Back Ollie!

[Thracian]

With all due respect, you are talking sh*t.

Ollies record is decent at this level, and as others have said we are a better team now, even if the results are taking a while. Given the state of the club when Ollie took over to judge him by whether or not he gets us to the prem in his first half season in charge is nonsense.

Simon

Ollie's done nothing yet, one way or the other, to convince me he's a good manager.

His record at City so far per game played is poor - 17 points in 14 League games plus one cup defeat, 15 games in all and 23 points in 22 games plus the cup defeat overall. How would that be convincing?

If people say we have a better team now, which I'd tend to agree with, then in some ways the results are even worse than they are on paper.

As for his previous he's done little in a long time.

West Brom was a welcome and overdue change of fortune though I'm not for a minute convinced we would have got anything better than a draw, and perhaps not even that, had West Brom not done down to 10 men but it matters not. We won.

And the result is all that really matters about the other games too so it's totally ridiculous to judge Holloway on this result any more than any other.

When he took from Megson his job wasn't specifically to save us from relegation - it becAme that way because results under Holloway took us south and we finally slipped into the bottom three.

Some have said one more defeat would have been it so he's perhaps been additionally lucky with the West Brom result but he's still to achieve success in his first aim - to avoid relegation - never mind being able on focus on what we really need which is an assault on the top end of the table.

There is much to do towards that end and much for Holloway to do tactically before he ever convinces me that he's a good manager.

I wish him good luck and hope he succeeds because I'm much less than happy with some of the prospective alternatives.

[STUHILL]

Ollie's done nothing yet, one way or the other, to convince me he's a good manager.

His recrod at City so far per game played is poor - 17 points in 14 League games plus one cup defeat, 15 games in all and 23 points in 22 games plus the cup defeat overall. How would that be convincing.

If people say we have a better team now, which I'd tend to agree with, then in some ways the results are even worse than they are on paper.

As for his previous he's done little in a long time.

West Brom was a welcome change of fortune though I'm not for a minute convinced we would have got anything better than a draw, and perhaps not even that, had West Brom not done down to 10 men but ikt matters not. We won.

And the result is all that really matters about the other games too so it's totally ridiculous to judge Holloway on this result any more than any other.

When he took from Megson his job wasn't specifically to save us from relegation - it become that way because results under Holloway took us south and we finally slipped into the bottom three.

Some have said one more defeat would have been it so he's perhaps been additionally lucky with the West Brom result but he's still to achieve success in his first aim - to avoid relegation - never mind in focusing on what we really need which is an assault on the top end of the table.

There is much to do towards that end and much for Holloway to do tactically before he ever convinces me that he's a good manager.

I wish him good luck and hope he succeeds because I'm much less than happy with some of the prospective alternatives.

I respect that, because you see his faults but aren't immediately chanting 'Ollie Out' like a kid. I know Ollie has his faults too, but for once I feel he is a manager that acknowledges these and does try to change them. I don't find him stubborn and stuck in his ways, like so many other managers we've seen. He always looks hungry to learn from his own errors and rectify them. There seems to be a 50-50 split on whether we are better team because of him. Results are the most important thing BUT I'm still with the half that think we are better off and even a better team because of him. Confidence is so huge in football, and even a great team playing without confidence can be beat every week. I think Ollie's toughest job is getting this team to play with more confidence. Once he does that I fully believe we will start to see more of Holloway's positive attributes as a Manager and see a much more succesful team playing his way and for him!

[Sniffer-Clarke]

With all due respect, you are talking sh*t.

Ollies record is decent at this level, and as others have said we are a better team now, even if the results are taking a while. Given the state of the club when Ollie took over to judge him by whether or not he gets us to the prem in his first half season in charge is nonsense.

Simon

With all due respect, You are talking the biggest load of crap i have ever heard, " Quote given the state of the club when ollie took over".

When holloway took over its the 1 st time the club has ever had a multi-millionaire owner who gave him a 3half year contract with money to spend on players,With the exception of Peter Taylor hes about the only manager in recent years to have a substantial amount of dosh to spend.

Take Rob Kelly for instance that bloke worked his nuts of for leicester he did not have a fiver to spend on players thats what you call a decent manager when hes got f--k all to spend AND he kept us in ccc.

And you reckon holloways got a decent record at this level. Before saturdays game he had gleaned 1 point from each game i personaly think hes a very lucky man to be at a great club like city with super stadia, training facilities, and a wealthy owner.

[ASH17LCFC]

With all due respect, You are talking the biggest load of crap i have ever heard, " Quote given the state of the club when ollie took over".

When holloway took over its the 1 st time the club has ever had a multi-millionaire owner who gave him a 3half year contract with money to spend on players,With the exception of Peter Taylor hes about the only manager in recent years to have a substantial amount of dosh to spend.

Take Rob Kelly for instance that bloke worked his nuts of for leicester he did not have a fiver to spend on players thats what you call a decent manager when hes got f--k all to spend AND he kept us in ccc.

And you reckon holloways got a decent record at this level. Before saturdays game he had gleaned 1 point from each game i personaly think hes a very lucky man to be at a great club like city with super stadia, training facilities, and a wealthy owner.

He's on thin ice anyway. If he does keep us up that might not still be enough to save his job.

[FilboFox]

The word could kind of gave it away

Thank God someone can read on here... as for the others... seriously... learn to before you come onto a site where reading is the ESSENTIAL component in being able to put across you're views and comment on others!!!

[FilboFox]

With all due respect, You are talking the biggest load of crap i have ever heard, " Quote given the state of the club when ollie took over".

When holloway took over its the 1 st time the club has ever had a multi-millionaire owner who gave him a 3half year contract with money to spend on players,With the exception of Peter Taylor hes about the only manager in recent years to have a substantial amount of dosh to spend.

Take Rob Kelly for instance that bloke worked his nuts of for leicester he did not have a fiver to spend on players thats what you call a decent manager when hes got f--k all to spend AND he kept us in ccc.

And you reckon holloways got a decent record at this level. Before saturdays game he had gleaned 1 point from each game i personaly think hes a very lucky man to be at a great club like city with super stadia, training facilities, and a wealthy owner.

His record is good at the club... he HAS spent money on players who are good and have certainly strengthened our club BUT they have taken their time to start putting it into action.

Rob Kelly had a COMPLETELY different team AND he was already at the club so knew everyone and everything before he even started which was a HUGE advantage!!!

Ollie came in and had to deal with a shit team and shit backroom dealings and now we are starting to see the benefits of his work... yes, we are still losing a few too many games but compared to December where we lost all but 1 or 2 games I think, there is MASSIVE improvements and we should be backing him all the way as I think, given summer and next season, he will turn us around and get us to the Premiership.

[Sniffer-Clarke]

His record is good at the club... he HAS spent money on players who are good and have certainly strengthened our club BUT they have taken their time to start putting it into action.

Rob Kelly had a COMPLETELY different team AND he was already at the club so knew everyone and everything before he even started which was a HUGE advantage!!!

Ollie came in and had to deal with a shit team and shit backroom dealings and now we are starting to see the benefits of his work... yes, we are still losing a few too many games but compared to December where we lost all but 1 or 2 games I think, there is MASSIVE improvements and we should be backing him all the way as I think, given summer and next season, he will turn us around and get us to the Premiership.

His record at the club is very poor the stats prove it look at the goals for and goals against we have one of the worst goals for record in ccc and one the best against.Has everybody knows possibly with the exception of you. If you dont score goals you dont win matches but where you say hes got a good record is simply beyond me.

I have been to 75% of the away matches this season with my sons and possibly some of the worst games i have ever seen from a city side ever since i had been going down filbert street, With you living in london i would very interested to know how matches you have attened this season home/away.

[DanTheFoxBhoy]

Secondly, a lot of you have been bemoaning his tactics... I can't really see what's so wrong with them. He is looking to get the ball down the wings and get crosses in which is what we have been crying out for for some time now. Yes, it's not quite working yet, but we have seen massive improvements in the performances recently compared to those around the time when Ollie came in and the basic nucleus is there for us to build on. Players need to improve but I think he will, in time, be able to get the best out of them. Stearman is a clear example of a player that has really improved under Ollie's leadership and that should, hopefully, be just one of a lot of players that will get better with time.

Hole in one my friend.

2. There are no "proven" managers that will want to come here... Ollie is a very good manager for a team in the position we are in.

Good point. There are a lot of fans out there who think we're better than we actually are. What we are right now is a club that has languished in the lower half of the Championship for too long. How attractive.

What we do have is a manager who was at the helm of a promotion chasing Championship club, and left that one to come to us so he could BE a manager and not have to work for a twat.

There have been some very good signs since Ollie came here, but as he has identified we need consistency. When was the last time we actually had consistency? A long time before Ollie. Give him time ffs.

[Legend_in_blue]

Hole in one my friend.

Good point. There are a lot of fans out there who think we're better than we actually are. What we are right now is a club that has languished in the lower half of the Championship for too long. How attractive.

What we do have is a manager who was at the helm of a promotion chasing Championship club, and left that one to come to us so he could BE a manager and not have to work for a twat.

There have been some very good signs since Ollie came here, but as he has identified we need consistency. When was the last time we actually had consistency? A long time before Ollie. Give him time ffs.

I completely agree. Give the bloke some time. He needs time. I can't believe people are making comparisons with Rob Kelly. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. He was dull. Sorry, but he was.

Ollie is a breath of fresh air, something needed for a long, long time. Stick with him. He's brought in good players so far - Howard (potential of 20 goals a season), Oakley (quality), Hendrie (much needed drive and enthusiasm), Hayles (he got us 3 points against Palace - that'll do me if it keeps us up) and ok, so the Hungarians didn't work out, but it was a calculated risk. At least we can let them go at the end of the season.

We have shown we can beat anyone in this league - it's all much of a muchness - we just need to turn 0-0s and 1-0 losses into 1-0 wins and 2-1 wins and the odd 4-0 here or there will do us no end of good. Consistency will be acheived.

Stick with it. OLLIE'S ARMY!!!

[Thracian]

I completely agree. Give the bloke some time. He needs time. I can't believe people are making comparisons with Rob Kelly. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. He was dull. Sorry, but he was.

Ollie is a breath of fresh air, something needed for a long, long time. Stick with him. He's brought in good players so far - Howard (potential of 20 goals a season), Oakley (quality), Hendrie (much needed drive and enthusiasm), Hayles (he got us 3 points against Palace - that'll do me if it keeps us up) and ok, so the Hungarians didn't work out, but it was a calculated risk. At least we can let them go at the end of the season.

We have shown we can beat anyone in this league - it's all much of a muchness - we just need to turn 0-0s and 1-0 losses into 1-0 wins and 2-1 wins and the odd 4-0 here or there will do us no end of good. Consistency will be acheived.

Stick with it. OLLIE'S ARMY!!!

If you're saying he's done good things and bad who would argue? But to be a top of the table manager he's got to do a lot more things right than wrong and that's the challenge facing him.

I don't think anyone's complaining about the players he's signed including the Hungarians. No manager gets all their signings right and I'd say most of Holloway's signings have been at the very least respectable which represents a vast improvement on recent seasons.

a) The questions remain, can he make those decent players into a team?

b) Does he have the tactical imagination to win difficult games or games that are perhaps going against him?

c) Will he bring our best young players through to achieve things or will he fail to give them the opportunities they'll need?

I don't know the answers to those questions. Indeed its impossible to be certain of anything from events so far.

On (a) I'd say we've played well five times and acceptable on perhaps four other occasions in 23 matches. Not enough by far.

On (b) I have my greatest doubts of the three but am a long way from forming a conclusive judgement.

On © he's done well with Stearman, there are goodish signs with Mattock, but Weso and King have been virtually sidelined, partly through reasons of injury and fitness but that's not the full story and I'd doubt either would be happy about their constant lack of involvement.

On top of that I'm still convinced leaving Gradel at Bournemouth has weakened our chances of survival. So, again, the overall impression on item © is mixed.

[FilboFox]

His record at the club is very poor the stats prove it look at the goals for and goals against we have one of the worst goals for record in ccc and one the best against.Has everybody knows possibly with the exception of you. If you dont score goals you dont win matches but where you say hes got a good record is simply beyond me.

I have been to 75% of the away matches this season with my sons and possibly some of the worst games i have ever seen from a city side ever since i had been going down filbert street, With you living in london i would very interested to know how matches you have attened this season home/away.

I live in Leicester so I HAVE been to see the matches! It's only that I was BORN in London hence the 'From' and as I am not from Leicester I put London... I have changed it now though to stop confusion...

As for 75% of the away matches, well, like I said, its been a hard slog and Ollie has had to work extremely hard to get the players playing well but recent matches have shown that we ARE a decent team and that our inability to score has been about the ONLY thing that we have been losing out on... hopefully that'll all change in the coming matches as we HAVE been creating the chances, just not putting them away and like I keep saying, OLLIE CANNOT PUT THEM IN FOR THE TEAM, THEY HAVE TO!!!!

I KNOW that when he first came in, and pretty much up till fairly recently we've not been good enough and have just about escaped from matches with a few wins or draws but for about the last 6 or so matches now we have been the better team in all and were it not for our inability to convert the CHANCES, we would have won... and as I keep saying, Ollie can tell them how to make the chances, he can't score them for them on the day...

[Sniffer-Clarke]

If you're saying he's done good things and bad who would argue? But to be a top of the table manager he's got to do a lot more things right than wrong and that's the challenge facing him.

I don't think anyone's complaining about the players he's signed including the Hungarians. No manager gets all their signings right and I'd say most of Holloway's signings have been at the very least respectable which represents a vast improvement on recent seasons.

a) The questions remain, can he make those decent players into a team?

b) Does he have the tactical imagination to win difficult games or games that are perhaps going against him?

c) Will he bring our best young players through to achieve things or will he fail to give them the opportunities they'll need?

I don't know the answers to those questions. Indeed its impossible to be certain of anything from events so far.

On (a) I'd say we've played well five times and acceptable on perhaps four other occasions in 23 matches. Not enough by far.

On (b) I have my greatest doubts of the three but am a long way from forming a conclusive judgement.

On © he's done well with Stearman, there are goodish signs with Mattock, but Weso and King have been virtually sidelined, partly through reasons of injury and fitness but that's not the full story and I'd doubt either would be happy about their constant lack of involvement.

On top of that I'm still convinced leaving Gradel at Bournemouth has weakened our chances of survival. So, again, the overall impression on item © is mixed.

Yeah , I will agree with you on some of that,But i wont agree with anyone on forum that HOLLOWAYS record his good since he joined us we will see how he does by the end of the season.

[ibbosuk]

Yeah , I will agree with you on some of that,But i wont agree with anyone on forum that HOLLOWAYS record his good since he joined us we will see how he does by the end of the season.

Ratboy is shite, MM needs to buy a cat.......

[DanTheFoxBhoy]

a) The questions remain, can he make those decent players into a team?

Yes.

b) Does he have the tactical imagination to win difficult games or games that are perhaps going against him?

Yes. Width.

c) Will he bring our best young players through to achieve things or will he fail to give them the opportunities they'll need?

He plays Mattock doesn't he?

[FilboFox]

Yes.

Yes. Width.

He plays Mattock doesn't he?

[wirralsimon]

With all due respect, You are talking the biggest load of crap i have ever heard, " Quote given the state of the club when ollie took over".

When holloway took over its the 1 st time the club has ever had a multi-millionaire owner who gave him a 3half year contract with money to spend on players,With the exception of Peter Taylor hes about the only manager in recent years to have a substantial amount of dosh to spend.

Take Rob Kelly for instance that bloke worked his nuts of for leicester he did not have a fiver to spend on players thats what you call a decent manager when hes got f--k all to spend AND he kept us in ccc.

And you reckon holloways got a decent record at this level. Before saturdays game he had gleaned 1 point from each game i personaly think hes a very lucky man to be at a great club like city with super stadia, training facilities, and a wealthy owner.

The club was in a right state when Ollie took over. Granted it shouldn't have been given the millionaire chairman, and loads on money spent, but it was.

We had a bunch of players with no team-spirit and a glut of more-or-less random signings a significant proportion of which made little or no sense and who were never going to be first team regulars in a month of Sundays. The league position we had then was not great but masked some very real problems. Ollies first few months have been as much about sorting out the club off the pitch as on it.

Judging Ollie as a dissappoinment because we have not pushed on to the playoffs by now underestimates just how big the problems were. Ollies record prior to Leicester was good at this level, and it's too soon to make a final judgement on his Leicester career as there was a massive turnaround needed, but I firmly believe we are now heading in the right direction. We have suffered so much over the last few years from expectations of instant results, lets not make the same mistake again.

Simon

[Sniffer-Clarke]

The club was in a right state when Ollie took over. Granted it shouldn't have been given the millionaire chairman, and loads on money spent, but it was.

We had a bunch of players with no team-spirit and a glut of more-or-less random signings a significant proportion of which made little or no sense and who were never going to be first team regulars in a month of Sundays. The league position we had then was not great but masked some very real problems. Ollies first few months have been as much about sorting out the club off the pitch as on it.

Judging Ollie as a dissappoinment because we have not pushed on to the playoffs by now underestimates just how big the problems were. Ollies record prior to Leicester was good at this level, and it's too soon to make a final judgement on his Leicester career as there was a massive turnaround needed, but I firmly believe we are now heading in the right direction. We have suffered so much over the last few years from expectations of instant results, lets not make the same mistake again.

Simon

Seem to remember last season sunderland were in the bottom 3 when keane went there looked what happened to them, My wifes cousin is a season ticket holder there and he said sunderland were SHIT side until keane went there.Love him or hate him he did a marvelous job there last season and he had got no managerial experience, True he had a few quid pushed his way but he got them up in one go and i cant see holloway doing that by giving him a full season next year.Everybody has their own opinion on football you have yours i have mine. Mine his i dont think holloway is no more than ccc manager-sorry.

[fox_in_the_box]

Imo anybody who talks like an idiot must therefore b a bit of an idiot. This guy likes to fool around too much for my liking, very nice having a manger with character but no good if he can't do the job. Also think he's a bit inept when it comes to tactics.

[wirralsimon]

Seem to remember last season sunderland were in the bottom 3 when keane went there looked what happened to them, My wifes cousin is a season ticket holder there and he said sunderland were SHIT side until keane went there.Love him or hate him he did a marvelous job there last season and he had got no managerial experience, True he had a few quid pushed his way but he got them up in one go and i cant see holloway doing that by giving him a full season next year.Everybody has their own opinion on football you have yours i have mine. Mine his i dont think holloway is no more than ccc manager-sorry.

Once in a while a manager can make exceptional things happen, Ian Dowie did something similar at Palace. But this is very much the exception and it's setting the bar a bit too high say than any good manager should be able to take a team from the bottom half on the ccc to promotion when thay join half way through a season.

[Bluenose76]

Once in a while a manager can make exceptional things happen, Ian Dowie did something similar at Palace. But this is very much the exception and it's setting the bar a bit too high say than any good manager should be able to take a team from the bottom half on the ccc to promotion when thay join half way through a season.

A very fair point and a good one to bring along to this debate. Party hat and streamer for Simon. Thracian talks a lot of sense though and I think I am right in saying that the jury is still very much out on Holloway from his point of view, but not from mine.

I said a couple of weeks ago that we would win games we didn't expect too and lose games we thought were nailed on to win (Preston anyone), such is the nature of the CCC.

Sorting the wheat from the chaff in terms of managment in this division is very hard indeed, I mean Dowie did well at Palace in terms of getting them up from the bottom but didn't do well at Coventry.

Here is my theory FWIW.

Some managers just seem to fit the glove they are involved with. Holloway clearly suited Plymouth (although Sturrock is a better fit judging by their league position). MON was ours. I just don't think Holloway "gets us". He has bitten off more than he can chew with us. I am guessing that "name" players don't always react well to his style which , IMO is far from professional, the soundbyte kid doesn't have all of us in fits of laughter and waiting for hte next one and I expect some of the players tire of him as well. He is false to the core. I could live with that if on the pitch things were going well but the balance is so far weighted on him as a persona, but us as a club fighting for our right to be in this division.

If he left I would be pleased to be honest, but not until the end of the season when we can get someone that doesn't feel like be funny when most of us just don't want to hear his quips and attempts at humour, its tiresome

[Sniffer-Clarke]

Once in a while a manager can make exceptional things happen, Ian Dowie did something similar at Palace. But this is very much the exception and it's setting the bar a bit too high say than any good manager should be able to take a team from the bottom half on the ccc to promotion when thay join half way through a season.

You forgot to include Billy Davies into that at Derby.

[Sniffer-Clarke]

Imo anybody who talks like an idiot must therefore b a bit of an idiot. This guy likes to fool around too much for my liking, very nice having a manger with character but no good if he can't do the job. Also think he's a bit inept when it comes to tactics.

Who you on about keane or holloway.

[Sniffer-Clarke]

A very fair point and a good one to bring along to this debate. Party hat and streamer for Simon. Thracian talks a lot of sense though and I think I am right in saying that the jury is still very much out on Holloway from his point of view, but not from mine.

I said a couple of weeks ago that we would win games we didn't expect too and lose games we thought were nailed on to win (Preston anyone), such is the nature of the CCC.

Sorting the wheat from the chaff in terms of managment in this division is very hard indeed, I mean Dowie did well at Palace in terms of getting them up from the bottom but didn't do well at Coventry.

Here is my theory FWIW.

Some managers just seem to fit the glove they are involved with. Holloway clearly suited Plymouth (although Sturrock is a better fit judging by their league position). MON was ours. I just don't think Holloway "gets us". He has bitten off more than he can chew with us. I am guessing that "name" players don't always react well to his style which , IMO is far from professional, the soundbyte kid doesn't have all of us in fits of laughter and waiting for hte next one and I expect some of the players tire of him as well. He is false to the core. I could live with that if on the pitch things were going well but the balance is so far weighted on him as a persona, but us as a club fighting for our right to be in this division.

If he left I would be pleased to be honest, but not until the end of the season when we can get someone that doesn't feel like be funny when most of us just don't want to hear his quips and attempts at humour, its tiresome

I tell you what bluenose.I am a electrician by trade in 2004/5 season we had a 18 month contract in surbiton in surrey,My sister married a london guy and they live in sheperds bush i went to stay withem for quite a while.My brother -in -law and i went to quite alot QPR games when holloway was there and what city fans are seeing now i saw in the 04/05 season very poor performances, his motivation skills are very ltd most city fans are only seen him for about 5 months and they are saying hes got a good record, His record so far his pathetic and anybody whos honest will say so, He is not a premiership manager by stretch of the imagination.

[Maybes]

I tell you what bluenose.I am a electrician by trade in 2004/5 season we had a 18 month contract in surbiton in surrey,My sister married a london guy and they live in sheperds bush i went to stay withem for quite a while.My brother -in -law and i went to quite alot QPR games when holloway was there and what city fans are seeing now i saw in the 04/05 season very poor performances, his motivation skills are very ltd most city fans are only seen him for about 5 months and they are saying hes got a good record, His record so far his pathetic and anybody whos honest will say so, He is not a premiership manager by stretch of the imagination.

And we are not a premiership club

[Flynny]

I love Ian Holloway.

He inherited a club low on morale and somewhat shellshocked. He inherited an enormous squad that was almost unmanageable and with no sense of team spirit. He inherited a crowd that all too easily got on its players' backs. He inherited a team playing anti-football under Megson.

Whether or not the results have reflected it, it's easy to see that he's solving these problems. I don't think we'll get a manager better than Ollie to remedy the mental side of the game, and thats what we've needed the whole time. Unfortunately this is the side of management that takes longest, but the players DO look more motivated and willing to play for each other. We do look more like turning around bad results when we go a goal down. It might be a case that we have to learn from mistakes all over again as a team, despite experienced individuals, but we're doing it, slowly but surely. I don't see us ever losing a game again when the opposition go a man down.

I'm confident that with what we've got now, a decent finish to this season and a full pre-season build-up will have us ready for a much better campaign next season.