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Thread: Ferguson ratings

  1. #1
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    Ferguson ratings

    Just to change the subject from the regular predictions competition, how would you all rate the performance of Ferguson a third of the way into the season? Note out of 10 and comments please. My score : 7.5/10 and doing considerably better than expected. Living in France, I've still not seen a game this year, but my gut feeling is that we've not yet reached the level of performance and consistency needed to feel confident about finishing in the top three...

  2. #2
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    Personally I would only rate him 6/10, as he has not lived up to my expectations. I think I expected more, given his footballing pedigree. I have a number of concerns.
    First of all, his inconsistency. He seems to contradict himself such a lot. In the past he has made it clear that he strongly favours a 3-5-2 formation, yet he often starts 4-4-2, or switches part way through the match. Then after a recent winning streak, he tries 3-4-3 and we lose. I can't help feeling that he is still experimenting with his team, and sometimes they don't know which formation they are supposed to be playing. Despite making a case for these systems, he has contracted himself more than once in press conferences by saying "it's not about systems".
    I worry about his motivational skills. He frequently complains that the team has underperformed, but surely it is his job to motivate them. I'm still at a loss to understand what went wrong last season, when we didn't win for 17 consecutive matches, and only drew 4 of them. That was a disaster, especially when we had been doing so well in the previous matches since he joined us. In any other club, his job would have been on the line.
    I get the impression that there could be personality problems, which would account for why we lost key players at the beginning of this year. I also don't think it helps to chastise his players so publicly (eg. “I took Harry Middleton off because he was poor.") He needs to earn the respect of his players, so that they want to do their best.
    I don't understand why we get so many injuries, including those which are sustained 'in training'. To have 5 long term injured all at the same time seems to be more than a coincidence - especially when 4 of them are defenders. Is it just bad luck, or are they not as fit as they ought to be.
    Last season he had the excuse that most of the players had been engaged by Dickov. Now he has got rid of all those he doesn't want (N'Guessan being the last) and has engaged those of his own choice.
    I agree with you that we are nowhere near settled in performance yet to guarantee an automatic promotion. Last season at Christmas we were comfortably placed around 15th or 16th, and look what happened then. My concern that something similar could happen again. I hope not!

  3. #3
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    Hear, hear, Waldron.

    I would not disagree with anything you have said about Ferguson.

    He stills plays around too much with formations and takes players out of their natural positions and wants them to play his way, instead of playing to their own strengths. If his system is failing, then his system does not work or he has recruited the wrong players for his system. The board employed Dickov and now Ferguson because they play "nice football". We should want to play "winning football" because winning is far more important. Fans walk away if we do not win, and rightly so.

    When DF arrived we were 23rd and rose to peak at 11th by 2nd Jan. That proved that he and the team (that PD had recruited!) had the ability to achieve success and we could have continued to the playoffs.

    He failed as a manager to stop the rot and subsequent relegation, and make DRFC the laughing stock of South Yorkshire. A good manager would have been able to maintain that pre-Xmas momentum until the end of the season. The players had the ability to stay up and he failed to manage them, whether by the stick or encouragement, it was his role and he should know how to deal with the players.

    Any manager who allows a team to be relegated does not deserve a 5 for last season. Promotion from this lowly division is the least we should expect from a manager who failed us last season. I still do not have confidence that if we have a repeat of last season's post-Xmas disaster DF could do any better to manage it. Right now I would only give him a 6 based on the assumption that we may finish in the top 3. A 7 would only be justified if we are competing in the top half of League One next season. For me personally, he still has a lot to prove to make amends to the fans.

  4. #4
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    There are no doubt a number of hard truths in what you say, Waldron and SilverTop, though your judgement may be a bit on the harsh side. Darren Ferguson’s past record suggests it’s either hot or cold with him. He doesn’t seem to be a middle of the table man. You have to admit he started well in management, getting Peterborough promoted twice in successive seasons (2007 and 2008) : D4 to D2; if my memory serves me well, by playing attacking football. The following season Peterborough sacked him (« mutual consent ») for poor results (bottom of the table). He the went to Preston, where he didn’t last a full year, losing his job for a string of poor results (there was at least one notably and surprisingly positive result however, when Preston beat Leeds away 6-4, after being 4-1 down !). He then got reappointed at Peterborough and took them straight up again to the Championship (top scoring side in the entire country). They then got relegated again a couple of years later. It could be said he had a bit of help from his father during all this time, benefitting from a few loan signings from Man Utd. He then joined the Rovers, after a few months’ rest from management, and here we go again.... First season relegated after a string of inexplicably poor results, where he and everybody around him seemed drained of confidence (does he suffer from periodical bouts of depression, I wonder ?). The board kept faith in him (a rare thing these days in football management), he got rid of the team he ‘inherited’ and replaced it with his own ; so no excuses now if the team doesn’t perform, which so far they have done, results-wise at any rate, even if he remains somewhat inconsistent in both words and deeds. As far as injuries are concerned, he’s not the first Rovers’ manager to have problems ; maybe as you say, fitness levels are insufficient and that’s a bit worrying. But 26 points from 14 games is a pretty good start to the season in my opinion, particularly when starting from scratch with what is essentially a brand new team. OK, tactical choices may have been the cause of defeat at Blackpool, but at least they scored twice AND missed a penalty (not for the first time this season !), and we are the league’s top scorers, this after a disastrous season in league one, where hardly anyone seemed capable of hitting the target…. Other people’s opinions ?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by scarjo View Post
    OK, tactical choices may have been the cause of defeat at Blackpool, but at least they scored twice....
    I don't want to nit-pick but our first goal was actually a Blackpool own goal, and our second was from a penalty. We can't rely on opposition mistakes to guarantee us promotion. We really need to be scoring goals through skill and opportunity.
    But other than that match, I agree that our scoring record is considerably better than last year.

  6. #6
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    Runaway Rovers have turned into the Crawling Keepmoat now with two draws, whilst Plymouth still close up on us. I don't know how DF can be happy with draws. That's not the mentality of a winning team manager unless he is equally happy for us to slide from top slot. Seven teams have beaten Newport on their turf (or sand) so why shouldn't we expect the top team to win also?
    We were two games into our bad run at this point last season. Instead of two losses we have two draws this season, and Morecambe and Newport are hardly teams that should have troubled the top team. For the top scoring team to not be able to put even one past Newport in bottom slot is pitiful.

    I do hope the over-confidence and arrogance we had last season is not starting to repeat itself this season or we will be Dead-stop Doncaster for another season. Come on DF stop accepting below par performances. Carlisle and Luton will give us a far tougher tests than the last two draws so sort out your team, not that miss-firing Williams and Mandeville being out will help. I suspect we all need to lower our expectations if DF is happy with the last two games.

  7. #7
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    Well, if no-one else will say it I will....

    When this thread started last October I was not prepared to get excited until we hit the Jan/Feb period when it all went inexplicably wrong last season. Fergie could not stop the rot then and there is no guarantee he can stop it again this season if we repeated the pattern.

    Last season we started with two draws (Gillingham and Fleetwood) and then followed them with a loss. And so it went on...

    This season we have just had two pitiful draws that Fergie is happy with (Morecambe and Newport) and then followed with a loss to Carlisle.
    Lose to Luton on Saturday and history IS repeating and I predict we will be in a playoff place at the end of the season.

    Fergie is doing a "Dickov" and trying to be nice to Williams but the fact is he is not scoring. In fact, go through all the BBC match reports and see how much of a mention he gets compared to Marquis and Copps. May or Beestin can't score less, give them a chance. Mandeville (when fit of course) should be up front in place of Williams.

    My next post will start with "I told you so..."

  8. #8
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    A bit harsh S/Top, after a 100% record in January. I mentioned in an earlier post that Ferguson tends to be ALL or NOTHING (several promotions, a couple of relégations), different from Dickov I think, whose career as a football manager has been entirely spent in the cellar. Ferguson didn’t say he is happy with recent results, he said he was happy with the performances. They’ve just not been clinical enough. He clearly doesn’t want to come over as being overcritical (after all, we are top of the league), as it might otherwise damage confidence, which has played a big part in getting positive results this season. So let’s stay positive.

  9. #9
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    I told you so .... (and that didn't take long)

    May saved the day, and without him we probably would have lost to Luton.

    Marquis has not scored in the last 3 games, and Williams has not scored in 10 games. A place in the first team should be earned, not just a given. As I said, May should be there not Williams as we can't afford to continue our current run of results.

    Three points from four games is not enough to keep us above the playoffs before the end of the season. And I repeat maybe "history IS repeating". At what point last season did everyone (no matter how optimistic) realise we are in a bad run?

    As harsh as my statements may be, right now they are at least realistic. I want us to finish as champions as much as anyone, but we need to acknowledge when things are not working.

  10. #10
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    We’re right some of the time and wrong others. Amusing epitaph to meditate:

    This is the grave of Mike O’Day,
    who died maintaining his right of way.
    His right was clear, his will was strong,
    but he’s just as dead as if he’d been wrong.

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