very, very worrying.

Post by **SuperNickyWroe** » 28 Feb 2015, 21:26

Burnhamgull wrote:The remit of anybody stupid enough to buy the club is to understand that the management team need replacing from day 1. Then the squad needs a massive clearout.....

After today's performance on "Yellow Day", I'd say this will be difficult on crowds of 1200.......

Let's hope that both gets done if it happens......

Although I doubt they would get rid of CH....

arcadia · Post by **arcadia** » 28 Feb 2015, 21:57

tommyg wrote: Out of interest, what team would you have picked today? With the exception of McQuilken playing wide right, I was happy with starting XI selected by Hargreaves.

I would have started with Chappel and Briscoe in place of Cambell and McQuilkin. Briscoe holds the ball and brings others into the game today both strikers did not hold it and we were under pressure most of the first half. When Briscoe plays, the midfield get the ball back to their feet and we start to play. Today first half there was no outlet wide as Wrexham stifled Ajala and McQuilkin was sadly not up to it in that position but it took the manager three quarters of the game to suss this out. I have managed and could see this after 30 minutes.
Chris is obviously good with his coaching but managing and reading the game is something else. At the moment he is
not ready for managing.

Why did he put Briscoe wide again when he came on it shows that Chris is not learning from earlier games. If Briscoe was not picked to start he should have been on early second half not when the game was lost.
Ajala should have tracked back but is a little brain dead and a good manager would have ear bashed him into doing it.
Hargreaves took him off and put Briscoe in his position what a crap substitution.

NA Gull · Post by **NA Gull** » 01 Mar 2015, 07:35

When I see CH, I just see a man out of his depth in a situation that would challenge a more experienced manager. He is a good coach, but seems to be struggling with the pressure and responsibility of being a manager. If we retain him beyond the season, and budget permits, an older director of football type appointment could help him with tactics, recruitment, halting a bad run. Would be a massive shame if his managerial spell detracts from his legendary playing status.

hector · Post by **hector** » 01 Mar 2015, 11:10

I feel fairly ambivalent about the managerial situation. If the club decided to wield the axe again, or CH resigned, I'm not sure that I would be unduly upset. However, a part of me would be disappointed and sad that it hasn't worked because I do like Hargreaves and feel that, as an intelligent man, who had been coaching successfully, he had the attributes that good managers need.

Someone, stood near me yesterday, shouted that CH was the club's worst ever manager. Now anyone with half a braincell knows that there are plenty of other former managers who could lay claim to that (dis)honour, not least Hargreaves's predecessor. Our history is littered with crap managers: Bob John, Jack Edwards, Musgrove, Impey, Compton, May, Saunders, Cornforth, Kubik, Knill for a start.

However, say the club succumb to the wishes of some fans (and I don't think the anti-Hargreaves faction is anywhere as big as the anti-Knill one was a year or so ago, although it will probably gain, quite rapidly, new members if things don't improve quickly) but say the club sack Hargreaves - therefore paying him off and reducing the budget even further - who are we going to get? We are not a stable Football League club anymore; we are a struggling non-league club, just what sort of calibre of manager would we attract? A manager like Steve Burr has a job, at a club, probably as big as us and doing better.

Our directors would not have the gumption to scout around for managers doing well at say a Conference South/North club. They probably would not be able to think beyond Junction 27 of the M5 and someone like Sean Joyce, Kevin Hill or Steve Tully would be the type of manager we would end up with. Even someone like Paul Sturrock, ideal in League 2, would probably come unstuck, with a pitiful budget, in this pitiful league and would last as long as took to get relegated to the Conference South. Or we might end up with some Conference serial failure like Martin Foyle.

So, the options are all fairly horrendous. We stick with what we have got, and hope that once the mercenaries signed by Alan Knill depart, Hargreaves has enough room to manoeuvre and recruit players who can propel us upwards, or perhaps watch as he fails to halt the downward trajectory this club has been on for 3 years, or we recruit someone else, who probably will be even worse and have even less money to work with.

The one manager, who is available (as far as I know) and has a proven record of success at this level is Paul Cox - ex-Mansfield. His record at Eastwood Town and then Mansfield Town, especially in the non-league is really rather impressive. If I was a director and I had reservations about Hargreaves, he would be the first man I would be making a phonecall to.

ethantufcbaker · Post by **ethantufcbaker** » 01 Mar 2015, 11:29

http://lineupbuilder.com/?sk=68ty2

although the team selected yesterday wasnt that bad it is clear that young struggles in a midfield two i think richards and macdoanld would be good defensively and allow young to attack

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