Gary Waddock

[ty cobb]

As I said yesterday my first reaction was meh my second is why the hell has it taken so long to appoint him the delay has really cost us this season and to hear it's to bring someone in who hasn't been a manager for ages is somewhat of a joke.

Good luck to him obviously I hope it goes really well.

Yeah, would've been much better if we'd made a snap appointment of one of the usual faces. Going through a proper recruitment process was outrageous. And for that process to only come up with someone with two promotions already on his CV and in work as a widely respected Head of Coaching with a team pushing for promotion from their league just shows how wrong it was to take such an approach.

What a joke.

So you think 2 months is a reasonable time to conduct a 2 stage interview process? It is such a ridiculous amount of time that the bookies paid out on ML being the next manager. No-one wants a snap decision but I don't want a decision that takes so long it may cost us promotion unless there was a good reason, for example he wanted to make his current team safe from relegation. That wasn't the case here and as he himself said it all happened very quickly from his point of view once a decision was finally made. I suspect he may not have been first choice.

Yes he's had two promotions but also two relegations. He did a fantastic job at Aldershot but took over Wycombe as a league 1 club but left them 22nd in league two so not all positive which is why and many others it seems are a bit meh.

Seems to talk a good game though so roll on Monday and the start of a new era.

[Myles Francis]

So, the final three were interviewed yesterday, and Waddock was unveiled today. Yet you "suspect he wasn't the first choice". Are you just making this up as you go along? Did you listen to anything Ian Lenagan actually said yesterday?

Having actually listened to the parties involved, and looked at the way things have panned out, I can fully understand why the process has taken the time it has. With the benefit of hindsight, things could have been done differently, but the explanations given for why things happened as they did are perfectly logical.

Take the blinkers off and look at the bigger picture - where Waddock's strengths are, what his ethos is, what structure the Lenagan's are building, etc etc - and it's actually quite easy to see why it is much better than a "meh" appointment.

[GodalmingYellow]

So, the final three were interviewed yesterday, and Waddock was unveiled today. Yet you "suspect he wasn't the first choice". Are you just making this up as you go along? Did you listen to anything Ian Lenagan actually said yesterday?

Having actually listened to the parties involved, and looked at the way things have panned out, I can fully understand why the process has taken the time it has. With the benefit of hindsight, things could have been done differently, but the explanations given for why things happened as they did are perfectly logical.

Take the blinkers off and look at the bigger picture - where Waddock's strengths are, what his ethos is, what structure the Lenagan's are building, etc etc - and it's actually quite easy to see why it is much better than a "meh" appointment.

Just out of interest, what is it in any of the interviews given, that leads you to "understand how this process has taken the time that it has" which of the explanations given are "perfectly logical" and give any justification to the delays and consequent damage to our season?

I've listened to all the interviews and read all the quotes, but I didn't get any of the answers you claim to have received.

[OUFC4eva]

GY - did you not see the IL interview on Yellow Player or it may have been his BBC Radio Oxford
interview where he said he gave Lewis four weeks to see if he was up to the job (which he wasn't)

IL did admit that it probably took two weeks too long to appoint the new guy!

[ty cobb]

There were a couple of things IL said that suggested to me that someone else may have been favoured which would also tie in with the long timescale as we were trying to come to an agreement with the other club/manager. Tisdale for example would have been problematic given his 2 year rolling contract on high wages and need to pay Exeter compensation. GW is likely to have been a cheaper choice both in wages and compensation. As IL admitted the process took too long so unsure why you disagree, given ML 4 weeks to prove himself before really getting on with the search was a mistake and I don't think the time spent in Oz helped either.

Lots of people can claim to play a passing game, gives youth a chance and embraces sport science. Most important to me is are they a successful manager. So far GW results are mixed but I do hope your confidence is shown to be correct.

[Jimski]

He's certainly got a tough opening game. I'd be happy with a draw at Southend. Also worrying is that of all the other sides in the top half, it is only Scunthorpe with an away game. Every other of our rivals is at home to a bottom half side. (Apart from Southend who are home to us, obviously.

[Myles Francis]

As OUFC4eva says, Ian Lenagan was clear that Lewis deserved the opportunity to show what he could do. And one defeat in his first 7 games vindicates that decision IMHO - he even won both of his home games in that period!!

The wheels then came off at Rochdale and Lewis couldn't put them back on again. Action was then taken to step up the process and get someone new in. As IL pointed out, we were 6th when Lewis took the reigns and we are still 6th. With all this talk of a promotion opportunity being thrown away, anyone would think we'd slumped to mid-table. If fingers are to be pointed at missed opportunities, mine is directed at our dreadful home record under Wilder long before it heads anywhere near the time taken to appoint a new manager.

[OUFC4eva]

Anyway good luck to Gary Waddock and I hope he brings success to Oxford United FC

[Jimski]

As IL pointed out, we were 6th when Lewis took the reigns and we are still 6th

We were then 6th with games in hand, and a lot closer to the top 3 than we are now.

[GodalmingYellow]

GY - did you not see the IL interview on Yellow Player or it may have been his BBC Radio Oxford
interview where he said he gave Lewis four weeks to see if he was up to the job (which he wasn't)

IL did admit that it probably took two weeks too long to appoint the new guy!

As I've already said, I've seen, heard and read all the salient information in the public domain.

ML had already said he didn't want the job, so that comment is a complete red herring. The problem was IL going walkabout down under when he should have been chained to his desk at the KasStad.

[GodalmingYellow]

As OUFC4eva says, Ian Lenagan was clear that Lewis deserved the opportunity to show what he could do. And one defeat in his first 7 games vindicates that decision IMHO - he even won both of his home games in that period!!

The wheels then came off at Rochdale and Lewis couldn't put them back on again. Action was then taken to step up the process and get someone new in. As IL pointed out, we were 6th when Lewis took the reigns and we are still 6th. With all this talk of a promotion opportunity being thrown away, anyone would think we'd slumped to mid-table. If fingers are to be pointed at missed opportunities, mine is directed at our dreadful home record under Wilder long before it heads anywhere near the time taken to appoint a new manager.

You forget that the top 6 were very close on points when Wilder left and we had only just dropped out of the automatic promotion places, and we had games in hand. At that point we were still in the frame for the title and very strong for automatic places. Now we are 50/1 for the title, which shows how far we have slumped and continuation of our form would definitely result in us slumping to mid-table.

[Hog]

He's certainly got a tough opening game.

Southend have failed to win ANY of their last 13 games.

[Dr Bob]

GY - did you not see the IL interview on Yellow Player or it may have been his BBC Radio Oxford
interview where he said he gave Lewis four weeks to see if he was up to the job (which he wasn't)

IL did admit that it probably took two weeks too long to appoint the new guy!

As I've already said, I've seen, heard and read all the salient information in the public domain.

ML had already said he didn't want the job, so that comment is a complete red herring. The problem was IL going walkabout down under when he should have been chained to his desk at the KasStad.

Shit. I am off to Canberra in three weeks. Do they not have telephones, internet and Skype in Australia?

[Jimski]

He's certainly got a tough opening game.

Southend have failed to win ANY of their last 13 games.

Ah, I knew they'd slipped out of contention, but hadn't realised it was that bad. I think I'd still be reasonably happy with a draw though!

[Myles Francis]

GY - did you not see the IL interview on Yellow Player or it may have been his BBC Radio Oxford
interview where he said he gave Lewis four weeks to see if he was up to the job (which he wasn't)

IL did admit that it probably took two weeks too long to appoint the new guy!

As I've already said, I've seen, heard and read all the salient information in the public domain.

ML had already said he didn't want the job, so that comment is a complete red herring. The problem was IL going walkabout down under when he should have been chained to his desk at the KasStad.

Sorry, but could you point me in the direction of where ML said that he didn't want the job?