Sorry SoD

[Lifelong supporter]

Bob

Bang on. He ALWAYS changed when the chips were down. He did it in the promotion season, bringing Green in and dropping Wilson after 9 baffling months of insisting that Wilson was the better choice.

He did it in the first season in the Championship, bringing Spicer and Heffernan in to give us the momentum and goalscoring that we needed, after 4 baffling months of insisting that Gareth Taylor and Lewis Guy were going to score goals for us, and that possession football in and of itself would hurt defences at this level.

He ALWAYS compromised. But only when he had no bloody alternative. The fact that these small compromises could produce such astonishingly successful sides is a testament to the basic foundation that he was building, which (I freely admit) I certainly didn't see at the time.

For a spell in early 10/11, he finally crafted the near perfect side. He finally CHOSE to set up a team that wasn't as cautiously possession-obsessed as his previous Plan A had been. Oster was the key. He would go for the Hail Mary pass (and often find the target) whereas previous incarnations of O'Driscoll's sides would have played the cautious build-up. We attacked with pace and verve and at times we looked irresistible. Easy to forget now, but if it wasn't for an injury time equaliser by Swansea, we'd have been in the top 4 in the Championship nearly half way through the season. And THAT was with Billy Sharp missing for many of the early matches. It's fascinating to think what he might have done if we hadn't then been crippled by injury.

Best post on this thread. He was willing to be flexible as all managers have to be. And BST's stats and facts back it up. He was massively unlucky with injuries and if we had finished in the top four and won the play-offs it would have been very interesting to see how he would have matched his football brain and his love of the beautiful game with the top men in the Premier League.

[Rios]

If sod was a painter and decorator and you hired him to paint your house white, he'd paint it white with a lovely mural of the inside of the Sistine chapel on it. Everyone would comment who marvellous your house looked, but after a year a light shower would wash it off and the walls of your house would cave in. I think the phrase is - living on past glories? Or promising more than you can deliver? Or I'm not up to the job and was over hyped from day one? Take your pick.

If sod was a painter and decorator and he was hired to paint a house white, he'd paint it white with a lovely mural of the inside of the Sistine chapel on it. Everyone would comment how marvellous the house looked, but then the owner of the house would ask for more murals. Everywhere. SOD would advise against it as it wasn't really affordable, but the owner of the house could see his neighbours' flash houses and wanted one the same.
After a few years paying for the upkeep of all the murals become impossible and the owner of the house would be forced to get rid of them, leaving nothing but a white house. The owner would try to make the best of the situation by borrowing some stencils from his mates, but in the end everyone would tell him it looked shit. And then the house would fall down, and everyone would blame...the painter and decorator.

Now that made me chuckle enough for my boss to realise I'm not actually doing any work!

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Absolutely no doubt about his philosophy and credentials as a coach. How many times have we wondered what effect he could have had on the England set up, getting players to play the right way. I still think England could benefit with SO'D setting up a coaching blueprint and a style of play that could take us up another level.

As a manager? may be some questionmarks, and maybe what he lacked was made up with the partnership with RO'K. I think after the success, and with the resources he had, he tried everything to make it work but ran out of ideas to save us from the drop.

I can imagine in future years SO'D being remembered to the younger generations like we were about Peter Doherty.
 

[streatham dave]

The way SOD talked about Rovers after he left us I couldn't care less what happens to him job wise. Health wise is a different matter and if the stress is too much then I hope he takes time to get himself together.

[Wellred]

Not sure why anyone should be worried about stress affecting SOD. He certainly never seemed bothered or stressed whenever we lost. He could find a positive from any dismal result.

[NickDRFC]

There's a difference between not being bothered and making light of a situation.

[Wellred]

But he didn't make light of a situation. He really wasn't that bothered about the result. As long as the team played how he wanted them to play.

[NickDRFC]

As a one off result, yes you're right. If the team had played well, done what he set them out to do and been unfortunate to lose, he wasn't bothered about the result. If you think he wasn't bothered about going 17 games without a win then frankly this is a pointless conversation.

[Alickismyhero]

                           "he wasn't bothered about the result"

                                 What a load of rubbish.

He was most certainly bothered with the result but would express "performance" as key because he uses it in a way of expressing a positive of a team performance.

 Surely you can see the use of his words and his meaning of them?  to say he wasn't bothered about the result you obviously don't or don't want to.

 I will try to explain the best that I can.If his team had  lost but the team played well to his plan then he would say "Performance is key" In other words it will be OK if we play like that with a little more luck we will win games.

 Its not that he wasn't bothered that the team lost. Sean was brutally honest about a teams poor performance and did not mince his words

He is operating on thin ice at the moment and you can see the pressure is getting to him. Perhaps that interview shows better than my words that he knows that his job is on the line because the team is not winning games.

                    He is bothered about results

Sean is not cut out for the PR bit of interviews and its easy to be critical of him especially if you want to misinterpret his terminology. I really do want to see him succeed but football management is a very unforgiving profession and I don't see it changing even for Sean.

[Alickismyhero]

Nick
Just read your reply and I think we made the same points but you were a little more succinct.  Is WR  just trying to be provocative?

[MachoMadness]

Don't have much to add to this thread as we've all been over SO'D and his ways a million times, so have this gif I made, for special use in response to any MadMick post.

[RedJ]

That's absolutely fantastic.

[Alickismyhero]

         The truth is that Sean just couldn't stand the interviewers bad breath.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I genuinely feel for the bloke.

He is a football thinker and he proved that with us.

Problem is, to be successful in football, you HAVE to be able to deal with the media. There's no point wishing that it wasn't the case. If it wasn't, the rewards would be a fraction of what they are, because the media interest reflects the interest of idle armchair fans.

The truly successful managers are able to combine O'Driscoll-like intelligence with the ability to bully or cajole the media, to buy themselves space when things go wrong. O'Driscoll doesn't have that side to his personality, and it makes uncomfortable viewing seeing him try to do that.

It would be a lovely world if there were space for people like him to be given the space and time to craft and perfect their concepts. But it's an imperfect world. Full of Kitsons like me who moaned like f**k when he played 4-4+2wingers. And we lost again.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Just watched that for the first time and it's uncomfortable viewing. Feel for him but, just for one you wish he'd put his philosophy to one side, put his methods to one side and just give the players the hairdryer treatment once in a while.  If the players don't get it by now they never will.

I remember very well asking him a loaded question about encouraging our players to shoot more often and he didn't take kindly to it. I was disappointed more about the way he handled the question rather than any ideas he may have had to improve our shooting ratio.
 

[Wild Rover]

Nick
Just read your reply and I think we made the same points but you were a little more succinct.  Is WR  just trying to be provocative?

WR = Wellred or WR = Wild Rover? .

[mushRTID]

Don't have much to add to this thread as we've all been over SO'D and his ways a million times, so have this gif I made, for special use in response to any MadMick post.

that is proper Alan partridge-esq, great impression.

[wilts rover]

For anyone interested here is a little more background on the troubles at Bristol City and what Sean has let himself in for. Someone has been making some strange decisions.
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/did-wrong-Bristol-City/story-19980071-detail/story.html

[Rios]

To be fair Wilts that doesn't sound too different to us.  Got promoted out of the Conf upto Champ (meaning we were over performing like City in the playoffs), players got big wage rises/extensions to ward off bigger club, wage bill spiralled out of control culminating in the "experiment" and relegation.  It's our good fortune that the board, Gavin Baldwin and Saunders were able to turn it around in time and we bounced in the right direction.  It could very easily have been us in Bristol City's position and the pattern of over-reaching and then spending years paying for it is happening to more and more clubs these days.

[Alickismyhero]

Nick
Just read your reply and I think we made the same points but you were a little more succinct.  Is WR  just trying to be provocative?

It refers to Welred

WR = Wellred or WR = Wild Rover? .

[woodyrovers]

There are some great comments on here.

I am a big fan of SoD and the way he set us up to play most of the time. One of the games where I thought tactically he was brilliant was against Swansea. He had clearly worked out that all their threat came down one side and so he doubled up us defensively and pushed Copps right back so that he and Mustapha were really tight together. It worked like a dream.
I also thought he made great use of Greenie as the player he was always there to take a pass.
We played some fabulous football under him and I will always be grateful to him for that.
Personally not so sure. Spoke to a senior referee assessor recently who was not at all complementary about him.
I hope Bristol City persevere with him.

[wilts rover]

Agreed Rios, I thought I would post it up to back up what Alick has been saying about the context of his position at BC. And to show there is still a good deal of support for him there.

What that piece should be is required reading for all the people who believe the way to success is spending money you don't have, and when that doesn't work, spend more money. Its how you spend the money and the skill in managing it that is important, not the amount spent. £20 000 per week for David James, they deserved to go down.

[Alickismyhero]

For anyone interested here is a little more background on the troubles at Bristol City and what Sean has let himself in for. Someone has been making some strange decisions.
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/did-wrong-Bristol-City/story-19980071-detail/story.html

I am sure Sean would have done his due diligence on the job and knew what he was walking in to. What you have to remember is that Sean's side kick ROK left some time ago so Sean's foundations of his friend is no longer there for him. ROK left for genuine family reasons but I would have thought Sean needs that friend around right now.

I had a chat with a Bristol City employee before the Charlton game and he assured me that Wellans, as far as he knew, was not going to Bristol when he had left the club on the Thursday, that turned out to be true. Where that rumour came from he did not know perhaps Wellans agent? He went on to say that even he was not getting paid for the work that he did for the club so thats how strapped for cash they are.

Now if they sack Sean what will the new manager have to work with? not a lot. The chances are that Sean will get the sack but I think they would be better off giving him the full season to sort it out but thats not how football works.

The main reason that I react to incorrect comments about Sean is that I know that about a year ago he was aware of bad comments made about him on this forum. I don't think he is an avid reader but one comment really upset him. I don't want to go in to the detail about the outcome but Sean did have the last laugh in the end.

Yes he is an eccentric but I will always remember him as a brilliant manager and playing the football I love to watch.

BEST OF LUCK SEAN.

[BigColSutherland]

The main reason that I react to incorrect comments about Sean is that I know that about a year ago he was aware of bad comments made about him on this forum. I don't think he is an avid reader but one comment really upset him. I don't want to go in to the detail about the outcome but Sean did have the last laugh in the end.

Didn't Sean offer to meet the poster and have a chat about it? And the poster wouldn't do it?

[Alickismyhero]

BSC,

Look, its water under the bridge now and Sean had the last laugh. I certainly don't want to go over it again.
We all make mistakes and that includes me. The point I was trying to make is that thoughtless incorrect comments can be very hurtful to Sean and his family. I am not saying Sean should not be criticised, that goes with the job, but show a little respect in the way you do it. He ain't going to change as he will always find it hard to effectively communicate with the media mainly because he seems to have his own vocabulary of football terms.The main thing to remember is that he did some great things for our club and we should show

                                    RESPECT,  BECAUSE HE EARNED IT.

                                                                                           even when being critical.

[BessieBlue]

SOD gets my vote every day of the week. No coincidence that his spell in charge matched the most successful period this club has known.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I also thought he made great use of Greenie as the player he was always there to take a pass.

Err, aye. He did once he finally stopped insisting that Wilson was a better player and finally started picking Green. For some unfathomable reason, he started picking Wilson ahead of Green from about March 2007. Grren didn;t start a single one of the first 20 league games of our promotion season, and we were ploddingly poor. He started every match after that as we rocketted through to Wembley

[idler]

To be fair Billy I thought that Greeny had gone off the boil a bit before he was left out.
When he returned to the first team he never looked back and the rest is history.
Maybe being dropped was the spark that he needed although I would have brought him back in sooner.

 

[andyst79]

Sod+Saunders=Dickov?!

[HomerJSimpson]

Im amazed at some of the comments on this forum....surely some people should not be allowed on the internet...

I have watched the best football during my life under SOD, achieved some of the most memorable memories in some fantastic stadiums picking up silverware and a reputation of Arsenal of the north and and yet still some people arent happy with what he achieved as manager with us.

He frustrated me with his late substitutions and his unwillingness to change things when it was obvious and his inability to add power and pace to the sublime play BUT.......

Ive alot of respect for the man who gave us some great football and some great memories and i'll never slag off a manager for doing that.

Football fans are a fickle bunch