Sod

[Jonathan]

Because he's not going to.

[Copps is Magic]

Sorry, didn't realise that had been finalised. Do tell me the lottery numbers when they come to you.

[Alickismyhero]

The England u19 job is really a part time job and perhaps they will allow him to do both, but I doubt it.

 In my opinion he was the best manager we have ever had. The quality of football was the best I have seen in over 50 years of supporting Donny. We treated Sean very badly when he was on gardening leave but I won't go in to that again. I did talk to Sean during that period and he takes a very philosophical view on football management "the sack is all part of the job" but if the contract is honoured "that's life" move on.

I know he is good enough for the job but football being what it is he will need that bit of luck.

Just look at that idiot Steve Cotterell now a manager in the Prem and yet not good enough to lick Sean's boots thats the kind of luck Sean needs.

[GazLaz]

Cotterill is a Championship manager.

[Alickismyhero]

I stand corrected Gaz but my point remains. He got the promotion by being in the right place at the right time and certainly not on his ability.

[Askern_reds]

well it's all about opinions and every body's got one? mine is not good enough is cv isn't that good is it. but I'm not botherd can't stand scousers there as bad as scum utd to me, can't see the top teams in prem shitting them selves at this news

[DonnyNoel]

I stand corrected Gaz but my point remains. He got the promotion by being in the right place at the right time and certainly not on his ability.

I dislike Cotterill immensely but I do recall reading he had a 42% win ratio over a 600+ game managerial career (it was on twitter so could be gubbins mind). For anyone who manages outside a big club thats a very impressive stat. I do take your point re SOD though, who knows where this move could take him, assuming he wants to be a top dog again somewhere and isn't happier coaching top players who can buy into his beliefs rather than managing at a lower level.

[wing commander]

Why are people wasting time arguing over the utter irrelevance of whether or not he may, at some point in the future, have to step in as a caretaker manager for a game or two?

He did a great job for us, comes across as a completely decent man and there is no rational reason why anyone with any connection to our club wouldn't wish him anything but the very best in this move. They're a huge club, it's a great job working for a progressive manager. Pleased for him and hope it works out well for all parties.

     It's just a friendly debate Jonathon about one of our most popular managers and what he's doing now..nobodys falling out,just giving there opinions about his expected appointment...Don't see how that's a problem,after all isn't that what these boards are for??
     It doesn't mean anybody doesn't wish him well though,i do but I think he would have been better seeing a job out for once that's all....

[bobjimwilly]

Daily Mail: Sean O'Driscoll Scouting Report

[Alickismyhero]

Noel,

I admit I don't have a liking for SC.

 I think he tends to talk rubbish most of the time and  non more so than when we have played his teams in the past.

[DonnyNoel]

Noel,

I admit I don't have a liking for SC.

 I think he tends to talk rubbish most of the time and  non more so than when we have played his teams in the past.

I think he's anti-football and his tactics are as ugly as any I've ever seen (that home defeat to Portsmouth where him and SoD clashed was as angry as I've been at a game) but I think there must be effectiveness in them for him to have had the career he's had sadly.

[wing commander]

   That is quite a good article by the Daily Mails standard anyway...As for Cotterill he's the classic example of success the ugly way but success he normally achieves..This doesn't make him popular with opposing fans or even his own...Its a bit like Saunders,his team and tactics were not for the purist but it achieved what it needed too but is he remembered fondly at Donny..No not really...

[steve@dcfd]

Let's be fair if Sean does a successful job at Liverpool then the team will do well so why would they sack the manager. When he went to NFFC as coach he kept them up although Cotterill got the accolades for doing it.

[acko]

keeping seat warm for gerrard

[Alickismyhero]

WC,
I have just been reading the supporter comments at the end of the article. They are totally predictable and not to far off the one's I made when he came to us, "Sean who"

The difference being Sean made me a convert early on and I haven't changed my views about the man one bit.

I consider him to be an eccentric who knows what he is talking about.

You are right WC when you say "we all have opinions" and have the right to express them in a respectful way and on reflection the forum seems to be running very smoothly of late.

[DonnyOsmond]

The Mail does say JOC was signed by SOD when in fact Penney signed him, just to be pedantic.

[Al4475]

Was gonna post the same DO. However - SO'D (imo) did a marvelous job for us and all the very best of luck Sir Sean!

[DonnyNoel]

It's a nice and balanced article. His strengths are coaching and improving players. You could argue his weaknesses are irrelevant to the job he's got. Hope he does well.

[Askern_reds]

I stand corrected Gaz but my point remains. He got the promotion by being in the right place at the right time and certainly not on his ability.

I dislike Cotterill immensely but I do recall reading he had a 42% win ratio over a 600+ game managerial career (it was on twitter so could be gubbins mind). For anyone who manages outside a big club thats a very impressive stat. I do take your point re SOD though, who knows where this move could take him, assuming he wants to be a top dog again somewhere and isn't happier coaching top players who can buy into his beliefs rather than managing at a lower level.

no one likes a winner and that what cots is,

[IDM]

Noel,

I admit I don't have a liking for SC.

 I think he tends to talk rubbish most of the time and  non more so than when we have played his teams in the past.

I think he's anti-football and his tactics are as ugly as any I've ever seen (that home defeat to Portsmouth where him and SoD clashed was as angry as I've been at a game) but I think there must be effectiveness in them for him to have had the career he's had sadly.

Not sitting on the fence here, but I think Cotterill is a kitson.  I left that game vs Portsmouth really angry at the antics of his players, we lost 0-2 didn't we?

A few days later we got hit for 6 by Ipswich - one of those days when everything they did went right.  But I went home much happier that night having watched a more "honest" game than vs Portsmouth.

Second behind Cotterill IMHO is Coleman - his Coventry side were awful.  The classic example was at the KM when it finished 0-0.  At one point, their winger chased down a lost cause that was always going to be a goal kick.  When he realised this, he went down injured but off the pitch.  Then, for some odd reason, he came back onto the pitch and went down again.  Now that kind of thinking can only have been instigated by the coaching regime.

Good luck to SoD, what a fantastic appointment for him.

[Colemans Left Hook]

on the subject of Gerard i reckon he'll have a similar management career as brian Robson did "absolutely hopeless" suggest you all look back at the last world cup and see how many of the goals England conceeded were down to Gerard's defending  i think it was three -- his performances in that world cup were a total disaster - he was a broken "boy" after that slip in the league.

now has anyone realised SOD is simply gaining experience for when he takes over struggling Bournemouth later in the season 
- if only Sod had taken that Burnley premiership job history would be so different.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Seth Bennett tweeted this

@Sethb45: I forgot how good SO'D's #DRFC were.  The opening move is brilliant. @Coppinger26 https://t.co/xDlpR6z6db

Nah. It were shite. Heffernan was just lucky being in the right place at the right time[1].


[1] ie on the pitch, not on the bench...

Edit: Seriously though, I never did appreciate at the time just how good that goal was. I think we just got accustomed to passing like that.

[Askern_reds]

why o why do fans keep looking at history? that's what sod is, Saunders and flyn, ffs forget them look forward not back.

[BobG]

Cool. No point talking about Alick then I guess? Or Wembley? Or Cardiff. Or Brentford. No problem. They're all banned subjects from now on.

Cheers

Bobg

[Donnywolf]

Seth Bennett tweeted this

@Sethb45: I forgot how good SO'D's #DRFC were.  The opening move is brilliant. @Coppinger26 https://t.co/xDlpR6z6db

... AND the 40 pass move v QPR. OK we went back several times but it was good to watch and see their players commit 3 fouls in a row to finally stop the move

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR8L5QLtbVE

[drfchound]

What a good set of footballers we had then.

[i_ateallthepies]

Absolutely hound, what would we give to have them now?  Mind, as good as they were there weren't that many of them supremely talented, in the Championship years there weren't many of our players other teams in the division wanted... two, maybe three if memory serves me right.


Sean O'Driscoll made all the difference.  He gave them a system, confidence and a work ethic that truly made the whole greater than sum of the parts, they each knew the system and their role in it, which is why they achieved so much.  He wrung every last drop of potential out of each one of them.  Sean was the manager who got Billy Sharp playing to his potential, nobody since has come close.

I cringe when I read comments on here about him being a great Coach but a lousy Manager.  O'Driscoll was an outstanding manager, how else could our club have punched above its weight in the way it did?


His achilles heel, if he had one was that he couldn't bring himself to suffer fools gladly and for a football manager that is certain to make life difficult.  That only sets him apart from the rest for me because he stuck to his principles with honesty and integrity, even if some people didn't want to see it.

[Alickismyhero]

Pieman,

Spot on, my sentiment entirely.

[wilts rover]

Yes Sean was the best manager we have ever seen at Rovers, but he certainly had his faults. The biggest of them his stubborness and lack of a Plan B. If you have more players in the sick room than on the pitch - dont you think there might be something wrong with the fitness levels? When teams had worked us out and realised all they needed to do was defend their penalty box and let us play pretty patterns before we would eventually loose possesion and hit us on the break - that's what we continued to do. Continually playing Stock when he was struggling.

He had his faults.

[Alickismyhero]

Wilts,

Can you name me someone who doesn't have faults? Perhaps the wife?

 At every game there are 1000's of supporters who know better than the manager!

 I would be the first to admit Sean moves in mysterious ways but on the whole, in the world surrounding the team, with the limitation of a small budget, personally I really enjoyed what he produced.

Even with your perceived faults Sean had, he was the best.