.....I would have loved to play / worked for........ Just watched Val's post Birmingham interview and he's a guy who I would have loved to have play for. Clarity of purpose, tactically. No ********. Clearly created a good bond with the players in a short space of time. Well organised. Clear objectives. Quietly ambitious. Commands respect. Others in no particular order......... Struber - Yes. As above. Daniel - Yes cos it would have been so much ******* fun and crazy. Morais - No. Batshit crazy. Hecky - Unsure. Too moody? Danny - Yes. Same as for GS & VI but with a bit of DS thrown in. Hendrie - No. Didn't have any of the above VI,GS qualities. Ritchie - Yes. Same as DS. Spackman - No. Deluded. Machin - No. No sense of adventure. Davey - No. Dull. No personality. etc etc.... Now I'm probably boring you and I've just wasted ten minutes of my life I'll not get back! This is what happens when you can't go to Oakwell and chat about this kind of ****. Goodbye.
I've often wondered if John Hendrie " suffered" as the manager because he'd been one of the lads and then had to suddenly make the transition from being " the joker", to having to tell the players what to do whilst commanding their respect. The 7-1 demolition of Huddersfield proved that he could set the team up to win a game. He managed us for a total of fifty four games, winning nineteen, drawing eighteen and losing seventeen with a win percentage of 35.19%. At the time of his custodianship, I don't know how true it is, but I was told he had the daddy of all arguments with Clint Marcelle in front of the entire squad. Clint had entered the dressing room wearing a cap and it's said that John ordered him to take it off. When Clint refused, I was told a scuffle broke out and things were never the same again. When he left the reason given was the failure to get promotion,
I heard very similar, it's difficult to go from class clown to headmaster with credibility and authority.
To be fair though Donny I think given a squad containing Ashley Ward, Bruce Dyer, Craig Hignett and Darren Barnard I think I'd have set 'em up pretty fair in that Huddersfield game!
That's exactly the reason Hendrie wasn't a successful manager. You can't go from team joker to manager very easily. Joking with everyone one minute, telling everyone what to do the next, doesn't work
Also remember Hendrie had just signed Clayton Blackmore and we had a live televised game and Hendrie was asked by the reporter what Blackmore's best position was to which Hendrie replied "on the bench".
Agree totally Tyke. It happens in the business world as well. When I worked at Doncaster Council our boss left to take up a position at YPO and I was subsequently selected to replace him. It was very hard making the transition from being one of the lads to being the boss. Thinking back I benefitted from three or four staff moving to other jobs, but I remember that the first couple of years were difficult for the staff as well as myself.
Id have loved to play for Mel. A massively underrated coach and a genuinely nice bloke from my limited interaction.
During my time supporting the Reds, the top three worst manager/ coaches we have had in my opinion were Steve Parkin, Nigel Spackman and Jose Morais. My top three favourites are Danny Wilson ( for getting us into the Premiership), Paul Heckingbottom ( Johnstone Paint Trophy and promotion via the play offs) and Daniel Stendel ( automatic promotion to the Championship and a record of not being beaten at home all season.)
No idea. I wouldn’t read anything into how they are in press conferences. Most want to get them over as soon as possible & to not give anything away. Would’ve loved to have played for Ritchie because the players had a right time. Felt like they were on Wellington Street at 2am after every home game. All the players from around then speak about how much they enjoyed it & how good the team spirit was.
A very good period in our history but as we heard on Lokos interview with Rick and Andy ultimately spoiled by " an enemy within", one Mr Davey.
Freescoring under Bertie's management. Never forget during the season we went to Wembley to play Ipswich, we were at Blundell Park playing Grimsby Town around Christmas time. I got a couple of tickets in one of the stands and called in at my brother in laws in Donny as he was going with me. Unfortunately, once in Cleethorpes , we had difficulty finding any off road parking near the ground, which meant we were late getting into the stadium. Once in our seats , we were surprised to hear from Reds fans round us ,that we were already two goals up. Craig Hignett was our stand out player that day. From memory I think we added another goal and ran out very comfortable 3-0 winners.
