Sol Not on Furlough!

[jackj13]

I don’t know the answer so genuine question. How many other managers from league 1 & 2 have communicated with either through the clubs sites or local newspapers? Is it just Sol who hasn’t or others?

 

[amsemp]

I’ll always agree that some of Powell’s signings were god awful. FWIW, I think he knew that himself, and would have made changes if he’d been allowed to.

It’s also worth remembering that our wage budget at that point was incredibly high - thanks to Ron & Phil - so Powell may not have had much freedom to move in the transfer market.

Looking back now, I’d rather we had gone down that season with Powell, and given him the chance to put things right... I.e. clear out the high earners, get over the injury crisis and allow him to rebuild from there. Let’s not forget, that for every Mantom & Dieng we signed, we also found a few gems in Hopper, Hump, Moore & Hart.

Who knows, maybe right now we’d be on our way back to Lg1, instead of vacating it.

Totally agree with this. We would’ve been better off going down with Powell and hanging on to him. I think we’d all feel far more positive about things now if we had a group of great homegrown talent with Powell at the helm.

But on the other hand, Powell was noticeably dejected at the end of his spell with us and it was pretty heartbreaking to see.

 

[united we stand]

I’ll always agree that some of Powell’s signings were god awful. FWIW, I think he knew that himself, and would have made changes if he’d been allowed to.

It’s also worth remembering that our wage budget at that point was incredibly high - thanks to Ron & Phil - so Powell may not have had much freedom to move in the transfer market.

Looking back now, I’d rather we had gone down that season with Powell, and given him the chance to put things right... I.e. clear out the high earners, get over the injury crisis and allow him to rebuild from there. Let’s not forget, that for every Mantom & Dieng we signed, we also found a few gems in Hopper, Hump, Moore & Hart.

Who knows, maybe right now we’d be on our way back to Lg1, instead of vacating it.

Although I agree with the general principle that it might have been good to have gone down, that final game is one of my all time best ever days with SUFC, and one I will remember for years to come

 

[BriggBlue]

Forget going down with Powell, we would have been better going down under Bond it would have seen the clear out start a year earlier and we would have had a chance of appointing someone with a clue, perhaps even AB would have been tempted to have a crack.

 

[Grayson]

Forget going down with Powell, we would have been better going down under Bond it would have seen the clear out start a year earlier and we would have had a chance of appointing someone with a clue, perhaps even AB would have been tempted to have a crack.

Disagree, with so many players in contract we would've been in danger of going down again and into oblivion. That's why we couldn't clear out last summer.

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

I can’t see him taking the Bolton job. Three basket case clubs in a row? Surely even he’s not that crazy.

Russell Slade went from Becchetti-era Orient to Cardiff’s post-EPL fire sale, to Duchâtelet’s Charlton to Coventry under SISU. There’s a reason dominatrices make a living - some men just want their balls stamped on, either in private or in their professional lives.

 

[Strykr]

We gone from Phil Brown always spurting day to day saying this and that to Sol who is as quiet as a church mouse.No wonder fans are p off with lack of communication

i wasnt a fan of brown, big time charlie who loved himself, but compared to sol at least he seemed onboard as being happy to be southend manager, and none of this cryptic crap.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

For me the question is, if he’s not been furloughed then what has he been doing?

If reports on here are correct, then he has not been in touch with the players and we know for sure he’s not been making statements on the club website or in local media to gee up and encourage fans.

Therefore he’s either working hard behind the scenes formulating plans, analysing stats, drawing up lists of targets, talking to players and agents etc - and Ron will be fully aware of this and happy.

OR, he has completely downed tools and has just been constructing weird social media posts and doing the odd bit of punditry on Sky - and Ron will be fully aware of this and unhappy.

I’m assuming Ron and Sol must have at least spoken about the retained and released list, so Ron’s statement yesterday will have been prepared following that. However it’s difficult to discern from it whether it’s a vote of confidence or the pre-amble to a sacking as he doesn’t mention Sol directly in it.

As always, the soap opera that is our beloved football club runs and runs despite the pandemic!

 

[Joolz]

As others have said, if Sol is successful then it doesn't really matter how weird or aloof he is. But when things start to go really wrong (and some would argue that is now) his personality is not going to buy him much additional time.
If we aren't doing reasonably well after 10-15 games of the coming season I can see the fans turning - the only thing that could then save him is that we can't afford to pay him off.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

It's surely not beyond Ron to have inserted a relegation clause in Sol's contract with a severance amount in it, or if not relegation (which was pretty much a foregone conclusion before Sol joined) then maybe something linked to a points target for the rest of the season. Maybe they're haggling over what the foreshortened season means for that, if he's on his way out?

 

[Chrisb]

It's surely not beyond Ron to have inserted a relegation clause in Sol's contract with a severance amount in it, or if not relegations (which was pretty much a foregone conclusion before Sol joined) then maybe something linked to a points target for the rest of the season. Maybe they're haggling over what the foreshortened season means for that, if he's on his way out?

I think you could well be right. I find it odd that Ron's statement makes no mention of Sol - you would expect to read something along the lines of how the manager and coaches had made sure the players were ok and had training schedules during the break, how we now had the right management team in place and how everyone was working together as a team to prepare for next season, etc., etc.

 

[greyerfox]

The uncertainty over Sol really is a major concern. Ron's silence about him is deafening. After the disastrous season the fans deserve better, as Ron admits. So please Ron make some decisive moves so that meaningful forward planning can commence. July is upon us and the preparations for league two cannot be delayed. We all know just how long it took to get the Bond replacement in post. A repeat of that fiasco would be wholly unacceptable. Come on Ron, decisive leadership needed to back up your latest "sermon".

 

[amsemp]

The uncertainty over Sol really is a major concern. Ron's silence about him is deafening. After the disastrous season the fans deserve better, as Ron admits. So please Ron make some decisive moves so that meaningful forward planning can commence. July is upon us and the preparations for league two cannot be delayed. We all know just how long it took to get the Bond replacement in post. A repeat of that fiasco would be wholly unacceptable. Come on Ron, decisive leadership needed to back up your latest "sermon".

Getting Barrett or Maher in would definitely buy Ron some time from the fans. Think we’d all give either of those a lot of patience. With Sol I fear we’re only a few poor results in League Two away from massive unrest.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Getting Barrett or Maher in would definitely buy Ron some time from the fans. Think we’d all give either of those a lot of patience. With Sol I fear we’re only a few poor results in League Two away from massive unrest.

I do not buy into the extra time thing at all. If Barrett is Maher were put in charge and we were bottom of league 2 after 3 months or at christmas are you saying the majority wouldn’t be calling for a change with non league on the horizon?

Just because you were a good player for a club doesn’t mean the managerial side will work out, look at CP as an example.

Barrett is a club legend and rightly so, Maher is thought of highly too and again rightly so, but they would have to think long and hard if it were the right thing, AB is (interim) assistant manager of a championship club, as much as he loves the club it would be a big risk for him, Maher is at a league one club there is a more chance he would come.

I am not a fan of appointing legends as it can sometimes tarnish their image with a club if it doesn’t go well.

I am not saying it wouldn’t go well but if it didnt i do nit think any extra time would be given buy fans just because who they are

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

I do not buy into the extra time thing at all. If Barrett is Maher were put in charge and we were bottom of league 2 after 3 months or at christmas are you saying the majority wouldn’t be calling for a change with non league on the horizon?

Just because you were a good player for a club doesn’t mean the managerial side will work out, look at CP as an example.

Barrett is a club legend and rightly so, Maher is thought of highly too and again rightly so, but they would have to think long and hard if it were the right thing, AB is (interim) assistant manager of a championship club, as much as he loves the club it would be a big risk for him, Maher is at a league one club there is a more chance he would come.

I am not a fan of appointing legends as it can sometimes tarnish their image with a club if it doesn’t go well.

I am not saying it wouldn’t go well but if it didnt i do nit think any extra time would be given buy fans just because who they are

@Westcliff DGS - I agree with you 100%, it really didn't work with Chris Powell which was a real shame. However I think Ron has set out his stall as to the kind of person he wants back at the club and needs someone to connect with the fans again after the disastrous appointments of Bond and Campbell.

For what it's worth, I think Maher as next manager makes more sense than Barrett. He's just got his UEFA Pro Licence (with distinction) and on his LinkedIn profile, he has the following picture showing players he has helped to develop:



With so many of them likely to be in and around the first team next season, he would be the ideal leader. He knows the lower league scene well and I assume wouldn't be on a massive whack as First Team Coach at Bristol Rovers either.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

BTW - does anyone know if there is a start date for League 2 - 20/21

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Y

@Westcliff DGS - I agree with you 100%, it really didn't work with Chris Powell which was a real shame. However I think Ron has set out his stall as to the kind of person he wants back at the club and needs someone to connect with the fans again after the disastrous appointments of Bond and Campbell.

For what it's worth, I think Maher as next manager makes more sense than Barrett. He's just got his UEFA Pro Licence (with distinction) and on his LinkedIn profile, he has the following picture showing players he has helped to develop:

View attachment 12415

With so many of them likely to be in and around the first team next season, he would be the ideal leader. He knows the lower league scene well and I assume wouldn't be on a massive whack as First Team Coach at Bristol Rovers either.

es agree re Maher if we go ex player route

 

[Westcliff DGS]

BTW - does anyone know if there is a start date for League 2 - 20/21

Rumour is mid September

 

[Fairport]

Kevin Maher did have a short stint as caretaker manager at Chelmsford City. It was for about 8 games with mixed results. The club then appointed someone else. Too little time to make a judgement on him as a manager but the experience would have helped him.

 

[amsemp]

@Westcliff DGS - I agree with you 100%, it really didn't work with Chris Powell which was a real shame. However I think Ron has set out his stall as to the kind of person he wants back at the club and needs someone to connect with the fans again after the disastrous appointments of Bond and Campbell.

For what it's worth, I think Maher as next manager makes more sense than Barrett. He's just got his UEFA Pro Licence (with distinction) and on his LinkedIn profile, he has the following picture showing players he has helped to develop:

View attachment 12415

With so many of them likely to be in and around the first team next season, he would be the ideal leader. He knows the lower league scene well and I assume wouldn't be on a massive whack as First Team Coach at Bristol Rovers either.

You’ve got 2 pictures of Acquah on there! Top right and middle left are both him.