A few others have said this too, but I feel it deserves to be reiterated at this time.
Amid all the gloom, it has to be said that he's really doing his best:
- no demand for a new contract (if he gets a bonus for keeping us up, good luck to him)
- bringing in players he's worked with before - he knows them, they know him, less of a settling in period
- commenting on 'bad news' like the Bouazza departure in a way that says we can do better without him
- being open about stuff like Christensen and Sinclair - trying to sort out some of the mess he inherited
- recognising we have 20 cup finals coming up
Refreshing change in that sense from the previous Mr P, and althouh it still frustrates me that he won't give Dickson a chance, and some of his team selections/ tactics are a bit defensive, I not only hope he can turn things around, but I am starting just a little bit to believe that if anyone can, maybe he can, maybe, perhaps...
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We might be too far off to do it this season, but I think he can rebuild the squad properly in League One. He'll get more reliable, consistent players, the right numbers for each position. Unlike Pardew, who I felt wanted to sign bargains we didn't need that were future 'stars' he could mould himself (Dickson, Fleetwood, Dorian Smith, Dean Sinclair, Christensen among plenty of others) and anyone with any talent that might improve the team, even if we didn't need them (Scott Sinclair, Halford etc).
Next season, assuming he's still here, I can see us having a couple of players for each position, and after that using young players as back up. He won't (and we can't afford) have 10 central midfielders (that's no exagerration when you include players like Yussuff and Jensen), 2 centre backs and 6 strikers.
Just i did not think he was what we needed at this point.
Seems the board to the opinion that it'll cost money to get rid of him, and whoever we get in won't be a great deal better, and could be worse. And as they said, he knows the squad and the club better than any new manager would.
Am I right thinking that's Jason Brown, Blackburn keeper who used to be here?
The one big minus against him is his association with Pardew but I sense that in his own way he is showing that he has his own ideas.
Forgot about him, even if its just for competition. Definitely need a centre back, and another player Parkinson knows.
Certainly warming to him as a person, though, partly for the reasons Weegie says, and partly because of what our Madjeski friends have told us about him being a Steve Brown-style legend at Reading, where they are apparently still singing his name for his never-say-die attitude.
Not the same as being a good manager. But it will do for a start, given that he's here for the duration...
He might not have agreed with all of Pardew's decisions, but he was a key part of the coaching set up and things haven't exactly got a whole lot better since he took over.
That said, one win may well make all the difference, and I really hope he can turn it around.
- no demand for a new contract (if he gets a bonus for keeping us up, good luck to him) making the best of the fact that he wasn't offered one
- bringing in players he's worked with before - he knows them, they know him, less of a settling in period because almost all of them will be cheap
- commenting on 'bad news' like the Bouazza departure in a way that says we can do better without him making the best out of a dodgy situation
- being open about stuff like Christensen and Sinclair - trying to sort out some of the mess he inherited doing what he's told by Waggott/Chappell
- recognising we have 20 cup finals coming up statement of the painfully bleeding obvious!!
OK I'm having a glass is half empty moment!!....:o)
I can't even comprehend even thinking about 'warming to him' until he starts delivering
nb - I will be still supporting the team (which now includes parky) 100%
As soon as he took control he brought in Gillespie & Waghorn.........what did they deliver ?? Also Burton ffs !!!! - said he has been tracking him for some time and rates him highly...why? The guy gets nowhere near the ball and apart from against the Saints hasn't had a shot in anger. 1 goal in how many games ?
Then he has made some baffling team selections (a revolving door policy I call it) - one week Mcleod starts, the next game he isn't in the squad. Dickson is given 10 mins at the end of the game and then dropped completlely.Gray up fron on his own, then Burton, then both of them together.....then waggy gets a go. NO CONTINUITY.
now he has signed another loan player who has been out all season injured - (Murty) who is v likely going straight back to Reading once fit and deffo not here for the rest of the season or next. He was voted their player of the season last year and one of their best players ever......not likely wanting to be playing div 1 footie next year. what is he going to do in March when he goes back ? If I was Moo2 I'd tell him to stick next tues when we play Norwich (Murty's cup-tied) - again another team change looming, Murty in sat, not next tues, then in again next sat.
And if he doesn't, some people are straight on his back.
Okay, just for now taking away the not inconsiderable matter of Parky not actually producing a win so far in his tenure, he is visibly trying to re-shape the team and situation with virtually no money - and he began that process while the transfer window was firmly shut.
He brought in Gillespie. Failure?
Not for the first few games he played, brought quality & knowhow to the right wing and then seemed to run out of steam.
Unexpected benefit - Lloyd Sam won his place back and turned in some of his best performances of the season, creating many chances some of which resulted in a batch of goals.
Question: was Gillespie brought in to jump start Sam and give guidance?
He brought in Burton. Failure?
10 years ago he was a 25 goal a season man, fetched a 7-figure transfer fee and played in the Prem.
More recently, was a vital goal scoring striker in Sheff Weds Division 1 promotion push. Plays more of target man these days and good team player - but of course, people are expecting him to score a netful of goals - free scoring players tend to command a high price, don't forget. But he was brought in to strengthen a team role where only one player was capable at a time when the window was shut. Who else was available?
He brought in McEverley. Failure?
Slotted straight in at LB and produced a direct, determined style - and then suffered a painful injury and was missing for a few weeks. We look stronger at LB when he plays.
Parky has been criticised for bringing in all 3 players as loans. But he needed to bring in fresh mental energy, strengthen team weaknesses and give competition to underperforming existing players. And he tried to do that with virtually no money and the transfer window closed. What else was he to do?
I think we are mostly agreed that despite still waiting for that elusive win, we've seen a general improvement in the team performances, and a return to more Charlton-esque battling qualities.
And still he is trying to add fight and backbone to the team, with the signing of Murty and perhaps Brown.
Football is played inside the head as much as with physical ability - and it's the mindset of players that he has striven to change. He has recognised weaknesses and acted with common sense.
I never thought I would be, but I'm beginning to be impressed at Parky's desire to get the basics right.
"impressed by Parky" FFS --------------- what you gonna be like should he ACTUALLY win a game ?
wasnt impressed at all against a SHIT Norwich team where the result didnt mater and he only played one (sometimes none) forwards up front. Then as Buzz goes we are given the spin bllx that Parky didnt like the guys attitude etc etc etc WHY PLAY HIM THEN !
We aint got a bean , we aint got much (if any ) hope, but we can TRY---------- FFS TRY !!! and drop the spin its sickening.
Impresed nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
What's the most fundamental problem with the team - lack of footballing ability?
No. it's the players' mindset.
And he's trying to bring players in who can change that feeble losing mentality, that so many of Pardew's players had.
With no money to sign fresh contract players.
He's also trying to address the lack of balance in the side, creating the tight team unit that Pard's never seemed to know how to put together.
He might have been Pardew's assistant - but it's evident that in the past 6 weeks Parky is trying to do it in a completely different way.
Despite disappointing results, you can see the winds of change at the very foundations of the team. Piece by piece, it's beginning to come together.
Whether you see it or not, that's what I'm impressed with.