Undertaker wrote:Barry Fry's incompetence has hurt a lot of clubs. He is loved by the media because he's a character but has no idea what hes doing, either as a manager, or a chairman. I advise anyone to watch the Big Ron program currently on Sky One. It's excellent and shows you how a football club should not be run.
Dave
To be fair, Fry was excellent at Southend. Against the odds, he kept us up when he took over the hapless Colin Murphy towards the end of season 92/93 (I think) - though Stan Collymore, who Murphy signed just before his departure, was a huge influence too. Then the following season, as written above and without Collymore (now at Forest), Fry took us to 3rd in Division 2 by December and with a genuine shout of reaching the Premiership. However, then Birmingham came calling and off he went - despite assuring us he'd stay. And unfortunately, all the players Fry had signed lost interest (some joining Fry at Brum) and we slid into mid-table obscurity.
I guess Fry's reign at Southend could be construed as lucky - he brought a lot of players in from his former club Barnet who seemed to love playing for Fry - but we did play some awesome attacking football under him. He was probably in the right place at the right time as since then his record has been appalling. Steve Claridge, in his excellent autobiography Tales From The Boot Camp, claims that Fry's entire tactical knowledge can be listed on the back of a postage stamp.
Passion, love, sex, money, violence, religion, injustice and death. More on that story later.
joncool5 wrote:We've made some quality signings in the past couple of weeks so i'm convinced that the 4-2 win at Bristol City the other week will be the sign of things to come for Blackpool this season.
How is Clarke doing at Southend??
Yes, good luck to Blackpool. I didn't take in everything from the transfer deadline - is Kiegan Parker still with you? Superb player. As for Clarke, he spent the opening four games confined to the bench but has started the last two games and looks excellent. He was at fault for Sunderland's goal in our 3-1 victory over them but his reading of the game and organisational skills have impressed me and he looks fairly tidy in possession. Will be a great signing, I'm sure.
Passion, love, sex, money, violence, religion, injustice and death. More on that story later.
Kris wrote:
To be fair, Fry was excellent at Southend. Against the odds, he kept us up when he took over the hapless Colin Murphy towards the end of season 92/93 (I think) - though Stan Collymore, who Murphy signed just before his departure, was a huge influence too. Then the following season, as written above and without Collymore (now at Forest), Fry took us to 3rd in Division 2 by December and with a genuine shout of reaching the Premiership. However, then Birmingham came calling and off he went - despite assuring us he'd stay. And unfortunately, all the players Fry had signed lost interest (some joining Fry at Brum) and we slid into mid-table obscurity.
I guess Fry's reign at Southend could be construed as lucky - he brought a lot of players in from his former club Barnet who seemed to love playing for Fry - but we did play some awesome attacking football under him. He was probably in the right place at the right time as since then his record has been appalling. Steve Claridge, in his excellent autobiography Tales From The Boot Camp, claims that Fry's entire tactical knowledge can be listed on the back of a postage stamp.
Thats fair enough. Credit where it's due. I remember him getting sacked from Barnet (don't know why) and the next week, Barnet were playing away at Halifax and he was stood on the terraces with all the Barnet fans.
I get the impression that as he grew older, he grew less wise and started to think running a club was like Championship Manager.
joncool5 wrote:We've made some quality signings in the past couple of weeks so i'm convinced that the 4-2 win at Bristol City the other week will be the sign of things to come for Blackpool this season.
How is Clarke doing at Southend??
Yes, good luck to Blackpool. I didn't take in everything from the transfer deadline - is Kiegan Parker still with you? Superb player. As for Clarke, he spent the opening four games confined to the bench but has started the last two games and looks excellent. He was at fault for Sunderland's goal in our 3-1 victory over them but his reading of the game and organisational skills have impressed me and he looks fairly tidy in possession. Will be a great signing, I'm sure.
Yeah, Parker is still with us although I wish he'd gone. Scott Vernon has scored 4 in the last 3 and with Ben Burgess and Andy Morrell signing in recent weeks I can't see him getting back in the team unless he shows more effort and commitment. We also signed Claus Jorgenson from Coventry last night so we have an interntational midfielder in our team now!!! Shame that Tommy Black and Stuart Green changed their minds about joining us at the very last minute yesterday although even negotiating with these players shows how far we've come with Green eventually joining Crystal Palace last night!!!
As for Clarke, I hope he does well for you as he is a great defender and should be comfortable in the Championship and help you to stay up.
There were some great Euro 2008 qualifiers on Saturday. England did the job that was expected but did it with a purpose, rather than grinding out a 2-0 win like we would have done under Eriksson.
Scotland were the same. The Faroes were very poor but you can only beat whats put in front of you. Four years ago, a 0-0 draw wouldn't have been too much of a shock.
Republic of Ireland were battered. Shay Given making sure it wasn't 5 or 6. The Germans entertaining again.
I thought Wales were a bit unlucky. If Craig Bellamy spent a bit more time concentrating on his finishing, rather than moaning all game, Wales would have taken a point.
Things starting to look up for Rovers after some of the poorest performances I've had the displeasure of witnessing in recent weeks.
A better performance today at Rotherham (never been there before, WHAT a dump!!) as Sean O'Driscoll starts to get hold of his new team. I fear by the time he has whipped them into shape and we are back to winning ways the season will be too far on to claw anything back from.
Oh well, at least we have some stability back, and there's always next season.
