| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums 21:29 - Jun 20 with 8127 views | jasondozzell |
Did a Harry from Bath and had a look to see what they're saying on Bournemouth and Wolves forums. Interesting mixture of comments. Clearly not a lot of love for him at Wolves because of the state when he left but recurring theme amongst both forums is that he did a fair job in keeping them up in the first season. He clearly has something about him. It's also promising that in both situations it's acknowledged that he got more out of a relatively weak squad than was expected.
Bournemouth
GON was the difference maker that year, he inherited a side with little attacking quality and a weak defence on paper and somehow managed to develop a way of playing that allowed us to eek out enough wins to survive. He did a brilliant job despite the fact it wasn’t easy on the eye at times.
Got to feel sorry for them.. ..nobody deserves to watch that.....still at least it isn't us so couldn't really care less.
Gary worked hard to keep us up, the football wasn't vintage, but I bet if you asked West Ham fans if they would have suffered bland football for their PL status it would be a no brainer. I hope that he gets a decent job somewhere and stays in the game at PL level. Its easy to criticise managers too often and forget the tasks that they have to ensure that their clubs survive in this League?
I'm just saying it's not a given that Gon would get a job as a PE teacher.
Truth is likely somewhere in the middle. He did his job, kept us up. Not a terrible manager and not a miracle worker. No need to demonise him.
Even if that were true then so what? I would have been wrong, it happens. He’s clearly good enough to manage at this level.
He was sacked from Wolves for not being able to do it and had one mini purple patch with us in a dreadful years football in a team that was more than capable of staying up.
He kept us up against the odds, you can dress it up however you want but at the end of the day that is the reality. Next to no one outside of the AFCB fan base gave us a chance that year, and he kept us up with games to spare. Whatever was said about him at the time, he got a job done that many wouldn’t have. The football wasn’t the prettiest but who gives a flying fanny, survival is everything in that first year.
Wolves
Nuno to Lage level of drop off. I know he gives a good PowerPoint, but why?
The man kept 2 teams in the Premier League...give him some respect (whilst ignoring the total collapse of control he had on a team and essentially managed with zero authority for 3 months)
I’ve liked Ipswich since I was a kid when they had some great players, played good football and punched well above their weight but if they appoint GO I’ll be hoping they go down They’ll probably do ok for a few games but by October it will unravel and if he’s still there at Christmas the list of who’s to blame will be pages long and one name will be conspicuous by it’s absence.
Until he gets hired again in England and gets brutally exposed as being out of his depth the myth of Gary O'Neil being a good manager will continue. I'm eager to see him find a new job; was hoping it would be West Ham but any role will do.
It would be very wolvesy for gon to do well
Its one of those tricks of memory things.
We had that decent run over Christmas and the Chelsea win and we were in the discussion for Europe. Bit like how Fulham are most seasons, get within striking distance and fall back.
Yes he had a injury crisis with regards to the front line and we failed him by not signing a forward to replace Sasa/Fabio (not that GON was a fan of Sasa, despite a couple of vital goals) but we were dreadful in that final part of the season.
GON also had the same problem Rob had - he wanted to be pals with the players and gave the likes of Cunha & Lemina way to much power. As the results got worse, they took control, he threw them under a bus and discipline went out of the window and he had zero control over it.
Felt he did an ok job overall. Lost his way towards the end of course but saying he came in the way he did after Lopetegui's walking off it was a pity the way it finished [Post edited 20 Jun 21:43]
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| Don’t agree and do agree on 08:25 - Jun 21 with 992 views | unstableblue |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 23:28 - Jun 20 by naa |
If you hang around on this forum enough you'd find people slagging Mckenna off so you do have to take some of it with a pinch of salt.
I think we'll have to accept this year that if we want to stay up we'll have to play some pretty boring football. Hopefully that will improve (as it has for Bournemouth) if we stay up.
I do wonder if Ashton has hired O'Neil with one season in mind,as O'Neil has shown he is capable of that more than once. |
I hang around opposition forums a lot!
And often share extracts on here. See st etienne forum view on GON, which as many have noted is a bit ‘meh’.
My view is football forums, bar some outliers (who are often berated by the majority - just like TWTD), are pretty accurate in general sentiment and messaging about a player or manager.
If you came on TWTD you’d get a pretty clear view of McKenna. Or any of our players.
I do agree we may put with some more pragmatic football under GON, but it may prove successful in our goal of survival. |  |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 08:44 - Jun 21 with 921 views | Blue_Heath |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 21:36 - Jun 20 by jasondozzell |
I had the opposite reaction! I think it's pretty promising that despite the fact that it ended so badly at Wolves, and that he was replaced by a superior coach at Bournemouth, there's a general acknowledgement that he did a good job in keeping both sides up. Forums tend to be pretty harsh especially towards figures associated with bad periods, so think it's interesting that there's a number wanting to be balanced.
He's a young coach so you would hope that he has reflected on what he could have done better (though some things out of his control). The comment about wanting to be too close to the players is slightly worrying but I think he'll be a better coach for having gone through the wolves experience. I also think he's inheriting a squad here that will respond well to him. |
Seems from what I gather he will change tactics more than KM and do whatever is needed.
It might not be a great watch from the sound of it but then neither was KM's reign in the prem particularly at home.
Unless things go really bad is he the man to bring us back up which is likely what we'll need this time next year. |  |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 08:55 - Jun 21 with 905 views | Libero |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 23:30 - Jun 20 by Matt_Netherlands |
What was Ashton saying the other day about doing many, many references?
I genuinely wonder if fan opinions are taken into account in any way whatsoever with these “references?”
I’m genuinely yet to see or hear from anyone who was suggesting GON before news came out about him being the most likely candidate. |
More likely the “references” don’t exist- as Ashton is a liar and a bulls*tter. |  | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 09:02 - Jun 21 with 888 views | Broadbent23 |
Yes if he can prepare us like Bournemouth it will do, before we get an upgrade. He will know how we can tweak our weaknesses and strengths in the Premiership. Unfortunately with KMc we didn't have the squad to survive. There will be casualties in this next phase, but that is football. Hopefully his recent managerial roles have made him a stronger manager. | |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 09:04 - Jun 21 with 877 views | Horsham |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 08:55 - Jun 21 by Libero |
More likely the “references” don’t exist- as Ashton is a liar and a bulls*tter. |
I’m not saying he isn’t a liar or 🐂 💩 er but clearly O’Neil has done some things right so far in his career. He’s not been exclusively terrible, he’s just never had any success over longer than àbout a year. If he has a successful year and keeps us up surely its mission accomplished. |  | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 09:07 - Jun 21 with 870 views | itfc_statman |
He is not a very good manager. That much is clear and why several championship clubs turned him down.
It is obvious to any basic human who's watched his teams but look at the underlying data and its even more alarming.
Doesn't mean we can't all get behind him and pray for a miracle as ive said elsewhere. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 09:20 - Jun 21 with 844 views | Libero |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 09:04 - Jun 21 by Horsham |
I’m not saying he isn’t a liar or 🐂 💩 er but clearly O’Neil has done some things right so far in his career. He’s not been exclusively terrible, he’s just never had any success over longer than àbout a year. If he has a successful year and keeps us up surely its mission accomplished. |
He’s never completed a full season at a club, mate- go figure. [Post edited 21 Jun 9:20]
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:19 - Jun 21 with 802 views | FrimleyBlue |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 08:55 - Jun 21 by Libero |
More likely the “references” don’t exist- as Ashton is a liar and a bulls*tter. |
I dont see how you can get these apparent hundreds of applications. Look at all markets. Different countries etc etc
And then you sit down and go. Thats the guy |  |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:27 - Jun 21 with 793 views | Libero |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:19 - Jun 21 by FrimleyBlue |
I dont see how you can get these apparent hundreds of applications. Look at all markets. Different countries etc etc
And then you sit down and go. Thats the guy |
The know-nothing-cynic in me, say’s it was the applicant that modest Mark felt he could best control. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:31 - Jun 21 with 780 views | redrickstuhaart |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:27 - Jun 21 by Libero |
The know-nothing-cynic in me, say’s it was the applicant that modest Mark felt he could best control. |
There is not a shred of basis or evidence for this. | |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:38 - Jun 21 with 774 views | Vic |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 22:29 - Jun 20 by Nutkins_Return |
Good work and good effort so thanks.
The thing to remember is his entire prem record is for poor teams when he took over. In his time there it really wasn't a possibility for him to do much more than keep them up and he did that with bells on comfortably. But then it unravelled. Frankly if he can keep us up first season I'll be happy. Although stylistically it might be a bit tough. But truth be told McKenna in the prem was a tough watch. And last season we weren't fun to watch but McKenna did a good job.
Iraola people forget was close to being sacked. Took him 10 games to get a win but ultimately their recruitment was great and he did a brilliant job by the end. My point is GON did not have the squad Iraola ended up with.
My gut feeling is GONnis going to struggle to win over he fan base because of the league we are in and it will be tough going. I will give him the chance though. I wouldn't be surprised if he can keep us up. But I don't think he will be long term and that's ok. It will be great if he can surpass all expectations of course!! |
Yep, thats about How I feel too.
He'll clearly be a lot more pragmatic than we've grown used to over the last 4 seasons.
My gut feeling is that KM would have adapted to be more pragmatic to start with this season - but sadly we'll never know. |  |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 11:14 - Jun 21 with 748 views | Guthrum |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 09:20 - Jun 21 by Libero |
He’s never completed a full season at a club, mate- go figure. [Post edited 21 Jun 9:20]
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Not actually true. He was appointed before the first Prem match of the 2023-24 season.
Plus he's only once been sacked during the course of a season. |  |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 11:51 - Jun 21 with 722 views | Waig |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 11:14 - Jun 21 by Guthrum |
Not actually true. He was appointed before the first Prem match of the 2023-24 season.
Plus he's only once been sacked during the course of a season. |
Oh that’s good then. Deary me. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:23 - Jun 21 with 695 views | Libero |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 11:14 - Jun 21 by Guthrum |
Not actually true. He was appointed before the first Prem match of the 2023-24 season.
Plus he's only once been sacked during the course of a season. |
Wow, I'm suddenly overjoyed at the appointment lol. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:24 - Jun 21 with 693 views | Libero |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:31 - Jun 21 by redrickstuhaart |
There is not a shred of basis or evidence for this. |
I think I made it pretty clear that the statement wasn't based in any kind of factual basis- but there we go... | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:40 - Jun 21 with 672 views | tractorboy1978 |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 23:36 - Jun 20 by andyblue231 |
I just don’t know why we have had to accept that. Why were Sunderland capable of doing something special and we aren’t. The whole project we were building here was supposed to be bold. The number of times that moron has said “bold” in interviews.
I spose I’m pissed off to find out they the project we were actually building is Burnley 25/26. [Post edited 20 Jun 23:39]
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It is possible that we are capable of what Sunderland did but you still have to acknowledge the chances are unlikely we do and the yardstick we measure the manager against is going to be whether he keeps us up or not.
Vividly remember a few on here being adamant in the summer of 2024 that we could comfortably finish mid-table. How did that work out? | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:46 - Jun 21 with 663 views | Libero |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:40 - Jun 21 by tractorboy1978 |
It is possible that we are capable of what Sunderland did but you still have to acknowledge the chances are unlikely we do and the yardstick we measure the manager against is going to be whether he keeps us up or not.
Vividly remember a few on here being adamant in the summer of 2024 that we could comfortably finish mid-table. How did that work out? |
We had potential to make a real impact after that initial promotion to the Premier League, but sadly we recruited poorly- not only did we fail to adequetely stock the forward line, but we signed a goalkeeper who was hell bent on giving away ridiculous goals.
It could have been oh-so-different, had our recruitment been even slightly stronger. but there we go- it's been and gone now. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 13:38 - Jun 21 with 626 views | Guthrum |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:23 - Jun 21 by Libero |
Wow, I'm suddenly overjoyed at the appointment lol. |
Given he's a young manager in the early stages of his career, there isn't a great deal of previous record to go on. It's not stunning, but neither is it terrible and, most importantly, has largely been conducted in England at Prem level, in similar circumstances to those we will be facing in the coming season (i.e. newly-promoted or at risk of relegation).
It's a decent shout based upon his experience and the candidates available to us*.
Plus, should things go badly, there would now be no sentimetal inertia stopping us changing manager.
* OGS would be more exciting, but how would he fare without Carrick and McKenna, or a squad which, while dysfunctional, was still of high quality. Unknown Europeans would be a pure gamble. | |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 13:44 - Jun 21 with 607 views | tractorboy1978 |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 12:46 - Jun 21 by Libero |
We had potential to make a real impact after that initial promotion to the Premier League, but sadly we recruited poorly- not only did we fail to adequetely stock the forward line, but we signed a goalkeeper who was hell bent on giving away ridiculous goals.
It could have been oh-so-different, had our recruitment been even slightly stronger. but there we go- it's been and gone now. |
We were miles off with a manager that was a generational talent.
Getting our recruitment right this summer is massively important. But it’s going to be a big challenge to stay up still. Serious suggestions of us finishing comfortably mid table are for the birds and trying to run before we walk. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:12 - Jun 21 with 569 views | Radlett_blue |
Ashton has gone all Marcus Evans & decided to appoint a manger who may have a plan to keep us in the PL. I think the football will be very different from our last adventure but at least GON has the summer to recruit players who might fit into his system. If he keeps us up, good appointment! |  |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:16 - Jun 21 with 543 views | Guthrum |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 10:19 - Jun 21 by FrimleyBlue |
I dont see how you can get these apparent hundreds of applications. Look at all markets. Different countries etc etc
And then you sit down and go. Thats the guy |
Is that because there's a subconscious expectation that Ashton will again pull a rabbit out of the hat by appointing another unexpected/relatively unknown man who turns out to be brilliant, or that casting the net wider will turn up a hidden genius from some foreign league who is nonetheless perfect for the Prem?
It's all very well to expect us to turn up another McKenna, but how often does that really happen? Plus the club is still not such an attractive proposition as more established top-tier places like Brighton or Bournemouth, even Forest or Brentford?
Are people annoyed because we've opted for a degree of pragmatism over magical dreams? | |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:30 - Jun 21 with 515 views | Radlett_blue |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:16 - Jun 21 by Guthrum |
Is that because there's a subconscious expectation that Ashton will again pull a rabbit out of the hat by appointing another unexpected/relatively unknown man who turns out to be brilliant, or that casting the net wider will turn up a hidden genius from some foreign league who is nonetheless perfect for the Prem?
It's all very well to expect us to turn up another McKenna, but how often does that really happen? Plus the club is still not such an attractive proposition as more established top-tier places like Brighton or Bournemouth, even Forest or Brentford?
Are people annoyed because we've opted for a degree of pragmatism over magical dreams? |
Indeed, it was a much lower bar for McKenna to work his magic on the best & most expensive squad in League One. I guess Ashton & the money-men have agreed that a pragmatist who might keep us us is the rational choice right now. | |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:31 - Jun 21 with 514 views | FrimleyBlue |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:16 - Jun 21 by Guthrum |
Is that because there's a subconscious expectation that Ashton will again pull a rabbit out of the hat by appointing another unexpected/relatively unknown man who turns out to be brilliant, or that casting the net wider will turn up a hidden genius from some foreign league who is nonetheless perfect for the Prem?
It's all very well to expect us to turn up another McKenna, but how often does that really happen? Plus the club is still not such an attractive proposition as more established top-tier places like Brighton or Bournemouth, even Forest or Brentford?
Are people annoyed because we've opted for a degree of pragmatism over magical dreams? |
Its not about the pragmatism. Thats to be expected.
But i dont feelt that is oneil anyway personally. I just genuinly dont see how he became the target.
If hed kept 3/4 teams up. 2 or 3 of them were promoted sides id have a different view but he hasnt. Hes ease of throwing players etc.
And yeah ive thrown out names. But ive not made the claim of looking around the world. Ive not spent any time looking at different leagues. Thats not my job
When his announvement is confirmed ill support him. But at the moment im still shocked. | |
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| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:35 - Jun 21 with 504 views | reuserfivethree |
Not sure if this had been said elsewhere, but this feels a lot like Joe Royle getting the job after Burley. Much-loved younger manager get replaced by a journeyman playing a different style of football. At least Joe had won the FA Cup. Nothing O'Neil has done inspires any confidence, and flies in the face of the hyperbole Ashton has thrown around. | | | |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:38 - Jun 21 with 488 views | itfcjoe |
| View from Bournemouth and Wolves forums on 14:31 - Jun 21 by FrimleyBlue |
Its not about the pragmatism. Thats to be expected.
But i dont feelt that is oneil anyway personally. I just genuinly dont see how he became the target.
If hed kept 3/4 teams up. 2 or 3 of them were promoted sides id have a different view but he hasnt. Hes ease of throwing players etc.
And yeah ive thrown out names. But ive not made the claim of looking around the world. Ive not spent any time looking at different leagues. Thats not my job
When his announvement is confirmed ill support him. But at the moment im still shocked. |
You are shocked that a manager who has in the past 4 seasons twice kept teams up, one of which was newly promoted, with small budgets having to go in at a really awkward time both times, is seen as a target for a job where he has to go in at an awkward time to try and keep a team up in season one? |  |
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