The blame does not all lie with Michael Duff

[magicdaps10]

The Cardiff game was on par with the play off final against Brentford.

Similar in style........more about the opposition rather than concentrating on winning the game.

 

[DanWelsh]

I hope there will be clear the air talks very soon, it can't go on like this, that Cardiff game is a stain on this clubs history

If they didn't happen this morning at 9am, after their brekkies from the specially constructed canteen, in their specially constructed training centre in Fairwood, then we'll be loosing.

Because these little cherubs need the sense slapped into them. I want to seen them play on a lopsided Vetch field with Oranges and Sandwiches made by the tea lady (bless her) and that will separate the men from the boys.

 

[Dwy Goes Bren]

I’m bemused by the comments suggesting that the fault lies with the players and that they need to work harder and implement Duff’s plan. To even become a professional footballer you need to be fiercely competitive and have a strong work ethic. Very few get through on ability alone. It takes quite a bit for players to down tools (and I don’t think this is what we’ve seen, to be fair). If Duff has lost the players in this way then it simply underlines how utterly out of his depth he is. It suggests an inability to understand and motivate his players, to adapt his communication and coaching to achieve the results he desires. By definition he will be failing as a manager.

In any business or venture you need to build relationships and get people to buy in to what you’re doing. When people have no faith in you or your plans it’s virtually impossible to succeed.

This isn’t going to get any better. Duff isn’t going to have a road to Damascus moment.

 

[Cinio Dydd Sul]

I’m bemused by the comments suggesting that the fault lies with the players and that they need to work harder and implement Duff’s plan. To even become a professional footballer you need to be fiercely competitive and have a strong work ethic. Very few get through on ability alone. It takes quite a bit for players to down tools (and I don’t think this is what we’ve seen, to be fair). If Duff has lost the players in this way then it simply underlines how utterly out of his depth he is. It suggests an inability to understand and motivate his players, to adapt his communication and coaching to achieve the results he desires. By definition he will be failing as a manager.

In any business or venture you need to build relationships and get people to buy in to what you’re doing. When people have no faith in you or your plans it’s virtually impossible to succeed.

This isn’t going to get any better. Duff isn’t going to have a road to Damascus moment.

Ho ho ho ho ho hoooo

 

[DanWelsh]

I’m bemused by the comments suggesting that the fault lies with the players and that they need to work harder and implement Duff’s plan. To even become a professional footballer you need to be fiercely competitive and have a strong work ethic. Very few get through on ability alone. It takes quite a bit for players to down tools (and I don’t think this is what we’ve seen, to be fair). If Duff has lost the players in this way then it simply underlines how utterly out of his depth he is. It suggests an inability to understand and motivate his players, to adapt his communication and coaching to achieve the results he desires. By definition he will be failing as a manager.

In any business or venture you need to build relationships and get people to buy in to what you’re doing. When people have no faith in you or your plans it’s virtually impossible to succeed.

This isn’t going to get any better. Duff isn’t going to have a road to Damascus moment.

I'm bemused by the comments suggesting that the fault solely lies with the manager and that he needs to somehow take control of their physical bodies on the pitch to enact a football tactic. To even become a football manager you usually have been a successful player and have had successes as a player and a manager. Few get through on ability alone. It takes a real lack of professionalism to down tools and give up on the pitch numerous times as we've seen time and time again over the previous 2 seasons. Is suggest a lack of respect by players for this football club and you'd expect more from professional footballers. 1 example is refusing to play the night before a match then sodding off to Turkey, now that's disrespect. By definition they are failing at being football players.

In any business or venture you need to build relationships and get people to buy in to what you’re doing. When people have no faith in you or your plans it’s virtually impossible to succeed.

 

[cadleigh]

Sorry to sound like a stuck record but it’s not helpful to over-simplify this into ‘Duff: Good’ or ‘Duff: Bad’. If he is deciding the training regime for the entire first team without consulting his coaching team then what are we paying them for? If he is planning team tactics, including formation, for the next game without engaging his team captain, then what are Watson and Coleman doing?

It’s a team performance at the end of the day. Easy to simplify it into the story of one man (in this case) and his success (or not) at delivering a game plan like our players are pieces on a Subbuteo board, but things are rarely that simple.

Now, there are aspects of his individual performance that might legitimately ring alarm bells. He is displaying a Captain Queeg-like level of paranoia. He has made misjudgements talking to the press (Cardiff Gate). While he doesn’t throw individual players under the bus like Martin did, he seems reluctant to own responsibility for failure. If you were managing a new hire who was stepping up a grade at work, had a few rough edges to their personality, put the hours in but was having trouble bonding with their new colleagues, would you (a) let them go immediately before they finish their probation, (b) put them on a Performance Improvement Plan in the hope that fear would make them step up or leave or (c) discuss how they feel things are going and work at helping them make the transition?

 

[LeonWasTheDog's]

It's definitely mostly Watson and Coleman's fault.

They think their own s**t is chocolate.

"What we need is a results guy, let's get a results guy in"

As I've said before, that in itself is not a bad idea.

But do your homework FFS. On what planet was Duff ever suitable for us.

They clearly do not understand the club one bit.

If we manage to survive this season I hope they learn something from it.

I agree up to a point, but then who appointed a hands-on Chairman with no experience of football and no experience of the English football pyramid? That was the first mistake. And then that mistake is compounded by his mistakes, etc., all the way down through the structure until we get players running around not knowing what they’re doing. It all stems from those top level decisions by the owners about which leadership team to put in place.

I’ve said it before, but it’s a shame we lost Trevor Birch. He was just about holding the madhouse together (although was probably hamstrung by the owners as well). We’ll struggle to find someone as well connected and experience as he was. Coleman’s not even close. We need footballing decisions to be made by people who have some idea about football (even if that’s just picking the right management team).

 

[LeonWasTheDog's]

I’m bemused by the comments suggesting that the fault lies with the players and that they need to work harder and implement Duff’s plan. To even become a professional footballer you need to be fiercely competitive and have a strong work ethic. Very few get through on ability alone. It takes quite a bit for players to down tools (and I don’t think this is what we’ve seen, to be fair). If Duff has lost the players in this way then it simply underlines how utterly out of his depth he is. It suggests an inability to understand and motivate his players, to adapt his communication and coaching to achieve the results he desires. By definition he will be failing as a manager.

In any business or venture you need to build relationships and get people to buy in to what you’re doing. When people have no faith in you or your plans it’s virtually impossible to succeed.

This isn’t going to get any better. Duff isn’t going to have a road to Damascus moment.

I mostly agree. The players are the visible face of the failure, so I think that explains why people think they’re to blame. Any observer of football should know that the leadership by the manager (and work on the training pitch of course) has a massive impact on their performance. We’ve seen it plenty of times here. Players, and more importantly a team, looking clueless under one manager can be completely rejuvenated under another. It’s the same in all walks of life. People thrive under good leaders and stagnate under poor ones.

I wouldn’t completely rule Duff out yet, but it’s not looking good at the moment. He’s got a history of slow starts, so I’m hoping that he can turn it around. Each poor performance will certain see the pressure mounting though.

 

[SwanseaJack]

If this is true then…… idek

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

I’m bemused by the comments suggesting that the fault lies with the players and that they need to work harder and implement Duff’s plan. To even become a professional footballer you need to be fiercely competitive and have a strong work ethic. Very few get through on ability alone. It takes quite a bit for players to down tools (and I don’t think this is what we’ve seen, to be fair). If Duff has lost the players in this way then it simply underlines how utterly out of his depth he is. It suggests an inability to understand and motivate his players, to adapt his communication and coaching to achieve the results he desires. By definition he will be failing as a manager.

In any business or venture you need to build relationships and get people to buy in to what you’re doing. When people have no faith in you or your plans it’s virtually impossible to succeed.

This isn’t going to get any better. Duff isn’t going to have a road to Damascus moment.

And yet we've had a Barnsley fan on here this morning telling us he's the best manager they've had, he doesn't become a bad manager over night, the truth lies somewhere in the middle imo

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

If this is true then…… idek

WTF.... Why would he invite Cardiff fans into the box?

 

[Swanjaxs]

WTF.... Why would he invite Cardiff fans into the box?

He's probably referring to Nathan Jones mate...

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

He's probably referring to Nathan Jones mate...

I despair of this club

 

[monmouth]

Sorry to sound like a stuck record but it’s not helpful to over-simplify this into ‘Duff: Good’ or ‘Duff: Bad’. If he is deciding the training regime for the entire first team without consulting his coaching team then what are we paying them for? If he is planning team tactics, including formation, for the next game without engaging his team captain, then what are Watson and Coleman doing?

It’s a team performance at the end of the day. Easy to simplify it into the story of one man (in this case) and his success (or not) at delivering a game plan like our players are pieces on a Subbuteo board, but things are rarely that simple.

Now, there are aspects of his individual performance that might legitimately ring alarm bells. He is displaying a Captain Queeg-like level of paranoia. He has made misjudgements talking to the press (Cardiff Gate). While he doesn’t throw individual players under the bus like Martin did, he seems reluctant to own responsibility for failure. If you were managing a new hire who was stepping up a grade at work, had a few rough edges to their personality, put the hours in but was having trouble bonding with their new colleagues, would you (a) let them go immediately before they finish their probation, (b) put them on a Performance Improvement Plan in the hope that fear would make them step up or leave or (c) discuss how they feel things are going and work at helping them make the transition?

if the probation meant we could get rid with no compensation, I’d have them escorted off the premises.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I agree up to a point, but then who appointed a hands-on Chairman with no experience of football and no experience of the English football pyramid? That was the first mistake. And then that mistake is compounded by his mistakes, etc., all the way down through the structure until we get players running around not knowing what they’re doing. It all stems from those top level decisions by the owners about which leadership team to put in place.

I’ve said it before, but it’s a shame we lost Trevor Birch. He was just about holding the madhouse together (although was probably hamstrung by the owners as well). We’ll struggle to find someone as well connected and experience as he was. Coleman’s not even close. We need footballing decisions to be made by people who have some idea about football (even if that’s just picking the right management team).

100% agree that it all starts at the very, very top. But then that's been the case since 2016. I don't think Coleman realises it yet, but he's just there as a human flak shield. He will wise up to it at some point. They'll just appoint another stooge then.