Gary O'Neil

He has turned a squad that Parker said was absolutely rubbish, into a competitive team.

In the space of fck all.

Successful managers motivate their team, and it doesn't matter at what level.

Whether it be the under 5 kids team, or a PL team.

If you make people believe in themselves, with a dose of assuring, they generally do.
 
Turning a downtrodden bunch of alleged no hopers to a team that is really hard to break down and carries genuine attacking threat on the break in the last three games is no mean feat. This team will grow and get better after being further tempered in the PL. Gary O'Neil looks the real deal right now. I personally hope he gets the chance to develop the team into the very best it can possibly be.
 
afcdibby said:
I think our squad always believed in themselves. I really don't understand what SP's true motives were?
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I think Scott saw us as a decent stepping stone to managing a big club in the Prem ,maybe any of the clubs he played for.

I think he was promised funds when we got promoted,but the landscape changed with the imminent sale of the club.

The 9-0 defeat damaged his reputation and he engineered his own sacking to save being at the helm of two clubs that were relegated,thus saving his rep.

I don't think he will ever manage a big club now,I am struggling to see what kind of club he will end up at,giving that he can only coach at clubs that spend money.
 
bigfatolly said:
I think Scott saw us as a decent stepping stone to managing a big club in the Prem ,maybe any of the clubs he played for.

I think he was promised funds when we got promoted,but the landscape changed with the imminent sale of the club.

The 9-0 defeat damaged his reputation and he engineered his own sacking to save being at the helm of two clubs that were relegated,thus saving his rep.

I don't think he will ever manage a big club now,I am struggling to see what kind of club he will end up at,giving that he can only coach at clubs that spend money.
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Not sure I agree with your second para- but otherwise I think you’re right. The more I think about it, the more I think SP might well have cynically engineered his dismissal (with a decent pay off!), because he didn’t want to see through his “AFCB project “.
 
Agreed.

With no new signings O'Neil has done a fabulous job.

He is getting the best out of what he has got.

Credit to the man.

Didn't think Moore on was the best option as late minute sub however.

Kieffer Moore should only be introduced when the impetus is with us. A great player is Kieffer, but he can not hold the ball as well as Solanke


Apart from that, pretty much, spot on.
 
Great that Gary has picked up the team that SP was damning so often…is it that he is a good manager or that Parker was particularly poor?
It is a tough call for the club, but somehow I don’t think anything will be decided until a takeover is completed IF it ever happens?
 
Neil Dawson said:
No desire from me for a ‘worldly wise’ football manager. I do think though that we should interview from a pool of decent candidates including Gary so we know there is nobody better. Caretakers get a bounce. Especially after a divisive manager. Football management is about longevity though and twists and turns. Gary has done really well but he has only had three games (one win). He is in the right place and there is no rush to appoint is there, especially with a takeover looming.
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You and I would have taken the one win.

As an aside, no losses.
 
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It’s tricky cos lots of caretaker managers do end up with a bit of a bounce. But I think O’Neil has genuinely showed a lot of tactical nous so far, and he’s very obviously able to galvanise the group too. It’s not like with Woodgate, where it was “all vibez”. I’ve actually been very impressed with how we’ve set up for games, and how we’ve adapted within games.

What we have now is a very safe pair of hands to guide the club through another period of change, during which he might well show he’s definitely good enough for the permanent job. What would be disappointing, is if we go on a brilliant run, and the new US owners ditch him immediately for a more fashionable name.
 
If he loses the job at this stage it would be an injustice.

Never like internal appointments as a general rule, but he has shown a few things the last ones didn’t.

Not reacting to Howes substitutes did it for me.

What we now need to see is an attacking intent.
 
No point in giving him the permanent position when there is an imminent take over, so hes in charge till the world up break.....then the new owners take charge....they may have someone else in mind .
 
NWCherries98 said:
It’s tricky cos lots of caretaker managers do end up with a bit of a bounce. But I think O’Neil has genuinely showed a lot of tactical nous so far, and he’s very obviously able to galvanise the group too. It’s not like with Woodgate, where it was “all vibez”. I’ve actually been very impressed with how we’ve set up for games, and how we’ve adapted within games.

What we have now is a very safe pair of hands to guide the club through another period of change, during which he might well show he’s definitely good enough for the permanent job. What would be disappointing, is if we go on a brilliant run, and the new US owners ditch him immediately for a more fashionable name.
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I agree. He will be around for awhile as nobody will be appointed until the deal goes through and if he is doing ok then he should be allowed to keep going.

We need to see what they will be like when they take over. Sometimes they already have a manager in mind. If that is the case I hope O’Neill stays as first team coach.. For him the issue will be the longer he stays as manager the harder it will be to step down.
 
We have a run of games (Brentford/Leicester/Southampton home and Fulham/WEst Ham away) and after that we should have a pretty good idea of where we are. 10+ points from those and there would be a strong case for appointing GON permanently.
 
May as well give a little stability to the situation now and give O'Neill the title of interim head coach until the world cup.

There was a case for this when Parker went, but with a potential takeover due in the next month or two it just makes this seem all the more logical.

Gives him some room to plan further ahead than a game by game basis. The squad will know where they stand. Gives time for the ownership to be resolved. Then everyone can sit down during that imposed break.
 
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