Jewell gone. Now what?
After a (half) nights sleep (Chargers beating Denver by a bundle needed watching, avidly) the cold, cold morning seems colder than yesterday. It’s part of the rich joy of being a Rams Fan.
Hearing Pearson confirming the departure of Paul Jewell this morning wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was expected as the rumours flew around yesterday evening. He fell on his sword as his plans fell apart. His fate encouraged by some people with a strange idea of what to expect when rebuilding from the worst season in living memory. His fate sealed by more abject defending, this time compounded by an unexpected, unexplainable decision to stop – start – stop by Bywater.
And that was kind of the pattern of Jewell’s tenure.
Whereas Billy’s first season was typified by a 1-0 win after 15 or 20 minutes of good football and then clinging on for the result on bloodied fingertips and his second was an example of man mis-management coupled with appalling tactical changes and bizarre signings, Jewell’s time followed a different pattern.
He came in to a Club with no settled team, no settled tactics and individual errors. He added players who didn’t ‘fit’, players who were unfit and others who looked like they were having a fit. He struggled to get a settled side, his tactics were clear for most games – at least until someone lost their head, made a mistake and the ball was flung forward in the vain hope of a goal.
I saw signs of progress over the time he was here. I also saw rotten displays. I saw players letting themselves, their teamates and their fans down. Badly. Ultimately, we lost a manager because the mistakes became too important. Quite what people expect us to achieve this season is unclear. If people want play-offs and promotion then they are deluded. The playing side of the Club is still over-stuffed with injured players or those with more money than talent, application or desire.
Yesterday encapsulated that.
It was a rotten game, with a few bright sparks. Commons made some good runs and skills. Ellington got injured, Hulse was subbed. We had chances but failed to take them. Steve D from Tranmere looked sharp and hit the post. But we couldn’t score and we didn’t do enough.
And so Jewell walked away.
Someone needs to come in and take this mess forward. There are names being bandied about but there aren’t many out there that I fancy. What we need, and I hate to say it, is a period of stability. 200 games under one manager with a squad of 25 or so, balanced between youth and experience. We’ve needed this since Jim left. Something the fans wanted and got. Like the fans wanted Todd/ McEwan/ Gregory/ Burley/ Brown/ Westley/ Davies/ Jewell in/ out. Sometimes the fans know best. Most of the time they don’t because we don’t see the full picture.
The successful clubs build a stable platform and go from there. The rest chop and change. Well, we’ve chopped and we will change. Will we get success? Possibly. But stability seems further away now than it has for the past 7 years or so.
Ever since the day when Lionel was left holding the baby …
“Like the fans wanted Todd/ McEwan/ Gregory/ Burley/ Brown/ Westley/ Davies/ Jewell in/ out.”
Well some of those were just caretakers – but for most of those names the majority of fans didn’t demand their sacking (Burley FFS!). Take Jewell – a few people shouted for him to go – others shouted them down – to lay his sacking at the door of fan pressure is just wrong.
“Whereas Billy’s first season was typified by a 1-0 win after 15 or 20 minutes of good football and then clinging on for the result on bloodied fingertips and his second was an example of man mis-management coupled with appalling tactical changes and bizarre signings, Jewell’s time followed a different pattern.”
Yes – we didn’t get the 15-20 minutes of good football.
We know you nailed your colours to the anti Billy Davies mast so firmly you were desperate for Jewell to succeed but I think that’s clouded your judgement – there has been no progress in the last 14 months. You say his tactics were clear for most games – yes – hit and hope – and ultimately it’s that that has cost him as much as the results.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:41 amWell I disagree about not seeing good football – we’ve had better performances in this season than we had under Billy – Norwich, Wednesday, spells against Watford and Sheffield United, etc.
And I didn’t like Billy’s signings, especially when we were top and cruising. His backroom appointments were poor, his comments about PNE were unacceptable and he was generally running the club down.
Billy took us as far as he could then walked. His comments after the Chelsea game were outrageous and I suspect his behaviour may explain why he is currently not managing. Mind you, it could be anything so I wouldn’t read too much into that! Jewell has walked as he feels he has gone as far as he can. It’s a shame but there you are. I’m not celebrating though.
There is a nasty undertone about the club at the moment and I suspect it is to do with egos and ownership.
We really, really need stability on and off the pitch. The sooner we get it the better.
December 29th, 2008 at 12:19 pm