My own thoughts are that he’s doing a decent job with the players he has at his disposal. I’ve enjoyed games again this season, Rotherham at home and a number of the away games we’ve had spells where we have played some really good football. This contrasts with the style of play from last year where we got results but the watchability (not even a word) was pretty poor. Darrell isn’t full of the football manager BS that many trot out and I think he is improving, along with the players. The Orient game was terrible but hopefully just a hiccup on a gradual upward trend. We are six points behind where we were last year at this point in the season, hopefully the improvement can continue and see us in the playoffs by the end of the season.
He's very much on a knife. The away form is excellent. The home form is not acceptable. So will we pick up at home or fall off away? Time will tell.
Is it Clarke or the team is just not good enough no matter who the manager is. For me let him see is contract out then we can judge him. Plus can we afford to keep turning over managers the staff and players they bring. This time next year we could be in the championship. Happy New Year reds.
My opinion won’t change until he sorts out the home form, still don’t trust him to get results consistently without losing to some shithouse team. He was a bit of a knob towards the local press at the start of the season for no reason whatsoever (he has reigned this one in like…) in pressers. I don’t like how he throws players under the bus & his man-management skills seem poor to me (see Matty Craig…) He’s massively landed on his feet with this job bare-in-mind he got relegated from this division last year…. I stand by the fact he was the wrong appointment & he’ll never get a better job than with us, this will be his peak. I do stand to be corrected though…..
In my humble opinion those who wanted Clarke sacking should be hung, drawn and quartered and their entrails pulled down Peel Square. The cretens.
For all the two away wins and rah, rah, rah. If we stop winning away we'll be in trouble sooner or later.
We simply have to stop changing managers and coaching staff. We can’t afford it. It’s clear from the away form that we almost have a team capable of a top 6 finish. I personally believe that top 2 is already beyond us (but I’d love to be proved wrong). A couple of decent signings, some away-style support at home and we have a chance. Oh … and a bit of (good) luck please.
Agree with you until last paragraph. There was nothing wrong with the support at both games I've attended this season Stockport and Leyton Orient. Fans who attend regularly at home are being seriously short changed this season.
There’s no doubt watching him on the touchline against Bolton he thought he was in the sack zone , the relief when the second goal went in was obvious . Hopefully we’ll see the more organised style of play we’ve seen in the last two away games . Still not sure about him but let’s hope he’s learned from the first half of the season , particularly at home
I’m not reading too much into his relegation with Cheltenham. They’d failed to even score a single goal in their first 11 games, so basically giving the rest of the division a quarter seasons advantage, plus he won’t have had much to work with there. As for ‘dropping on’, isn’t the modern day Barnsley FC almost always a ‘step up’ for managers and players alike? With the rare exception, we just recruit based on potential to perform at this level, and hopefully above.
I agree with you about the Cheltenham thing too. He could quite conceivably galvanise us get us into the Play-Offs by mid February, closing gap on top two and be plucked by Championship relegation fodder. Some managers dive from club to club without actually achieving anything. He could be the new Lee Johnson. I don't include any of Clarke's previous promotions because they were at a lower level. Not being arrogant if we were in the Conference or League 2 I'd be w@nking myself silly that we have Clarke. No offence.
Just looking at next 3 games, Wrexham, Crawley & Northampton. Win all 3 and we’re cooking with gas. Might seem unlikely, but we’ve just won 3 of our last 4, so not out of the question.
Crawley were terrible at their place, but they’ve improved a bit since then. They were 4-1 up at Exeter yesterday, so have a goal in them, but they ended up choking and drew, so still poor at the back.
As Depeche mode said, enjoy the silence lol. I used to let footy and my other sporting team interests, ruin it for me on a weekend when they had lost. But that was a long time ago now because I've realised, it's not worth it, after the initial anger or excitement etc. And there are of course, more important things in life.