After the final whistle today

[Chris Black come back]

We have 45 points by game 26 in League One vs 34 points after 26 games last season.

We have now won as many games in League One (13) than we did in the ENTIRE season last year (13).

We have scored 47 goals in League One this season vs 52 for the ENTIRE season last year.

John Marquis has now scored more goals in League One this season (15) than he did in the ENTIRE League One season last year (14).

And finally...that goal by Copps does I think mean he has scored in 14 consecutive calendar years for Rovers.

[anton123]

Simply lovely

[WheatleyRover]

Great performance from start to finish, great to see Grant McCann and the players interacting with the supporters after the final whistle, Whiteman was in front of the stand giving high fives to the younger fans

[Copps is Magic]

I don't think those stats read too badly on Fergie in all honesty. Like I said many times last season, it's not that he's a bad manager, it's just that he didn't seem to be getting the best out of a talented squad. Probably the biggest example is Whiteman. Ironically signed under Ferguson but never seemed to show that faith in him.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Isn't failing to get the best out of the resources to hand the very definition of a poor manager?

[Copps is Magic]

Well no. A poor manager would be one who doesn't know how to manage - tactically inept, can't scout good players, terrible motivator*. We under-achieved relative to our resources last season, but it would be short-sighted to say those things about Ferguson (and I was one of the few on here who suggested a change in manager last year, that wasn't the consensus by any means so would be weird to pretend that what's people were saying all along).

* I will say his man-management of certain players was weird.

[mattco]

Having seen Malik Wilks causing havoc and yellow cards all afternoon, I remember Fergie saying he'd never play wingers!

[BillyStubbsTears]

We underachieved relative to resources in each of his seasons, ranging from awfully (15/16  - that wasn't a great squad that he inherited but it was miles better than the historically woeful form he extracted from it), slightly in 16/17 (main job done but spectacularly missed out on a chance to win a title) to moderately in 17/18 (grey grinding shite, and not very effective grey grinding shite at that).

He was an excellent chooser of talent but gave every impression of being a control freak who didn't allow the talented squad he put together to perform to its ability.

In my book, in retrospect, he was a below-average manager, made to look better by the woeful one he replaced.

And hands up. I wasn't (mostly) calling for his head. Although I couldn't fathom how on earth he survived the second half of 16/17.

[DonnyOsmond]

Having seen Malik Wilks causing havoc and yellow cards all afternoon, I remember Fergie saying he'd never play wingers!

I wouldn't call Malik a winger.

[Chris Black come back]

BST is on the money here.

We put up with pitiful mediocrity at best when even the blind could see that this was a team of largely capable players being mismanaged and we were the victims - having to watch that dirge game in, game out.

“He will come good”. He never did.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I'll admit I was one of the "he'll come good brigade". I was seated by the experience of deciding that O'Driscoll was shite in 07/08.

[Copps is Magic]

Very easy to say these things in retrospect. Too easy really. For football fans things seemingly need to be black or white all the time. We were sending Wilks back a few ago, now hes the best player in the squad.

You can't say Ferguson was a poor manager.

(It wasn't long ago Copps was saying Ferguson was one of the best managers he's worked under, and I don't take that for nothing)

[esdailles left foot]

Ferguson WAS a poor manager.

[Copps is Magic]

Ferguson WAS a poor manager.

You also said on Wilks...

Esdails left foot
    Send him back to Leeds


Where do you stand on that one?

[i_ateallthepies]

Very easy to say these things in retrospect. Too easy really. For football fans things seemingly need to be black or white all the time. We were sending Wilks back a few ago, now hes the best player in the squad.

You can't say Ferguson was a poor manager.

(It wasn't long ago Copps was saying Ferguson was one of the best managers he's worked under, and I don't take that for nothing)

Actually, Copps, several people are saying exactly that and with clear justification.  As BST says, failing to get the best out of the resources at your disposal surely is the very definition of a poor manager.  Total polar opposite to SOD who showed he could not only get the best out of his resources but made the whole add up to more than the sum of it's parts.

[Chris Black come back]

There were plenty making the point consistently that Ferguson was delivering performances that had that squad of players underperforming. He was detracting from the players he had, not adding value. Let us not forget that he had a play off budget and we were messing around above relegation zone.

[dickos1]

There were plenty making the point consistently that Ferguson was delivering performances that had that squad of players underperforming. He was detracting from the players he had, not adding value. Let us not forget that he had a play off budget and we were messing around above relegation zone.

We were never anywhere near the relegation zone last season.
It is embarrassing how many people moan about our promotion season.
Pompey were in there 3 seasons we came straight back with probably the easiest promotion in our history with 5 games to spare scoring far more goals than anyone in the division yet people complain about this.
Embarrassing

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I said it at the time, and the DFP said it yesterday, when the wheels fell off under Fergie, they fell off big time as you could see the players were playing in fear. The fear factor has been lifted from the off with McCann and that provides a base for players to improve. We're seeing that gradual improvement.

Yes, we will still have blips, but those blips are likely to be short lived which means going up the league is a real possibility.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Let's not forget he was am improvement on dickov, was fairly good off the field, made some great signings and laid some good foundations for us to build again.  He also improved players a lot.

His problems were man management, stubbornness and overall not being adventurous enough.  He also let his ego get ahead of him hence leaving.  His loss is massively our gain, but his work shouldn't go unnoticed.

[German Rover]

There were plenty making the point consistently that Ferguson was delivering performances that had that squad of players underperforming. He was detracting from the players he had, not adding value. Let us not forget that he had a play off budget and we were messing around above relegation zone.

We were never anywhere near the relegation zone last season.
It is embarrassing how many people moan about our promotion season.
Pompey were in there 3 seasons we came straight back with probably the easiest promotion in our history with 5 games to spare scoring far more goals than anyone in the division yet people complain about this.
Embarrassing

Can't speak for other people, but the reason i feel he failed was that his team came third in a one horse race. We should have won the league with ease with the gap we had, instead we came third. The blame for that falls at the managers door for me, and personally i'm glad hes gone. A poor man manager, tactically naive and in my opinion has built his manegerial career on the back of others.

Would he have been so good without daddy loaning him players, or without the expertise of Barry Fry in finding these gems in non league football?

Not a chance

[BillyStubbsTears]

A manager who, having inherited an admittedly misfiring squad, turned it from a disappointing one to a catastrophically bad one, needed to do exceptionally well thereafter to be considered a net reasonable achiever.

Any assessment of him has to take into account that he led us through the worst extended run of form in our history, outside of Weaver and Bergara's stewardship. Yes, 16/17 went some way to righting that entirely self-inflicted disaster, but it didn't wipe the slate clean. Securing the title would have done.

Then, the football in 17/18 was turgidly dull - acceptable if winning, but awful to watch when it was just about scraping by.

The joyous football that McCann has got essentially the same squad playing emphasises how grim Ferguson's style was.

As a manager, you can be loved by being a success in terms of league position or the purveyor of aesthetically appealing fare.

Ferguson did neither for the majority of his reign. That McCann has transformed both features in months emphasises Ferguson's shortcomings.

[dickos1]

Which players did daddy loan him?
Also before that season started an awful lot of people were suggesting we had no chance of promotion. Yet we achieved it with 5 games to spare. So these same people changed their negative attention to not winning the title. The fact we won promotion so easily when they thought we had no chance was irrelevant

[dickos1]

A manager who, having inherited an admittedly misfiring squad, turned it from a disappointing one to a catastrophically bad one, needed to do exceptionally well thereafter to be considered a net reasonable achiever.

Any assessment of him has to take into account that he led us through the worst extended run of form in our history, outside of Weaver and Bergara's stewardship. Yes, 16/17 went some way to righting that entirely self-inflicted disaster, but it didn't wipe the slate clean. Securing the title would have done.

Then, the football in 17/18 was turgidly dull - acceptable if winning, but awful to watch when it was just about scraping by.

The joyous football that McCann has got essentially the same squad playing emphasises how grim Ferguson's style was.

As a manager, you can be loved by being a success in terms of league position or the purveyor of aesthetically appealing fare.

Ferguson did neither for the majority of his reign. That McCann has transformed both features in months emphasises Ferguson's shortcomings.

We were 2nd bottom when he took over so not sure why he took over only a disappointing side and turned it into a catastrophic one!
The squad he inherited was very poor and he left us what we have now, and the club has been improved dramatically behind the scenes according to gavin during fergies rein

[Chris Black come back]

There were plenty making the point consistently that Ferguson was delivering performances that had that squad of players underperforming. He was detracting from the players he had, not adding value. Let us not forget that he had a play off budget and we were messing around above relegation zone.

We were never anywhere near the relegation zone last season.
It is embarrassing how many people moan about our promotion season.
Pompey were in there 3 seasons we came straight back with probably the easiest promotion in our history with 5 games to spare scoring far more goals than anyone in the division yet people complain about this.
Embarrassing

“Messing around ABOVE the relegation zone”.

We finished six points clear of relegation.

That is embarrassingly close given the resources available. And the football absolutely stank.

[Paul Simpson]

Fergie did a fantastic job of getting us out of league 1 at the 1st attempt. He brought in some quality players too imo! Didn’t seem to get the best out of the players but credit where it’s due. Grant McCann is doing a superb job. I for 1 wasn’t convinced that he was the right replacement but happy to be proved wrong 😀⚽️👍

[dickos1]

There were plenty making the point consistently that Ferguson was delivering performances that had that squad of players underperforming. He was detracting from the players he had, not adding value. Let us not forget that he had a play off budget and we were messing around above relegation zone.

We were never anywhere near the relegation zone last season.
It is embarrassing how many people moan about our promotion season.
Pompey were in there 3 seasons we came straight back with probably the easiest promotion in our history with 5 games to spare scoring far more goals than anyone in the division yet people complain about this.
Embarrassing

“Messing around ABOVE the relegation zone”.

We finished six points clear of relegation.

That is embarrassingly close given the resources available. And the football absolutely stank.

Mate we won promotion with 5 games to spare scoring a load more goals than anyone else in the league and you say the football stank

[dickos1]

There were plenty making the point consistently that Ferguson was delivering performances that had that squad of players underperforming. He was detracting from the players he had, not adding value. Let us not forget that he had a play off budget and we were messing around above relegation zone.

We were never anywhere near the relegation zone last season.
It is embarrassing how many people moan about our promotion season.
Pompey were in there 3 seasons we came straight back with probably the easiest promotion in our history with 5 games to spare scoring far more goals than anyone in the division yet people complain about this.
Embarrassing

Can't speak for other people, but the reason i feel he failed was that his team came third in a one horse race. We should have won the league with ease with the gap we had, instead we came third. The blame for that falls at the managers door for me, and personally i'm glad hes gone. A poor man manager, tactically naive and in my opinion has built his manegerial career on the back of others.

Would he have been so good without daddy loaning him players, or without the expertise of Barry Fry in finding these gems in non league football?

Not a chance

Barry fry is still there isn’t he, strange how they’ve never won promotion again if he was the reason behind their promotions when fergie was manager

[Chris Black come back]

You are on your own here. There is I think pretty much consensus among most folk that he underperformed vs budget and players available, that during his reign the football was mainly bad rather than good, his tactical nouse and motivation were lacking, and both the relegation, title collapse and sheer banality of the final season were all deeply regrettable - all while buying some good players but also frittering away substantial parts of one of the biggest budgets in that league on some very questionable decisions.

[NickDRFC]

Dickos - no-one (or at least no-one that I'm aware of) is saying that promotion should have been a given, or that getting promoted was an underachievement, but being in the position that we were for the title and blowing it was very poor. I was delighted that we were promoted but the circumstances thereafter left a bitter taste. You say people complaining about it is an embarrassment but pretty much every Rovers fan that I know feels exactly the same way about it.

I'm not sure why there's this constant return or comparisons to Fergie's reign though. The majority of fans think he under-achieved as a manager and weren't sad to see him go. And you'd have to be daft to not realise what an improvement McCann has been.

[German Rover]

Which players did daddy loan him?
Also before that season started an awful lot of people were suggesting we had no chance of promotion. Yet we achieved it with 5 games to spare. So these same people changed their negative attention to not winning the title. The fact we won promotion so easily when they thought we had no chance was irrelevant

These two for a start

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/2010/dec/30/sir-alex-ferguson-darren-preston

These two for a start.