Steven Pressley Gone

Elvis has left the building.

Good, however, I have little faith in the BOD making a good decision appointing his replacement, especially if Holdsworth is involved.

ParcelPete wrote: Elvis has left the building.

Youve had that planned for a while Pete

Really didn't see that coming today, thought 2 weeks ago it was nailed on, but given results in the league and cup thought he had bought himself a bit more time

First piece of the jigsaw in place...now for change in the boardroom!

Wish Pressley well, doesnt come over as anything but a nice guy, just woefully out of his depth.

That's the TV money gone then

Brilliant news. I never liked the appointment but I was prepared to give him a chance to prove himself. Sadly it hasn't worked out but let's hope a new manager can get the buy-in from our squad that Pressley couldn't achieve. Over to you Mr Holdsworth.

Bit of a strange one timing wise. I know we got beat last night but it was in a tin pot cup with a mostly second string team.

Dancingbear wrote:

ParcelPete wrote: Elvis has left the building.

Youve had that planned for a while Pete

First and last time i will ever refer to him as Elvis.
Reg would have been more original.

Too early for Grainger ?

That's brilliant news, Pressley was in serious danger of taking us down if he'd stayed.

Didn't have much to work with admittedly, but failed woefully to get the most out of what he had, both in terms of the budget and the players he had available.

Hope I'm wrong, but isn't Owen Coyle big pals with Holdsworth???

I doubt whether Danny would work with that shower especially Holdsworth

Can't say I'm sad to see him go but the timing is a bit strange- should have gone weeks (if not months) ago and, as people have said, at least we had strung a few results together; last night's shouldn't be a factor as most people don't give a monkey's.
The question now is the one I've been discussing with my learned colleagues at the matches for some time - can a new manager get a tune out of a bunch of seemingly disinterested, below-par, short-term hires?

Weird timing but more than to see the back of elvis.

Anybody tracking Russell Slade's son on Twitter?

Ironic that it's taken defeat in the BOD's favourite competition to trigger his exit when the majority weren't particularly bothered about last night's result.

Wonder if one of his targets within his contract was to qualify for the next round and the budget he was working with needed the prize money

Yes, sadly it's the right decision. He was dealt a bum hand but was playing it increasing badly.
I always thought he was a decent bloke but as many have said the post-match interviews were doing him no favours at all.
Really nasty atmosphere at the Crewe game and I think when the fans start to turn you're on borrowed time.
I think for me of late there was no sense that, despite talk of "green shoots", thing were getting any better.
It just felt like we were limping along.

Waltero wrote: I doubt whether Danny would work with that shower especially Holdsworth

Danny and Gav Skelton are big pals

heilkmoon wrote: That's brilliant news, Pressley was in serious danger of taking us down if he'd stayed.

Didn't have much to work with admittedly, but failed woefully to get the most out of what he had, both in terms of the budget and the players he had available.

Fair point on the budget but I think anyone who comes in just has to look at previous performances and consistently pick a balanced side from the better performers available.
Shed the defensive mindset too, we're not good defending so we've been playing to our weakness for a while!

This is gonna eat into our football fortune

He had to go but as others have said I'm a bit shocked at the timing, maybe now a new man can come in & get the best out of this team.
I personally hope they dont go for the 'old boys club' mentality


Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Is Wenger still looking for a job?

Waltero wrote: That's the TV money gone then

Spot on, Walter. Get through the cup and the money pays him off.
Terrible.
Pressley was the perfect scapegoat for the BoD.

A month later than I predicted but better late than never.

I thinks it's become a bit clearer this morning that the board probably wanted to get rid of him earlier but couldn't afford to pay up his contract.
The FA cup TV appearance money has now allowed them to pay him out.

Good riddance to the chancer.

I hope Skelton applies...local club for local people

musher441 wrote: A month later than I predicted but better late than never.

I thinks it's become a bit clearer this morning that the board probably wanted to get rid of him earlier but couldn't afford to pay up his contract.
The FA cup TV appearance money has now allowed them to pay him out.

Good riddance to the chancer.

The chancers are the BoD.

Lakelandterrier wrote:

musher441 wrote: A month later than I predicted but better late than never.

I thinks it's become a bit clearer this morning that the board probably wanted to get rid of him earlier but couldn't afford to pay up his contract.
The FA cup TV appearance money has now allowed them to pay him out.

Good riddance to the chancer.

The chancers are the BoD.

I can't disagree there Lee.
But Pressley has been stealing a living as a manager for years. Utterly useless wherever he had been, and I've said so on here many times since day one.
Hopefully this is the first small step in things changing from top to bottom.

Rumour was that Owen Coyle was Holdsworth's choice when we appointed Pressley and he was overruled. Reckon it'll be him or Skelton.

Slightly surprising timing, but would appear that – as mentioned above – the EFL Trophy may have been part of his performance-based targets.

He can't have too many complaints. I always liked the bloke and was willing him to do well, but watching us this season has been as tough as it's been since our League One relegation. The FA Cup win was an enjoyable occasion but being honest, a loss to that Dulwich side would have been criminal. I do think we have the bones of a decent squad, and the season is certainly salvageable.

Get a new gaffer in pretty sharpish and we should enjoy a bounce factor which could see us past FGR in the cup, into the 3rd Round, climbing up the league – and suddenly the world is rosy again!

Hard to think they haven't got somebody lined up. Heard a few whispers about folk that have been contacted weeks back, so maybe it'll be a swift process...

UTB

Well that two managers that have been chosen by the “pickers” that have been disasters. One was shite and the other didn’t want to be here, for whatever reasons.

The players we have are shocking but Presley’s hands were tied as there’s no money.

No idea who’ll there’ll choose. There might go with someone with history at the club, to maybe have a bit more time than others would get. Will they make the right decision: no

pedals wrote: Rumour was that Owen Coyle was Holdsworth's choice when we appointed Pressley and he was overruled. Reckon it'll be him or Skelton.

Its not a rumour mate. It's 100% fact.
Holdsworth voted Coyle as 1st choice but was outvoted by the other decision makers in the first round of reviewing applicants, hence eliminating Coyle from the application process.
Holdsworth may or may not have then voted for Pressley in the next stage of the the process.

John Sheridan heading north as we speak no doubt...

I got to know Danny Grainger very well when he trained up at Creighton when he was with us. An absolute born leader, did a lot of the stuff that people like West and Dykes should have been doing. Players listened to him, they respected him, and I'm not in the least bit surprised how well he's doing at the Reds.
Maybe a little too soon for him, but I would be willing to give him a bash with Gav as his number two, absolutely no doubt.

Perfect timing. Get someone in for the window. I thought his recruitment was pretty good in the summer but his ability to organise and motivate was zero

Replacing the carpets whilst the roof is still pissing in.

Great move by the gimps

Grainger is managing in a pub league, 2 tiers below what Dulwich are. They are by far the biggest team in their league so it’s no real surprise how their doing.

If I was him, I’d stay there as coming here and making a hash of it will mean end of career before it’s even begun. Get the Workington promotion on the CV first.

Murphy is another name mentioned, more experience than Grainger but hasn’t done much there.

Jansen, Bridges maybe!

It’s likely going to be Owen Coyle though. I expect the delving into signings from the Scottish league to continue.

It’s been a catastrophe, really, epitomised by his desperate scramble to sign some strikers at the start of the season and ending up with Olomola, Loft and Sorenson.

I’m sure Holdsworth should accept some of the blame. I’m equally sure he won’t.

Markovitch wrote: Perfect timing. Get someone in for the window. I thought his recruitment was pretty good in the summer but his ability to organise and motivate was zero

I didn't think much of his recruitment either tbh. For a former centre back to land us with Webster & NKP was terrible, and he overestimated how well Iredale and Elliott would transition from the Scottish lower leagues, and his own ability to organize us at the back.

Biggest shambles of all in pre-season was the farce that ended up with us getting Sorensen. All that talk about holding out until the last minute for our "main striker", then it turns out he doesn't want to come and we end up with Sorensen instead as a last minute stopgap. That reflects very badly on Pressley, if his main target wasn't interested in coming that could have been established at the outset and he should have moved on.

musher441 wrote:

pedals wrote: Rumour was that Owen Coyle was Holdsworth's choice when we appointed Pressley and he was overruled. Reckon it'll be him or Skelton.

Its not a rumour mate. It's 100% fact.
Holdsworth voted Coyle as 1st choice but was outvoted by the other decision makers in the first round of reviewing applicants, hence eliminating Coyle from the application process.
Holdsworth may or may not have then voted for Pressley in the next stage of the the process.

I heard he changed his vote when he realised Coyle had no chance in the sing off.

Correct decision. Actually not quite, the correct decision would have been to get rid for free in the summer.

But it’s the right decision in these circumstances. His results have been terrible and he was never turning this around.

I wonder if his the 1st manager to get the sack after a loss in the EFL trophy, in this format?

Just a point regarding management in general, and Pressley seemingly damaging the team and upsetting players by playing them out of position; surely a good manager should be playing them to their strengths? Wouldn't sitting them down, asking them what their favoured position is then playing them in it and seeing how they perform, be sensible? It's not pandering to their wishes, so long as it was made clear that if they don't do the business they'll be dropped and if, in times of crisis, they might be asked to play out of position and if so they'd better do their best and do it without whingeing...

Spend some money on a proper coach/manager.
No cheap half arsed appointment.

It was plain to see that he was out of his depth, so surely the person responsible for awarding him an extended contract should resign.

Talisman wrote: Just a point regarding management in general, and Pressley seemingly damaging the team and upsetting players by playing them out of position; surely a good manager should be playing them to their strengths? Wouldn't sitting them down, asking them what their favoured position is then playing them in it and seeing how they perform, be sensible? It's not pandering to their wishes, so long as it was made clear that if they don't do the business they'll be dropped and if, in times of crisis, they might be asked to play out of position and if so they'd better do their best and do it without whingeing...

A different thought would be sign players who can play in the positions and system you want them to play in in the first place.

Interesting thread about it on FollowFollow. James Philips interviewing techniques even get a gold star on one post.

www.followfollow.com/forum/threads/steve...ths-in-charge.96676/

I do think we have the nucleus of a solid side which is far better than what we've been seeing. I think the first three games were an indication of where we realistically should be: the victories against Crawley and Barnsley and the narrow defeat against Swindon. The players have become worse on the whole since the start the season, Pressley scrapped the formation we'd been working on all pre-season, he changed the players every week, seemingly fell out with others at different times (Thomas, McKirdy and so on). The emergence of Branthwaite and Sagaf has been a big positive and I think a change now might bring the best out of some of the others.

I don't think the recruitment was all that bad. The nucleus of a decent team is there if played to its strengths and the next manager doesn't try putting players into a system not suited to them - Bridge springs to mind. Collin, Branthwaite, Jones, Sagaf, McKirdy, Olamola and Thomas have shown that they're capable and if one or two of the others can take stock and find some form then we should have enough to compete with the majority of teams at this level. Webster, as disappointing as he's been, was a regular player in the Championship for a number of seasons and linked with a big money move to Sheffield United prior to his injury at Scunthorpe. I don't think some of the weaker signings are necessarily bad players, they just haven't been able to click here yet for whatever reason. We should be aiming for upper mid-table again realistically.