Has Spoors been taken in by another fraud of a manager ?

[Andrew Watson]

I cannot believe that we seem to have appointed another clueless manager. Whatever system we play at the back we are awful and get bullied by ordinary,journeymen forwards [ Moore, Macburnie and to a lesser degree Bishop and Hirst ]. We are laboured in midfield and toothless upfront,this is very worrying after just 6 games. 

Is anyone else worried that getting a tune out of these players seems beyond this manager at present ?

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, Andrew Watson said:

I cannot believe that we seem to have appointed another clueless manager. Whatever system we play at the back we are awful and get bullied by ordinary,journeymen forwards [ Moore, Macburnie and to a lesser degree Bishop and Hirst ]. We are laboured in midfield and toothless upfront,this is very worrying after just 6 games. 

Is anyone else worried that getting a tune out of these players seems beyond this manager at present ?

In answer to the question from the title, you’d have expected an experienced DoF (or whatever the title) to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in the selection process. That’s the purpose of his position and why Dragan pays him ( and his team that he spent a couple of months putting together).

Has Spors been taken in, well he certainly saw something in Still that very few others did. Or he just wanted to make an appointment, any appointment, then having ticked that box move on to player recruitment. 
 

Next line to this: has Dragan been taken in by another charlatan whose CV lists several high profile clubs to impress (but doesn’t stay very long  - food for thought ?- at any )and talks a good game. 
 

Worried ? More pissed off with the inevitability of it. 

[Andrew Watson]

Some very good points there Badger.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

No, I don't think so.

I think SR's recruitment strategy has never changed. They look for higher risk/ less proven managers to run in parallel with their player recruitment model.

This is where that goes.

[IFHP]

Spoors is just another, in a long line of duds, appointed by Dragan and the clowns. 
 

[Wade Garrett]

It seems that SR’s skill in choosing managers will never be any good.

They are a bunch of absolute cretins.  Dragan is going to lose a fortune, and quite frankly, deserves to.

[Mboto Gorge]

It’s now getting to the point where im starting to actively dislike the club, seeing people like Stephens and Bazunu starting every week , out and out losers symptomatic of the state of the club under these cretins. The tempo and makeup of our squad and style of play is the polar opposite of what most fans want to see in their football team right now. 

Edited Sunday at 05:06 by Mboto Gorge

[CB Fry]

Spors went out and spent seven million on Damion Downs. (Hull City in total spent 700k this summer)

Whatever is happening is on Spors 100%.

Edited Sunday at 05:11 by CB Fry

[Mboto Gorge]

2 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Spors went out and spent seven million on Damion Downs. (Hull City in total spent 700k this summer)

Whatever is happening is on Spors 100%.

The most laughable thing about this is , I’ve heard that behind the scenes they were giving themselves a massive pat on the back for this signing and considered it a coup to get him at that price, and assumed he’d be coveted by other clubs and demand a higher fee. Absolutely comical 

[Toussaint]

Spors is the fraud, Still is just a young keen, eager to please guy trying to do his best, but pitifully out of his depth. 

[Yorkshire Saint]

Sporrs always wanted Rohl and that's what he will get if this carries on in my opinion 

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Spors went out and spent seven million on Damion Downs. (Hull City in total spent 700k this summer)

Whatever is happening is on Spors 100%.

I'd have had no problems with Downs in isolation had we also bought another, more 'seasoned' striker. But we didn't, so we're here once again hoping for a young unproven kid to come good and that the relics of Archer and Stewart resemble footballers again. It's a bit harsh on Downs as we we don't allow these 'kids' a chance to grow, the expectations are on them right away - exactly the same happened in the PL window when we bought Bazunu/Edozie/Laros etc.

I feared we'd do this whilst also putting too much reliance on Stewart and count him as a squad player. Any decent ambitious club would have planned around Stewart and bought someone else in as well.

[Viking Saint]

As usual, we've gone for 'potential' over 'proven', and this is where it gets us. Nothing will change until SR leave

[Mboto Gorge]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I'd have had no problems with Downs in isolation had we also bought another, more 'seasoned' striker. But we didn't, so we're here once again hoping for a young unproven kid to come good and that the relics of Archer and Stewart resemble footballers again. It's a bit harsh on Downs as we we don't allow these 'kids' a chance to grow, the expectations are on them right away - exactly the same happened in the PL window when we bought Bazunu/Edozie/Laros etc.

I feared we'd do this whilst also putting too much reliance on Stewart and count him as a squad player. Any decent ambitious club would have planned around Stewart and bought someone else in as well.

The key word is right there - “seasoned”. This joke of a board don’t sign seasoned players. They’re obsessed with far field young developing players and that’s the entire reason we are in the mess we are in. You could say Azaz and Fellows are seasoned players but they aren’t playing in the key positions in the spine of the team, they’re luxury creative  players. We’ve been crying out for strong experienced  leaders in the spine  of our team for ever, under these pricks. They just don’t get it. You can sign all the flair and creativity you like, but if you have no one pulling them up when things get tough, to drag the game by the scuff of the neck, then you’re not going to do anything. It’s blindingly obvious that was what we needed, and have needed for almost every year of their ownership, but they’ll never get it. They need to go. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

Spors may well be implicated, but ask yourself how long he’s been in place, how long Still has been in place and compare that to the real problem - the quality of players in the squad. And by quality of players I don’t mean the £ cost of players…it’s value that counts. Look at the value of Hull’s players…cheap but effective. Same goes for Pompey. Teams that have several vocal leaders on the pitch…McBurny firing the rest of them up. Who do we have in that mould? Stephens? He’s part of the problem.

[John B]

It is the fucking players but the appointment of the manager is a bit bizzaire with no appropriate experience

[Fabrice29]

He’s made a mistake of telling everyone how important winning is to him because this is what ‘winning at all costs’ football looks like when you’re not winning. The sport is incredibly low scoring and scoring has many factors of randomness in it as well as coaching and talent so you can’t rely on just winning. You have to give fans/players/whoever else something for them to see when you’re not winning but by telling everyone even before he got the job that he’s not a philosophy manager and playing to the crowd initially with talk that resonated with them, he’s not got anything to fall back on now he’s not winning enough so shit hits the fan.

We’ll be fine I think, wins will come, when he’s sorted out the defence by manning up and dropping a couple of players, but he’s made this road rocky for himself.

[AlexLaw76]

33 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

He’s made a mistake of telling everyone how important winning is to him because this is what ‘winning at all costs’ football looks like when you’re not winning. The sport is incredibly low scoring and scoring has many factors of randomness in it as well as coaching and talent so you can’t rely on just winning. You have to give fans/players/whoever else something for them to see when you’re not winning but by telling everyone even before he got the job that he’s not a philosophy manager and playing to the crowd initially with talk that resonated with them, he’s not got anything to fall back on now he’s not winning enough so shit hits the fan.

We’ll be fine I think, wins will come, when he’s sorted out the defence by manning up and dropping a couple of players, but he’s made this road rocky for himself.

what does 'Fine' look like?

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Spors may well be implicated, but ask yourself how long he’s been in place, how long Still has been in place and compare that to the real problem - the quality of players in the squad. And by quality of players I don’t mean the £ cost of players…it’s value that counts. Look at the value of Hull’s players…cheap but effective. Same goes for Pompey. Teams that have several vocal leaders on the pitch…McBurny firing the rest of them up. Who do we have in that mould? Stephens? He’s part of the problem.

Both points are true, but for what we’ve received in transfer fees, and spent we should be doing better. That in itself is on Spors (for recruitment) and Still (for selections and tactics).
 

Spors has had since when, February?, knowing that relegation was a certainty. He hasn’t just arrived in July (as Koeman did). And Still has had a full summer to prepare the bulk of the squad, and identify weaknesses ( GK, and CF primarily) bringing them to Spors attention. 

[Fabrice29]

9 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

what does 'Fine' look like?

 

44 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

We’ll be fine I think, wins will come

 

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Fabrice29 said:

 

 

ok...3 more wins all season?

what does fine look like other you come the end of the season

[Fabrice29]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

ok...3 more wins all season?

what does fine look like other you come the end of the season

I was consistently told on here by you and others that our previous manager who got us out of this league did a terrible job and got incredibly lucky so my expectations are that team’s achievements will be surpassed. 

I did warn people that might not be so easy.

On a less smug note, I think we’ll be in the hunt for promotion at the end of season and we should rightly be so. The season is long and a couple of good runs will get us right up there. 

 

[CB Fry]

On 21/09/2025 at 11:34, Fabrice29 said:

He’s made a mistake of telling everyone how important winning is to him because this is what ‘winning at all costs’ football looks like when you’re not winning. The sport is incredibly low scoring and scoring has many factors of randomness in it as well as coaching and talent so you can’t rely on just winning. You have to give fans/players/whoever else something for them to see when you’re not winning but by telling everyone even before he got the job that he’s not a philosophy manager and playing to the crowd initially with talk that resonated with them, he’s not got anything to fall back on now he’s not winning enough so shit hits the fan.

I have only just read this and agree. He's still talking about that idea now, but it doesn't quite sit right because it is surely true all all elite sportspeople.

As people sometimes say to test politicians bullshit - "I'm on the side of working people" - just imagine if anyone would ever say the opposite of that. 

Everyone in this game wants to win. It doesn't make anyone unique.

 

Still has a good squad for this division - far away from the levels of 23/24 for sure, but we should reasonably expect that we can keep pace with giants like Middlesbrough, Stoke, Bristol, Preston, Coventry and West Brom.

If he doesn't start putting a winning run together his "wonder kid" reputation will be in tatters. Like Martin he arrived here without ever really achieving anything - plenty of managers will have finished mid table in Ligue 1 before.

But Right now Still  looks like he might not start achieving with us either.

Hopefully this is the meltdown before the Leeds home game of 23/24 and it all clicks after that.

[Turkish]

On 21/09/2025 at 10:42, Mboto Gorge said:

The key word is right there - “seasoned”. This joke of a board don’t sign seasoned players. They’re obsessed with far field young developing players and that’s the entire reason we are in the mess we are in. You could say Azaz and Fellows are seasoned players but they aren’t playing in the key positions in the spine of the team, they’re luxury creative  players. We’ve been crying out for strong experienced  leaders in the spine  of our team for ever, under these pricks. They just don’t get it. You can sign all the flair and creativity you like, but if you have no one pulling them up when things get tough, to drag the game by the scuff of the neck, then you’re not going to do anything. It’s blindingly obvious that was what we needed, and have needed for almost every year of their ownership, but they’ll never get it. They need to go. 

It goes back to before SR I’m afraid. You can go right back to when we lost Van Dijk, Fonte, Wanyama, Mane and Pelle within two transfer windows, the strong spin of the great team replaced by young, inexperienced, inferior players. Ever since then we’ve replaced quality with quantity, we’ve been obsessed with finding the new Van Dijk, Mane and Pochetino in the dugout. We’ve got lucky on a few occasions with Livraremto and Lavia but for every one of those there have been five Elyanoussi, Hoedts and Larios. 
It seems crazy that we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. 
 

it’s early days yet this season and it does seem like we’ve got some level of proven quality in. Player for player this squad is definitely in the top 2-3 in the league but now it’s on the manager to make it into a team. Let’s hope he can but the signs are good so far 

[StrangelyBrown]

On 21/09/2025 at 06:06, Mboto Gorge said:

It’s now getting to the point where im starting to actively dislike the club, seeing people like Stephens and Bazunu starting every week , out and out losers symptomatic of the state of the club under these cretins. The tempo and makeup of our squad and style of play is the polar opposite of what most fans want to see in their football team right now. 

It's a classic case of the "standards you walk past are the standards you accept". We have rewarded a player who doesn't lead, who gets sent off for petulance, who ball watches and doesn't take responsibility with the captaincy. It is all downhill from there.

We've accepted a goalkeeper who doesn't save very much.

We've accepted strikers who don't win the ball.

Still needs the balls to stop this, but frankly his continued picking of Bazunu and Stephens suggests he's just another SR yes man.

[madge]

The big issue for me as if we do get promoted I don’t see at present any of our new signings or any of our current squad being remotely good enough to make the step up. 
it’s early days I know but the latter players we brought in look very lightweight and easily bullied off the ball. We lack real pace outside and no ability to go past a player. Only player at present in the squad that can is edoize… 

we spent a small fortune on I’m not sure what.

[CheshireSaint]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

It goes back to before SR I’m afraid. You can go right back to when we lost Van Dijk, Fonte, Wanyama, Mane and Pelle within two transfer windows, the strong spin of the great team replaced by young, inexperienced, inferior players. Ever since then we’ve replaced quality with quantity, we’ve been obsessed with finding the new Van Dijk, Mane and Pochetino in the dugout. We’ve got lucky on a few occasions with Livraremto and Lavia but for every one of those there have been five Elyanoussi, Hoedts and Larios. 
It seems crazy that we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. 
 

it’s early days yet this season and it does seem like we’ve got some level of proven quality in. Player for player this squad is definitely in the top 2-3 in the league but now it’s on the manager to make it into a team. Let’s hope he can but the signs are good so far 

It really is all about the spine. Bazunu, Stephens, Downes and Arma all started this campaign. Shocking. Three of which were loaned out in recent seasons as not being up to standard and rightly so. Yet now, they are deemed not just standard but spine worthy and captain material no less. Only Downes has been recently integral but even then, when he isn't suspended or ill. This season, for whatever reason, he is massively out of sorts. That spine as is, is more likely to result in relegation than promotion. Someone is regally taking the p1ss. The transfer window has only just shut and we are now looking forward desperately for January to correct what was blatant to a blind man for the last few years. We need a centre forward, a goalkeeper, a commanding centre half, and a right back, all only weeks after the transfer window shut. That is a dereliction of duty. I think and hope our midfield will come of age (it will have to) so we can worry less there, but we ain't going up with that spine. We are simply too easy to play against. Not the season we were expecting, early days as it is.

[skintsaint]

11 minutes ago, CheshireSaint said:

We need a centre forward, a goalkeeper, a commanding centre half, and a right back

Give over....

[S-Clarke]

11 hours ago, Turkish said:

It goes back to before SR I’m afraid. You can go right back to when we lost Van Dijk, Fonte, Wanyama, Mane and Pelle within two transfer windows, the strong spin of the great team replaced by young, inexperienced, inferior players. Ever since then we’ve replaced quality with quantity, we’ve been obsessed with finding the new Van Dijk, Mane and Pochetino in the dugout. We’ve got lucky on a few occasions with Livraremto and Lavia but for every one of those there have been five Elyanoussi, Hoedts and Larios. 
It seems crazy that we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. 
 

it’s early days yet this season and it does seem like we’ve got some level of proven quality in. Player for player this squad is definitely in the top 2-3 in the league but now it’s on the manager to make it into a team. Let’s hope he can but the signs are good so far 

The VVD was the genuine turning point for me, it had gone slightly downhill before that, but to piss £85m or whatever it was up the wall on utter trash killed us stone dead. And that was the end.

To think most of the VVD 'fortune' was spent on the likes of Carillo, Elyounoussi, Vestergaard - criminal. 85m for a club like us should have set us up as a PL club for many years to come, but we fucked it.

[Dr. Kucho]

In response to the question in the thread title, no I don’t think Spors has been taken in by a fraud manager.

I was pleased when Still signed and hope he succeeds.

But thinking of it, is Still the right manager for us at this moment? I am doubting. We have just had our worst season ever and he’s a young guy who has to lift the players, fans and club. Thats a big task.

Maybe Spors should have signed an older and more experienced manager. Someone who’s done it all before like Wilder for instance.