Post by Les on Jan 14, 2024 15:02:00 GMT
A Love Supreme
SORRY, BUT THE SHOE DOESN’T FIT
BY GILES MOONEY
Giles Mooney shares his thoughts on Michael Beale…
There is a logic, a logic I strongly support, that constantly changing managers does nothing to help a football club. You have to let their style bed in. It takes time for their work to impact all areas of the club. The players have to grow to trust him when he suggests different training routines or tactics. These messages always come out in response to articles like this one. Also, the ‘well who else would you get?’ question will appear in the comments below, I’ve no doubt. I get it. The same is true of uncomfortable shoes.
After you get excited about how shiny and new your new work shoes are, you sometimes have to go through a few days of sore heels and blistered little toes as they wear in. We learn with our first school shoes to give it time…
The problem we face is that Michael Beale is meant to be a size ten DM work boot. And he’s a size five stiletto. It’s not that I’m not letting him wear in, it’s that he’s totally unfit for this purpose. No amount of ‘giving it time’ is going to help. And I guess the shoe equivalent would be ‘what would you wear instead?’ Honestly? I’d rather go barefoot than keep Beale for one more day. He adds nothing that Dodds doesn’t offer and, while I don’t think Dodds is the right long-term answer, I don’t fear for the club or players if he’s in charge.
As I write, Beale’s record after six games includes two wins and three defeats. But I’m not sure six defeats would have made me write this article if I could see evidence of development, progress or, let’s be honest, any glimmer that he would take us anywhere. But I’ve seen nothing.
First, the team structure, positional sense and style of play is, at best, no different, at worst, notably less connected than under previous coaches, two players going for the same ball like they were an U15 team, balls running out of play so possession is lost, defenders uncertain on what the plan is for set pieces, especially corners, players arguing that a style of play isn’t working and, in some situations appearing to agree between themselves that they will play differently from whatever Beale had told them. The cry of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ has never been more true.
For some reason, the whole environment of the club seems to be more negative over the last month with players arguing with each other, questioning the logic of what they’re being told and appearing distracted during games, making uncharacteristic decisions. The Aouchiche foul and Ballard penalty foul seem totally out of character from what we’ve seen previously from them, like an uncertainty has crept into the fundamental aspects of their football. They don’t know what to do and are questioning everything in the moment of doing it.
And it’s hard to argue that the players are wrong to push against what they’re being told to do. Anyone who can’t see that changes are needed during a game, especially when the opposing manager has changed their own game plan, simply shouldn’t be in management. To be fair to Beale, I suspect he can see changes are needed but he lacks the confidence in himself to make them, to implement a plan.
The thing we were promised under Beale was a man who could develop younger players, to improve their game and support them. This, to me, is the biggest clue he’s the wrong man for the job. The way he spoke about Aouchiche after the Ipswich game when he needed the ‘he’s a young man, he’s learning, we all make mistakes’ speech, Beale instead directly and publicly blamed him for the result.
To say Rusyn had got his first goal and deserved a run of games, then drop him for the next league game, is basic bad management. To say that Jobe is a striker who didn’t do his job properly is bizarre… He’s a teenager… and a midfielder… adding that pressure to him is idiotic.
I’m happy to accept the messages of people who speak about Beale’s career to date. His successes in behind the scenes roles are unquestionable at Chelsea, Liverpool and Rangers. But as soon as he returned to Rangers to take the public facing role, the ultimate decision maker role, he failed miserably uniting players, coaches and most especially fans in a universal hatred I’ve never seen before. Maybe he joins the long list of coaches who should never take the top job. It feels like he’s an ideal Sergeant Major, but we’ve given him the job as Colonel. His voice belongs in a discussion on the best things to do on the training ground or what tactics to bring to a game but he isn’t the top man with the final say.
We’re not quite a month into his reign and everything about his performance tells me he’s too risk averse, too vague in his instructions, too scared to make decisions, too distant from the rest of his coaching team and players to be a successful manager.
And no amount of wearing in will change that. Sadly, it’s not as easy as saying we bought the wrong shoes. First it will require an acknowledgement from Speakman that he made a mistake, which his ego is incapable of. And there will be a hefty financial implication too. But better to deal with that and keep the club moving in the right direction than accept the dour, confused, negative and disruptive mediocrity that Beale so obviously offers.
The season is limping towards May right now and no one I know is enjoying supporting Sunderland…
SORRY, BUT THE SHOE DOESN’T FIT
BY GILES MOONEY
Giles Mooney shares his thoughts on Michael Beale…
There is a logic, a logic I strongly support, that constantly changing managers does nothing to help a football club. You have to let their style bed in. It takes time for their work to impact all areas of the club. The players have to grow to trust him when he suggests different training routines or tactics. These messages always come out in response to articles like this one. Also, the ‘well who else would you get?’ question will appear in the comments below, I’ve no doubt. I get it. The same is true of uncomfortable shoes.
After you get excited about how shiny and new your new work shoes are, you sometimes have to go through a few days of sore heels and blistered little toes as they wear in. We learn with our first school shoes to give it time…
The problem we face is that Michael Beale is meant to be a size ten DM work boot. And he’s a size five stiletto. It’s not that I’m not letting him wear in, it’s that he’s totally unfit for this purpose. No amount of ‘giving it time’ is going to help. And I guess the shoe equivalent would be ‘what would you wear instead?’ Honestly? I’d rather go barefoot than keep Beale for one more day. He adds nothing that Dodds doesn’t offer and, while I don’t think Dodds is the right long-term answer, I don’t fear for the club or players if he’s in charge.
As I write, Beale’s record after six games includes two wins and three defeats. But I’m not sure six defeats would have made me write this article if I could see evidence of development, progress or, let’s be honest, any glimmer that he would take us anywhere. But I’ve seen nothing.
First, the team structure, positional sense and style of play is, at best, no different, at worst, notably less connected than under previous coaches, two players going for the same ball like they were an U15 team, balls running out of play so possession is lost, defenders uncertain on what the plan is for set pieces, especially corners, players arguing that a style of play isn’t working and, in some situations appearing to agree between themselves that they will play differently from whatever Beale had told them. The cry of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ has never been more true.
For some reason, the whole environment of the club seems to be more negative over the last month with players arguing with each other, questioning the logic of what they’re being told and appearing distracted during games, making uncharacteristic decisions. The Aouchiche foul and Ballard penalty foul seem totally out of character from what we’ve seen previously from them, like an uncertainty has crept into the fundamental aspects of their football. They don’t know what to do and are questioning everything in the moment of doing it.
And it’s hard to argue that the players are wrong to push against what they’re being told to do. Anyone who can’t see that changes are needed during a game, especially when the opposing manager has changed their own game plan, simply shouldn’t be in management. To be fair to Beale, I suspect he can see changes are needed but he lacks the confidence in himself to make them, to implement a plan.
The thing we were promised under Beale was a man who could develop younger players, to improve their game and support them. This, to me, is the biggest clue he’s the wrong man for the job. The way he spoke about Aouchiche after the Ipswich game when he needed the ‘he’s a young man, he’s learning, we all make mistakes’ speech, Beale instead directly and publicly blamed him for the result.
To say Rusyn had got his first goal and deserved a run of games, then drop him for the next league game, is basic bad management. To say that Jobe is a striker who didn’t do his job properly is bizarre… He’s a teenager… and a midfielder… adding that pressure to him is idiotic.
I’m happy to accept the messages of people who speak about Beale’s career to date. His successes in behind the scenes roles are unquestionable at Chelsea, Liverpool and Rangers. But as soon as he returned to Rangers to take the public facing role, the ultimate decision maker role, he failed miserably uniting players, coaches and most especially fans in a universal hatred I’ve never seen before. Maybe he joins the long list of coaches who should never take the top job. It feels like he’s an ideal Sergeant Major, but we’ve given him the job as Colonel. His voice belongs in a discussion on the best things to do on the training ground or what tactics to bring to a game but he isn’t the top man with the final say.
We’re not quite a month into his reign and everything about his performance tells me he’s too risk averse, too vague in his instructions, too scared to make decisions, too distant from the rest of his coaching team and players to be a successful manager.
And no amount of wearing in will change that. Sadly, it’s not as easy as saying we bought the wrong shoes. First it will require an acknowledgement from Speakman that he made a mistake, which his ego is incapable of. And there will be a hefty financial implication too. But better to deal with that and keep the club moving in the right direction than accept the dour, confused, negative and disruptive mediocrity that Beale so obviously offers.
The season is limping towards May right now and no one I know is enjoying supporting Sunderland…
