Stephan's Time is Up

[Stanfan]

I hope he’s learnt from mistakes he’s made but needs players in who have more physicality - eg the trend to fouling being allowed at corners doesn’t suit the goalies and players we have. We’ve also missed playing Jimmy at right back as he was instrumental in many goals last season. I’m confident the club know this and will try and sort it out.

[shaggy24]

IMO to be a top 6 club in this league you need to be on it week in week out, we have the opportunity all too often for top 6 or top 2 spots and we lack the drive to see it through and put in god awful performances

only Warnock had the ability to turn the ethos of the club around forget redknapp he picked up off Warnock momentum after Hughes was a fk up

We need a fitness team overhaul to many players out for far too long and some simply not good enough mid table is our level we’ll win some and lose more

will he go I doubt it

[SheepRanger]

JS will know what's missing in this team, and it will all depend on the comings and goings in the summer. A lot of players will have had coaching to help them improve and clearly aren't good enough to be in a top 6/8 side. Those that have peaked and not good enough, and the weak, will likely be on their way out and new "potential" will replace them.

I think the Board would like promotion but a bigger priority is balancing the books as best we can. That's very sensible considering Wolves/Burnley and West Ham/Spurs will dominate the Championship next season. And then thow in the other big hitters in this league. It will be too big a task to get out of for a small budget club like ours next season.

JS is aligned with the blooding on young players, so I dount the club feel the need to change managers, even if they want to throw a huge slice of our transfer budget at changing personnel.

I think JS will start the season after a busy transfer window.

[Harrow QPR]

I would get rid , just Nourry's yes man but while he is here , he will only employ yes men so probably no point. I would like to get rid of Nourry and all his medical , training staff and coaches as well. Stephan lost my confidence with the fiasco at Plymouth in the cup, the same with Nourry , the people running this club have no ambition.

[SheepRanger]

I would get rid , just Nourry's yes man but while he is here , he will only employ yes men so probably no point. I would like to get rid of Nourry and all his medical , training staff and coaches as well. Stephan lost my confidence with the fiasco at Plymouth in the cup, the same with Nourry , the people running this club have no ambition.

Ambition to breakeven over a three year cycle and sell up at a higher price than we're worth now I reckon.

[Harrow QPR]

Ambition to breakeven over a three year cycle and sell up at a higher price than we're worth now I reckon.

Hardly any clubs break even in any league now , most clubs in Championship are losing money unless you get a good player to sell for big money. Best way to break even is getting to premier league and taking the big money. No chance of breaking even with our model.

[Darkranger]

I cannot see the point in changing for another "unproven" European manager. It's just another reset, rinse, repeat cycle. With the manager having to learn far too much and having to adjust to Championship football. We either go with a proven Championship manager or we stick with JS.

[MINCER]

For every club like Watford that change managers and it don’t work there are teams like Norwich WBA and Southampton where it has worked.

Im not so sure fans saying stick with Stéphan would actually do that if they were burning through £2m a month to have any season like this one.

[Sleeping Giants]

Get rid for me , doesn't know his best team .
Yesterday changing half the team showed this .
He was suited up yday must of had a date after the game

To be fair, he changed half the team because half the team isn't fit to play 90 minutes.

[Sussex]

I don't think JS is much of an improvement on Marti who i never rated that highly anyway. Too many poor performances over the season and too inconsistent for me. I would keep him and see what he does in the summer but it would be no suprise if he left after the final game.

[ragr]

On a purely footballing front I think Julien should be removed. Not because of results, which don't go always go in your favour even if you perform well, but because of the inconsistency of performance that comes down entirely to motivation of the players - yes, injuries have deprived us of our first choices but there are no excuses for players turning up and clearly, demonstrably not being prepared to put much effort in. That is a player problem. It's also a managerial problem. The substitutions made on Saturday were just amateur hour stuff even in light of injuries and other excuses.

On the other hand, replacing him is utterly pointless because he'll just be superseded by a similar character who is utterly subservient to the clever(er) boys.

My solution is simple - and will appear dramatic and theatrical - is to sack myself. I've had enough. I've supported the team for nearly 50 years, albeit the last fifteen in an armchair capacity for one reason or another. I just can't can't go on supporting a "club" where very few of the people on the payroll give the slightest of genuine shits about what happens to the club and, most importantly, its supporters. With the possible exception of Andy Sinton all I can see from the upper levels of management to the players on the pitch and associated support staff are the "club" as an

a) opportunity.
b) project.
c) plaything.

Yes, the owners are pouring money in, blah, blah, blah but that doesn't mean they particularly care about the club, the history, pride, the shirt, or even football as a sport itself. It's performative management of an asset. The method by which we're trying to allow them to recoup on that investment doesn't look like generating what they want off the pitch and on it, apart from some very localised sparks of joy, it's largely a monotonous and tedious slog. I just can't get fired up any more to be interested in something that has very little meaning to people in positions who can make it meaningful or at least have an understanding of what it means to so many people and what it has meant in the past.

I'm not going to change allegiance - that would be madness. I may not even be able to sustain my lack of interest - "just when they thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Sad times, but it's really been bugging me this season and has now come to a head.

(Apologies if my depression is contagious.)

[daveshads]

I feel that you (ragr) are far from alone in thinking that way. Once it’s in your blood though, escaping is hard. And the good days can feel really good. But the others, of which there are far too many………..

The first club I supported was Hayes (Sir Les and Cyrille Regis links). They were a good side and eventually morphed into Hayes and Yeading. The height of their success was when they spent a short while in The Conference. Ever since that time they have drifted downwards. Clubs they thought of as equals (for example Wealdstone, Sutton Utd.) are now infinitely more successful. Even Uxbridge who were always considered a smaller team are in a higher league. And this year they even finished below Southall in their league.

My point……..

Our seemingly perennial lack of overall vision and ambition could have a dangerous adverse long term affect. Don’t let’s think it couldn’t happen to us. I think the people bankrolling our club have been sold a pup and need better counselling.

[SheepRanger]

Ragr......they put in money 'blah blah blah'

£20m 24/25 and you cant blame them for wanting them to reduce that will player sales.

But yes, lackluster performance come down to the manager, or is it the policy from the Board to blood young players, who will make errors and cost us points, to the thinking that no matter what they do oj the pitch, we ain't going up.

Our seasoned pros know they're playing for a club that wants to develop players over promotion. To a point they go through the motions and the manager gets the brunt because he cant motivate them.....apparently. Its impossible to motivate people who dont want to be motivated!

[Abseits]

What's wrong with Watford's approach? Compare their last dozen years to ours, far better than ours by any metric you may choose. It is dumb to hang onto an under-achieving or mediocre manager, it doesn't make sense at all. The only negative aspect is the financial cost of paying them off.

JS is not catastrophically clueless but he has presided over a hugely disappointing disjointed and inconsistent season. There are too many tactically inept and naive games on his record here - there is a general laxity amongst our players far too often, he's not right for this league and we really should encourage him to call it quits and move on. If he digs in and won't go voluntarily I suspect he'll remain in post until his position becomes untenable in late October and he has to be sacked.

[ragr]

Ragr......they put in money 'blah blah blah'

£20m 24/25 and you cant blame them for wanting them to reduce that will player sales.

That's to be commended and I agree. However, that is the "what" they're doing and it's the "why" that is the source of my personal malaise. Even with that contribution I can't see that these owners have much affinity with "this" club and it could be any club that they're propping up in the hope of recouping their money. It's a fine line I'm walking with my thoughts here and it's likely just a pining for the days when football clubs were clubs and I'm missing that feeling of belonging that is necessary to my continued interest. Money has always been a a part of football as soon as it went pro. However, I can't continue to support and follow a club that mainly or solely exists in order to service a financial goal and where the focus is mainly on that. I can support a club that wins, draws and loses but not when any of those three options are fine to the hierarchy as long as servicing debt is undertaken.

Of course, this is a broader football issue and I'm not particularly enamoured of the rest of the pro game either right now.

As an aside, an X post yesterday from Premiership Club Bristol Bears RFC came to light that absolutely sums this up - I'm still not sure this isn't a joke:

"At Bristol Bears, we don't call ourselves
a rugby club. We are a marketing agency
that plays rugby. Yes, our players have to
be competent and able to deliver on the
field, but if they are not bringing any
value off the field, that genuinely factors
into our recruitment conversations."