"HIGHEST PAID MANAGER IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP"

no plan b and only like for like substitutions is a big weakness

So despite your statement above, we reached the play off final.

We had an injury list longer than the mersey tunnel, probably the smallest or one of the smallest squads in the Championship, the threat of admin or worse, a CEO that was bleeding the club dry, a transfer embargo that prevented Jonesy bringing in any loans etc (the only team in the Championship that didn't bring in squad cover)..plus a manager that has no plan B and only makes like for like substitutions, but still we reached the Play Off Final.

So with a different manager, some good luck on the injury front, a slightly larger squad, some transfer activity in January, and a sensible CEO that tells the truth and doesn't line his own pockets to the detriment of the club we would no doubt be in the Prem now..Is that what your implying??

Jonesy is not worth the salary that he's being paid, but IMO no manager is worth that kind of money! It would take me about 35 years to earn that kind of money, But IMO he did a good job for us last season under difficult circumstances, either that or the players put in a momentus effort under the same difficult circumstances..but then again it's Jonesy's team isn't it, so he would have to take credit either way.[/quote]


i agree with your thoughts regarding this season but do you honestly think that he has any sort of plan b and dosent just make like for like substitutions.
just for the record he had the lying ceo when he blew a big lead at the top of the championship three years ago and also last year when he failed to get the one point needed and blew an 18 goal advantage against preston when in a play off position.

its my opinion that there is a limit to his abilities and thats the reason no premiership club has taken a chance with him as well as the wages.

I believe he is far from the perfect manager and there are better managers out there, ones who make tactical substitutions to turn a game around, but in saying that a lot of those managers often have more options on their bench. This last season mostly through injuries he was fairly limited in his options from the bench, Ross being the usual exception to that and I agree that part of his weakness is his use of subs, but our capitulation the season before last where Preston pipped us to the last play off spot IMO rests largely at the feet of the players. From the position we were in with 4 games to go (needing 2 points if I recall) any player needing motivation to get 1 win or 2 draws from those 4 games shouldn't be a professional footballer, can't they self motivate? they're grown men ffs, with a prize as big as promotion on offer to the team that wants it the most, we were found wanting. The very same players had got us into that very play off position for nigh on 42 games yet at the critical time they bottled it.

My question would be..As we occupied a top 6 spot for virtually the whole season, would the credit for that be to the players or the Manager?? If the answer is "the Manager" then yes it would also probably be his fault that we f****d it at the end, but if the answer is "the players" then it would also follow that they were to blame for the capitulation. You can't put the f**k up down solely to Jonesy unless you also credit him with putting us in that challenging position in the first place, likewise the players, if they were good enough to keep us challenging for nigh on 42 games they should've been good enough to complete the job and get those last 2 points.

I believe Jonesy has done a reasonable job since he's been our manager, he hasn't got us to the promised yet but given a workable budget and backing from the board about keeping the majority of our better players I feel it's only a matter of time until he achieves that goal.