I think we can all see that Michael Jolley has had a positive effect on the team since his arrival. I'm really interested to hear people's thoughts of what specifically Michael Jolley has done in terms of tactics, shape etc.

There are some very knowledgeable people on here and I'd love to understand the little changes/adaptations people have spotted during the 90+ minutes.

He's clearly a thinking-man's manager and much more diligent than 'he who shall not be named' and its clear lthat he selects players based on gamelan for specific opposition - is this an effective long-term strategy or would a team benefit more from a settled XI?

I also feel he's very proactive in his substitutions and with it, I changes if shape during the game. He isn't predictable in his changes like Hursty was, but nor does he replace like-for-like, a La baldy and expect drastic improvements.

I don't think he's actually changed too much tactically. He's clearly a manager who likes to be flexible, but I think he recognised from an early stage that our players don't have the ability to carry out what he's ideally like to do, so he's focussed more on making minor changes to what he's inherited and improving our psychology. I think we'll see a completely different style next next, something he tried against port vale but quickly realised wouldn't work with this team.

Fine lines........

I'm really hope MJ is a success and he's got my full support but let's not get too carried away just yet.

We beat a poor Chesterfield team with a late penalty on Saturday and if we lose to Barnet next game at BP we will be right back in the mire.

Just saying........bring on the many red crosses   :)

I’d say his changes have been more to do with not being sure of his best 11 yet rather than changes to suit his game plan. Nothing wrong with that though. I’m glad he’s not just picked 11 and decided to stick with them. Everyone’s getting their chance to impress him it seems.
His biggest positive for me is as you’ve already mentioned. His ability to realise when things need to change system-wise and put it in to action straight away. I think it was against Port Vale, he gave it 10 minutes in to the second half before things started getting changed all over the place. A lot of managers would just give it until 10 minutes from the end.
Really pleased with him so far for his attitude as much as anything. It’s infectious. Was brilliant to see him celebrate the way he did on Saturday. He deserves it and I hope that was the first of many.

If Jolley had got the job instead of Slade we would not have been in this mess. Slade took us backwards. I'm sure there are loads of decent experienced managers with a proven track record who could have taken us forward this season. Its not as if We started the season with a team full of bad players so we obviously are pay competitive salaries. Its what Slade did with them that has killed us.

Jolley has done a good job as a manager, Whether he can recognise and recruite good players will define him.

Accrington Stanley are top of the league on allegedly one of the lowest budgets in L2. Yes they need someone to manage them properly but someone has done a good job in their recruitment side to put out a team that is capable of being up there.

Eddie Howe is touted as one of the best British managers around. His inability to recruit quality players in the Premiership since he got there is what lets him down. He has made some bad mistakes which have cost a lot of money

Quoted from promotion plaice

Fine lines........

I'm really hope MJ is a success and he's got my full support but let's not get too carried away just yet.

We beat a poor Chesterfield team with a late penalty on Saturday and if we lose to Barnet next game at BP we will be right back in the mire.

Just saying........bring on the many red crosses   :)

I'm with you. It's way too early to tell the difference he will make and what effect he's had. We will know next season when he gets his own team and time to put his stamp on them.

We looked ok against a very poor side on Saturday. The game was extremely close and could've gone either way.
It worries me that he has chopped and changed every game. I am not sure if he's just swallowed a coaching handbook and thinks he's playing Champ Manager, but he certainly talks a good game.

I really hope he is successful at Town and it as clearly as important for his fortunes as it is for ours, as if he fails here he's unlikely to get a number 1 role in the league again. Time will tell.

Quoted from TheGoalKipper

If Jolley had got the job instead of Slade we would not have been in this mess. Slade took us backwards. I'm sure there are loads of decent experienced managers with a proven track record who could have taken us forward this season. Its not as if We started the season with a team full of bad players so we obviously are pay competitive salaries. Its what Slade did with them that has killed us.

Jolley has done a good job as a manager, Whether he can recognise and recruite good players will define him.

Accrington Stanley are top of the league on allegedly one of the lowest budgets in L2. Yes they need someone to manage them properly but someone has done a good job in their recruitment side to put out a team that is capable of being up there.

Eddie Howe is touted as one of the best British managers around. His inability to recruit quality players in the Premiership since he got there is what lets him down. He has made some bad mistakes which have cost a lot of money

Yeah, fancy only getting the giants that are Bournemouth to 11th in the Premier League.

I think it's changed game to game, depending on the opposition and thats exactly the way it should be.

Against 3rd placed Wycombe away he tried to keep it as tight as possible at the back, and try to nick a goal. It was all going to plan for a big chunk of the game, but unfortunately they just had too much for us.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I'm with you. It's way too early to tell the difference he will make and what effect he's had. We will know next season when he gets his own team and time to put his stamp on them.

We looked ok against a very poor side on Saturday. The game was extremely close and could've gone either way.
It worries me that he has chopped and changed every game. I am not sure if he's just swallowed a coaching handbook and thinks he's playing Champ Manager, but he certainly talks a good game.

I really hope he is successful at Town and it as clearly as important for his fortunes as it is for ours, as if he fails here he's unlikely to get a number 1 role in the league again. Time will tell.

The thing that gives me hope is that he seems to have got into the players’ heads and have them playing and indeed fighting for each other and for the club. Saturday was the first time for a long time that the 2nd half was better than the first. Instead of folding under pressure it looked like we turned the screw on Chesterfield and forced the error that created the win. Sure it was a bit of luck but as the saying goes ‘the harder you work the luckier you get’.

The thing is, even the best Buckley team lost a few and even the worst Slade side won a few - so over a short period of time it's difficult to conclude much.

However, we scored a late equaliser against Vale and a late winner against Chesterfield in what were the two biggest games of Jolley's six in charge. I think this says something about fitness and psychology.

I think he's brought calmness, a good attitude and done the one thing Slade promised but never did - go back to basics.

We're getting better at the fundamentals, and hopefully that'll show in our remaining four games with at least one more win (preferably on Sat).

i think you'd probably find there has been, is and will be, a complete sea change in the management and coaching of the first team squad and to an extent the youth team.
my guess is that it is attention to every detail and the sir david brailsford approach to coaching. that is to say ' to improve things 100%, you have to improve 100 things by 1%'
this would include the penalty competition and various other changes in the training regime, the tactical changes to each game to counter the opposition, provision of nutritional plans for each player, the discovery that mitch rose takes the best throw in, recruiting fox and mcsheffery etc etc

He's trebled our points tally to just under a point a game. We were at about 0.3 a game before he stepped in. As already pointed out, 2 late goals which have brought 4 points is a good sign of a team fighting to the end. I think his impact has been as much psychological as tactical.

Quoted from ginnywings

He's trebled our points tally to just under a point a game. We were at about 0.3 a game before he stepped in. As already pointed out, 2 late goals which have brought 4 points is a good sign of a team fighting to the end. I think his impact has been as much psychological as tactical.

and i think you'll probably find that's deliberate ginny. in terms of tactics, equipment, testing, training , warm ups etc etc the levels operated at nowadays are almost at optimum level. it's very difficult to find ways to make even marginal improvements in those areas.
now in the area of sports pyschology and the mind, i think its fair to say that the surface has only been scratched (which goes without saying really, when you consider that we don't fully understand how the brain works). so if there is a dramatic edge to be had its in the area of sports pyschology and 'training the brain'.

one aspect i've pondered since his arrival and nobody has considered is the intelligence of the players. jolley is obviously a very intelligent man and a thinking coach. i wonder how difficult it is for players to have to adapt to his new thinking and his way of changing things match to match and during games. along with the criteria he's already set out for new recruits i wonder if the players would need a certain level of intelligence so they can best work with him

Quoted from TheGoalKipper

If Jolley had got the job instead of Slade we would not have been in this mess. Slade took us backwards. I'm sure there are loads of decent experienced managers with a proven track record who could have taken us forward this season. Its not as if We started the season with a team full of bad players so we obviously are pay competitive salaries. Its what Slade did with them that has killed us.

Jolley has done a good job as a manager, Whether he can recognise and recruite good players will define him.

Accrington Stanley are top of the league on allegedly one of the lowest budgets in L2. Yes they need someone to manage them properly but someone has done a good job in their recruitment side to put out a team that is capable of being up there.

Eddie Howe is touted as one of the best British managers around. His inability to recruit quality players in the Premiership since he got there is what lets him down. He has made some bad mistakes which have cost a lot of money

There was an interesting interview with Stanley management team Coleman and Bell this week and they said the do a lot of homework on potential players' character and mindset rather than ability and I think this is really important and a hugely underestimated part of player recruitment.

We've seen numerous tike before that players can have all the ability I'm the world but if they haven't got the heart and fight for it then their football ability is negated. Peter Sweeney and Dom Vose are great examples of this.

MJ clearly values the use of psychology and I honestly believe he will be identifying players with specific characters and personalities that go along with ability.

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

There was an interesting interview with Stanley management team Coleman and Bell this week and they said the do a lot of homework on potential players' character and mindset rather than ability and I think this is really important and a hugely underestimated part of player recruitment.

We've seen numerous tike before that players can have all the ability I'm the world but if they haven't got the heart and fight for it then their football ability is negated. Peter Sweeney and Dom Vose are great examples of this.

MJ clearly values the use of psychology and I honestly believe he will be identifying players with specific characters and personalities that go along with ability.

think you're spot on mighty. i also wouldn't be surprised if our set pieces were worked on alittle more diligently next season. interesting article in the times on saturday, which seems to be an update of this

https://statsbomb.com/2017/02/changing-how-the-world-thinks-about-set-pieces/

Great read Forza thanks for sharing mate 👍

Surprising how little it's practised if that's correct. I thought it was just us.

Im sure we will see Rose using this throw a lot for the remaining time he is with us. That was a really long throw and will cause a problem for defences, Hopefully MJ will get them up to speed on winning the knock downs and get some goals from it.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Surprising how little it's practised if that's correct. I thought it was just us.

Noticed when going to Wembley a few times this year that Spurs take all ten back as well which surprised me

I think you can tell we have gradually improved under Micheal. Slowly some of the feel good factor seems to be coming back and some of the team spirit with it. Michaels reaction on Saturday shows he cares as did some of the players reactions.

I believe we will survive and we will see a better season under his tenure next year.

My first impressions of MJ are that he has two things Salde did not have - Belief and desire, Salde said he had it but in reality he didn't and that had clearly got over to the players.

Bignot had belief and desire but not the brains and the humility that MJ has. Though they come across very differently I sense MJ has the hunger similar to Hurst but he can express that more positively. What we have yet to see is whether he has the paranoia of the 3 before him when things go wrong.

So he's polished for sure but is he a master tactician and coach? Far too early to tell but unlike 2 of the 3 mentioned above he will make a change before 70 minutes when things don't look great, decision making counts for a lot.

What I also sense is that he know's exactly how he wants to build the club going forward and both on and off the pitch so that works for me especially considering the position we are in.

Overall his first few games have told me is that players seem to want to play for him, if that's the case it good be some sunny days ahead. We must stay up though as clearly he is knowledgeable but does his knowledge and experience extend to the abyss of non league, who knows? I hope we never get to find out.

So great fist impressions, he clearly "gets it"!

UTM!


    

I think there's been slightly different plans in different games, with us few different formations used, lots of different combinations of players and some tactical tweaks (including during the game).

But what's been key for me is that, unlike under Slade, the players now actually look like they know their jobs. In and out of possession they look like they know what/where they're supposed to be.

So the fact that there IS a game plan is an improvement on its own.  The units of the team seem to be working better together which suggests there's been good work done at Cheapside. That's the benefit of having a manager who's a Coach too - he can coach the team himself and get across clearly what he expects on the Saturday. As opposed to Slade who didn't do any of the coaching himself.

I think we've seen a bit more togetherness and team spirit in recent weeks as well so maybe he's helped in that respect (or the team building day he took them on had an effect).

Totally agree with both Herts and Tommy. I can’t help but feel Jolley is sincere and talks from the heart. He appears to have a definite game plan for each match and the players seem comfortable in their roles. If given longer with the current squad, I’m sure we would have seen a different more positive side to some of the players. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the players currently subject to criticism, are actually kept on next season. Sometimes all a mediocre player needs to flourish is a capable manager they respect and trust. I honestly believe a few performances over the remaining games will surprise a few of the doubters.

Quoted from heppy88

Totally agree with both Herts and Tommy. I can’t help but feel Jolley is sincere and talks from the heart. He appears to have a definite game plan for each match and the players seem comfortable in their roles. If given longer with the current squad, I’m sure we would have seen a different more positive side to some of the players. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the players currently subject to criticism, are actually kept on next season. Sometimes all a mediocre player needs to flourish is a capable manager they respect and trust. I honestly believe a few performances over the remaining games will surprise a few of the doubters.

Is rose the most obvious example?

Quoted from forza ivano

Is rose the most obvious example?

Without doubt! I have rarely seen Rose have the energy levels to compete for more than 60 odd minutes in a game, possibly due to his asthma.  He'll never be a world beater in terms of ability but on Saturday he covered every blade of grass and his throws were undeniably a weapon - what is astounding is that it has taken the best part of the season for this to be recognised!

Quoted from forza ivano

Is rose the most obvious example?

Alongside Clarke, Woolford and Dembele...Definitely sorted Clarke out after dropping him(probably put him on crash diet), Woolford from somewhere has picked up a little bit of pace and Dembele is showing shoots of recovering his best form under Jolley..

WTF did Slade do then if he didn’t do any coaching!

Quoted from easypeersy

WTF did Slade do then if he didn’t do any coaching!

Maybe when he stated he was 'building something here' he just let Wilko take charge of training while he nipped into his office with a load of Lego.

Quoted from easypeersy

WTF did Slade do then if he didn’t do any coaching!

Not all manager's "Coach".

They'll obviously observe training and maybe talk to players at times, but Managers like Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp among others, are known to have not been active "Coaches" on the training ground - having a team around them who lead the sessions.

Probably a dying breed though, this type of Manager.

Quoted from easypeersy

WTF did Slade do then if he didn’t do any coaching!

Dunno but apparently you could find out by asking the regulars in a louth bookies (allegedly) :)

M.J. comes with no excess baggage he is very progressive and a million times better at PR than Slade and the board rolled into one.

You can see already he as good credentials.

Quoted from forza ivano

Dunno but apparently you could find out by asking the regulars in a louth bookies (allegedly) :)

Who actually goes into a bookies these days? You'd think a man with such PowerPoint skills would be able to open a bet365 account.

Quoted from Tommy

Not all manager's "Coach".

They'll obviously observe training and maybe talk to players at times, but Managers like Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp among others, are known to have not been active "Coaches" on the training ground - having a team around them who lead the sessions.

Probably a dying breed though, this type of Manager.

Very true. Many on here applauded the appointment of Mike Newell yet he said from day one he wasn't a coach and his style was about 'getting the best players he can and throw them on the pitch'.

The late Ray Wilkins was regarded as a very good coach but a poor manager.  Hard to find someone who can coach, motivate and manage a club. Only time tells if we can have one in Jolley

All this positivity is great but to suggest he’s turned Clarke around is going a bit far, he still makes at least one really bad unforced error in every game. He’s just been lucky that the opposition haven’t capitised on them in recent games.

Overall though M.J. has made a noticeable positive difference.