Jack Ross, the good ...

... the bad and the ugly.

It seems like the time has come when this subject needs a thread of its own.

After the Bolton match @MackemGlobeTrotter posted a great thread with statistics, analysis and various opinions.

This is just a rant from someone who trudged, humiliated, out of Peterborough, Bolton and Lincoln.

I sat on a train opposite two lads who defended Ross and thought he should be given more time ...
.... I think about 10 years, with no chance of parole, would be about right.

Their argument is that there's no guarantee that anyone else would do better with those players. They admitted that they can't see us promoted, with Ross, so surely there's no risk bringing someone else in.

I believe that the only thing stopping Ross being sacked is the takeover. In my opinion he's caretaker manager because there's no one else at the club capable of doing that job.

I saw plenty of bad and ugly, yesterday, but can't recall anything good except the support ...

... what a mess Ross has made of his chance to manage a big club.

 

I liked his self confidence when he arrived, he seemed to do a canny job early on but something went wrong with him a few months into last season and we just stumbled along.

The same self confidence turned into a stubborn front which has set us back loads again, I feel bad for the lads and lasses who do away days, all that time and money to watch us get outplayed in L1 man

I've wanted shot since the Oxford game, when imo it was obvious this season was going to be another case of stumbling along hoping for the results, we can't even keep a clean sheet now man.

Get him sacked while we still have plenty of time to turn it round, we are a legit L1 side now and need someone with the bottle to compete down here.

 

As I walked out of Wembley last year after the PO final, I was absolutely furious. He was finished!! it was clear cut that he failed miserably. He was hanging by a thread that he failed with automatic promotion, and his saving grace was that he’d made it to the lottery of that final.
The manner in which the team, influenced by his set up and tactics, limped through that match was an utter disgrace.
His failure that season has put this club back in terms of the plan to get back and we are sleep walking through this season in the same manner, but mathematically already looking like we may not make it again. He needs the bullet, and fast. We cannot accept another season in this ****hole of a league.
We are lost and the reality is now hitting home hard to the fans that we're in no mans land, going backwards!
Ipswich town are showing exactly how it’s done, relegated after a season of humiliation, they are storming this league with intent, everything that was promised by the mouth of this club last year and this!

 

I'd seriously give it to Bally for a few weeks until this take-over happens. Whats the worst that can happen? One thing for sure, you will see 11 guys motivated and running themselves into the ground for the shirt. I'm sure they wouldn't fancy facing him if they didn't.

 

Morning Smug. Hope your well. Thanks for yesterday. My view is that the takeover is affecting the club now and needs sorting one way or the other. I can’t see Ross being sacked just yet because if the takeover goes ahead we would hopefully be able to attract a better quality manager unless the sacking is authorised by the potential new owners, if it doesn’t go ahead then the next manager is just going to be another journeyman hoping that they can succeed or get more out of this squad. I don’t think Ross is getting the best out of this squad and yesterday the players didn’t look like they were playing for him. It was as bad if not worse than Bolton. Anyway I think a lot rests on the takeover but it does need sorting sooner rather than later for the sake of everyone. Yesterday was embarrassing given the opposition and there recent form. Top 6 looks like a struggle at the minute never mind top 2.

 

I paid my money like I always do.
Stayed up until 2 AM watching like I always have done for years since I moved to Aus.

I’ve seen some **** since I started in the Roker End about 1982 ( just after they demolished half of it which I watched and was fascinated as a kid).

But by Christ last night knocked the stuffing right out of me.
Never have I ever felt this flat after a game.Lost for words.
I very rarely post but I just need to speak up.

Just a total embarrassment.How has it come to this?

 

I only listened on the radio, so difficult to form an accurate opinion but it was coming across that we were being over run everytime the had the ball with far more pace than we could cope with.

Benno was going mad at the apparent ease they were cutting through us.

Is that fitness? The way we are set up? It's hard to tell from radio but seemed to me to be a bit of both. That comes from the manager and staff and its been consistent all season

 

It was a gamble to appoint an inexperienced manager from outside of the English league's and it hasn't worked.

He doesn't have a clue what his best team is and makes some baffling decisions. How McGeouch has became a regular starter in the CM is just plain wrong.

 

He must go. It’s absolutely appalling, and even when we win it’s laboured and usually is us hanging on at the end.

However, I do think he has been let down badly by the recruitment team.

Last season Stevie Wonder wearing a blindfold could see we lacked any kind of pace throughout the side, and we were weak as piss and got bullied. We were crying out for pace and a bit of power right through the team. Willis is the only one who fits this bill. We still have a team full of players with zero pace and who get bullied by any player over 6 foot.

Everyone knew Oviedo would be away this summer, regardless of division. Plans should have been made about replacing him, especially when in June we let Reece James leave. James was steady enough, no world beater even at this level and IMO no great loss. However, despite knowing Oviedo was away and having 3 month to sign a replacement for James, we still ended up panic buying a left back from Leeds who nobody has heard of and the Leeds fan ridicule for being so ****. And unfortunately I can’t see Hume being a professional footballer for very long.

Ross seemed like he had his heart set on playing 352 this season. After losing Matthews, Oviedo and James (all of which would fill that wingback slot quite well) we started the season with Gooch and O’Nien filling in at RWB, and the lad we signed to play right back squeezed in to play centre back. Does Ross have no say in transfers? Do they not liaise with him and ask him what formation he is looking to play or what style he wants to play, and sign players to fit that? Because of the 352 being a nightmare, and Hume being canny poor/injured, we end up with the lad who we signed to play right back but squeezed in at centre back playing at left back, and an advanced midfield player at right back. Shambles.

In midfield, I’ve already mentioned us lacking that bit of physicality and ability to move. Yes we signed Dobson who does seem to provide us that bit of energy, but he doesn’t seem very good. The rest of our options are all much of a muchness. Nobody who can really get about the pitch and impose themselves on the game. They’ll all pick the ball up and play some nice 10/20 yard passes sideways or backwards, but that’s about it.

McGeady played through the last 6 weeks of last season with a broken foot because we were so desperate. He is STILL playing injured because we did not sign any wingers. We have Gooch, who sadly will never make it above this level IMO, Maguire who again will never make it above this level and is better as a number 10 anyway due to having zero pace, McGeady who is clearly very unfit and Watmore, who seems to be ruined by injury. At least at the end of last year we had Morgan. Is this failure to sign wingers because Ross wanted to play 352??

Strikers - yes losing Maja was a blow. However, had Wyke been fit at the start of last season would Maja have even got a look in? Our policy when signing strikers appears to be look at who’s scored goals in this league previously. Wyke is horrendous, up there with James Vaughan in being the worst forward I’ve seen play for us. At least the likes of Altidore and Prica were ****e at a higher level. Grigg just doesn’t look interested, and tbh he is living off scraps. Scraps of ****. Dragged through ****. Does not excuse his lack of effort mind, but whatever style of football we play does not suit Grigg.....so why did we spend so much on him?

So yes, Ross has been let down by recruitment. Badly I’d say. How much of a say has he had in these? I’ve no idea. But whoever is in charge of recruitment should be following Ross out of the door.

HOWEVER.....

We do not look organised and we do not look fit enough. We have no style of football other than turn up and hope our better players turn up and drag us through. That IS something Ross certainly can control and influence. We are blowing out of our arses after an hour, so who is in charge of fitness? We look all over the place defensively. Ross spoke about wanting 20 clean sheets, after his obsession with them last year. We have 0. We don’t have the players to play out from the back. Our midfield don’t seem to want to get their foot on the ball and test the opposition, or drive forwards with the ball. We have no pace to use a ball over the top, or to get the ball and run at opposition defenders. If teams even slightly press us, we **** ourselves and lump the ball forward to whichever of our weak, slow forwards we’re playing this week and then the ball comes straight back at us.

Ross has been let down. But he’s also let himself down. Managers in this league with smaller squads full of lesser players with budgets a fraction the size of ours can get their teams organised and attempting to play football. Ross has been in charge for around 80 games, and I’ve still no idea what he wants to do with this squad. For me, he should have gone straight after the playoff final. And he certainly should not be given another game to show everyone how out of his depth he is here.

Time to go, Ross, Coton and Hill.

 

This he offers nothing at all, nearly always a sideways or pass back to where it came from, so so negative.

 

Hmm up till now I have not joined the Ross out brigade, cos I thought he would get it right given time and chopping and changing managers might produce short term gain but at the cost of long term pain.

However something is wrong in that we do not have a discernible pattern of play, the players run around a lot but to little purpose... at times they are not motivated till we go a goal down and then we bust a gut for 10 mins, what about the other 80.

I cannot see I sacking atm until the takeover is done which ever way it goes. If we get a new manager with a few bob to spend he needs to be in by December

 

My biggest question on recruitment is does anyone actually watch a player before we sign him if not this should be an absolute essential.

I feel to believe we've watched every single player before signing them especially on recent signings like CM.

It seems as though we have a catalogue approach and look at a players CV only. I also know a Leeds supporter who said that De Bock was atrocious and was quickly loaned out abroad in no time.

 

Not going to quote @Huds0n but his post sums it up for me.

As I have posted previously elsewhere one of my main issues is back at the start of pre season someone decided we were going to play 3-5-2.

You would assume whoever made that decision spoke to the rest of the coaches and the recruitment team to discuss new signings, training etc.

We spent all pre season and the first game of the season persisting with it then changed to a back 4 as it blatantly wasn't working.

The squad is a lop sided mess and on deadline day we were scrabbling around for anyone who had a remote interest in playing left back.

The whole set up is and has been an absolute mess. A manager who doesn't know what formation to play, a recruitment team who can't get the players to suit whatever formation the manager decides to use and players who are limited.

The whole lot need to go

 

Good post.

 

Good thanks mate, a canny black eye but otherwise fine

 

Like I say, we signed Grigg and Wyke last season who offer nothing, especially with our ‘style’ of play. It seems they’ve been signed simply because they’ve scored goals in this league before.

It’d be interesting to know how much our scouting team has been cut back

 

The decision to abandon 352 so soon in the season spoke volumes about the lack of organisation throughout the club. There simply can’t be any communication going on between different areas.

The sooner this takeover is finalised and the new people can get to work smashing through every section of the club the better

 

Is Jack Ross’ contract up in the summer?

 

Hopefully it's up by 5pm today

 

He's dreadful and he has to go. I was actually tempted to start a poll on here about it as it might be more "balanced" than the SMB but I've been here no time so thought I'd leave it to others if they want to. I imagine the results would mirror over the road though.

The bad things: we have no clear style of play. He has focused specifically on clean sheets and then, embarrassingly, seen us be the only club in league one not to keep one. Equally, if you're going to focus on being defensively sound, you've got to be clinical when you go forward. We don't have the players for that as none of our strikers have shown themselves to be anything like clinical (maybe harsh on McNulty who I like tbf but he needs to get back on the pitch). We also have no pace which hardly helps when trying to sit back then spring on the opposition.

He's still trying to find his best eleven. I was optimistic that he might have stumbled across it, and no changes on Saturday was a positive as far as I could tell but after that performance it'll have to be all change again. De Bock after a solid debut looked just like we'd been warned about by others.

His comments in the press have been pissing me off. We're a big club down here with a big budget (comparatively) to the point where even the owners were targeting 100 points. He never acts like that though, hardly ever (yesterday the exception) says we simply aren't good enough. It's always "Rochdale actually played really well" etc. It's not the be all and end all but I'd like a bit of arrogance, a bit of swagger, you wouldn't see Roy Keane accepting anything less than winning every game down here, those are the standards we need, not seemingly excusing a series of inept performances with some wins that have blatantly papered over the massive cracks. His comments have increasingly sounded like self preservation.

Performances are the big thing though, I can barely remember the last time we actually played well. In fact, since Maja left it basically hasn't happened (and we weren't always great when he was here). We've been getting a decent number of points but only because of the incredibly low standard of this league, especially near the bottom. How many games have you genuinely walked away thinking "we were really good today, deserved that"? Can't really think of any in the league (Portsmouth we were good second half but woeful in the first even though we ended it ahead). We fall behind too often, we don't kill teams off when we go ahead, and we rely on random bits of skill from someone like McGeady. None of that screams good management to me. I'm also not convinced about our fitness levels. And he can't get a tune out of two strikers who had previously scored a decent number at this level

**** me, the bad has taken a lot longer than I thought it would. I'd say sorry but it's largely Jack Ross' fault for being a useless knacker. The good is a lot shorter: he seems a decent bloke, I think he's working hard and I like that he was prepared to move to the area. That commitment led me to want to give him time, but I feel he could have gone after the utterly woeful play off final where we were gifted a lead and then completely stopped playing. He's had his time, time to go