What would you do if you were Justin Rees

[blues exile]

...and in that same vein there was a politician in the 60s called Iain Macleod who said: "never argue the point; just repeat yours..."

Unconscious irony is the best kind

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Unconscious irony is the best kind

Oh! If it were only unconscious....

 

[The Original Tribal Chief]

There are 3 outcomes to a football match and Kevin Maher's win %age is not just above 33.3%, it is the highest of any manager from the last 20 years. He has done this despite all of the factors that have been repeated here ad nauseam.

Manager*	Games	Win %
Steve Tilson	358	39.7%
Paul Sturrock	161	41.6%
Phil Brown	251	39%
Chris Powell	66	36.4%
Mark Molesley	45	17.8%
Phil Brown v2	16	25%
Kevin Maher	182	41.8%

*Waddock and Sol Campbell omitted because of factors


This season has been a hard watch at times but you are trying to drag this man's reputation through the mud and I simply will not have it. Maher has been an extraordinarily successful appointment and at the end of this season he'll get his first proper run at a summer transfer window since 2022 (that [calendar] year we signed Cardwell, Husin, Miley, Scott-Morriss, Kensdale & Taylor)

He deserves this chance. I know that Rees & COSU are going to give it to him. I just hope that he can really find those players that make a difference.

I don't question this statistic. One thing to note - all of Kev's management results happened in non-league. Tilly managed that percentage in the football league, including a year in the Championship.

 

[Swiss Tony]

When I was a young teen in the 60s I worked on Harpy on Lower Thames Street. To get there I often went down Tower Hill, and lunch times I would often listen to the bloke that was at Speakers Corner there every lunchtime putting the world to rights. To my mind he was talking bollocks, but he believed it, and no amount of me trying to convince him otherwise worked. In the end I gave up. Nothing to do with this thread but It's strange the things that pop out of your memory.

I worked on an office block called Sugar Quay house opposite a Customs building right on the river in 74-75, used to pop up to the cafe opposite Billings gate, done the best sausage rolls ever.

 

[RHB]

I worked on an office block called Sugar Quay house opposite a Customs building right on the river in 74-75, used to pop up to the cafe opposite Billings gate, done the best sausage rolls ever.

Custom House, The Harpy Landing Station was on the quay at the back of it. Was the Billingsgate boozer still open then?

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Slightly - I don't want to see any staff member lose their job, but a long standing criticism from many on here is that the food and beverage offerings are a long way below expectations. It's an area that has seen only limited improvement so far, at least in-house, the out-sourced van by the North shows how it can be done. If that is down to the capabilities of the catering management or areas outside of that person(s) control I don't know. But we're told the plan is to try and increase spend per supporter - seems a pretty obvious way to do it to me and probably a more certain return on investment than gambling that a change in head coach will bring an improvement (on the pitch not food provision)

How is the catering manager supposed to deliver with one hand tied behind their back?

 

[Holy Joe]

How is the catering manager supposed to deliver with one hand tied behind their back?

I acknowledged in my post that maybe the case.

 

[fbm]

Nothing to do with this thread but It's strange the things that pop out of your memory.

I think it's everything to do with this thread.

 

[fbm]

I don't question this statistic. One thing to note - all of Kev's management results happened in non-league. Tilly managed that percentage in the football league, including a year in the Championship.

With far better players to be fair.

 

[fbm]

It could just be that Maher's biggest issue is simply how much he over-performed in 2023/24 with a threadbare squad and a ten-point deduction. That, allied to losing the spine of the team (permanently in the case of Kensdale and Cardwell, and temporarily in the shape of Andeng-Ndi and Miley for much of this season), are the prevailing on-pitch factors at play, in my mind.

I'm not sure Maher did overperform last season actually... I think the players did though! I think Kev knew exactly what he'd got and also knew that what they did was way beyond their raw ability. How many times did he do a post match interview and say something like "I can't begin to tell you how well this group of players has done to do what they have."?

This season we have been hampered by the loss of the spine, certainly, but we also don't have to play with that siege mentality again. At this level it's fine margins. But good time are coming, I'm sure of that. People just need a little patience.

 

[dusterman]

I'm not sure Maher did overperform last season actually... I think the players did though! I think Kev knew exactly what he'd got and also knew that what they did was way beyond their raw ability. How many times did he do a post match interview and say something like "I can't begin to tell you how well this group of players has done to do what they have."?

This season we have been hampered by the loss of the spine, certainly, but we also don't have to play with that siege mentality again. At this level it's fine margins. But good time are coming, I'm sure of that. People just need a little patience.

Alright Gary Barlow.

I concur, anyway.

 

[The Original Tribal Chief]

With far better players to be fair.

Yeah, but he had Ron Martin as Chairman.

 

[fbm]

Yeah, but he had Ron Martin as Chairman.

True... but back then pretty much everyone loved him and he was known as "Uncle Ron". I don't recall us having long embargos, no money, staff being unpaid for months...

I do remember us being on the up with a team full of forward momentum having just won the L2 playoffs and the L1 Championship, beating Man Utd... Maher has inherited a team that has fallen through the floor and has been given the equivalent of a Sow's ear, a sewing machine and is now expected to manufacture a silk purse.

 

[Che's Left Foot]

True... but back then pretty much everyone loved him and he was known as "Uncle Ron". I don't recall us having long embargos, no money, staff being unpaid for months...

I do remember us being on the up with a team full of forward momentum having just won the L2 playoffs and the L1 Championship, beating Man Utd... Maher has inherited a team that has fallen through the floor and has been given the equivalent of a Sow's ear, a sewing machine and is now expected to manufacture a silk purse.

That doesn't excuse his baffling tactics and subs

 

[Holy Joe]

True... but back then pretty much everyone loved him and he was known as "Uncle Ron". I don't recall us having long embargos, no money, staff being unpaid for months...

I do remember us being on the up with a team full of forward momentum having just won the L2 playoffs and the L1 Championship, beating Man Utd... Maher has inherited a team that has fallen through the floor and has been given the equivalent of a Sow's ear, a sewing machine and is now expected to manufacture a silk purse.

Pretty certain Tilly did have a unpaid players problem - not to the extent and duration Maher had though.

 

[blues exile]

That doesn't excuse his baffling tactics and subs

He 'inherited a team' in 2021 and has therefore had years to turn things round. Ample evidence of stagnation which given his preferred 'style' of play is hardly surprising.

 

[fbm]

Pretty certain Tilly did have a unpaid players problem - not to the extent and duration Maher had though.

Wasn't that after the Championship season? I'm pretty sure Alex Revell let the cat out of the bag shortly before he left in 2010.

 

[fbm]

That doesn't excuse his baffling tactics and subs

Maybe only baffling to those who don't grasp modern football tactics and who aren't in possession of all the same information that the management team have.

I'm not saying that I understand or agree with them, but I'm more than happy to put my faith in the three qualified and established coaches and if I'm baffled then it's because I'm not a qualified coach. I wouldn't dream of telling any qualified professional in any walk of life how to do their job.

 

[PIERS]

Maybe only baffling to those who don't grasp modern football tactics and who aren't in possession of all the same information that the management team have.

I'm not saying that I understand or agree with them, but I'm more than happy to put my faith in the three qualified and established coaches and if I'm baffled then it's because I'm not a qualified coach. I wouldn't dream of telling any qualified professional in any walk of life how to do their job.

Except traffic wardens

 

[TheSouthendUnitedRunner]

He 'inherited a team' in 2021 and has therefore had years to turn things round. Ample evidence of stagnation which given his preferred 'style' of play is hardly surprising.

How long of his reign has he spent under an embargo though?

For example, he hasn’t yet had an uninterrupted pre-season, the best time to recruit players as contracts expire.

How many times has he not been able to name a full bench, for reasons out of HIS control.

How many months did players go unpaid during his tenure?