Rudkin

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

23 hours ago, reynard said:

Now I think her course here is run. New and fresh ideas in management are required

I think this summarises where we’re at with the whole of KP, the personnel and structures within the club. Everything needs a refresh.

 

I say this every few years, but we were the disruptor to the top 6 through excellent recruitment, cutting edge sports science, doing due diligence on characters etc (and more). Others have caught up (eg Brighton) and we’ve been overtaken by other approaches (eg Brentford). And it just feels like it’s been gradually chipped away to the point now where we’re back to being a yo-yo team. I’ve also often dismissed likes of Brighton say it won’t last etc, and maybe it won’t. But I bet they won’t implode and slide down like we did.
 

It’s like because we had tangible and real success (that the likes of Brighton etc won’t have) they got giddy and didn’t know how to handle it. It was a great opportunity to stabilise the club as a minimum top half (ish) club - that would have been considered progress. Instead we’ve been run into the ground in some sort of boom and bust cycle, and you’ve seen how hard it is to get out of that cycle. 
 

If we stay up this season I could just about find it within me to give Top another chance, but only if he clears out Rudkin and brings in a new operation with a dedicated DoF and Sporting Director etc. He, more than anyone, is not the astute and experienced man his father was. He needs this sort of operation to support him.

[Dan]

On 23/12/2024 at 08:45, Cropwellfox said:

We’ve not had one decent 90 minute performance this season. Not one. Our wins - nope. Got very lucky against a woeful Southampton who should have beaten us, Bournemouth would have scored 3/4 if they took their chances, we were scared and lucky, West Ham should’ve had us buried by half time. Lucky draw at Ipswich, threw it away against Palace with insipid mentality, Spurs were full Spursy and we still couldn’t beat them and my god we were bad against Everton. Even against Brighton it was 15 minutes of ‘**** it’ football and only got a point because their substitute has a brain fart before the end 

This has been an utterly abject season. Not one single performance to be proud of and you just cannot see anything but 3 defeats in the next three games. We look beaten before we start. No wonder supporters are demoralised, fed up and booing what they are seeing.

In no other business would the day to day leader survive this utter catastrophe. Not one good performance in months. Yet he continues in post seemingly immovable. Culture where under performance and failure time and time and time again is waved away. Shame on the ownership, shame on Rudkin, shame on everyone in authority at the club. Destroying our club - not theirs, ours - from the inside. 

Yep. I think there's a real case we've deserved 0 wins this season. We're remarkably lucky to have the points tally we do.

[Dan]

23 hours ago, Bilo said:

I don't think Rudkin goes without very significant pressure from the fans. I'm talking walkouts, boycotts, turning up at the training ground and pitch invasions. All the stuff that would draw negative publicity to the club and make Top's bottom lip tremble.

 

Unfortunately, we're such a passive fanbase it's unreal. We just go from game to game in blind hope that it might improve and, when it doesn't, hope it does next week. Just as happened in 22-23.

 

We seem to have a set of fans who think that we're building up to a 14-15 Great Escape all over again and we'll be fine, but there are absolutely zero signs of that. In 14-15, we frequently played well. The fight, heart, identity and effort could be seen a mile off. Fans of teams who played us couldn't fathom how we were bottom. Now that they can't fathom how we aren't.

 

A reality check is needed from top (literally) to bottom, owner to Margaret and Jeff sat in the West Stand. It isn't improving without radical action.

I've had comments from fans of the following who have called us either the worst team they've played this season:

Newcastle

Chelsea

Manchester United

Wolves

 

And one saying we're the worst side they've ever played at this level (Brentford).

 

We're truly awful. I really think Russell Martin is the only thing stopping us coming 20th. And we might yet.

[Lionator]

14 hours ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Yes, but.....

He mentions Rodgers is (was?) an elite coach! Well, Rodgers wasn't very professional the way he threw his toys out the pram and effectively drove us to relegation.

We are still seeing the ramifications and consequences of that part of his tenure. Yes, Top should have got rid much, much earlier but the very mention of BR makes me squirm, even though he delivered the FA Cup.

As time goes on, I think it probably doesn’t look as bad on Rodgers. I said on the other thread that he was a coward for not walking when Kasper was sold and he’d have gained a lot more credit from the fanbase for doing that. 

[JimmyC74]

The whole football operation is (or appears to be, take your pick) not joined up and it’s just clear to many of us that you need someone with a proven record to come in and get a grip.

 

There are so many issues:

- multiple centre backs in the squad of a similar quality / possessing no real pace.

- too few full backs (numbers & quality).

- relying on a almost 38 year old (legend) to carry the burden of goals.

- recruiting several players in the summer who can’t get a game / haven’t improved the first XI

- Failing to provide any real pathway for emerging / youth talent.

 

As others have said the squad is much weaker than that which got relegated in 2022, we have no sellable assets beyond Mads and the we need a minimum 3/4 additions in January.

 

Hopefully we can have a strong window but, even if we do, the best bit of business we could do would be to bring in a new DofF.  If we don't move him on history tells you we will face the same problems again.

Edited 24 December 2024 by JimmyC74

[Wymsey]

Heard that him and Vichai were very 'pally'; and the latter would happily approve whatever the latter requested at the club.

 

There was a formal issue about him, raised by an employee at the club, but Vichai dismissed it.

[fox_favourite]

I will chant Rudkin out. But the problem is much bigger than one person. He needs to go, but the whole structure needs changing with competency. 

 

But Top doesn't know who that is or who to employ, thatx the issue and the reason Rudkin is still in post. 

 

We are down again and it's the same board making the decisions as 2022/23. 

 

Shocking, so I will chant Rudkin out, but we need more to change before we notice a difference, one man gone won't solves the enormous problems 

[Chrysalis]

On 23/12/2024 at 18:20, Free Falling Foxes said:

Yes, but.....

He mentions Rodgers is (was?) an elite coach! Well, Rodgers wasn't very professional the way he threw his toys out the pram and effectively drove us to relegation.

We are still seeing the ramifications and consequences of that part of his tenure. Yes, Top should have got rid much, much earlier but the very mention of BR makes me squirm, even though he delivered the FA Cup.

He didnt end well, but it seems he was right on the squad needing a rebuild in the end.

 

Rodgers failed for all his brain farts during the season, the club failed for u turning on summer strategy last minute, sacking him too late, and then failing to recognise the core issues by not sacking Rudkin.

 

Problem is fans in the stadium think Top is a god, and wont criticise anyone sitting in the box.

[Chrysalis]

31 minutes ago, fox_favourite said:

I will chant Rudkin out. But the problem is much bigger than one person. He needs to go, but the whole structure needs changing with competency. 

 

But Top doesn't know who that is or who to employ, thatx the issue and the reason Rudkin is still in post. 

 

We are down again and it's the same board making the decisions as 2022/23. 

 

Shocking, so I will chant Rudkin out, but we need more to change before we notice a difference, one man gone won't solves the enormous problems 

Yes Top would be completely lost without Rudkin, he has made Rudkin unsackable by having him as sole advisor, sole footballing executive.

[thlcfc93]

We as a fan base have got to spend less time going for the symptoms and instead go for the real problem. Any negativity vocally directed at players or the manager should be a fraction to that shown to Rudkin/Top. 
 

It’s easier to show frustration at the former because they’re in front of you in the heat of the moment, but there’s a far bigger picture here. 

[gazzaa2]

On 24/12/2024 at 09:01, Dan LCFC said:

Yep. I think there's a real case we've deserved 0 wins this season. We're remarkably lucky to have the points tally we do.

Defied all logic that we were out the bottom 3 right up to Christmas.

 

Was never sustainable which is why Cooper went. Doubt we even get out the bottom 3 again now.

[gazzaa2]

On 24/12/2024 at 09:08, Lionator said:

As time goes on, I think it probably doesn’t look as bad on Rodgers. I said on the other thread that he was a coward for not walking when Kasper was sold and he’d have gained a lot more credit from the fanbase for doing that. 

 

He bottled the two CL pushes. Had us punching above our weight but threw them away. I don't think we recovered from the 2nd one in his reign.

 

His last season here he'd checked out but rather than walk just waited for his pay off, while the club didn't want to pay him off. That impasse relegated us and when you go down you lose your best players and when you come back up it's difficult to build a competive side again without spending big like Forest did.

 

[Claudio Fannieri]

I have said before and will say it again, don’t boo players like Ward, Thomas, Soumare, Daka et al but direct it at Rudkin and crew who have made decisions that have seen us fall from FA Cup winners and just missing out on champions league football with a great squad of players, lots of potential and a number of saleable assets to relegation within 2 years and to now a club that has no recognisable strategy or direction, a scattergun approach to both  managerial and player recruitment whilst throwing large wages and lengthy contracts to mediocre squad fillers, effectively stifling the development of any talented academy prospects and therefore restricting the pathway to the first team. 
 

We have gone from being the envy of every club outside the big 6 to now looking on in envy at the likes of Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham etc who have continued to be progressive and innovative and as a consequence have moved light years ahead of us whilst we have just refused to accept that you have to move with the times. We have people in charge who are more interested in self preservation than the best interests of the club, afraid to step out of their comfort zones or challenge the ways and methods as it might expose their limitations. 
 

It is with a mix of sadness, anger and frustration that we continue to watch on and witness the dismantling and destruction of what was our golden era and the opportunity to put in place long term foundations that could have delivered long term financial and football stability, instead we are now heading back to join the Middlesbrough’s, Stoke, Derby, Sheffield Wednesdays, Norwich, West Brom’s of this world bumbling around the championship bemoaning what could and should have been, what makes it harder is we were in such a great position and absolute shambolic decision making has made what seemed highly unlikely to happen into reality and in such a short space of time, it’s absolutely criminal and yet no one has been held to account. 

[Bilo]

23 minutes ago, thlcfc93 said:

We as a fan base have got to spend less time going for the symptoms and instead go for the real problem. Any negativity vocally directed at players or the manager should be a fraction to that shown to Rudkin/Top. 
 

It’s easier to show frustration at the former because they’re in front of you in the heat of the moment, but there’s a far bigger picture here. 

Spot on.

 

It's easy to demonise players like Ward, but he's ultimately a lower end Championship GK who has lucked out and been offered high end Premier League wages. And not one person on here, if they're being honest, would turn down a deal where they're offered four times their worth in salary. Football is a short career, and you can't blame players or their agents for trying to maximise their income.

 

The blame lies with the club hierarchy. Nobody at any stage said, 'hold on. £12m and £40k a week for a reserve goalkeeper who will probably only play in cup games against lower league opposition and when our super reliable first choice is injured. Are you sure, Jon?' And nobody at any stage thought, 'Danny Ward was second choice for a reason. Now that Kasper's gone, are we sure that Danny's good enough? If not, we need to be in the market.' Even then, after three months of that question being answered beyond any reasonable doubt, nobody at the club thought, 'Keylor Navas is available on loan and Danny Ward is struggling for us. One of our relegation rivals is interested. Let's get him in.'

 

None of the above is Danny Ward's fault. He just isn't good enough. You can argue that he should have taken responsibility to improve and make himself better, but the fact he was able to get away with not doing so is yet more failure in accountability.

 

Nobody checked how much the club paid for him and went on to pay him.

Nobody made sure we had a suitable replacement for Kasper Schmeichel.

Nobody questioned why we were so on our arse in terms of PSR that the only GK we brought in that summer was Alex Smithies.

Nobody made sure that Danny Ward was doing enough to make himself Schmeichel's suitable replacement.

Nobody made sure that Ward was adequately replaced when it turned out he wasn't the man to replace Schmeichel.

Nobody held anybody to account when all of the above layers of accountability failed and got us relegated.

 

So yeah, Ward isn't good enough. But he's a symptom, not the disease itself. 

[Dan]

33 minutes ago, gazzaa2 said:

Defied all logic that we were out the bottom 3 right up to Christmas.

 

Was never sustainable which is why Cooper went. Doubt we even get out the bottom 3 again now.

Yep. Think it'll be years until we're back out of it.

[Parker Pen]

Crudkin has without doubt become our equivalent of Grimer Wormtongue!

 

However since the halycon days of Steve Walsh we were wobbling on the recruitment front before Lee Congerton came along lining his pockets and signing shite on extended contracts! He is a complete crook and Sunderland are now only now this season showing signs of recovering from his dealings there.

 

It’s interesting from reading an earlier post that quoted a Brentford fan saying we were the worst  team that they have played at this level! How we have fallen since being 2-0 at home in the summer sunshine  of August 22 against them when TCR took  Dewsbury Hall off.

 

Like most people on here  I feel we are all incandescent at the missed opportunities time after time since 15/16.

 

 

 

 

[Lionator]

Everytime I think how bad democracy is in the west, I think of Rudkin and remember how awful having an unelected autocrat really would be.

[Claudio Fannieri]

51 minutes ago, Bilo said:

Spot on.

 

It's easy to demonise players like Ward, but he's ultimately a lower end Championship GK who has lucked out and been offered high end Premier League wages. And not one person on here, if they're being honest, would turn down a deal where they're offered four times their worth in salary. Football is a short career, and you can't blame players or their agents for trying to maximise their income.

 

The blame lies with the club hierarchy. Nobody at any stage said, 'hold on. £12m and £40k a week for a reserve goalkeeper who will probably only play in cup games against lower league opposition and when our super reliable first choice is injured. Are you sure, Jon?' And nobody at any stage thought, 'Danny Ward was second choice for a reason. Now that Kasper's gone, are we sure that Danny's good enough? If not, we need to be in the market.' Even then, after three months of that question being answered beyond any reasonable doubt, nobody at the club thought, 'Keylor Navas is available on loan and Danny Ward is struggling for us. One of our relegation rivals is interested. Let's get him in.'

 

None of the above is Danny Ward's fault. He just isn't good enough. You can argue that he should have taken responsibility to improve and make himself better, but the fact he was able to get away with not doing so is yet more failure in accountability.

 

Nobody checked how much the club paid for him and went on to pay him.

Nobody made sure we had a suitable replacement for Kasper Schmeichel.

Nobody questioned why we were so on our arse in terms of PSR that the only GK we brought in that summer was Alex Smithies.

Nobody made sure that Danny Ward was doing enough to make himself Schmeichel's suitable replacement.

Nobody made sure that Ward was adequately replaced when it turned out he wasn't the man to replace Schmeichel.

Nobody held anybody to account when all of the above layers of accountability failed and got us relegated.

 

So yeah, Ward isn't good enough. But he's a symptom, not the disease itself. 

Superb post and absolutely nails the abject decision making of the last 5 or so seasons. 

Edited 27 December 2024 by Claudio Fannieri

[foxinsocks]

1 hour ago, Bilo said:

Spot on.

 

It's easy to demonise players like Ward, but he's ultimately a lower end Championship GK who has lucked out and been offered high end Premier League wages. And not one person on here, if they're being honest, would turn down a deal where they're offered four times their worth in salary. Football is a short career, and you can't blame players or their agents for trying to maximise their income.

 

The blame lies with the club hierarchy. Nobody at any stage said, 'hold on. £12m and £40k a week for a reserve goalkeeper who will probably only play in cup games against lower league opposition and when our super reliable first choice is injured. Are you sure, Jon?' And nobody at any stage thought, 'Danny Ward was second choice for a reason. Now that Kasper's gone, are we sure that Danny's good enough? If not, we need to be in the market.' Even then, after three months of that question being answered beyond any reasonable doubt, nobody at the club thought, 'Keylor Navas is available on loan and Danny Ward is struggling for us. One of our relegation rivals is interested. Let's get him in.'

 

None of the above is Danny Ward's fault. He just isn't good enough. You can argue that he should have taken responsibility to improve and make himself better, but the fact he was able to get away with not doing so is yet more failure in accountability.

 

Nobody checked how much the club paid for him and went on to pay him.

Nobody made sure we had a suitable replacement for Kasper Schmeichel.

Nobody questioned why we were so on our arse in terms of PSR that the only GK we brought in that summer was Alex Smithies.

Nobody made sure that Danny Ward was doing enough to make himself Schmeichel's suitable replacement.

Nobody made sure that Ward was adequately replaced when it turned out he wasn't the man to replace Schmeichel.

Nobody held anybody to account when all of the above layers of accountability failed and got us relegated.

 

So yeah, Ward isn't good enough. But he's a symptom, not the disease itself. 

Mate, the longterm profile of our squad is shambolic - Rudkin is a nationwide conference guy as much above his station as ward.

Edited 27 December 2024 by foxinsocks

[SK3Blue]

Over 10 hours of the transfer window open and no signings. 
 

Rudkin Out. 

[CosbehFox]

On 27/12/2024 at 14:30, Parker Pen said:

Crudkin has without doubt become our equivalent of Grimer Wormtongue!

 

However since the halycon days of Steve Walsh we were wobbling on the recruitment front before Lee Congerton came along lining his pockets and signing shite on extended contracts! He is a complete crook and Sunderland are now only now this season showing signs of recovering from his dealings there.

 

It’s interesting from reading an earlier post that quoted a Brentford fan saying we were the worst  team that they have played at this level! How we have fallen since being 2-0 at home in the summer sunshine  of August 22 against them when TCR took  Dewsbury Hall off.

 

Like most people on here  I feel we are all incandescent at the missed opportunities time after time since 15/16.

 

 

 

 

Atalanta disagree 😂

[Fox85]

I genuinely don't think this idiot starts working untill 48hrs of the transfer deadline.

 

Players should of been lined up with deals agreed to go through from the 1st of Jan.

 

A lot of work should of been going on through the background to have players signed as soon as the window opened.

 

The club is a joke I was expecting atleast 9 players to be signed by now.

 

Jokes aside atleast 1.

[Dan]

53 minutes ago, Fox85 said:

I genuinely don't think this idiot starts working untill 48hrs of the transfer deadline.

 

Players should of been lined up with deals agreed to go through from the 1st of Jan.

 

A lot of work should of been going on through the background to have players signed as soon as the window opened.

 

The club is a joke I was expecting atleast 9 players to be signed by now.

 

Jokes aside atleast 1.

He benefits from expectations he's managed to lower through his own ineptness. We ought to have at least a signing in for Villa and yet we've been collectively fooled that this is totally unrealistic.

[Leeds Fox]

On 27/12/2024 at 13:40, gazzaa2 said:

 

He bottled the two CL pushes. Had us punching above our weight but threw them away. I don't think we recovered from the 2nd one in his reign.

 

His last season here he'd checked out but rather than walk just waited for his pay off, while the club didn't want to pay him off. That impasse relegated us and when you go down you lose your best players and when you come back up it's difficult to build a competive side again without spending big like Forest did.

 

They should’ve come to an agreement earlier and parted ways. The upper management watched it happen when it was obvious for all to see. 

Playing Ward for 27(?) games was suicidal, he was laughing at us to the tune of £10m.

 

We ended up with Dean Smith who tried but it was already done. 
 

Add to that, Maddison who was already on his way, taking a penalty like it was down the park to make it 2-0 against Everton. 

[Lionator]

He’s doing a fine job!