Now I know my man purse wielding buddy from the bleak country , I mean black country , will have his view .. but this is as daft as any Chelsea sacking .. great manager Clarke , all but won at Chelsea , won at Utd .. Premier League is a fuckin joke , not sure the ins and outs of this , but seriuosly , WTF ?
Much as I'm dying to launch into a series of jokes about this, on a serious note, didn't see this coming at all. From the outside it seems a shock but maybe not so much with results. From winning at man u and should have taken the Jose home record to sacked a few weeks later...
"The nightmares invading the sleep of Bayern fans involve four horsemen of the Champions League Apocalypse riding towards them. As the faces come into focus, they will recognise Frank Lampard, Cole, Petr Cech and Drogba. All were immense..."
I agree to an extent that it was rash but if you watched them week in week out you could see the mistakes he's making, team choice and substitutions, tactics etc, some day's it just baffles us. We absolutely ruined Villa first half but Long was creamed and you could see gaps opening up, half time he makes no changes, he purposely didn't bring Berahino on (when he's in the form of his short career) because he didn't want to give him a big head, how can you not play your main striker of the moment, 2-0 up he then watches Villa make three changes and does nothing about it, no challenge subs etc, finishes 2-2 and it was a win for them really, it felt like a loss, that was the changing point in our season 4/5 weeks ago.
He's a good manager I'm not disputing that and to be honest I really feel like I'm done with football, it's a joke. My biggest gripe is that I don't see who he can bring in that's as good, and even if he does where does he realistically expect us to end up ? Am I supposed to be exciting about a possible tenth place finish, it just bores me now.
Shaun, since last Christmas Albion have been in relegation form. Clarke had a good start with Hodgsons team and Hodgsons tactics but he was exposed when it came to becoming his own man. I agree about the Villa game, that was probably what made Peace realise he wasn't up to it.
Quote: UncleAlbert wrote in post #8Shaun, since last Christmas Albion have been in relegation form. Clarke had a good start with Hodgsons team and Hodgsons tactics but he was exposed when it came to becoming his own man. I agree about the Villa game, that was probably what made Peace realise he wasn't up to it.
So who next? McLeish? DiCanio?
I agree, we were lucky to play Man Utd at some of their worst form in the last 20 years, we played well don't get me wrong but I'm not stupid and I know what the result was, I think the same with Chelsea away in the fact they aren't really firing on all cylinders, we were cheated out of the win but when we got the ball on 93 minutes instead of trying to lob Cech why not take it to the corner. Sessegnon's misses have got Clarke that sacking, he missed a 1 on 1 at stoke from 8 yards out, an open goal against villa when we were 2-0 up and countless other chances, if anything it's as much the teams fault as Clarke's but that's life. In all fairness I'm not Jeremy Peaces greatest fan, he's a businessman over anything and he runs my club as such but he does usually get it right and we have built ourselves back up over the past 10 years under him.
Rumours are Di Canio or Di Matteo coming back, McLeish won't get near a premiership club again to be fair mate. I definitely don't want Martin Jol.
Seriously though, I know the West Brom lads will know more than me about how they've been performing but from the outside it seems a ridiculous decision. But it just furthers the opinion that modern-day football is just a steaming pile of wank. When finishing one place above the relegation places is seen as 'success' for two thirds of the teams in the Premier league then you know it's a complete waste of time. What's the point?
I agree wholeheartedly with you mate, it's about money, and as long as you finish above those bottom 3 it doesn't really matter to all the businessmen who run the clubs.
I think JT player manager is a great shout .. he could take Big Ron as his sidekick .. certainly ruffle a few feathers ..
I liked Clarke at Chelsea , seems a real good bloke , but like you say Shaun , unless you watch the club you don't really know how the teams playing the fuck ups wrong decisions that get made ..
I'm sorry to see him go but 1 win in the last 10 games is relegation material, he's been a dead man walking for weeks. As a coach I'm not doubting his ability but he only has one plan of action, which the opposition managers seem to have sussed. Clarke's record for 2013 is: P34 W7 D10 L17 =31pts.
Some of the players have gone public and apologised for missed chances and performances, I think we have been extremely unlucky this season and he's taken the fall for it, I hope he goes somewhere else and succeeds because he conducts himself well. On the other hand I do think the team would work better under a manager that motivates them more, he never showed that side to him and there has been games where they've needed someone shouting the odds at them in authority and I think that was lacking.
the record you've put up doesn't make for good reading .. and staying in the PL today seems the norm , that's the desire based solely on the money .. cant critisize any club , our record on managers is shocking , but this one did suprise me ..
I say it every year Steve and I keep going back to it but the modern day game as we know it is as far away from my upbringing as it could get, it doesn't mean what it did, my clubs my club and that will never change but I'm pretty much done with top tier football and the constant scrap to make very rich men more money.
The pull for me with the day's out, the lads, the weekenders etc I'll still do but I'll see my season ticket out this season and then call it a day.
Quote: UncleAlbert wrote in post #8Shaun, since last Christmas Albion have been in relegation form. Clarke had a good start with Hodgsons team and Hodgsons tactics but he was exposed when it came to becoming his own man. I agree about the Villa game, that was probably what made Peace realise he wasn't up to it.
He's suffered his own success. All I can say on the matter really.
Apparently Sky ran a VT at the start of the season with fans expectations on, they were at the hawthorns and one fan said Champions League. These are the sort of people that you've gotta ask yourself if they're living on the same planet.
He'll succeed elswhere, He got a chance at albion really following on from Hodgson but one good season and a shitter will mean he'll find a decent job....You'd have thought.
Sun Dec 15, 2013 8:30 am (Last edited: Sun Dec 15, 2013 8:48 am)
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Hugo Boss to sponsor the shirts? 
