Making Plans for Nigel

So United have finally confirmed what many have suspected over the last 10 days, Nigel Clough is the new Blades manager. Their number one choice from the start, according to reports, but I am sure it was not without a great deal of consideration and thought as to the merits and risks of the appointment.

 

Thinking over the candidates and when asked for my Top 3 last week, I struggled to make a 100% certain case for any of the candidates; each raising a degree of risk and concern. So I thought it worth setting out my thoughts on Clough, starting with my concerns. After all, it is always good to end on the positives>

 

Detractors could point to the steady consolidation at Derby County and whether his play and tactics will be positive enough when we desperately need some forward thrust, both in the short term and over the next two or three seasons. Derby were accused of lacking a winning mentality, something Clough will need to instil at United and quickly. They also lacked goals and Clough's inability to find a winning and scoring formula will be one familiar to Unitedites.

 

In a similar way to our feelings about David Weir, Derby fans could see what he was trying to do in terms of playing style, but without the results early season, fans believed that it would click into a positive run of results. They never got the chance to find out. His style of play may well fit the club's over-arching plan, but it needs to bring results.

 

There have been question marks over his man-management of the personalities at Derby, particularly Stephen Bywater, whilst outbursts against players such as Dean Leacock, Paul Green and Tomasz Cywka gained criticism from supporters and observers alike. You would also expect there to be not much of a future at Bramall Lane for Chris Porter, given observations made by Clough during the striker's time at Pride Park. 

 

For a manager left looking in Scotland, Ireland and the lower leagues for players, concerns have been expressed about the club's recruitment policy and scouting structure. This was possibly put further under the microscope by the appointment of his brother Simon as scout; a role for whom has been found at Bramall Lane. Appointments like this raise questions of nepotism and appointing the best man for the job.

 

Looking for the positives, I think it is fair to say we have made a "safe" appointment. Despite the concerns previously expressed he has some great experience and is a steady performer with clear success. He served a long and successful apprenticeship with 11 years at Burton Albion, taking over at a relatively young 32 whilst still playing.

 

With two promotions he all but took Burton into the Football League in 2009, joining Derby County with the Brewers well clear at the top of the Conference Premier. At relegation threatened Derby, he inherited a mess from the departing Paul Jewell. A run of early form was not maintained, although the Rams did survive on the penultimate weekend of the season. 

 

Over his period in charge at Derby, Clough had overseen the development of several young players into first teamers - even putting to one side the one-off talent that is Will Hughes; there have been Jeff Hendricks and Mason Bennett amongst others. Clough has built strong foundations with the club's academy, which were partly a result of necessity, given the financial restrictions he faced and I expect that he will be expected to continue that work at United.

 

There is no doubt that he has worked within tight budgetary controls and that will still be a factor at United. You only have to listen to the co-owners to know that this isn't some vanity project that sees millions being thrown at the team. This also highlights the challenges the club will face, if and when promoted, when up against an increasing number of teams with ever increasing parachute payments.

 

His sacking in favour of a bigger name and ex-Derby player Steve Maclaren was not exactly welcomed by Derby fans. Many recognised the job he had done in difficult circumstances and although a freshening up may seem sensible, they questioned whether anyone would have done better. After all the club had the faith in him 18 months previous to give him a contract that still had nearly two years left to run.

 

Clough was in the middle of a long term transition with Derby and a lot of fans believed he was the best man to run with the project. United's transition will be expedited by money and if not the transition itself the expectation will be. It will be interested to see how he responds in a more demanding environment.

 

Just as Derby felt they would benefit from a change, maybe Clough will benefit from a new challenge. A new challenge, not without expectation, but without some of the baggage that comes from being at one of his father's former clubs.

 

Chris Morgan and Mick Wadsworth have steadied the ship in the last couple of weeks and it is now up to Clough to build on this and take us forward. You can never dismiss any team you come up against in League 1 and certainly not in our current position; however it is fair to say the upcoming run of fixtures appears kind to our new manager and will hopefully lead to a positive start to his reign.

 

Any appointment will never gain 100% agreement across a fan-base. People will have their favourites and I think the idea of new money in the club led to some aspirational suggestions from supporters. Maybe the perception of financial reward and money to spend might have attracted certain names, willing to ignore the club's league position, but I don't think they would be the right kind of manager for our club and where we find ourselves right now.

 

To be honest, I am not sure Clough would have joined in the summer, if he had been a free agent then, so maybe the money is a possible factor in this appointment. At least he is a realistic appointment for the position we are in, not a vanity appointment without lower league knowledge or experience. The key thing for me, now it has been announced, is that whatever their prior opinions or choices, the fans are 100% behind the new manager. That appears to be the case.

 

I can't say he was my first choice, but I back the board's judgement and wish him the best of luck. Don't under-estimate the luck, as we know from painful experience, you can do so much right before fates conspires against us. Maybe this time the Footballing Gods might look on us kindly…..maybe Old Big 'ead can have a word in their ear…then again, maybe he wouldn't, he won't have that fond a memory of the Blades.

Chris Porter - Blades Look For A Port In A Storm

Having been out of the country for half of the last week, the announcement of Chris Porter's arrival at Bramall Lane on Friday afternoon came as a bit of a surprise. I had surfed the forums and message boards, but saw little mention of his impending signing. In fact the first I had heard of it was when a work colleague mentioned he had heard a rumour that Porter had failed a medical earlier in the week. Literally, no more than 10 minutes later, the news he had signed was on United's official website.

I felt relatively positive about his arrival at the Lane, although his recent injury record had limited his opportunities at Derby and when fit he had been unable to regain his place. Interested in finding out a Derby view on his limited action at Pride Park, I contacted Ollie Wright of The Derby County Blog for a Rams perspective. 

"Chris Porter was Nigel Clough's first signing as Derby County manager.  The Rams managed to gazump Cardiff City to sign the Wigan-born striker, who arrived from Motherwell for £400,000 at the end of January 2009 with a decent reputation as a goalscorer."

In fact, I remember that Kevin Blackwell was also interested in signing him for United at that time. I was a little underwhelmed then, I think because he was untried at Championship level. Although to be third highest goalscorer in the SPL with Motherwell was still a reasonable achievement. The fact that Clough made him his first signing, was a massive sign of faith in a player yet to play at that level. the Cardiff and Blades interest also vindicates a belief within management circles that he was more than capable. 

"He made a great start to his Rams career by bagging a brace in his first home start, a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, then followed that up by scoring in a 2-1 home win against Bristol City days later.  Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got for him at Pride Park."

"After the Bristol City game, Porter didn’t feature again for the rest of the 2008/09 season due to a hip injury and after undergoing surgery, was ultimately ruled out of contention until December 2009 by this problem. On returning, he got the winner at Watford in his first start of the 2009/10 season and was in and out of the team thereafter, scoring three more times."

It was Ollie's next words that concerned me most. "Last season was therefore make or break for Porter, as he entered the last year of his Rams contract.  Unfortunately, he broke down again during a League Cup tie at Crewe in August 2010, moving Clough to spit, “we’re sick to death of Porter, him and his hip”."

For a manager to openly criticise a player like this suggests a degree of anger and frustration at the situation. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it strikes me as a manager who is as frustrated with a player's psychological issues in dealing with injuries as much as the physical problems themselves. Last season, I remember Ronnie Moore openly criticising Tom Elliott, a loanee from Leeds, who passed the physio's tests but mentally couldn't play through fear of an injury that had seemingly healed, but not in his head.  

"After this setback, he was barely able to feature again for Derby.  He started just six times last season and although he did score both goals in a 2-1 win at doomed Preston North End, it was no surprise that he was released this summer."

In fact his final game in a Derby shirt saw him score the goal that beat the Blades and seal the Central League Reserves title at the Blades' expense. Clearly capable of scoring goals, up against many of the young Blades players who will feature in the first squad last season, yet the manager had lost all interest and faith in him.

"If Porter is actually fit again and the hip problem is genuinely resolved, then you have got yourselves a natural goalscorer.  He is not the most mobile of centre forwards and not a great footballer, but he does have that crucial knack for finding the back of the net and could really flourish in League One. The question mark, of course, is whether he’s going to break down again."

Ollie's summing up concurs with my feelings on the matter. Although, I wasn't enthused by our interest in 2009, I think he is the right kind of signing for us now. This is based on the fact he has a proven record at this level with Oldham Athletic. But a two year deal to an injury prone striker, albeit on a free transfer, is a big risk, however stringent the medical. Especially when money is tight and transfers in will be dictated by freeing up the wage bill with movements out, alongside a more restrictive wage budget. 

In the last couple of weeks I have answered questions about the Blades' new season prospects for preview supplements to be published alongside next month's issues of When Saturday Comes and World Soccer and a special downloadable pdf produced by football league sites The Seventy Two and The Two Unfortunates. For each, I have said it will be much easier to judge how the season might unfold when we see what the final squad looks like in August.

With Darius Henderson now at Millwall and Danny Wilson this week re-emphasising the availability of Ched Evans (who you would assume will be on his way), that leaves the raw, but promising, Jordan Slew, Danny Philliskirk (another young player,signed from Chelsea), the inconsistent Daniel Bogdanovic and Richard Cresswell as strikers alongside Porter. There have also been rumours that Bogdanovic might be on the move, maybe we will see a move once the pre-season tour of Malta is finished.

I worry that, unless another experienced striker is signed, too much reliance will be placed on Porter's shoulders. Previous managers have played Cresswell out wide and he looked out of sorts over the last 12 months, in an injury hit season. Slew will need someone to play off and I am not sure that Porter will be the best foil. Maybe we can live with his lack of mobility, providing his link play can unleash Slew's pace and quick feet. I just hope that we are not placing all our eggs in a Chris Porter shaped basket. I am pretty sure we are not, I just hope that when I return from holiday for the game at Boundary Park on 6th August that other striker is in place.