Gary Caldwell Apraisal

[andrew p long]

My Chesterfield supporting colleague greeted me yesterday with 'I'd never thought Gary Caldwell would take you top of League One'

So I looked up GC's record at Chesterfield. Its P29 W3 D8 L18.

Gary Caldwell - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That is truly dreadful. 3 wins in 29 games. No wonder they don't rate him, whatever the challenges

 

[Red Bill]

I warmed to GC pretty much straight away, on a personal level I think he's a thoroughly good egg. But being a nice man doesn't necessarily equate to being a good manager. However I feel the recruitment process, probably the most grown up and professional one you're ever likely to see in football, has found not just a good guy, but a perfect match for our club. He seems to absolutely buy into who we are and what that means. I absolutely believe him when he talks about us as a special club unlike any other. It was quickly clear how his experience of how bigger clubs do things and his desire to bring that professionalism to the club was going to transform us IMO.

I'm a little uncomfortable about reliance on loans, but I believe he's a pragmatist who realises that with our budget limitations, use of the loan market is going to be essential to compete iat this level. Even though it will mean a need to rebuild each season, he has already proved how effective his transfer dealings are and I have confidence that he can make that model work for us. The exciting style of play and the success he's so far had with it, May well be a factor in continuing to attract quality players to the club even if it is for just a season. I believe if this continues, though, the liklihood is that those players will be convinced to sign for linger in the future.

I couldn't really give a toss what Chesterfield fans think, they were a basket case before he joined and a basket case after he left and are still hopeless now. From what I gleaned from an interview I saw with him recorded long before he joined us, it seems that the troubles at Partick stemmed from a change at board level half way through his tenure. But frankly who cares? He's with us now and so far what he's done has been brilliant in my eyes. I've viewed the championship as an utter pipe dream up to now, I still don't see sustaining it as that achievable, but under GC for the first time since I began supporting City all those years ago, getting there doesn't seem too unrealistic!

When MT left, I eas worried that the amazing feel good factor and sense of togetherness around the club would be lost, but not only hasn't it, GC has actually built on it and amplified it to new levels. How silly those suggestions of disquiet in the ranks seem now! It is of course early days, there's a long way to go, we're only six games in and who really knows what will happen, but right now, GC seems to be making us into everything I could hope for and I'm currently so glad he's our manager!! UTC!

 

[sign of the chimes]

My Chesterfield supporting colleague greeted me yesterday with 'I'd never thought Gary Caldwell would take you top of League One'

So I looked up GC's record at Chesterfield. Its P29 W3 D8 L18.

Gary Caldwell - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That is truly dreadful. 3 wins in 29 games. No wonder they don't rate him, whatever the challenges

I was pretty sceptical about his appointment as an outsider who was keeping half an eye on Chesterfield during his time there - as you say, his record was urine-poor; and the subsequent reviews from Partick made his success at Wigan (which also has to be afforded the context of what was pretty likely the highest wage budget by some way in a L1 that was far less competitive than it is now in that respect); look like a flash in the pan.

Having said that, and I can only talk about Chesterfield (not Partick) - they were an absolute case when he took over, and well on the way to where they ended up - despite having finished in the top 6 of L1 a couple of years previous - having yo-yo'd between L1 and L2 for a few years before. The owner had started to reduce his investment a few years previous, and had also got the hump with the fanbase. Caldwell wasn't really backed, and when sacked was succeeded by a club legend with no managerial experience who oversaw them slip in to non league less than three years after that top 6 finish (which also included a period with Dean Saunders in charge - allegedly appointed on the basis of impressing the chairman as an after dinner speaker at a club event). Club legend was followed by Martin Allen.

Easy to re-write history - but Caldwell's comments about not doing his due diligence (or similar) before jumping in to the Chesterfield job tally up with the idea that he could have been missold that particular project.

Anyway, lots of conjecture on my part - pleased he seems to be delivering for you and watching on with interest to see if he continues on this basis. If he does then those in charge of recruiting your managers deserve some kudos. Suspect there are plenty being paid more in L1 and up the pyramid who don't come close.

I know that Tisdale continues to split opinion; and that there's increasing debate about whether GC>MT - but from the outside all seem to have delivered some degree of success over time; as strike rates go I can't think of many more successful clubs in terms of managerial appointments over that timescale.

 

[SEA Grecian]

I fear this will be the norm from now on. If they're any good, they'll be snapped up before they have a sniff of the first team. That's a downside of having an academy with a growing reputation..

But it's not the case, is it? Cox and Lee are still here despite lots of interest and I'm sure other clubs have been looking at Borges and Richards but they haven't left either. If anything, being in a higher league may tempt them to stick around longer than they might have done previously.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Exactly this. In just about any walk of life people improve and learn over time. Just because he was rubbish in 2017 doesn't mean he's rubbish now. He might have made mistakes but he's clearly learned from them.

Credit is due not just to Gary Caldwell for his dedication to self-improvement but also to our recruitment panel who recognised this and didn't focus too much on his cv.

 

[SEA Grecian]

I'm surprised Rosie hasn't pulled up Sturtz about the youth production line. If I recall correctly, we would have had Pond, Chrisene and Stanno coming through at the moment if they hadn't have up sticks and left. Not every youth player is going to make but it's probably fair to say, as Stanno proved last season, that those three would have made a serious impact on the first team if they were still here. Unfortunately they left which makes the current crop look a little thin but that's just this crop. To say that Caldwell is abandoning the youth system seems a bit presumptuous three or four around the squad now. The trouble for them is they're not trying to break into a League 2 side as their predecessors were but a League 1 side and, on the face of it so far this season, a bloody good one too.
As for the man himself, I said from the start I liked the cut of his gib. He hasn't done much to change that.

Exactly this, having 8 first-year pros from the academy, an under-18 who is also already on a pro contract and an under-17 in the squad for the first team don't seem like the actions of someone who is no interest in our youth system.

 

[STURTZ]

I'm surprised Rosie hasn't pulled up Sturtz about the youth production line. If I recall correctly, we would have had Pond, Chrisene and Stanno coming through at the moment if they hadn't have up sticks and left. Not every youth player is going to make but it's probably fair to say, as Stanno proved last season, that those three would have made a serious impact on the first team if they were still here. Unfortunately they left which makes the current crop look a little thin but that's just this crop. To say that Caldwell is abandoning the youth system seems a bit presumptuous three or four around the squad now. The trouble for them is they're not trying to break into a League 2 side as their predecessors were but a League 1 side and, on the face of it so far this season, a bloody good one too.
As for the man himself, I said from the start I liked the cut of his gib. He hasn't done much to change that.

In my OP I mention that we are stymied by promising youth being taken before reaching the first team and nowhere do I say that GC is abandoning our youth system. Also allude to the fact that it's hard to field academy products at this level.
Bit of a wasted post TBH.

 

[haka]

I know that Tisdale continues to split opinion; and that there's increasing debate about whether GC>MT - but from the outside all seem to have delivered some degree of success over time; as strike rates go I can't think of many more successful clubs in terms of managerial appointments over that timescale.

Exactly. It is over 20 years since ECFC appointed a manager who failed, was unpopular and/or sacked within 1-2 years of his appointment. That is amazing in modern football. Of the 92, or 72 in the EFL, almost all have had a new manager failure in that period. Some have had a lot. I've been trying to think of comparisons, but checking the record for 92 clubs over 20 years is more homework than I can be bothered to do! So let's just agree we're the best ... and maybe unique! .

(We don't need to have the Tisdale debate for the thousandth time, because that debate was about how things evolved over many years in L2/L1, not - as Chimes says - the initial appointment back when we were in the Conference).

Neil McNab out!

 

[Egg]

Exactly. It is over 20 years since ECFC appointed a manager who failed, was unpopular and/or sacked within 1-2 years of his appointment. That is amazing in modern football. Of the 92, or 72 in the EFL, almost all have had a new manager failure in that period. Some have had a lot. I've been trying to think of comparisons, but checking the record for 92 clubs over 20 years is more homework than I can be bothered to do! So let's just agree we're the best ... and maybe unique! .

(We don't need to have the Tisdale debate for the thousandth time, because that debate was about how things evolved over many years in L2/L1, not - as Chimes says - the initial appointment back when we were in the Conference).

Neil McNab out!

Appreciate you jest apropos McNab, but, FWIW, I imagine his tenure at SJP would have been not dissimilar to GC's at Chesterfield – that's to say, the club was a basket-case when he was here and it's probably not fair to assess his managerial ability on the basis of this.

 

[Spanks]

Each of the previous two managers have left city a division higher than they found then…

if that continues with GC, I think we’ll be relatively happy.