Embattled Manager of the Week: Lee Clark, Birmingham City
Stands accused of…
gramsci07, Small Heath Alliance…
I do feel sorry for him. His verbal exposition is a bit embarassing, his waving and shouting on the touchline a bit silly, him bringing in Ambrose, Lovenkrands and Mullins now seems just plain desperate. He has a bad hand to play and is struggling badly.
It’s a sorry state of affairs. His career is in the balance but this was so woeful tonight and if it continues it could accelerate our spiral of decline.
I think he should spend more time with his family and the club find someone more competent should be manager. We need to stay in this division.
Kaje, Joys & Sorrows…
I didn’t want him and I still don’t want him. I thought there were times he might be starting to win me over, with press conferences and looking bothered early on, but the longer he gets now the more he’s starting to prove me right.
It doesn’t make me happy.
I didn’t want to be right on this one, I really didn’t. Being right this time means that my club, our club, is being damaged by a mediocre League One manager and that is something to be gutted about. I certainly am.
I desperately want to be wrong this time.
I don’t want him here. I want him gone – but I know we can’t afford to. As such, we are stuck with him and I have to live with it. I just hope he proves me wrong over the coming matches – nobody will be happier to see me eat humble pie than me, of that I assure you.
With that said, and let’s talk hypothetically here, how much more of a chance would people genuinely be prepared to give SHOULD the current abject performances continue and the inevitable slide down the table continue?
I’m not talking if we win a game and it’s all roses and sweetness, I want to know how much longer people would give if yesterday’s game is a sign of things to come.
@lordshapla, Small Heath Alliance…
The shaking of the head in a “what the feck do I do next” manner just summed it up for me. He simply doesn’t have a clue what to do.
Aff, Joys & Sorrows…
I agree somewhat Nat but there’s no excuse for what happened yesterday. None. Even when we were destroyed 7-0 at home by Liverpool, we ran out of talent. Yesterday we ran out of absolutely everything. And for a Blues side, that’s simply not good enough.
I’m prepared to continue giving Clark my backing for now but I don’t recall too many managers coming back from performances such as this. With that being said, the club is rotten from top to bottom and we need a very big broom.
PartAndroid, Small Heath Alliance…
I was happy when we brought him in, young manager, did a good job at Huddersfield despite failing at the final hurdle but I thought maybe he had learnt.
Poor decision making, poor signings and an ageing squad and he has only added more age to that.
Why can’t we close down or keep up? Slow and ageing.
Until that is sorted to a certain degree, I fear this season may be a hard one for some Blues fans, especially spoilt ones who have only really known the premier league, to take.
Duffblues, Small Heath Alliance…
I fear we will be in league one next season after tonights performance. Unless Clarke has got the character to go into the dressing room and command the respect from the players and turn it around by the next match. That is the big question. I think maybe give him two more games see how he responds to this.
ill Manors, Small Heath Alliance…
I like to stick by managers, honestly I do. But if Lee Clark stays, we will, WILL get relegated.
Clark out. McCarthy in for all I care. Anyone but Clark. The lad has absolutely no idea what he’s doing.
JoeBCFC, Joys & Sorrows…
I’ve never agreed with sacking a manager this early, even after one season in fact but this is just something else. The players don’t seem to either give a toss or really know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing and Clark just seems totally out of his depth and unable to change tactics/ formation/ roles when the original set up isn’t working.
With the next two games being away at Brighton and Cardiff, things aren’t going to get any better.
Kaje, Joys & Sorrows…
For a start, I’d have had Spector at right-back with Gomis in the middle if available – alongside Fahey.
I’d also have dropped King who wasn’t quite up to standard aside from his penalty kick. I would have liked to have seen Zigic and Lita strike a partnership.
I would also have had reservations about Burke starting. He’s been off the boil in the last few games – though playing infront of Spector may have given him a boost as he was used to that last season.
In his defense…
NatJPeters, Joys & Sorrows…
As I said elsewhere, unless we go into Christmas cut adrift at the bottom I would give him the season at the very least. I just think the problems at Blues run so much deeper than him, and things really won’t move forward ’til Yeung’s gone, so just let’s see what he can do.
UncleFester, Small Heath Alliance…
“I looked up [to the stands] at 4-0 and my wife was in tears.
“She knows what this job means to me. She knows how passionate I am about the game.
“You know, I’m totally committed to this job.”
I think that sums it all up to me, he’s passionate and he’s young and he’s maybe not as composed as Hughton or as media shy but he doesn’t half try, before people say well its his fault etc how is it his fault that our full back positions seem to be cursed? Caddis brought composure and speed and we lost it, Spector does brilliantly as a defencive mid and Clark didn’t want to loose that – fair enough and he could of maybe found someone better than Mullins to fill the role.
Hughton jumped ship because times were tough and the caravan vermin waved some money at him and he bit.
Clark in, we’re 7 games in and we have half our defence out injured – when we start losing with a fully fit and able squad that’s when there is a problem.
So, how does Lee Clark square up on the Embattled-O-Meter?
Unpopularity rating…
74%
Derisive nicknames…
None as of yet
Estimated number of games left to save his job…
6
And those games would be…
Brighton and Hove Albion (a), Cardiff City (a), Huddersfield Town (h), Leicester City (h), Millwall (a), Leeds United (a)
says…
That’s not a very kind-looking set of fixtures, is it? Blues could conceivably find themselves in the relegation zone come November, and then it really will be squeaky bum time – the squeaky bum, that is, of someone being tipped out of their seat. Or, if you will, a hot seat. There’s hardly a glut of suitable and gettable replacements at the ready, so perhaps Clark will get until the end of the season after all. Brace yourselves, St Andrew’s faithful – this looks like being a tough old season.