by ladida_gunner_graham »
28 Apr 2015 10:10
Nameless Clarke gets good reviews from lots of people in football, was speaking to an Oxford United coach recently who said Clarke is a really good appointment....
We shall see. I'm very much in the camp that says he's had no real time to do much yet. Of course you sometimes get managers who come in and make instant impacts, but just as often it takes a while (and a proper window) to sort things.
I suspect he's been told he has time, the Thais have said they aren't rushing things and he should get at least next season to demonsrate progress.
We are clearly better organised, better defensively but still not right in the penalty area. We are creating more and whereas before Christmas we were struggling everywhere Clarke has changed it so there is only 25% of the pitch that we can't play in.
Can he bring in the right players this summer ? We'll see come September. Should we over react and get rid of a manager who has done some good groundwork, and should be capable of building on that ? I'd say no, and I can't quite understand why some take such a short sighted view.
I'm tending to agree with these sentiments, but how long he gets to prove himself is the question. He has inherited a situation where there are a lot of players who are either not good enough or playing poorly. Is he capable of identifying the crud, moving it on (where possible) and replacing it with something better? His loan signings have been generally good, but these are just short term sticking plasters - the good ones seem unlikely to be leading to to permanent deals for one reason or another. Can he find the next Doyle, Long, Sidwell, Shorey? Knight and Yakubu suggest that the jury is definitely out on that, but I don't think he's had a fair crack of the whip yet.
Can he get the best out of the players who are capable, but under-performing? I think there is significant potential upside in the performances of the likes of Obita (who has definitely gone backwards in the last 12 months), McCleary (too inconsistent, but we know what he CAN do) and Norwood (who looked class for a couple of months but has totally lost his way). What a difference those three could make if playing to their potential. Is he a good enough coach to make that happen?
We seem to play a lot less long balls than we did under McDermott and Adkins - but he still needs to find a penetrative style that's exciting and effective, and also within the capabilities of the players we have. Some of his tactical decisions have honestly looked very iffy. Robson-Kanu upfront on his own was quite absurd, especially after he'd just said to Radio Berks that he needed to give Appiah a good run in the team to find out about him.....so leaves him on the bench and plays a failing winger in his position.....utterly baffling. No more mistakes like that Steve....you'll look too much of a tit.
Want to see him given more of a chance, but not convinced he'll succeed.
