Gary McSheffrey interview

[andyst79]

https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sport/football/exclusive-gary-mcsheffrey-finally-breaks-silence-on-doncaster-rovers-exit-4150448

[Chris Black come back]

Not very warm about Copps.

[roversdude]

Not very warm about Copps.

Hmmmm not very fluent ?

[5minstogo]

Can't see this HoFO lasting long. Unnecessary position or just the wrong person?

[Silkscarf]

It’s impossible for me to read the whole thing because of all the clickbait nonsense. Local newspapers are a joke now. Sheff Star is the same.

[normal rules]

For copps to have his head sunk in the SOD sand is a worry . That’s quite something to aspire to but life never works out like that. You have to work with what you have . Many on here have said Copps has been part of the issue . Perhaps this supports this theory . For a HOF and manager to not have a fluent relationship is the reason we are where we are .

[roverstillidie91]

Can't see this HoFO lasting long. Unnecessary position or just the wrong person?

I'm confident this role is here to stay as it is the norm to have a structure above the management side of things. There's this thing said about Grant McCann being the Manager being a significant thing as his title is not "Head Coach.

Clubs in the Premier League have a hierarchy above them such as Man City and Arsenal refer to their titles as "Manager" so I don't understand why people read so much into it.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

I don't think it necessarily means that theees anything wrong with Coppinger but more that the two didn't have the greatest of relationships.  You can have that without anyone being to blame

I think Mcsheffrey is quite honest about some things he would change if time happened again but he's also got to position himself for his future. He was adamant he couldn't get the players playing better when he was here and that was damning for him. Yes he'd have done better than Schofield but he still wasn't the right man.

[Campsall rover]

It’s never going to work if the HoF wants to bring in players the Manager/Head Coach doesn’t want.
If they are not on the same page then there is a problem.

Copps needs to realise that the SOD days are gone.
We are not going to get out of this league playing pretty possession football unless we can sign Championship standard footballers that we had in 2007/2008
There is not one player in our current squad who would get anywhere near to getting into that team.

Yes we can play good football in this league but you have to compete physically.
We need players who can mix it up. Pace and power as well as players who have some skill.
This is League 2 and Copps needs to realise what is required to be successful in this league. His vision is all well and good but it simply is pie in the sky where we are right now.
GM knows it and Copps will have to accept what he wants.
If he isn’t on same page as Grant then he has to go or a new role for him has to be found.

Copps brought in some players GMS didn’t want that’s now clear.
I had heard that was the case.
No way will Grant McCann allow that to happen. He is in charge so it will be interesting to see exactly what role Copps now has at the Club.

[Alan Southstand]

And, let’s not forget the lack of funds cropping up again. GM openly admits to mistakes having been made in recruitment, but it wasn’t just him making the decisions! “There were players signed that shouldn’t have been….” (You can say that again, Gary lad).

Grant McCann, on the other hand, has made it clear that, although others will be helping him, he will have the final say on transfers. This has to be the right way to go, instead of this ‘signing by committee’ idea.

[Dare to dream!]

In hindsight, McSheffrey was harshly treated - he was actually do an ok job.

However, if we didn’t sack him, we may not be here now with McCann in charge.

Hope McSheffrey gets a good job elsewhere.

[Jonathan]

I understand there were some tensions in the background in relation to culture - nothing to do with the style of play, more the culture and differences of opinion between McSheffrey and Copps. Perhaps that explains the answers given there.

It’s an interesting interview, I like McSheffrey. I know the change looked inevitable at the time it came, but I think if he’d stayed we would have been more competitive over the season and finished higher in the league than we did.

It’s all immaterial now, we have McCann and that feels like the right fit. But I wish McSheffrey well, he’s a thoroughly decent guy.

[Redroy]

I think it’s clear Copps wanted Schofield and was probs waiting for Gary to fail, and Gary knew that. Always going to be friction then.

[roversdude]

McSheffrey did a decent job with what he had available especially when we look at what came afterwards. GMS is a really nice guy hope he now has a bit of a nasty streak to boot and he can have another go at managing, maybe a higher end NL team to give even more experience.
Be interesting to know who GMS didn’t want but I guess we’ll never know
SOD ball will never get us out of this league I’m afraid.

[sedwardsdrfc]

It only looked like he did a decent job because of how bad Schofield was. For all the squads failings we should have been play offs imo with a actual decent manager

[pib]

I didn't rate McSheffrey as manager here and don't think he should've been given the job in the first place in the predicament we were in, and that was definitely the first mistake of our failure this season keeping him on.

However, I think he comes across as a good bloke and hopefully he gets back into coaching somewhere.

I agree with Campsall earlier in the thread in that we need to accept the SOD days are gone, and the longer Copps persists with this fantasy of bringing that back, the less likely I think it is to work out for him. At least in the medium term whilst we're at this level anyway.

The level of player we were able to attract in those days was completely different, SOD himself was a one-off and built something not very easily replicated, and the football landscape has changed so much since then. It's 3 days short of 15 years since we were promoted to the Championship. Football has evolved a lot in that time in terms of the financial side, tactics, and player recruitment. To think you're going to re-create the SOD days, especially on a relatively small budget in the grand scheme of things, is naive at best.

[Jonathan]

McSheffrey did a decent job with what he had available especially when we look at what came afterwards. GMS is a really nice guy hope he now has a bit of a nasty streak to boot and he can have another go at managing, maybe a higher end NL team to give even more experience.
Be interesting to know who GMS didn’t want but I guess we’ll never know
SOD ball will never get us out of this league I’m afraid.

Interestingly, as I understand it, it was McSheffrey’s desire to instil a nastier streak / siege mentality that proved something of a sticking point. That doesn’t mean that Copps doesn’t get it, just different ways of thinking and acting I think and these things happen. But, as alluded to in the interview, that won’t have made McSheffrey’s job easy and I think it is clear that Copps wanted Schofield.

[TonySoprano]

Poor bloke got thrown under the bus, just like schofield and butler.
Cheap options with little support.

[Campsall rover]

Poor bloke got thrown under the bus, just like schofield and butler.
Cheap options with little support.

So you think Schofield could set up a team. Was tactically astute. Was flexible in his formation. Was a good man Manager.
Even allowing for the squad having its deficiencies do you think finishing 18th in this league was acceptable?

Sorry I wouldn’t trust Danny Schofield to get us in the top 7 if we had the biggest budget in this league.
There is absolutely nothing he did that suggests he would have been capable.
So to say he was thrown under the bus is not true in my humble opinion.
GMS on the other hand was when he was appointed as permanent Manager in Dec 21
Having said that we should still have been capable of finishing above both Morecambe and Fleetwood and stayed up.

[Alan Southstand]

You may be misinterpreting what was said, Camps?

Was it that he was thrown under the bus wrt lack of financial support? If Tony meant that, then I think that’s fair enough. But, where DS is concerned, your points are very much valid.

It makes me smile when I think how many times numerous people wrote on here (post DM), me included, about us needing another experienced manager. What followed was unforgivable, but we move on, hopefully to a more positive era.

[steve@dcfd]

Decision making in that period was wrong above Copps and GMC. We employed an In experienced manager then an In experienced HOF. It was not going to work. What ever views GMC had on recruiting players would have been through Copps. He didn’t have the final say on some of the players. So unfortunately he took the blame for it after we were relegated. He got some good results at the start of league two but we had Tomlin who gave the creativity when he decided to leave our team went to decline. He was sacked and DS was given the job and tactics, selection and recruitment was done by committee. It didn’t work. But before Grant came in we have given a contract to Ravenhill, what length I don’t know, as it wasn’t published when he signed. So Copps still influenced that. Hopefully now Grant is here then that will stop. Out of the two inexperienced managers the GMC was better than DS.

[TonySoprano]

You may be misinterpreting what was said, Camps?

Was it that he was thrown under the bus wrt lack of financial support? If Tony meant that, then I think that’s fair enough. But, where DS is concerned, your points are very much valid.

It makes me smile when I think how many times numerous people wrote on here (post DM), me included, about us needing another experienced manager. What followed was unforgivable, but we move on, hopefully to a more positive era.

Thanks Alan, yes camps misinterpreted my point

[Bessie Red]

I've heard from the proverbial horses mouths (existing players) that Schofield was a good coach but a completely useless manager and that was always the problem.
He came from an academy background where coaching is king, as results are largely irrelevant, to an environment (particularly in Lge 2) where results are everything and where performance is largely irrelevant. It was never going to work unless Schofield had changed his perceptions/approach which evidently he was not going to do.

[BillyStubbsTears]

McSheffrey did a decent job with what he had available especially when we look at what came afterwards. GMS is a really nice guy hope he now has a bit of a nasty streak to boot and he can have another go at managing, maybe a higher end NL team to give even more experience.
Be interesting to know who GMS didn’t want but I guess we’ll never know
SOD ball will never get us out of this league I’m afraid.

Well he said Agard was too good a player to miss out on. So presumably that's one he wanted.

He said at the time about Agard
"when he became available, we knew we had to pounce and I’m delighted to get it over the line"

[ncRover]

I wonder if Maxwell was one he didn’t want? He didn’t like to play him did he?

[jmt23]

Copps role: He was asked to bring back the SOD ways of playing by the directors. Who admitted they were going with the flow of whichever manager we had at the time. When that went wrong we needed a rebuild, this role was designed to promote continuity and a defined way of playing.

Unfortunately the crowd are not set on a style, they just want winning football, and the noisier fans are part of the gerrit up their brigade, so will always skew the argument when it doesn’t go to plan.

DS was trying to implement that style, and may have got close with his own players. it was never going to work with the players we had, and was a risk to continue.

Both Copps and DS are victims of trying to implement the directors wishes, and the directors then moving the goal posts.

I am fully confident in Grant, but wonder what happens when he leaves.

[swintonrover]

I wonder if Maxwell was one he didn’t want? He didn’t like to play him did he?

Maxwell was a Copps signing. Heard that from relevant parties on several occasions.

[Campsall rover]

You may be misinterpreting what was said, Camps?

Was it that he was thrown under the bus wrt lack of financial support? If Tony meant that, then I think that’s fair enough. But, where DS is concerned, your points are very much valid.

It makes me smile when I think how many times numerous people wrote on here (post DM), me included, about us needing another experienced manager. What followed was unforgivable, but we move on, hopefully to a more positive era.

Thanks Alan, yes camps misinterpreted my point

Right fair enough TS   

[MachoMadness]

Copps role: He was asked to bring back the SOD ways of playing by the directors. Who admitted they were going with the flow of whichever manager we had at the time. When that went wrong we needed a rebuild, this role was designed to promote continuity and a defined way of playing.

Unfortunately the crowd are not set on a style, they just want winning football, and the noisier fans are part of the gerrit up their brigade, so will always skew the argument when it doesn’t go to plan.

DS was trying to implement that style, and may have got close with his own players. it was never going to work with the players we had, and was a risk to continue.

Both Copps and DS are victims of trying to implement the directors wishes, and the directors then moving the goal posts.

I am fully confident in Grant, but wonder what happens when he leaves.

Think this is a fair analysis. McSheffrey was sacked purportedly because he failed to give the side any identity or style of play after achieving at best mixed results during his tenure. Fair enough. Schofield gets brought in with the remit of providing a clear identity and style of play. He's very process-driven and methodical but results are again mixed before falling off a cliff completely. Then he's sacked and we go back to McCann.

I'm confident it'll work in the short term with TB's extra funding but long term, when McCann goes, the underlying problems of no real professional-level football structure at the club will remain.

[DonnyOsmond]

Copps role: He was asked to bring back the SOD ways of playing by the directors. Who admitted they were going with the flow of whichever manager we had at the time. When that went wrong we needed a rebuild, this role was designed to promote continuity and a defined way of playing.

Unfortunately the crowd are not set on a style, they just want winning football, and the noisier fans are part of the gerrit up their brigade, so will always skew the argument when it doesn’t go to plan.

DS was trying to implement that style, and may have got close with his own players. it was never going to work with the players we had, and was a risk to continue.

Both Copps and DS are victims of trying to implement the directors wishes, and the directors then moving the goal posts.

I am fully confident in Grant, but wonder what happens when he leaves.

I don't think as a fan base we'd be happy with hoofball. In all honesty a fast paced, attacking and aggressive team probably exemplifies us better than anything, including SODball.