It's an industrial city! Famous for its docks and it used to be the home of the Ford Transit and Pirelli etc etc etc. So parts of the city look like people work there and have a function, because they do; it can't all be gentrified and boring looking 'apartments'. Most of the really nice historical buildings also had the sh*t bombed out of them, completely obliterated and replaced quickly by 50s concrete.
It isn't actually an ugly city anyway, have you been to other cities and towns in the UK?
As for people saying the new coaching team look unimpressed, they're probably just taking in their new surroundings and home. Of course they won't like the club yet, they've yet to experience a good match day, all the squad back and so on. A couple of 8-1 home wins and they'll love the place