The Wisdom of Gaffers

Yet I am not here to complain, I am just here to find a solution

Jose Riga, Charlton Athletic, April 2014.

I have spoken to the referee and it always amazes when they say 'it is in your opinion'. I have looked at it 47 times on my laptop so I don't know how it is (an) opinion, that's what I am flummoxed with.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

dyyyyche

Everyone's very excited because we've won a game and results have gone our way, but this league's like that.

Paul Cook, Chesterfield, April 2014.

Our work ethic was not at the level that it takes to win.

I always ask for a little bit more not a little bit less

I don't think some of the individuals have learned yet to be team players and spread the winning habit.

If the impossible is going to become possible, the work ethic has got to go up, the discipline has got to go up, the sense of responsibility has to go up and we've got to be prepared to play the game that we work on all week.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2014.

Once they got in the lead they had that mindset that they were desperate to hang on to it.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, April 2014.

If you need to show somebody somewhere in the world where they don't watch Sunderland every week, you show him this game and tell him this is the story of the season and that's it.

I don't have a word because it's not one feeling, really. It hurts, it hurts because it doesn't matter what we do, something happens. And it's not an excuse, I don't really believe in luck.

Gus Poyet, Sunderland, April 2014.

Tom Ince will be a top Premier League player, without a shadow of a doubt. He's got all the attributes and everything else.

Tony Pulis, Crystal Palace, April 2014.

The people who jeered were born stupid and won't die intelligent

Lucien Favre, Borussia Monchengladbach, April 2014

We cannot face more reality than today.

Jose Riga, Charlton Athletic, April 2014

I don't think you can look at the table and worry, because it will just give you a heart attack

Chris Hargreaves, Torquay United, April 2014.

They are in the same situation as us, just outside that bottom-four problem area.

Peter Taylor, GIllingham, April 2014.

Dyche has surely delivered on this day

The margin in the end could have probably been closer than it ended up in score terms

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2014.

It feels marvellous and feels like the destination at the end of a long journey; an impressive journey from a group of people who are totally motivated and committed to stand the test of what a season is.

Despite what people think, I don't scream and shout at them all the time. I talk to them about what I think is important for them as individuals and the team.

If they realign then fantastic; if they don't we talk some more and if they don't then, they disappear out the building.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

<3

I hope when they try and nudge him towards Holloway type zaniness he doesn't reciprocate and tells them to fuck off.

holloway is a just a thick 'jovial' cunt, not reading dyche in the same way at all.....got a bit of aidy boothroyd in him maybe? not so stupid or negative though

here's what i said elsewhere:

he's at least as quotable as david flitcroft was last season, except that he has so much more dignity and gravitas, and is also a good manager

his quotability doesn't stem from wackiness and hyperbole [a la Holloway] but from his idiosyncratic attempts to express a coherent footballing philosophy at a club that's possibly never had one before

it's kinda beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPmY1grc_nc

has this been wisdomed yet

First record ever bought?
Prince Charming by Adam Ant (right). I loved the whole rave and Madchester scene and went to The Hacienda back in the day. These days my favourite band is Kasabian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY9oVjTdf08

Todmorden is such a beautiful place name

Especially when he says it

nicely expressed by imago on Dyche xxp.

The less you know about degenerate places like Todmorden the better. Hebden Bridge further down the valley, is stunningly beautiful with ancient rocky outcrops and an abundance of wildlife. Ignore KLF.

It has been so difficult to not love Burnley this season. It will probably end in tears as usual. Hopefully the bright spark prick behind the scenes who used big data (zx-spectrum with a 16k ram pack) to identify Brian Laws as the best manager for Burnley has since been pumped.

there posts by me from a couple of years ago suggesting owen coyle was a promising manager although i was probably just making shit up about a lesser seen epl team based on limited viewings in the timeworn jamie redknapp fashion

anyway that burnley squad was fairly terrible and he jumped ship at the right time, what are their prospects like next year?

I saw them recently (culminating in this post Rock journalism, football discourse and British mistrust of "technique" which I'm fairly proud of)

they were very good. for half an hour we equalled them but they demonstrated an ability to 'win the big moments' - step it up when required, demonstrate solidity and a bit of thrust, always be that step ahead tactically. I know we're only Charlton but I do think they can replicate this trick on some of the more abysmal Premiership teams. they're solid, won't wilt under pressure and can score goals.

i recall coyle's burnley and his first 18 or so months at bolton being fairly impressive, but he turned to shit so suddenly and comprehensively that i can't remember what was good about em and assume it must have been the product of lucky inertia.

seemed like Bolton were hit all at once by the steep decline of veterans, major injuries to key younger players (Holden, Lee, Muamba) and sale of Cahill w/o replacement and Coyle wasn't good enough to compensate

It's a good season for Burnley to go up, because so many teams in the Premier League are in a mess at the moment. You could make a realistic case for any club outside the top seven getting relegated next season; Burnley only have to finish ahead of three of them. Their best 11 probably isn't that far off Palace's, and they're probably the most feared side in the division right now. Organisation and unity of purpose can get you a fair way in the Premier League at the moment, and Dyche is a big enough character to keep hold of a dressing room. He seems to have that Lambert-esque approach of making sure no one player is bigger than him, albeit with a fair bit more charisma than Lambert's got. He's also got a very solid strike pairing in Ings and Vokes, but whether they'll find Premier League defences as accommodating as Championship ones - and whether they'll have the confidence to persevere if they don't - remains to be seen.

That said - regardless of who comes up through the play-offs, Burnley will have the smallest budget in the top flight next season. Their squad is small and comprised chiefly of Championship-level players at the moment, and their first choice centre-backs are Michael Duff (36) and Jason Shackell (30). They'll need to be very, very cute in the transfer window - their current squad contains only two players bought from outside the English leagues (one from Cork City, one from Derry City), which suggests a narrow scouting network. Dyche has only paid money for one player in his time there (Ashley Barnes, c. £750k from Brighton) - that's likely to change this summer, but finding bargains from within England when you're in charge of a newly minted Premier League club is bloody difficult (see £6million man Dwight Gayle). What Dyche will do with the increased resources at his disposal, I don't know - he does talk an awful lot about staying grounded and working hard, and he doesn't seem likely to be tempted to take big gambles in the transfer market... but I'm desperately trying to shake this nagging suspicion that he might at some point this summer transform into Phil Brown. I think he's probably too sensible to do that. But.

"I made it clear that I thought a mass culling was required. We weren't able to do that.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, April 2014.

My personal belief is that if you do it right all of the time, then you don't need to flick that switch and turn it on.

The focus on the game was absolutely spot on. That is a good thing because there is some of this group that will be competing in the division next year where there will be a lot of stuff going round and different protocols - maybe it was a tiny taster of that here.

Sean Dyche, Burnley, April 2014.

I've been around the game too long to know that strange things do happen on the final day.

Shaun Derry, Notts County, April 2014.

I thought he (the referee) was playing bingo, trying to get a full house with all our players being booked.

Mark Cooper, Swindon Town, April 2014.

Ivan Toney gave us a spark last week and he deserved to play, regardless of his age.

Chris Wilder, Oxford United, April 2014.

Some of the lads looked like they are already on their holidays, and I've just told some of them that they won't be coming back from their holidays.

Paul Cox, Mansfield Town, April 2014.

I'm pleased that we've given our place in League One back to the supporters.

I like to analyse and there's a great sense of feeling inside of emotional achievement.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, April 2014.

that Paul Cox quote is seismic

there is some of this group that will be competing in the division next year

cold
all of those burnley game lads looking around wondering who will be loaned to sheffield united and replaced by a former france under 21 international on thirty grand a week

My mate David Flitcroft says 'Happiness brings success, success doesn't always bring happiness', and I agree with him 100%.

Keith Hill, Rochdale, April 2014.

He’s the sort of lad who if your daughter took him home, you’d be happy to see her with him.

He can play left-back, left wing-back, left midfield or central midfield and he scores a lot of goals and creates a lot of goals.

Barry Fry, Peterborough, May 2014

He asked me to be his coach - to coach the players, to get them fit, to teach them, to improve them, to pick the team, to manage the team on a match-day, but that's it. That's what I do, it's my passion, so hand in a glove

David Hockaday, Leeds United, June 2014.

The decision of the board was to allow him not to come back. We have to look for opportunities for him to play in a different team.

Ronald Koeman, Southampton, July 2014.

I’m not a people pleaser, it’s not me.

David Flitcroft, Bury, July 2014.

Shakers boss believes his decision to replace youngster Anthony Dudley with the team physio in a pre-season friendly has paid off

I can't praise the players enough; spirit, determination, and ability not to be beaten.

Tommy Wright, St Johnstone, July 2014.

You always need a couple of Wade Elliotts in your dressing room

Steve Cotterill, Bristol City, June 2014.

a chicken in every pot and two Wade Elliots in every dressing room

It's about adding a former England international to my management team to expand the standard of thinking that supports the players.

Graham Westley, Stevenage, June 2014.

Barton, yes, he is stupid. He has never won anything, his career is full of problems.

Willy Sagnol, Bordeaux, July 2014.