Sorry Wally

[Thomas Bathurst]

Anyone care to join me in eating some of my lovely humble pie?

After the appaling start we had, I am amazed, but you can't argue with the results over our last 8 games, and the scintilating performances in the last game and a half. The opinion that I had of Wally (which was that he wasn't up to the job) is wrong. He has definately turned us around, and we are looking more like promotion candidates than relagation ones. P8 W5 D2 L1.

We have started playing slick, attacking football. Mixing up short and direct football to perfection. The defence now look an organised unit, rather than a rabble and the signings he has made in Rougier, May, Kitamarike (& Wright) have been fantastic.

Lastly, a special word for Somner. I couldn't for the life of me see him being a decent full back (let a alone a left back), and while I still think his distribution is affected by playing on the 'wrong' side, his positional sense at full back has improved immensely - he is starting to look VERY good there.

Obviously there are a couple of things I for one don't agree with (cough, Hutchinson) but when are you ever going to be in agreement with the manager 100% of the time - after all the game is all about opinions.

It's amazing what a bit of confidence can do for a side. Once again Sorry for doubting you Wally

 

[Waterlooville Bee]

Pass the sauce for my large slice of pie too please.

 

[nocoat]

I don't think I need any pie lol :thumbs:

 

[Banana]

Are we still looking for a Director of Football?!?!?!?

 

[New Roader]

Gone a bit quiet on that front.

 

[mhead bee]

I am not quite ready for the humble pie yet but am willing to bake one in a few months time if wally continues to prove that he is learning from his mistakes.

He has started to take note of our rantings and put occonnor in CM to win some possession. A few more tweaks (you know who) and a bit more of a role for peters in the 15 man squad and I will turn the oven on.

I am willing to eat as much humble pie as can be offered if this continues. I still think Matt Somner struggles at left back especially when we have frampton on the bench. We are starting to look much better in defence and the two CB's have started to play as a unit!

Roll on saturday!

 

[Markybee]

Maidenhead................I doubt if Wally has taken any notice of anyone on here

 

[Jimbee]

1 defeat in 9 games and 8 goals in two games.

The job Wally has done in building the squad since the season started in nothing short of a miracle.

After that first day at Tranmere which reminded me so much of Millwall in 1997, it would be fair to say that there was not much optimism about.

Since then, Wally has taken his time to bring in the right players on loan to complement the existing squad. No knee-jerk reactions like there have been on here, just making sure that we've got the right players.

Nothing's going to be perfect in our financial state at the moment but the improvement in the performances has to be down to the management in my opinion and to think that they would take notice of any 'suggestions' posted on a message board is laughable.

Still, I suppose we could have sacked him at the end of August and brought Bob Booker in. rofl

 

[mhead bee]

Maidenhead................I doubt if Wally has taken any notice of anyone on here

Of course he didn't !

It was a figure of speech.. anyone who thinks otherwise is either deliberately trying to misread it for "comic" effect..or just a thick prat really!

I'll let you two decide which ones you are,

On the other hand if he had read this board and taken note we would probably be in the top 6 now! anyway, I am not getting into any more childish arguements with the likes of jimbee before he starts pulling a masterstroke of comic genius again

 

[Jimbee]

Moi, childish? :thumbs:

Who wants to be all adult about it anyway?

 

[Gee Bee]

Just out of interest, when we were riding high at the same time last season howm many points did we have? Don't believe we are too far from the same, also WHEN we we win our game in hand we could be in the top six!!

 

[mhead bee]

Just out of interest, when we were riding high at the same time last season howm many points did we have? Don't believe we are too far from the same, also WHEN we we win our game in hand we could be in the top six!!

It is so tight that a slightly better goal difference could lift us several places. I am still just watching the gap between the bottom 4 and us get wider, that is all that matters at the moment.

I also expect to see BHA slip to mid table like we did last year now the bubble has burst. How dooes steve coppell get so much out of an average set of players..now there is a football genius!

 

[Gee Bee]

How dooes steve coppell get so much out of an average set of players..now there is a football genius!

He must have been taught by that genius Mhead Bee.

 

[mhead bee]

He must have been taught by that genius Mhead Bee.

Maybe he read the grapevine!

In fact, if he had he would have seen me advise that Steve Sidwell should have been dropped after his first few games

Having said that sidwell did struggle a bit at right wing at first!

 

[Markybee]

Wally does read the Grapevine.........but I doubt if he needs the fans advice

 

[Markybee]

Anyone care to join me in eating some of my lovely humble pie?

After the appaling start we had, I am amazed, but you can't argue with the results over our last 8 games, and the scintilating performances in the last game and a half. The opinion that I had of Wally (which was that he wasn't up to the job) is wrong. He has definately turned us around, and we are looking more like promotion candidates than relagation ones. P8 W5 D2 L1.

We have started playing slick, attacking football. Mixing up short and direct football to perfection. The defence now look an organised unit, rather than a rabble and the signings he has made in Rougier, May, Kitamarike (& Wright) have been fantastic.

Lastly, a special word for Somner. I couldn't for the life of me see him being a decent full back (let a alone a left back), and while I still think his distribution is affected by playing on the 'wrong' side, his positional sense at full back has improved immensely - he is starting to look VERY good there.

Obviously there are a couple of things I for one don't agree with (cough, Hutchinson) but when are you ever going to be in agreement with the manager 100% of the time - after all the game is all about opinions.

It's amazing what a bit of confidence can do for a side. Once again Sorry for doubting you Wally

Top man for this Mr.Bathurst..........doubt if the likes of MattBee, Maidenhead, Debbee et all will follow this

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Only a handful of posts so far ... Wouldn't it be nice if the majority of supporters voiced there opinion here rather than cynical few. I guess that's the nature of this kind of forum.

Thoroughly enjoyed both last night and Saturday. Passion and commitment can take you a long way but you also need a bit of quality and I when I look at the players we have at the moment, there's plenty of that to go around.

A couple of other points; Ben May has been fantaistic in the last two games; without him I don't think Jay Tabb would have got his headlines. Also, Rougier can look a bit of a luxury at times but boy did I enjoy him taking the piss out of their left back last night.

 

[sussexb]

Only a handful of posts so far ... Wouldn't it be nice if the majority of supporters voiced there opinion here rather than cynical few. I guess that's the nature of this kind of forum.

.

God, do you ever get vertigo up there on the moral high ground??

Sorry to be the voice of the cynical few, but I'm sticking to my opinion of Wally and it'll take a longer period of results to change my mind. And I don't think you should judge a manager just on results either. I made my opinion based on an entire season, and I won't chage it by October, when he's done little to convince me.

If a week of good results is enough to make us all say "wally we love you" then will we be within our rights to say "wally you're c*ap" next time we have a week of bad results? Either way, I'd rather base my opinion on more than just a knee jerk, but as a couple of people on here have said, then if he keeps it up and shows he's learning from his mistakes, then I'll eat humble pie breakfast, lunch and dinner...

Beat QPR Wally and I'll have your babies!

 

[Les Beeavinu]

I don't recall saying "Wally we love you". I also don't recall saying "wally I hate you". Just pointing out that it might be nice to have some more balanced view (giving your touchy reply, I would suggest that yours might not be one of them)

 

[Boston Bee]

Unfair methinks there Quiet Man (Ian Duncan Smith's a Bee?!?). Sussexb went out of his way to explain his continued lack of certainty about WD but said he was eager to be proved wrong. seemed as balanced as a reply could possibly be.

And I agree with him, 100%.

I don't recall saying "Wally we love you". I also don't recall saying "wally I hate you". Just pointing out that it might be nice to have some more balanced view (giving your touchy reply, I would suggest that yours might not be one of them)

 

[The H]

don't you think i could be that the whole team has money on Hunt at 16's and Tabby at 33's???

 

[KGB]

Sussex B, M'head Bee & Boston Bee - I'm with you on this one.

I know that each of you - & me - would be absolutely delighted to see WD as manager of a championship winning team this year - or even one that avoids relegation! - & eat all the humble pie prescribed.

However, let's enjoy nights like last night on the night & for the rest of the week but keep both the wins & losses in perspective. There have been some astonishing selections & changes in tactics over the last year and a majority of them have not been successful. It is interesting that when some of the fans suggestions are implemented - O'C in midfield for instance, Tabb in the team! - the performances improve.

The fact is that we have had some breaks (at last), the confidence is improving & WD deserves credit for this.

However it's too early to eat that pie, particularly as the above posters have by and large made the suggestions re selection which are now being implemented.

 

[Zippybee]

I'll go with those that haven't yet started heating up the oven, but as others have said, I would love to be proved wrong, and it is also fair to wait over the whole season before saying whether we who doubted/still do doubt Downes were wrong or not.

I'm probably one of the biggest Wally doubters of the lot (I'm getting a lot of crap on Beesotted about it at the mo, but I'm prepared to whether that storm ), but I'll will certainly be willing to share in Sussexb's pie at the end of the season if hopefully the roly poly hoop proves me wrong!

Please do so Wally!

 

[NW USA Bee]

Nigel Brooks and the others who were calling Wally-WD for walking disaster, your silence is deafening! How about a sliver of pie??

 

[sussexb]

Well here's to a pie party if we do it... :beer:

And don't be so touchy Quiet Man. I was trying to take the balanced view... Which is difficult now that bragging rights have been won again here on the south coast! :bound:

Agreed KGB- Enjoy the win but keep it in perspective...

 

[PAZ]

Well here's to a pie party if we do it... :beer:

And don't be so touchy Quiet Man. I was trying to take the balanced view... Which is difficult now that bragging rights have been won again here on the south coast! :bound:

Agreed KGB- Enjoy the win but keep it in perspective...

Am with you guys on this. Glad to see some sensible and balanced posting, rather than fickle behaviour.

I shall be more than delighted if we maintain anything even close to this kind of form for the rest of the season, but let's not forget that 8 games don't make a season and whilst the points difference from the bottom is growing, we are still 17th.

Now, let's get some of those stayaways coming back to Griffin Park...

 

[Nick Hester]

Maidenhead................I doubt if Wally has taken any notice of anyone on here

He hasn't!

We asked him in the interview out next Saturday in TITS.

 

[PAZ]

He hasn't!

We asked him in the interview out next Saturday in TITS.

If you believe that, you believe that John Mac stopped reading the GPG around the time of the last forum, that Diana's death was a royalist conspiracy and that TITS is a serious acronym!

 

[gj]

lets just enjoy the moment last night made all the sweeter by that so called big club qpha losing 2-0 to a team who lost 5-1 on saturday

 

[Thomas Bathurst]

Apologies if my post came across as fickle. In all honesty it wasn’t an attempt to shame anyone into changing there minds with regard Wally, or jump on a pro Wally bandwagon. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it would be a bloody boring place if we all agreed all of the time. While it doesn’t surprise me that after the last 8 games some would like to revise there opinion, while on the other hand I can fully understand why others would like to reserve judgement until later in the season.

The way I see it is that 8 games is approximately 1/6th of a season, a fairly large chunk – we’ve improved beyond all measure in those 8 games – and what we are seeing now is a side playing with confidence – confidence being the one thing that I thought for certain Wally wouldn’t be able to instil in our young side. Although, I also thought that perhaps it wasn’t just the lack of confidence that dictated the way we were playing (treating the ball like a hot potato for one), but I’m starting to think that is where I was wrong.

As someone once said, as a manager, you are only as good as your last game. I wouldn’t go that far, but in the majority of the last 8 games we have looked pretty impressive – and that’s good enough for me, fickle or not.

 

[Hammered]

How come some of the anti-Wally brigade now want to judge him over the season.!!!
A couple of months ago they were calling for his head after successfully avoiding relegation over the whole of last season (against the Bookies odds I might add), and then only some 6-8 games into a new campaign they want him out?
That alone in my view suggests a nibble at the pie crust.
I still believe that our realistic pre-season target was to avoid relegation and if we do that he's done well. Anything better than that is a credit to his ability to bring out the best from a talented, but very young and inexperienced squad.

 

[mhead bee]

How come some of the anti-Wally brigade now want to judge him over the season.!!!
A couple of months ago they were calling for his head after successfully avoiding relegation over the whole of last season (against the Bookies odds I might add), and then only some 6-8 games into a new campaign they want him out?
That alone in my view suggests a nibble at the pie crust.
I still believe that our realistic pre-season target was to avoid relegation and if we do that he's done well. Anything better than that is a credit to his ability to bring out the best from a talented, but very young and inexperienced squad.

After such a good week I really don't want to go banging on about all the old cr@p again, but just to answer your point...The anti wally brigade, including myself, have been tearing our hair out for 12 months over some of the astonishing decisions and formations that have produced nothing but stale football and defeats.

I personally have said over and over that we have a squad that should be at least mid table and I have been slaughtered for even suggesting such a rediculous notion by the pro wally "what a great job he is doing" brigade.

Now that walter has finally started to do the things we have been screaming out for all season we have started to look a really good side. You can either sit on the side of the debate that says wally is great and we told you so all along, or you could look at it from our point of view and say that maybe we had a point with regards to formation and tactics and players ect.

Some of the best days of my life have revolved around the bees being near top of the table towards the end of the season and I want that back again and I don't care nicholas parsons is running the team as long as we do it. The fact is that what wally is currently being so succesful at doing is what I have been saying he should have been doing long before he caught on!

If that makes me a genuis, so be it..personally I think it was just plain common sense.

The time to tell is when we have the likes of evo fit and we see hutchinson pull on a shirt ahead of him and we lose to a really good side, then I will unplug my oven and stamp on the pie!

 

[Rod Gowers]

I'm still not a fan of Wally. Too many of his 'decisions', 'squad selections' etc have, at the very least, been questionable.
However, I'm not going to argue with ateam that has scored 11 goals in the last three games, and had a defence that was solid as a rock against the league leaders on tuesday.

Long may it continue.

 

[Apathetic Bee]

I don't see how the last few weeks can rewrite the history of the previous 9 months. There's nothing for any Wally knocker to apologise for, for a long time he was a very poor manager. It does appear as though this has or is in the course of changing in which case he deserves an equivalent amount of praise as abuse he got but it doesn't mean he was a good manager all along.

 

[Thomas Bathurst]

No I agree, Apathetic Bee; but what it maybe does show is that a.) he is learning from his mistakes, as lets face it he IS a rookie manager as much as the team is made up of rookie players. b.) it would appear that confidence does affect the side more than one would think. All we can ask for is that he continues to learn from the mistakes, and continually improves as a manager - just as we look for improvement from our players.

The past 9 months were as bad as I can remember supporting Brentford and won't be forgotten. I always agrued that the players we had were a decent bunch and I stand by that - during that period the team massively underperformed, and the buck for that fell with Wally in my eyes. Now we are playing well, it is only right that Wally should receive as much acclaim, as he did abuse when things weren't going so well.

 

[8 Bee]

I don't care if nicholas parsons is running the team

Is he your prefered candidate for Director of Football?

 

[mhead bee]

No I agree, Apathetic Bee; but what it maybe does show is that a.) he is learning from his mistakes, as lets face it he IS a rookie manager as much as the team is made up of rookie players. b.) it would appear that confidence does affect the side more than one would think. All we can ask for is that he continues to learn from the mistakes, and continually improves as a manager - just as we look for improvement from our players.

The past 9 months were as bad as I can remember supporting Brentford and won't be forgotten. I always agrued that the players we had were a decent bunch and I stand by that - during that period the team massively underperformed, and the buck for that fell with Wally in my eyes. Now we are playing well, it is only right that Wally should receive as much acclaim, as he did abuse when things weren't going so well.

totaly agree with all you say..well done wally..

and in the event you actually do read this board and are currently waiting with baited breathe for my next piece of managerial advise , her it is.

Drop hutch..play anyone there, even Nicholas parsons. 6 of the next 8 games are away from home and we need a solid midfield.
Secondly, we are bound to have a couple of bad results in the next 6 away games, but if we are losing and starting to lose our way a little, give mark peters a good 45 minutes to try and bag a goal..he looks lethal from anyway within 30 yards!

 

[Mr Tree]

can't argue with the last 2 games, long may it continue, well done Wally :bound:

 

[masterblaster]

totaly agree with all you say..well done wally..

and in the event you actually do read this board and are currently waiting with baited breathe for my next piece of managerial advise , her it is.

Drop hutch..play anyone there, even Nicholas parsons. 6 of the next 8 games are away from home and we need a solid midfield.
Secondly, we are bound to have a couple of bad results in the next 6 away games, but if we are losing and starting to lose our way a little, give mark peters a good 45 minutes to try and bag a goal..he looks lethal from anyway within 30 yards!

sorry maidenhead ive had a word with parsons agent ,he cant make it saturday, hes opening a waitrose in leatherhead!!!!!!!lol lol lol lol lol lol

 

[alikat]

Let me just briefly add my agreement to a number of those who have said that, while recent results and performances have been very good, and all credit to the wally and the players, I still am not convinced by the wally as a manager.

He has certainly made giant strides over the last few weeks, compared to the previous 9-12 months, when his selections and tactics were, to say the least baffling. He now seems to be GENERALLY playing the best available players in thier best positions and reaping the rewards from that. This is a long way from what was happening until the last few games.

My previous comment on here was that the wally was the worst manager at BFC in the last 25 years (if the period when Forzoni was here is excluded). Until recently, I am convinced that this was fair comment. He MAY now be making me rethink that, BUT (and it's a BIG BUT), we can't really judge the change over the course of a couple of games. Let's see where we are by, say, Easter and then there may be a clearer picture as to his ability.

I SINCERELY hope that he does prove me wrong, and that by then we are at least in a play off position. Nothing would please me more, and I'd be more than pleased to eat that tasty savoury dish.

We all learn by our mistakes, and I hope that the last 2 matches are not a flash in the pan and the wally continues to learn. I will certainly be delighted to congratulate him if that is the case. At the moment, the jury is still out, I'm afraid.

Nonetheless, well done the wally and the lads for the last 2 games. More of that please!!

 

[Stanley]

All we can ask for is that he continues to learn from the mistakes

Not sure I see what these "mistakes" actually are to be honest. According to many on this board over the last couple of months that would seem to include playing Somner at left back, playing Hutch at all, playing Dobbo at right back, not playing Fieldwick (remember him)and not playing Peters.

Well all these "mistakes" were there on Tuesday and we played one of our best games in recent years. Granted moving O'Connor to CM has payed off but he was playing there last year at times and no one can doubt that Tabb has been sensational but maybe the reason is more "cometh the hour" than anything else.

IMHO we have turned it around because we have been able to bring in three very effective loanees and other players ( notably Sonko and Hunt) have put poor early season starts behind them and have started playing to their true ability and with confidence , not because Wally has read the GPG and realised the errors of his ways.

 

[Jimbee]

The only reason O'Connor wasn't CM in the first place is because he had to cover elsewhere. Once Wally got the players in he wanted - which he had admitted was the problem all along - Kev moved to his rightful position.

 

[Matty D]

I'll have a bit of that pie. After we lost 6 of the first 7 or whatever it was I said something along the lines of "we WILL go down if Wally is in charge for the whole season" and I can't stand by that any more.

Obviously we're far from safe but I'm prepared to admit that Wally CAN keep us up. I think the last month or so has proved the importnace of confidence to this team. I've often said that regardless of tactics and team selection what sets us apart from most of the sides in this division is an almost total lack of experience, and that without a top-notch motivator like Forzoni we would be in danger of heads dropping if a few results went against us.

I still think that's why both the "20th place will do fine" and the "we have the players to beat anyone" camps are right. With the confidence of a few results under their belt this team can beat anyone in the division, as they showed on Tuesday, but the second half of last season showed that losing can be a hard habit for such a young team to get out of.

As for the major 'decisions' - could be something in Jimbee's point about lacking players that would have freed Kev up for CM, but I still think Somner is out of position. He looks better with every game, but a better centre-back! Whenever he got his man trapped in the corner against Brighton he put in some wonderful block tackles, but up against an opponent who was motoring down the wing he could offer little resistance. Hutch is a mystery to us all, and that's unlikely to change.

You could argue that Tabb has had such an impact because he's been used sparingly, but every minute he's been on the pitch this season we've looked more like scoring than when he wasn't. Can't see how youth and inexperience could keep him out of the side - the first teamers are hardly any older or more experienced.

Probably it does come down to improvements in players like Sonko, and the loan signings. Ben May gave us a target man who the ball sticks to, but I would question Wally's insistence on playing a long ball game even when we didn't have one.

 

[Still8QPR]

I am unfortunatly still going to be synical and say take each game as it comes at the momment Wally has turned the team around and injected some belief within the players that may not have been there before. However there is a long way to go and we have to remain realistic. I hope (and pray) that Wally and the boys can keep this up. Keep going lads

 

[richy]

IMHO we have turned it around because we have been able to bring in three very effective loanees and other players ( notably Sonko and Hunt) have put poor early season starts behind them and have started playing to their true ability and with confidence , not because Wally has read the GPG and realised the errors of his ways.

But surely if, previously, Wally was taking the blame for the players' lack of confidence and our inability to attract decent loan signings then, now, he deserves some credit for instilling confidence and getting good loan players. That's what a manager DOES.

If the recent results are purely down to the players themselves and nothing to do with Wally then the bad start must've been nothing to do with him either?

 

[sussexb]

But surely if, previously, Wally was taking the blame for the players' lack of confidence and our inability to attract decent loan signings then, now, he deserves some credit for instilling confidence and getting good loan players. That's what a manager DOES.

If the recent results are purely down to the players themselves and nothing to do with Wally then the bad start must've been nothing to do with him either?

That's not entirely logical... The argument has been all along that the players were here, they just weren't being picked by Wally, and when they were the organisation brought the words "p*ss up" and "fat QPR fan" to mind. Now that Wally has put some of the right players in the right parts of the pitch (which is not necessarily worthy of credit, that's a question of whether or not you think it was luck or judgement), we've started to look better. I still do not think that Wally has the managerial ability of someone I would like to be in charge of our club, and it will take more than a few results to convince me. THat is the beginning and end of my argument. I hope he does, and if, later in the season he has continued to prove me wrong, then fantastic.

I think we have every right to make these comments, and they're entirely justified. The only reason I'm such a broken record about it is because it's annoying to be called "fickle" or "inconsistent" as if I'm just looking for a chance to have a moan. Which I'm not. If you think Wally is doing a good job, then fine, but don't tell me I'm stupid for thinking he's not.

I thank you, and goodnight. I shall now go and have a cold shower....

 

[jbee]

I have to say that while Wally's management since he came to Brentford has not been of the standard we came to expect under Coppell, some of the criticism here is frankly ridiculous.

In my mind the recent run of form shows an encouraging development of Wally as a manager, especially as our most influential players of late, Sonko, Tabb, Rougier, May and Hunt have either been purchased by Wally or improved under his management.

There will always be managerial decisions the fans don't agree with and there are hundreds of fans on the terraces who all have their own ideas on how the team should be run, but at the end of the day we are a better side now than when Wally arrived.

I think a lot of people have seriously overestimated the talent in our squad at the start of the season. In the summer I was seriously worried about relegation, not just because of Wally but because of a thin, inexperienced squad containing a few very mediocre players. Opinions expressed here that Wally will have underachieved if the Bees don't make the play offs are laughable.

At the end of the day we should recognise the achievement of Wally over the past two games and dispense with the hyperbole that plagues these pages. Lets not develop a premiership mentality of being ridiculously impatient with our managers

 

[Ace Face]

I am still fully behind Wally.

Where would we be now if bad luck and agents hadn`t stopped Wal getting the players he wanted FOR THE START OF THE SEASON!!!
We were really playing catch up for the first five games or so and also players were simply playing badly and making stupid mistakes. I refuse to blame Wally for individual, stupid players mistakes.

We have a long way to go to safety (I reckon 56 points), and because we are a young team our form will dip and we will go through bad times, but we shouldn`t immediately go and attempt to lynch Wal - it is a simple reality.

If we do stay up, I will buy you all humble pie myself and force you to do the Walk To Wycombe next season(possibly).

Signed

Wally`s favourite taxi service.

 

[West Wilts Bee]

Wally

I must admit that I was as worried as much as anybody else about staying in this division, my only worry about Wally is that he was playing players out of position. But he now seems to be putting a usefull side together.
I think if we can keep this side together, we can mount a serious promotion challenge next season. Given that Wally has had no money, since his tenure as manager, I think he needs to be commended, (as doall the management team Geoof taylor etc).
So now lets all get positive, and give the team all the support that their recent performances deserve.

 

[richy]

I think we have every right to make these comments,.......but don't tell me I'm stupid for thinking he's not.

I thank you, and goodnight. I shall now go and have a cold shower....

Sussex, nobody is saying you don't have a right to make comments and nobody is saying you are stupid. Relax!