A Manager Of Importance

[Coco]

Since I went down to watch Sunderland earlier this season, I get email updates each week from Roy Keane about what is going on at his club. I feel privileged to have this information direct from the manager (even if it is not my club).

 

Here's what he has to say this week:

 

 

We were sloppy to say the least. We had a good chance to get back in it through Kenwyne and we didn't take it. We gave the ball away too cheaply, particularly in the middle of the park.

I don't care what stage of the season it is, it's not acceptable. We gave bad goals away and I've been saying it for 38 weeks, we need to improve. I made three substitutions today and I could have made 10.

We've lost 22 games this season and people keep telling me we've had a good season. When you lose 22 games, you are lucky to be in a job. When I'm on my holidays, I'll be thinking about those 22 defeats.

We need to learn to get results when we're not playing well.

Today was a challenge and it just confirmed what I was thinking anyway - that we're short.

Survival is not a word I like using. People are getting fed up of me saying the same things, I sound like an old record player. There will be changes in the summer.

I've been very patient and kind to some of my players. Today just confirms what I've been thinking. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe if we had won today and we beat Arsenal next week I'd be thinking we were not bad.

We're not great and we need more quality. There's no questioning the players' commitment and desire, but at this level we need quality. Players were constantly giving the ball away when under no pressure.

Take nothing away from Bolton, they made it hard for us - they had more men in their team.

We got safe last week but that was last week. What do we do, celebrate all summer?

Survival is not a word we want to be using next year. I want to think bigger than that.

We need to invest and do it wisely and we need to move people on. You want certain characters at your football club.

Thanks for your support,

Roy Keane

 

If only we had a manager.

[bighusref]

Frail himself is quite handy at trotting out some of these quotes tbh.

 

Talk is only any good if it is backed up with action.

[Coco]

Frail himself is quite handy at trotting out some of these quotes tbh.

 

Talk is only any good if it is backed up with action.

 

Action - like booting out Liam Miller when he repeatedly turned up late.

 

I like the look of Keane as a manager. Do you think any of the players call him Keano?

 

Or are any of the players running to Niall Quinn to complain about Keane dropping them?

[Guest JamboRobbo]

I'd say the difference with Keane is that we know it ain't all talk. He'll back it up with action.

 

It seems we're getting Frail for next season, so lets hope he's given the authority to do the same.

[TimeBandit]

Agreed 100%.

 

Thats what I call feedback.

 

Not only does he manage his team on a daily basis, but can take the time to chuck out a wee update like that for the fans.

 

I'm not even go into how that compares to the dross we get sent...

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Was shocked when Roy Keane became a manager, never imagined him staying in the game after hanging up his boots.

 

He might not like the word "Survival", but that was the mission for the season and they have got it. Have to say though, some of his signiings have been pretty poor.

 

Will be interesting to see what calibre of player he can bring in next season. Have a feeling that the Sunderland fans having got another season in the top flight may not quite stand for some of the results that have went on this season next term.

 

Choppra 5.5 million ?

[jambojim52]

Quote:

I don't care what stage of the season it is, it's not acceptable. We gave bad goals away and I've been saying it for 38 weeks, we need to improve.

 

 

Not much good as a manager, if he can't get the message across in 38weeks.FFS.

[bighusref]

Action - like booting out Liam Miller when he repeatedly turned up late.

 

I like the look of Keane as a manager. Do you think any of the players call him Keano?

 

Or are any of the players running to Niall Quinn to complain about Keane dropping them?

 

Exactly, we are clearly singing from the same hymn sheet. It was Frails lack of action (or his inability to act) that I was referring to.

[JamboAl]

Since I went down to watch Sunderland earlier this season, I get email updates each week from Roy Keane about what is going on at his club. I feel privileged to have this information direct from the manager (even if it is not my club).

 

Here's what he has to say this week:

 

 

We were sloppy to say the least. We had a good chance to get back in it through Kenwyne and we didn't take it. We gave the ball away too cheaply, particularly in the middle of the park.

I don't care what stage of the season it is, it's not acceptable. We gave bad goals away and I've been saying it for 38 weeks, we need to improve. I made three substitutions today and I could have made 10.

We've lost 22 games this season and people keep telling me we've had a good season. When you lose 22 games, you are lucky to be in a job. When I'm on my holidays, I'll be thinking about those 22 defeats.

We need to learn to get results when we're not playing well.

Today was a challenge and it just confirmed what I was thinking anyway - that we're short.

Survival is not a word I like using. People are getting fed up of me saying the same things, I sound like an old record player. There will be changes in the summer.

I've been very patient and kind to some of my players. Today just confirms what I've been thinking. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe if we had won today and we beat Arsenal next week I'd be thinking we were not bad.

We're not great and we need more quality. There's no questioning the players' commitment and desire, but at this level we need quality. Players were constantly giving the ball away when under no pressure.

Take nothing away from Bolton, they made it hard for us - they had more men in their team.

We got safe last week but that was last week. What do we do, celebrate all summer?

Survival is not a word we want to be using next year. I want to think bigger than that.

We need to invest and do it wisely and we need to move people on. You want certain characters at your football club.

Thanks for your support,

Roy Keane

 

If only we had a manager.

 

He's spent around ?46m and only just kept his head above water. He.s now looking for another ?50m for next season. Even Malofev could have done well with sort of kitty.

[Das Root]

He's spent around ?46m and only just kept his head above water. He.s now looking for another ?50m for next season. Even Malofev could have done well with sort of kitty.

 

 

 

Entirely different kettle of fish when playing in the Premiership and buying for it. Players costs become inflated more so than other leagues. With ?50m I'm sure even Mad Eddy would win the SPL, but be relegated from the EPL.

 

Keane's learning, but he's studied under the master, he's hard a fecking nails too, Sunderland could easily be challenging for a UEFA spot come next season.

 

It does look like Frail will be the new manager, I'm disappointed at that tbh, a couple of seasons as assistant to a more experienced man would allow him to gain his badges and learn, could easily see him having a rough season and facing the chop, which will only hamper his progress.

[Alan_R]

Hes made mistakes but for a manager he still has years ahead of him. I think he'll get better. They love him down in Sunderland. The man is a legend, cult status.

[JamboAl]

Entirely different kettle of fish when playing in the Premiership and buying for it. Players costs become inflated more so than other leagues. With ?50m I'm sure even Mad Eddy would win the SPL, but be relegated from the EPL.

 

Keane's learning, but he's studied under the master, he's hard a fecking nails too, Sunderland could easily be challenging for a UEFA spot come next season.

 

It does look like Frail will be the new manager, I'm disappointed at that tbh, a couple of seasons as assistant to a more experienced man would allow him to gain his badges and learn, could easily see him having a rough season and facing the chop, which will only hamper his progress.

 

It is harder but ?46m is still a lot of money. I agree he is still learning.

Also agree that it would be better for Frail but would rather have him than an experienced British manager if it turns out to be someone like Bobby Wiliamson etc. And remember, a man with no managerial experience took over the docksiders 2 or 3 seasons ago, improved their standing, and yesterday led his team to the Premiership. It's not easy forecasting who would/would not make a successful manager.

[Coco]

Hes made mistakes but for a manager he still has years ahead of him. I think he'll get better. They love him down in Sunderland. The man is a legend, cult status.

 

He has that drive about him which players will respect.

 

I think he has been a real breath of fresh air this season. The way that he has in general talked to the press has been brilliant, as as with the first post above he talks frankly to the fans too.

[werwolf]

As this thread is about Roy Keane shouldn't it be titled Manager of (Self) Importance.

That thug should have been banned from the game for life after admitting he deliberately went out to cripple a fellow pro.

[Jammy T]

No matter how good Keane is as a manager what these emails highlight is twofold

 

Respect

 

Communication

 

The club and Keane are showing that they respect the fans. They are also communicating with the fans

 

Respect and communication

 

We have neither as fans of Hearts

[Only a Game]

IAnd remember, a man with no managerial experience took over the docksiders 2 or 3 seasons ago, improved their standing, and yesterday led his team to the Premiership. It's not easy forecasting who would/would not make a successful manager.

 

To be fair, Mowbray spent the best part of four years in coaching and head coaching roles at Ipswich, learning from more experienced people, before he got the Hibs job.

 

Frail hasnt worked at a high level under ANYONE with anything about them that you could learn from. He is completely inexperienced at the level he is working at apart from the last (utter disaster of a) season. He does not fit the criteria we need or were assured the club was looking for, and if he is appointed then its by far the biggest most damaging lie perpetrated on the support by the current regime.

[Das Root]

To be fair, Mowbray spent the best part of four years in coaching and head coaching roles at Ipswich, learning from more experienced people, before he got the Hibs job.

 

Frail hasnt worked at a high level under ANYONE with anything about them that you could learn from. He is completely inexperienced at the level he is working at apart from the last (utter disaster of a) season. He does not fit the criteria we need or were assured the club was looking for, and if he is appointed then its by far the biggest most damaging lie perpetrated on the support by the current regime.

 

 

 

Tis true, even the crappest job can get folk in it if you offer them enough. If Frail is given it then even if the club say 'he's the best man', it's utter nonsense. An old head in charge (not Anatoli) would allow Frail to learn his trade out of the hotseat and Hearts to get some success back, even if that is pegged back from title chasing to 3rd place and UEFA.

 

McCoist is doing this with Smith at Greyskull, he'll take over one day but be far more successful then than he would be without Smith at the start.

 

No new manager just says to me that Romanov never had any intention of stepping back fully, they just wanted to get this season out of the way to buy more time for whatever their end game is.

[Charlie-Brown]

To be fair, Mowbray spent the best part of four years in coaching and head coaching roles at Ipswich, learning from more experienced people, before he got the Hibs job.

 

Frail hasnt worked at a high level under ANYONE with anything about them that you could learn from. He is completely inexperienced at the level he is working at apart from the last (utter disaster of a) season. He does not fit the criteria we need or were assured the club was looking for, and if he is appointed then its by far the biggest most damaging lie perpetrated on the support by the current regime.

 

This thing that undoes this argument a little bit is that Alex MacDonald went straight into management / coaching with nobody to help him out initially until he persuaded his pal Sandy Jardine to join the club as player / assistant manager the next season....they did not too badly in their 8/9 years at the club.

 

Craig Levein also went straight into coaching at Cowdenbeath for a year / 18 months - then when he came to Tynecastle as head coach the only help he had was Peter Houston who'd been an assistant coach under Jeffries and John McGlynn who was a youth coach....he also had Robinson to help guide some of his decisions.

 

Both MacDonald & Levein became very good Hearts managers despite not managing to add any trophies.

[JamboAl]

To be fair, Mowbray spent the best part of four years in coaching and head coaching roles at Ipswich, learning from more experienced people, before he got the Hibs job.

 

Frail hasnt worked at a high level under ANYONE with anything about them that you could learn from. He is completely inexperienced at the level he is working at apart from the last (utter disaster of a) season. He does not fit the criteria we need or were assured the club was looking for, and if he is appointed then its by far the biggest most damaging lie perpetrated on the support by the current regime.

 

No disrespect but Ipswich are a 2nd division team. Frail has coached for at least 4 years under Levein, Robbo etc and also had a spell at Morton. I'm not making a case for Frail but merely saying he is probably better than many "real" managers we could end up with and as Souness (Rangers) and Dalglish (Liverpool) have shown you don't necessarily need experience to win things, which football management is all about.

[Eldar Hadzimehmedovic]

I'd say the difference with Keane is that we know it ain't all talk. He'll back it up with action.

 

It seems we're getting Frail for next season, so lets hope he's given the authority to do the same.

 

 

Agreed.

 

I'm waiting to see who we sign in the summer.

 

If they're clearly Frail's signings then I will back him 100% and hope he's given a chance.

 

If they're Vlad's signings then Frail can GTF as far as I'm concerned.

[Spellczech]

Keane ticks some boxes but others remain blank. Yes he communicates well with the fans but does he communicate well with the players? 38 weeks of saying the same to the defence! Bolton tightened up theirs in about 8 weeks...46Million to spend and he all he has to show for it is a good GK who still has some weaknesses to his game and a decent striker who doesn?t score enough goals...Why has he been so soft on his players? Why did he not start in his role by putting a good defence in front of his good new GK and making them hard to beat and then build the front of the team? 37Mill could?ve built a very good defence and decent midfield.

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

Got that email as well and thought the exact same thing.

 

Quite interesting to see just how critical he is of his team!

[scott herbertson]

I agree - he blusters a lot but the team have rarely looked convincing, well organised or good to watch. Given the amount of money he spent I think his managerial performance this season is far worse than Frail's since he took over (Frail having lost players not gained them).

 

Frail strikes me as being a pretty average SPL manager. we need better if we are going to get the best out of our players. Keane strikes me as being a good talker, and a hard man, but not proven as a manger.

[benny]

Thats the last thing we need is emails from the manager.Imagine the amount of threads on here when some of the Frail/Vlad haters did not arrive.

 

 

Coco.

Does Keane put on his emails that Jones missed another couple of sitters this week.He seems to have a couple every time i watch him on tv.

[Charlie-Brown]

Got that email as well and thought the exact same thing.

 

Quite interesting to see just how critical he is of his team!

 

Also quite interesting he saved it until their Premiership place was safe...he wouldn't have been quite as forthcoming whilst he still needed the players to get results for him.

[JamboAl]

He also says on Ceefax he was lucky to hold on to his job! True or bluster?

[SlyNB]

This thing that undoes this argument a little bit is that Alex MacDonald went straight into management / coaching with nobody to help him out initially until he persuaded his pal Sandy Jardine to join the club as player / assistant manager the next season....they did not too badly in their 8/9 years at the club.

 

Craig Levein also went straight into coaching at Cowdenbeath for a year / 18 months - then when he came to Tynecastle as head coach the only help he had was Peter Houston who'd been an assistant coach under Jeffries and John McGlynn who was a youth coach....he also had Robinson to help guide some of his decisions.

 

Both MacDonald & Levein became very good Hearts managers despite not managing to add any trophies.

 

And the thing that undoes your argument is the statement released on January 1st stating it wouldn't be Frail.

[Charlie-Brown]

And the thing that undoes your argument is the statement released on January 1st stating it wouldn't be Frail.

 

I was replying to OaG's post about how / why Mowbray was a good manager becuase he'd been a coach under Burley & Royle at Ipswich prior to getting the Hibs job.

 

I just pointed out that Alex MacDonald & Craig Levein both managed to become relatively good Hearts managers with very little prior experience in coaching or management.

[Ben Dover]

Surely some of it's down to their attitude and 'bearing' during their playing careers no ?

Centre half's spend much of their time marshalling the players about them so man management ought not to be too foreign a concept if and when they move into team management !

Keane himself was often regarded as the enforcer of Sir Alex's 'will' on the park so it's really no surprise he has slid over so easily.

Getting back to the team though. They still look like championship grafters to me and they will need to buy some craft if they want to compete with even the lower rungs of the EPL.

[bil]

Funnily enough for someone who was hard as nails as a player he seems almost a bit too "nice" as a manager. It's almost as if he's trying a bit too hard to come across as Mr. Reasonable as opposed to the snarling win-at-all-costs madman who took to the football field....